Day 5192: Meditative Patterns & Japan's Emergency Privacy Shelters.

"Meditation": junk paper collage.

            

Want music?

    Click:  Michael Jackson, Butterflies.

 

2GN2S

Zen Gardens & Meditative Patterns

In this crazy world, the patterned zen gardens composed by Yuki Kawae are an antidote to today’s seemingly endless anxieties.The Bay Area designer records meditative footage of wide-toothed prongs and dense rakes that scrape across beds of white sand, creating intersecting loops, fractals, and other organic shapes. Each clip is evidence of Kawae’s steady hand a penchant for precision as he carefully plows the otherwise smooth grains to form clean lines.

His practice dates back to 2019 when gardening served as an escape from life pressures and the anxiety-provoking nature of social media. “I was quite overwhelmed with day-to-day tasks and what are the ‘expected’ next steps in life…One day, I realized all of those thoughts were completely gone when I was gardening, pruning, watering, and re-potting the soil. That process let me be clear-minded somehow, and it was very calming and refreshing,” he writes.  Because he didn’t have space for a larger outdoor plot, he shifted to a coffee-table-sized zen garden, an initial design provided a similar reprieve when it pops into the feeds of Kawae’s huge followings onYouTube  and Instagram.

Although Kawae’s works have been limited to digital platforms so far, he envisions a large-scale botanical space with greenery, zen gardens, and his abstract paintings, some of which form the backdrop for his videos. He also has a background in woodworking and shares detailed instructions for creating your own sand space, from building the enclosure to choosing rakes. 

 A 23 minute video, here. 

In a crowded shelter, a cardboard wall can mean dignity.

Since the great earthquake of 2011, shelters in Japan have turned to a humble material to help people through the hardest nights. Simple cardboard beds lift sleepers off cold floors, and light partitions carve out a little private space in a busy hall.

For someone who has lost a home, that small corner matters. It is a place to rest, to grieve quietly, and to gather strength without feeling watched by hundreds of strangers.

Yet after major disasters, supplies do not always stretch far enough, and some shelters still run short of beds and partitions when they are needed most.

Comfort in a crisis is not always grand. Sometimes it is just warmth, a little privacy, and the feeling of being treated as a person.

  

 

A  6+ minute video, Wizard of the Woods, here.

 

 

Just because ...

Keel-billed Toucan

Wednesday's Smiles ... 

 

Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.

  

 

 

   

Day 5191. Artist: IDRIS MURPHY & Rhinos with technology.

"Jill": ink brush, watercolor, collage. (2002)

  

Want music?

   Click: Rufus, Chaka Khan, Everlasting Love

2GN2S

 IDRIS MURPHY

"Living in a country where we find ourselves surrounded by the oldest living culture in the world . . . indigenous art . . . for me, it was an extraordinary reawakening of all those ways of looking at the land."

Instagram: here   Facebook: here

Rhinos are being equipped with technology designed to help protect them from poachers.

A conservation project in South Africa has used hidden cameras, GPS tracking collars, and other monitoring equipment to help authorities detect suspicious activity around protected rhinos.

The system is designed to monitor the animals and quickly alert a control center when unusual activity is detected. Rangers can then use the animal’s location data to respond to the area.

By combining wildlife conservation with modern tracking technology, researchers and conservation teams are exploring new ways to protect endangered rhinos and improve anti-poaching efforts.

#Rhino #Wildlife #Conservation #AntiPoaching #LivingEarth

  

 

A  4+ minute video,  Stubborn Spider, here.

 

Just because ...

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW 

Tuesday's Smiles ... 

 

Hoping you see all the good things in your day.

  

 

 

   

Day 5190: I had to be a teacher. & Diversity of Primates.

"Savings": junk papers collage, china marker

  

Want music?

   Click: Stephen Bishop, On and On.

2GN2S

(TMI dept.)

I come from a family of teachers. Really good teachers.

We also have engineers, but this is about teachers.

Aunt Fern, Aunt Martha, Aunt Pauline, Aunt Vonda, Mom

My Mom'a four older sisters taught, 

so four Aunts and an Uncle all outstanding teachers.

The kind that talk about school even in the summer!

Enough so that I was pretty sure I didn't want to be a teacher.

But then I married a coach/teacher and became a teacher.

Now after forty five years of teaching ...

I have determined that I was a pretty good teacher.

You see I do believe in angels. I do.

And if at anytime I wasn't a good teacher,

I believe one of my angels would have nudged me back into place.

So, I guess I had to be a teacher.

So there.

The Diversity of Primates

Primates share an evolutionary history, yet their adaptations are remarkably diverse. From powerful great apes to agile monkeys, different species have developed distinct body structures, social behaviours and ways of navigating their environments.

Forward-facing eyes and grasping hands help many primates judge distances and handle objects. Their diversity reveals how evolution shapes survival.

  

 

A  3+ minute video,  Man, here.

 

 

Just because ...

African Spoonbill.

Monday's Smiles ...

Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.