Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Day 4510: Loss of a Gentleman President..& What is a Stoat?

"Unstable": junk collage, ink, digital.


 




  

Want music?


    

Click: Erik Satie, Gnossiennes


  

 

 
2GN2S


Jimmy Carter
1924 - 2024
Loss of A Gentleman President 



James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) an American politician and humanitarian, served as the 39th president of the United States, 1977 to 1981. 



Jimmy Carter is a man of many milestones -- and the list keeps growing. Late last week, the former president and Nobel Peace Prize-winning humanitarian marked another year as the longest lived ex-commander in chief, a record he has held since March 2019. Having begun hospice care in February 2023, he celebrated his 99th birthday in October, surprising even his loved ones, grandson Jason Carter has said. "It's a true blessing for all of us to have had this much time with him.


"I think his time in the private sector and the work that he did at the Carter Center, really spending his life among the most marginalized and poorest people in the world and believing in their power to change their own lives and in the power of human rights for them and democracy for them, will be the biggest part of his legacy," the younger Carter, a former state senator and gubernatorial candidate.

 

After his defeat to Ronald Reagan in 1980, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter returned to Plains. Instead of resting on their laurels, they threw themselves into humanitarian work, joining forces with Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit group founded in 1976 by a Christian couple named Millard and Linda Fuller, with the stated mission of "seeking to put God's love into action" by building homes for people in need.

"Habitat provides a simple but powerful avenue for people of different backgrounds to come together to achieve those most meaningful things in life. A decent home, yes, but also a genuine bond with our fellow human beings. A bond that comes with the building up of walls and the breaking down of barriers," Jimmy Carter once said.

 

 

In addition to building houses for the disadvantaged around the world, the Carters also shared a mutual love for bird-watching and fly-fishing, even building a fly-fishing pond on their Georgia property.

In the 2021 interview, the Carters were asked how they stayed happily married for so many years. Jimmy Carter attributed the longevity of their union to working on projects and hobbies they are both interested in and giving each other space to pursue individual interests. For decades, Jimmy Carter's love for former first lady Rosalynn Carter -- married from 1946 until her death in November -- was one of the things that kept him going.



"He is living this part of his life as part of that same faith journey that he's been on for his whole life. And we're all just there along for the ride."
 

Thank you President Carter, RIP 





What's a Stoat?


Jose Manuel Grandío/Wildlife Photographer of the Year



Look, a stoat! This photo of a "dancing" stoat (also known as an ermine) is among the highly commended images in this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. This is the 60th year of the popular competition, organized by London's Natural History Museum. Judges received a record 59,228 entries from people of all ages and experience levels from 117 countries and territories, and the images capture both the beauty of the natural world and the more serious ecological challenges it faces.






 

  
 
A 5  minute video, Sleepless night , here
 
 
 

  
 
Just because ...

  
Great Blue Heron


 

Tuesday's Smiles ... 

 



 
















  
  





Monday, December 30, 2024

Day 4509: The Magical Arabian Oryx & Angel Collage Series.


"Christmas Chaos": junk collage & ink.




  

Want music?


    

Click: Al Jarreau, Moonlighting.


  

  

2GN2S

Arabian oryx: Back from the brink

m the bri

Arabian oryx are seen at the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Um al-Zamool, near the United Arab Emirates' border with Saudi Arabia



Oryxes are probably the closest thing to a real-life unicorn. (Their name makes a super-killer Scrabble play, too.) The Arabian oryx, with its glossy white coat that keeps things cool in the desert heat, is especially magical. The antelope species once roamed from Egypt to Yemen, but in the 1970s, it was classified as extinct in the wild due to overhunting. 


Two Arabian oryx lock horns in al-Wusta Wildlife Reserve for Environmental Conservation in Haima, Oman in 2021. The Arabian oryxes’ horns – meant to serve as a defense mechanism – in fact made them a target, as hunters in the 20th century believed that they possessed magical powers.


This kickstarted conservation efforts, which involved breeding the species in captivity and reintroducing it into the wild. 


Today, the species still faces some threats from illegal hunting, overgrazing and droughts, but its impressive comeback led the IUCN to upgrading its status from endangered to vulnerable in 2011. Its range now covers Israel, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Here, Arabian oryx are pictured near the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2021.

Today, there are an estimated 1,220 Arabian oryxes in the wild and 6,000 to 7,000 in captivity. 


I1962, when fewer than 500 Arabian oryxes remained in the wild, conservationists founded “Operation Oryx” to save the animals from extinction. Teams, sent into the desert of what is now South Yemen, captured three oryx and took them to Phoenix Zoo in the United States for the first stage of a captive breeding program. Here, a baby Arabian oryx is seen at Zoo Miami in Miami, Florida. 


Arabian oryxes are herbivores, eating desert grasses and shrubs. Attuned to their environment, they can detect rainfall and plant growth from up to 56 miles (90 km) away – often wandering long distances in search of pasture. But, according to the IUCN, their mobility can also leave them vulnerable, as they wander outside protected areas. Here, an Arabian oryx takes refuge in the shade of a tree in a conservation area in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2023

In attempt to restore the Arabian oryx to its historic range, reintroductions in IraqKuwait and Syriahave been proposed. Conservationists are monitoring the captive populations in these countries with the hope of establishing stable herds there in the future


Just a reminder: there is always, always hope!






Ready for another angel from the serie? 
A quick step by step of 7 ...


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A 6+ minute video, Tiffany, here
 
 
 

  
 
Just because ...

Painted Bunting

 

 

Monday's Smiles ... 

         

by Edward Corey









 
by Fiona Watson