it's saturday

my how time flies. picture sharing day again and we have another batch of great views of tiny slices of life and grand vistas of our planet. thanks to all who were gracious enough to contribute.

from bruce in japan:

"Attached is a shot of the edge of one of my waterlily pots (which contain many medaka, the Japanese killifish, and the first fish in space!). The flower is Nymphoides indica ("gagabuta" in Japanese), and the butterfly it's being visited by is a "Yamato shijimi", a Pseudozizeeria maha."

garapata beach, big sur, california

from tara

from dawn:
male spotted towhee

from lisa:

"These are photos of Harbor Seals being released back to the ocean. There is an organization in Westbrook, Maine called Marine Animal Lifeline, a non-profit group that rescues abandoned and/or ill seals and rehabilitates them. When they are well, they are released back into the Atlantic near Portland, Maine. It is a truly amazing sight to see these animals be set free. I have seen two releases this summer. The first was in late July when they released 10 seals, and this release, of 3, was in August. Some of the seals head for the water immediately, and some hang out on the beach, not quite ready for the big ocean. It can take 45 minutes to an hour for some of them to get into swimming water."

from pam:

Attached photo taken late afternoon through a train window at Wengen in 1962. Scanned from a faded Kodachrome slide and restored.

Country: Switzerland . Town (lower right): Lauterbrunnen (?Clear Springs?). One of the deepest valleys in the world, carved out by the Weisse Lütschine river. 72 waterfalls. ( The highest, Staubbach Falls , 305 m., gushes out of a cliff on the right.) The mountains in the background are the Mönch and the Jungfrau . Despite the thousands of tourists who congregate to visit the surrounding mountains (think The Eiger Sanction, On Her Majesty's Secret Service), the valley itself is serene. On our quiet riverside walks along the flower-filled valley, we marveled at the waterfalls; listened to the lowing cattle, sweet birds, the running river; imagined living on one of the ancient farms; and met only friendly farmer folk.

these are grapevines at limerick lane winery, where our friend peter works.

taken by Holly in the hills above Lake Sonoma looking west across the coast range towards the Pacific
from laurel

from seavu:
"This is picture of a spot called Thunder Hole in Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island, Maine. The spot is so named because the tide "thunders" when it hits the rock at this point overlooking the Atlantic Ocean."

from dave at birdtlc:

"Here's a picture of Cindy, Bird TLC Rehab Director tube feeding an
eagle that I'm holding."

a picture of waimea canyon on kauai, hawaii from my brother gary.

from kathy a:

"we live at the bottom of a hill, very close to an old rock quarry. like a lot of houses in the neighborhood, we have short retaining walls crafted 60-some years ago from rock. this past winter, there was a lot of rain. we had a nice crop of moss on the rock walls, which made me unreasonably happy."

village creek state park in arkansas, from yankee transplant