“So That Sheep May Safely Graze” — A road sign on a single-track road in Scottish sheep country.
On the Isle of Skye, and for that matter all over Scotland, there are sheep. A LOT of sheep. What cattle are to the American west, sheep are to Scotland, or so it seems. The sheep and their abundant pastures are a significant component of the Scottish landscape — you encounter them everywhere when you walk or drive. I’ll let you speculate on the purpose of this road sign for a moment before explaining… (If you read this post where the next paragraph is already visible, pause and see if you can figure it out.)
“Cubist Wall” — A wall of rectangles and colors, Cork, Ireland.
When we travel we like to combine the new with the familiar. That was true on our recent trip — the Scotland portion was an extension of the familiar, and Ireland was new to us. That’s right, this was our first visit to the Republic of Ireland. We know there is much, much more to Ireland than we could see in a week, but on this trip we focused on three cities: Dublin, Galway, and Cork. This photograph comes from Cork.
“Egret On The Hunt” — A great egret hunting in a California Central Valley field.
I photographed this great egret back in late February during one of my last seasonal visits to a place where I photograph migratory birds every winter. This bird, like so many egrets I see out there, was hunting on its own, moving methodically and slowly toward its prey. If you did not realize what the bird was doing you might not understand its behavior, but once you do the purpose of its focused attention becomes clear.
“Alfama, Tagus River View” — Buildings of Alfama overlook the broad Tagus River, Lisbon
Lisbon, Portugal is a city of hills. (It is sometimes called the “City of Seven Hills.”) Deepening upon which direction you go, even short walks can involve some significant climbs. There’s a reason for the Elevador de Santa Justa, the famous elevator structure, and for cable cars or funiculars. A positive result of all of this climbing is that there are some spectacular views.
