Well the biggest news from here over the last month has been the intense hurricane activity nation wide. We had our own little episode here (I call it little compared to the devastation experienced elsewhere and now in Puerto Rico). Our visit was by a cat #1 hurricane called Lidia. Fortunately for us it arrived over the cape as a tropical storm albeit a fierce one.

Here are some pics of the situation here – btw: no damage to my trailer but it was like being in a 707 in heavy turbulence.

 

Both my kayaks were carried away at the point but some neighbors (thank you Yasmin and Diego) found them north of me and pulled them to safety. Need a little work but in good shape.

   

The forces gathering

The rain of course brought out lots of the little critters, some benign, some more fearsome. For me it was first a scorpion between my feet while resting in my lounge in the evening – had to kill him. He's to the left of the dumb bell that I used to smash him. My feet were on either side of him.

A female tarantula in my sandal in the morning (I felt her at the end of my sandal and tried first to push through thinking it was sand, paper or something). Luckily I didn’t hurt her. The pic is from a previous episode but similar in size (about 6” spread) and two days later a rattlesnake again by my lounge. It scurried away as soon as I approached and is somewhere out there doing it’s thing.

It also brought out the BoBo’s (nasty gnats) but with the get up below, no problem. 

 

I purchased the kaffiyeh in Egypt in 2000 and have used it for so many useful purposes. I use it here a lot; after all it's the desert, no?    

I send all the energy I can to those unfortunate folks who have to put up with REAL inconvenience and danger, my inconveniences are a joke.

Along with the animal critters of course the plant world comes alive. Truly unbelievable change – simply not a desert anymore!

  

These flowering vines are everywhere.

 

 I want to acknowledge some real hero’s for a moment.

 

    

Chiune Sugihara, the man who saved over 6000 Jews from the Holocaust.

Sugihara the Hero was a Japanese Government Official in Lithuania. When the Nazis began rounding up the Jewish people, Sugihara risked his life by issuing unlawful travel visas for them. He hand-wrote for 18 hours a day, even after his consulate had closed. The world had no idea what he had done until 1985, the year before his death.

 

   https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasa-dedicates-facility-honor-apos-005059842.html

I always like to include some animal shots – so….

 female Nicodamus peregrinus (family Nicodamidae, aka Red and Black Spiders).

 Pod of Beluga whales in the arctic

Spartacus a dominant male lion watching over his territory in Kidepo Valley National Park, Uganda

http://bit.ly/2feCnp3

 

Snowy Owl

The Polka-Dot Wasp Moth (Syntomeida epilais) is a species of moth thought to be native to the Caribbean.The species is also called the Oleander Moth after the Oleander plant, from which its young feed. Like most wasp moths, these moths are day fliers.

    

Caught these two Red Darter dragonflies in mid flight and mid breeding. Incredibly lucky shot

 

Just one space shot this time but you have to look at the rest – please.

 https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/06/the-best-of-cassini13-years-in-orbit-around-saturn/529482/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-091517&silverid=MzEwMTU3MzkxMTAwS0

I’ll stay with science for a bit.

  

Sand up close. Not as colorful as this everywhere but you would be surprised what beauty is under your feet on a beach walk.

What it really looks like under the Atlantic Ocean. Remember, 70+% of the planet looks similar to this.

Inside an ice cave deep in the earth. Color comes from the flare held by the “spelunker”

    

The discovery suggested that Neanderthals were more sophisticated than anyone had given them credit for. They wielded fire, ventured deep underground, and shaped the subterranean rock into complex constructions. Perhaps they even carried out rituals; after all, there was no evidence that anyone actually lived in the cave, so what else were the rings and mounds for?  

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/05/the-astonishing-age-of-a-neanderthal-cave-construction-site/484070/

Change of pace:

  A painting by an old and very dear high school friend Marilee

   A really unique cloud shot

I suggest you see the rest of these - extraordinary!

https://www.boredpanda.com/gustav-klimt-famous-paintings-real-life-models-photographer-inge-prader/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=ranked

OK – the political segment

   

How I look when I see the idiocy of the man some people call “president”. It has become a nightmare.

                  A dangerously ignorant and demented man.

Think on this and listen to the song and feel better!

 “Sacred song”

 http://www.honorearth.org/sacredsong

"And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune, then the piper will lead us to reason. And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forests will echo with laughter..."

~Led Zeppelin
Stairway to Heaven