I just realized I didn’t post many waterfall photos from last year’s North Carolina trip. I really liked my recent CA waterfall chase trip collage, so I thought I’d belatedly make one for NC. Here we go:
Top left: High Falls, Dupont State Forest, North Carolina
Top middle: Soco Falls, North Carolina
Top right: Juneywhank Falls, North Carolina
Middle left: Linville Falls, North Carolina
Middle second from left: Tom Branch Falls, North Carolina
Middle third from left: Mingo Falls, North Carolina
Middle far right: Upper Linville Falls, North Carolina
Bottom left: Indian Creek Falls, North Carolina {
Bottom middle: Triple Falls, Dupont State Forest, North Carolina
Bottom right: Pearson’s Falls, Polk County, North Carolina
Have a terrific day! I hope you do or learn something NEW today!
Here is the actual research subject and the top image is an AI-generated image using the prompt “20-year-old Lithuanian immigrant filling out paperwork at Ellis Island in 1911”. I thought the computer did a rather good job. What do you think?
Have a great day! I hope you learn or do…or artificially generate something NEW!
I’ve finished my personal challenge of reading a book from each genre listed on the Goodreads search page. My final list is below. Now for my next NEW reading challenge. I’m going to start an A-Z reading challenge. I may or may not read them all in order, we’ll see. So many books, so little time! Let me know about any really great book recommendations that I should put on my ever-growing list!
Have a great day! I hope you do or learn something NEW today!
***Finished list of books read for the Goodreads genre challenge:
Art: Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon (3 stars).
Biography: Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman (3 stars)
Business: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance (3 stars)
Chick Lit: Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks (3 stars)
Christian: Forgiving What You Can’t Forget: Discover How to Move On, Make Peace with Painful Memories, and Create a Life That’s Beautiful Again (2 stars)
Classics: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (3 stars)
Comics: Big Nate Nailed It! by Lincoln Peirce (2 stars)
Contemporary: Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid (3 stars)
Cookbooks: Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines
Crime: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (3 stars)
Ebooks: (multiple books on this list!)
Fantasy: Six of Crows (3.5 stars)
Fiction: Homecoming by Kate Morton (3 stars)
Gay and Lesbian: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (3 stars)
Graphic Novel: Steve Jobs: Insanely Great by Jessie Hartland (3 stars)
Historical Fiction: Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill (3 stars)
History: The Vagabonds: The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s Ten-Year Road Trip by Jeff Guinn (3 stars)
Horror: The Birds and Other Stores by Daphne de Maurier (3.5 stars)
Humor and Comedy: How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur (3 stars)
Manga: Kung Fu Klutz and Karate Cool by D.J. Milky, Mark Seidenberg, and Erich Owen (2 stars)
Memoir: A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout (3 stars)
Music: Who was Johnny Cash by Jim Gigliotti (3 stars)
Mystery: Little Big Lies by Liane Moriarty (3 stars)
Nonfiction: The Tale-Tell Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for What Makes Us Human by V.S. Ramachandran (3 stars)
Paranormal: The Custodians, Beyond Abduction by Dolores Cannon (3 stars)
Philosophy: The Little Book of Philosophy: An Introduction to the Key Thinkers and Theories You Need to Know by Rachel Poulton (3 stars)
Poetry: Three Stories and Ten Poems by Ernest Hemingway (3 stars)
Psychology: The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self by Michael Easter (3 stars)
Religion: A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women’s Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (3 stars)
Romance: The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams (3 stars)
Science: This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin (3 stars)
Science Fiction: Legion by Brandon Sanderson (3.5 stars)
Self Help: Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown (3 stars)
Suspense: The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (3 stars)
Spirituality: Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner (3 stars)
Sports: The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein (3 stars)
Thriller: The Whistler by John Grisham (3 stars)
Travel: Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts (3 stars)
Young Adult: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (3 stars)
This is a reflection of Lassen Peak viewed from Manzanita Lake. Lassen Volcanic National Park, California. Not much else to say except I hope you have a chance to reflect on your world as well as your inner world today, and I hope you see beauty in both.
Have a great day. Do or learn or read or make something NEW today!
I thought I’d better hurry and post all the waterfalls we saw on our recent trip to northern California before I forgot the names or can’t remember which were which in my photo stash. So here goes:
For my entry to Cee’s Any Which Way in Black and White challenge, I’ll share the Sundial Bridge in Redding, CA, and a hiking path that I’m sure led us somewhere fabulous on that trip.
Have a terrific day. It’s my day off of work, so I’m planning to learn or do something NEW! What about you?
I was stalking this little guy recently. I captured him as he hopped around on the ground, then he flittered into the trees. Here he was, hopping around on the ground.
I captured him on this ledge, and then all of a sudden he took flight.
Today’s lesson: Don’t hop around the ground forever. Take flight!
Have a great day and I hope you learn or do something NEW today.
When I saw Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge topic today of “Sticks and Stones”, I knew I should have an image or two from our recent trip to enter. I remembered snapping quite a few “tree art” photos.
As we hiked to a waterfall on our trip, we passed by a burn area and I snapped another “tree art” photo that I thought would work well for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness photo challenge.
And lastly, here is my son having a stone skipping contest while we were visiting Grand Teton National Park. I’m pretty sure this is Jackson Lake. So, obviously, this image is for Cee’s “Sticks and Stones” challenge also.
Have a great day! I hope you do or learn something NEW!
Today I’m updating my National Parks bucket list since we visited Lassen Volcanic National Park on our trip last week.
First, we stopped at Manzanita Lake and walked all the way around it, then hiked the Kings Creek Falls Trail, and lastly, we hiked down to Bumpass Hell (see photos…that’s where all the hot steam comes out). There were warning signs to stay on the path, so we wouldn’t end up like Mr. Bumpass who had to get his leg amputated because of burns he’d received from falling through. We were, of course, very careful to do so!
We’re up to 19 out of 63. Many more to go!
LIST OF US NATIONAL PARKS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER (63 total)
Acadia National Park {done}
Arches National Park {done}
Badlands National Park
Big Bend National Park
Biscayne National Park
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park {done}
Bryce Canyon National Park {done}
Canyonlands National Park {done}
Capitol Reef National Park {done}
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Channel Islands National Park
Congaree National Park
Crater Lake National Park
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park
Denali National Park and Preserve
Dry Tortugas National Park
Everglades National Park
Gates of the Arctic National Park
Gateway Arch National Park
Glacier National Park
Glacier Bay National Park
Grand Canyon National Park {done}
Grand Teton National Park {done}
Great Basin National Park
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
Great Smoky Mountains National Park {done}
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Haleakala National Park
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park {done}
Hot Springs National Park
Indiana Dunes National Park
Isle Royale National Park
Joshua Tree National Park
Katmai National Park and Preserve
Kenai Fjords National Park
Kings Canyon National Park {done}
Kobuk Valley National Park
Lake Clark National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park {done}
Mammoth Cave National Park
Mesa Verde National Park {done}
Mount Rainier National Park
National Park of American Samoa
New River Gorge National Park
North Cascades National Park
Olympic National Park
Petrified Forest National Park
Pinnacles National Park
Redwood National Park {done}
Rocky Mountain National Park {done}
Saguaro National Park
Sequoia National Park {done}
Shenandoah National Park
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Virgin Islands National Park
Voyageurs National Park
White Sands National Park
Wind Cave National Park
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve
Yellowstone National Park {done}
Yosemite National Park {done}
Zion National Park {done}
Have a great day! I hope you do or learn something NEW!
I love the idea of having experiences that are so great people can’t put them into words. I wondered what some of those experiences might be, so after I created this image (with AI), I had AI come up with some ideas for such experiences. Here’s what it came up with:
*****
Experiencing nature in all its glory. Seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, hiking to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, or swimming with dolphins are all experiences that can leave you speechless.
Witnessing a powerful work of art. Visiting the Louvre Museum, seeing the Mona Lisa in person, or attending a concert by your favorite band are all experiences that can move you on a deep emotional level.
Connecting with a loved one on a profound level. Falling in love, having a child, or sharing a moment of deep grief with a close friend are all experiences that can create an unbreakable bond between two people.
Achieving a personal goal that you have worked hard for. Graduating from college, getting your dream job, or winning a marathon are all experiences that can bring a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment that is hard to describe.
Making a difference in the world. Volunteering your time to help others, starting a charity, or making a scientific breakthrough are all experiences that can give you a sense of purpose and meaning in life.
Here are some more specific examples:
Seeing the Northern Lights dance across the sky
Witnessing a birth or a death
Experiencing a deep religious or spiritual awakening
Coming close to death and then surviving
Helping to save someone’s life
Overcoming a major challenge or obstacle
Falling in love at first sight
Having a mystical or paranormal experience
Witnessing a natural disaster or other awe-inspiring event
Traveling to a new and exotic country
Learning a new language or culture
Meeting someone who changes your life
Ultimately, the experiences that are so great that people can’t put them into words are the ones that touch us on a deep level and leave us feeling changed forever. They are the experiences that make us feel alive, connected to the world around us, and grateful for all that we have.
*****
What do you think? Pretty accurate?
What NEW experience would you like to have that you might not be able to put into words? Something NEW to think about huh?
Explore Newness 