Picture-A-Week-2015 - Week 31

Pictures taken between Monday July 27 and Sunday August 2.

Our hibiscus are blooming but they are not as good as other years. Too much rain for 2 months and now too dry.

You could use that Hibiscus bloom as a sun hat!

Nice detail and lighting.

Those are some huge Hibiscus!!! Thanks for sharing!

They're massive, sure they are not Triffids in disguise :eek:

Thank you

The big hot pink ones aren't as large this year.

fun from the air - Mt Rainier

Lots of nice pictures on this thread, especially the above one of the SW Air wing and seeing Mt Rainier. Great work and posting by all.

This morning, I had a breakfast meeting in a nearby suburban community. And, they had their summer street market being conducted. Below are a few pictures of the "action" and fun, especially when it is such a beautiful and perfect weather period today.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 26,249 views for these postings.

From the Worthington Community market this morning, here is a sampling for the many flowers, shucking the sweet corn, checking produce, getting baked goods, etc., that was being offered and done. Fun!! Just a few quick snaps with my iPhone.:

Last evening we attended a Columbus Jazz Orchestra concert at the waterside, outdoor performing area of our Columbus Zoo. This Zoo is famous for Director Emeritus Jack Hanna and is one of the top-ranked facilities nationally. First, below are some examples of animal action there at the Zoo prior to the music program.

At this program, I did run into and chat with the former Zoo Director who worked closely with Jack Hanna. He and his wife have done twenty-plus trips to Africa and we were discussing our upcoming adventure there. Botswana is our top location and it rates in their minds as the "best of the best" for seeing Africa. They also super loved Cape Town where we will spend a good amount of time before doing our Silver Cloud sailing along that southern coast, etc. We will get together with him and his wife (plus another couple that was there last night) to get added insights, tips, ideas, etc., for South Africa, Victoria Falls, Botswana, etc. It is great to get their feed-back about unique places to visit such as down there.

On size, the former Zoo Director noted that Botswana is BIG! It is almost as big as Texas (84% of our large state's size). BUT, this country only has a little over two million people. For the time we will be visiting there in mid February 2016, there might be some rain, but it is the ideal time to be there for birds with their migrations at this period of their summer. Did you get the idea that we will be able to escape the winter cold while in this part of Africa during early 2016? YES!! That's a big part of the reason for this trip. Plus, seeing Africa for our first time.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 202,427 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

From being at the Columbus Zoo last night, here is a little sampling of the bird and animal sights. Fun and interesting!!:

For last night's Columbus Jazz Orchestra program at the Columbus Zoo, the program was "Ella, Louis & All The Jazz” featuring a wonderful singer and bass player named Nicki Parrott. She is originally from Australia and was wonderful. Early in her career, she was in part discovered by legendary guitarist and inventor Les Paul. Very entertaining program that she and the orchestra did last night!!

It is hard to show music in pictures, but these visuals might give you an idea for the fun and exciting in hearing this classical music performed well with wonderful spirt.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 182,365 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

From last night's Columbus Jazz Orchestra "Ella, Louis & All The Jazz”, here are a few visuals highlights, including Australia singer and bass player Nicki Parrott.:

Love the Southwest/Mt Rainier pic! I work for an airline/cargo carrier and my desktop at work is a similar pic one one of our planes and mountains.

Great pictures Terry!!

Hayden Flour Mill, during our hike of "A" mountain today (built in 1918)

We received a cutting from a cactus and, of course, it was necessary to point

the camera at it. I dragged out my 25-year-old Minolta macro lens and turned

the crown of a cactus and a 1/8" spine into an alien landscape.

Cactus Hills

Dave

Wow, Useless Air windows are never that clean! Nice Shot!

Lucky shot!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

dileep, nice shot, very well taken.

The only luck is that you are on the good side of the plane and the sun is perfect. I hate it when the sun is on the window and shows every imperfection in the window.

I have heard good things about Botswana from others. We like Kruger National park. Cape Town and Victoria Falls are great too. Take the helicopter over the falls!

Beautiful flowers!

I've got a few I liked from this week:

The rain got me when I was out running!

2015-07-28 (Day 209) Light Rain by Alan Potter, on Flickr

A couple of my friends fire twirling

2015-07-30 (Day 211) Fire! by Alan Potter, on Flickr

Blackness Castle

2015-07-31 (Day 212) Blackness Castle by Alan Potter, on Flickr

Feeding time

2015-08-02 (Day 214) Feeding Time by Alan Potter, on Flickr