The Sign of Promise

I was able to capture this rainbow from the view of my kitchen window which appeared instantly after a mid-day thunderstorm had past through our area.

It reminded me of this promise.

“I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the promise between Me and the earth.”

“It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud,”

“And I will remember my promise which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh, the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.”

“The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting promise between God and every living creature of all flesh and that is on the earth.”    Genesis 9:13-16

Mountain Meadows

This is a view from the top of Cadel Mountain, part of the Allegheny Mountain range running through the state of West Virginia.

It’s a view that my brother had no problem in pulling the car over to let his little sister (me)  take all the pictures she wanted to.

A big thanks to my brother for indulging me.

Where’s the Snow?

The polar bear is  regarded as a marine mammal because it spends many months of the year at sea. 

It is the largest terrestrial carnivore,  sharing this title only with the Kodiak Bear.

Adult males weigh 770–1500 lbs and measure  7.9–9.8 ft in length.  Adult females are roughly half the size of males and normally weigh 330–550 lb, measuring 5.9–7.9 ft in length.

Pictured is a female Polar Bear (Baltimore zoo) sitting patiently on the ground apparently looking for something .  Given that I took this shot in the middle of June I couldn’t help but think that perhaps she is seeking relief from the hot summer sun and is wishing for snow.

An Ancient Pet

What Most of Us Know:  The cheetah, currently on the endangered species list, achieves by far the fastest land speed of any living animal.  They have the ability to reach speeds between 112 and 120 km/h (70 and 75 mph) in short bursts covering distances up to 500 m (1,600 ft), with the ability to accelerate from 0 to over 100 km/h (62 mph) in three seconds.

What Most of us Don’t Know:   Ancient Egyptians often kept cheetahs as pets, and also tamed and trained them for hunting.  Cheetahs would be taken to hunting fields in low-sided carts or by horseback, hooded and blindfolded, and kept on leashes while dogs flushed out their prey.  When the prey was near enough, the cheetahs would be released and their blindfolds removed.

This tradition was passed on to the ancient Persians and brought to India, where the practice was continued by Indian princes into the twentieth century.

Cheetahs continued to be associated with royalty and elegance, their use as pets spreading just as their hunting skills were. Other such princes and kings kept them as pets, including Genghis Khan and Charlemagne, who boasted of having kept cheetahs within their palace grounds. Akbar the Great, ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605, kept as many as 1000 cheetahs.  As recently as the 1930s the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, was often photographed leading a cheetah by a leash.

Here’s Looking At You

I have taken several photo’s of butterflies, but this is the first time that I’ve taken one that actually turned its head to smile for my camera.

Mr. Bushy Tail

The word squirrel, first attested in 1327.  It comes from the Anglo-Norman esquirel from the Old French escurel,  Latin sciurus  and Ancient Greek  skiouros, which means shadow-tailed.

Squirrels live in almost every habitat from tropical rainforest to semiarid desert, avoiding only the high polar regions and the driest of deserts.

As their large eyes indicate, squirrels generally have an excellent sense of vision, which is especially important for tree-dwelling species.

A Tightrope of Blooms

Butterflies are quite the acrobats, ready and able to display their ability to defy gravity.

Whether it is by crawling across the top of a flower, hanging upside down on a stem or walking a miniature tightrope of blooms, they are truly amazing little creatures and enjoyable to watch.

Miss Ruby

Ruby-throated hummingbirds are solitary.  Adults only come into contact with each other for the purpose of mating, and both males and females will aggressively defend feeding locations within their territory.

This aggressiveness becomes most pronounced in late summer to early fall as they fatten up for their  migration across the Gulf of Mexico.

This migration has long confounded scientists.  It is a 500-mile, non-stop flight over water which would seemingly require a caloric energy that far exceeds an adult hummingbird’s body weight of 3 grams.

However, researchers discovered the tiny birds can nearly double their body mass in preparation for their Gulf crossing. The additional mass, stored as fat, provides enough energy for the birds to achieve this amazing flight.

I was able to take a quick photo of this female Ruby-throated hummingbird as she briefly paused from her sweet tasting dinner.  If you would like to see a picture of  her counterpart, the male Ruby-throated hummingbird, click on the “wings of beauty” category located in the right side panel under Living Art and scroll down.

Tranquilty’s Light

 

 

There is nothing quite like a peaceful walk underneath the canopy of leaves  at the end of the day.

Magic seems to occur as the sound of nature begins its transition from daytime critters to night time creatures.

And as the setting of the sun angles itself through the dense foliage and lightly splashes a peaceful glow upon the leaves, a sense of tranquility fills the air.

Want to Play a Game of Darts?

The answer to the titles question is a firm NO.

As attractive as this little frog is, he is not to be played with for he is one of  175 species of the poisonous Dart Frog family and is highly toxic.

Dart frogs are native to Central and South America and are critically endangered.

They were named “dart frogs” due to the Amerindians‘ indigenous use of their toxic secretions to poison the tips of blowdarts.

I happened by this little fellows’ sanctuary just in time to watch him sneak up on his afternoon meal, which is trying its best to hide in the crack of the rock.

However, the seeker proved greater than the hider and a tasty treat was soon enjoyed by the black spotted orange amphibian.