THE LETTER P ~ PIRATES

THE LETTER P ~ PIRATES

Pirate. Picaroon. Plank. Parrot. Plunder. Pub. Peg-leg. Pistol. Privateer. Puns. Parody. Paws. Photoshop! 

September 19 for over twenty-five years has been internationally celebrated as Talk Like A Pirate Day. Just do a minimal internet search and you'll find more than you ever wanted to know about pirates and how to be part of this fun day.  The pet community Meows and Barks like pirates too!  

For me it's a purrfect opportunity to play with Photoshop ~ making the kitties and woofies I know into pirates for a day.  

Here, Angel Zoey, Grand Dog Dougie and of course, June.  So let's begin the countdown to 9/19/2023 . . .

 

THE LETTER J ~ JUNE

JUNE

 

THE LETTER I ~ INDIGO

INDIGO

INDIGO is a deep, rich shade of blue and violet, though these foam building blocks are really a bright true blue.  Photographed on a large, lighted play table their true color had altered but created a dramatic photograph. My image is from a visit to the PLAY WORK BUILD room located at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.   

The museum building was formerly the historic Pension Building (built 1882-1887). Entering the main floor Great Hall one cannot but be impressed by four Corinthian columns, among the tallest in the world.  The architecture of the hall was inspired by 16th century renderings of Michelangelo. Exhibits today are both permanent and rotating.  The Great Hall is often the site of special events, and continues as the venue for one of the many Inaugural Balls given every four years.  

NBM is a museum I have been to many times, and always suggest for family and friends who are visiting our nation's capital.  I've never found any exhibit wanting, but my favorite is PLAY WORK BUILD.  Yes, meant for children ~ though I'd have to suggest it is for children ages 2 to 99.  

If you ever played with Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs ... saw a Lionel Train go round and round the tracks ...  Hey, maybe you'd like to take a peek at the first generation LEGO's from 1949?

Back to INDIGO!  The highlight of the Play Work Build room are it's foam building blocks.  Small, medium, large, extra large, huge, gi-normous!  Sit on them, stand on them, throw them, jump up/jump down.  Stack them, knock them down, dance around.  Whether you're that 2 year old ... or the grey-haired grandparent, you'll see everyone playing with, working with, or building with BLOCKS.  Or, maybe stretching out and taking a short nap on one of them ...

Seriously, it's pretty amazing ... please, take just a minute or two, watch this video.  

It's fun!  I promise!

PLAY WORK BUILD

 

THE LETTER H ~ HAPPY

HAPPY, HAPPIER, HAPPIEST

I am always happy when spending time with any of my grandchildren,

here with my youngest.

Photo, late autumn 2022.

 

THE LETTER G ~ GRAND

GRAND

The DC metropolitan area was my home for nearly 23-years, living in northern Virginia but commuting daily across the Memorial Bridge (pre Metro days) to work downtown.  Our nation's capital city has an abundance of grand and beautiful memorials to the famous, some now infamous, and amazing architecture, yet it was always inspiring to me to view the Lincoln Memorial early morning, and again in the evening, often at sunset on the drive home.  It may be that the Lincoln Memorial, at the West end of the National Mall, facing the Reflecting Pool, the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol has been the site of more events than any other place in the city ~ concerts, demonstrations, political speeches, impromptu gatherings, official ceremonies and more.  

As "grand" as the Lincoln Memorial is, did you know that within all the writings on its walls, there is a spelling error?  In quoting from Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, the stone carvers misspelled a word.  Of course, attempts were made to cover up this mistake, but if you search, if you look closely, you will find it. 

Authors observation: in this great city, with all its grand monuments, it's not unusual for those in positions of power (power given by our vote, others by appointment) to try to cover up their missteps.  This is disingenuous at best as these actions were/are not errors of judgement but intentional and self serving. 

 

THE LETTER F ~ FEATHERS

 FEATHERS

FLAPPING

FINCHES at FEEDERS

Backyard bird watching on Nature Friday, Friends Friday, Flashback Friday,

originally posted November 2018.

THE LETTER D

 CHEAPER by the DOZEN

Yes, we're cheating about these "cheepers" as there are far more than a dozen,

and they likely quack anyway.  But dozen is our D word, so be it.

Photographed in the backyard of a bed and breakfast on

Chincoteague Island while vacationing there in the summer of 2017,

and posted to this blog around the same time.

 

THE LETTER C

COMBINATION

Most of the postings on Zoolatry over the years have been of my pets, 

or family pets, and many have been altered in Adobe Creative Cloud.

One of the things I enjoy doing most is to work with a series 

of my own photographs ~ sometimes using the same image (bottom), 

or ones that are similar, usually taken at the same time (top).

I'll use coloring techniques or other tools on these images 

and then combine them to create a single picture.

The above pictures are of my grand-dog Dougie, a handsome chocolate brown

Labrador. Both originally posted on this blog in the fall of 2016.

 

THE LETTER B

 

BASKET

A box, a bag, a basket.  If it's there, open and available, a cat will get into it.
This is a photo of June, originally posted July of 2021 and
photoshop altered, though yes, she was really in the basket.