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Lens-Artists Challenge #90 – Distance

Posted on March 31, 2020 by Miriam Hurdle 42 comments

Tina looked at the “Social Distancing” and invited us to focus on DISTANCE this week as a challenge to serve as a reminder of its importance.

I grew up in a big city and now live in one. When we traveled, it amazed me to realize some people live in a great distance from each other. It made me think that these people do not have the convenience to access many things, things at our fingertips we take for granted. These people also don’t have the luxury or technology city people have. I asked myself why people choose to live in these locations and live in this lifestyle. “Are they happy?” Then the next question is, “What makes people happy?” I think people either have no choice or choose to be content wherever they are and however they live.

The first set of photos is the distance in the land.

“Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity.” – Robert Morgan

Longleat in Somerset, UK, is an English Stately home. The house is set in 1,000 acres of parkland with 4,000 acres of let farmland and 4,000 acres of woodland.

“Ocean separates lands, not souls.” – Munia Khan

Four Mile Beach is considered the premier beach of Port Douglas, Australia, beginning at the northern rocky headland and continuing for four more miles without any buildings or construction interrupting the pristine views.

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller

Denali in Alaska is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190 m) above sea level. With a topographic prominence (measures the height of a mountain or hill’s summit relative to the lowest contour line) of 20,156 feet (6,144 m) and topographic isolation ( the minimum great-circle distance to a point of equal elevation) of 4,629 miles (7,450 km).

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The next set of photos is our family practice of social distancing.

Because of the Covid-19, I canceled my flight to be with my daughter, Mercy, for the birth of her second daughter. I planned to be there to watch Autumn while she was in the hospital. They live close to Washington sate which is on the top three states with most Coronavirus cases and death. I live in California which is one of the three states among the top three. It was for the safety that I canceled the flight. If it were not for a dangerous situation, they could have friends volunteer to watch Autumn. Under these circumstances, on Sunday, March 22, my son-in-law was able to take my daughter to the hospital but not staying with her during her labor. They did video chats during her labor. After baby Nora was born, their friends watched Autumn in the afternoon so Will went to the hospital and held Nora in his arms. They continued to do video chats in the next two days. The hospital discharged my daughter on Tuesday. Baby Nora had the first check-up appointment on Thursday.

Mercy and I did video chats and sent video messages to each other. She set up a Tinybeans.com account for her older daughter Autumn. She also posted many photos of the family and Nora on that account. That is the account I don’t miss checking every day. I can’t get enough to look at the photos and videos again and again.

“Distance means so little when someone means so much.” – Tom McNeal

Happy mother and daughters. I think Autumn read to Nora!!

“I exist in two places, here and where you are.” – Margaret Atwood

Autumn practiced care for the baby in the car seat.

“Love knows not distance; it hath no continent; its eyes are for the stars.” – Gilbert Parker

Autumn had Nora on her laps. She was very gentle with Nora.

Let’s do our part and keep social distancing. Stay safe!

Lens-Artists Challenge #90 – Distance

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge # 82 – Capital

Posted on February 3, 2020 by Miriam Hurdle 54 comments

This week, the guest host for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #82 is Viveka at My Guilty Pleasure. She chose Capital as the theme.

We have traveled to many countries but not all the places we’ve gone were capitals. We did visited several capital cities.

Beijing shopping

When we were in Beijing, China, in addition to sightseeing, we went shopping. At this shop, we saw this magnificent sculpture with one hundred horses carved out of one gigantic piece of jade.

b19 Windsor Castle1

We visited the Windsor Castle in London, England, on this hazy day. The sky opened up later in the day. Of course we were not expecting to have a glimpse of Her Majesty, but the girl who assisted us at the entrance said, “I’m working here today, but the Queen went to visit my college.”

Berlin Wall Memorial

We learned a lot of the history about Berlin, Germany, at this Berlin Wall Memorial. Large photo replicas and documents were on display on this side of the Wall.

Johann Strauss II

This is the statute of Johann Strauss II in Vienna, Austria. I also took a photo of Mozart when we were there. They are two of my favorite composers. Our tour guide took us to a concert with the performance of music pieces from both composers.

IMG_6999 Madrid

There was a bullfighting going on in Plaza De Toros (Bullfighting Ring) in the month we visited Madrid, Spain. When we traveled to Barcelona, we were told that Barcelona had banned bullfighting in July 2010. The ban came into effect on January 1, 2012. I was happy to hear the news because the bulls were raised with no idea of fighting until they were put in the ring and got killed.

DSC00604 Bangkok

Buddhism was originated in Thailand. Temples large and small were everywhere as we toured the city of Bangkok.

lens-artists photo challenge # 82 – cap·i·tal

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #81: Find Something Red

Posted on January 28, 2020 by Miriam Hurdle 48 comments

For this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Patti invited us to a photo scavenger hunt to find things that are red.

This scavenger hunt was harder than I thought. I found out that most of my photos don’t have too many red things. I’m glad to find some to share with you.

In early 2019 we went to my nephew’s wedding in Hong Kong. This is my granddaughter at the wedding cake cutting area outside of the banquet room.

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I captured this photo with the Royal Guard standing at the Tower of London.

2.Roral Guard at Tower of London

Mozarts Geburtshaus was the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Salzburg, Austria. Mozart was born here on 27 January 1756. The Mozart family resided on the third floor from 1747 to 1773.

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This is the art exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, a science and technology museum in Portland, Oregon. The artist collected insects and small birds around the world and used them to create amazing art displays.

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This piece of artwork is by the same artist. Every tiny dot in this artwork is a real insect.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #81: Find Something Red

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #10: Fences

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Miriam Hurdle 70 comments

The theme for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week is Fences. There are fences near and far, close to home and around the globe. Some fences are made with rod iron, wood, stones, cement, plants, flowers, lava rocks or a combination of the above. The functions of the fences are to be for prohibition, protection, security, divider, or beauty. In this post, I have included some examples of the forms and functions of the fences.

1.1 Cherry Blossom Japan

Cherry blossoms between the stone and wooden fences in Japan.

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Longleat, England

Posted on July 31, 2018 by Miriam Hurdle 21 comments

The theme for Frank’s Tuesday Photo Challenge this week is: Field

We went to London during our trip to Europe. We arrived five days prior to the tour group. My childhood friend and her husband took us sightseeing. This stately home reminds me of Downton Abbey!

Longleat is an English stately home in Somerset, England. It is an early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house. The house is set in 1,000 acres of parkland with 4,000 acres of let farmland and 4,000 acres of woodland. It was the first stately home to open to the public, and the Longleat estate includes the first safari park outside Africa.

The lovely cottage caught my attention and I took several photos of it. The last photo shows the monkeys freely roam in the safari park and climb on the cars that drive through a small area of the park.

c21 Longleat (2)