I wish you a very, very Happy New Year! May 2025 bring you and yours much joy and happiness!
Merry Christmas!
Ho Ho Ho! I hope you’ve been good this year. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful day with family and friends!
Journey of the Magi
‘A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.’
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins,
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
T. S. Eliot (1888 – 1965) was one of the 20th century’s greatest poets, a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry and the 1948 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
To read more poems, click here.
My 2024 Favorite Photos
As 2024 comes to a close, it’s natural to reflect on the past year. Let’s take a look, shall we?
Unwavering Gaze: this is my absolute favorite photo this year, by far.
I photographed this four-year-old lion in the Lapalala Wilderness Reserve a few months ago, and it is possibly the most beautiful lion I’ve ever seen. Being just a few meters away from this magnificent animal as it looked at me sent shivers down my spine. I still feel that thrill whenever I look at the photo.
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🦁Lion (Panthera leo)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, South Africa
Did you know that a zebra’s stripe pattern is as unique as human fingerprints? Scientists believe that this helps zebras recognize each other. The stripes also aid in camouflage, making it more difficult for predators to distinguish individual zebras by obscuring their silhouettes.
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🦓Zebra (Equus quagga)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, South Africa
Sometimes, simple is best—just a few grazing sheep and the beauty of the rising sun. There’s something about that golden light that makes everything—sheep butts included—look fabulous!
We were on our way to Seal Bay for a 7am appointment with the research team when we came across these sheep grazing peacefully as the sun rose. Everything was bathed in gold; it was breathtaking.
Unfortunately, we were in a hurry and couldn’t afford to stop for too long. I literally jumped out of the car and quickly took a few photos, hoping some would be good enough 😅.
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📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Kangaroo Island, South Australia
A zebra walks leisurely ahead of its harem in the Marataba Game Reserve, South Africa. In zoology, a harem is a group of zebras consisting of one stallion, several mares, and their offspring. I love that soft morning light.
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🦓Zebra (Equus quagga)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Marataba Game Reserve, South Africa
Boxing practice: two young kangaroos sparring at sunset. This is how they learn to fight, first with their mother and then with other young males. As they grow, sparring with other males helps them establish their position within the mob. With experience, the sparring sessions become longer and more intense.
Kangaroos use their sharp claws, strong back legs, and muscular tails —capable of supporting their entire body weight — to deliver powerful kicks that could disembowel a human.
However, these youngsters were only playing and started grooming each other shortly afterward.
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🦘Kangaroo Island Kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Kangaroo Island, South Australia
I had a wonderful time watching this young Australian sea lion carefully inspect every stone, stick, and shell on the beach at Seal Bay. It was a beautiful display of innocence and curiosity. Kids, whether human or animal, are always curious! 😍
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🦭Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, South Australia
Moments like these are why I love wildlife photography, even more so when knowing how few of these animals are left in the world.
Unique to South and Western Australia, Australian sea lions are one of the rarest animals in the world, with a total population of around 6.500. Australian sea lions are on the endangered species list today, having been hunted to near extension in the 19th century.
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🦭Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, South Australia
African elephant photographed in Marataba Game Reserve, South Africa. Many people commented on the elephant’s long lashes on Instagram, but most missed just how long they really were. Take another look. Yes, they are long and thick near the eye, but if you look closer, you’ll see that they are even longer than you think!
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🐘African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Marataba Game Reserve, South Africa
Did you know that woodpeckers store seeds, berries, and acorns in the hollows of trees to prepare for the winter? In late autumn, these resourceful birds not only stash food for the colder months but also occasionally utilize these tree hollows as shelter for resting.
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Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Lidingö, Stockholm (Sweden)
This is how you pose 👌! When I took this photo in June, I was confident this would be one of my favorite images of the year. A quick glance at the back of the camera confirmed it.
This year’s Halloween card, I love it!
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🐿 Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Lidingö, Sweden
A red squirrel digs through the snow in search of hidden nuts. Squirrels have an excellent sense of smell and can detect food buried under 30 centimeters (one foot) of snow!
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🐿 Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Lidingö, Sweden
I hope you enjoyed looking at the photos. Here’s to more, better images to come in 2025! Cheers!
I wish you a very, very Happy New Year! Gott Nytt År as we say in Swedish.
Nightfall in the Tropics
There is twilight grey and gloomy
Where the sea its velvet trails;
Out across the heavens roomy
Draw the veils.
Bitter and sonorous rises
The complaint from out the deeps,
And the wave the wind surprises
Weeps.
Viols there amid the gloaming
Hail the sun that dies,
And the white spray in its foaming
“Miserere” sighs.
Harmony the heavens embraces,
And the breeze is lifting free
To the chanting of the races
Of the sea.
Clarions of horizons calling
Strike a symphony most rare,
As if mountain voices calling
Vibrate there.
As though dread, unseen, were walking,
As though awesome echoes bore
On the distant breeze’s quaking
The lion’s roar.
Translated from the Spanish by Thomas Walsh
Rubén Darío (1867—1916) was an influential Nicaraguan poet, journalist, and diplomat who initiated the Spanish-language literary movement known as modernismo(modernism).
To read more poems, click here.
It’s International Cheetah Day!
Happy International Cheetah Day!
Did you know that the black tear stripes on a cheetah’s face, which run from its eyes to its mouth, function like a rifle scope? These stripes help protect their eyes from the sun’s glare, allowing cheetahs to focus on their prey from a long distance. Isn’t nature amazing?
🐆Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, South Africa
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Favorite Photos: November 2024
Unwavering gaze. I photographed this four-year-old lion in the Lapalala Wilderness Reserve a few months ago, and it is possibly the most beautiful lion I’ve ever seen. Being just a few meters away from this magnificent animal as it looked at me sent shivers down my spine. I still feel that thrill whenever I look at the photo.
This is one of my top favorite photos this year, likely one of the 2024 top ten. Maybe THE 2024 favorite? We’ll see, we’ll see … only a few weeks to go.
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🦁Lion (Panthera leo)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, South Africa
Same lion, now in color. It’s interesting how some photos can look better in black-and-white, as is the case with this lion …
… or in color, as it’s the case with this zebra.
Did you know that a zebra’s stripe pattern is as unique as human fingerprints? Scientists believe that this helps zebras recognize each other. The stripes also aid in camouflage, making it more difficult for predators to distinguish individual zebras by obscuring their silhouettes.
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🦓Zebra (Equus quagga)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, South Africa
Same zebra, now in black-and-white. It’s an OK photo, but I think I like the color version better.
Circle of life in the Lapalala Wilderness. After feasting on the remains of a roan antelope, a young lion scans its surroundings; truly a sight to behold.
(And, truth to be told, a bit nerve-wracking, standing just a few meters from the lion. “Not interested in your antelope, sir, I’m a vegetarian”!)
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🦁Lion (Panthera leo)
📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
📍Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, South Africa
All photos were taken with Canon EOS R5 and Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM.
Related Posts
- Favorite Photos: October 2024
- Favorite Photos: September 2024
- Favorite Photos August 2024
- Favorite Photos: July 2024
- Favorite Photos: June 2024
- Favorite Photos: May 2024
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The Spirit of Poetry
There is a quiet spirit in these woods,
That dwells where’er the gentle southwind blows;
Where, underneath the white-thorn, in the glade,
The wild flowers bloom, or, kissing the soft air,
The leaves above their sunny palms outspread.
With what a tender and impassioned voice
It fills the nice and delicate ear of thought,
When the fast ushering star of morning comes
O’er-riding the gray hills with golden scarf;
Or when the cowled and dusky-sandaled Eve
In mourning weeds, from out the western gate,
Departs with silent pace! That spirit moves
In the green valley, where the silver brook,
From its full laver, pours the white cascade;
And, babbling low amid the tangled woods,
Slips down through moss-grown stones with endless laughter.
And frequent, on the everlasting hills,
Its feet go forth, when it doth wrap itself
In all the dark embroidery of the storm,
And shouts the stern, strong wind. And here, amid
The silent majesty of these deep woods,
Its presence shall uplift thy thoughts from earth,
As to the sunshine and the pure, bright air
Their tops the green trees lift. Hence gifted bards
Have ever loved the calm and quiet shades.
For them there was an eloquent voice in all
The sylvan pomp of woods, the golden sun,
The flowers, the leaves, the river on its way,
Blue skies, and silver clouds, and gentle winds,
The swelling upland, where the sidelong sun
Aslant the wooded slope, at evening, goes,
Groves, through whose broken roof the sky looks in,
Mountain, and shattered cliff, and sunnyvale,
The distant lake, fountains, and mighty trees,
In many a lazy syllable, repeating
Their old poetic legends to the wind.
And this is the sweet spirit, that doth fill
The world; and, in these wayward days of youth,
My busy fancy oft embodies it,
As a bright image of the light and beauty
That dwell in nature; of the heavenly forms
We worship in our dreams, and the soft hues
That stain the wild bird’s wing and flush the clouds
When the sun sets. Within her tender eye
The heaven of April, with its changing light,
And when it wears the blue of May, is hung,
And on her lip the rich, red rose. Her hair
Is like the summer tresses of the trees,
When twilight makes them brown, and on her cheek
Blushes the richness of an autumn sky,
With ever-shifting beauty. Then her breath,
It is so like the gentle air of Spring,
As, from the morning’s dewy flowers, it comes
Full of their fragrance, that it is a joy
To have it round us, and her silver voice
Is the rich music of a summer bird,
Heard in the till night, with its passionate cadence.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882) was an American poet and educator, and one of the monumental cultural figures of nineteenth-century America.
To read more poems, click here.
Elyanna: A New Favorite for My Music Playlists
It’s always such a joy discovering new music! I’ve recently stumbled over Elyanna (the stage name of Elian Marjieh), a 22 year-old Palestinian-Chilean singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles.
She merges Arabic music with Latin rhythms to create an experimental Arab-pop sound with inspiration from jazz and blues. She’s released one studio album so far (Woledto, April 2024) and I’m looking forward to hear more from her.
Related Posts
- YouTube Channel Elyanna
- The Diva Dance
- Year of Wonder
- Introducing Hermanos Gutiérrez: A New Favorite for My Playlists
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Ghosts
There are ghosts in the room.
As I sit here alone, from the dark corners there
They come out of the gloom,
And they stand at my side and they lean on my chair
There’s a ghost of a Hope
That lighted my days with a fanciful glow,
In her hand is the rope
That strangled her life out. Hope was slain long ago.
But her ghost comes to-night
With its skeleton face and expressionless eyes,
And it stands in the light,
And mocks me, and jeers me with sobs and with sighs.
There’s the ghost of a Joy,
A frail, fragile thing, and I prized it too much,
And the hands that destroy
Clasped its close, and it died at the withering touch.
There’s the ghost of a Love,
Born with joy, reared with hope, died in pain and unrest,
But he towers above
All the others—this ghost; yet a ghost at the best,
I am weary, and fain
Would forget all these dead: but the gibbering host
Make my struggle in vain—
In each shadowy corner there lurketh a ghost.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 – 1919) was an American poet and journalist.
To read more poems, click here.
