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lens-artists: rock your word

A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn [ˈkʰaːrˠn̪ˠ] (plural càirn [ˈkʰaːrˠɲ]).

Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, they were raised as markers, as memorials and as burial monuments (some of which contained chambers). In the modern era, cairns are often raised as landmarks, especially to mark the summits of mountains. Cairns are also used as trail markers. They vary in size from small stone markers to entire artificial hills, and in complexity from loose conical rock piles to elaborate megalithic structures. Cairns may be painted or otherwise decorated, whether for increased visibility or for religious reasons.

A variant is the inuksuk (plural inuksuit), used by the Inuit and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America.*

*cited: Wikipedia

Video of Erin building a cairn submitted in response to Donna @ WindKisses’ lens-artists challenge: rock your world

weekly prompts: glimmer

Pale green night and flowers all melting into one 
    in the soft haze–
Everywhere the moon, glimmering in the Spring night.

~The Sarashina Diary (1009-1059): Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan

The morning’s sun glimmered on the surface of Spring Creek. Please enjoy.

Visit Weekly Prompts to join this week’s challenge: glimmer

2018 photography review, may

May is the month of my youngest sister’s birthday. Within memory, it is also the month of promised freedom…freedom from winter’s bone-chilling cold and freedom to escape the confines of home and school as jump ropes, marbles, chalk, and baseballs emerged from dark musty closets. Its promise was the promise of summer which held the yearning for freedom from school; and thus, the freedom to swim in the Yampa River, to ride the train to Steamboat Springs, to lose myself in a stack of library books, and to explore a backyard that had no fence barriers.

The photo study project during last May was inspired by my initial reading of Bruce Percy’s ebook, “The Art of Tonal Adjustment.” and Ted Forbes’ educational video in which he reviewed low angle photography.

What childhood memories does May awaken for you? Over the past year have you been inspired by a blogger, a photographer, a writer?

I am grateful for all of those who, in a role of teacher–intentional and unintentional, were an inspiration and within the listening and processing of their worldview a new window to my world opened. One window was opened this morning with this very interesting educational video about frames of reference which I will need to replay a number of times in order ease my mental fog.

lens artists photo challenge: splash

     

Even water could not live on– 
So lonesome is the mountain 
Of the leaf-scattering stormy wind. ~The Sarashin Diary (Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)

Snowy Range…   Nikon D750    f/5.6   1/3200s  145mm   2800 ISO 

Visit Patti at  P.A. Moed to join this week’s lens-artists photo challenge: splash