Thursday Thoughts – We Must Make it Work!

My post from November 30, 2017, a year ago – I thought a reminder to us all would not hurt. What do you want to give your children and grand children for the future?

 

Every December I remember our month in New Zealand some years ago. Never have I been to a country where I found so much and so many to admire and love.

This is where our antipodes live, this is where I had one of my first penfriends, this is the country whose nature I believe to be the most diverse and beautiful in the world. And this is where Rainbow Warrior went down, sending many people around the world into an unbelievable state of shock.

We are constantly reminded of how much we contaminate our world, and the focus here in Swedish media, right now,  is the sea, the oceans.

Just like in Wellington, we can still bathe, swim and fish in Stockholm – but for how long?

I am a member of many organizations trying their best to help preserving our planet for generations to come. But right now, we receive news every day about all the plastic and micro plastic in the oceans – a terrible threat to all organisms-

So, I think again, with my heart wide open, about how much I respect and love NZ, its people and its genuine efforts to help the world stay healthy. Down to every detail… for example the artwork made for making us humans see and do the right things.

And these are only two, small,  brilliant examples out of many, many…we saw new examples every day.

Hopefully it is not too late for the world – but You and I, and all of us, have to do our bit, our part, every day – to save our enigmatic and fantastic planet. Start with the little things…don’t use plastic bags, bring your own when you go shopping. Don’t throw old medicine in the toilet, in Sweden we leave them at the pharmacy for destruction.

Can you say you try to do everything you can to help? I know I try – but I also know I can do so much more.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #21: Splash!

 

This week, Patti is hosting our challenge – and she has chosen an interesting subject –  ”Splash!” for us to illustrate, and relate to. The essential Water. And in order to survive and live on this beautiful planet, we rely on water. (And oxygen…and…)

In the header, the photo shows the bathroom at Casa Battló in Barcelona. (Fake water…)

Memories from the Spanish west coast – a warm and glorious evening!

The sound of a River in Iceland, making its way to the cold winter sea.

Lofoten, Norway, is something otherworldly…

And down to the tiniest spot, we rely on water. To catch fish, drink, but also to play with – and in…Bring your mum if it looks too dangerous!

My students always had to go through several ”tests” when they first started college. One of them meant filling a tube with water, and to cooperate to stop the water from splashing through the holes in it. Using yourself only! And there were several holes drilled in it…. They almost always threw themselves into the game – After some minutes the leftover water was measured, and the winners were…:-D

 

 

Thursday Thoughts – Art Nouveau Villas

Wherever I travel, I love to walk among architectural big or small wonders. In Łódź, on our last day, I found a guide about famous houses in the city. Not much time left, but I just had to see their famous Art Nouveau gem.

Villa Gallery, a house built in 1903 for the manufacturer Leopold Kindermann from Łódź, is listed on the prestigious Iconic Houses platform.

The global list of outstanding architecturally-significant houses is created by the Amsterdam-based Iconic Houses Foundation.

The aim of the Iconic Houses organisation is to popularise knowledge about 20th-century great architectural designs, gathering documentation on them and promoting the idea of opening such buildings to the public.

Only the houses that are open as public museums can enter the Iconic Houses list.

Among the list of most beautiful houses of the 20th century, there are icons such as Antonio Gaudí’s Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye in Poissy, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West in Arizona, as well as the houses of Alvar Aalto in Helsinki, and Victor Horta in Brussels, Theo van Doesburg in Paris, Arne Jacobsen’s in Copenhagen and many others, all considered milestones in the history of modern architecture.

Just to look at the elaborate details is magical. The iron gates were magical wonders.

The windows, and the visible – or hidden – sculptures really kept your eyes alert.

I met with some great difficulties trying to photograph the house – high gates and impossible angles. But I hope you get a hint of the beauty of the villa. It made me long for Bacelona and Gaudí, again…

 

CFFC: Funny

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Funny

Surprise, surprise!

Why do you feed reindeer on the road? Because you have all the time in the world when you are on vacation, because it is fun…and you seem not to care if they get hit by a car. Quite a few of them were limping and were in no hurry to leave the road.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #20: Open Sesame – Doors and Doorways

Tina’s challenge this week is for us to find doors – and maybe to open them…or at least making you want to find out what is hidden behind them.

“Doors can lead you to other worlds, or to what is behind what is in front of you.”

Stephanie Torbert

I like that quote from Tina’s post, because I like word play, and my doors are simply a diverse gallery of some favorites from my travels. All of them works of art – natural or man made. In the header, the enigmatic doorway to Rila monastery in Bulgaria.

Bhutan

Tibet

The Moroccan desert – where the doors are the woven, striped and checked ”carpets” on the left hand side.

Spain

Latvia

Sweden

Sweden

 

Please remember the Lens-Artists tag to be seen in our Reader section. For more information about our challenge click here. And don’t forget to join Patti for her challenge next week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday’s Special: Pick a Word in November – y3

For Paula, at Lost in Translation, I am always lovingly waiting! And gratefully learning something new from every Pick a Word.

Cerulian in the header

Palatial

Comic

Spurting

Radiating

 

Thursday Thoughts – Things That Caught My Eye in Łódź

I love things new and things old, architecture and juxtaposition of styles. Things dilapidated, things science fiction, things…Well, maybe we all do. Hope a mix will be enjoyable this Thursday!

 

A walk in contemplation…

– as always…

The old Jewish cemetery

Abandoned places in the middle of the city

In between old and new apartments – he was selling fresh fruit and vegetables

One of the many impressive street art works – this city is considered one of the major cities in the world for graffiti artists

View from the new railway station