Today’s Pictures: 5 Dec 20

On By stuartakenIn Nature, Photography
Winter fern in the Forest of Dean.

Thanks for visiting this blog. Please be generous to those imprisoned by the Covid crisis by sharing this post widely with them on social media, so they can also enjoy it. It will then also reach more people and, hopefully, remind them what a wonderful place our world is. That might help restore some love and respect for nature and slow down our destructive urge to ruin the environment. Thank you.

Walking a lane on the Greek island of Samos. Taken September 2016.

If you enjoy my pictures, you may be interested in my gallery, which you can find here or through the ‘Gallery’ tab at the top of the page.

26 thoughts on “Today’s Pictures: 5 Dec 20”

  2. Pingback: Today’s Pictures: 5 Dec 20 | In the Net! – Stories of Life and Narcissistic Survival

    1. The lady fern (sister of the male fern – but see my response to Joni below) lives on through the winter, separating it from the bracken, which all dies back. It gives some lovely green to the autumn and winter forest. I thought I’d use the shot from Samos as a contrast to the cooler temperatures here now, Lynette. Mind you, we’re nowhere near the sort of chill you’re experiencing!

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        1. So much wildlife is suffering due to the irresponsibility of humanity, Lynette. Yet still so many humans deny the reality. We can but hope that nature doesn’t sort out the problem by itself; it would be a much more brutal solution than those we could take ourselves.

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            1. I agree, Lynette. At the risk of offending many good people, I’m afraid I believe a prime mover of misinformation is religion. It promotes belief in things for which there is no evidence, and therefore makes it easier for people to form beliefs in almost anything their particular tribal group suggests. It’s a recipe for the spread of falsehood masquerading as truth, I’m afraid. And politicians and big business abuse this weakness for their own, often very selfish, ends. Sorry, I’ll climb down from my soapbox now!

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              1. No need to climb down. I tend to keep my religious views to myself (I don’t believe any of it; to me it’s just mythology) because people can really get so bent out of shape about it, but I think your blog is relatively safe place to discuss.

                I agree totally. Belief in something for which there is no evidence promotes the same mental habits regarding anything else. I think religion is ant the root of many of the world’s ills.

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                1. My latest novel deals with this theme quite comprehensively, Lynette, within a story that merges adventure with romance. I’m hoping my publisher will get it out there shortly after Xmas.
                  My reason for a cautious approach on here was I know a number of my followers are deeply religious, and I have no wish to offend them. The truth is, I’m every bit as passionate about my ‘beliefs’ as many religious people are about theirs, but I find this is often not considered by them. Generally, those of us who are atheist or agnostic are less tribal in our outlook than those who belong to any one of the many thousands of religious sects, so we are less likely to see disagreement with our viewpoint as an attack on our ‘group’, and therefore less open to seeing such intolerance as a threat, I think.

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                  1. Good luck with your new book!

                    Yes, I get concerned about followers with deeply held religious beliefs; I don’t want to offend them. But at the same time, I have to be able to say what I think is true, too. Balance (like bridges) can be hard …

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  4. Great photographs Stuart. I love the green fern hanging on determined to highlight that tree.
    Have a blessed weekend my friend. Hugs and love to you and Valerie. 🤗💕❤️Joni

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    1. The fern, which I think is a Lady Fern, a more delicate version of the Male Fern (Both misnomers, since all ferns are bisexual) contrasted so definitely against the dead and dying vegetation of autumn, Joni. Its position suggested it was ‘guarding’ the tree.

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      1. Oh what a magnificent thought. Oh Stuart that would have been such a great opportunity for a collaborative piece for you and I. How wonderful. Yes it stood out so beautifully. You and Valerie have a magnificent day. Sending you both lots of love. 🤗💕❤️Joni

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        1. If you can think of a creative piece to go with the picture, Joni, please be my guest. I’m currently rather deeply immersed in some specific editing of my most recent MS, as it contains a reference to Trump, and his idiotic, childish behaviour relating to his refusal to accept the result of the American electorate is too good to miss from the story. Fortunately, my publisher currently has an embarrassment of riches from some new authors, so he hadn’t got to my novel yet. It gives me an opportunity to do a little more tweaking of the text before his team of editors get their teeth into it.

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          1. Oh I would love to work on-a poem using your thought. It would be an honor to do a collaborative post with you and your work. Thank you Stuart. Let me work on it and I will send it via private message. It would be a piece written about your photograph and your idea. Thank you I will work on this. So excited! Glad you have some extra time with your latest book. Sending a bucket of ferns with thank you ribbons via strong group of fairies. 🤗💕❤️ Please give my best to Valerie and the two of you have a wonderful day together. Love ❤️ Joni

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  5. Hello! Sir, hope you are doing well.
    Am here with another query.
    Today I read a sentence in a blog of a fellow blogger, she wrote, *we do will have to….* (she might have used *do* to make the future event more emphatic), but I have not learned/heard/read this structure before.
    Is that structure correct?
    Kindly guide me for that.

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    1. Hi Saba. The phrase ‘we do will have to’ is not correct English. Depending on the sense intended, she might use, ‘we will have to’, or ‘we do have to’, to express a future intention, though in that last phrase, ‘do’ might be considered redundant, as the expression would say more or less the same when expressed as ‘we have to’, unless she is trying to imply an imperative, in which case the ‘do’ could remain in place. If she wanted only to emphasise the fact of ‘having’ to do something, she might be better advised to use ‘we must’. Hope that helps. Without a little more context it’s difficult to give precise guidance.

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        1. Thanks, Saba. In that case, I’d suggest this: ‘We will have to answer for our doings, our sayings, and only then will we discern life was a phantasm.’
          By the way, please call me ‘Stuart’. ‘Sir’ makes me feel so old, but thank you for the respect you intend.

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        2. Dear Saba,

          I do second all of what Stuart has conveyed to you. In addition to “we must”, the verb “must” can be replaced by any one of the following:

          ought to
          should
          have to
          have got to
          need to
          be obliged to
          be required to
          be compelled to
          be under an obligation to

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          2. Thanks for the expansion, SoundEagle. This site is often visited by language learners, as I have posted a few series on word use and choice, so your alternatives will be useful for those visitors.

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