travel history business blog
Merry Christmas to all - Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and other believers and non-believers. Happy holidays to all who wish for a world big enough, healthy enough and compassionate enough to sustain our wildest and most vulnerable creatures. May we find peace and hope in a world that makes room for wild creatures great and small. May we find time for play and joy. And stand tall for the young who need our compassion and care. May we cherish diversity and support a world able to sustain our planet's young and vulnerable. May we stand confidently before the challenges life brings us. And care for one another. May we dance and keep safe those who dance in far away places. May we see the tenderness in all creatures. And protect the most vulnerable. Including those smaller than a feather. May our young be nourished. And, live full and wild even in the shadow of great cities. May our families flourish along the paths they follow. And in their homes, safe and secure. May we run with joy and exuberance. And enjoy the quiet and softening light of day's end. May we sleep the sleep of young lions. And, always keep some wiggle in our walk. Happy holidays from the Venture Moola photo blog. _____
All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. The images are from the author's Safari Collection at Trekpic.com. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. Want to plan your own safari? If so, feel free to check out the outfitter we used at Porini.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better. Click here if you would like to get a weekly email that notifies you when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. We were heartened to see this magnificent male on our second day at Nairobi National Park. We were tickled to watch from less than 30 yards away while the old fellow reached up with his hind leg to scratch behind his ear. It reminded us our our pet cat at home. As our trip progressed and we saw more and more lions lounging, playing and interacting, we would have this familiarity-reaction over and over. We also enjoyed the people we met as we traveled. Their varied backgrounds and experiences made for interesting conversation. I am sure we seemed quirky to some as some did to us. Like characters from a book. One Aussie couple fit that bill. He, at 84, was a retired barrister and businessman with an engaging conversational style that was peppered with pointed questions and good humor. He wore a baseball cap with an Australian flag on the back and was an ardent fan of Aussie football. There was an intensity to his conversation that reminded me of an eager law student who is full of new taught analytical skills. He and his wife were a comfortable pair but not overly organized, as we learned on our joint flight to the Porini Camp in the Selenkay Conservancy. They were late for our 5:45 a.m. ride to the airport and not too certain about where they were going. And he disappeared outside the entrance to the Wilson Airport before our flight causing some minor concern within the group. It turns out, he confessed to me on his return, that he had to find a private place to retrieve his passports from his underpants. As with all travel with Gamewatchers, we were escorted by their representatives from the camp until we were on our plane, a twin prop with twelve passenger seats. The flight to the Amboselli Camp was uneventful and low enough to take in the scenery below. We landed less than 90 minutes after we took off on a grass landing field near our camp. Our game drive spotter and driver were waiting for us with an open air Land Rover with six seats in two rows. After getting off the plane and learning our Aussie friends were headed, unbeknown to them, in a separate vehicle for a different camp, we unloaded our cameras and hopped into our vehicle for a game drive on the way to camp. We did not have to go far. Before we could drive 50 yards, we were surrounded by a tower of Maasai giraffe, more than a dozen spread out among the trees and brush before us. It was breathtaking. So many of these giants so close and busy feeding in the upper reaches of the trees around us. Below you can see an adult "nanny" giraffe with five younger giraffes and below that some of the younger ones making their way across a meadow to fresh trees. Our guides took us off road into the bush to get closer and we learned a critical difference between a conservancy and a national park. In the parks you stay on the roads but in conservancies you can go wherever your vehicle will take you. We arrived at the Porini Amboselli camp before noon and were shown to our tents. This camp was more open air and spread out. After lunch we had our first hot afternoon while we rested in our tent. It was not Georgia summer hot but something in the 80s. By 4:00 when we head out for our game drive it was already beginning to cool down. Our driver Julius and spotter Daniel, both Maasai, led us out into the conservancy in our open vehicle. Our companions were an English school teacher who worked in a private school in Nairobi and young married couple from Sydney. She was originally from Hungary and he from Brazil. This afternoon's drive culminated with a visit to a waterhole that was full of elephants. Next to the waterhole was a platform for viewing. We would spend the better part of an hour there watching the elephants and participating in our first sun downer, a tradition of safaris where you stop in the wild to watch the sun set and partake in refreshments. It was hard not to be fascinated with the elephants. There were at least 15 or 20 although it was hard to count because they came and went in small groups. They drank and splashed and rolled in the mud. The mothers interacted tenderly with the young and, of course, the young played. They were also quite jealous of their domain paying close attention to approaching groups of zebra and warthogs and running them off when they got close. And, while they did not seem to mind our being there, we were careful when exiting our vehicle to enter the platform and occasionally an adult female or male would give us a hard look. After our sun downer, we returned to camp for dinner and a surprise. More about that in next week's posting where we will also explore Amboselli National Park.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. The images are from the author's Safari Collection at Trekpic.com. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. Want to plan your own safari? If so, feel free to check out the outfitter we used at Porini.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better. Click here if you would like to get a weekly email that notifies you when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. You would be angry too if someone left you out in the woods for 50 years. Thousands of years ago, Odysseus was cursed to wander the seas for just ten years and he arrived home fit to be tied. I can imagine him feeling like this ancient Oldsmobile looks. Tired and worn and ready for a fight. The Odyssey depicts him as such as he sneaks back into town to assess the situation at his home. The coin, issued in 82 BC by a Roman senator serving a one year commission as moneyer, shows Odysseus being recognized by his old dog Argus as he finally returns to his home. The fact that this classic Greek scene appears on a Roman coin attests to the power this classic Greek story had in Roman times. Eighty-two BC was an unsettled time in Rome. Sulla had just defeated the Marians to take control of Rome but the empire was largely ruled by the Greek Mithradates, who had taken advantage of Rome's civil unrest to recapture much of Greece. Consequently, the Greeks were very much on Roman minds. I am not sure how the Roman god Mercury (who graces the front of the coin) fit in the Roman mind with the Greek hero Odysseus. Perhaps it was a way to claim Roman connection with the heroic traits of Odysseus or those of the more modern Greek hero Mithradates. Or perhaps, Limentanus, the issuer, traced his family to Mercury. Many Roman families included Roman or Greek gods in their family trees. Julius Caesar's family claimed affiliation with the Greek goddess Venus. She appears on many coins issued in his name. (His associates also claimed he ascended to the heavens when a comet appeared in the skies shortly after his death.) Our modern society does something similar, like using the likeness of Mercury on an American automobile. You would expect this car to be swift if it is named for Mercury. Or, co-opting a Greek goddess like Nike to sell shoes. Of course, in Nike's case the association is more abstract. They use a swish as their logo instead of the goddess' image. Interestingly, Nike personified victory to the ancient Greeks and Romans, not speed. Odysseus wandered far and wide on his arduous ten year journey home, suffering imprisonment, ship wrecks and losing his entire crew. He faced great temptations. He even visited hell, the Greeks called it Hades, where he saw the tortured remains of fallen heros. A junk yard can show you remains of fallen automobiles adorned with godly symbols and wearing the ravages of time. I guess you can find the old Greeks most anywhere if you look hard enough. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Next week's post is about Why Spartacus Matters. Kirk Douglas, Joe McCarthy, Dalton Trumbo, a Roman slave and how they all interconnect to make a big impact on 20th century America. All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. The images are from the author's Auto Afterlife and Ancient Selfies Galleries at the Trekpic.com. You can access them from the New and Coins pages. Next week we talk about Prepping for Kenya. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. For more pictures of the cormorant or the great blue herons whose territory he is invading, see the Jurassic Cove Gallery at TrekPic.com under the heading New. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better. Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. You can get some interesting results when you explore a tidal marsh with your granddaughter. These images taken by our 11 year-old photographer are the results of one such trip on a vacation to Sullivan's Island near Charleston. While heading back from the marsh at Shem Creek, the two of us broke away from the rest of the family in our tandem kayak to watch an egret fishing the shoreline. With me in the back guiding the kayak and granddaughter in front with the camera, we made our way across the marsh. With the tide and the current, we had a chance to approach the egret without spooking her if we could just keep quiet and still. To do that we had to row quietly to a spot where the current and tide would take us toward toward the bird. To get these images we needed to get close enough for the modest 100 mm extension on the Olympus TG5 camera we were using. It's waterproof and rugged, both good features when you are sharing a camera with your grandchildren around water. But also limiting. We were not going to get interesting images unless we could get within 10 to 20 feet. For those who are not camera buffs, the 100 mm lens is a preferred lens for portrait photography. When taking a head and shoulder photo, it depicts your subject accurately without distortion. For water birds, it is not ideal. If you can get close enough, though, the results can be pleasing. Here we had the advantage of a nearby dock that I rowed above while young Dah Doo (her baby sister's nickname for her) handled the camera. As we floated log-like toward the dock and bird we were lucky and did not disturb the egret. Great fun for the grandfather and granddaughter. If you look closely at the middle image, which was actually taken after the last image, you can see in her bill the lunch she has just plucked from the water. In the last image, you can see her stalking that lunch. - - - - - Next week we will use these warm August days to inspire us to talk about when to visit the desert. All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson and DahDoo. :^) If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better. Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. One of my favorite wildlife photographers is Thomas Manglesen who lives in Jackson, Wyoming near Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks. Tom has made a life out of capturing moments in the wild. and many of his images are spectacular. You can see some of his images at this link. Tom teaches that wild animals have comfort zones around them. If you get within them they will react, usually by leaving. He also notes that walking directly towards a wild animal will cause them to react sooner than if you approach them by walking at an angle. Near a herd of Bison, he takes his students back and forth walking sideways to the herd to get closer. He also teaches that you can sometimes float close to a wild animal if you stay still and let the current take you toward the animal.
While floating I grabbed my camera out of its waterproof bag, and took a few photos while I drifted silently closer. The early evening light was perfect for the photo shoot as was the dark green and brown background of the island behind him. I adjusted the camera's aperture to obscure the background and highlight the bird. As I drifted, I watched and shot photos as he moved around. He seemed oblivious to me and the large orange "log" I was sitting on. And, as you can see, he continued his fishing. At this point, I was a good 10 minutes into my silent float and less than 20 yards from the bird. He was aware of me and looked at me from time to time but then went quickly back to his business, even lowering his head to get a drink of water. It was not until I drifted within 10 yards of him, that he finally started to think about flying off. When he did, it was with no sign of alarm. He just pulled himself up and flew off. I counted my blessings. I have been on the water for years without ever getting this close. I sat for a minute and started to think about packing up the camera. As I started to reach for the paddle, however, something told me to look around. When I did, I was greeted with this scene just 25 yards upstream. The heron or one of his cousins had landed in some floating brush and had no concerns about the floating orange lob nearby. All photos and text are copyright by Clinton Richardson. Moe images from the Jurassic Cove Gallery can be found at TrekPic.com, click New on the home page to be directed to the gallery.
If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better. Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. It surprises me how much traffic some of my older more business oriented posts continue to generate. Maybe its the audience or maybe its the challenge of launching a new business that is just plain interesting. As the photos in this post demonstrate, launching anything requires effort, determination, and skill. A business is no exception. Starting requires you to announce yourself and your ambition to the world. And, even though the person starting the business builds a team to work with through the many challenges the company will face, there is still a very real sense in which the entrepreneur is going it alone. No matter how good and motivated the team is, most founders discover that there is no one in the company they can share everything with. Perhaps this is part of the reason a good outside lawyer can be so important to a growing business. There are things you can share with outside advisors that you just would not be comfortable sharing with employees. And then there is the blur. There is so much to know and so little inherent credibility in a new business that, for most, long hours and novel challenges are the norm. Sometimes you run full speed just to stay put. And, much of the time things can seem like a blur. To succeed, you have to learn on the fly (sorry for the obvious pun) and mistakes happen. Sometimes big ones. And, despite your faith in your innovative business and your team, sometimes you feel more like you are falling than flying. But notwithstanding the challenges and the bumps in the road (or splashes in the lake), the ride is exhilarating. For many of the entrepreneurs I worked with and observed, the act of accepting the challenge and running a business brought them a fuller reality.
I know this was the case with my father. He never seemed more engaged or alive than when he was running his own business. Perhaps this is why the topic is interesting to so many. So, what are you seeing in the pictures? These images are of a lone cormorant taking flight on a North Georgia lake. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Next week we talk about grizzly jam. All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. For more pictures of the cormorant or the great blue herons whose territory he is invading, see the Jurassic Cove Gallery at TrekPic.com under the heading New. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better. Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. A departure from the norm here as I take a break for the week of July 4.
This week's posting date happens to fall on the birthday of my late brother John, who was struck down by lung cancer in his 50s. Before that, he was fully engaged in living, adored his daughter and wife and wrote the copy for some memorable if off-the-wall advertisements. He was the third of four brothers in our family, the tallest and, probably (remember, boys are competitive) the most creative. He loved George Carlin and for some reason thought the phrase cheese noodles was hilarious. He spent hours coming up with bizarre slogans for them even though his agency had no engagement for cheese noodles. He thought Baby Maybe would be a good name for a contraceptive product that worked most of the time. One of our favorite advertisements he created was for a chicken brand. In the commercial, a farmer is interrupted by a Godzilla size chicken. That image is all I remember about the add. That, and how funny it was. The pictures above are from a frame in my mom's home. The first one shows why Jimmy Carter issued him a commission in the Georgia Air Force after being elected Governor. The other seems to capture his essence. We miss John and celebrate his life this weekend along with the lives of the many who have contributed to our freedom. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Next week we will talk about entrepreneurs and cormorants. What could be more natural to combine? If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better. Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. A heron's nest. That is what I was looking for. You could hear their racket from the other side of the cove. And, when you ventured out in the morning in your kayak, you could see the herons flying in and out of a stand of pine trees that stood near the bank of the island on across the cove. When they arrived, you could hear more chatter from chicks hungry for what they brought. That evening, I made it my goal to find the nest. After rowing out and a little patient looking, I saw it high above near the top of the tallest of five pine trees that stood on the edge of the island. And, after awhile longer an adult heron flew in and went right to the nest. Success. At the same time, I noticed other herons nearby flying and others, still, sitting in nearby pine trees. Some seemed smaller than the adult who had flown into the nest. Results of an earlier hatch, I guessed. I was lucky to get here early enough to witness the second hatch. At least, that is what I thought. While I was out, I captured a picture of this youngster making noise. Funny thing was, however, this was not the nest in the top of the tallest of five pines. It was two trees over. Had my first sighting been an inactive nest? Or, and I was considering this for the first time, could there be two active nests so close together? The camera captured this chick much better than I could with my unaided eyesight. He was little more than a blur in a nest that emerged as I was watching his parent depart. So, I really first saw him with his black head bristle and claws emerging from his wing, when I went through my images later that night. Encouraged by the picture, I headed back out the next morning hoping to see and photograph more. This time I had more time and an expanded vision of what I was seeing. I was not just looking for a nest or two. Instead, I was hoping to find out whether I was seeing was something unthinkable to me just a year earlier. Could this be a colony of Great Herons? Could there possibly be more nests? I stationed myself first in the water where I could see clearly a nest, a third one three stories above, that sat on the top of a dead tree. It was perfect for viewing two chicks standing upright in the nest. I waited patiently for things to happen while periodically maneuvering my kayak to keep an unobstructed view. With the aid of time and a 400 mm lens, I was rewarded with a visit from mom and dad. As you can see below, they arrived together and quickly determined that there was room enough for only two on the nest. Here is the crash scene as it unfolded. Neither parent made it onto the nest. Time to wean these two chicks. The time spent waiting was rewarded in other ways too. As was the time afterward rowing to other vantage points. What I found were multiple nests, many with parents sitting nearby. At least a dozen that I could count. Who knows how many more there might be deeper in the island. The two photos below are typical of what I saw. Come to your own conclusion, but I believe we found a Great Blue Heron colony. Dozens of nests with chicks at different levels of development from the nearly full grown behemoths we saw above to chicks so little you cannot see them from 30 feet below, even with the longest of lenses.
And, I have had a practical lesson in discovery and the power of preconceptions to color perception. Last summer I was certain I was seeing a single herons nest and could not see what was really there. The herons sitting in nearby trees I dismissed as first hatch lookers-on. Instead, they were part of a nesting colony right under (or, should I say above) my nose. With more time and a closer look this year aided, certainly, by a long lens, I discovered much more than I anticipated. And, changed my understanding of what I saw. I think this is part of what I like about photography. It has the power to show you things you would not otherwise observe. The long lens can take you closer to your subject showing you detail you would otherwise miss. And, the whole process slows you down and gives you time to digest what you are seeing. And, the cove? After seeing the first chick photo above, I have given it a new name. I now call it Jurassic Cove. Next week's posting falls on the birthday of a long lost brother. We will take the opportunity to remember him and his unique sense of humor. Be prepared for George Carlin meets the advertising industry. All photos and text copyright Clinton Richardson. These and other images from what I affectionately call Jurassic Cove are posted on our TrekPic.com website. Click on New on the homepage to be directed to the gallery. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better. Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. This meadow appears as Blacktail Ponds on the maps of Grand Teton National Park. It is just off the main road that runs north out of Jackson, Wyoming, a little bit north of the southern entrance to the park. As you can see, the meadow is full of willow in various Springtime shades of green and red and yellow. A small stream runs through the middle of it that branches off a river that flows behind the evergreens in the background. It is a perfect place for moose who love to strip the willow of their leaves. My wife and I are here together on a cool May morning standing on a ridge that stands above the meadow. We are alone. We are here early in the season and, for some reason, no one else is here. We have the place to ourselves and are hoping to spot a moose. Our training at wildlife spotting is minimal, mostly consisting of stopping at bear jams along the road to join dozens of others who are already watching a bear or a coyote or an osprey. So we are city folk hoping to get lucky. I am scanning the field with my eyes hoping to see something move. My more clever wife, is scanning looking for bush movement from something walking through. If there are moose to see, we do not see them. Instead, a few geese fly by and land by the pond. Then more fly by and circle in front of a stand of trees off to the left at the edge of the meadow. Out of habit, I frame them as best as I can and snap a picture. It's an invigorating morning and the image reflects what a beautiful place we are standing in. Still, it is not a moose. As we scan the meadow we see no signs of moose other than the stripped branches of some willow bushes. No movement in the willow. Nothing big crossing the stream. And then we both hear it. A snort. Brief and quiet but unmistakable. And then it is quiet again as we continue to look with renewed anticipation. My wife thinks she hears chewing off to the left and focuses her eyes on that part of the meadow. Then another snort, definitely coming from the left. After a bit, and more whispered claims from my wife that she hears chewing, I decide to walk along the ridge to our left to see if a different angle on the meadow will give me a chance to spy a moose. It is slow going, walking carefully through the low shrubs along the path but after a few minutes it pays off. As I walk around a corner of the ridge, below me an adult moose emerges silently from the willow. I cannot hear a sound or, for that matter, see a branch of willow move as he slides out of the bush into the open. He is not 15 yards away. Thankfully, he does not notice me and goes about his business. It's breakfast time and he is intent on striping the best willow plants of their leaves. My wife joins me and we watch as our moose feeds and walks through the willow. After a time, another couple arrives at the Blacktail Ponds but they head in another direction leaving us alone with our moose. It is a great morning to be in Grand Teton. For about a half an hour we stay with the moose catching his attention just one - an extended stare through the willow - and leave him only after he finishes eating and sits down to rest. My lovely wife, girl of the city, wins family renown for her auditory skill in locating a moose in a meadow (needle in a haystack?). For her unique listening skill, we dub her the family moose whisperer. All photos and text copyright Clinton Richardson. These and other images from Yellowstone and Grand Teton are posted on our sister site at www.TrekPic.com in our Wild Wyoming Gallery.
If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better. Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Yes, we are that close. Moose are more dangerous than grizzly bears, accounting for more attacks on humans than the most ferocious predator in North America. And, yes we are that close. What makes them dangerous is their size, unpredictability and ability to blend in with their surroundings. Take a look below and find the moose, not more than 15 yards from the camera. I call the photo moose-a-boo for obvious reasons. This was the one photograph from among five taken quickly in succession that revealed the moose at all. Remember this beast is huge and only a thin veil of willow separate him from me and my camera and, yet, he is nearly invisible. I say he, not with any great certainty, but based his size and my son's observation (from our description) that the moose snorted and was shedding his coat, which is something bull moose do in the Spring. Most of the time we watched him without acknowledgement on his part. We were careful to be quiet even to the point of using the camera's silent mode to remove the click that normally tells you when you take a picture. We moved slowly as we followed his progress through the willow. And, we probably stumbled into being down wind. Even though we were on a rise a few feet above him, we both felt that heightened state of awareness that comes from a rush of adrenaline. Particularly so, once he stopped his eating to stare directly at us through the willow stalks. We were made but, thankfully, he judged us unworthy of further attention and continued his munching. Not that we could have blamed him if he got upset. We are, after all, part of a species that hunts moose and chops their heads off for trophies. But here he is safe in the confines of a national park. And, while I have good friends who are wonderful people who enjoy hunting these magnificent animals with high powered weaponry, I find it all hard to understand why watching this magnificent animal go about his day beneath the Grand Teton Mountains on a May morning. After about 30 minutes of working his way through the willow stand and stripping leaves off branches our friend disappeared behind the willows. On a hunch, I walked further down the path I was on to a spot I thought likely to give me a view behind the willows. There he was, taking a break and digesting his breakfast. Next week, how to find your own moose at Grand Teton National Park with an inquiry into how a city girl became a moose whisperer.
All photos and text copyright Clinton Richardson. These and other images from Yellowstone and Grand Teton are posted on our sister site at www.TrekPic.com in our Wild Wyoming Gallery. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better. Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. |
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