May 23 celebrates (or “shellebrates“) World Turtle Day. According to the World Turtle Day website, the “day was created as a yearly observance to help people celebrate and protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world.” The … Read More

You have likely heard or used the saying, “It’s music to my ears.” The situations vary and can encompass cases when someone compliments or gives you good news. Going beyond that saying, do you believe you can “see” music in … Read More

A small town in the countryside of São Paulo, Brazil, Barretos is known worldwide for its rodeos. Instead of focusing on rodeos, this post brings a hidden gem in downtown Barretos: its Catedral do Divino Espírito Santo (Cathedral of the … Read More

Lens-Artists Challenge #292: People Here, There & Everywhere I am not good at photographing people. So, when I read that Tina’s challenge this week was to “share images of the people we’ve captured along the way,” I was not quite … Read More

The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.Henry Beston This was the scene before us in December 2018. We … Read More

Lens-Artists Challenge #288 – Window Shopping Do you enjoy window shopping? You may become an expert after you see Ritva’s Lens-Artists post. In that post, she says she likes to take “photos of creative window displays,” and she does not … Read More

— In December 2014, we spent a few days exploring the Amazon region in northern Brazil. We visited the capital city of the state of Amazonas, Manaus, and its luxurious Opera House. We also navigated the Amazon River to see … Read More

Lens-Artists Challenge #284: Day & Night For this week’s Lens-Artists challenge, Sofia suggests celebrating the “Yin/Yang of our everyday life” with day and night and “the beauty of each one of them.” I initially thought I would struggle with the … Read More

— Sometimes people forget or are unaware that in the southern hemisphere seasons are reversed. Spring in the northern hemisphere is fall south of the Equator. Therefore, Christmas in the wintertime means summertime in the southern hemisphere. That is the … Read More

— When we were in Brazil this past April, we spent an afternoon at the Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo‘s first metropolitan park. With 158 hectares (approx. 390 acres), you can think of it as Brazil‘s equivalent to — though much … Read More