The destructive fury of nature

I remember thinking how surreal it all was. After all, just 45 minutes prior, there were torrential rains and howling gusts of wind. I wouldn’t have dared to open the front door then. But now, everything fell silent. No more wind. No more rain. After several minutes, I worked up the courage to open the front door and that’s when I thought “this is surreal”. It was calm outside. From what I recall, there was no wind at all. There might have been a very gentle breeze, but perhaps not even that (memory being faulty and all, I may simply not remember certain details accurately). In addition to the tranquility there was also darkness; as far as the eye could see. Granted, it was nighttime (morning technically, since it was a few hours past midnight), but usually there are street lights, porch lights, or lights on inside homes.  Not that night. That night no street lights were on. No porch lights flickered in the darkness. No homes had electricity. Unless you had a private generator, no one in Pensacola had power. Hurricane Ivan took care of that.

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The destructive fury of nature
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Nature's Beauty 10.10.14

12 stunning photos of Norway 

(via Buzzfeed)

* * * *

33 Breathtaking Photos That Prove The Philippines Is Paradise

4. The mesmerizing rice paddies of Banaue.

5. The hypnotic blue coast at El Nido.

7. Tumalog, which looks like a dream sequence in a Christopher Nolan film.

26. This unreal waterfall at Ambon Ambon.

20. The peaceful drop of the Kawasan Falls.

18. The temporary stillness of the powerful Mayon Volcano.

Nature's Beauty 10.10.14

Nature’s Beauty 10.10.14

12 stunning photos of Norway 

(via Buzzfeed)

* * * *

33 Breathtaking Photos That Prove The Philippines Is Paradise

4. The mesmerizing rice paddies of Banaue.

5. The hypnotic blue coast at El Nido.

7. Tumalog, which looks like a dream sequence in a Christopher Nolan film.

26. This unreal waterfall at Ambon Ambon.

20. The peaceful drop of the Kawasan Falls.

18. The temporary stillness of the powerful Mayon Volcano.

Nature’s Beauty 10.10.14

Facial Fun, Filipino Food and more in this link roundup

There isn’t really any thematic connective tissue to the following links.  They’re just stuff I’ve found around the net that I think are cool:

I’ve never had Filipino cuisine.  If these images are anything to judge by, I need to change that as soon as possible:

Cassava Cake
Pancit Palabok

 

Lumpia
Longgansia
Ukoy

These, and other Filipino dishes (along with links to recipes) can be found here.


 

The reason I became interested in Filipino cuisine is because I found images of this totally cool Filipino restaurant nestled at the foot of a waterfall:

From the link:

Asking to be seated at a table with a view is no problem at this Filipino restaurant. Located at the foot of the Labasin Falls in the Quezon Province, diners may enjoy authentic Filipino cuisine and the area’s natural splendor as fresh water streams through their toes. Nature and dining all in one? Now that’s my kind of travel.


Welp, The Ice Bucket Challenge Is Officially Over Thanks To Patrick Stewart


 

Gutter? What gutter?


 

99-Year-Old Woman Sews a Dress a Day for Children in Africa

(there are images at the link)

99-year-old Lillian Weber has a generous heart and sewing hands that just won’t stop. The Iowa-based woman spends hours every single day making a dress for small children who receive the clothing through the Christian nonprofit group Little Dresses for Africa.

For the past two years, Weber has made more than 840 dresses because, simply stated, she just wanted to help people. She uses a pattern to make the dress but she doesn’t stop there. She adds a few personal touches to each garment in order to make the items more unique and so that no two dresses are alike. Weber’s goal is to continue sewing 150 more dresses so that she can create her 1,000th dress by the time she turns 100 years old next May. “When I get to that thousand, if I’m able to, I won’t quit,” she recently said. “I’ll go at it again.” What an amazing story of generosity! You can learn a little more about Weber in the video below.


 

The world’s first zombie proof house

More images at the link

 

What does 200 calories look like?

What does 200 calories worth of food look like? The website Wisegeek conducted a study of 71 different edibles to find out. They proportioned things like peanut butter, canned beans, fruits, veggies, and even soda into 200 calorie quantities and photographed the results. It’s surprising to see what this actually looks like when on a plate.


 

Makeup Artist Paints Her Chin and Mouth to Look Like Cartoon Characters

Facial Fun, Filipino Food and more in this link roundup

Nature on display

Photographer Francisco Negroni is a talented artist who has captured multiple awe-inspiring images of nature.  I was introduced to hir work by way of Sapphoshands; specifically these electrifying images:

 

Nature on display

Wonders of the World

Knocking on the ‘Door to Hell’ (thanks blf):

Turmekistan, one of the Turkic states in Central Asia, is home to a gaping wound in Mother Earth.  Actually, it’s a huge crater with a gooey molten center.  You know, like lava cakes!  More seriously, the hole is a molten crater known as the Darvasa Crater (its nickname is the ‘Door to hell’).  It has been burning for over 40 years.  

The origin of Turkmenistan’s Darvaza Crater – nicknamed the “door to hell” – is disputed, but the theory most widely accepted involves a Soviet expedition to explore for gas.

A Turkmen geologist claims the borehole was set alight in 1971 after fears it was emitting poisonous gases. It has now been burning for 40 years.

Recently, a Canadian explorer by the name of George Kourounis became the first known person to descend into the pit to collect soil samples to see if life could exist in such a climate. Turns out there was bacteria down there.  That could apparently help inform the search for life outside our solar system.  Cool! 

 

Wonders of the World