I’m a controversialist and catalyst, quietly enabling others to develop by providing different ideas and views of the world. Born in London in the early 1950s and initially trained as a research chemist I retired as a senior project manager after 35 years in the IT industry. Retirement is about community give-back and finding some equilibrium. Founder and Honorary Secretary of the Anthony Powell Society. Chairman of my GP's patient group.
This week’s photograph is one I took just over three years ago, on a November early evening. We were driving south down the A11, across Thetford Chase and looking almost directly into the sunset. As I wasn’t driving I had my camera at the ready, especially as I know this little group of trees often stands out and I always seem to take shots of them. As luck would have it I managed to get this shot as we drove past — quite tricky; it’s really a question of putting the camera on “burst” and keeping your finger down while driving on by. I’m not sure if this shot will even be possible now as this is the last single carriageway stretch of the A11 between London and Norwich and is currently in the process of being upgraded — the new road line may not work as well photographically.
Click the image for larger views on Flickr A11 Sunset Thetford Chase, November 2010
An Advent Calendar
Some of Favourite Images from Other Photographers on Flickr.
Click the image for larger views on Flickr and details of the photographer
Note that these images are not mine and are copyright the original photographer who may be identified by following the link to Flickr
An Advent Calendar
Some of Favourite Images from Other Photographers on Flickr.
Click the image for larger views on Flickr and details of the photographer
Note that these images are not mine and are copyright the original photographer who may be identified by following the link to Flickr
At last a pair of botanical words! Xylem and Phloem are the two types of tissue in plants which transport food and water around the plant. Xylem [z-eye-lem]
The supporting and water-conducting tissue of vascular plants; woody tissue.
This is the network of tubes through which the plants move water from bottom to top. It also forms a large part of the woody (supportive) structure of the plant. It is concentrated in the centre of the stem.
As might be expected the derivation is from the Greek ξύλον, wood.
Phloem [flo-em]
The food-conducting tissue of vascular plants.
The network which transports food (mostly sugars) from the leaves where they are produced by photosynthesis to the growing tissue.
The phloem is softer tissue that the xylem and occurs mostly in the layer just under the bark where the latest “tree ring” is growing.
Again derived from the Greek: ϕλόος = ϕλοιός, bark + -ηµα (passive suffix).
All (vascular) plants, ie. the vast majority we meet in daily life, conform to this basic model even if they appear to be soft rather than woody. However as you would expect the reality is a lot more complex than the above explanation!
An Advent Calendar
Some of Favourite Images from Other Photographers on Flickr.
Click the image for larger views on Flickr and details of the photographer
Note that these images are not mine and are copyright the original photographer who may be identified by following the link to Flickr
Aside from the obvious (well who’d have guessed he was about to die?) here are a few thoughts on the passing of Nelson Mandela.
Let us remember that, in today’s values, Nelson Mandela was first a terrorist leader, and (whether rightly or not) he was convicted of such.
Had he lived almost anywhere but South Africa he would have been locked up for life without any prospect of a get out of jail free card. As, in fact, he was!
That he did get out of jail is largely down to the dysfunctionality and instability of South Africa at that time.
Mandela made the most of the opportunity and turned it to good, which was no mean achievement!
Consequently I suspect that until now South Africa has held together as well as it has because of his very presence. He may no longer have had any formal power, but his influence would, I’m sure, have been very real. And who knows what mafia-esque machinery turned behind the scenes?
I sincerely hope South Africa continues to hold together, return to stability and becomes a respected African nation again. However I fear that it won’t.
There seems to be a big danger that the factional infighting and feuds, which are still there, will surface in what is an inevitable power vacuum. And that this will lead to a descent into anarchy and civil war, if not an outright tribal bloodbath — black vs white, Xhosa vs Zulu etc. Which is much the route trodden by their neighbour Zimbabwe, amongst others.
I hope I’m wrong. The South Africans have invested too much in getting this far to even contemplate such horrors.
An Advent Calendar
Some of Favourite Images from Other Photographers on Flickr.
Click the image for larger views on Flickr and details of the photographer
Note that these images are not mine and are copyright the original photographer who may be identified by following the link to Flickr
An Advent Calendar
Some of Favourite Images from Other Photographers on Flickr.
Click the image for larger views on Flickr and details of the photographer
Note that these images are not mine and are copyright the original photographer who may be identified by following the link to Flickr
An Advent Calendar
Some of Favourite Images from Other Photographers on Flickr.
Click the image for larger views on Flickr and details of the photographer
Note that these images are not mine and are copyright the original photographer who may be identified by following the link to Flickr
Eccentric looks at life through the thoughts of a retired working thinker
