Dinesh's photos

This evolutionary tree, based on DNA, shows how an ancestral ape gave rise to orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans. The length of the branches reflects how far the genes of each population of apes have diverged from their relatives. Humans, the tree reveals, are barely distinguishable on a genetic level from bonobos and chimpanzees

Paleontologist Phil Gingarich (left) has discoverd ancien whales with legs in Egypt (shown here) as well as Pakistan .................................................................................................................................................... . . . . paleontologists found a steady supply of fossil of wales, but even the oldest specimens, dating back more than 40 million years, were fundamentally like whales today. They had long backbones, hands in the shape of flippers, and no back legs. Their teeth were another matter, though. Living whales have either no teeth or simple pegs. The oldest whales had teeth that had the cusps and bumps of mammals on land. They looked particularly like the teeth of extinct line of mammals called mesonychids. These animals were hoofed mammals – relatives , in other words, of cows and horses – but they had powerful teeth and strong necks adapted for a life of eating meat, which they got either by scavenging or hunting. ~ Page 136 In the border zone between land and sea, many species of walking whales arose. Some were adapted for wading, others for diving. For the most part these lineages became extinct, for reason that may never be known. But one lineage of whales adapted to life farther out to sea. It produced species such as Rodhocetus, a whale Gingerich found in Pakistan that had stu;bby legs and hips that were barely connected to the spine. In the water it could have raised and lowered its tail and trunk together, swimming like whales do today. Modern whales vastly improve their swimming performance with the flukes at the end of their tails, made of connective tissue. Because that sort of flesh rarely fosslizes, no one known if Rodhocetus already had flukes to help it along. ~ Page sd139/140

The Evolutionary tree of Whales offer clues to how coyote-like mammals gradually adopted to life in the ocean www.ideastream.org/news/health-science/2014-08-04/in-search-of-walking-whales

Many people with whom I was in contact were not fond of Winter. I was OK with Winter in spite of shoveling the DriveWay early morning before going to work. With a snow blower it took more than half an hour to clear this area. On Average it is about 48 inches of snow fell in Lansing MI

Got up on a cool morning. Leaned out a window. No cloud, no wind. Air that flowers held for awhile. Some dove somewhere. Been on probation most of my life. And the rest of my life been condemned. So these moments count for a lot--peace, you know. Let the bucket of memory down into the well, bring it up. Cool, cool minutes. No one stirring, no plans. Just being there. This is what the whole thing is about. ~ Just Thinking ~ William Stafford

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519. Da Vinci painted this Florentine lady early in his career, when he was about 22. Her pale face stands out against the dark juniper tree – ginepra in Italian, a reference to her name – in the background. Its expression of a deep inner life led the contemporary Vasari to say of the painting, “it looked like Ginevra herself and not like a picture.” Work on this portrait perhaps prepared da Vinci for the ‘Mono Lisa,’ which he started soon afterword (National Gallery of Art, Washington; Ailsa Mellow Bruce Fund)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grounds_For_Sculpture www.groundsforsculpture.org

Giovanni Bellini en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Bellini In this pastoral scene based on a story of the Roman poet Ovid, Olympian gods picnic in a wooded grove as satyrs and nymphs serve them. The peacock in the tree symbolizes the gods’ immortality. The pagan theme, the appreciation for perspective and nature, and the sensual atmosphere make this painting a fine example of Italian Renaissance classicism. (National Gallery of Art, Washington: Widener Collection)

Raphael (ca 1504) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael Younger than Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci but considered their equal as a master of High Renaissance, Raphael produced this visionary painting of the marriage of Mary and Joseph when he was just 21 years old. It reflects a superb grasp of symmetry and perspective. The Temple in the background suggests Raphael’s genius as a architect, (Scala / Art Resources)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_the_Litom%C4%9B%C5%99ice_Altarpiece The Mérode Altarpiece is a triptych whose three panels show, the donor and his wife, left panel, The Annunciation, middle panel, and St Joseph on the right panel. The mysterious figure of the donor in the left wing wears the badge of the town of Malines but his identity is unknown. The central panel is a depiction of a middle-class room in which the Annunciation takes place. The settee which the Virgin leans against is typical of a style common in the Netherlands but the room is filled with the religious symbolism associated with this event. The lilies in the vase symbolise Mary's virginity. The scroll and the book represent the Old and the New Testaments.

This contemporary drawing shows Ottoman officials rounding up male Christian children in the Balkans. The children became part of a special slave corps, which served the sultan for life as soldiers and administrators. The slave tax and the slave corps were of great importance to the Ottoman Turks in the struggle with Austria (The British Museum)