Picture of the day (general)....
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yosimitesam
Airman 1st Class
Normandy sand up close.
These photos are of sand from the beaches at Normandy: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. I and five other engineers had to travel to Paris, France in 1998 on business for Federal Express. (It's the only time in my life I left the lower '48 and had to have a passport.) We we flew there on a Sunday and returned the next Saturday. The "business" was finished by Thursday and I and another engineer, both of us WWII buffs, decided to take the rental car and tour the Normandy battle sites on Friday. I decided to get samples of sand from each of the five beaches and grabbed some hotel stationary envelopes from my room in which to put the samples. We had a blast and didn't return until dark, and I even walked on the famous Pegasus bridge that was taken by British paratroopers. We visited all the WWII sites and several small "museums" for tourists in the area. We also visited the battlefield cemeteries which will humble anyone who visits them. They have a solemn beauty that cannot be described. I took sand samples from each of the five invasion beaches, with the intent to eventually make a little decorative "memorial" for a shelf with the nations' flags and little bottles of sand, etc.
I brought the sand samples back and put them somewhere and forgot all about them. Then, around 2016 while looking for some obscure something among all the crap in my garage, I rediscovered the envelopes. They were labeled and had the "Paris Hilton" (the hotel) logo on them and I was elated, as I had forgotten all about them. By then I was heavy into macro photography and decided to make some focus-stacked images of them and just hang them as prints on my wall, where they reside today. I still have the sand samples, too.
They are taken at magnifications varying from 9x to 12x, approximately. The Normandy sands seem to have "personality", to me. Red, white, and orange grains predominate but mixed with the occasional blues and greens makes the unmagnified sand appear a dull brown. But a closer look reveals what the grains are really like if we were small creatures crawling around on them.
My little tribute to the brave soldiers of "the greatest generation."
The samples.
Utah Beach
Omaha Beach
Gold Beach
Juno Beach
Sword Beach
These photos are of sand from the beaches at Normandy: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. I and five other engineers had to travel to Paris, France in 1998 on business for Federal Express. (It's the only time in my life I left the lower '48 and had to have a passport.) We we flew there on a Sunday and returned the next Saturday. The "business" was finished by Thursday and I and another engineer, both of us WWII buffs, decided to take the rental car and tour the Normandy battle sites on Friday. I decided to get samples of sand from each of the five beaches and grabbed some hotel stationary envelopes from my room in which to put the samples. We had a blast and didn't return until dark, and I even walked on the famous Pegasus bridge that was taken by British paratroopers. We visited all the WWII sites and several small "museums" for tourists in the area. We also visited the battlefield cemeteries which will humble anyone who visits them. They have a solemn beauty that cannot be described. I took sand samples from each of the five invasion beaches, with the intent to eventually make a little decorative "memorial" for a shelf with the nations' flags and little bottles of sand, etc.
I brought the sand samples back and put them somewhere and forgot all about them. Then, around 2016 while looking for some obscure something among all the crap in my garage, I rediscovered the envelopes. They were labeled and had the "Paris Hilton" (the hotel) logo on them and I was elated, as I had forgotten all about them. By then I was heavy into macro photography and decided to make some focus-stacked images of them and just hang them as prints on my wall, where they reside today. I still have the sand samples, too.
They are taken at magnifications varying from 9x to 12x, approximately. The Normandy sands seem to have "personality", to me. Red, white, and orange grains predominate but mixed with the occasional blues and greens makes the unmagnified sand appear a dull brown. But a closer look reveals what the grains are really like if we were small creatures crawling around on them.
My little tribute to the brave soldiers of "the greatest generation."
The samples.
Utah Beach
Omaha Beach
Gold Beach
Juno Beach
Sword Beach
This reminds me of a request I had from a El Paso detective and militaria collector and friend of my guest I discussed with at the Albuquerque gunshow.
After he had learnt I was coming from Normandy, he requested sand samples from Utah and Omaha beaches.
An order not so difficult to fulfill except that a little time after I collected the sand happened the WFT terror attack.
When I sent th parcel, I was a little anxious about the US Customs scanning it and finding unidentified powder in test tubes.
Vic Balshaw
Major General
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Lucky13
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manta22
Banned
Humiliating... but at least they were safe.
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Lucky13
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SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
Old Ironsides' personal tug. That's got to be a plum assignment.
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Lucky13
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Being the Captain of that, will shrink your plums....
Snautzer01
Honourably banned
- 42,972
- Mar 26, 2007
Fixed it.
Why are some tall well dressed men knocking on my door? They look a bit p.o.
Why are some tall well dressed men knocking on my door? They look a bit p.o.
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Lucky13
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Now, what's going on here? 
Vic Balshaw
Major General
Private owned and out for a day fishing with a good sundeck up top.
Barrett
Senior Airman
Lessee...in 1948 my home county endured one of the harshest winters on record.
Of course, that was nowhere near this charming scene!
Where is that?
Nice shots!
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Lucky13
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Tomorrow Island and Yesterday Island: How Two Islands Just 2.4 Miles Apart Can be 20 Hours Apart!
If you thought time travel was impossible, then you haven't heard of the Diomede Islands located between the United States and Russia. These two islands are separated by an international border as well as the International Date Line, making them just 2.4 miles apart — yet 20 hours apart!
Big Diomede (also known as Tomorrow Island) is located in Russia while Little Diomede (Yesterday Island) is in America, which means that one is always tomorrow while the other remains yesterday — a true phenomenon of time. It's hard to imagine two places being so close together geographically but also such distant points in time.
If you thought time travel was impossible, then you haven't heard of the Diomede Islands located between the United States and Russia. These two islands are separated by an international border as well as the International Date Line, making them just 2.4 miles apart — yet 20 hours apart!
Big Diomede (also known as Tomorrow Island) is located in Russia while Little Diomede (Yesterday Island) is in America, which means that one is always tomorrow while the other remains yesterday — a true phenomenon of time. It's hard to imagine two places being so close together geographically but also such distant points in time.
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Lucky13
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Am I the only one hearing Fortunate Son with CCR?
yosimitesam
Airman 1st Class
What is it? Hint: It may soon be obsolete, even extinct, but it's not animal.
