An Arch In Tilted Columnar Basalt

In western lands beneath the Sun

In western lands beneath the Sun the flowers may rise in Spring, the trees may bud, the waters run, the merry finches sing. Or there maybe ‘tis cloudless night and swaying beeches bear the Elven-stars as jewels white amid their branching hair. Though here at journey’s end I lie in darkness buried deep, beyond all towers strong and high, beyond all mountains steep, above all shadows rides the Sun and Stars for ever dwell: I will not say the Day is done, nor bid the Stars farewell.

–J. R. R. Tolkien, from Return of the King

Omg lol.

Marius the acrobat ヽ(•‿•)ノ

Kollafjörður Bay, Iceland. June 2017. 

Carboniferous flora impressions and casts from around Bukówka Lake near Lubawka. There are mostly Equisetales and Lepidodendrales to find here. Haven’t spotted any fern-like things so far.

one of my top 10 favorite childhood memories was going to the garden store with my parents as a kid where they had one of these bad boys

Deadvlei, the dead marsh It is amazing the effect water can have in bringing life, and then taking it from an area. Deadvlei is a white clay pan in Namibia near the Tsauchab River. During an especially heavy period of rain, the river flooded leading to a shallow surface layer of water forming over the clay pan. This water allowed Camel Thorn trees to grow and then mature. However, during a drought the water dried up, and sand dunes around the edge of the clay pan blocked the river’s flood path into the area. This drought lead to the trees dying, approximately 700 years ago. Despite the death of the trees, the skeletons remain and despite being blackened by the sun, appear structurally as they would have when they died. This lack of decomposition has occurred, again, due to lack of water as the trees cannot decompose without it. ~SA Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Deadvlei_trees_dunes.JPG

It’s tadpoles’ season

Big Thach Nature Park, Russia by Alexander Khoroshilov