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Foreign Language Immersion Online
By raynawhite
10 Obscure Languages You've Probably Never Heard Spoken
Europe has close to 100. The United States, over 300. Africa, nearly 2000.
We're talking about spoken languages.
From the indigenous to the transposed, the spoken word—or spoken sound, we'll get to that later on—is vast. It's fluid. Languages take on a life of their own. They're born, they change and sometimes they die.
People move all over the world for new experiences and opportunities. Yet, despite this yearning for the something different, people tend to hold their native tongue close to the heart. Why? It's simple. Our native language represents a large part of our cultural, national and personal identities.
It's only natural that we want to preserve it for the next generation and generations to come. Just think, it's believed that New York City, a major diversity hub, is home to over 800 languages. That's nearly twice the amount of the entire United States. Not everyone has heard of many of these languages, but it goes to show the power of preservation. No matter where we are in the world, we want to keep our language alive.
Unfortunately, that's not always possible.
Despite the world's rich linguistic panoply, there are hundreds of languages that are endangered and extinct, in large part due to globalization—which, while okay in many other instances, doesn't do any favors for endangered languages—but also war, genocide and the imposition of national languages. Assimilation is another big contributor. Sometimes the desire to simply fit in causes people to forgo their native language and adopt the one that's more commonly spoken in their region of the world.
There's actually one tiny concession that globalization makes for the world of linguistics. It opens the door to opportunity. As the world gets smaller and smaller, our individual worlds actually get bigger. We're now able to seek out information and answers and make discoveries. Who knows how many languages the world has lost over the course of human existence? At least now, we have the opportunity to try to preserve those that are on their way out. Of course, many will still be lost, but now we have the ability to identify them, acknowledge that they once existed and possibly learn new things in the process.
The obscure, the unknown and the untouched all amount to excitement, possibility, creativity and beyond. Let's expand our minds. Let's take a peek into the hidden corners of our planet. You never know what you might find.
A Whole New World: 10 Obscure Languages from Around the Globe
Region: South Africa
Approximate Number of Native Speakers: 8 million
Of its 11 official languages, Xhosa, part of the Bantu family, is one of the most commonly spoken in South Africa. It was also the native language of Nelson Mandela! With 8 million speakers, it may seem like Xhosa is thriving, and technically speaking, it is. However, in a linguistic sense, 8 million is a small number. To put it into perspective, Mandarin has over 900 million—that's almost one billion—native speakers. So by comparison, 8 million is blip on the language radar.
The language itself is uniquely characterized by clicks and tonal variations to differentiate the meaning of words. A single word could have several meanings just based on tone. The clicks, however, are by far the most interesting part of this language. They're represented by the letters c, x and q. There are three different kinds of clicks: dental for c (tut-tut sound), alveolar for q (cork popping sound) and lateral for x (teeth sucking sound). And to make things harder, each of these clicks have several variations.
Here, try to say ugqirha (doctor) using the appropriate click. Or try even saying Xhosa properly. Not so easy is it? Many non-native speakers find this language quite difficult to master so don't feel bad.
In any case, if you want to hear a sample of the fascinating sounds of Xhosa, click here.
Region: Belarus
This is an Eastern Slavic language with a close relation to Russian and Ukrainian. To some extent the languages are mutually intelligible. Still in the millions, there's a fair amount of speakers in the world. However, 3 million is less than half of the population of London, so the language is really spoken on quite a small scale.
Russian colonization is the main cause. Many Belarusians speak fluent Russian, although the reverse isn't true. In fact, Russian is so common in Belarus that an overwhelming majority of Belarusians choose to speak Russian in their day-to-day lives as opposed to Belarusian.
The language itself has got 6 vowels, up to 48 consonants and up to 54 phonemes (English has 44). It's written in the Cyrillic alphabet (also used by other Slavic languages such as Russian and Serbian), but it's also been written with Latin, Arabic and Hebrew script. There are also two main dialects which can be found in the northeast and the southwest. Until the early 1900s, there was really no standardized grammar. Then, finally, amidst of some political unrest, Cyrillic became the only alphabet used for official writing.
Despite its turbulent past, Belarusian still perseveres. In recent years, there has been an increase in public support to make the language a larger part of the cultural identity. Let's hope that support continues to grow.
In the meantime, please enjoy this Belarusian rap.
Silbo Gomero
Region: La Gomera, Canary Islands
Approximate Number of Native Speakers: 22,000
Who needs consonants, nouns, verbs and letters? The people of La Gomera Island certainly don't. On this lovely island off the coast of Spain, the inhabitants have transformed the Spanish language so that it can be communicated through whistles. That's right, this is a whistle language.
The people of this tiny patch of land speak Spanish—Canarian Spanish, that is—but they take great pride in Silbo Gomero. Once on the verge of extinction, there was a revival in the late 90s, and teaching it in schools on the island has been required since 1999. It was even added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009.
The language is communicated over large valleys and ravines in this mountainous region. This is because words get jumbled and distorted over long distances. Just recall a time when someone has tried to shout to you from far away. Our first response is typically "Huh?!" or "What?!" and the other person has to repeat themselves several times for the message to come across. Whistling, however, can transmit with perfect clarity for up to three miles (five kilometers).
Silbo Gomero replaces the five vowels in Spanish with two tones where i is the highest pitch and o is the lowest pitch, and the other vowels fall in the middle. The consonants, however, are represented by dropping from high to low pitch, low to high pitch, breaks, steadiness and volume. For the untrained ear, all of this just sounds like a lovely melody, but for the people in La Gomera the sounds are as distinct as the letters and words on this page.
Want to get a sense of how it works? Click the link above, and then check out this fun little video.
Rotokas
Region: Bougainville, Papua New Guinea
Approximate Number of Native Speakers: 4,000
This is considered to be one of the simplest of the known languages, trailing only behind Pirahã (see below). The language has a mere 12 letters and 11 phonemes (t and s are the same sound). Vowels have a long and short counterpart, but there are no real tonal distinctions in their speech. It has three dialects which are: Central Rotokas, Aita Rotokas and Pipipaia.
One unique bit about this language is that it doesn't use nasal tones. Actually, it does, but only when speakers are making fun of foreigners who attempt to speak Rotokas. How about that? If you're unsure of when we use nasal tones in our own speech, refer to the letter n. It's very nasal. It's probably most apparent when you have a cold, but say n right now and hold it. You should feel a vibration right in the bridge of your nose. This particular form of speech is so second nature to us that we don't even notice it, and apparently, we incorporate it into a language that doesn't even use it.
Now, just for fun, try saying n without the nasal component. I suggest you go in a room and close the door, because it gets really weird really fast.
When you're done with that, here's taste of some real life Rotokas.
Michif
Region: United States and Canada
Approximate Number of Native Speakers: less than 1000
Here's where the numbers start to reach a critical low. This is "classified" as an impossible language.
Michif is the language of the Metis people who are descendants of European fur traders, and located in certain regions of Canada and small pockets of North Dakota. It's a combination of Cree, an Algonquian language, and French, and it's believed to have been created out of a desire for a cultural identity. Although Michif is a product of both Cree and French, most Michif speakers aren't fluent in either language.
Conceptually, Michif is quite simple. It combines French nouns and Cree verbs. Linguistic scholars tear their hair out over this. According to these scholars, it's impossible that these two very different languages, one being a Romance language, and the other being a polysynthetic language could possibly work together. Sure, opposites attract, but this goes beyond an odd couple scenario. Cree is to French as apples are to…fax machines. The language breaks all the laws of linguistics and doesn't fall into any real classification. There are even linguists who won't acknowledge that the language exists.
Let's take a look at the phrase "those men." In French you say ces hommes-là. In Cree you say neekik nâpêwak. In Michif, a combination of the two, you say neekik lii zom. While it may look like gibberish, the last two words (lii zom) when said out loud should be quite recognizable to even a novice French speaker. So really, it does work, and it's quite cool and interesting. If you speak French (and even if you don't), give it a shot, say it out loud.
Also, to the linguistic scholars out there who still don't believe: Rules were meant to be broken, and we conquer the impossible every day. Try to not trouble yourself too much over this. Humans are just badass. What can we say? It's the world we live in, and it's pretty awesome.
Anyway, how about it Francophiles? Can you pick out any familiar words?
Region: Archib, Russia
Approximate Number of Native Speakers: 970
This is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken throughout seven small villages of Archib in Dagestan, Russia. This is one of the most complex languages on the list. Until recently, there was no written form of Archi, but once again Cyrillic characters have come to save the day.
The Archi language certainly likes to keep things interesting. The alphabet consists of 26 vowel phonemes and a modest 74 to 82 consonants. Also, rather than two noun classes like in many of the languages that we're familiar with, masculine and feminine, Archi has four. It has 150 phonemes, and if you think that's a lot, it's believed that a single verb can have over 1.5 million forms. Somehow that stereotype that English is one of the hardest languages to learn seems to be quickly falling by the wayside. Archi will leave you sprinting to the nearest Mandarin course for a taste of something simpler.
Here's what this endangered language sounds like.
Region: Northeast India
Koro was "discovered" by linguists in recent years during the mid-2000s. It brought the number of known global languages to 6,909. Koro is in the Tibeto-Burman language family, which consists of 400 other languages, 150 of which are spoken in India. Koro, however, appears to be unto a world of its own, as it's only very distantly related to its linguistic contemporaries. Researchers have found that Koro is as distinct from its neighboring languages as Greek is from Vietnamese.
The main difference between Koro and its related languages is that it's comprised of different sounds. For example, in the neighboring language Aka, the word for "pig" is vo, and in Koro it's lele. Researchers believe that the language may have come from a group of people who were enslaved in the region. For these people, Koro isn't just communication, but it's strongly linked to the valley in which this small village is situated. It encompasses everything known about the region and the secrets of their own survival. If this language were to become extinct, the world wouldn't just be losing a language, but a race of people would be losing a major part of their heritage.
You can get a sample of what researchers discovered about Koro in this video from National Geographic.
Pirahã
Region: Amazon Rainforest, Brazil
We're now deep in the Amazon.
Pirahã is the only surviving dialect of the Mura languages. Although it has so few speakers, there's actually no immediate threat to its extinction. The Pirahã community is largely monolingual, so there's no concern that the language will be phased out like many of the others in the region that were replaced by Portuguese. The Pirahã have had limited interaction with the outside world except for the extensive research by Dr. Daniel Everett.
With only 10-12 phonemes, which consists of 7 consonants and 3 vowels, it's considered the simplest language in the world. For the women in the community, it's even simpler. They use one less consonant than the men. What's most interesting about this language is that it's largely conceptual. There are no fixed words for numbers and colors. The words hói and hoí, when said in different tones, roughly mean "small quantity" and "large quantity." With no fixed terms for colors rather than saying that something is "green," they may say something along the lines of "It looks like grass."
The Pirahã language focuses on the present. As a culture, the people don't concern themselves with the past. If they don't see something, then it doesn't exist. For example, if a bird was on a tree and then flew away to another tree, the Pirahã would say that the bird is xibipio (gone out of existence). Although the language is technically "simple," the culture and psychology are so deeply connected that it takes something like the extensive research of Dr. Everett to really get a grasp of this unique language and culture.
Here's a little piece of it.
Ayapaneco
Region: Tabasco, Mexico
Approximate Number of Native Speakers: 2
This centuries-old language is nearly extinct. It was once a minority language spoken regularly throughout the region, but began to die out on account of the passage of time, modernization, and the widespread use of Spanish. Ayapaneco survived wars and natural disasters and now it's down to its last legs. There are only two people who actually speak it.
What's interesting is that for many years, the last two speakers, Manuel Segovia and Isidro Velazquez, would not speak to each other. Whether there was a falling out or it was just due to the limitations of old age, no one is really sure. However, for quite some time, with the two men refusing to speak Ayapaneco, it was like the language had actually died. Luckily, within the last two years, Manuel and Isidro called for a revival and decided that they would teach the language to anyone who wanted to learn. Now there's a strong movement in the region to keep the language alive.
We'll be rooting for your survival, Ayapaneco. For now, you can watch how the pros do it.
Sentinelese
Region: North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal
Approximate Number of Native Speakers: Unknown
There's one thing that makes Sentinelese stand out from all of the other languages on this list. No one has ever heard it.
That is, no one apart from the native speakers themselves.
The small North Sentinel Island, just a touch larger than the island of Manhattan, houses an isolated tribe of people who aren't too keen on foreign relations. Basically, if you get too close they'll shoot an arrow through you. Anthropologist Trilokinath Pandit is the only person to have made contact with the Sentinelese without having been severely wounded or killed.
The only information on this language, obtained from very scant observations, is that the Sentinelese greet each other in a two-toned system; but even this little bit of intelligence isn't reliable. Since no one has been able to study them extensively, these sounds could have been misinterpreted as greetings. It's thought that the language may have some similarities to the surrounding Andamanese tribes, but no one can be sure. All we know is that this is an unyielding bunch—they managed to survive the 2004 tsunami—who don't want anything to do with outsiders.
If you're really keen on hearing what are sure to be the mellifluous musings of the Sentinelese people, maybe you can make history. We'd love some more data for this post. You'll have to try, with an emphasis on try, to sneak onto the island by way or raft or canoe. They've been known to shoot at helicopters, planes and boats. If you manage to make it onto the island unscathed, you won't have to go searching. They'll find you. See if they'd be up for a chat. Let us know what comes of it. Good luck.
Don't go anywhere just yet. There's one more language, albeit an unconventional one, that deserves a spot on this list of the obscure.
*Bonus: Klingon
Region of the World: Anywhere that there are hardcore "Star Trek" fans
Approximate Number of Fluent Speakers: 30
Now, let us "boldly go where no man has gone before." Okay, well, maybe some have gone there, but Klingon doesn't typically end up on these kinds of lists. That may be because of the small issue that it isn't technically a real language. Klingon was created for the "Star Trek" series, spoken by the aliens from the planet Kronos. It was turned into a full on language by linguist Mark Okrand.
With only 3,000 words, it's difficult to have any meaningful conversations in Klingon, especially since many of the words are centered on things like intergalactic wars, spacecrafts and other such things we generally don't discuss most days of the week. Speakers have to be very creative when trying to express themselves. For example, something as simple as "how are you?" becomes bIpIv'a (are you healthy?), and "cheers" becomes 'IwlIj jachjaj (may your blood scream). Apparently, there are about 30 people in the world who don't mind the trouble. There was even a man who tried to raise his son on the language.
Though "Star Trek" is clamoring to remain relevant as Marvel dominates the nerdiverse—not to mention the "Star Wars" saga—Klingon is perhaps in less danger of extinction than Xhosa despite being short 7,999,970 fluent speakers. There are thousands who can just "get by" in Klingon and even more who know a word or two here and there. Trekkies of the world are both faithful and vigilant. As long as "Star Trek" conventions continue to grace major cities, Klingon is sure to continue touching fans of generations past, present and future. And the Klingon Language Institute will see to it. So will Duolingo. Yup, you read that correctly. The popular language learning website plans to launch a beta Klingon course this coming December.
We know you're all holding your breath in anticipation.
While you anxiously await the big day, here are some words of wisdom from America's favorite genius.
Our journey around the globe has come to an end. Hopefully, it has inspired you to learn something different and new. Maybe you can even challenge yourself to actually learn one of these tough languages, at least the ones that are accessible.
You'll certainly be the center of happy hour if you suddenly drop some fluent Rotokas on your colleagues; just be sure to apply the unapologetic wisdom of comedian Kevin Hart, and "say it with your chest."
Live long and prosper, friends.
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Ted Kennedy's Paternity Test
The Kennedys are America's alternative to royalty. So when sex scandal and a paternity test rock the Kennedy name, it's big news. But it seems being a Kennedy comes with a curse. Ever since John F Kennedy was assassinated in what is now one of the most iconic moments in history, inspiring conspiracy theories, movies, books and songs – the Kennedys became larger than life. When Ted Kennedy was accused by the National Enquirer magazine of having a paternity DNA test to discover a 'secret love child' it reminded the nation of the difficulties that come with being a high profile Kennedy.
The curse of the Kennedys began long before Ted Kennedy had a paternity test. Ted Kennedy, the brother of John F Kennedy, also lost his politician brother Robert in 1968 when he was assassinated. In addition, Ted lost his sister Kathleen in an airplane crash, his pilot brother Joe was killed in World War Two and three of his nephews have since been killed – David who had an overdose in 1984, Michael who died in a ski accident in 1997 and John, who was killed in a 1999 plane crash. The paternity test pales in comparison to the tragedy that has befallen the Kennedy family.
Accidents, Assassinations and a Paternity Test
Ted Kennedy himself barely escaped death when his car crashed off a bridge in 1969 – he left his passenger to die. His first wife was convicted for drink driving and his political career struggled – the DNA test was merely yet another scandal. It was dismissed as fiction by representatives of Kennedy but the damage to his reputation had already been done.
Scandal of the Paternity DNA Test
Kennedy was labelled as 'scandal hit' by newspapers across The States when revelations of a secret love child and paternity test were unveiled. The story in the National Enquirer said Ted Kennedy had an affair in his fifties and asked the woman in question to have an abortion when she fell pregnant. It was said he paid her to keep quiet as he feared a test would ruin his political career. Kennedy did take a paternity test when the secret love child was born two decades ago. It's been reported that Ted Kennedy kept the child a secret for 21 years.

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This past week, I spent 5 days with my daughter Amy. She had to have a bone graft and I wanted to be with her when it was done, and be there to nurse her if she needed her mommy, in the days that followed. We mistakenly believed that this surgery had been easier than the original accident that caused the need for the bone graft. However, 36 hours after the surgery her face started to swell and the pain kicked in. However, knowing that I wanted to go and look for wild horses at the Prairie, she bravely went out with me late Friday after taking her pain meds. We did not walk much, and I did not get to see the wild horses, but I did get quality time with my child.
Beyond that I had asked her if she would model for me so that I could get one photo of a red and black umbrella. Well Amy got into the swing of things and for a while I started thinking Mary Poppins. I chose not to take close ups of her face because truthfully it is swollen. She looks like she has had botox, poor child. But she was a real sport working with me.
Here is my take on the topic "Same". Same umbrella, different poses, different colors, some without color.
As of today we heard the news that Amy will be leaving the USA on Sept 11 (her birthday) and joining up with the Peace Corp to teach in Macedonia. She is excited and ready for this. Mom is excited for her, but I am going to miss her a lot. I am going to have to start saving to visit her. Life experiences grow us all and she has had a few hard ones since December but she is strong and I have not doubt in my mind that she is going to love exploring new places.
"A bit of magic. It's easy. You think. You wink. You do a double blink. You close your eyes… And jump".
~ A quote from the film Mary Poppins.
If you are interested in seeing more of my photography take a look at my Facebook page or my Flickr Page.
It's that time of the month again, and I was stumped this month as to what to do. I have spent most of this month looking out at my back canal or in my office. My foot is slowly healing but I still have issues with swelling and some days by the end of the day my foot looks twice its size. So I have limited my walking to the minimum, which means no exploring for me. Added to that the holidays are over and it is back to the office 4 days a week and a new learning curve.
Richard, however, is itching to get away. He wants to go on a weekend vacation. In the meantime, he bought himself a paddle board and is really keen to try it out. Obviously he wants to go into the surf. Another challenge, I cannot wear a flip flop at this stage. So I would be that person on the beach wearing sneakers…not sure I am happy about that. But I am willing to try. The weather though is not cooperating, so his next plan is to go to the local park which has a big lake on it. I agree to that, and so he packs up two chairs, some drinks, the paddle board and off we go. I have the minumum – my camera and a book. I hope you enjoy my armchair photography……..
Richard heads off and I am left to hang out in the beautiful South Florida winter weather. It was breezy, but when the sun came out from behind the clouds the weather was really warm. I started to look around at what I could take photos of. No birds…… so I experimented a bit with black and white, blur and negative space.
Beyond the reeds there was not much else to take photos of so I began to eavesdrop on the lives of others. A little out of my comfort zone to take photo's of strangers in public, especially when they are so close by.
There was a guy out on the water with his young son on a jet ski and I have to be honest my heart dropped a little at some of the moves they were doing but both seemed to be having a whole lot of fun.
Every time he went past the buoy the Tern took off and had to fly back to it's post again. By the way, this was the only interesting bird I saw the entire time I was there.
Fishing is an option at the lake. This same guy went out on a paddle board and at some point in time he sat down on it and stuck his feet in the water. Here I am thinking, "Nooo that is not a good idea, alligators live in this area!" Nothing ate him, but I am not sure you would catch me doing that.
A number of little kids ventured towards the dock where they would hang over the edge and look for the fish. In fact, one little boy had to be carried away from there crying because he just did not want to leave.
During my meandering, I kept going back to the guy on the jet ski as he made waves around the lake.
Seems like it is also a great place for girl talk. Friends walked up a little later and the girl talk was quickly concluded.
This guy arrived and sat a short way away from me. Clearly he decided that today was a good day to head out with a book, a drink and a cigar and enjoy the beautiful weather.
I watched the two on the jet ski for a while longer, enjoyed the clouds and the weather and waited for Richard to come back. Sometimes it is just nice to drop your head back and bask in the winter sunlight. I leaves you feeling warm and rested. I have to confess that it was nice to be outside and not busy working in the house.
Finally the father and son team, gave up and headed back in to have some father and son time on the bank of the lake. I really enjoyed this sweet scene.
Richard arrived back safely after navigating the Lake and the winds. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and really wants to get out on the ocean now. So I guess that will be out next stop.
Thank you for joining me this month, remember this is a circle blog, so don't forget to see what out newest member, Lupji has to offer you. I am excited to see more of his about him and his family and his part of the world. Make sure you follow the link and see what everyone else has.
30 Minutes in the Life is now live and I wanted to do something different this month, but what to do was the question. My son, Cameron, works at an archery business, that sells archery equipment, as well as has practice lanes for clients to come in and gain some experience shooting, and hold various archery competitions.
What I remember about archery is limited to my brother, Barry, and his bow and arrow and the points of the arrows barely missing my feet. My brother had these great games that we should play, somehow I was always the one on the wrong end of a very sharp point.
John, the owner of Palm Beach Archery, has been in the business for a number of years. John first started with a archery store in Boca Raton, however, the business has grown so rapidly, that within 4 years, John found himself needing new premises, and Cameron was part of the big move.
So I decided to head over to Palm Beach Archery and see for myself what happens at the archery store. Walking up to the doors I can see people through the Archery sign. Walking in, there is a buzz of activity. University students hanging out, shooting arrows and just generally having a good time. There are 26 lanes and more than half of them were busy at 2pm on a Friday afternoon.
Bows line the walls and these are far superior to the little bow and arrow that my brother was using to shoot at my toes. Finally carved and strung to perfection, I was impressed at how advanced they were. Focus bows offer a low mass weight and custom craftsmanship. The Polaris bow is crafted from maple and walnut and is ideally suited to a young archer.
Arrows of different colors, and shapes and sizes are in bins for the clients to purchase. There are also bins of arrows for clients to use when they practice, if they do not have their own.
The targets start to look to like pin cushions as the students began to wrap up their time at Palm Beach Archery. The lanes on either side of the service area all needed their targets changed.
Katelee arrived to give a student a lesson, and so I asked her if she would be willing to shoot off a few arrows for me. Katelee was gracious enough to do so.
Katelee was very good at this. Apparently there is much more than just putting a bow in, pulling the arrow back and shooting. It is far more technical than I could ever imagine. Each bow has a level to ensure that you are balanced. There are sights to look through, a wrist sling, and various other things to take note of. Things my brother's little bow and arrow certainly did not have.
She made it looks so easy, yet I know that this all takes practice. Posture, accuracy, precision can be taught to a new student.
Cameron on the other hand, was easily attracted to the more technical bow called Hoyt Nitrum 30, which is apparently one of the fastest and most accurate shooting bows on the market. I can vouch for it being fast. I decided that I would like to try and capture the arrow in flight. Can you hear me laughing? The arrow was in the target before I had even managed to put the button down. The bow has a mass weight of 3.9 lbs. It has a Zero Torque Cable Guard System, which resembles what looks like a pulley system. Overall it is pretty impressive. However, it does not look like your traditional bow.
This sweet bow, really look impressive, with all sorts of sensors and levels, however, that comes as an additional cost to the the basic bow.
At the end of the visit, I found that I had learned a few new things about bows and arrows. I was also pleased to see that folk were leaving the building happy and excited, chatting with each other about when they would be back again.
While I was writing this, I had the background music from the Hunger Games playing. This has to be one of the most haunting songs I have heard in a long time.
Where they strung up a man they say murdered three.
Where the dead man called out for his love to flee.
Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free.
Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.
I had written and completed this bog, when I headed off to finally see The Hobbit. I am not sure who was more impressive with the bow and arrow, Katniss in the Mockingjay, or Legolas in The Hobbit, but both made using a bow and arrow look like a walk in the park.
I hope you enjoyed my time spent at Palm Beach Archery. Remember this is a circle blog so don't forget to look and see what my sweet friend Karen of Karen Hunt Photography / Remington VA Photographer has for you. I have loved getting to know Karen and her family over the past couple of years.
If you want to know more about Palm Beach Archery, check out their facebook page, or head over to their website.
If you want to read more about the 30 Minutes in the life group, check out their facebook page, or their website.
Project 10 challenge this month was Glitter. The first thing that always comes to mind is the sparkly stuff that you find on decorations that normally stick to you and is a pain to get off. Not being a big fan of that kind of glitter I decided to Google the definition of glitter.
3. "Tiny pieces of sparkling material used for decoration.
Most of you know by now that we are outdoor people, summer people, beach people, and I love to sleep in until 7:30 in the morning. The only time I wake early is my days I go to work, and the days we are on the beach. The days on the beach, I will wake up before the sun rises and make some coffee and head down to the beach. Normally you are just getting the first rays of sun and the photo is fairly dark and grainy. You will find the Plovers at the edge of the water looking for breakfast. I enjoy watching the wave crash over as the sun sparkles on the droplets that rise from the pounding of the wave.
Standing under the dock as the sun breaks the horizon is always a sense of awe for me, as the sun glitters on the water, shimmering brightly.
The sand glistens with tiny radiant drops of light, gold in color.
And among those glistening drops of light, a little friend slowly emerges out of his home, to a brand new day and a new adventure.
I am easily drawn back to the beauty of the morning as the sun radiates off the surface of the water turning everything golden in color.
Back to the little crab and up much closer . He ventures out into the new day. A day that is bright and warm. The sun shining on it body, and the promise of a good day ahead.
Of course he does have to watch out for the plover who is on a food mission at the edge of the water. Crabs are fast though and if I moved a fraction he was back down his hole.
It was a fascinating experience to watch him clean house. Perhaps it was a her, but cleaning house was what it did. Scooping up balls of shiny wet sand he would bring it from down in its house, up to the surface level of the of the beach sand.
The day has begun, the sun is glinting on the water, the surf is up, the waves are ready to challenge, and we are ready to play.
The downside of this day was that the surfing experience cost Amy her Go Pro. It was not fastened securely enough to withstand being dumped by a killer wave. Ok so killer is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the picture, scraping along the bed of the ocean while the Go Pro videos the fishes in the big big ocean.
I hope that you enjoyed my interpretation of glitter – the shimmering, reflected light.
As I reflect on the movie "Dead Poet's Society" and how the character played by Robin Williams played an interesting role in the life of his students, I am reminded of a similar teacher when I was at school. I was 15 years old, second year in high school, and gaining a whole lot of new teachers. I already had my thoughts on some of them. English was one of those subjects that I was okay with but 1977 this teacher changed my whole view of English and how much fun it could be. I learned to love reading novels. I could not get enough of poetry. I loved to write (not so much being critiqued). I loved topical projects although speaking them in class was always a little nerve wrecking.
Over the years, I have had numerous teachers, but there are few that really stand out in my mind. Most of them fall within the English, History or Photgraphy category. Donald McKenzie was my final year English teacher and also the photography teacher. Vera Castleman was a teacher that I worked with on photography, as well as speech and drama. David Randall was my technical drawing and speech and drama teacher. William Smith was my history teacher. Today I learned of the passing of another teacher that stood out in my mind as a teacher who made an impact on my school life. Patrick Collyer was my English teacher second year in high school.
He was young, he was energetic, he was fun. Patrick did not just make English another subject you had to complete in school, He made English enjoyable. He made you want to read more. He inspired you want to learn more. Poetry was not just an English lesson but a History lesson as well. I fondly remember the week we were to read a poem about Helen of Troy, and Patrick came into class and said this is the poem we are required to complete but before we do that here is a little bit about the poem…..3 days later we finally got to reading the poem.
He was a man before his time in so many ways. He had yet to be jaded by students who did not care, nor the rigors and boundaries of a school system. Patrick only spent one year as my English teacher, but for me, it was a year that brought about change for me.
Today if you look at my bookshelves, you will find poetry books, novels, set books from years ago, books that I hold onto and value. I have become a book collector. I love the feel of books. I love to meander through the pages of time.
Teachers are very often overlooked in the bigger scheme of things, but it is teachers to whom we entrust our children to take care of them, to educate them, and to instill in them a passion to learn. Patrick Collyer was a teacher that I could look up to. He intrigued me with the stories, he drew me in. My school lost a great English teacher when Patrick moved on to teach at a different school.
I will remember him with great fondness, and a gratefulness for the passion he instilled in me.
If you have never encountered a Burrowing Owl, then you are missing out on a real treat. Burrowing Owls are exactly what they called. They nest in burrows in the ground. July 2014, I had the privilege and pleasure, of observing these cute little characters. A friend had mentioned that she knew where some were and would take me to see them. I was pretty excited. If you have not gathered this by now, I love nature. I grew up taught to appreciate and respect nature, to keep a reasonable distance so as not to encroach in their natural area, and to only take photo's.
Burrowing Owls are just over the length of a ruler in height and small in frame. The Male tends to stand taller than the female, and the female tends to be heavier in build than the male. That aside they look very similar. Juveniles lack the spotting on the front of the owl.
Our first encounter was a very shy Burrowing Owl. It watched us from the inner sanctuary of it's burrow. Once we realized it was not going to come out we moved on to the next cordoned off area.
Our first glimpse of this little one was of it deep inside it's hole. But the interesting thing about Burrowing Owls is that they are very curious and do not seem to be afraid of coming out when there are people around. The area has sufficient space between the cordoning and the burrow for it not to feel threatened, but close enough for a zoom lens to pick it out. Curiosity won the day and slowly but surely this little one emerged.
This particular Burrowing Owl seemed to be alone, or the mate was still hiding in the burrow, and we were interested in viewing a family of Owls and so we moved on to higher ground and a new spot. And this is where we came across a pair of Burrowing Owls, and all the fun began. This is truly where I fell in love with these curios characters. Enjoy their antics.
Sadly we did not get to view an entire family and most definitely this would be a trip worth taking again in late April after the chicks have hatched. If you get a chance to view a family of Burrowing Owls I would encourage you to take the opportunity and go and see them. They are amazing little characters.
Capturing the Year – 52 Week Photo Project is a Facebook group of photographers whose aim is to take one photo a week on a specific topic for a period of 52 weeks. I joined this group mid 2014 so this is my second year that I am posting with them.
Many people hate them but I truly love Raccoon. Not growing up and seeing them on a day to day basis, I really love it when I do see them. Yes, I know that they are sneaky, I've learned over the years that they will steal your food when you are camping. But there is something so beautiful about them that just really draws me in. Today as I walked in the wetlands I found this Raccoon at the top of a dead palm tree. Clearly it has burrowed into the palm tree to make it's home.
The topic jewelry was not hard for me – I immediately knew what I wanted to use. The setting however, was a different story. I could not make up my mind which one I preferred, so in the end I submitted them both.
The first setting I used involved a hat, a broach and a string of pearls. The jewelry and the hat are things I have inherited. The hat is a weird story. When my mom died I flew back home to close up her home, and in the sorting and the packing I came across this 50's type hat. For some weird reason I put the hat on and walked around in it for hours. My brother thought I was nuts. The pearls and the cameo were gifts from my grandmother and have a lot of sentimental value. I don't wear either very often but I do love them both.
Because I was feeling indecisive and in a black and white mood, I did a second shot. When thinking on this topic I remembered doing something similar in a wedding shoot and I wanted to see if I could create the same effect. The cameo and pearls were my grandmothers and I have a lot of good memories of her. The Bible belonged to Richards grandmother and she passed it down to him before she died. Faith is a strong foundation of my life, and am always reminded that this bible is an inheritance passed down from generation to generation.
The theme was winter, but that is really hard for someone living down in Southern USA. Winter happens maybe two weeks of the year. Floridians pull out their boots, and scarves and winter woolies, and pack them away 3 days later. So while the rest of the northern hemisphere is freezing and has these wonderful snowy images, I have a gorgeous sunset taking from the parking lot of a shopping center.
This was a week full of transportation. The first image was taken from a traffic light as the cars pulled off. It was rainy and wet and had some great reflections. The second and third were taken on a sunny winters day at the lake. The last was taken from my back garden as this microlight (or something) flew over. Not sure I am too crazy about that on a Sunday morning. It disturbs my peace, and chases my critters away.
What can be further away than the sun. I happened to stop by a park to take a different image and decided that the cloud cover and sun combination would probably suit my topic. That I got the lake in as well was a real bonus.
I did not know if I would get the image that I was looking for this week so I settled and went with red roses.
However, while I was up in Gainesville I managed to get the photo that I wanted. So here it is..
My Ms Squirrel is such a sweet little mite, and I love the interaction time I have with her. Today her eyes were only on her food and me since I might have got a little too close.
Books are my strength and my weakness. I have way to many books. I have family bibles, books of encouragement, novels, educational books. I have too many books. So much so that I turned my walk in closet into a library. I hate to get rid of books.


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As I head home from Monterrey and the race yesterday I couldn't be happier. A 2nd place finish and happy tears as I crossed that finish line yesterday. Happy tears because I had given it my all, happy tears because I was back out on the race course and happy tears because I had raced a good race and was on my way back home to marry Brian and to see Dallas. It was a good day indeed.
The race venue was beautiful. Our hotel was as close to the venue as it could get and it was in this park that was surrounded by mountains, clean and a flat, fast race course that ran through it.
Most of Team USA got there on Wed and I can't go any further before saying how much I love my teammates. Teammates that I've raced with since 2009 and many new, fresh and fast racers that make up our awesome group. It's always a fun time when we are together and this race was no exception. We had 10 Dare2tri elite team members at this race so a great showing of our #oneinspiresmany group!
We got to preview the course on Thursday and we all knew it would be a fast one. The swim was in this lazy river looking thing that had a few curves but was chlorinated and as close to a pool swim as you could get. The bike was 6 laps around the park in a windy 'S' pattern and completely flat and the run a similar path along the swim course. The female PT2's had seven in our class this race, which is a decent amount. There were 4 Americans; one included a newcomer and a teammate of ours that could add a new dynamic to our class as she is competitive and a great athlete. It was her (Alyssa), Hailey, Sarah R and myself. Then there were 2 athletes from South America and Kim from Canada who we have raced with many times. Remember that this race was only for Canada, US and South American athletes. As I went to bed on Thursday night I had 2 main goals. One was to podium and the other was to Run happy, something I don't often do. And with the quad issues I had been having I knew that could be more of a challenge than usual. I got to room with my good friend Patty and we gave each other some good words of encouragement the night before the race and promised each other that we would just do our best and remember that when things got tough, that we deserved to be there.
The PT2's went off at 9am. I had a decent swim and I always work to get out of the water as quick as possible to have the greatest possible lead on the field. The swim felt good, I got out, struggled a bit with my wetsuit but made my way to T1 and was out on the bike pretty quickly. Now, in the past I have had a mental block on the bike where I sit there and pedal, just waiting for someone in my class to pass because in my mind, it's only a matter of time. I tell myself to go, go, go but usually it's not until someone passes that a fire is lit and I start going as hard as I can. I talked about this to Coach Chris before the race and she said that every minute I needed to check in with myself to make sure I was giving it my all. So that I did. And I had the best bike ever. I felt so strong and refused to let myself worry about any pain in my leg and how it would affect my run. I went hard from the beginning and wouldn't let myself give in. At the end of the 4th lap Hailey caught up and I told myself to just keep her in my sight and to keep and was thrilled when I got to T2 just behind Hailey and was in second place. Hailey beat me out of transition and was off. I know she is a fast runner and she was out of sight pretty quick. I wasn't sure who was in 3rd but my new goal was to not let them catch me. I ran my race, my quad felt remarkably well and I even managed to blurt out a 'Run Happy' to Patty when I saw her. My pace was the best it's been all year and as I got to the finish chute I was overwhelmed with happiness. A second place finish, my first race sub 1:30 (although the course was a little short) and I had truly met my goals and given it my all. Not to mention that this was the last triathlon before I would become a Mrs.
There were happy tears as I hugged Coach Stacee and I was thrilled. Alyssa came in not to far after me and to make the day even sweeter, it was a USA sweep. As we stood on that podium hearing the national anthem with 3 American flags raised high, I stood there with this smile, just thinking about how far I had come and was just really proud of myself. A year ago when I found out I was pregnant, my goal was to have Dallas and to be back on the race course. And there I was a new mom, putting in the training hours to be back out there, on the podium, wearing the USA uniform and just so very happy.
My next race is in 2 short weeks in Yokohama as part of our honeymoon. I earned a good amount of points yesterday at the race and if I do well enough in Japan I could be set up pretty well and move my way many places up in the world rankings. The goal for now is to have enough points to qualify for a race in Rio on Aug 1 that is a test event for the Paralympics next year. That will be a key race that could possibly determine if I make it to the Paralympics next year. And then in 6 days, I get to wear my wedding dress and marry my best friend. I couldn't have asked for a better start to my wedding week.
But now, I'm on the plane back to Chicago where my whole family will be meeting me at the airport and I can't wait to squeeze them all. Being away certainly isn't easy and I can't wait to hug Brian and hold Dallas' little head.
And the next time I write, I will be Mrs. Brian Tolsma and a married woman!