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Great Gray Owl - Autumn in Alberta foothills 🍁 🍂

📸 by Mark Bouldoukian @markian.b

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Easily one of Mark's favorite waterfalls in the Pacific Northwest!

📸 by Mark Bouldoukian @markian.b

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Sharpen Your Pencils To Sharpen Your Mind

Piranesi is not trying to distract himself. He is returning himself to ordinary rhythms that restore continuity. They are small acts that leave the world slightly more ordered than before and leave the mind slightly less fragmented. Here are twenty-four activities in that spirit.

Water houseplants slowly and notice each leaf.

Sharpen pencils with a hand sharpener.

Fold clean laundry into neat stacks.

Polish a pair of shoes.

Sweep one room with a broom instead of a vacuum.

Make a pot of tea and drink it without reading anything.

Copy a favorite paragraph by hand into a notebook.

Mend a loose button or repair a torn seam.

Sort photographs into albums or folders.

Rearrange a bookshelf by theme, author, or color.

Wipe dust from a single shelf or windowsill.

Peel and slice fruit with deliberate care.

Bake simple bread or biscuits.

Sit quietly and identify every sound you can hear for ten minutes.

Press flowers or leaves between the pages of a heavy book.

Carve a small piece of wood or smooth a found stone.

Sketch an ordinary object such as a mug, key, or shoe.

Learn one new melody on a musical instrument.

Memorize four lines of poetry and recite them aloud.

Walk the same short route and notice five things you had never noticed before.

Write one page describing the weather as precisely as possible.

Clean and organize a small drawer.

Watch birds from a window and note their behavior.

Light a candle at dusk and spend a few minutes simply watching the flame.

What these activities have in common is that they are not about achievement. They are about completing an anti-entropic task. Piranesi fishes because food must be found. He makes soup because nourishment must be prepared. He washes clothes because cleanliness preserves order. He plays the flute because beauty also belongs to maintenance. None of these activities is escapism. Together they say, "Life continues."

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Aurora magic above the polar bear capital - Churchill, Manitoba

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📸 by Mark Bouldoukian @markian.b

On tour with @bearwitnessphoto

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Largest of North America’s owls and one of California’s rarest birds. The great gray owl has a special place in Yosemite. The park is the last stronghold for this rare and spectacular bird.

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📸 by Mark Bouldoukian @markian.b

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