Favorite Photos from October and November
Across the world and back
Below are some of my favorite photos from the last couple months. If you follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ball_court) you can see more from my hiking, travels, and other fun stuff.
Note: if you click on a single image in any of the galleries below, it will open the full-size photo so you can get the whole picture.
I love how the mallard couple in this photo are standing stock still in center of a calm reflective pond while the other ducks surrounding them are in motion. It looks staged, but it was just a lucky shot I captured while walking around one of my favorite spots in Cedar Rapids early in October. I bumped up the texture and exposure while editing to make it feel more like a painting, imagining that the couple in the center was posing for a portrait.
That same day, I happened upon this doe. You can see her front leg raised, about to stomp the ground to warn me off.
In mid-October, we left for a trip to Cambodia. On our second day, we began exploring Siem Reap, and we learned about an organization called APOPO. They train special rats to detect landmines, making post-conflict zones safer for civilians (especially children). Cambodia still has mines scattered throughout its countryside, left there after the Vietnam war and the civil war in the 1970s. The work of APOPO and their rats is so incredibly important.
As impressive as those rats and their trainers are, it would obviously be best if landmines were never used. Most sensible people agree, and in 1997, 164 nations signed on to an agreement banning the use of landmines. The U.S. refused to sign the agreement. So has Russia, whose armed forces are currently littering Ukraine with mines. The result will be many civilians killed by these indiscriminate explosives for years after the conflict ends.
Tonle Sap Lake is a huge body of water that grows 6-10 times its area and up to 80 times its volume during the rainy season. People live on the lake either in raised homes (pictured above) or floating villages. We toured a portion of the lake right at the end of the rainy season. The water surrounding this village was just starting to recede. I didn’t take many photos that day, because I mostly filmed video. Hopefully I’ll have that video edited and ready to share with you in a few weeks.
Next we toured Angkor Wat and other ancient temples near Siem Reap. It was a day filled with beauty and learning. I’ve seen ancient architecture and cathedrals before in Europe, but it was very cool to be in a place where the religious and cultural history is so different than what I’ve seen before. (I have been to the Philippines, but its older religious architecture is mostly Spanish/Catholic.)
We saw so many things being hauled by motorcycles in Cambodia. It was unbelievable! I took several photos of them for a series on my Instagram page called “Trucks are for Sissies!” One of the stranger things I saw was a whole load of dead chickens. Apparently that's common enough that someone made an illustrated mug with the image of dead chickens. I brought that home with me as a souvenir.
These are just some silly pictures. Most people don’t get to see it, but Emmy can be a total goofball, which makes me love her even more.
After Cambodia, we went to Hawaii to see our daughter Aidyn, and then Anyssa met up with us there. It was nice to have time together as a whole family, especially on the beaches of Maui! On our last day there, we went to Haleakalā National Park. It was beautiful, and I wish we had more time to explore.
That’s all from me this week. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving and that you’re looking forward to the upcoming holidays.
If you have questions about any of the pictures in this email or the places we traveled, please feel free to ask in comments or send me an email.