And just because, here it is in b&w:

In the fall, oak leaves, rich in tannin, fall on the sidewalk and rain washes the tannin out and sometime later, the leaf blows away. What’s left is these floating ghosts.  

I boosted the contrast of his HDR image and cropped it. Reflection of me, in a striped shirt, in the coffee pot in bright sun.  

For some reason, these animals decided to cluster together at the top of the viewing area at the NC Zoo.  Every other time I’ve been there, they were scattered over a 100-acre area, but today they posed nicely.  Some of my pictures I’m kind of “meh” about, but this one I love love love.

Aviary view, NC Zoo.  An amazing place, full of light and sound, an occasional splash of surprising color.  Makes me feel I’m in my own tropical paradise, but for all the crowds of people pushing strollers around.  Beautiful anyway.

More detail of chimp, different pose.  Viewed through glass at the NC Zoo.
Eye detail: 

Chimps are very close to being human, DNA-wise.  If you spend time gazing at one of these creatures, they seem more and more human; what you are looking at is a reflection of yourself.

An onyx egg, from the gift shop at the North Carolina Zoo.  As zoos go, it’s a pretty good one, the animals are well treated with big enclosures, lots of qualified keepers, proper care.  I really didn’t go there to shop, but these big hunks of marble felt so good in my hand that I had to pick one up.  It felt like having a miniature desert in my palm.

Another Jordan Lake shot, kayaking.  The surface of the water looks gelatinous, almost solid.  Never ceases to amaze me, what a small amount of motion in water will do to the reflection.