In this picture there are a few of them. The one in the foreground is Gañifa rock arch, middle plane is occupied by the iconic Roque Nublo, and in the backgound there is Teide. You can't get much more landmarky than this.
And here is the cat, who finds himself facing an enormous violin scroll after all the hiking, trekking, walking and navigating. He looks perplexed, but, let's face it, who wouldn't be in his place.
Today's Inktober prompt is "navigator/navigateur".
Initially I thought I'll go with a more modern version of the word, but a reference image search brought me this beautiful illustration of Saint Brendan le Navigateur, and I've changed my mind.
Many other depictions have him holding a boat in his hand, and he is the patron saint of sailors.
I must have seen the picture in one of the James Christensen books that we have, but didn't remember it.
I've chosen to ignore the obvious "-jet" addition to "jumbo", and went with the source of all the jumbo tags - the so named elephant.
The cat, who is not small himself, is there for scale. They both look so pleased because they were pen pals for years and now have the first opportunity to meet, thanks to the Inktober tag.
And here is the cat, on the road again, trying to tackle Harry Pregerson interchange in LA. The fact that I unwittingly put him into a left-hand drive car doesn't make things easier.
One day, a long time ago, I entered a dark windowless corridor in the new, but already shabby, building of our university. One of the doors had a hole, where the lock was broken out completely. The room behind the door had the windows looking at another part of the same building, the sun hitting it full-on. First, I noticed a blurry regular pattern on a wall opposite to the door and then something moving. It took me some time to work out the moving thing was a curtain hanging out of one of the windows in the sunlit wall. The fact that it was upside down didn't help to recognise it.
It was an accidentally formed camera obscura, very imperfect of course. I'd never seen the effect before. We had studied a bit of optics at school, and there might have been an illustration in the textbook, but it probably was a line drawing, and it was difficult to form a link between it and real life. My own illustration of the event also doesn't explain much, I'm afraid.
And below I leave a beautifully executed, but still not very explanatory, version of the same phenomenon printed by Hokusai
Today’s Inktober prompt is “scarecrow/épouvantail”.
And here is Turnip Head, happy as usual, greeting you.
I guess this departure from the previous line of “adventure/travel” prompts is due to upcoming Halloween.
Which reminds me that I need a pumpkin.
And here is the cat, bitterly regretting his decision to come to a polar expedition. What is all this white stuff? He doesn't like this white stuff.
Come to the pole they said. It will be fun they said.
It's a difficult subject to draw. You just have to believe me that ill-fated "American Star" in the pic is extremely rusty.
Or rather it was rusty. Now it is mostly gone.
And here us the cat, camping illegally in Teide National Park. He really, really wanted to see the comet. And cats are very good in ignoring the rules imposed by humans, as we all know.
And here is the cat, dressed up as one. As costumes go, this one is not bad. Still, he doesn't like it. He is a refined creature, and there is nothing refined about rhinoceroses.
Today's Inktober prompt is "uncharted / inexplorée".
And, of course, the first thing that comes to mind is "here be dragons".
Just one very large dragon, really. He barely fits into this measly bit of uncharted terrain, and doesn't fit at all once he spreads his wings.
Today’s Inktober prompt is “ridge/crête”.
And here is the cat, walking along what looks like a path to nowhere.
I am not worried about him though. Unlike some people I know and love, this cat is able to turn around when he sees an abyss in front of him.
Today’s Inktober prompt is “drive/conduire”.
As I already stated, I don’t like driving in the snow. But I must add that I absolutely hate driving in the mountains, and avoid it at all costs.
The road in the picture represents how I see the road between Agaete and La Aldea de San Nicolas, here on Gran Canaria. It was and is being improved all the time, tunnels dug and some bits straightened, but it is quite frightening even now.
Today’s Inktober prompt is “journal”.
I think the cat is having difficulties with keeping a journal. His paws are just not meant for it.
Or maybe he is just tired. Looks like he is at the end of Artenara — Cruz de Tejeda walk. It is a very respectable hike, for a cat.
And what is the dirtiest, the worst for wear piece of equipment of any hiker worth her salt? That's right, the boots. And here you have mine. Looks like I need a new pair soon, if not right now.
Now that the tendency of the prompts is very obvious, I rather think they meant this type of boots here, and not what I drew, the Puss-In-Boots kind.
But well.
Which reminded me of a little episode from a few years back. We were walking in the hills, using an online guide by a very knowledgeable local hiker. It wasn't one of the complicated routes, but it was a foggy day and the visibility was limited. We weren't lost, exactly, just not sure where we were. And then, in the verbal description of the route, we came up to a phrase which went "and then you come to a farm with dogs that bark". Right on cue, a dog started barking in the fog, and suddenly we knew exactly where we were.
And here is the cat, feeling unusually energetic. I have no explanation as to why. Mysterious are the ways of the cat.
The cat has a problem, le problème du chat . Unlike "Le problème du cavalier", where the Knight has to visit every square on a chessboard, the cat's problem is simpler - he just doesn't want to move at all. He is just fine where he is, thank you very much.
Come to think of it, he doesn't have a problem. No-one can make a cat to move if he doesn't want to.
I know that they probably meant other meaning of "remote", judging by the overall tendency.
But the cat is tired of all the adventures. I mean, it's only so much a feline can bear.
HHere's the cat, bringing some snacks to a hike. He's clearly looking forward to eating them. Not so sure about the hike itself though
And here is the cat, going somewhere on a surprised-looking horse.
You would be surprised too, if you suddenly found a large cat on your back.
Icatus soared higher into the sky, eclipsing the sun // Ichate s'est envolé plus haut dans le ciel, éclipsant le soleil
Don't worry about the cat, he is fine, no wax in those wings, they are made of stuff most difficult to destroy - hopes and wishes
Today's Inktober prompt is "hike". Strangely, there seems to be no difference in translation of "hike" and "trek", they are both "randonnée".
The best after a hike is being able to wriggle your toes / Le mieux après une randonnée c'est de pouvoir remuer les orteils
Today's Inktober prompt is "passport" (passeport).
By a strange coincidence, today a postman brought our son his passport, which was stolen a month ago in Bilbao. Apparently it was simply thrown away, spent some time under rain, later found and sent over by, presumably, "lost and found" (Objets trouvés) agency.
The passport was stolen together with a whole backpack full of important things, most of which we'll never see.
To be honest, I am surprised the passport was found.
As a bonus track, the French version of "are we there yet?" seems to be "On arrive quand ?", i.e. "when do we arrive?". Feel free to correct me if I am wrong
We are, once again, in October. I do intend to draw a little thing every day and follow the prompts. Here is the first one: Backpack / Sac à dos
