I moved to Arizona six years ago from Santa Barbara, CA (where dolphin-viewing abounds!), with my beloved dear wife Laura-- who just passed away peacefully this past week of pneumonia complications at the ICU. What a gorgeous, beautiful soul-- she now flies freely with the angels and swims and frolics with the dolphin spirits. I already miss her so terribly.
At AllTrails, i've uploaded over a hundred nature photos (out of thousands more i could upload):
CLICK ON the PHOTO for each trail hike, NOT the hyperlinked trail-name text, to see the HQ photos i've uploaded of various hikes around Arizona.
P.S.-- Steve, my wife Laura, so passionate about "engaged spirituality" and social justice, was your biggest fan-- almost religiously watching you on MSNBC and twice viewing the entirety of that Frontline interview.
Steve, knowing my wife Laura's amazingly caring loving-kindness, i'm sure she'll be blessing you, me and all of us from her exquisitely subtle new standing amidst the angels & ancestors. Open-hearted Laura's main "tribe" consisted in everyone who courageously stands up for fairness and justice in all areas of society.
My sympathies for your loss. It's something I am preparing for, having just placed my partner in "residential care" as she endures final stage Parkinson's. It's hard. Remember the best.
Oh TC, i'm so very sorry that you and your beloved have entered this terribly poignant stage of life together-- but despite her outward affliction, as souls you will always soar together beyond this "vale of tears."
I, too, send my love. My father died with Parkinson's, and I have it as well, so it is a disease I know firsthand. Please take gentle care of yourself, as you care for your beloved.
So sorry to hear about your beloved wife. You are a special one here among us. You have such kindness and gentleness always in your voice. Hope all of us here will give you comfort ahead. Your place here is precious. And your wife now is in a place of Love.
As a human, I am saddened to learn of the loss of your beloved Laura. May your memories of her help to sustain and bring you comfort during this difficult time.
Thank you for sharing your delightful photos. The composition, color and clarity are remarkable.
Timothy, I am so very deeply sad for you. Yes, Laura is "free'" now! Completely and utterly free. You have a special angel watching over you until it's time for you to join her in the most wondrous of places. Love, Kathy Sherpa
Timothy, I just looked at your photographs. Such beauty! I love the way you move from flowers to rocks to landscape. The greens are the greens that surround me. The third photograph is so intimate, notwithstanding the fact that it is a landscape. You framed the sky, so light and wondrous, from within a trail surrounded by trees. You must know that it is an awakening. Right there, from nature's mysteries.
Timothy, I've been wondering how you've been doing. Your kindness, presence, and comments have had a positive affect on a number of us here in this community. I'm deeply sorry for your loss. I have no words, really, except that my heart and thoughts are with you. More all the time, I understand that Love is the most important thing of all, and is everlasting. Take best best of care. With Love, Lisa
(Tears of grieving, gratitude, and wonder over the goodness of my angel wife and you dear ladies Lisa and Kathy who've been so kind to me in these comment threads over the months.)
Wow. That is amazing. I had the chance to see a sperm whale up close, eye to eye, from the "safety" of a 30' boat. She was accompanied by her young. It was a humbling experience. Sorry, no pics of that. Not an easy image to follow; but here's some visitors that came by from the lake: https://photos.app.goo.gl/pHAqpyHLYiK2EeR98.
I've seen only males up close, but it is so cool. Because they don't cruise much, you can just sit there while they relax and breathe between dives. Amazing experience.
I was fortunate to spend a season as a whale-watching guide, some years ago, on the island of Dominica in the West Indies. There is a 'Nursery' there for Sperm Whales to raise their young (it takes a few years). There were mostly females and their young, but some males, too. The males can be 60 feet long. They are known to be 'the whale of superlatives' -of all whales, they dive the deepest, hold their breath the longest, and a couple other things too. The sheer size of these mammals and their presence is quite an experience. Unforgettable.
The males I've seen a couple times are the bachelor group that hangs around Kaikoura in New Zealand, as the shelf drops off immediately off the coast. Each of them has an interesting personality; the Maori that run the tours got into a heated debate about which male is the best and why (peacekeeping and altruism were features in this argument). You're right that everything about them is amazing. I mean, collapsing rib cage? Two hours holding your breath?
Yes, Sperm Whales dive to depths, on a regular basis, of 6,000 feet and sometimes to below 7000 feet. They feast on Giant Squid! Due to the pressure at those kinds of depths, they have collapsible rib cages, since they are holding their breath. This is Nature at such an extreme -just incredible. Mammals!
That looks like a Pacific white-sided dolphin! One of my favorites! They don't come into the Salish Sea as much, so I don't see them without traveling, but I'm so delighted when I do.
I will be going around Point Conception in a few days and usually there are at least 2-3 pods numbering 100+ that come to frolic and entertain with their acrobatics. ❤️❤️❤️😢
Chet -this is one of the most beautiful images and creatures I have ever seen in my life -ever!
I had a Cinnamon Hummingbird friend in Belize (they can actually bond with people) and will post a photo when I figure out how to do that. p.s. I'd be interested in purchasing a print of the hummingbird you posted here today, since I see you are a photographer. Thanks. Keep up the amazing photography.
Not much of a wildlife photo (there is a very small brown spot right in the middle on the beach - that's a grizzly bear!) but I didn't have the heart to crop out the rest of the scene.
Tim, I’m so sorry for your loss. And TC, I had to place my husband in memory care 5 months before he died in 2020. It is so painful to make such a decision but it was the right thing to do and I am at peace now. Time is indeed a great healer. My best to you and your family.
After my mother-in-law died, my (ex, now deceased) husband and I went out in his motorboat in the marshes where we used to live. We were astounded to see a dolphin following us, the entire way we were going, out to sea! No dolphin had ever come into water as shallow as ours. I remember Gerry saying, "Hi, Mom!"
Incredible! Dolphins do have areas of intelligence and senses beyond what we understand -maybe this one could feel what you and your husband were feeling.
Nina was 89 years old, schizophrenic, "given away" to unknown relatives at age 9 after her mother died, abused as a child, reclusive and paranoid -- but we came to love each other deeply. Nina needed a mother and saw me that way; apparently I resembled her beloved mother whom she had lost as such a little child. I loved her because she was my husband's mother. He never knew his mother because she was institutionalized for 20 years, when he was 6 years old. No one ever told him where she'd gone. He had no other family, and survived alone at boarding schools. I don't know how he made it. Nina was always very suspicious of him (she thought he was "the devil" and she was supposed to kill him, when they took her away). But she opened up with me, told me everything, which I in turn was able to relay to Gerry. Finally his life made sense.
Not long before she died, they were finally reunited emotionally and spiritually. Her death was -- breath-taking. We witnessed her soul leave her body through the crown of her head. Our feelings of awe, inexplicable.
Thank you, Irma. It was a great blessing for all three of us, I believe. I have been present for many deaths, and each one has been miraculous, beautiful, and utterly unique. I was literally "called" to become a physician. Every day of my life has been worth living.
thank you Steve for the magestic beauty of these photos. They remind me of you beautiful writing that you give us. Thank you for your dedication to that proposition, that revolution in thought. Your writing is up there with Lincoln’s genius.
Since I have not yet learned how to post photos here , I too am posting one of wildlife as my profile photo. The state bird of Louisiana is the brown pelican. These members of that distinguished group were sunning themselves the afternoon of January 13 in Des Allemands, LA.
Beautiful photo. Now I need to go to Louisiana some day! I love pelicans. Great profile pic too. Maybe more people in this community will share a photo this way -hope so.
Wow! What a wonderful art. We lived in Florida when I was young, every weekend morning my mother took my brother and I swimming. My mother would wear her fashionable cat-eye sunglasses, while we wore googles - she would tell my brother to hold onto her ankle and tell me to hold onto Joey's ankle, and she would take undersea . . .
She would tell us on the way back home "it's a great day any day you're swimming with the dolphins". They are the most beautiful, serene creatures. They have a way of bringing silence into your soul - it's a wonderful sound.
Thank you very, very much for the photos of the dolphin!!!!!!! What a wonderful sight!!!!!! And it was wonderful to hear about the historic synagogue!!!!
So beautiful! I love dolphins. We were sailing in the British Virgin Islands several years ago and all of a sudden several dolphins were swimming along side us. I was so awe struck in the moment I didn’t even think to get my camera until it was too late. So instead I have a photo I took of Cooper’s Hawk visiting our property last fall. He is a handsome fellow
That is the happiest bear I've ever seen:) I love the way his feet are dangling down as he's sleeping way up there in your Ponderosa Pine. What a big and trusting friend he is (and you are) -really special!
LOVE dolphins! Also love our resident Orcas here on Puget Sound, WA! I have been on a ferry more than once when they've been present and the ferries slow down to a quiet crawl to allow the Orcas (and even humpbacks every now and then) the right of way!
I may be the least technical person in this community....given that, I have noticed a lot of the people who are posting photos are using I-cloud, Flicker and an 'app' (google photo app, I think).
I don't have those options figured out, but may you can get it. Hope so:)
Seems a number of people are using I-cloud and Flicker. I'm technically challenged, but I've noticed this. I'd enjoy posting a few photos too. I need a 10 year old to assist me:)
Oh, i so love dolphins! Thank you, Steve.
I moved to Arizona six years ago from Santa Barbara, CA (where dolphin-viewing abounds!), with my beloved dear wife Laura-- who just passed away peacefully this past week of pneumonia complications at the ICU. What a gorgeous, beautiful soul-- she now flies freely with the angels and swims and frolics with the dolphin spirits. I already miss her so terribly.
At AllTrails, i've uploaded over a hundred nature photos (out of thousands more i could upload):
https://www.alltrails.com/members/timothy-conway/photos
CLICK ON the PHOTO for each trail hike, NOT the hyperlinked trail-name text, to see the HQ photos i've uploaded of various hikes around Arizona.
P.S.-- Steve, my wife Laura, so passionate about "engaged spirituality" and social justice, was your biggest fan-- almost religiously watching you on MSNBC and twice viewing the entirety of that Frontline interview.
Timothy,
I am so deeply sorry for your loss. May her memory be a blessing.
Steve
Steve, knowing my wife Laura's amazingly caring loving-kindness, i'm sure she'll be blessing you, me and all of us from her exquisitely subtle new standing amidst the angels & ancestors. Open-hearted Laura's main "tribe" consisted in everyone who courageously stands up for fairness and justice in all areas of society.
She sounds like a truly beautiful person. You were so blessed to have found one another.
My sympathies for your loss. It's something I am preparing for, having just placed my partner in "residential care" as she endures final stage Parkinson's. It's hard. Remember the best.
Oh TC, i'm so very sorry that you and your beloved have entered this terribly poignant stage of life together-- but despite her outward affliction, as souls you will always soar together beyond this "vale of tears."
TC, sending my thoughts and best wishes in your and your partner’s direction.
Thank you.
I, too, send my love. My father died with Parkinson's, and I have it as well, so it is a disease I know firsthand. Please take gentle care of yourself, as you care for your beloved.
So sorry to hear about your beloved wife. You are a special one here among us. You have such kindness and gentleness always in your voice. Hope all of us here will give you comfort ahead. Your place here is precious. And your wife now is in a place of Love.
Yes, Timothy is a special person in our group. Very wise, very kind, always.
Bowing to your kindness, N and KD!
As an artist, I was moved by your photos.
As a human, I am saddened to learn of the loss of your beloved Laura. May your memories of her help to sustain and bring you comfort during this difficult time.
Thank you for sharing your delightful photos. The composition, color and clarity are remarkable.
Marion, thank you for all your kind words.... The very best wishes to you in your art-making and all your endeavors!
Timothy, I am so very deeply sad for you. Yes, Laura is "free'" now! Completely and utterly free. You have a special angel watching over you until it's time for you to join her in the most wondrous of places. Love, Kathy Sherpa
Kathy, your sweet words of loving-kindness ring with truth and come as a healing balm.
Please accept my sympathies on your loss, Mr. Conway. May her memory always be for a blessing.
Timothy, I just looked at your photographs. Such beauty! I love the way you move from flowers to rocks to landscape. The greens are the greens that surround me. The third photograph is so intimate, notwithstanding the fact that it is a landscape. You framed the sky, so light and wondrous, from within a trail surrounded by trees. You must know that it is an awakening. Right there, from nature's mysteries.
Peace to you and yours, Mr. Conway
Timothy, I've been wondering how you've been doing. Your kindness, presence, and comments have had a positive affect on a number of us here in this community. I'm deeply sorry for your loss. I have no words, really, except that my heart and thoughts are with you. More all the time, I understand that Love is the most important thing of all, and is everlasting. Take best best of care. With Love, Lisa
Truly beautifully said, Lisa.
Your photos are just wonderful! I love the cactus flowers. Walkin' Jim was a friend of mine.
(Tears of grieving, gratitude, and wonder over the goodness of my angel wife and you dear ladies Lisa and Kathy who've been so kind to me in these comment threads over the months.)
Wow. That is amazing. I had the chance to see a sperm whale up close, eye to eye, from the "safety" of a 30' boat. She was accompanied by her young. It was a humbling experience. Sorry, no pics of that. Not an easy image to follow; but here's some visitors that came by from the lake: https://photos.app.goo.gl/pHAqpyHLYiK2EeR98.
Really sweet pair, there, and beautiful photos! The colors are stunning.
I've seen only males up close, but it is so cool. Because they don't cruise much, you can just sit there while they relax and breathe between dives. Amazing experience.
I was fortunate to spend a season as a whale-watching guide, some years ago, on the island of Dominica in the West Indies. There is a 'Nursery' there for Sperm Whales to raise their young (it takes a few years). There were mostly females and their young, but some males, too. The males can be 60 feet long. They are known to be 'the whale of superlatives' -of all whales, they dive the deepest, hold their breath the longest, and a couple other things too. The sheer size of these mammals and their presence is quite an experience. Unforgettable.
That is lucky!
The males I've seen a couple times are the bachelor group that hangs around Kaikoura in New Zealand, as the shelf drops off immediately off the coast. Each of them has an interesting personality; the Maori that run the tours got into a heated debate about which male is the best and why (peacekeeping and altruism were features in this argument). You're right that everything about them is amazing. I mean, collapsing rib cage? Two hours holding your breath?
Yes, Sperm Whales dive to depths, on a regular basis, of 6,000 feet and sometimes to below 7000 feet. They feast on Giant Squid! Due to the pressure at those kinds of depths, they have collapsible rib cages, since they are holding their breath. This is Nature at such an extreme -just incredible. Mammals!
That looks like a Pacific white-sided dolphin! One of my favorites! They don't come into the Salish Sea as much, so I don't see them without traveling, but I'm so delighted when I do.
Thank you for loving the natural world, Steve, and being an influence to protect her and her inhabitants. There is nothing more important. Here is a favorite in my collection from Monterey Bay. https://originals.laurenforcella.com/product/monterey-beauty-original-painting/
Beautiful!!
Thank you so much, Lisa!!
I will be going around Point Conception in a few days and usually there are at least 2-3 pods numbering 100+ that come to frolic and entertain with their acrobatics. ❤️❤️❤️😢
Talk about magnificent pics!!
The most beautiful world in the world.
I live in BC ❤️
No dolphins, Steve, so how about a hummingbird? https://www.flickr.com/photos/chetkresiak/52630108075/in/dateposted-public/
Chet -this is one of the most beautiful images and creatures I have ever seen in my life -ever!
I had a Cinnamon Hummingbird friend in Belize (they can actually bond with people) and will post a photo when I figure out how to do that. p.s. I'd be interested in purchasing a print of the hummingbird you posted here today, since I see you are a photographer. Thanks. Keep up the amazing photography.
Thank you, I'm very flattered. You can contact me on flickr or instagram, the links are in my profile.
Not much of a wildlife photo (there is a very small brown spot right in the middle on the beach - that's a grizzly bear!) but I didn't have the heart to crop out the rest of the scene.
At the mouth of the Brim River, BC.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PURrJNmB32eA8jPS6
Incredible!
Tim, I’m so sorry for your loss. And TC, I had to place my husband in memory care 5 months before he died in 2020. It is so painful to make such a decision but it was the right thing to do and I am at peace now. Time is indeed a great healer. My best to you and your family.
After my mother-in-law died, my (ex, now deceased) husband and I went out in his motorboat in the marshes where we used to live. We were astounded to see a dolphin following us, the entire way we were going, out to sea! No dolphin had ever come into water as shallow as ours. I remember Gerry saying, "Hi, Mom!"
Incredible! Dolphins do have areas of intelligence and senses beyond what we understand -maybe this one could feel what you and your husband were feeling.
Nina was 89 years old, schizophrenic, "given away" to unknown relatives at age 9 after her mother died, abused as a child, reclusive and paranoid -- but we came to love each other deeply. Nina needed a mother and saw me that way; apparently I resembled her beloved mother whom she had lost as such a little child. I loved her because she was my husband's mother. He never knew his mother because she was institutionalized for 20 years, when he was 6 years old. No one ever told him where she'd gone. He had no other family, and survived alone at boarding schools. I don't know how he made it. Nina was always very suspicious of him (she thought he was "the devil" and she was supposed to kill him, when they took her away). But she opened up with me, told me everything, which I in turn was able to relay to Gerry. Finally his life made sense.
Not long before she died, they were finally reunited emotionally and spiritually. Her death was -- breath-taking. We witnessed her soul leave her body through the crown of her head. Our feelings of awe, inexplicable.
This is so amazing and beautiful. I'll share more along these lines with you soon. XO
I shall look forward to it!!! xo
Thank you, Irma. It was a great blessing for all three of us, I believe. I have been present for many deaths, and each one has been miraculous, beautiful, and utterly unique. I was literally "called" to become a physician. Every day of my life has been worth living.
Oh, Irma! You write beautifully! And every word comes from your heart. Please continue to be exactly who you are! You are wonderful. xo
thank you Steve for the magestic beauty of these photos. They remind me of you beautiful writing that you give us. Thank you for your dedication to that proposition, that revolution in thought. Your writing is up there with Lincoln’s genius.
This little family crossed our tideflats recently. (Washington State)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/yDW6NEwagxi1abXv9
How beautiful and touching.
you gather the diversity of talent and intellect amongst your readers therefore there will be more of us - all good! Wonderful photos.
Since I have not yet learned how to post photos here , I too am posting one of wildlife as my profile photo. The state bird of Louisiana is the brown pelican. These members of that distinguished group were sunning themselves the afternoon of January 13 in Des Allemands, LA.
Beautiful photo. Now I need to go to Louisiana some day! I love pelicans. Great profile pic too. Maybe more people in this community will share a photo this way -hope so.
I’m on a farm with constant wildlife walking by my house--but I only photograph my dogs!
I visited the Florida Everglades last Friday and saw an amazing number of alligators and some gorgeous birds, such a Great Blue Herons.
Wow! Amazing shots!
Sheer JOY!
Wow! Even more impressive than the horses.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vHnvtphTpj3oXG9LA
Big Chinook I caught in Desolation Sound, BC.
Best I could do was to change my profile pic to one I caught in AK. Hoping to catch this whale again in HA in February.
Oh that is so Cool -and makes a great profile pic, too -good idea -creative problem solving!
Wow! What a wonderful art. We lived in Florida when I was young, every weekend morning my mother took my brother and I swimming. My mother would wear her fashionable cat-eye sunglasses, while we wore googles - she would tell my brother to hold onto her ankle and tell me to hold onto Joey's ankle, and she would take undersea . . .
She would tell us on the way back home "it's a great day any day you're swimming with the dolphins". They are the most beautiful, serene creatures. They have a way of bringing silence into your soul - it's a wonderful sound.
Thank you for sharing your Art!!
Beautiful story and memory -so glad you shared it:)
Thank you very, very much for the photos of the dolphin!!!!!!! What a wonderful sight!!!!!! And it was wonderful to hear about the historic synagogue!!!!
And thank you for your articles!!!!!!
Bless you!!!! Have a good day!!!!!
Sincerely,
Linda Brilhart
Are these white sided Pacific dolphins?
Wow
So beautiful! I love dolphins. We were sailing in the British Virgin Islands several years ago and all of a sudden several dolphins were swimming along side us. I was so awe struck in the moment I didn’t even think to get my camera until it was too late. So instead I have a photo I took of Cooper’s Hawk visiting our property last fall. He is a handsome fellow
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12R6HIND5gV0NL_W_JKXkG9VhIGx_DaHL/view?usp=drivesdk
A master photographer. Poetry in motion. Thank you for the smiles.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0206nuhDaovKJvjxzpS9-FYtQ I have a wonderful friend and he is a big black bear. He lives in our Ponderosa pine during September He rests in the tree and comes down for our orchard fruit at night. He is happy and comfortable. https://share.icloud.com/photos/0dbzT-QrFJQQvGeSbZc42h5Gg
That is the happiest bear I've ever seen:) I love the way his feet are dangling down as he's sleeping way up there in your Ponderosa Pine. What a big and trusting friend he is (and you are) -really special!
Oh I knew how to attach a photo I would!
What a spectacular wonder, full of life and joy!
Fantastic!
Humans are their own worst enemies, and our tricks are graceless....
WHOA!
Steve! Incredible, do you work for National Geographic?
LOVE dolphins! Also love our resident Orcas here on Puget Sound, WA! I have been on a ferry more than once when they've been present and the ferries slow down to a quiet crawl to allow the Orcas (and even humpbacks every now and then) the right of way!
This is where I live! These are Rossi's dolphins and they are do much fun.
The second photo is my favorite!
I remember these amazing pics! Looks like a legendary trip.
I am not finding a way to load my photos into the comments. Can anyone post some help? I’m using an iPad. Thanks!
I may be the least technical person in this community....given that, I have noticed a lot of the people who are posting photos are using I-cloud, Flicker and an 'app' (google photo app, I think).
I don't have those options figured out, but may you can get it. Hope so:)
Thank you.
How do I send a wildlife photo?
Seems a number of people are using I-cloud and Flicker. I'm technically challenged, but I've noticed this. I'd enjoy posting a few photos too. I need a 10 year old to assist me:)
https://photos.google.com/search/Animals/photo/AF1QipOeounPMJ9COFIa9JWk08A8Ycwzp98GobwHfNq_
Doug: when I click your link, I get an error message.
Ok. I was having a hard time figuring out how to share photos on this thread
Thank you