By Vladimir Brezina
Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge for this week is The Four Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.
Earth
Air
Fire
Water
And, finally, the Quintessence, the fifth element, “that which God used in the delineation of the universe” (Plato); which, unlike the four terrestrial elements, has no qualities (it is neither hot, cold, wet, or dry) and is incapable of change (Aristotle); and which is “subtler than light” (Fludd). (The last property makes it tricky to photograph.)
... kayaked the waters around New York for more than 15 years in his red Feathercraft folding kayak. He was originally from (the former) Czechoslovakia and lived in the U.K. and California before settling down in New York. He was a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He died in 2016.
... is a kayaker and technology researcher at Nemertes Research. She's an erstwhile engineer, particle physicist, and science fiction writer. She was born in California and has lived in Italy, Norway, Hawaii, and a few other places. She currently resides in New York City.
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Wind Against Current 
Excellent!
janet
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Thank you, Janet!!
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Oooh I LOVE your earth photo, where did you take that, Vlad? :)
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Believe it or not, it was another of those wonderful things one gets to see from a kayak:
Clearly, it was him or me…
(It was on a kayak trip through the Elizabeth Islands, MA, this past weekend. Full post forthcoming…)
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WONDERFUL VLADIMIR!!!!!
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Thank you!!!! :-)
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As ever welcome!
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Great photos, but the one I especially like is your shaggy earth critter :)
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Yes, I thought he might prove popular…
(Highland cattle)
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Wonderful post ! :)
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Thank you!!
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Great images!
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Glad you like them—thanks so much! :-)
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Beautiful post. The last photograph takes the whole thing to a higher place together.
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I thought the post needed an extra something… :-)
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This is serendipity! I just commented on my friend’s post ( Lady Bud) and said her posts on The Color Series had stimulated me to read more …one of which is Aristotle’s four elements! I did not see the weekly theme till I saw your post. Great expressions of the four elements via your pictures. Thanks for sharing!
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So surprising how apparently unrelated things come together—if you can see the connections :-)
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I just love your “Earth” picture.
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I thought that might prove popular…
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Yes, I saw that trend developing in the comments.
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you got it!!!! Beautiful!!!
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Thanks!!!
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Pingback: Travel Theme: Four elements | Serendipity 13
Very cool, especially the first photo.
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Thank you! :-)
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That was certainly a coup, photographing the Quintessence. Plato and Aristotle might even approve. I certainly do!
(What is that Highland beastie doing on the Elizabeth Islands in MA, wherever they may be? Here in MA, leafing through the Atlas, eagerly awaiting that post—)
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It sure looked like the Quintessence, when stumbling home from the party after a few glasses…
The post on the Elizabeth Islands paddle is coming… or at least it’s in the queue after the Florida paddling posts ;-)
Most of the Elizabeth Islands are privately owned and deliberately kept undeveloped. Nashawena Island apparently had sheep, which however were killed by coyotes that swam in from the mainland, and have been replaced by more hardy Highland cattle.
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beautiful!!!
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Thank you!!
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