[57] Worth a Thousand Words

[57] Worth a Thousand Words – A Blog about Signs without Words

I am going to start this one with the bit about the title that usually goes at the end of the blog. I have to admit that I thought the origin of the expression “A picture is worth a thousand words” was an old Chinese saying but it’s history is complicated and I take my information, as always from Wikipedia, which say that it is ‘an English idiom.’

The expression “Use a picture. It’s worth a thousand words.” appears in a 1911 newspaper article quoting newspaper editor Tess Flanders discussing journalism and publicity. A similar phrase, “One Look Is worth a thousand words”, appears in a 1913 newspaper advertisement for the Piqua Auto Supply House of Piqua, Ohio. An early use of the exact phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words” appears in a 1918 newspaper advertisement for the San Antonio Light.

Perhaps the modern use of the phrase stems from an article by Fred R. Barnard in the advertising trade journal Printers’ Ink, promoting the use of images in advertisements that appeared on the sides of streetcars. The December 8, 1921, issue carries an advertisement entitled, “One Look is Worth a Thousand Words.” Another advertisement by Barnard appeared in 1927 with the phrase “One Picture Worth Ten Thousand Words”, where it was labeled as a Chinese proverb. The Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Familiar Phrases quotes Barnard as saying he called it “a Chinese proverb, so that people would take it seriously.” The proverb soon became popularly attributed to Confucius.

The actual Chinese expression “Hearing something a hundred times isn’t better than seeing it once” (百闻不如一见) is sometimes considered as an equivalent.

Despite this modern origin of the popular phrase, the sentiment has been expressed by earlier writers. For example, the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev wrote in Fathers and Sons in 1861, “The drawing shows me at one glance what might be spread over ten pages in a book.” The quote is sometimes attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, who said “A good sketch is better than a long speech” (Un bon croquis vaut mieux qu’un long discours.)

[I won’t confuse you by considering ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step,’ a genuine Chinese saying attributed to Lao Tzu.]

It does, of course, mean that a complex idea may be conveyed with just a single still image, perhaps more effectively than a long description in words. In a strange way when we use pictures as symbols the opposite is true. A detailed picture is used to replace a statement of a few words.

The green gross is an internationally recognized term for what we used to call a Chemist. Now it’s sometimes called a Pharmacy – somewhere that dispenses controlled drugs. As a symbol it just represents one word.

The next just means ‘Litter Bin.’ (At least it does in the UK. Americans may call it a ‘Trash Can.’ Perhaps in a way the picture says a little more.)

The next two again replace what could have been one-word signs in an amusing way. With typical British euphemism and politeness we don’t say ‘Toilets,’ and we generally prefer ‘Gentlemen’ and ‘Ladies’ to ‘Men’ and ‘Women.’ Sometimes pubs have more amusing ideas such as ‘Boys’ and ‘Girls’ (or in seaside towns I have seen ‘Buoys’ and ‘Gulls.’) These pictures say the same thing.

Here are two more symbols, both just a little more than a symbol. The horse-shoe outside a house was presumable a token of good luck and the trigonometric point, used long ago to aid map-making, had to be enduring and fixed.

The next two large pictures are like signs to show a bird hide. They were very large and made the purpose of the little wooden building very obvious.

But the hide did actually also have its name on a sign in letters – in English and Welsh. So perhaps the birds were just pictures.

Traffic Signs

I am doing this blog, as I generally do, in a fairly random order, and next we have some traffic lights. Even a simple red or green circular light is a picture sign.

By the gates at level crossings we have flashing lights (and accompanying noises.)

There are various versions of pedestrian lights. Some are small, others are larger on the other side of the street.

 

(It’s easier to photograph the red signs. I feel I ought to cross when they are green.)

Some include cycle crossings and so include a picture of a cycle.

[I am not sure why something bright red turns out to be more or less white when photographed with a red or orange border. Perhaps it’s a trick of perception or perhaps the camera does strange things with bright lights.]

Here are some more symbols on roads, pedestrian and cycle paths and car parks.

Logos and Advertising

All logos are pictures without words. They are instantly recognizable and may convey more than just the name. Where we don’t know who is selling sometimes a picture shows us what is for sale in an attempt to invoke impulse buying.

I wanted to do a lot of pub signs. When I was young all pubs had pictures as signs. We used to play Pub Cricket on long journeys. Now most of the pubs have gone, most of those that are left have become restaurants and the remaining country pubs have nearly all lost their pictorial signs.

Miscellaneous

A few more picture signs without comment.

Crosses and Flags are symbolic picture signs.

A Little Story

Almost hidden away in Cheltenham’s High Street is a series of mosaic pictures showing the story of an elephant that supposedly escaped from a circus in the town. The first bits of the words of the story have been removed but here are the pictures.

[I am not sure that these are signs but I wanted to include them somewhere!]

Weather Vanes

I wasn’t quite sure where to put these but they are signs and they are pictures.

Many of my photographs have been heavily cropped for this blog to show just the sign.

I will end with one of my shots of pedestrian traffic lights.

You have to be careful with photographing glass surfaces. You can see me with my camera, camera case and shopping bag!

 

[47] Stare Slave Djedovino

[47] Stare Slave Djedovino – a Pictorial Blog about Istria

The Croatian National Anthem, Lijepa Naša Domovino starts:

Lijepa naša domovino; Oj junačka zemljo mila;

Stare slave djedovino; Da bi vazda sretna bila! …

The English translation is:

Our beautiful homeland; O so fearless and gracious;

Our fathers’ ancient glory; May you be blessed forever …

This is one of three blogs about Croatia. It will be mostly pictures and it’s really about some time we spent there in May. Most pictures are from an area of a few square miles around our hotel including the town of Rovinj [Rovigno] and the Golden Cape Forest Park to the South. Some come from the wider area of Istria [Istra]; the towns of Pula [Pola], Koper [Capodistria] (in Slovenia) and Trieste (in Italy) and the island of Brijuni [Brioni].

It’s an area with a complicated history and towns there all have Italian names. You can see more about the area in [39] Croatia and [18] Croatian Wildlife, which has an introduction to the Forest Park and many pictures of the animal life.

 

Rovinj

I start with some views of Rovinj. All will include some sea. The picture above was taken from Katarina Island.

The Sea

Views of the sea everywhere were beautiful.

Skies

The sky wasn’t always pure blue everywhere. Sometimes there were pretty white clouds.

Streets

I will start with one of the main streets of Rovinj not far from the original city.

Within the old city streets are narrow and sometimes steep. The steeper ones may use steps.

This tree-lined avenue is at Rovinj.

Trieste has this magnificent square shown from several directions.

Statues

I have to start with the magnificent state of Saint Euphemia at the top of the tower of the church that tops the hill over Rovinj. She is mounted so that she can change direction with the prevailing winds.

Next is the fountain in central Rovinj and the Dolphin by the port area.

Near to the market is this memorial.

We move to Pula for a statue of Tito and one of several old anchors. (Tito was among a group of other Croatian heroes but he is the only one with such wide fame in the UK.)

From Koper part of another fountain and a lady representing the spirit of Istria.

The statues at Miramar Castle were more in the classic Roman tradition. I will let you work out which of these two is a man and which is a woman.

In Trieste we find another fountain.

In the square at Trieste were two statues acting as military monuments, each with three figures round the sides. Somehow the sculptors could only bring themselves to use two out of three for soldiers.

My last two statues are from the island of Brijuni. (It’s not my fault if most of the statues seem to be naked women.)

Transport

I managed to find some examples of transport but almost all the relevant transport was on the water – ships and boats of various sizes.

There were some small fishing boats.

Rovinj even had a small boatyard doing repairs.

Mostly, they were pleasure boats.

I have far too many pictures for just three blogs on Croatia so I will end with some Textures and Walls from the hotel area and some pictures of water.

Don’t forget the other two – [39] Croatia and [18] Croatian Wildlife.

 

[39] Lijepa Naša Domovino

[39] Lijepa Naša Domovino – a Pictorial Blog about Croatia

As I am sure you all know Lijepa Naša Domovino is both the title and the opening line of the Croatian National Anthem. It starts:

Lijepa naša domovino; Oj junačka zemljo mila;

Stare slave djedovino; Da bi vazda sretna bila! …

The English translation is:

Our beautiful homeland; O so fearless and gracious;

Our fathers’ ancient glory; May you be blessed forever …

This is one of three blogs about Croatia. It will be mostly pictures in a fairly random order and it’s really about some time we spent there in May. Most pictures are from an area of a few square miles around our hotel including the town of Rovinj [Rovigno] and the Golden Cape Forest Park to the South. Some may come from the wider area of Istria [Istra]; the towns of Pula [Pola], Koper [Capodistria] (in Slovenia) and Trieste (in Italy) and the island of Brijuni [Brioni].

It’s an area with a complicated history and towns all have Italian names. You can see more about the area in [47] Istria and [18] Croatian Wildlife has an introduction to the Forest Park and many pictures of the animal life.

Our Hotel

I will start with some pictures of the Hotel Eden, our home for two weeks. It was not the high season but I was up for an early trip to get shots of it empty!

The outside area was generally fairly empty.

Some views from our balcony.

Some Buildings

Not far from our hotel is the town of Rovinj, dominated by the tall tower of it church on a hilltop.

It used to be an island town and the little circle of the old town projects into the sea.

Here is the arch to the old town, shown from both sides.

It’s a steep climb up to the Church of Saint Euphemia.

The houses within the old city look largely unchanged.

We couldn’t get near to this chimney in Rovinj but I think it’s from an old factory that may have something to do with tobacco.

The last buildings shown here are an old house in the Forest Park, the castle at Miramar, near Trieste, and a bell tower in the town of Koper in Slovenia.

Clocks

Here are some pictures that might have appeared in [66] Clocks.

The first clock tower was prominent at the centre of Rovinj. Others include pictures from Koper and Trieste.

The last one is a large sundial on the side of a building.

Diversion

This really was a diversion. Until recently you could walk from the hotel along the sea edge to Rovinj. It was a pleasant scenic walk. Now if you try it you come to a fenced-off area with cranes and building works as another nearby hotel is being re-built. The new building will include a new marina so there is no way along by the sea. The diversion is quite a steep climb of a hill taking you almost back to the hotel where you started.

The quick way is out of the front of the hotel where Rovinj is still a short walk away. It’s just not quite so pretty.

The Forest Park

We often walked in the Park. Here is one entrance and the walk down by a high stone wall.

Further on is another entrance and the roads inside are well managed.

The last picture above shows a walk along by the sea. Below is I think what we might call a folly.

There are nest-boxes for birds and others for bats!

There were also the remains of extensive Venetian quarries.

Plant Life

Most of the trees of the Forest Park and elsewhere were pine trees, sometimes almost horizontal as they leaned over the sea. Olive trees were also common.

This olive tree at Brijuni is over a thousand years old.

The pine cones are a colourful orange as they emerge.

Rock Rose (Cistus) was common but there were other wild flowers.

Markets

Here are some of the goods on sale at the local market and in the shops.

The Tower

For my last pictures of Rovinj here are some from the climb up the tower and some views from the top. The stairs were narrow, wooden and old with large gaps between them.

Pula Amphitheatre

Wikipedia says it is known locally as the Arena but we all called it the Coliseum because of its similarity with the one in Rome.

There must have been a way inside but I just walked round the outside.

Don’t forget the other two – [47] Istria and [18] Croatian Wildlife.

 

[18] Prvo je zaštićeno područje u Istarskoj županiji

[18] Prvo je zaštićeno područje u Istarskoj županiji – A Blog about Croatian Wildlife

Golden Cape Forest Park (Zlatni Rt – Punta Corrente) is the ‘First Protected Area in the Istrian Region,’ so the Croatian version is my title. (You try Googling something like ‘Quotations about animals in Croatia!’ It’s not easy.)

The Park

Here is one of many informative notices about the park. Like everything in the area it is in Croatian and Italian but the Park adds some other languages – including English.

There are cycle paths around the area.

We spent the first two weeks of May in this area and I have cropped out the main area of our walks from the map above. The hotel area lies between the town of Rovinj to the North and the Park to the South.

Here are the impressive gates between our hotel and the Park.

This takes you to a walk through the pine forest but we usually went slightly to the right for a coastal walk.

I looked at the flowers, often resting places for insects. Rock Rose (Cistus) were coming out and their flowers often attracted several insects.

There were also White Campion and Dandelion.

I should have looked more closely when I photographed this orchid. There’s a bug trying to pose for me!

I won’t list the animal life chronologically or geographically but more or less by taxonomic order. Most pictures come from the Forest Park or from Rovinj including the shoreline and hotel areas but some come from wider trips.

Birds

I normally start my lists of birds with [1] Waterfowl and then [2] Waders (including birds like herons, cranes, storks and rails.) Well I didn’t see any of those so we move swiftly on to [3] Sea Birds.

Gulls are not as common in the Mediterranean as in Britain but we were on the coast. There were always gulls overhead making their plaintiff calls.

Gulls in this area are all Yellow-legged Gulls. Here is an adult in close-up and two shots in full view showing the yellow legs.

Apart from the legs they look identical to our Herring Gulls and until about ten years ago they were a subspecies. Growing up for these gulls is a two-year process as the mottled appearance changes.

I don’t attempt to identify juvenile gulls from the leg colour. For the Yellow-legged version it seems to vary from orange to pink.

Cormorants are not easy to photograph on the water. They dive and come up twenty seconds later a long way away.

I saw these by Miramar Castle near Trieste.

These were taken at a little colony on Katarina Island where the birds knew that they were safe when we were quite close.

That’s it for sea birds. With a zero count for [4] Raptors and Owls I have to mention in passing the Scops Owl. I have never actually seen one but their call is repetitive and easy to spot – a single note again and again. Like most people we thought at first that the sound was some kind of alarm but we heard it every evening at our hotel just about all evening and through the night – but, sadly, no pictures.

In the [5] Game Birds and Doves category we only have Doves. There were a few Pigeon at some places as almost everywhere. Doves are difficult to photograph because they keep nodding up and down and pecking the ground.

We heard Collared Dove often but only saw a pair once.

Woodpigeon were even rarer. I did manage a couple of pictures but not good enough quality for display here.

Under [6] Others only two birds get a mention. Groups of Swift were seen, mostly in the first week, and we heard their familiar screeching sound. As their name suggests these birds are too quick for photography.

Green Woodpecker were often heard in the forest and around the hotel. This is another bird with a familiar easily recognizable call.

All of my remaining bird pictures will be [7] Passerine, starting with the Crow family. In this area of Europe there are no Rooks and the Carrion Crow is replaced by the Hooded Crow, seen more often flying overhead than on the ground.

I saw a few Magpie but by far the most common corvid bird was the Jay

The most common relatively tame species of our garden birds was the Blackbird. They didn’t mind me getting close but didn’t stop and pose. This young one was even less wary of human contact.

The Great Tit was another bird heard more often than seen and as always White Wagtail turned up at the sea edge.

(We have the Pied Wagtail, which is our subspecies of White Wagtail. The shades of grey are a little different.)

I heard Greenfinch a few times but only saw them at the tops of very tall trees.

Serin seemed to arrive in the second week, making their high pitched twittering calls. I did catch a pair almost camouflaged in a field.

There were others that I did not manage to photograph – Goldfinch, Starling, House Sparrow and Swallow. My last pictures of birds are a pair of Wheatear seen at the sea edge, presumably in transit on migration.

Insects

I have said above that the place to look for insects is in flowers. Whether you will find any depends on the weather, the location and time of year. I am not an expert and I get most of my identification from posting pictures in various Facebook groups. These are very good for UK sightings but more limited abroad so some of my labels may involve some guesswork.

I will start with Lepidoptera and, in particular, Butterflies, which seemed much more common on the first few days. This may be a seasonal thing or it may have been because of a few days of nice sunny weather.

The male Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni, is bright yellow (not as dull as its picture here) and the female is greenish white. There were many of both.

Much smaller are two brown butterflies I saw only once each – Brown Argus, Aricia agestis, and Wall Brown, Lasiommata megera.

Just before publishing this blog I saw this one, probably Meadow Brown, Maniola jurtina.

I missed some other photo-opportunities including at least three Red Admiral and some small Blues.

To complete Lepidoptera we have to look at Moths. There were some tiny Moths that eluded me. This one was so well camouflaged that I only spotted it as it flew and landed. It’s a Loxostege (one of over fifty species.)

My other one was bigger, more moth-like – and I recognized it! It’s a Silver-Y, Autographa gamma.

The next group Hymenoptera includes bees, wasps and ants. I have no pictures of wasps or ants to show you but not surprisingly lots of Bees are found on flowers. I will start with the Honey Bee, Apis mellifera, and Bumble Bees. Note that the Italian race of Honey Bee has a large orange section.

(Bumble bees are what they call Bombus sp. I won’t guess at species without local knowledge but the last one was definitely a queen.)

The next one is Lasioglossum sp. Wikipedia tells me rather unhelpfully that this is the largest bee genus with over 1700 species.

There were lots of these tiny bees with large bright orange pollen baskets (corbiculae.) In my book the obvious candidate was Dasypoda altercator but they may be Andrena sp.

The one above is unidentified but my last bee is a Long-Horned Bee. I think it could be Eucera longicornis. Only the males have these long antennae. Wikipedia just says that the 32 genera of Eucerini, with over 500 species, mostly have long horns.

I have to include one other from Hymenoptera, an Ichneumon. My Collins Pocket Guide to insects calls them Ichneumon Flies and Wikipedia calls them Ichneumon Wasps. There are about 50 000 species so I won’t venture a guess for this one.

We move on to Coleoptera, Beetles. Suprisingly, these were also apparently quite seasonal. I will start with a picture showing two beetles.

The larger one is a White Spotted Rose Beetle, Oxythyrea fenestra, common in the first week wherever the Rock Rose were in flower – but disappearing by the second week.

Also within the flowers of Rock Rose were smaller beetles, Oedemera Sp., like this one that I persuaded to pose on my finger to show its size.

I found one flower with about a dozen (possibly O. flavipes) crawling over each other, perhaps in a lekking display. Those with thick legs are male.

Here is my only good picture of a female.

To complete Coleoptera here are an even smaller flower beetle, Malachius bipustulatus (as seen peeking over the top of my first beetle picture,) and a tiny weevil possibly Bruchidius Sp.

Hemiptera are what Entomologists call true bugs.

Here are the Mirid bugs Closterotomus biclavatus and Pachyxyphus lineellus.

Under Diptera, Flies, my best find was a small crane-fly Nephrotoma appendiculata.

Apart from that there were some small insignificant flies and a few hover-flies. This one was large and identified as Eristalis Tenax, one I have seen at home!

I know they are not insects but here are three spiders. The first two knew that inside a flower was a good place to lurk. The third one has lost two legs and looks quite ant-like.

Number one is unidentified; two could be a Napoleon Spider, Synema globosum; three looks like Asagena phalerata.

Other Animals

If you have been waiting patiently for lions, herds of wildebeest or elephants you could be disappointed. I have just two more quite small animals to mention.

I might have hoped for more animal life by the sea but I saw little. After a single distant Crab scuttling away I found a couple hiding by the shore on Katarina Island. They may be Marbled Rock Crab, Pachygrapsus marmoratus, or possibly some other species.

My final offering is a small green lizard. I thought it would be easy to identify a lizard. I found the European Green Lizard, which sounded good. I soon saw that ‘There are three very similar species living in Croatia and all three are protected: Lacerta bilineata, Lacerta trilineata and Lacerta viridis.’ They were green but none of them looked right. I found the Italian Wall Lizard or Ruin Lizard and the Dalmatian Wall Lizard both found in Croatia.

From their descriptions I think these are Italian Wall Lizard, Podarcis sicula.

It hasn’t really been a comprehensive survey of Croatian wildlife, just a few notes about the animals I have photographed, mostly birds and insects.

There will be one or two other blogs from Croatia.