The Centre for Useless Splendour
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gerritb.bsky.social
The Centre for Useless Splendour
@gerritb.bsky.social
6.3K followers 700 following 14K posts
I'm Gerrit. Retired: hence the useless splendour. 😁
"We are all just walking each other home." Ram Das
Focus: #wisdom #climate #beauty #dem-soc #Cdapoli.
Me: 👨🏻‍🦳🇨🇦🇿🇦🪖♿️🏺🥗 [Ally: 💙🇺🇦🇵🇸🖤🤎🌍]
Dad & FIL of 🏳️‍🌈 & 🏳️‍⚧️
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gerritb.bsky.social
Four-hundred year old Yew tree
in the ruins of Muckross Abbey, Ireland.
#ThicktrunkTuesday
(credit in ALT)
Photo: Old yew tree in the courtyard of an abandoned abbey. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Abandoned_World/comments/1i1lcb7/400_years_old_yew_tree_in_muckross_abbey_ireland/
February 17, 2026 at 10:50 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
@katsyg.bsky.social
Thank you for your many kindnesses.
May your troubles be less
and your blessings be more,
and nothing but happiness
come through your door.

[credit in ALT]
Image: A farmhouse in winter with an orange sky and blue voloured snow on the fields. Source: Paul Evans
February 17, 2026 at 5:59 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
Happy New Year to all our Asian friends! 🐴🎆🥳😁

"Visitors walk past an illuminated horse lantern display ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations at an amusement park on the outskirts of Beijing, China, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026."
📸 AP/Vincent Thian
Photo: A woman walks past an illuminated horse display for the Chinese new year of the fire horse. Source: https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/lunar-new-year-of-horse-514fb2d6e5c9e560b1b58b1698f96712
February 16, 2026 at 7:34 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
Yup. We just bought a new truck battery; this winter's extra cold plumb wore it out!
February 16, 2026 at 7:12 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
🇺🇸 To our American resister friends
on their President's Day holiday.
From your friends in Canada. 🤝
#resist #democracy
Image: A collage of obituary templates against a blue background. Source: https://www.templatehub.org/obituary-templates-4.html
February 16, 2026 at 4:47 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
🇨🇦 Happy Family Day. 👋😁
Image: A man and woman sit by their pool in winter where everything is frozen. He's shirtless and she's in shorts. Caption: Meanwhile In Canada. Source: Internet
February 16, 2026 at 3:22 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
"Armed with just a kayak & a self-built microplastic filter, Kristian Louis Jensen has spent the last decade paddling through the most 'pristine places' on our planet."

His recent Greenland expedition also found tire particles. He wants more focus on tire wear. 1/2
www.euronews.com/green/2026/0...
Photo: An Inuit scientist sits on summer grass in an Arctic setting. Source: https://www.euronews.com/green/2026/02/14/meet-the-inuit-scientist-kayaking-around-greenland-to-highlight-just-how-far-microplastics
February 15, 2026 at 9:39 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
A defining image of this Maladministration.

Stone cold indifference before the House,
right in front of victims of pedophilic elites,
by the face of this Administration's Justice,
who has a personal history with the fount
of pedophilia and a record of whitewashing.

📸 AP/Tom Brenner
(credit in ALT)
Photo: Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 11, 2026, in front of survivors of convicted sex offended Jeffrey Epstein. Source: https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/photos-bad-bunny-olympics-monks-super-bowl-vonn-lunar-new-year-630f15a4a43375d2ed0b36947cadd68a
February 15, 2026 at 9:20 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
This is a lovely photo. It brings up wonderful childhood memories as the grandson of a railway worker.

But knowing of the climate crisis,
it pains me now to see that polluting plume of smoke. I won't let go of my memories,
but I must let go of polluting transport options!
#RE

(Image credit in ALT)
Photo: A steam train passes on the embankment of a waterway sending its plume of smoke into a clear blue sky. Bury, UK: "A cold crisp sunny morning in Burrs Country Park as the first passenger service of the day on East Lancashire Railway passes by." 📸 Paul Heyes/Alamy Source: https://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2026/feb/15/street-festivals-steam-train-photos-of-the-weekend
February 15, 2026 at 7:57 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
February 15 is National Flag Day in Canada
and tomorrow is our Family Day holiday.
Saluting this flag was an honour.
"We stand on guard for thee."
www.canada.ca/en/canadian-...

The Proclamation of the Canadian Flag, 1965.
Photo: The Proclamation of the Canadian Flag, 1965. © Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1989-253-1
February 15, 2026 at 7:03 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
There are Olympic highlight and also lowlights! 😁😎
Go, Team Canada! 🇨🇦🏆

"Canada's Elizabeth Hosking crashes during the women's snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026."
📸 Abbie Parr/AP
Photo: Snowboarder in a red suit slides down a hill arse-over-teakettle going backwards.
February 15, 2026 at 1:56 AM
gerritb.bsky.social
Valentine's Day love in the mud. 🤎

"Revelers share a kiss during the Mud Block carnival party in Paraty, Brazil, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026."
📸 AP/Andre Penner

#Valentines
apnews.com/photo-galler...
Photo: In a field of mud, a young woman kisses a young man, both covered in mud.
February 15, 2026 at 1:39 AM
gerritb.bsky.social
"The EU’s senior official for tech sovereignty, Henna Virkkunen, said that Europe’s dependence on American technology 'can be weaponized against us.'”
Tom Hartmann

🇨🇦 Canada should now view all US tech as a national security risk. I also look at my Mac with new eyes.
www.alternet.org/alternet-exc...
February 14, 2026 at 11:43 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
Missy and Orbis
(a Chinese money plant)
wish you a happy Valentine's Day.
👋💚 #Caturday
Photo: a black and white cat sits on an oak side table in front of a Chinese Money plant.
February 14, 2026 at 11:13 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
Happy Valentine's Day

(Credit in ALT)
Photo: Ice bucket with champagne bottle with two glasses. Source: George Hodan https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=42980&picture=two-glasses-of-champagne
February 14, 2026 at 4:22 AM
gerritb.bsky.social
⚱️😎 "After centuries beneath the waves, 22 massive stone blocks from the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria have been recovered from the seafloor, marking a major step in efforts to digitally reconstruct one of the Seven Wonders of the World."
greekreporter.com/2026/02/11/l...
Image: Interpretation of the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Credit: Midjourney / Open Domain
February 13, 2026 at 9:28 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
A snow leopard in Mongolia.

📸 Andy Rouse/SWNS
(Story in ALT)
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Photo: A snow leopard sits on a snow-covered hillside. Story: The British wildlife photographer Andy Rouse endured freezing temperatures to capture stunning images of an elusive snow leopard in Mongolia. He reported: ‘The tracker had said that the snow leopard had been there first thing in the morning feeding and now had moved off round the valley. There was a good chance it would come back so we literally danced up the hill and got ourselves ready in the hides in record time. We sat freezing in -20C for five hours at a stretch waiting for it to come; it was the coldest I have ever been’. Photograph: Andy Rouse/SWNS
February 13, 2026 at 8:49 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
To a bibliophile, a haven or a heaven.

The Abbey Library of St Gallen, Switzerland:
www.bbc.com/travel/artic...
Photo: An ornate medieval library in wood, with a globe in the centre. Source: Alamy
February 13, 2026 at 8:24 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
Slava Ukraini! 🫡 🇺🇦
"Ukrainian skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych...
His helmet is adorned with images of Ukrainian athletes killed in Russian attacks. He was disqualified days later for 'refusing to adhere' to the IOC’s athlete expression guidelines."

📸 Alessandra Tarantino/AP
(Source in ALT)
Photo: Front view of Ukrainian skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych in an Olympic training session. Source: https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/12/world/gallery/photos-this-week-february-5-february-12
February 13, 2026 at 5:13 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
Homan says ICE is leaving, but is it?

"Trust, but verify."
#ICE #Minneapolis #resist #fascism
Photo: a windblown tree right on the water's edge on Waihe'e Beach, Maui. It looks like it is running. No idea if it is real, but it's funny. Source: Natures Glory
February 12, 2026 at 11:24 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
"Chinese folk performance known as da shuhua,
or molten iron fireworks ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in Beijing, Feb. 9, 2026."
📸 AP/Vincent Thian
Photo: night image of yellow spinning sparking disks in the Chinese new year's molten iron fireworks. Source: https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/photos-bad-bunny-olympics-monks-super-bowl-vonn-lunar-new-year-630f15a4a43375d2ed0b36947cadd68a
February 12, 2026 at 10:47 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
Kajiado, Kenya: "A flamingo walks in the shallow waters of a riverbed in Amboseli national park."
📸 Brian Inganga/AP
www.theguardian.com/news/gallery...
A pink flamingo in shallow blue waer looks down to its reflection.
February 12, 2026 at 9:51 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
🤣 Mea culpa!
(Few men have outgrown their small boy fart jokes.)
Original Get Smart movie poster showing the two leads.
February 12, 2026 at 9:07 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
Walk like an Egyptian. 🎶👋😁

📸 Mehmet Karaca/Mkrc85
(Source in ALT)
Photo: Two mantises walk on a thin vine against a dark green background. Source: wikimediafoundation.org/news/2024/12/23/straight-out-of-a-mystery-the-winners-of-wiki-loves-earth-2024/?wmf_campaign=C2425_ThankYou&wmf_medium=email&wmf_source=sp74759469
February 12, 2026 at 6:20 PM
gerritb.bsky.social
"A fisherman returns to the port at
daybreak in Kerkennah, Tunisia."
📸 Skander Zarrad
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Un...
Photo: A fisherman on his boat with the sun rising behind him is viewed through a fishing trap on shore.
February 11, 2026 at 10:40 PM