Photo by Nilson Nishida Junior
"Seen from afar, this huge massif of the Serra da Canastra (Sierra of the Basket) resembles a coffer or a basket, therefore its curious name. It is located in the south-western region of the state of Minas Gerais and encompasses the municipalities of Sao Roque de Minas, Sacramento and Delfinópolis.The park holds two important massifs which unfold over an area of 71525 hectares: the Sierra of the Seven Turns and the Serra da Canastra, with altitudes varying between 900 and 1496 metres high.The objective of the creation of the Serra da Canastra National Park, the 3rd of April of 1972, was to preserve the source of the Säo Francisco River, also known as the Old Boy.Numerous water courses are born in this area, tributaries of the Sao Francisco, which form natural pools attracting many tourists in the higher part of the park.It is possible to find endangered species, such as the Maned wolf and the Giant anteater, along the roads with relative ease. The park's fauna constitutes a major tourist attraction for visitors have the chance of watching it in its natural habitat in the upper zones; be it at first light in the morning or at dusk."
Photo by Nilson Nishida Junior
Photo by Nilson Nishida Junior Numerous water courses are born in this area, tributaries of the São Francisco River, which form natural pools attracting many tourists in the higher part of the park.
Photo by Nilson Nishida Junior
"A região da Serra da Canastra, no sudoeste de Minas Gerais, possui algumas das mais deslumbrantes e desconhecidas paisagens do Brasil. Durante muito tempo, esteve isolada por precárias estradas de terra e só há poucos anos entrou nos roteiros de viagem como lugar privilegiado para a prática de esportes radicais, vivência ambiental e turismo ecológico. A região ecoturística da Serra da Canastra tem mais de 200 mil hectares e abrange 6 municípios: São Roque de Minas, Vargem Bonita, Delfinópolis, Sacramento, São João Batista do Glória e Capitólio. A maior atração é o Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra, criado em 1972 para proteger as nascentes do rio São Francisco e que tem a portaria principal a 8 km de São Roque de Minas. Dentro do Parque Nacional estão alguns dos mais belos cartões postais do Brasil, como a cachoeira Casca D'Anta, de quase 200 metros, a primeira grande queda do "velho Chico"."
The group is ready to hit the trail. What a gorgeous view!
Photo by Nilson Nishida Junior
Photo by Nilson Nishida Junior 
Photo by Nilson Nishida Junior
Photo by Nilson Nishida Junior
Photo by Nilson Nishida Junior 
Photo by Nilson Nishida Junior 
A very hard and challenging trail named "Rola Maraca"
Here is part of the group posing for a picture
Junior climbs some hills, climbs some rocks and is now at the top of this beautiful cliff!
Photo by Nilson Nishida Junior 
The group of friends of Avaré Trail Clube is ready to go on to this great adventure. From top left to right we see Fernando Borges, Gabriel Minardi, Juliano Bueno, Luiz Henrique, Marcos Dias, Rafael Frango, Cesar Milanello, Plínio Nigro, Nilson Nishida Junior, Flávio Ferreira, Wagner Branco and Germano. CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE AND CLICK ON THE GREEN LINKS TO SEE ANOTHER SITES
Photo by Britt-Arnhild from Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods
Photo by Fernando de Amorim Mascaro 
Photo by Britt-Arnhild from Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods
Photo by Britt-Arnhild from Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods
18. Naomi from Here in the Hills. Naomi had been working on this Bookshelves post for weeks (she had some sort of technical problems) and as you can see in her blog, she really made a good job on it! She tell us that “I had no idea that doing this post would lead me down such a path of nostalgia and great memories....but, I am having a really wonderful time looking at these shelves in a deeper way”. Let’s read what Naomi says: "I have one whole room, pretty much devoted to my books. There are books in other places, too... my Bedroom, the floor, and storage.... But I am only going to share the books and the shelves in my Den/Library. (…) I had these shelves built over forty years ago, and they grew as the gentleman was building them because I realized it would be lovely to surround the two couches with books, and I loved the idea of the three walls being covered with books---where possible.... And as you can see, over on the left, there are some built in cabinets below the book cases, which hold my Record Collection....(Before CD's, folks....I've lived here a long time, remember...lol), and my Sheet Music Collection, as well as the Stereo, Tape, and CD player, plus a Turntable to play those old records.... As you can see, there are a lot of CD's on the top of the cabinets over there...I must do something about this. What, I don't know. But these CD's are covering up quite a few wonderful books. And up top over on the left, you can see one of the four speakers that are in this room. You can tell by the size how old they are....lol....And as you can see there are quite a few other things on these shelves---knick knacks, photographs and other things, too....”
Here, a passage of her narrative: "I have a very extensive library of Theatre Books, and many are invaluable tools for research and a great source of history, too....like this wonderful set of books below called Theatre World. Theatre World began in 1945 and each volume lists, (with pictures and complete extensive stats), everyone connected creatively---even understudies and replacements, etc., for each and every show that opened on Broadway that particular year. It doesn't matter if it only played one night...If it opened on Broadway, it's there in the book!
These volumes are a fantastic source of information in every way, including in the back of each book, little thumbnail sketches of some of the principal people connected to many of the shows for that particular year. The same people who started Theatre World, started Screen World some years later.....and I have some of these volumes, too.
That photograph that is sitting in front of these books is a "cast" snapshot of the two casts from our revival of "Spoon River" in 2002. I am in the emerald green blouse over there on the right side.....
I was the Arranger and Musical Director for this production and I was also 'in' the second cast playing the very same part I did on Broadway in the fall of 1963, 'Girl Singer'. (I had to go on six times in the first part of the run at Theatre West....till I replaced myself...lol) Betty Garrett directed it, and Lee Meriwether, (in front of me) was in it as well as Bridget Hanley, (bottom left)...Betty is right in the center of that front row. Also, behind me in the gray suit---second from the end on the right, is Andy Parks, Betty's son, who was in the 2nd cast, as well....This brings back very fond memories.
My interests have always been Theatre, Movies, Music and Art, among other things, so there are a lot of books on all these subjects."
19. Alice from Arradon Daily Photo, also loves books and sends her Bookshelve photo, too! "I do like reading and share the books I enjoy with others. I often give books instead of flowers and I often ask for books to be given to me for Christmas or my birthday. I have learned to read when I was 4 with my brother who was 11 and spent a long time to read stories to me. Many translations in my bookshelves, I don't really like present French novels and prefer American authors (Russell Banks, Wallace Stegner, Jim Harrison...) and French classical authors. My dream would be to be able to read in English, so I need another life to improve!
20. Melanie from Happy Thoughts loves books and her books are all over her house: "Books are like friends, I hate to read the last few pages and the story is over. I will completely loose myself in the story. I have my mom to thank for my love of reading. The first book I remember reading was when I had the chicken pox and had to stay in bed. The book was Bambi before Disney made the movie. I still have it and it has many dogeared pages. Here are some pictures of bookcases and books from all over our house. I have more stacks in various locations around the house. I usually read a few books at the same time, I always keep one in my purse because you never know when you get stuck waiting forever at the doctor's office. The photo above is our floor to ceiling bookcase. All of my old books are in here. I also saved most of my two boys books from when they were kids. We now have 3 grandchildren so I've had to box up some of my books. The shelves at the bottom hold DVDs and VHS tapes and bins for the grandchildren's smaller toys."
