iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Totally agree. I took pictures in 1976.

Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

It's old and there's no detail, but I like it. For the #BirdOfTheDay theme of #Ducks&GeeseInFlight. Canada geese, Dec. 14, 2015, Reno, Nevada, USA.

Silhouettes of 9 geese flying against a blue sky with fluffy white clouds in the upper half of the image.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

For the #BirdOfTheDay alt theme of #GardenBirds, a hummingbird in blue anise sage (salvia) Sept. 2, 2021, in Reno, Nevada, USA.

A hummingbird with blurred wings fills the bottom left corner of the image. It's speckled brown with aqua feathers on it lower back. Its beak is in the trumpet shape sapphire blue flower of the sage in the center of the image. All the background is green foliage.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Love my dog. Love the daylilies in my front yard. Love the October weather we're having. 🌱

Large tan dog with erect ears sitting next to gravel path. A dark red, almost purple daylily flower is in the foreground with foliage from another daylily next to it. A white concrete bench is in the shade in the background. At the top left is a honeysuckle vine (not flowering), and at the top right is grass. There's a weathered board fence behind all of it.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

For today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme of #BlueSkies. Hummingbirds in my chitalpa tree Reno, Nevada, USA, August 27, 2023.

Two hummingbirds bottom center. Lots of large pointed leaves on the left, a few on the right bottom half. Pink trumpet shape flowers at top left corner and in the center above the birds. Bright blue sky behind it all.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The wild part of my back yard now. That's rabbitbrush, not sagebrush! The cottontails and quail/s thrive in it. The "bench" is from a cottonwood tree. Northern Nevada, USA #nativeplants

Shrubs with bright gold flowers across the center. Background is suburban fence with roof of a house behind it. Foreground is a bench size section of a thick tree trunk. Some rocks are on the right, and at the bottom of the photo are dead weeds.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I've been scanning old photos. This one is from October 1993 at the Stonehouse Inn in Paradise Valley in Northern Nevada, USA.

A clump of several large cottonwood trees in a row. The ones on the left are turning yellow. There's a post and rail fence in front of them. Some smaller trees are on the left, and the Stonehouse Inn (white, two story) looks very small behind them. In the foreground is mowed dead weeds with a gravel driveway on the right.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#birdoftheday #bestofthemonth I think this is a killdeer. Taken yesterday at Steamboat Slough, Reno, Nevada, USA.

Bird on shore against calm, light blue water in front of a stick in the water (stick is parallel to the shore). Bird's body is brown on top and white on bottom. Head is brown in helmet area with white face and neck and black beak. Black collar with a second collar just below it. Gray legs.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

For the #birdoftheday theme of #pairs. Mourning doves on my roof March 25, 2022.

Two mourning doves (grayish tan) on edge of brown roof shingles. A tan vehicles is in the background on the ground below.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

For the #BirdOfTheDay theme today of #LightAndShadow, a repost of a phone photo I took when taking my dog out while the sun was coming up. California quail/quails.

Birds lined up on top of a fence lit by sun across the center of the photo. The foreground is in the shade. You can barely see rabbitbrush and the head and shoulders of a dog looking at the quail. There are tamarisk trees with yellow foliage on the other side of the fence, also lit by the sun, and bright blue sky above them.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Who moved the slough, and am I ever going to get to it??? I've been waiting for a chance to use this photo! #BirdOfTheDay #CaptionThatBird

Against melting snow on grass covered with bird tracks, a great blue heron in the center foreground stalks from left to right. A flock of Canada geese is on the ground in the background.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

WTH? I left my house a few minutes ago to walk my dog and saw this. Looking from east across the Truckee Meadows (Reno) toward the Sierra Nevada about 1 p.m. Sept. 16. Peavine Mountain on the right has the blackened areas from the #hawkfire. Steamboat Slough in foreground. #FloristonFire #Floriston

Center: Mostly white smoke speading across most of the view in the center. It appears to be coming from behind mountain range. Deep blue sky with a few small clouds above. Muddy water is in the bottom half of the photo with shrubs and dead weeds closest to the camera.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

For today's #BirdOfTheDay alt theme of #BirdyLongLegs. I believe this is an American avocet. Steamboat Slough, Reno, Nevada, USA, April 4, 2026.

Bird standing in shallow water next to a raised spot with dead branches in front of it. The bird has a long beak that curves upward at the tip, a brown head, white body with black tops of wings, black tail, and long light blue legs.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The quail/s lined up for us when we went out this morning. I count 29. #birds #nature #September

29 quail lined up along a redwood fence. Tamarisks with yellow leaves on other side of fence. Rabbitbrush--some dead and gray, some with yellow flowers--is in the shade in the foreground. A tan dog with erect ears is in the foreground with its back to the camera looking at the birds.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Happy Labor Day! So proud of my late husband. 50+ years in the International Union of Operating Engineers, and I'm still enjoying the benefits. Some of his crane jobs were glamorous, many were shitty, but he put in as many hours as he could to take care of us. This was Tracy power plant, 2007.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Can anyone tell me whether this is a catfish? There are a lot of these fish in my neighborhood slough, and catfish supposedly live there. I am guessing this one is roughly 3 feet long.

Fish with black and brown pattern and a black fin in shallow, muddy water.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Peavine Mountain today after the #hawkfire. Steamboat Slough is in the foreground with downtown Reno in the center.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Gee, I wonder why my house is always dusty. #dogsky

Large, tan dog with white belly and black nose rolling on its back in scattered grass and dust

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

For the #BirdOfTheDay theme of #FlowerPower: hummingbird and gladiolus. Aug. 11, 2021, Reno, Nevada USA 🌱

A bright gold row of flowers (a stalk of gladiolus) crosses the photo diagonally in the center of the photo with foliage to the left of it. A hummingbird with a greenish back is approaching it on the lower right. A white pot with half a dark blue star shape ornament is in the background on the right.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

For the #BirdOfTheDay theme of #Parenting, I'm going with the mourning doves on my front porch again. I put the rocks on top of the pillar to keep them from nesting there. July 16, 2026, Reno, Nevada USA

Left, a tan, very plump dove with black eyes and beak is looking directly at the camera. Center and right are two small doves, partially behind a gray rock. They are all in a messy nest made of grass and small twigs. The roof ceiling behind it is cream color.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

And I just found it!!! I am a persistent amateur historian; you might call it compulsive. I searched for the name in the article, Sam Jung, all over the country from 1900 to 1935. So the people doing the work did it about 1921 or not long after, & they had at least one San Francisco newspaper handy.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I couldn't give up the flowered wallpaper, so some of it is hanging in my current bathroom.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

We found these when we ripped metal "tile" off the bathroom wall of our old house near the university in 1985. I have spent more time today than I want to admit trying to find this article on newspapers.com so I can have an idea of when previous owners covered this up.

Left image: Very poor (dark) photo showing bare wood wall to left, wallpaper with clusters of flowers in center, and a wall with remnants of glue to right. Right image: Yellowed portion of torn newspaper article showing "DEATH TOLL" beginning the top line of the headline, "TONGS" the second, and "FOR" the third.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

For the #BirdOfTheDay theme of birds snacking on #NaturalSeeds straight from the plant. Not a pretty picture, but it's what all the quail in my back yard do. I hope they're eating all the weed seeds, including those of the saltgrass you see. (I hope this counts as "straight from.") 11/18/20, Reno NV

2 plump, gray birds with black, wavy plumes on their heads and white markings on their wings. One is standing on the ground with its back to the camera. The other has its head down pecking at whatever is on the ground. They are surrounded by dead grass with chunks of concrete behind them.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Cynophilist--that's me! 1964, my first dog (he was about 6 years old then).

Black and white photo of 12-year-old girl kneeling and holding on to a small dog with a black head, upright ears, white nose, and white chest and front legs. She has brunette hair with a hair band, bands, and a ponytail in a long braid pulled over her shoulder. She is wearing a jumper over a white blouse with big polka dots and three-quarters sleeves (modestly draped over knees as girls knew how to do in the 1960s). They are on dirt with a wood fence in the background.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

For the #BirdOfTheDay alt theme of #Herons&Egrets, here are some white egrets in the Steamboat Slough on the east edge of Reno, Nevada, Oct. 2, 2015. The city and Peavine Mountain are in the background.

In the foreground, white birds with long legs and necks standing in shallow water. A large area of brush and grass is in the center of the photo. A row of high rises of the city is near the top with a hazy wide mountain behind it.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Memories . . . The way back down to Reno, 2016.

From a GMC pickup cab, heading downhill on a gravel road lined with power poles and power lines. All the vegetation appears dead. In the distance, on the other side of small hills, lie the city of Reno and a small mountain range.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

I've been putting off this chore for years because I was afraid there might be a snake in the weeds around the rabbitbrush. I guess I was right, because this is what I found when I finally tackled it today. (We finally had some rain, so I wanted to do this while the ground was soft.) Gopher snake?

Pieces of snake skin among loose branches and roots on concrete slab. Pruners and shovel to the right.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

For today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme of #BestFootForward, a white egret in Steamboat Slough, Reno, Nevada, USA, Jan. 26.

A large white bird with a long, outstretched neck facing to the left in muddy water. Its black left leg is lifted with its toes just touching the water. There's a reflection partially marred by ice. The bank just behind it is covered in dead grass.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Just took this photo of smoke from the #bugfire on the California-Nevada border just north of Reno. It started this afternoon and is more than 4,000 acres already.

Trees and a rooftop against a sunset sky with big clouds. A plume of smoke is building on the left and spreading as it travels to the right (westward).

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

For @helenbennett.bsky.social's alt #BirdOfTheDay theme of #Speckled. I'm guessing this is a juvenile Cooper's hawk, but corrections are welcome! July 9, 2021, Reno, Nevada USA

A large bird with brown and white speckled feathers is perched on the edge of a roof. It has a hooked beak and faint gray and black horizontal stripes on its tail.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

The #BirdOfTheDay theme from @atlanticbirding.bsky.social is #Firsts, earliest bird captures. I'm a little embarrassed in this group, but here's one of mine from a junior year journalism photography class in October 1972. They loaned me an SLR 35 mm camera for it. Lake Park, Reno, Nevada USA

Black and white photo with silhouetted duck in water the center surrounded by ripples. Branches of a tree or shrub hang overhead.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I have to go with the mourning doves on my porch again for @robcrank68.bsky.social #BirdOfTheDay theme of #BestOfJuly. July 14, Reno, Nevada USA

2 mourning doves in or on a nest built on rocks. The one on the left is a fledgling(?) with rough feathers. The one on the right is an adult with a big black eye and a little red strip between its black beak and eye. It has a beige head and pale beige-gray body. The background is the cream color paint of the porch.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

For @robcrank68.bsky.social's #BirdOfTheDay theme of #MultiColour and alt theme of #DucksOutOfWater. He's thinking "Gotta . . . get . . . this . . . itch . . . ooh, right there!" She's thinking "I'm not with him."

2 mallard ducks. The female, all speckled tan, is standing on a concrete block with her head turned to the right, away from the male. The male is standing on the ground behind the concrete blocks and facing away from the female. His head is twisted back and tucked behind his wing so you can't see that his head is green. His neck and chest are dark brown. His wing is raised and has a large sapphire blue rectangle with white edges. You can see a bit of black and white on the tail. The rest is tan. Both ducks have orange legs and feet. The background is dirt with shrubs and stumps of dead shrubs.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

For @alan678.bsky.social's #BirdOfTheDay alt theme of #WeatheringTheElements. Jan. 3, 2023, Reno, Nevada USA

3 mourning doves with fluffed-up feathers perched on bare branches against a gray sky. One bird's head is blocked from view by a wad of snow.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

For @alan678.bsky.social's #BirdOfTheDay alt theme of #Memories: Oct. 1972, junior yr. as a journalism major. I needed a newsworthy photo, & I was desperate. I used these geese silhouettes with a caption about hunting season. (B&W was the norm for most 35 mm pix then.) Lake Park, Reno, Nevada, USA.

Black and white photo. Silhouettes of 5 geese on black bank in foreground. Tree on the left. Other birds in silhouette on light water across center. Unclear buildings on opposite bank with light mountains and sky above them.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

For @alan678.bsky.social's #BirdOfTheDay theme of #SummerLovin. These precious mourning dove twins are the result of #SummerLovin in a nest in front of my front door. They hopped around together on my front porch the day before yesterday, and yesterday the whole family was gone. Reno, Nevada, USA

An old wooden box containing gardening hand tools on concrete. Two fluffy gray-brown immature doves are perched side by side on the front lip of the box.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

My Nevada garden on a rare cloudy day. 🌱

Light gray sky, clumps of pink coneflowers on left, spike of orange gladiolus in center, big clump of lavender wild bergamot bee balm on right. Bright garden flag with big orange flower and monarch butterfly at far right.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

‪For @alan678.bsky.social‬'s #BirdOfTheDay theme of #Rocky. I'm surprised I don't have more of these because my yard is FULL of rocks. California quail, Nov. 18, 2020, Reno, Nevada

Rear view of quail with black top knot, grayish brown back, white stripes on sides, and gray tail with blunt end. Perched on reddish brown rock. Surrounded by dead grass and three gray rocks.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

For @robcrank68.bsky.social‬'s #BirdOfTheDay theme of #Orange, any bird with any shade of orange on it. I think this is a juvenile American white pelican? June 30, 2026, Steamboat Slough, Reno, Nevada, USA

Bird with large orange bill extending all the way to the water. The bird is all white except brown covering the top of its head and back of upper neck. It's floating on brown (muddy) water.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

For ‪@robcrank68.bsky.social‬'s #BirdOfTheDay theme of #Ebony&Ivory. It's hard to see what's under your wing when your beak gets in the way. Steamboat Slough, Reno, Nevada, USA, June 21, 2026

A three-quarters view of a white pelican with black underwing sitting at edge of brown water. It's looking to the left and down, where a brown duck is sitting under its left wing. There's a similar duck in the foreground.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

For @alan678.bsky.social‬'s #BirdOfTheDay theme of #TheArtOfSurvival. To survive a dreary spring snow day, fluff up your feathers and yell for help. March 1, 2020, Reno, Nevada

Against a gray sky, a robin with its beak open perches on bare crabapple branches with snow on them. A few of the previous year's crabapples are still on the branches too.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

‪For @robcrank68.bsky.social's #BirdOfTheDay theme of #Rotund. Mourning doves aren't normally described as rotund, but this one nesting on my front porch might have been trying to look threatening when I took the picture. (Rocks are there to keep them from nesting.) June 18, 2026, Reno, Nevada, USA

Pair of doves at a nest on top of two brown and gray rocks on top of an off-white masonry porch pillar. A large one is perched on top of one of the rocks watching the camera. The other is behind it with its head to the left of it and tail to the right. The nest is composed of sticks sloppily placed between the two rocks. The off-white background is the porch roof.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

‪ ‪For @alan678.bsky.social‬'s #BirdOfTheDay theme of #GreyDay. I believe this is a great blue heron, but it looks gray to me. (Have to use American spelling.) Steamboat Slough, Reno, Nevada, USA, Feb. 8, 2026

Against a bank of dry grass, a large bird stands upright with its wings pulled back as if to display its chest. White and black head, gray neck, white frilly feathers over chest, gray lower body and interior of wings, white near gray legs.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

For #BirdOfTheDay #OutForAWalk theme set by Rob @robcrank68.bsky.social. White egret Jan. 27, 2026, in Steamboat Slough, Reno, Nevada, USA

Large white bird with long neck (egret) walking through shallow blue water. Neck is extended and bird is leaning forward. Dead grass in right lower foreground.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Just happened to spot a #Black bird during my dog's walk today that will work for @alan678.bsky.social's ‬ #BirdOfTheDay theme. Now I need help identifying it, so I'm going to try posting 3 photos. Please help! June 18, 2026, Steamboat Slough, Reno, Nevada, USA

Rear view of large black bird with wings spread on tiny island in blue water.

Rear view of black bird sitting on tiny island. Has head turned around to the right to stick its beak into its body or right wing. It has yellow on its face just above its beak and has a white beak.

Rear view of large black bird with wings spread perched on tiny island. Two mallards are on a nearby mini peninsula. Dry grass, shrubs, and rocks are along a shore in the background.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

I bought this because it was supposed to be a 'Nelly Moser.' Even with two completely different flowers on the same vine, neither is pink! (They're pretty though.) #clematisthursday 🌱

Large purple and lavender flowers on a wrought iron trellis with green foliage below. An attached tag with a photo of a pink flower says it is a Nelly Moser clematis.

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Laurel Busch @laurelbusch.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

I knew there was a reason I never deleted this photo! It's perfect for @alan678.bsky.social‬'s #BirdOfTheDay alt theme of #BlurBirds. This mourning dove (look closely) is trying to qualify for the main theme of #InFlight as well. The finch is just watching. May 10, 2015, Reno, Nevada, USA

A gray blur just above a black plastic pond. A small red finch is perched on a pot submerged on the right side of the pond, which is surrounded by large rounded rocks and had one big one in it. A bird bath is to the right, and a scrubby yard with dirt, rocks, ground cover, and drip hoses is behind it.

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