Photos of the Day

I've seen all of these photos in the last 24 hours. I feel, I don't know, anxious and frustrated, though neither of those are precisely the right word, that I don't have the expertise to write about what's going on in the world right now, how to tease out what's "normal" from what isn't, and I'm not sure I'd know what to say even if I did. Anyway, I want to mark that this happening in some way; I want to document that people are struggling and succumbing and surviving. That's insufficient, I know, but it's all I've got.

A firefighter tackles a forest fire in Camacha, near Funchal, on the island of Madeira [EPA/Antonio Cotrim]

This picture taken on July 18, 2012 shows Somali women in a queue during a relief food distribution excercise at an IDP camp in Dollow, nothern Somalia. While famine was declared over in February, thousands have now fled to the Dollow region of southern Somalia, close to Ethiopia's border, a rare pocket of relative stability. However, many fear battles will intensify in coming months as African Union, Ethiopian and other pro-government troops push towards the last key bastion of the Al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents, the southern port city of Kismayo. [Getty Images]

Young people stand together to support themselves in anticipation of the coming bow wave from the oncoming bus, in deep water following heavy rain in Minsk, Belarus [AP/Sergei Grits]

Dry corn is pictured in a drought-distressed field near Edmond, Oklahoma, Friday, July 20, 2012. The nation's widest drought in decades is spreading. More than half of the continental U.S. is now in some stage of drought. [AP Photo]

Water flows under a collapsed bridge on the Akaishi River in Hita City, Oita prefecture on July 17, 2012. A typhoon skimmed past sodden southwestern Japan on July 18 dumping rain on an area already struggling to clean up after huge floods. [Getty Images]

Indian army personnel repair a dam damaged by flood waters at Milanmore village on the outskirts of Siliguri, northeastern India [AFP/Getty Images/Diptendu Dutta]

Rye grows on a farmer's field on July 16, 2012 near Diedersdorf, Germany. Analysts are predicting a drop in northern Germany grain production by 10-15% due to wet summer weather. Adverse weather, which many scientists attribute to global warming, is causing difficult conditions for grain farmers worldwide. [Getty Images]