50 Years of Loyalty Down the Drain

I cut the cord!

 No more LAN line telephone from AT&T. No more U-verse TV from AT&T. 

An old friend from the past has now marked its presence in Dallas. Good ole' Bank of New York,Mellon Bank. Mellon bank, of course was that famous Pittsburgh bank before they merged. I happen to think that the merger was one of the best bank mergers to date. Both were excellent banks and combined, they are top notch! Glad to see them in the Dallas Market.

Things like this bring banks like BNYMellon

Light Rail also is a big draw for Dallas. This is the largest light rail system in the country. It just grew with the opening the UNT-Dallas station for south Dallas campus, the second campus in the metroplex for UNT-Dallas.The UNT Law School will be in downtown in  the old Muni-Building.

Editor's note:
In the DART light rail photo, we stated incorrectly that the new station was the UTDallas. It is the University of North Texas campus of UNT Denton, Texas. We regret the error and are sincerely sorry for the mistake.

It's Been A Busy Week and it's only Wednesday

Yep! It has been a busy week. I can always tell how busy by the total number of images registered in my camera. At first, I thought that I had made an error or somehow caused the camera to reset the total. That didn't happen. The second way to tell is to check the trip setting on the car. That checked out too. The third way to check is how much sleep I get per night. This morning confirmed that as well. I had a 10-hour sleep last night. It's all related. I walk. I'm out in fresh air. I come home and edit images. I go to bed. The test there is: what time did I go to bed? When I'm busy with a lot of shooting more than two or three days, I'm up to midnight and I sleep well. It was 9:30 a.m. before I got up this morning. Briefly, I was awake about 5 a.m. when thunderstorms rumbled through outside.That is my signal to turn over and go back to sleep. Which I did.

Tonight, at 7 p.m., I had to switched from AC to heat. Unbelievable!  It has been in the 80s the past few days. There was high wind yesterday but it was from the south and the air temp was comfortable. But, with a north wind today (my worse enemy) it was a day to stay inside and take it easy. Which I did. Before going to bed tonight, I will have to turn the AC back on as the temp will rise during the night. I feel like I'm riding the Blue Streak Coaster at Cedar Point on Lake Erie!!

Besides the festivals going on that happen this time of year, I had two separate sets running on the live news feeds.

The images today come from the Murder,Suicide in the High 5 office tower . A sad situation, even from a distance.

The heart of the Dallas High 5 Interchange.

The police had the ramps on level 2 and 3 shut down for most of the day. The U-turn lanes on the service roads that allow you to reverse directions  were also shut down. This is still Dallas' most traveled interchange.

The 7th floor window was shot out. This building is directly across 12 lanes of traffic from Texas Instrument's south campus.Greenville Avenue is about .08 tenths of a mile beyond this view.

Live News Feed Images Running

http://www.alamy.com/news/newsresults.aspx

Click on the link to see the images on the live news feed. The run for 48-hours and roll off. So every minute you wait, they slip down another row!!

There were for soccer fans that were celebrating FC Barcarolna's win today over Real Madrid.

This is the headline image running. Click it on the feed and it will open up to the total of 6 images.

Happy Earth Day

It's cold in Dallas today. Winds gust to 31MPH;North wind, High only 60's;Low tonight 40s! AARGH! And in three days it will be 90 degrees or more! Too, early!!!

Will try to get some good Earth Day Shots today but no guarantees with the weather conditions.

Enjoy the activities in your area.


UPDATE 
++++++++++++++

Well, I encircled Fair Park twice today. The funny thing is that Fair Park is a 177-acre complex. Of that, two-thirds is basically parking. There were only two gates open and they were a fair distance from the Hall of State Complex and the Halls used for booths etc. It was very clear that the three day event that is billed as free, was, indeed a one sided afair. Take the train and you get in free less your train fare. Bring your car and it the free event becomes a minimum  ticket price of $10.00. The thing about that is I have always boycotted events that charge for parking when they bill it as free. The reason is that one, there are a lot of low-income families that attend this type of event. They will pay bus, train or parking. But the big issue for me has always been ethics. No one minds  nominal parking fee, but $10.00 even today, is a bit much. Drive ins for years would charge $1.00 a car load. or  $2.00 tops.

So, doing as I did with Deep Ellum, also a three-day event, I checked it out on Saturday and then shot the event on the following day. The difference this time is that for Earth Day, I'm not going back. I have shot previous Earth Days throughout the city before--not just one location. It didn't take me long to decide that I would do the same this Earth Day. So, from Fair Park, it's straight up Grand Avenue to Garland Avenue to White Rock Lake. Here's a couple of Earth Day events from the Rock.

Some Event from Winfrey Point. People were not talking.

A beautiful way to spend a chilly day with a cold north wind. The horses love that.

Baby Owls Make Debute

A month ago when I first posted images of momma owl landing on the tree hole and looking in as if there were chicks there instead of eggs, I had a hunch that the eggs had already hatched. The question remained: how many? Well, it appears that there are three--were three- as only one remains in the nest. And, with momma bringing food, having the nest to yourself, there is no urgency now to get out. However, today, I did see signs that the little owl has the curiousness to come out sooner than later.

The other two nest mates were hanging out high in the canopy. Once out, they will not go back into the trees nest. Dad was up above the little patch of forest circulating in wide patterns as momma was bringing food for the one in the nest and the other two that are out in the canopy. That is the only way you are going to locate the little ones is to watch where momma takes the food. The leafing of the canopy makes it hard to see the little fellows.

The area is dark and the sky was mostly cloudy as moisture streams in from the Gulf once again. It was humid and into the 80s today. Had the sun been out full time, I would have been in under the AC. I had reset my ISO to make amends for the da.rkness but I did get grainy images doing that. Not the best by any means. In fact, it makes me rather disturbed because I know better about how to correct the problem. The problem was more that momma would take flight and then swoosh in to feed the babies. Adjusting was just not my  speed today. Sorry about that. The blog does suffer  at times with less that perfect images. Two things: it keeps the images from being stolen and also, I can use an image on the blog where I could not use it as stock. Sorry about that, too. But, as I said a few post back: I'm not perfect.I don't want to be perfect. I will never be perfect and most all, I have come to dislike those that think the world should be totally perfect. For them, it is a pure indication that they already have a defect! Ain't poetic justice great?


Here are the images good or bad. The little owl is just plain cute either way.

Mom feeding chick below her on left of stick by mom's head.

Mom on right. Chick on Left

Mom is mom but chick is looking out of the hole and looking at the ground below.

Chicks usually fly upward on leaving the nest area.

Serendipity! What A Find!

After having the annual birthday lunch with my youngest brother and his wife, I meandered my way back toward home when I see this amazing blaze of color surrounding a building that I pass regularly without fanfare. Yet, today, there was all this color and I had to find out what it was that was producing this canvas. It was blocks on four sides of beautiful color. These yards and yards of flowers reminded me of a gladiola farm that my family  would pass year after year as we visited relatives in another city.

With my car parked, I headed out on foot to explore this color fest. Almost instantly, I found people sitting their babies, kids and even older adults down in the middle of these beautiful flowers. Why some people think that they have the right to destroy a creation that had been made for the enjoyment of all  by plopping their butts down in the middle and crushing the flowers, let along the path that they made getting there, is beyond me.

As I made my way around the first bunch of flower crushers toward the next patch, there were not any other people squashing flowers. Moving on to patch three, there appeared to be another bunch of people doing the same thing. Joy soon came over me as I observed people doing what the other batch of self-centered flower crushers should have been doing but didn't. That made this batch of flowers with tons of people taking pictures pristine, There was a pre-cut path made especially for people to walk toward the middle but not smash or crush flowers. My heart rejoiced that there are still those that respect public property  but still reap the rewards as intended.

There was an Asian family of five that approached me and ask if I would take their picture, which I was more than glad to do as they respected the flowers so others could enjoy them too. Shortly after that, a Hispanic man walked up to me and ask if I would do the same for he and his family. "Gladly", I replied. They too, had respected the flowers and took pictures where they should be taken.

These images, that I took shows why one should never just plop down their butt in the middle of a bed of flowers--planted or wild-- just for the sake of a picture. There are many ways that one can achieve that same effect and even have the picture come out even better than destroying flowers for the enjoyment of everyone--not just those that happen to butt the ground first in their self centerediness.

El Salvador at White Rock Lake

Three great people at White Rock were taking pictures today. They didn't speak much English, but I have always enjoyed talking with people who are learning our language because in addition to having the proper speech of any language, there is also a universal hand language that is like making a discovery. To see their faces light up when they understand what you are saying as well as the fun and respect that goes with understanding them has always been a treasure for me. The barrier of language isn't as wide as we think if you only listen, try learning some basics of most languages and patch quilting the phrases together.

These kids were super, fun and excited to have someone that could show them something about how to get a better picture than just a selfie! Thanks, guys! You were super!And the hand signs that I also checked out are "peach and love \,laPaz amours!".

I am inquisitive. I wanted the story about the white and the black socks.

The wind was gusting 20MPH and the pier was shaking.

He closed his eyes!!

Now, we got them all bright eyed and nearly all smiles. Oh! yeah, he just woke up!

More from Deep Ellum Arts Festival

Tired and knowing you're loved.

Makin the Art! Makin the Pretty Art!!

Where did all these people come from?

A jam session to out do the other! It was so cool!

Deep Ellum Arts Festival History For Another Year

On Saturday, my car made its way down to check out the annual Deep Ellum Arts Festival with me in it. Although it was already decided that I would come back on Sunday and make the run down Main Street one foot in front of the other. It was a good thing that I did check it out a day earlier because the festival had rearranged itself due to Deep Ellum's first fully certified high rise deep in the heart of Deep Ellum at Main and Hall. That pushed the stage down a few more blocks to the border of Fair Park and Deep Ellum. Instead of the start at Good Latimer, that too, had been moved down to Malcolm X.

My favorite and basically unknown parking spot was stacked with cars and seeing piles of metal wrapped around the Sons of Hermann building was another sign that parking was not going to be normal this year for me. So, I spent my time down there on Saturday scoping out possible parking spots for Sunday. It was warm, the sun was hot and bearing down making it more uncomfortable to walk the length of the festival and come back toward the car if I had taken in the Festival. I like meter parking more than Event parking because I don't have to leave my keys. Plus, I can park cheaper at the meter than in a lot. Every extra dollar that it cost me to shoot an event means I've got to sell more pictures just to break even. It's more of an economic thing than anything else.

Sunday came, I made my way to shoot a couple of things on the list and ended up on the heavy end of Deep Ellum. That's the end where the skyscrapers are anchored to the bed rock on the other side of the line drawn in the soil by US 75 Central Expressway separates downtown from the beginning of Deep Ellum on Main Street. Finding a metered space in which to park was quick and painless on Elm Street. Yep, that is the same Elm, Main, and Commerce that became so worldwide known with the Kennedy Era. The Festival to me was expanded. It ran 6-blocks for one. In another way, there was
cross walks of vendors  off the main drag (pardon the Main pun). All-in-all, again, to me it was a great improvement over past years. It's matured over the years. This year, it showed! I enjoyed the festival  and had fun at the same time.  Here are a few of the best shots and I'll try to made another posting of more afterwards.

The best seat in the house! The best gig ever!

The first high rise on this end of main.

Shooting into the mirror, mirror on the wall and the shots were amazing. This turned out to be the most fun of all day.

 

Priority Post Here Tonight

It seems like it never fails. When it rains, it pours! So, like the Brits: Keep Calm and Carry On. So,
this post tonight is from Deep Ellum, but those images will be deferred on the blog for now. You can go to Alamy.com, in the search box there is a drop box that will fall down if you click the Image, then "Live News". There, you can see 53 images from today. In the mean while, usually, I stop by an old friend that has a booth and makes fantastic cloths and especially hats for women.  Each year I feature two of her latest materials. Over the course of the those years, I get a lot of questions about how can she be contacted directly. Up until today, I never had an email for her, surprisingly! So, today, I got a big ole hug when she had finished talking to her lineup of people amazed at her hats.I also remembered to ask her if she would be kind enough to provide me an email. She did and now, I can pass one on when someone has a legit need to contact her.

In  the meanwhile, I also had a chance to talk to her husband which I have known but never had a chance to find them working together at the booth. It was good to chat with him as well.

Here are this years two new colors and they are not patterns this year--they are solid colors.

This would be perfect if you are going to the Derby--the first Saturday in May. Louisville has a lot of daffodils up this time of year and every one will be wearing that beautiful egg yoke shade.

And, how about this subtle and soft blend of Gray and Blue/Green. 

Drum Roll, Please!

It Hurts So Bad, I Am Laughing.

Well, the last time that I did a stunt like this, the pain lasted for a full week. This time, it didn't start for three days after wards and got better, then made its returned. I walk like a zombie! And, of course, I am talking about my walk around the lake less 1.8 not 1.18 miles of  the 9.5 miles trek. Just getting up to  get a cup of coffee is something that would probably get a 6 figure count on YouTube if there was a video. And, we all know that will never happen--nope! The thing is, though, it hurts so much I laugh.

Tonight, I think late afternoon really, the annual Deep Ellum Festival began. The weather is perfect tonight. It will be perfect tomorrow. And Sunday, the last day, the clouds begin to come  in late afternoon with rain sometime after midnight. The big question is will there be enough strength to go down there and enjoy the music, the food and check out the art and the crafts that will line Main Street for several blocks and  in the Deep Ellum District. It's been a couple of years since I've missed one. It is the only Festival that I truly love to attend. The days of painting the tunnels is gone since DART put the Green Line right down Good Latimer with the Deep Ellum Station. White Deep Ellum has really changed in the past 15 years, It still has that eclectic taste, smell,and sound of bye gone days.

This will be the first year that there will be a new high rise right in the heart of Deep Ellum--it's first true high rise--and it is bound to have an impact on the scenery, if nothing more. I would like to be a part of that--seeing the various sound stages placements and how the sound will change. It's something that most certainly will reverberate sound waves in some form different than in the past.

Since I have not taken hardly a handful of pictures in this great weather since my walk, The next two days will be my last chance for the next week as spring storms are due to move in and linger all next week, with some severe Monday with wind and hail. That's our Texas usual in the Spring storms. The tornado threat is there always in any severe storm but it seems that we get more tornadoes in round two which is the fall storm season.

Time will sort out my post for the rest of the month, I suppose. At least until the strength comes back--if or when it decides to reappear! Until then, there are a couple of interesting shots.

Remember to click on one image to open up all in a larger format for better viewing.

 

Don't know the story about this plug in the middle of know where but it has been there for ages.

A wildflower at the edge of a road.

A coot (or mudhen) gets pulled over the dam. 

Coots can't fly that well. While I did see one manage--rather struggle- to get enough lift to get back up and over the dam, most of the other 17 that were pulled over the dam were still on the spill way a couple of days later. The spillway is a great place for waterfowl for water and food!

Just A Story In Pictures

 I was ready to post the story of my walk around White Rock Lake yesterday which took a total of 7 hours and 9-minutes. That was with me calling it quits 1.18 miles from my car. There were two reasons why that happened. I don't regret falling short that little distance. At least I am here to post the pictures today. The post that I worked on all morning while cooking a pot roast and cabbage was lost because I forgot to save the file. I'm not perfect. I don't want to be perfect. I can deal with not being perfect and I'm sick of those that think that the world should be perfect. So there! As Matt Damon said in his original screen play for Good Will Hunting, "How do you like those apples!"

The experience was very worth while. It took longer than I had planned. I only moved at a 1.333 Miles Per Hour pace, far to slow for starting out an hour into the afternoon. The park closes at 11 P.M. While I would have had enough time to complete the trek, it was unsafe to do so in the dark with the final section in an isolated woodlands section were there has been trouble in the past. Also, getting help in that section would not be easy. So, the good Lord provided an out and I took it from a couple that was at the right place at the right time and offered to help.

This is the parking lot below Winfrey Point. The tree was wiped out during the storm last week.I am 2 hours and 45 minutes into the walk at this point. What you see on the skyline will take another 2 hours and 15 minutes. That is right at  the midway point and a tad more.

This is my first up close look from the lake side of the new food patio pavilions at the Dallas Arboretum. It's closer to the lake from the old patio attached to the entry gate. And, it's the last segment before reaching Route78 Garland Road, the other end of the lake.

This is one of the most unusual Reliquary Shrines that I have ever run across, partly because of where it is located. Along the south end of the lake is a trail that connects the east side with the west side of the lake. It is along busy Route78 Garland Road. From the trail, it drops off down to the water. This is behind a rail below the trail in a built up area created by who ever curated the shine. The crystal cross is attached to a solar panel that shines a light up from the bottom of the cross. There are two other solar lights along side. The roses are like a wax rose and the Easter eggs and pumpkins are on sticks that are pushed into the dirt that is surrounded by 2x4s or 4x4s. Just getting to the shine is what is so amazing and you really would have to be looking for it or looking along the side of the trail to even see it. Amazing.

Along that same trail walk, the city build an amazing lookout at the dam and below the dam along the spillway and tidal pool. This is the view looking down the spillway as it steps down in various degrees before reaching the tidal pool below, which turns the rushing water into a calm tidal basin before dropping off again in a series of  big concrete steps down into White Rock Creek as it winds its way a few miles further south to the Trinity River, then on several hundred miles to the Gulf of Mexico. The watershed here is as amazing as any of the great rivers of the west, Midwestern or eastern watersheds. I love being near water.