With Halloween Here, The Race of Holidays to New Years Is On.

Found on a pedestrian walkway across a bridge crossing the Trinity River.

The right hand piece missing in this picture is 50 feet downstream. I would think that the timber flowing downstream during a flash flood broke it off and carried it down stream. You know, concrete can float! From the looks of the timber here, it might even have been these two pieces that broke it away.

See the RV? The guy was from Seville, Spain. His wife and daughter were asleep while he talked and ask questions about the bridges. They are touring the states. Pleasant type of  guy. He spoke very good English, too. 

 As a kid, I always enjoyed Halloween. As I got older then I realized that it was also mom and dad's wedding anniversary, too. Today, the day is marked more toward the latter than for Halloween. For me, as well, it involves more detail to changing the code in the camera for a new month  and to research the past month for total images shot. Although, October is not going to be my best month for shooting by any measure this year.

Working on the site took more time than I had anticipated this time. I have had three doctor's appointments and a visit to see my favorite vampire at the lab. The up side of all that is that my numbers were excellent and my doctor was somewhat disappointed again and he hates not being able to yell at me. I said to him that, "its going to be okay. Maybe you can yell at me the next time." His look was so stern before he cracked up, finally.

I remember an old pharmacist that I worked for in high school that would say, " if I didn't like you so much, I could learn to hate you." I ran across a street the other day that was the same as his full name. That kind of blew me away because his drug stores were 1200 miles from here. I'll have to do some research on that and find out how the developer came by that name for a street. It's possible it could be one of his grand kids or even great grand kids, I suppose. Strange things like that have always been a source of  intrigue  for me.

October has also been a month of things breaking and falling apart. Over the years, I have learned that things like that usually go in cycles and as mom would always say..."it will pass". And she was right. There is an up side to that kind of stuff too. Since Kroger killed off the senior citizens 10% discount, I don't shop Kroger's any longer. Since then I've had one full cycle of core grocery shopping. The results were even more amazing with finding better prices elsewhere. Tonight, I found even more and when I do the core shopping for this coming month, I will be able to do an analysis where I can build a routine upon.

I got a letter from Walgreen's that my insurance for prescriptions were pulling out and with the annual registration of health providers, I'll need to get on that the first of next week and get that set for the coming year. If it isn't one thing, it's another. But, it all works out in the long run.

Snowflakes Fell Briefly

Snow flakes and sleet today for a very light and brief period. The heat got turned on tonight because it's going down to 36 and the house was c-o-l-d! It's six weeks earlier than last year and three weeks earlier than 2015. No pictures today. To cold and to windy. The wind was from the North at 20 with gust up to 35. Last night as the front passed, the DFW airport reported 47 MPH gust at the 01:53 reporting hour. That's a strong cold front.

Here is a beautiful long needle pine under the flight path at Love

White waiting for The Prez! The crosswind was causing a pretty good drift off center.

A Southwest Jet coming home to Love Field.

A Note To KP

Happy Birthday

KP, an amazing son.

on this, your 47th.

 

Nineteen years without you, life has a big void, as large as the universe. 

President Trump's Visit To Dallas Was A Normal Visit By Any President...

except his plane. The icon of our flying president's plane was not the 747-200 Modified, as usual. It was the smaller 757 that the Vice-President uses with tail number 90016. Of course, technically, any plane that the President is on is called Air Force One. But to me, it was just SAM 90016. Because, like what has become the vernacular of nomenclature is the fact that Air Force One is the plane not just the Special Air Mission (SAM) anymore.

My old friend, Elliott Sluhan, Director: Air Force One: The Planes and the Presidents, taught me a lot about the workings of Air Force One. Of course, Elliott passed in 2008. His wife, Mary Ann passed one year to the day afterwords. She had been a special assistant to President Richard Nixon's White House. Both, were an amazing couple. But it was Elliott's photography and documentary films that peaked my interest. Elliott was one of the first that I had photography discussions with and for that time, I will always be grateful.

So, I heard one guy say that this was the longest wait he had ever had for the arrival of a 757! Even the cops pushed us back farther again with this Presidential arrival. Over all the arrivals of Obama, there were some security pushes but never like the one yesterday at Love. But at the tarmar, people were lined up to get autographs and handshakes from President Trump. Obama never had those on the tarmac. Back outside at the end of runway 13L, the push was so bad that it blocked my infamous nose shots and though I understood the reasoning, it did cause me to not even wait for the motorcade and simply came on home to process what shots that I was lucky to get. But, I do know that a lot of people were disappointed that the big 747 didn't show. That plane, the 747 usually carries a full compliment of what we know to be econ class filled with the Press Corp.Without those press people flying with the President why not use a smaller plane for the mid-country flight. I also understand that thinking, too. So, It wasn't President Trump that turned my car around, but the peripheral works that did.

It was a perfect and delightful afternoon waiting for the President's arrival. We are in a period of roller-coaster weather right now. Yesterday was bottom out humidity at 17 % with temps in the low 70s. Today, it is going to be 88 and tomorrow it will be 50 with possible frost at night. If it does frost, it will be again, another early occurring weather phenom this year.

 I had forgotten that Governor Abbott  and his crony the AG, Ken Paxton, were waiting to meet the President for a meeting at Love Field about the Hurricane funding. There was big money from all over the country here, too. Texas politics is almost like having two countries in one. Texas still reminds people that we were once a Republic of our own. And it is not something that has been put on a shelf somewhere to collect dust. It's life is live and active in this state for sure. I had to laugh at the Fox news guys  showing the film clip of  a CNBC  reporter doing a report at "the wall" and on camera behind the reporter  were three illegal aliens coming over the fence into the US. In short, the reporters were saying, "Look, the President was right, we need the wall" while the Boarder Patrol Officer was saying that he sees this many times during the day. For those that don't like the Donald, "Look, he's a New Yorker". New Yorker's were some of my best customers over the years. They look at things different but still come up with the same answer that the rest of America does. It's like me saying here's your 35-cents and you saying here's your 65-cents and we are all talking about a  product you bought for 65-cents  and I'm talking about your  change of 35-cents as we exchange a one-dollar bill. It's all in how we look at a situation and the perception we have from living in different parts of the country. It's nothing to get upset about, really.

So, I came away from Love Field with some pictures. Not as many as before. Still, I am pleased to see the crowds turn out to welcome the President. But I still think that we should go back to teaching Civics in our schools instead of expelling students for dying their hair.We need to understand the basics of  civilization and know our history. We are not some Egyptian Pharaoh who didn't like the pharaoh prior and erased him from buildings, and monuments and basically wiped him out of history.  We need to view history as a moment in time when we thought a certain way or how we have changed as a society since. To wipe it out totally is a distortion of history itself.
 





 There will be a short post to following this one immediately so you may get an extra email alert.

Air Force One is not 'the' plane, it's a designation that the President is aboard a SAM flight with that plane's tail number. So, technically, this 757 is Air Force One for today.

My traditional nose shot was altered by the Dallas Police when they moved us back at Bachman Lake. Before, we have been allowed to stand under the runway and shoot. Not today, folks.

The Cormorant's had the best view ever. They are on the ILS landing system tower 7 and seem to be enjoying their view. Right below the sigh that says don't feed the birds for safety reasons. And, parks and recreation moved the geese and ducks than usually hang out below. Now, there are egrets and mud hens (coots) and these cormorants below the tower as planes come in some 50 feet above. Such is life among 4.9 million people in the Metroplex

I Love Them Chickens That Are Laying Those 44-cent Grade A Large!

Over the years, I have seen gas wars, cigarette wars, milk wars, but never an egg war! Actually, it is kind of nice. During the past three months or so, I have not paid over 89-cents per dozen for eggs. Yesterday, I was in Aldi's to pick up salad and bread and they had eggs at 54-cents. Today, I was in another Aldi's for bacon that I had forgotten to get yesterday. This latest Aldi's had eggs for 44-cents. And before you ask, no, the dates were not near expiration. They were for the normal time frame for eggs.

Since Albertson's has purchased Tom Thumb from Randall's or Safeway---which every one it was at the time, they have shared weekly ads and made digital coupons attractive. Now that Kroger's has eliminated my senior citizens discount of 10% I don't mind shopping different stores. Sprouts, Trader Jo's, HEB Central Market, and sometimes Fiesta and El Rio Grande for spices.It's getting to be chili weather and I make a big kettle and freeze individual servings that last me through the winter.  So, between Aldi's and the Al-Thumb boys, eggs have been spectacular!. Fried, poached, hard boiled (eaten sliced up in  salads or deviled) and perfect moist and fluffy scrambled

This was what I was looking at while I ate my Krispy Cream glazed and drank my coffee yesterday.

The berry crop this year is record breaking

I named her Gertrude. She is my favorite out of all the bronze cows in this herd.

. An yes, I have finally nudged  my weight loss off that plateau where it seem to have anchored itself during the early part of the year.

Aldi's had massive-sized premium chicken breast for a spectacular price and I froze them. I'm thinking tonight that I might not even buy a turkey this Thanksgiving and cook a couple of those big chicken breast. With dressing and all the trimmings...it will work for me. Although I have cooked traditional 12-16 pound turkeys before and alternate with ham for Christmas. One year Ham on Turkey day and Turkey on Christmas day and the next year, just the opposite. In fact, having those chicken breast will honor those hens that laid those super cheap eggs!  My breakfast is 600 calories every morning. With black coffee which has no calories. Then, I try to do a 550 lunch and a 450 dinner. Sometimes... I cheap a bit. But all in all I'm pretty loyal to the ole diet. It's not hard with steaming vegetables, both fresh and frozen with a three ounce meat--pork, chicken or wild catch salmon. Any hamburger that I get, comes in a tray at In-n-Out . I've stopped french fries and only do the hamburger thing 2,sometimes 3 times a month. Now, I'm loyal to Whataberger, but they lost me on the price. My next best is In-n-Out. I like the taste, the price and and the drive through, the outside picnic tables or the inside atmosphere reminds me of my high school days and the White Hut burgers that were so good.


So, say a little prayer for them chickens that they can continue to lay them super cheap eggs for us old folk in Dallas and we will thank y'all!

Once Upon A Time...

In a little neighborhood not far from here, there was a tree where a pair of peafowl chose to be their roosting tree. They were a pair let loose to be wild just a little bit farther up the street. The peahen and peacock raised  nest eggs into a generation of wild peafowl.

The pair were so successful that the flock grew and grew until one day, the city showed up to catch the peafowl and cart them away to zoos and wild nature facilities. This has happen more than once since the original nest. The little neighborhood is surrounded by park and woodlands on a couple of ends and the quiet neighborhood over the past 35-years has grown to enjoy the birds on their roofs, on their front porch railings and walking their yards keeping insects and bugs down to a minimum. It has also been reported that peafowl will catch and lunch on baby snakes in the animal kingdoms of the world so this is another good thing for the neighborhood being near a woodlands and open fields of native grasses and on a creek were snakes love to hang out.

A month ago, I got a chance to see and photograph  a couple that were out on a street corner. Yes, I had to go back again to see if I could get even more shots of fascinating birds--which are part of the pheasant family. Yesterday, I drove by again to see if I could see them and they were not anywhere in sight. Instead of turning around and heading out as I had arrived, I drove on up the hill. In an open area, I saw more than I had counted  on the first encounter. A lady pulled in behind me and got out of her truck and was walking up to take a picture. We got to counting and zeroed in on the tree where they roost. A neighbor was out walking her dog. We, the lady parked behind me, were asking about the peafowl. The neighbor confirmed the tree as the roosting tree and said that the couple that lived in the house had lived there over 35 years and knew when they bought the house that the peacocks were roosting in their tree. It was the house with the porch railing lined with peafowl that were looking out at the three of us like "who in the heck are those people and why are they interested in us?"  On the roof, were several more and in the time spent, it was confirmed that there were at least 15 peafowl that roam the neighborhood. In the original three that I first shot, there was a white one. So to that 15 the white one must be also included in the count. Thus bringing  it to a total confirmed of 16 peafowl. I've visited zoos that didn't have this many peafowl. This has been a remarkable look at nature for me from a native setting. 

From two came many...and many...and many more.

The ultimate in landscape architecture.

,

Oops, here is the tower crane that was to be posted with the previous post. It's all relevant.

Tower Cranes Are Everywhre

There are tower cranes at White Rock. More at  Lincoln Park, North Park with two. Medical City has two. Love Field has four. Southwest Airlines between Denton and Harry Hines has two. Downtown has them every where in all four quadrants. Houston Street, Ross Avenue just added more.  Even Richardson High School across from Cottonwood Park has one at their athletic field. Uptown always has one or two. If one were taken down today, the guy that got it would have been waiting for 14 months plus or minus one here or there.

There are some 90 plus cranes in operation locally.

This one maybe wants to be a tower crane when he grows up.

This one playing in the water before going to work as a crane operator.

This view from the diamond's light shelf has one of nature's paradox at play.On the ball diamond field below is a field covered in pigeons. The prey of this hawk as he protects his territory from above.

A 5000 Mile Cloud from Asia to the Pacific NWest

It's not a first time event. It happened about 2009, too. But, it is a very unusual set of events that allow it to happen. It's been called a river of water for the heavy rain and snow fall that it brings. Some mountain elevations at 10K or higher are going to get 11 feet of snow.

I've had a gut feeling about this winter already from the things that I have observed from the early flipping of the leaves to the heavy berry production. My maternal grandfather always said that if you watch nature, it will tell you what's to come. He was right. The squirrels have been out in super large numbers planting their acorns. The pelicans got out of Canada a whole month early this year and the cormorants were right there with the pelicans. The seagulls come from the gulf and their absence is not surprising with the gulf being hit so hard this year with major hurricanes. Most of the people that I have talked with haven't even noticed the absence of the seagulls.

The monarch migration got caught behind the last cold front that blew in and got rid of our 90 degree days. There has been an increase of seeing them around the lakes but not in the numbers that should be seen for this time of year. With all the wildfires in on the west coast, the California monarch's that handle that Pacific Northwest  migration might very well loose a lot of monarchs this year. I had observed more species around this year; the most of the beautiful black and blues that I have seen in years.

There was a stunning new sailboat trailer[ed] in to Corinthian Sailing Club this afternoon. Seeing it reminded me of how I learn[ed] about the St. Patty's Day snows the Great Lakes states get every year. The year was one of those years that I decided to purchase a new car. Knowing that the road salt took its toll on cars, I decided that I would wait until March to get the car. That way, I would get an extra winter on the car without any salt buildup. The day came and I bought the car and drove it home after work. It was going to be so nice not to worry about getting salt on my new car. What I didn't know is that almost as regular as clock work, the last big snow of the winter is wet and heavy and usually will fall within a week to 10 days either side of Saint Patrick's Day. You should have seen the look of disbelief the next morning when I looked outside and saw about a 7-9 inch snowfall over night. Yep! the St. Patrick's Day snow have got my new car without delay. The snow came up over the front bumper. I shivered ever time someone would pass me and splash road salt on the side of my new car.

I don't think that the guys new sailboat will have that problem as I did with my car, but I know an old friend that just got a new car about a couple of weeks ago!. It's not St. Patrick's Day either,  but all the indications from that 5,000 mile cloud of rain to the Farmer's Almanac seem to think that it's going to be a more rough winter than most think. All those acorns and berries are probably just some freak nature thing, I suppose.

The blues are stunning.

May snow not fall upon this sail.

But winds can blow beneath a gale.

May this mast stand tall and straight

So when you tack and duck

Your head will miss the blow, with luck!

One of the arriving migratory Monarch's

We Are Under Construction Again!

Please be patient while we wreck the site and reconstruct it to be even better (overall).Some of the changes you will not be able to see on your side as we continue to work on the site. However, we will be able to post again and get that part back to working order immediately.

The Monarchs Are Looking Good....

and the other are showing their stuff, too! I've seen as many as five different flies on a goldenrod plant plus a wasp, honeybees and a hornet. To me, it's more than just amazing that Monarchs every 4th generation (the longest lifespan so they can migrate) is 6 to 9 months while the 1st through (pick up below the last image to continue to read)

Don't forget to click on any image to get them to enlarge. These are best at 100%.
 This golden rod is loaded with butterflies, moths, hornets, wasp, honeybees. The Monarch's have just started to arrive. They came in on the cold front we got Tuesday but the numbers are beginning to show strength now, as well.  There were some that I wanted to shoot but that's for another day.

The bees are amazing, too!

Check out the pelican on the far right. He was so tired from the flight in from the Canadian Border, he has his sleeping head on the back of his fellow pelican. They are so comical. That is what I love about these pelicans.

3rd generation only live up to 6 weeks and they head north from Mexico in the spring producing  both the 2nd and 3rd generations along the way.

But, they can be spotted so easily fluttering along at a pretty good clip. I watched one today for many minutes as it made it's way down the road in almost a straight line. Thinking to myself how this butterfly half the size of my palm would fly 2500 miles to hang in clusters of thousands on trees in the mountains of central Mexico all winter.

There were some awesome shots of tree leaves today. My favorite, the Sycamore, just does not have that lush tan to brown to beautiful leathery brown that they have produced the past several years. But everything is a trade off it seems. When one lets you down, another lifts you up and such is the cycle of nature.

Another 30 Pelicans Have Arrived Right On Time.

Well, last year, the pelicans were here on October 12th. About  ten days ago, the core of 17 arrived to stake their claim to the lake. Today, another 30 had arrived over night. I even got a shot of three in flight over the dam. But the bigger news is that after receiving word about a month ago that the Monarch's were in flight over Lake Erie on their migration to Mexico, today, I saw the first one on a milkweed plant covered in honey bees. It was starved for energy-building nectar after a long, long trip this far. Even tons of honey bees could not keep it for dining. They still have about a thousand miles to go yet.

It is also amazing to me that with all the hurricanes in both the Gulf and in the Eastern Pacific off the coast of Mexico, that the butterflies timing is just unbeatable. The Pacific hurricanes south of Baja cut across the central mountains of Mexico and come in over West Texas. Maybe that is why we are on the migration path. It seems they come down right in a valley of air currents. Little frail butterflies on wing all that distance. Amazing. One cold front has passed, the next one is due tomorrow night and will drop the temps some 25 degrees for a couple of days before going back into the upper 80s. October is such a roller-coaster of temperatures here. Not complaining---snow birds!

American White Pelicans here until about mid February

Rest stop for migrating Monarch Butterflies

The honey bees were 50 or more per bush but the butterfly was going to rebuild its strength none-the-less. I saw one bee try to sting the butterfly but he stayed right where it was hanging.

Observing the Birds Today

Some days just lend themselves to being mundane, yet so revealing. It was a lazy afternoon. Its  ending found me sitting  on a bench and watching the birds that make the core of the domesticated stock. Once in a while I do that because it never fails that I see something or learn something about the birds that helps me photograph them better in future encounters. Watching the wildlife isn't always just a therapeutic rest, but it does calm the soul from the rushing of life.

Another photographer came by and sat down next to me. Together, we shared photographic past. It was just about a month ago that someone ask me a question and I tried to explain how I had photographed one object hundreds of times but just had not found the effect that I had wanted to produce. Then, it happened and it was like being struck by a lightening bolt that brought me to the exact point in time that was made for that image to be made. All three came out exactly as I had envisioned originally. Today, the photographer and I were talking about such things and I had explained to him from a question that was ask that you get into a routine of shooting a certain way and the creative mindset is still there, it just doesn't come out in the way you see it. He still shoots with that clearcut way unencumbered and I tried to encourge him never to give that up at any cost.

The pigeons were nervous. They would land and then take off again.

This goose was rounding up a few of the pigeons and made it very well known that the hawk should leave.

The hawk flew in front of us landing in one tree, then coming back closer to us and finally up in my old sycamore that I love so much. From there he took off and headed back to the area where he usually hangs out.

Halloween Scary-Stuff Has Begun

Last Saturday on my rounds, there was a semi-tractor trailer at one of two local churches that I usually check out about this time of year. They both have large pumpkin patches that are pretty super for their pumpkins and also for their own decorations. One of the churches even donates their proceeds to an Indian Reservation a state west of here. It is my favorite for their mission work but also for their decorations and consideration for those that purchase pumpkins.

The week before, I had started watching for signs that  would be an indication that they would be selling pumpkins again this year. And in the process it has been noted that some pretty scary yard displays have already popped up. Some are rather simple, but show the spirit that  I have always looked forward toward. It sets the tone for the two holidays of the season that we all seem to honor;  with our own traditions and the traditions of others.

Yesterday, while checking on the progress of the Monarch butterfly arrivals at the lake, I got that sudden and unexpected WOW surprise as I came around a curve on the West Lawther side of the lake on the downside curve from T & P hill. The lakefront homes that are on the hill side escarpment overlooking the lake usually decorate their home with some neat stuff. One year in the past,  one of the driveway gates were done in some pretty neat spiderwebs with jack-o-lanterns in the flowerbeds. And, one of the homes that I favor architecturally usually comes up with some nifty stuff, too. A big pumpkin sitting on top of the two outer and two inter gate column coping caps are stunning. 

This home, in the years past has tended to keep things rather simple but with a whole lot of class. I also favor that type of decorating over the full-gawdy look that some do by overdoing or just being carried away with the thrill or joy of doing some decorations. We've all been there. The old adage, "keep it simple, stupid" is always a winner in my book. And, that same home that I favored for its architecture not only gave me that WOW effect when I first saw this years display, it stopped me dead in my tracks. It took a couple of minutes for me to catch my breath to where I could make a judgment on what I though of the whole scale of the decorations. In the end...I'd say that the owners did a super job of creativeness in creating a show stopper with plenty of class and simplicity. Well done.

The eyes have blinking red lights that show up in the daylight. I can only imagine what it would look like at night.

Actually, with the stone work and the new gate, the size and the theme are all plus factors.

There are four skulls total. Equally balanced and positioned for full effect.

Today Is....

My favorite  leaf, the Sycamore. I measured one today that was 15-inches by 11-inches.These are at the very top of the tree but I have a feeling that they are about that same size as the ones that I measured.

National Look at the Leaves Day and National Butterfly and Hummingbird Day. Just happen to have a few shots today of such things.

WRR Radio, the classical station  here in Dallas, has a weekly program at 8 P.M. our time (CT) featuring a Symphony Orchestra  each night. Tonight's broadcast is from the New York Phil and the program is once again playing Mahler's Requiem, in memory of those that were lost in the Las Vegas Shooting. It seems that they, NY Phil, plays this when there has been a major national tragedy. The chorus and the orchestra together have a very deep meaning for me. Gustav Mahler and I would have made good friends in our musical thinking.

So, the rain has finally made its way up from the Gulf as this post is being written. Eagerly, I am waiting for the 50 degree nights due next week when the day time temps will be in the 70s finally. It really has been a long hot summer. It hasn't been that Texas Sizzle that drains your energy completely, but it''s been hot non-the-less.

Sorry that I didn't come across a hummingbird. So, I'll sub in for the hummingbird, the place where the mallards have been hanging out this summer to stay cool. The tires and the ducks kind of blend in. Click on any of these pictures to enlarge and see the details closer.

Under the training sail boats are 10 mallards in the shade.

A butterfly recharging it's energy with some nectar for the milkweed and others that draws butterflies like honey to a bee.

Water Towers Are Not All About Water Anymore.

The expansion of cell phone use can be seen just about anywhere. You don't see anyone hardly anymore that doesn't have a phone in there hand or up to their face. The second part of that equation is not only the number of cell phone towers but the increasing number of decks being added to those towers that are already an eye sore of sort. Last week I even saw a cell tower in that now famous triangle arrangement that was covered with a dome like a radar at the airports. Get this. The dome was a dead give away in that it was not round. It was---wait for it----triangular in shape. Now that excites me. Who in the world would go to that length for a cell tower when they are everywhere, bare and cable exposed!

Besides, we have all seen the high tension towers for power lines that runs across hillsides, through meadows, down mountainsides with as wide of a right-a-way as the tower itself. Plus, an equal amount on either side of the outside wires that are strung from tower to tower. Now, the city has started to create additional bike trails that wind there way along these cut right-of-ways with flashing pedestrian crossings at streets underneath the wires mile after mile after mile. They even have names for the section of trail done in stone work and steel mind you. Water fountains for not only you but the kids and the pouch are part of this money grab. Looks like a stepping stone on a toadstool. Nice. But, dang, there are still streets with mammoth potholes from three years ago! But that little gem we will let ride for another days post.

Now, even those, the trail high tension towers, are adding cellphone triangles at their tops. While that kind of cellphone tower makes more sense to me than the single pole type that juts up from  the corner of a church parking lot or behind the local Jimmy John's sub shop's alley, or even a neighborhood's girls soccer field. Even the soccer field abuts the local Kroger store and makes a couple of turn lefts-turn rights and still ending up with a cell tower at the end of the club house area  near the covered patio with picnic tables. There is, of course a lots of reasons for the choice of a site for these things. What is even more amazing is that to get the people to say okay to putting one on their property, there is a little pie sweeteners called  a monthly rent check from the cell provider. That raises even more questions about the utilities getting rent from the cell providers. Do you see a reduction on your monthly Edison (electric) bill? No. I bet you don't! So where is that money going?

Today, as I started out and traveled my regular Sunday route, I noticed a cell tower in a shopping center where I shopped before moving farther way from the old neighborhood. It's on both sides of a major street. There is a water tower set back out of the way that has had a few microwave dishes mounted to its catwalk railings. They encircle the tower beginning at the bottom of the tank and going upwards to the top were a little red light is required by the FAA. It is on the approach area for Love Field. Not so bad. It's stood there for years and likely will be there for more years to come. But, I also noticed a shocking event happening. Workers in multi-high cherry pickers and others with there little boatswain chair seats already attached to their rear ends.I pulled into the parking lot, made the circle to the side where the tower stood and got some shots.  Remember that those white pop sickle sticks are transmitters sending out that little signal or receivers and are the length of a six-foot tall man.

Just for comparison, I also ran across a tower crane being disassembled with one section of the cross bar already on the ground. It was higher than my car and through the sunroof, it was visible about another two feet. That tower crane will now go to a customer that has been waiting over a year to get it. In the metroplex currently, there are more than 100 tower cranes that are up and running. I counted 15 in downtown and 4 more at Love Field that are on my Sunday route. Today there were 3 at Medical City and 1 at White Rock;  2 at Northpark. That's a quarter of the 100 right there. Sundays are good for things like that when the traffic can endure more lane closings while another crane takes one apart. There are others on the tip of my tongue, too. It's mind-blowing.

Water Tower, Microwave towers and Cell Tower

The top deck is without any equipment---yet!

The man with his boatswain chair will need  as he rises upward to the higher deck above the  round dish to the infamous triangle that points the way.