The Second Half of 2023 Is about to get under way.

Finally, the first day of July will be below 100°F. More importantly, the dew point will be a bit lower as well and we can get back out from under the AC and do some shooting. While inside (I've been out only twice in the past ten days) I have been covering security issues, checking the archives for theft and working on designing curio items for our stores on Zazzle. June will close out a very good month of sales. 

While it will be nice to be out again, there is a doctor's appointment to attend to. But, it is one that is a must so all things considered, it's not that bad going into. It's the answers I get coming out of it that sometimes give me a bit of pause.

Also in the heat downtime, I took the Union Pacific Test identifying the types of railcars. Aced It!! When I was off from college between my freshman and sophmore year, I spend one full day unloading a boxcar filled in brown paper wrapped boxes of  jell-o. If my memory serves me well, I think there were 96 boxes to a wrapped bundle. The problem: the car was stacked from floor to ceiling front to back. Unbelievable numbers of jello-boxes. To this day, I have a box of jello-o in my pantry just to remind me how small those little boxes are and every time I see a box car on the rail, I think about that box of jell-o and will not eat jell-o to this day. When I went home at night I smelled like strawberry for a week  and that was after shower after shower. I will not even go down the jell-o isle in any grocery store. None!

 

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We do employ an agency that does nothing but search for our images on line and they have also been notified of this breach.

Transporting New Cars Today Isn't Like It Was When I Was Growing Up.

 Sitting on a rail platform watching a freight pass brought back a flood of childhood memories. Back in the day ( thought I would never use a phrase like that) when the new cars were shipped to the  dealers, they were shipped on a car carrier semi-trailer that usually had cars in three or four on the top rack and three on the bottom. The unique thing then, was that new models were given a delivery date at the dealers. Then it was like a reveal party of sorts. The cars were covered with a white canvas hiding the details of that particular model year. Cars arrived, were put inside the dealerships showrooms still covered. Then on the specific day, the covers were removed and the excitement was released into the air. That happened ever model year when I was growing up. Word traveled like wildfire when a car carrier was spotted anywhere near out town. Really, it was kind of a neat thing from a marketing standpoint. Today, I can't tell a 2020 from a 2023. The excitement is gone. Only the memories of those days remains for some of my generation. 

So, while sitting on the rail platform, another freight came by and the largest portion of the train make up was of car racks, those enclosed double deckers that protect the cars finish from rocks and all sorts of hazards. But, they are totally enclosed and you can't see what is in side. 

The one thing to note about this train was that every railroad had a car rack with railroad's name on the side including the rail service in Mexico and Canada. In addition to all the major east coast lines and the major coast-to-coast carriers which were BNSF and UPR. It was an interesting display of iconic American Industry that even had inside the cars fresh off the ships from the Asia going east  and the European cars companies arriving on the Atlantic shipping ports being transported west from the east coast.

So, long story short, Car racks are to cars as Containers are to Cars and merchandise. Funny how things change over decades. My friend worked at the docks on the Great Lakes, while in college, driving VW's off the ship to the storage yards where they were loaded onto car carriers and shipped to dealers.

Just Gone Fishing

Summer is Arriving Early with 112° F Heat Index and several days of 100 and above.

 So, while the heat will limit activity to early morning and early evening, I will be in under the AC and working on indexing images that I have been putting off for a bit. Today, I said to one of my brothers that this is when I miss living in the Great Lakes. They are 70's all week while we begin the slow roast of Texas summer heat. Come on Labor Day.

The header image of Old Red, the former Dallas County Courthouse, was my last photography shoot downtown to update my previous shoot from the old camera to a new take with the new camera and more up-to-date technology. 

The reason that Old Red was selected was that the gargoyles are more visible now. I have always liked the old architecture for the reason that those little scary creatures that adorn that type of architecture was a bit of humor, I thought.  To me, it was always an expression by the architect, so-to-speak. Even if he did it to say, "Look at the money you paid me to do this"  or some other aspect of the job. While the 13th century figures were designed to scare to protect the building. They also were the precursor to our modern day gutters. However one thought of them, I have just liked them for years. In old Gothic buildings of stone, I look for them. But, there is that unspoken bit of humor about them as well. 

I had to bring my "Lucilles" inside. They do not like heat like described above. I started out with 500 seed and I have only 10 plants to show for it. Believe this, they are harder to grow than meets expectation, I am finding out. I have been giving them water with an eye-dropper. The potting soil is up to grade. I know that when I first saw them coming up at the Water Filtration Guard Shack, they looked so amazing. Every time I went back, they were stronger and growing to their 2-3 feet height. I've always had a green thumb. In fact, I have plants on the porch that I rooted from clippings  and even got the butt end of a stalk of celery that I saved in the crisper in a plastic bag to sprout and start its growth. So, I am thinking that growing Lucille's would be somewhat of a breeze and my only worry was that I didn't have them in a larger pot.Well, the prospects of me having a pot full of Lucille's to shoot and show you guys is looking pretty slim right now. I'll keep you posted for those that are bent over laughing about now. 

Above are a few images of some art discovered off the Denton County Court House Square three weeks ago. I also like  those kinds of discoveries while out shooting.

A slow stroll through the streets of Downtown because

I wanted to test out the settings on the new camera so that I could compare with the previous shot images in downtown. When I had the images loaded and they popped up on the screen, there was no comparison to the detail with just the increase of pixels, let alone the ability to get away from that easy way out of using the auto focus setting. 

Like getting away from film to digital that was so hard for me at first. This had the same affect in the net results. It was truly, the first time since getting the new lens and body that I felt satisfied and was happy with being able to try out new angles of old shots from the past. Now, I can't wait for fall. Come on Labor Day !!

So, here are a few from that walk that lasted nearly 4 hours. Some of which covered new ground to get a different angle of buildings both old and new glass. While in Dealey Plaza, I came across a guy with his family that was wearing a Detroit T-shirt. As I walked closer, I said, "Boy, are you brave to be wearing that T-shirt here in Dallas." After his standard reply, of something like 'it's cool' I said, "I know. I feel they same way when I wear my "Red Wings T". He looked stunned but his wife was already laughing as he caught on to the set up. Then, I took off my cap and showed him the inside of the hat with the big tag, Minor League Baseball. Then, I showed him the front of the cap with the Hen with a T on its cap. " They are the minor league farm team of the Tigers ! It's the official Toledo Mudhens hat. He was stunned to find a Detroit baseball and hockey guy in Dallas. It had us all laughing. 

If you increase your browser magnification to 100% you will see amazing details of the stone work in the old red courthouse.  The Federal Protection Service of Homeland Security car is one of the most interesting markings of any federal vehicle that I have seen over the years. As I am standing on the corner waiting for the "walk light" I realized that I had never shot an image of a Homeland Security vehicle. This one was awesome with the seal on the fender and the specific department on the door. 

The Hyatt Regency Hotel that sits next to Reunion Tower. An angle shot of old red and Fountain Place Tower (pointed at the top 60th floor). Then, old red with a view of the tallest building currently in Dallas at 70 odd floors: the Bank of America Building.

One of two television towers in downtown. Shown here is the Landmark WFAA (now ABC channel 8) that stands next to The old Dallas Morning News Building and across the street from the Belo building .Search your history on the Belo. The family mansion is on Ross Avenue and was once a funeral home where Clyde Burrows lay in repose. It is bar of the Bar Association now and shared with the Arts District.

The Pegasus Flying Horse history goes back to 1934, The Magnolia Oil, Mobile Oil and the Magnolia Hotel, the one-time highest building in Dallas. 

An last,(first image) is the side view of old red.The gargoyles atop the building are both amusing, and interesting in old style architecture.