On The 12th Day of Christmas It Was Cold and Windy As Could Be

                             A Vendor making these before it was a fashion statement on one's arm.

                                             Things I find on the way to finding other things.

 The week  of  Christmas we were in the 80s°F for several days. Since then, it's been in the teens and 20°F to 40s°F. Tomorrow morning its gonna be 20°F with wind chills of 15°F. Thank you Santa. Your Polar Express is a holiday train in Grapevine for the kids, not for the rest of the Metroplex. Christmas is over, so lets get back to those mid 50s°F to 60°F. Any time now, Buddy!

All kidding aside, I like some cold weather. My time in the Great Lakes saw 17°F below zero during the blizzard of '78 so I know what cold can be like. But, just because it gets cold, when the earth is tilted away from the sun, means that all these people taking 10-minute rocket rides into space  need to stay put here on earth. It's the old cause and effect thing. You are shaking up the Jet Streams, don't you see.(Harvey, did that last launch move the needle any on the balance gauge?) Oh, you think it's that secret program in Alaska that is shooting lasers into the center of high pressure systems to change the weather. And here I thought that that program was over already. Now I"m between a rocket launch and a laser beam. Imagine that!

 Seriously, though, it's been a crazy ride in 2021. I am glad to leave it behind. I was looking back to when I was me, and not some surgical experiment.  2019. Surgery. 2020.Surgery. 2021.Surgery. I do admit that 2021 under the knife was in the very early part and since then, I have been trying to regain my muscles and balance walking. The one thing that has suffered more than me is my photography in the overall scheme of things. I've always said:" when you create the beast you have to feed it." Feeding the beast takes about 250 shots a day with a sale ratio of 5:30. I gave up the live feeds and I shot what I could to keep some workflow flowing toward that goal. Then, it occurred to me that what I really wanted to do at my stage in life was to shoot interesting textures and create abstracts. I have experimented with them on and off in my down time and it has grown on me to the point that I have done some abstracts on my Zazzle account. I've gotten some pretty good response from people thus far as to the fact that they like them. 

So, as 2022 begins. I am not giving up on my photography. I'm just going to experiment with some new aspects of it technically. You will still be able to see my images on the blog. But I am getting ready to start listing with one or two agencies instead of the six that I now use. Making a selection will take a little time away from my photography for a short time, but in the end, it will be better for me and my readers and my photography as a whole. Hang tight, I'll keep you posted on the process and where my workflow lands. I'll also get a much better deal on my royalties, too!  Most will not notice a big change from the past. I've got images Google hasn't found yet!! Unk. Unk.But my agents will notice.  Some more than others. But as is said in Midtown Manhattan, "you'll have that from time to time. Yes you will."

Things that were fine but got more fine with redevelopment and a couple of thousands of new residents living across the sidewalks.

Solar Impulse Is In A Long Holding Pattern and Other Mixed Topics

The 73rd Annual Memorial Day Dallas

Fire Fighters Memorial at Restland Memorial Park and a funeral on Saturday for the second Dallas Fire Fighter  fallen in the last month.

Wind Damage on Park Central

The Vote at the Gaylord Texan Thursday

The Solar Impulse currently is making loops over the crosswind run way DFW International. It made good time to Dallas from Phoenix today. I have a ticket to tour the plane later  this week.Pictures should be forthcoming on this blog over the weekend.

There is a lot happening in Dallas this week. There is a lot happening in Dallas,period. The city just voted the big OK on a horse park as part of the new Trinity River Project in south Dallas. The new Trinity River Golf Club just landed this past week the Byron Nelson when it leaves the Four Seasons by 2019. That will be in south Dallas as well.

Protesters from both camps  were in Grapevine today. One group was at the Great Wolf Lodge and the opposing group was meeting at the Gaylord Texan across the street. That's two enormous complexes off Main Street in Grapevine. The actual vote for the Boy Scouts political position will go on at the Gaylord tomorrow,Thursday.

The Carry the Load march across the eastern seaboard to Dallas will culminate this weekend at a park in Uptown on the Katy Trail. The 73rd Annual Memorial Day Dallas sponsored by  The Greater Dallas Veterans Council will be held at Restland Memorial Park on Memorial Day. There will be a march from the Abbey Mausoleum to the Field of Honor this year with a balloon release to begin the Services. The 6,640 flags displayed are up already. The vintage helicopter, vehicle and equipment displays from World War I and II, Korean War, Vietnam War and Desert Storm will open to the public at 10 AM on Memorial Day.

This year, Dallas Fire fighter, Stanley Wilson's funeral will be at Park Cities Baptist Church in University Park at 10 on Saturday. His burial will be in Restland two days before the ceremonies.
Firefighter Wilson was a 28 year veteran of the Dallas Fire Department, ending his career at station 53.

Memorial Day weekend has always been full of activities. This year it is a bit more somber than it has been in the past few years.

Today, I ran into the boxer that I photographed a few months back. Check the archive  for the article. He was working out again and getting ready to head out to Oklahoma with some relief help over the weekend from his church.

Tex Dot issued a  statement this week that officially, the LBJ Construction Project is now 50 percent complete!. Does anyone hear angles singing: All-e-lu-ia! All-e-lu-ia!