It's Strange How The Mind Works But Not Really

 When I lost my first born son at age 27, it was devastating to me. So devastating that I suffered a light stroke four months after his loss. It took me nearly twenty years of personal grieving before I began to see many things much more clearly on how I looked at life before and after his passing. 

Then, as if by a miracle, I began to recall all the fathers and or mothers that I knew through work, college or church that had also lost a son. The list grew. Year after year as more people that I knew or had contact with began to be included  in  news special interest programs.  Father's that were also dealing with unresolved grief through the loss of their own sons or mothers who were suffering with unresolved grief of their sons also were more apparent.

A few years after I lost my son, I wrote a poem to him which was titled, "I Must Release You".  It  was later published in hardbound. I had ask that no ISBIN number be included in the space where the copyright, ISBIN and publisher is normally listed. Ironically, a chief librarian that I knew at a Big Ten University had made me aware that in some circumstances, that could be done. I checked it out and submitted a request. After I received my initial published copy, the publisher also included a fairly large supply of cards and envelopes that included the poem. They lay stored in my apothecary cabinet, one of my cherished pieces of wood furniture. 

From time to time, I would open that drawer while looking for something else, not because I didn't remember what was stored in various drawers but out of instinct for which I did not understand at the time.  Those actions were passed off as just a random muscle memory action. 

This past weekend, I saw a post on Twitter by Irish Musician Sinead O'Connor.  Her post announced the sudden death of her son, Nevi'im Nesta Ali Shane O'Connor. Reading the post in detail her grief was truly devastating and then doing something that I never have done in the past, I responded to her post mentioning that I,also, had lost a son and can relate to her grief. Like I had done, more or less, that she must release him to go find his better dreams. I had done that for my son after a protracted grieving period that I had endured. My son had died as a result of an undiscovered congenital defect that became terminal suddenly. Shane's death was a personal struggle. At early stages both could have been prevented.

Last night, I had a dream that was  more in line of past dreams where something becomes a eureka moment-- such a moment  is a moment of sudden, triumphant discovery, inspiration, or insight. One of the first thoughts that I had was God, Almighty had also lost a son--Jesus Christ. That was added to my list but at the Top of the List as I drank my coffee and prepared this post.

An so, those cards that have been safety stored in that specific apothecary drawer, will now be sent to those fathers and mothers that have lost a son all to early in life that I rub an elbow with in my photography. 

It is strange how the mind works, but not really, as I do believe that things where we experience special eureka moments are truly Divine Moments. Moments that happen in sudden thoughts or dreams we recall, with or without explanation as a clear  reason for justification.

That dream was a mixed up type of dream, too. It centered around my mail carrier and a package from a dear friend that had been in the system for a bit as I tracked it to show my friend how Informed Delivery system works at the US Postal Service. In that follow up process this morning, I came across an envelope for my postman. My package was delivered by him a day early. It's a great day!

                                            The Angle of Grief at the Alter of Life

It's The Second Time That It Has Happened in the past 6 months.

In the forward motion line of the EF-3 Tornado and less than a mile away, two things stood out. This hedge apple tree in the path of the storm still has fruit hanging on the tree. The other was a church steeple left unscathed. All around on both side, total destruction.

Human beings do things at a whim. They also do things with great planning. One just doesn't know what to expect other than to always exercise caution. Well, the best kind of caution for the situation at hand. Here's the back story.

Earlier in the summer months last year, I was in an isle at Kroger's looking for a new product that I was thinking about trying out. Across the isle from me was a mom with three children in or very near their teens. They had found a cracker that they liked and had ask mom if they could get a box. It was pretty obvious that mom wanted to say yes but the financials just could not support it at the time.

I waited until they were out of the isle as they were heading toward the check out line I ask the mom what was the name of the crackers that the kids had been talking about? She told me. I mentioned to here that I wasn't ready to check out yet but if she would allow me to purchase the crackers and have the cashier give here the receipt and crackers I would buy the crackers for the girls. The mom was near tears, and thanked me. It had been a while since I had done something like that and  I must admit, it even gave me a warm feeling inside knowing that hope and prayer and observation makes so much possible when we allow God to step in spreading his Grace far beyond what we can see or even be aware.

As I pulled out of Kroger's lot for the mile trip hope, I saw a car in the lane next to me a few cars ahead with windows down and kids arms waving like they had won the lottery. As I got closer, it was the kids and mom of cracker fame. The smiles were from one side of the car to the other and it was clear that the kids and mom, were overjoyed from the experience. The crackers were like $2.89.

Part Two Came Back To Me  At A Walmart after having a battery changed out on my pacemaker.  I was trying to use my debit card and I could not get the chip to sit. The machine kept giving me a Read Error. The clerk that works the self-check-outs that I know, motioned to me to come over to her master station and run my card there. It gave me the green light, finally and the clerk handing me the receipt. I had not scanned anything there but the clerk had suspended the transaction. A lady had kind of cut in line and the clerk processed the transaction and handing me the receipt. She told me as I was about to leave that the lady that had been ahead of me had paid for my groceries. It was about $26.00 total. I was stunned and it took a while for me to realize what this young woman dad done. It felt good that someone was making a difference in the world.

Red Buds are Even Blooming Already

This Hawk waits for his mate to arrive. Nesting season is getting underway.

Part Three Cane Back to me this week.

I had pulled into a McDonald's in Garland to get a coke. I was the only one at the #1 drive through. Out of the corner of my eye came this white car pulling up in #2  and jumping ahead of me in line. It didn't bother me, but I do watch things like that when I am out and about. Always trying to be aware with the way things are today.

The young man at the drive through window was smiles from ear to ear and he said, "Today is your lucky day. The car ahead of you just paid for your coke."  Again, I was a bit stunned.

So I paid out out $2.89 for some crackers for a young  single-family and it came back at $27.08.

God is great. God is Good. God's Grace is powerful and far reaching. Thanks Be to God.

Park Cities In The Spotlight This Week.

We published a couple of articles about the coyotes that were at White Rock Lake and Flag Pole Hill that were being aggressive. I spoke to a resident that neighbors the lot where one coyote was stalking a couple of horses that were grazing. She said to me that she sees them all the time and that one had even tried to attack her daughter but they thought it was because of the chickens that they were raising in their back yard.

Most of the experts have long noted that the coyotes and bob cats were on the move south after the work to expand both the Dallas North Tollway and the 121 additions to McKinney. It cut off a rather large pack of coyotes forcing them to come south. The bob cats were using the utility right-of-ways to bypass traffic and people as they moved along the greenbelts.

The Katy Trail Extension at White Rock had become a coyote highway at night because of the ducks and small pets that were allowed to be out unattended.  It was funneling them toward Fair Park and into South Dallas with the ultimate being the Great Trinity Forest, a 6,000 acre lowland hardwood forest. Movement on the Katy Trail  through Uptown and the Park Cities was basically cut of by US75 Central Expressway-- cut off that is until the city built  a multi-million dollar way for coyotes and bob cats to cross Central Expressway right into the Park Cities, Uptown and into South Dallas along the Trinity.

Two women in the Park Cities are excited. They seem to thing that the three coyotes that they have seen is something new and they are trying to head it off early. The problem is, they really have been asleep at the wheel. This is not something new. This is not some great  reveal. This is reality that has been going on for the past 20 years or more.  There has been a lot of discussion about this for most of those 20 years. The photographers have noted it. The news has run stories about it. The naturalist have blogged about it. It ain't new!! In fact, it is rather old news.

Having that pointed out, yesterday, I made a trip to University Park to see the Robert Indiana "LOVE" sculpture that was presented to the city of University Park by a couple in celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary.  To me, it was a touching gesture by the couple to present LOVE to the University Park across from one of the most amazing pieces of architecture in the area, Highland Park Presbyterian Church. (yeah, Scotland!). I have long admired the detail and the massive size of the structure. It's my kind of architecture that I not only admire, but LOVE, so to have that piece of sculpture in the adjacent park to that wonderful architecture made the afternoon seem like heaven.

LOVE to the Third Power

This piece has been shown in New York and around the country.It's home is now University Park, Texas.

The island setting is a great placement. The sod is dormant at the time having been put down not long ago.

To All Our Friends In The UK

dallaspaparazzo would like to express our sincere and heartfelt sympathy in the loss of life and the pain suffered by so many, both physical and emotionally in Manchester

 

 For our many friends in Great Britain who are our customers and agents as well as those previously mentioned above, our prayers and love go out to each and every one of you in this most difficult time.

Peek-A-Boo

Many times I have gone looking for examples to draw a more simplistic conclusion to a discussion or a problem or to prove a point. In short: a picture is worth a thousand words for any of the above. For good or for bad, today, that tenant still works today. It seems that in this age of social media, people take great personal pride in that mess. For me, I actually totally dislike social media. The days of the old telex machines in a new room or radio station or television news room was much more accurate, more to the point and always sourced. You knew when the news bells went off that something worthwhile was happening and you raced to find out what it was. Then, you sat on the edge of your seat waiting for updates.

Do I want to go back in time? No, not really. I look at that question in a different way. If all the Face books, Google's, yahoos, e-bays, amazons, etc.,etc., were to fail today I could still carry on with the old pencil and paper form. I'm not saying that I want some cosmic force to upset our magnetic fields and play havoc with our orbiting platforms in space. I'm just saying that knowing where to look and when to look and what to look for is the edge that the new tech businesses don't have. The old ways were time-tested and dependable. So, I continue to look for examples.

Should I be doing more consulting? Yes. But, I don't want to create something for the sake of just creating it. I still want it to be functional and have a worthwhile need. I have never liked doing work twice. It's the same as interest paid twice.

Doug Parker turned down a trip to the White House. There was a time when a CEO may have had previous engagements, but when the President of the United States invited you to a meeting or a conference, you found a way to get there. It's a priority kind of thing. It's a sense of urgency.  But Doug is just that kind of such a great CEO that he tells the President he can't make it to the White House. American Airlines passed on a meeting at the White House. That says a lots why the new uniforms are causing the employees to itch and scratch from the material, or his company cannot paint an airplane that shows the kind of pride that the airline once had. Yes, I know. People say they like the new livery. People also tell little white lies. But the fact is, the current generation of livery for American is so MD-80 boring! Take a picture of the tail and see how chewed up the paint is on the tail. There are plenty of Nikon 600MM glass focused on your tail every single day from coast-to-coast like apple butter on toast.

There my be something, however, that puts things into a simplified form in the old way of doing business.

A row of new rooftops after new rooftops and a field next to the subdivision with rolls of hay still in the field. Holding out for a better price, most likely. I went past a piece of property in Preston Hollow today that now has a new sign saying: 4 Lots for Sale. It once was a single piece of property. On either side and up and down the street are MC Mansion style homes with what I call handshaking neighbors that never have to leave their individual houses to shake hands, just open a window and reach out and shake hands.

Alaska Air painted this plane especially to celebrate the approval of the sale of Virgin American to Alaska Air. It's called More to Love with a blend of red paint from Virgin American to the royal blue fade and the Eskimo on the tail. Tom Braniff would be so proud of Alaska Air. Up to this point, Gary Kelly, at Southwest,  is the only good student to Tom Braniff's "How to Paint and Airplane" legacy.In short, this plane says that Virgin at Love Field where Southwest controls the gates, is now a closed deal for new owner Alaska Air and the Eskimo on the tail ties to Alaska Airs Livery. An excellent merge for a merger in paint. Why can all the other airlines get it and Doug boy doesn't even think he needs to go with his industry leaders when the President calls. WOW. that is arrogant.

Even the sweet ladies around Love Field were expressing a more of a LOVE theme than a Happy Valentine's  theme of the past. Do they have a marketing guy that's paying attention?

 

A Walk Around The Lake

Sometimes, when super energy power prevails  I undertake the three-hour walk around the lake. It's more enjoyable on the bike but not near as interesting nor do you find the things that you find when you walk. Before someone gets all macho and tries to toss out their ego-building attitude that they can walk the walk in a much shorter time, don't. When you get to be my age, there is more to life than just egos, for one;two, I stop with the camera and sometimes wait for the right light on partly cloudy days and on pure sunshine day, I might wait on a bird, or an animal, or a car, bike, or person crossing my path. And above all--I'm stopping to smell the flowers!!

Thursday, was just such a day when  the entire day was spent at the lake. From early sunrise to late afternoon. That evening when I sat down at the computer to upload the days work to begin editing, there were 291 images in the days work load. That's almost like what I was doing 10-years ago, but which had been cut down to around 50-60 dailies in the past few years after the surgery. It was amazing to see that volumn of work show up again.

Since we live in a love/hate world today, that was kind of  like the theme that I was looking for. The main reason I like White Rock so much is the divergent activity that can be found there. Over the past ten years, the many different things that I have observed there is absolutely astounding for one particular place. That does not include the increase in people traffic or on-lake activities. With wildlife in particular, sometimes, you just have to stop and look and watch and listen. When you do, you find that the wildlife will resume whatever that they were doing before  you appeared on the scene and they stopped to watch and wait and listen to see what you were going to do. It's the old reverse role syndrome, wait and see adage, man vs. animal/animal vs.man game or  just the downright fight or flight nervous system at work.

What I found out from the days work was that when I play with the camera's settings that I usually use, some of the shots that I would normally edit out become rather more interesting than others. There are two examples of that here and one that is as old almost as old as the world we live in. Enjoy.

LOVE

ABSTRACT

HATE-or-FEAR but disturbing find non-the-less.

Every One Is Making List

The 11th District of the Federal Reserve Dallas

After the remodel, the Federal Reserve System Seal is Displayed

about what happened in 2012. Why? The Networks will give you that 'all important list' of 2012 tomorrow night. It's called,"fill".

 What concerns me more is the decisions going on inside this building and how the top guy will vote with all the other counterparts from the other districts. This is the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas for the 11th District. Chances are some of you have currency in your wallet with this seal and from this district, if not from other districts, too. Most, could not name the districts of the Federal Reserve Bank System much less name the Chief

Jay Leno has a skit that is used on his show from time-to-time. He would go out on a street corner near the L.A. Studio's where the show originates and ask average Americans questions about our government or basic American  facts such as: What other job does the Vice-President of the United States perform? It is sadness and comic all rolled into one.

Kids can't learn basic civics or American History in school because the teachers are to busy taking care of paperwork that has no meaning to their students and as it sounds, will soon be added with other duties like going to the firing range to keep up their certification as a firearm holder as part of their teaching duties. While the seriousness is genuine.....schools are not the place and certainly teachers are paid to teach, not perform all this other stuff they must do that takes away from actual classroom study.

This afternoon, I took each grade when I was in school and recalled my teachers and how the day was spent. Then, I took my kids teachers and grades and recalled everything their teachers did during the course of the day. It was not a shock......my teachers taught! My kids teachers were totally distracted from teaching. Oh, I know. There will be those that defend the teachers today and the skills that they have with modern technology allows the kids to learn more on their own and the teachers are just supervising the course study. You don't want to know what my reply to that would be. Keenly, I made a successful career on observing in the business climate the things most people missed and acting on those things that had been overlooked or missed or discarded as not being important at the time.

So, when I see the skit on Jay Leno, I'm very interested in hearing how the participants answer and what level the questions are rated that are being ask. It's still sad and still very,very funny. But, it should also be a red flag as to what really is being taught in our schools. To me, driver ed doesn't count as something learned at school. No, I'm sorry. My dad taught me to drive and it didn't happen at my school.

This post isn't about teachers. Rather, it is about my interest in the genesis of thought at the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas and how the chief here votes with the other district chiefs. But, most importantly, it is about how so many things come together to form the many decisions made daily that border with so many more that really--in the all-and-all of it-- really is the hand of fate and no matter what you try to do, in the end, it still comes back to the hand of fate. Even the bible speaks of our lot being cast. I'm not saying not to give a task your best. I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying is that if things don't turn our exactly as you planned, don't be disappointed. I've never wished to be someone else. Why? because their fate may be 30 years less than mine. I know people that wished that they were someone  else. I'd never wish that. I just want to be who I am. So far, I've out lived a lot of my friends. If I had wished to be them, I would now be dead. So I don't concern myself with things that I have no control over. Trying to do your best and be your best each day is all anyone can do. Faith,Hope and Charity (love) is what really matters.

Ever look at the tripod that holds the red kettle's of the Salvation Army. It's three legs could very well be, Faith,Hope and Charity and as much as it also represents the Holy Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Things in life come together at just the right times that are called an Epiphany. I call them Eureka Points. I'm constantly feeding my brain and let my brain do the work. Then, I'm brushing my teeth or showering and bingo! I have an Epiphany or Eureka Point. But, you must feed your brain. Garbage in isn't always garbage out. Sometimes, a little garbage acts like a catalyst. You learn over time how much you feed it at a time and how much you add as catalyst. 

So, my list for 2012 at 11:59:59 on December 31,2012 will simply be:

I made it through 2012!

 

Christmas May Be Over But........

there are a few things that need to be cleaned up, first. I wouldn't mind cleaning this one up. This unique display is at the Sewell Family of Dealerships, Sewell Cadillac, specifically, on Lemmon Avenue across from the old Braniff International Headquarters buildings at Love Filed.

I like the ornaments. But the tree was a whopper!

Honey, where do you want me to hang this one?

 The Sewell family have been delivering quality autos and service for over  a century. They are a great family, great dealerships and our thanks and holiday wishes go out to the Sewell family and each of their employees. Have a great 2013.