The Transition Has Begun

With two cold fronts passing today, the warm 75-degrees we have enjoyed and savored the past week is getting ready to say bye-bye. It's been kind of a step down but today, to me, was even more comfortable. I can tell when I wear my Official Irish Wool Tweed bucket hat with the heather twig and a bow of red tartan in the left side ban. And I always get comments on that hat. I got one today, the first day out of the summer box.

So, trying to squeeze one good day of comfortable shooting out before that cold north wind whips up the leaves that are hanging on with that 25 MPH gust forecast.Cold weather is not good on the heart, don't you see, at any age. I sure don't want to be a statistic, that's for sure. With that in mind, I headed out to a local town square that I shoot for sheer color. Any was it popping today.

Unfortunately, I was a bit tired tonight and was listening to music and catnapping in the wing back  for most of the evening after I did the initial edit of images. What that means is that my prime images go to the stock houses and agents. The ones that I use on the blog are for viewing as part of what I am writing about. The reason for that is that people try to copy them from the web site and blog and corrupt the files. Some are recoverable; some are not. I learned a long time ago to put the prime images up on the portfolios first and put the secondary primes on the blog. There isn't anything wrong with them other that there may be an un-even horizon or a distracting object that got in the way for many reasons. Still, the images are good--but the primes are more[gooder]!!!!!!

I have not shot book covers for a while and today the clouds, sky and color was there. So here will be three and a separate post with three additional.
More images will follow tomorrow.

The Purple Leaf was awesome. These are the three main colors in trees around the square.

Book Covers or Use for Letterhead Messages.

I like these lamps!

Last Minute Shopping!

Holiday Greetings Vertical Greeting Card by sam6372
Look at other Greeting Cards at zazzle.com

Our wish to you this holiday season would be this card that we made especially for you!

Shortest Day Approaches

It is a true statement:" Time waits for no man." Where it goes is an enigma for sure. Winter begins in less than a week. Christmas Day comes in ten days. New Years arrives in just over two weeks. It makes no matter whether I'm ready or not, so the past few days found me at the lake and sitting at a picnic table with my health snack. I got my cardio walk in and just enjoyed the nearly perfect weather. That part changes tomorrow as the first of several cold fronts arrives and kicks the temps back down to a more normal winter level right on time.

Two weeks ago, I watched the cormorants begin flocking and flying their 'V' formations over the lake. They have been happy campers but know with their keen circadian rhythm that the coldest weather this season is about to arrive. Currently, when the cormorants or pelicans or sea gulls or egrets can't been seen, I can usually find them in their second or even third place were they hang out because of the change in fish whereabouts. In a way, they are just like us. They are creatures of habit. But the call of the wild beckons to fly south. They will be back in the spring after they disappear and can not be found in any of their favorite trees or log branches in the water.

A feather floats with the leaves on the water's surface.

A man walks his dog near Winfrey Point

White Rock Rowing Club sorts gear on one of the club's docks.

Click on any picture to enlarge. It's okay. You won't break anything.

Merry--Sound Off--Christmas

This time of year has always been a favorite of mine because of the colorful lights, decorations and festive spirit that is displayed not just around me but world-wide. The latest example of that was an image seen on a live image feed of the Bandaranaike/Colombo International Airport in Sri Lanka. A woman was standing in one concourse dressed in her Burqa in front of a 9-foot Christmas tree with packages underneath the poinsettia-laced tree and decorations. A very beautiful tree half-way around the world.

Ft. Worth, is outstanding for bringing it's Sundance Square Christmas tree, a 58-foot blue spruce, from the northern part of the lower peninsular of Michigan. That area has some of the best Christmas tree farms in the nation. There has always been a bit of competition between Ft. Worth and Dallas except for the joint venture with the DFW International Airport. Otherwise, it's been a "you build a bridge, I'll build a bridge" type competition. While both cities contribute to the overall quality of life in the Metroplex, it gets to be somewhat funny watching the cities trying to outdo each other.  Dallas has taken on the largest urban development project ever undertaken by a city with the Trinity Corridor Project. They are making remarkable progress, too.

Sorry to say, however, the Trinity flows south and I am afraid that the development moving toward south Dallas is happening as a result of the Trinity and not totally for south Dallas as a community. I hope that I am wrong. Dwaine Caraway, councilman, is absolutely the leader that needs to be there for the south Dallas community. He is fair. He is honest. He does care about Dallas and about south Dallas. The PGA Golf Course and the Horse Park can be an economic engine for south Dallas if it isn't caught up in a political eddy of the Trinity Corridor. 


This past Sunday I walked the Arts District for the first time in many months. Seeing the Museum Towers finished,the success of Klyde Warren Park, the nearly finished outside skin of the new Hall Financial Group's tower across the street from the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, continues to add to Dallas as a first class city. The new building is the first new office building in downtown in nearly 10 years. Although it is not the only new building, it is the first new office-type. At any given point along the new Skyline Trail, at least 6 crane-towers can be seen in the midst of construction projects, not counting the additional 6 or 7 that are being used in the new Horseshoe I-30/I-35E construction. Most of the literature and listings note that the Hall Financial will soon get a new neighbor much like the Museum Tower completed last year.

Now, the sound off. 
Consider it a Blue, Green, Red, White, Orange Light on a Fake Christmas Tree.

Most people that have settled in Dallas do not understand that the city is laid out on a NS/EW grid until you get to the area of Thanksgiving Square. There, the grid changes into a triangle headed NE/SW. I don't fully understand the why of those generations-old decisions, nor does it matter that much. The no new high rise rule by the FAA is cruel for development. I have been on the 42nd floor of City Place and have watched  planes take off from Love Field, climbing as they come directly at City Place. There is no sound reasoning to restrict building in downtown Dallas other than to restrict high rise development politically. The 5-mile rule is unnecessary. I know that the Park Cities ruffled their feathers when Love Field started landing more commercial flights on 13L 31R as a result of the terminal expansion at Love Field.

The Dallas City Hall, while designed by a world-class architect named I.M. Pei, I'm pretty sure that there was some order and thought given to why the city hall was located where it currently sits. The open-style plaza is a plus for the city. The reviewing stands for the end of the Christmas Parade has ended there the past couple of years.

Main Street Park seems to be the focal point now for the placement of the city's Christmas tree. While the park is nice, the plastic and fake Christmas tree that represents the city is a dud. A sad dud at that. Klyde Warren has a much better tree that represents the city.  Still, it isn't a live tree and it isn't  a citizen's tree  of distinction.

Frankly, the plaza in front of city hall would be a more symbolic place to display the city tree and decorations. It's almost like the city government is ashamed to have a tree at city hall. There could even be somewhere in the council minutes  a resolution or ordinance that was at issue with members-past. I don't know. Checking it out isn't part of this sound off. Past mistakes by council are history. What is part of this is that Ft. Worth has won the battle of the city Christmas tree. Dallas, you loose this one big time! What a shame. The big red balls are nice but they just don't cut it as a replacement for a true Christmas tree like Ft. Worth's. Even the Winspear's ornament is a "non-conform" to the red balls around the city.Dallas should pass an ordinance that from Thanksgiving until New Years Eve that any outdoor tree in downtown over 10 feet must be a live tree cut for that period. There! Ft. Worth, you still won this one!!

The new Hall Financial Group Tower as seen from the promenade outside the Winspear  Opera House. Note the gold ball  on Flora Street.

Update on Some Previous Post

This has been an unusual winter storm. One, it fell below freezing for 72 hours. Two, when it did start to thaw, the nights were in the 20s so what melted re coated the roadways and sidewalks. It's been a roller-coaster of a storm from start to finish. At least, the sun was out today and it was above freezing again. Still, it is nothing like a winter storm in the Great Lakes. And, of course, their out breaks of tornadoes in the spring isn't anything like ours. When it comes to weather, I like it all! Hot, cold, stormy, icy, snowy, high winds. I'll stop there because I don't like the dust storms that hit the desert southwest. That's a bit much.

Today, I had a couple of errands to run so while I was out, I ate lunch and then took a walk before heading back to the comfort of a warm house. When I came in, I couldn't find the cat. When I can't find her, I always get a bit anxious. I always check her favorite hide outs. And, she is a creative cat, still, she surprises me with a new one now and then. Today, I saw the comforter at the foot of the bed move, All I could see was her rear end. She had gone head in into the folds of the comforter. When she heard me, she did a turn around and came out kinda surprised but then went into the mode of " What's up with you?" as she does a big stretch on bed followed with a bigger yawn. Cats keep you humble.

The bee hive that I found a couple of months ago along a trail must have been frozen out, or the parks and recreation guys moved it because of the danger of it so close to the trail. There was no sign of the hive today.

Garland had to cancel their Christmas on the Square. The Children's Hospital Christmas Parade in downtown Dallas, that is syndicated to many markets during the month of December, was also cancelled and will not be re-scheduled this season. Balloon handlers are booked else where as are many other parts of the parade units.

Ice on a Foot Bridge

December this year has just not been it's normal self. Things do change and we all must adapt to that, but I must admit that sometimes, it is more difficult to adapt than at other times. That's Life as old blue eyes would sing. Music seems to help with adapting, though.

Ice on wild berries

If You Love Numbers, Today is 11-12-13

Before the Arctic cold front roars through North Texas, a trip to the grocery store was a chance to put down the book and run by the lake on another beautiful fall day. And since one grocery store is on one side and the other on the opposite side it was not a chore.

I've always been a good shopper. Saving money at the grocery store is not a task for me. It's a competitive  experience. But, it also helps to know pricing and marketing techniques. For example: a simple can of black pepper. On a normal day, I will pay $2.29 for 1.75 ounces. It's not a good price for pepper but it's a good price compared to what else is available. Since I was going by a particular store where I shop maybe once or twice a year, yesterday, I was hungery  for sizzle steaks and onions. Sizzle steaks are not a popular product here in Texas. It's basically a northern thing and stores up north slice, bag (two pounds at a time) an quick-freeze.

So, I stopped at the store where I seldom shop. No only did they have the aforementioned, they also had the biggest can of black pepper you could believe for $1.99. Four ounces! A bit more than double from what I had been getting at 1.75 ounces.

I bought a bag of sizzle steaks in bulk. They are not true sizzle steaks but they come as close to what I cook that I have found in Texas. They need to be sliced about half again as thin to be true sizzlers. Also, the shoulder blade cut roast were packed two in a package for half the price that I had been paying from my regular store.  There were several items that were what I would consider way out of line. But, I found enough that I'll be back again with a list in hand. I get a kick out of the Walmart commercial where the guy takes the woman with her Kroger receipt in hand on a comparison shop on how much she could save.  Of course you never hear about the items where Kroger was much cheaper (and they can be on many things) than Walmart! And you never will. I've found things at Kroger where they were a bit higher than some stores, but shopping is an art and you must watch deals, know prices and follow the rules of avoiding  certain areas of the store.  

What makes me irritated the most is when a store advertises turkeys! Oie Vey!

 One store listed a price per pound, but only if you purchase $50.00. Another had their little twist to get you in the door. I found my turkey for $0.59 per pound but I had to dig for it in the freezers. But my irritation  comes from a sign that says 10-15 pounds here and 16-22 pounds here. I found mine at the very bottom of the 16-22 pounds.  It was a 10 pounder! Don't you just love that part of holiday shopping?  But, with a hard freeze tonight before our first frost, I can slow cook the roast today. That puts steam in the kitchen and warms up the house with warmth in temperature and in smells! Oh! I'm also making yeast rolls  today, too. That will really add to the smells of fall and pre-holiday days.

At the lake, what appears to be the wedding alter from a Kelt wedding over the weekend stood out against a deep blue sky.

A Pagan Wedding Alter with sprig of  Hemlock

 

The straw wreath

The Overview.
Yes, it was hand made and made with modern screws and power drivers!

Five Days to Cram Everything into 2012

that you wanted to get done.  Right now, the way it looks, I ain't gonna get it all done! That's being a bit hard on myself, I suppose. The other side of that coin is the fact that 2013 is a full year that lies ahead. It would seem that a whole year is open and had plenty of room. However, one lesson in life is that in a twinkling of an eye, a split second, a hot minute, bam! and it all can change on space smaller than a dime. So, there are no guarantees that the full year ahead will be there. Taking each day as it arrives, one-by-one, has become my  rule of norm.

It absolutely amazes me that in this day of i-phones and apps and technology linked to everything that people continue to board airplanes en mass. With a major winter storm advertised, they complain that they had to sit on the tarmac for three hours albeit waiting to be de-iced before leaving or waiting for a nest, once the plane lands because all the nest are filled with planes waiting to be de-iced. Do you see the vicious circle here?

 Why have the technology if you are not going to listen to what it is telling you? Or is it listening to what it's telling you as long as it is what you wanna hear?  Just today, I heard a reporter using the line: "Do the math." What? Don't you have an app for that?  You see, that's the problem with technology. As fast as you upload a new app, the phone changes and since that was an app you didn't use much on the old phone, you pass on up-loading the new one so when you need it again........yup! you guessed it.....you don't have that app. I'm seeing a new blame target here. Blame it on the app. Of course, you could have made the whole trip less stressful in the first place. You could have stayed home. And for those of you that actually did that........ you can blame it on Netflex's burp at the wrong time.

 Go see the family when the weathermen aren't advertising a major winter storm from coast to coast!  Use that i-phone and actually call the folks.There's  still that  possibility that there will be 2014 when everything is normal. My how time flies!

One of the four Nutcrackers at Hunt Oil

The tree at Klyde Warren Deck Park

 

HO HO HO on the First Weekend of Winter

at the Klyde Warren Deck Park in downtown Dallas. People were taking pictures by the big tree. Dogs were happy and frisky with their owners and the general ambient sound was one of happiness.
I have been down to the park four times now. Twice were during the week and both remaining trips were on weekends. The park was full of people of all ages from one end to the other. This park is also one of the best kept. I have never seen anyone in a city park with a scrub brush scrubbing a stain from a walkway tile until today. Kudos's to the Warrens and the management team to oversees the facility.

 While downtown, I checked on the Main Street Park, Belo Gardens, the lawn of the Omni Hotel, finding only families and couples  using the big display of ornaments in their second year of display as a photo backdrop. Main Streets Tree was a big disappointment. So it is safe to say that the center of downtown activity has shifted to the new park above the Woodall Rodgers Expressway. This is, of course, the first Christmas season for Klyde Warren and the theme of the big red Christmas ornaments found one place there and one across the street at the Meyerson.

My thanks to the man with the Santa hat. He was a good sport and also was a great photo op.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Watch the weather closely with the area now forecast to receive 1-2 inches in Dallas and 2-4 inches in northern Collin County northward.

A very good sport!

Could not pass up this shot with the Trammel Crow Building in the background.

 

Don't Mess with New Year's Day!

Old Bench, hay bales and pumpkins!

A cute scarecrow in the middle of Pumpkin sales.

Yesterday, I noticed four or five large-scale landscape projects putting up Christmas lights and  it's not even Halloween. The stores are getting geared already for the holiday season as we all know. I tend to favor the traditional more than all the hype. The day after Thanksgiving is early enough for Christmas.  The sales would still be the same and everyone would not be as tired as they are when it's over. The rush to get the sales dollar for the next holiday before we've had the first one can only be described as Greed. You can't cut it any other way. If it's not Greed, then stay within the boundaries of each holiday. "Oh! I can't do that," you say.......well, my friend, then it really is Greed. Yeah, I know, some of  you like the rush of the seasons. It could explain why I have put up two Christmas trees in the past 10 years.

Going to the garden center, getting a small bundle of bow branches (for the scent), a couple of scented candles, an ornament here and there and voila! Christmas spirit. The old adage: less is more. It really has a lot more meaning than one might think. It's less habit, more mental and the spirit seems to be more genuine. That's what I like most of all.....the feeling of it being genuine.

I just had a thought. The advertising calendar is 3 to 6 months ahead of our regular calander. The thought is that I should celebrate on that schedule. Any one know where I can get Easter stuff this time of year?  Once, I knew a renown Anthropoligist that left his Christmas Tree up so that his son who was in his wife's uterus at the time would see the lights of the tree and the decorations when he was born seven months after the last Christmas.

Maybe we really need to re-think this whole thing. One wall could be Halloween, one Thanksgiving, one Christmas  and one Easter. The flag pole in the yard would do the Memorial Day, Veterans Day activities, Labor Day and Columbus Day and President's Day  could be landscapes outside with the flag pole. Cupid could be in the flower beds shooting his arrow toward the roof line near the chimney where a red  heart and ribbon would be hung.

That leaves the rest of the year time to celebrate National Ice Cream Day, National Pizza Day, National Spaghetti Day, National Chocolate Day, National Secretary's Day, Where is New Year's Day, you ask, It's right where it should be. The first day of the year when I can  sit on my rear, drink beer and watch college football! And don't even think about tampering with this day in any form. It's just fine like it is already.

This reminds me of Breckenridge, Colorado up in the mountain mining camps. The green is evenly mixed with the gold of the Aspen trees and all one hears is the sound of wind and running stream waters.