Happy New Year 2019. Welcome Guest,Visitors and Readers Alike

Already 2019 is off and running. Well, almost. Bevo charged at the Bulldog mascot!!. The handler was smart. He got the Bulldog out of there!!. Bevo,  the Number One Longhorn in Texas  ~~~@~~~  ... Not to worry. It's a Texas Thing. 

Seriously, The big Blue machine in Ann Arbor was a disappointment---again! But, in the scheme of things... they will sing, Happy Days Are Here Again, sooner than later! You can take that to the bank!

So, as we begin the new year, we have had some fails on the new upgrades and are still working on them. It may be that a gremlin, or two, still exist in our system. We found evidence of that yesterday and today. To borrow a phrase from our President, Donald Trump, "I'm in no hurry," to launch the new system until it is ready from top to bottom. We will keep you posted along the journey.

Yesterday, we were able to get out for a bit. It was cold by Texas standards.(I've survived 17-below before so Texas cold is not that bad for me.) I do want some of the snow that is knocking on our door, however. No ice. Just snow. I want to try out a couple of settings on the camera. The last time that it snowed--a few winters ago, I shot a few using the settings and the snow came out just as pretty as it should. The problem with no snow is that to gain the experience of those settings, you need to use them. So, come on down snow.

The stone work on the old T & P bridge on West Lawther that was torn down and a new pedestrian bridge hung over the roadway at the Entrance to White Rock Lake Park, is where the stone work is taking place now, but the new pedestrian bridge over the old T & P trestle where Katy Trail Extension comes into White Rock Park will get a new wall facing the lake, I have been told by the project supervisor back in the fall.  I know that there are lots of big stone slabs on the stretch between the two bridges along Williamson Road that  are awaiting  being cut into pieces that match the initial rows that are being laid at present. I'm a big fan of stone work, too! So, as Arnold made famous and has said before, "I'll be back."

With the stone work beginning, the landscape just got classy!

Also a big fan of Roof Lines. This one looks interesting.

Alright, I'm a true Romantic!! These are the things that the history books will archive hundreds of years later. Kind of like a Bach, Brahams and a Beethoven Symphony. It only gets better with time!!!

They Work Not In a Big Cathedral but do Cathedral Work

Most of the time, people do not stop to read the signs that the city is required to post for various reasons on projects underway. Generally, I read the projects post. A couple of days ago I was taken aback a bit when I came across one the size of the smallest yard sign at election time. It was a most interesting read. The posting was the formal post by the city. The work being done on the new trail improvements on the east side of the lake, as the lake follows Mockingbird and then Buckner Boulevard is also part of the work. The dog park revamp also got new stone work from these guys.The signs said: Small Business Contract.  I guess small businesses do not rank enough to have the big SWOPP sign postings, In fact, I almost missed the sign completely.

Then, as if the sky parted, there was this white sedan on the trail hidden by the tall prairie grasses. With camera in hand, my  route meandered around the water system put out to water the new sod that was being laid down. Then, as I got closer, I could see a human head level with my feet on the trail, only off the trail by four or five feet. Then, as I got even closer, there was another head. EERIE, I thought. Then the one head moved. In short, the two men were down in a drainage ditch with stone, chisels, hammers and mortar board. They were, hand crafting stone around the culvert below the trail were the hillside had natural drainage.  As it turned out, each man was on one side of the trail about 20 yards apart, but Martin, had come over to get a tool. The work on both sides of the trail was magnificent.

Here is part of their work

A master at his work!!

The car was the only clue but if you look closely, you can see the tops of their heads.

Martin waves

12Sept2015: Edit to correct the word train to trail. It had been corrected prior and shows corrected in master but not on the public side of the last two sentences of the article.