Heat, Wild Fires, Water Conservation, Power Grid worries,

This is not a typical North Texas Summer. It may be closer in between events but it's not an overall typical time. 

This morning, while it was relatively cool, I made a trip out to see how things were going outside my neighborhood. Plus, I've been in the house for going on ten days and I can only take so much before this old buzzard has to ride the thermals. And, riding the thermals has a whole new meaning of late. Three days of 109°F highs. Two were new records and one was a tie of an old record. Anyway you cut it, record or not, it was still 109° F three days in a row. When I went to bed last night it was still 100°F.

Usually, about this time, I'm saying, "come on September". I'm afraid that this year it might be October. The wild fires are coming much earlier with no rain for 48 days. Remembering, of course, that rain in these terms means the rain must fall in the bucket at DFW. That's the official reporting station. I got about a quarter of an inch about two weeks ago and my grass is already in dormant mode. 

Water conservation and power conservation has already been in discussions. Up until yesterday, we had not had much wind and wind helps to generate power along with solar. With no wind, the grid dropped reserves almost 1,000 Mega Watts. 

Still, I'll take Texas weather like wedding vows---in sickness and in health, blah, blah,blah! Although, it's been a bit more taxing this year. I have always found it interesting how we talk about the weather on earth. We have only been recording records for a bit over one hundred years and a decade or so on a planet that is some 4-Billion years old. I don't worry about the weather records for the past century--- it's the previous 4.9999 billion beforehand that worries me. You know what I mean, Vern? You know what I mean. Vern knows what I mean. 

                                            Checking the rails for safety in this heat

It isn't just the light rails that  experience expansions, the commuter and Amtrak have the same problems in this heat.

Dallas Is Well Ready to Host Anything the World Cup has to offer this One of Five Selected Host Cities

With Three major venues in Arlington; Three in Frisco and Fair Park's Cotton Bowl, the city also has a major soccer field complex with19 fields with two lighted fields in the shadows of Las Colinas at Money Gram Park.

I've seen the soccer fields in both Rio and Sào Paulo, Brazil and Toluca, Mexico. Dallas is certainly ready for that crowd.Texas Style! 

Yesterday Broke a 11- day run of 100 Plus Temperatures, but.....

 they are coming right back and building to 105°F through next Tuesday.  And, it's not just the heat, rather, it's what the heat does to roads, train rails, and a host of other things, like causing the ground to shift and rupture pipes. We have already had water mains rupture in the Metroplex this year. 

That brings to mind the fact that for a freelance photographer, one must always be on the lookout for events such as this. Here, is just an examples of such an event. I was in agreement with one of the gentleman who said that, "this is what maintenance really looks like." Hats off to these men for what they do.

 

Thanks to NASA and the People of NASA who took the greatest picture in the world.

 Absolute! Absolutely! NASA stars bring us a look at new stars never before seen. THANK YOU! NASA

We call US75, Central Expressway, but really it has a more historic name.

This story begins there in some ways. There is much more to the story that can be detailed on a little blog like this. 

About a month ago, I read an article that Bill Gates, of Microsoft fame, had purchased some 200K acre-plus, in a little town in far Northeast North Dakota. Let alone that, the number cruncher who had already made the calculations, would place him owning just shy of 1% of the United States. He apparently has been buying a lot of land elsewhere over time. Quietly.

Putting that fact aside for the moment, the main question is why did he choose this corner of North Dakota? It sits 2 miles from the Canadian border, the busiest border crossing between Blaine, Washington and Detroit, Michigan. It is one of three ports of Entry that is a 24-hour crossing in either direction. It is also the fifth POE's in all of Canada, That, "ain't all" when the story gets more interesting. However, before leaping onto that flax rope bridge, the American side land purchase residents were in an uproar over Bill's deal. They made a pretty darn good showing that they were unhappy, too.  Those residents are from the small town of Pembina, North Dakota. A town of 512 souls according to the 2020 U.S. Census.

In the 16th century, the French exploration came across native Americans called Lakota, (Soux as the French called them). They also came across the Chippewa (ojibue) and the Assiniboine. There in Pembina, the Hudson Bay Company established a fur trading post. It is, today, a Historic Site on the border. were US75 ends and crosses the border into Canada. There, as a Canadian highway, it bears the same designated number, now known as  International Historic Highway 75, the King of Trails that goes to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Here, it should be noted that US75 begins in Galveston, Texas and comes north into Dallas paired in tandem with I-45,US75 as it leaves Houston outbound to Dallas. There, it becomes North Central Expressway (aka, NCX or George Bush, for a short distance near Southern Methodist University). The Bush Presidential Center sits yards from the fabled road through Dallas on the SMU campus. Traveling even further north, it winds it's way across several states until at Fargo, ND it become the back bone of Minnesota's border with North Dakota. From there, all the way just short of the border with Canada, it makes a sharp left turn into Pembina, where it joins US interstate I-29 on to the border with Canada, as the modern I-29 on the west side of the city. Whereas US75 came north on the east side of the city. I-29 ends at the border, and so does US75. But that same road, 75, continues on to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, as the International Highway 75, King of Trails.

One key point about Pembina besides being the historic city of Hudson Bay Fur Traders, is that it is  also the home of Greyhound Bus' beginning of new buses built there. Nevertheless it seems to be an interesting place besides being Pembina's new land holder Bill Gates. Currently, there is a movement to designate 75 in Canada the old title of King of Trails. Let us hope that the US  Department of Transportation joins that movement, Mr. Secretary Buttigieg. The Daughters of the American Revolution are a bit ahead of you since 1923 with the Central National Highway of the Republic of Texas c.1884 landmark stone that stands on Texas State Route 78 at White Rock Lake, Dallas. All the more reason to join the Canadians in making highway 75 in Canada and US75 in the states, the International Historic Highway,  King of Trails as a joint venture.

 

 

Central National Highway
 

 

 

I-45 from Houston to Dallas runs side by side. In Dallas is where US75 gets its name back all the way to the Canadian border.

Seated Across From Me on the Train Today. Thank You Ladies.

I think it was the back side of this sign that initially got my attention. I may not get it right but I'm thinking it was addressed to Abbott (governor) Patrick (his AG) and one other. It said below their names, call me when you get pregnant.Oh! my hats off to your ladies. Right on spot!

My motion sensor was going nuts on the train ride about the time that this was taken. The message is still there---none-the-less.

                                     This is what our American Freedom is all about. 

I try to see both sides of the debate. Like theirs, my decision is personal but every one needs to have that choice regardless of where you stand. I am happy to be able to share their views like I did on the opposing groups.

Some Great Hard-Working Texans Pause for a Mid-Day Laugh.

 There  are many reasons to live in Texas. No state income tax would probably rank right up there at the top of the list. Beyond that, Texans are just plain fun-loving and hard-working people. Here are those that made the afternoon just plain fun for a few moments during the day.

A Duel on the Sidewalks of St.Paul

 Well, this is the old West, don't you see. This one didn't start with the two men standing back to back and taking 20 paces where they turned around and shot at each other. This was a modern era duel. A duel of cameras between a Canon owner and mine---An Olympus!!

After de-training at the St. Paul Station, I walked back to Thanksgiving Square. My initial image of the spiral of stained glass needed to be updated. The reason: the lighting of the center focal point of the spiral is a ring of lights. They have now been updated to LED and the difference from the old is amazing. Maybe a bit to bright, but the electrician said to me that they are on rheostats and can be turned down. 

After leaving Thanksgiving Square Chapel, I walked up the street from the train station and got some images of the old US Post Office and Court House building. The old images that I had from years ago needed to be updated too. The building is an amazing building of architecture and detail. On Federal, going toward Federal plaza, the row of postal delivery trucks are lined up for nearly the entire length of Federal. Rather impressive display, too. 

If, at the light I turned left, I would pass right by the massive fountain at the beautiful plaza at the New First Baptist Church addition beside and behind the old downtown church. One of the larger Main Stream Churches in the US. The senior pastor at First Baptist is  Dr. Robert Jeffress. He is an authors and also a Fox News Contributor. 

Since I had photographed the fountain before, I was going to cross the street and  turn back toward the train station so that I could get a clear shot of the that side of the US Post Office and Court House. The far side had the power lines for the trains and it would have messed up the image. When the light turned and I started crossing the street, I see a family of  several people walking toward me. I noticed as they walked past me that one had a Canon camera. I said to him, "when you gonna trade in the thing and get a real camera?" He stopped, his father seeing what was going on with a smile from ear to ear, someone ask me." what kind of camera do you have?". "Olympus, I replied." The next thing I knew, his camera came up to his eye as he focused. I had to do the same. The duel occurred, we laughed, the family continued on and I went into the Trolley Stop Cafe and had fantastic late morning breakfast.

 

                                                                                                                                       After the duel it was breakfast

                                                                    The Duel

                                                     Mail Trucks at the old PO

                                                The new light ring of LED lights

Downtown is Changing by the day. And The Trolley Stop Cafe is part of that change.

 Well, despite the threat of triple digit heat ( like a thunderstorm, that threat is now here)  it was up and out the door with only a sausage patty and English muffin to fuel my trip down town. By nine-thirty, it was revisiting Thanksgiving Square. My, how that place has changed. 

The gardens are beautiful, the fountains were clean, the lightening that hit the trio of bells that were cast in the same foundry where the Liberty Bell was cast, has long been a known fact but I had never paid as much to detail until today. The electrician was working on the mechanisms and hopefully, they will soon sound again. I love the echos of big bells bounding off the buildings. There is just something about hearing them that sends chills up my spine and I have heard some amazing bells toll in a few places in this old word. About a month ago I was outside Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Gaudalupe not many blocks from where I visited these bells when they went into an amazing peeling that lasted nearly 25-minutes. I have a whole 2-seconds on my phone before I shut down the phone to save power. But I still listen to it from time to time to remind me I need to record the entire peel from start to finish. Somehow, the amount of time in the day seems to grow more shore each day. 

Then, while walking toward the old Post Office and US Court House for a history lesson cut in stone, I was waiting at the light on Federal Street when I spotted this cafe that I had never seen there before. It looked interesting and I was ready for my first cup of coffee since I had missed it to get out the door by 7:30 this morning. The light changed and I crossed the street and stopped outside to door where I could read a menu posted. Walking through the door, I missed a step that was clearly marked, " Watch your Step". A lady, came from around the corner.  "I just dropped in", I said to her. Immediately she ask if I was Okay. Which, I was and walked behind her to the counter to order. 

The breakfast platter was delivered to my table in great time and long story short, the toast was super (yes, there is a quality were super falls on toast. The eggs were over light just like I like them, the hash browns where supper hot---again, just like I like them and the sausage patty was quality and cooked very well. When it came time to order a drink, I passed on coffee. To hot outside. A prime dehydrator not needed for the rest of my trip. So, like I have done in the past when I visited Toluca, Mexico I also ordered a Coke. So with the bells and architecture I had photographed this morning, I felt like I had been traveling again and therefore, that's my story on the coffee vs. the Coke with breakfast and historically, that's my excuse for a coke for late morning breakfast and I'm sticking to it! 

Now, a picture is work a thousand words and this picture is worth every bit of that and probably more because the food was super, the service was outstanding and I will make an effort to return to this place again and here is a few pictures as proof that the Trolley Stop Cafe has a real live M Line that passes their door.

                                           Taken from my table point of view

                          Outside the canvas awning tells it all at St. Paul and Federal

Where at Federal Street

                        The line up of Postal Delivery Trucks in on Federal to the right.

The Annual Saharan Air Layer (SAL- millions of tons of dust) has arrived in Dallas this year

 It's a far flung annual event in Dallas. Millions of tons of Saharan dust from the third largest desert on earth is casting the sky over Dallas in that  orange haze in the upper atmosphere and Texas Heat.

Credit: NOAA/NESDis/STARGOES EastAir Mass. 

 

 Which brings to mind a return to a previous trip to and from Baltimore, down to National Airport in Washington. About 6-12 miles Southwest on the BW Parkway I passed the Goddard Space Flight Center that sits on the right just off the BW Parkway. It's actually on Greenbelt Road in Greenbelt, MD, but when in the Baltimore and Washington Area, it is pretty much the same as driving cross town in large cities.The Visitor Center, at 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt,Md.20771 can be reached at 1-301-286-3979. A great place to take the kiddos if you are planning to tour D.C. this summer.

It's been years since I was there. I have several business friends in the BW area. One, took me down to Annapolis to a great restaurant that set across the Potomac from the US Naval Academy. Seeing the Naval Acadamy lit up at night was amazing. The restaurant was known then as just The Wharf. Today, I think it is McGarvey's Saloon and Oyster Bar. It was on that trip that I drove back to Washington National to catch my flight the next morning. 

 

It was also on that trip inbound on an Eastern Airlines from Atlanta (that shows how long ago that was) that the Captain of the flight came back to the guy sitting in the seat ahead of mine and ask the passenger if he lived in Severna Park. The Captain then ask if he could not reach his wife on the company radio if he could hitch a ride back to Severna. I recall at the time, "who's flying this bird?"  As I looked out of the window, Andrews Air Force  Base was off the wing tip. Today, it's Joint Base Andrews. And that points out just how close we were to B.W. International Airport. To close to have the Captain of the ship back in the compartment talking to a passenger, even if his first office had nearly as much experience flying as he did. I still shiver and laugh over that incident all these years later. As I walked out of the Terminal at BWI, that captain was getting into a Mercedes convertible driven by a young blond haired woman. I guess the Captain was able to reach his wife on the company frequency on board the cockpit.

Coming down the BW Parkway to J Street and then into Pennsylvania Avenue, I rounded the White House, crossed over to the Mall and the Washington Monument, saw the Capital in the distance, crossed the bridge and turned in my car at the airport rental and checked in for my flight. It was all of Washington that I wanted to see and only a few places have peeked by interest since. But, The Goddard Space Flight Center is on my bucket list, even if I never fulfill that check mark because if you are interested in space and astronomy as I am, then that is the place to visit. 

Second 100°F Day This Season

 This afternoon, I actually burned my hand on my house door knob. It only took a few minutes for the sun beating down on the front door to heat up the door knob. The last time that I got a good burn on my hand was  after touring the then, Budweiser Plant, in St. Louis. I unlocked the doors and then set down in the driver's seat. With out thinking, I took hold of the steering wheel. Second degree burns was the result of that situation from a couple of decades ago. And, like then, I never gave a thought that reaching for the door knob would be a like situation. The angle of the sun came over the brick wall of my gate entrance to the porch. It heated the door know that quickly. Less than ten minutes of watering my plants was enough. My hand is still very red at this writing. 

The thermometer on my porch read 108°F then reached 112°F. At about 8 P.M. CDT the needle was still pointing at the 100° F mark. It's going to be 99-102 +/- for the rest of the week. I will not be going out until this high pressure that is parked over us decides to move to the Atlantic where the regular Bermuda high normally parks.

Firday, it was a day to visit the Farmer's Branch Rose Garden. I missed peak of some of the roses by a couple of weeks. Now, that I know how to complete that part of the wagon wheel route, I'll be back! The place is amazing with a wide canal that meanders through the southern side of the garden. When I was ready to make my return trip my bus was late. The stop was in the direct sun so I crossed over to the median which is tree lined and shady. There was another stop directly across from where I had been in the sun and where I was in the median. Which ever bus came first was going to be my bus back to the rail station. As it turned out, the bus that I got was not going to transit center where I wanted to go. The trains were down from downtown to Mockingbird because of the maintenance on the tunnels. The schedules were really jammed so I rode the next bus going north because I was so hot. I didn't need a heat stroke for sure As it turned out, the trip up north and back to the train station was about an hour. When I got back to the rail station, I stepped off the cooling station bus I rode to cool down and stepped onto the bus that pulled up within four minutes of my de busing. It took me to Addison transit and then cross town to the Spring Valley station that was an 8 minute ride home. It is just to early to have this crazy heat wave. The bad part is that one the retired senior weather guys explained correctly that usually when the spring is extremely dry, we tend to get 30-40 days of 100 plus temps. Last year we had 8 days the weather guy said.

Spring and Fall have always been my best time for images any way and now, the spring was cut short with half of May in the upper 90s. It's gonna be a long hot summer.