Aviation History at DFW Today

Aviation history was made today on the taxiways, runways and a final approach to 18R for the world's largest airline, American Airlines. The moment would have gone unnoticed had it not been caught by a few photographers and aviation buffs in Founder's Plaza.

The historic moment  happened when brushed aluminum with the Astrojet eagle wings in a red circle above the red lightening bolt neared landing while both the two logo liveries that came after the red circle and wings wait on the taxiways for clearance. All three can be seen in a single photo while all three were in active service.

The image can be viewed on the live news rotation cycle at  http://www.Alamy.com or you can click on the black "a' and when it opens in a new window, click on the black "a" a second time  The final step will be to click on the drop down box in the search box where it says "Images"  Easy as 1-2-3.
The image is rights managed and under copyright protection. There are 5 images on the news cycle currently.

For the A-380 buffs, The Emirates has the London 2015 rugby logo livery on the side. Nice billboard if you can get it!

Shinola Detroit

If you haven't yet heard about Shinola Detroit, like me, you have missed a lot. It was by accident that I stumbled upon the most amazing shop to open in the Dallas area in sometime. Oh, Uptown has some interesting shops. The upscale malls have their gig as well, but even when you are outside,looking in, the romance of the Shinola Detroit shop draws you in. The gravity pull is a delight because once inside, you are not disappointed. Not even the slightest.

The staff were friendly, warm and welcoming. There wasn't that bottom-line mentality, although with this fairly new start up in major cities, the bottom-line mentality does come into play. The shop is spacious. Floor space is airy and vaulted. The 38-star American Flag, which probably should be in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn hangs respectfully from the second floor to the first floor with only inches to spare. I was informed that the owner is willing to sell the flag to a collector. It should not be a hard sale.

The shop is unique because the products are all made in American and if not made in Detroit, they are at least assembled there. Those familiar with Detroit will recognize the Midtown Cass Corridor near Wayne State University.  Bikes, watches and leather goods seem to make up the collection in the store that I discovered in downtown Plano.It was the bicycles that caught my eye because I am of the generation when those bikes were common place. One of the staff explained the watch and when I ask about the clothing in the one-story room, the explanation was once again delivered with class and dignified explanation. In short, this shop; this concept; this product line; this desire to announce that you were fanning out from the once great, yet declining and mismanaged city that  lost nearly half its original population of over a million proud people and yet stands ready again for greatness, is not only gutsy, its a quality American greatness was built upon. Hip.Hip Hurrah. Hip,Hip Hurrah. Hip,Hip Hurrah, for Shinola Detroit. May you grow and be well rewarded for your courage.

One of the store windows at Shinola Detroit.

Diagnosis: Moment in Maine

It was an October morning, on the coast of Maine in 1975, when I first noticed the symptoms. Two weeks later, the symptoms returned.  Over the next thirty years there were moments that came and went and I continued to ignore the symptoms until 2005. By then, it was a full blown disease.  I live with it every day, now. I can still recall that fateful morning sitting on a cliff before sunrise in the mist and fog hearing lobster boats put,put,put as they went about their daily trips of putting out lobster traps. The sun's glow began to light the morning sky before  that beautiful ring  of nuclear  fire crested in that rainbow-like arch and I could feel the heat on my face.I know now that it was then, that the disease had entered my bloodstream.

In 2005, the time had come to acknowledge the disease. It was a difficult thing to do. But someone had already made the statement that I was feeling. Although it was an Anonymous statement, it said exactly what I already knew about that Moment in Maine. So I can use that Anonymous statement :

"Once photography enters your bloodstream, it is like a disease." --Anonymous

Yes, the disease is photography and I work at it daily to keep my eyes sharp. With that said, I will begin to post on the side bar a column from some of the best photographers that have this disease, also. It is to be hoped that you will enjoy reading their quotes.

A Man Takes Time on a Hot Roof to Smile for the Camera

Under the Pink Umbrella--Life is Good.

A New Adventure

The Great Trinity Forest by sam6372
Check out these Fabrics at Zazzle
Here's hoping that this will grow.

Neckties and bolts of cotton material for quilting. For now, at least.

The neckties came out really well.

A Little Rough Around the Edges

Yes, sometimes beauty can be found even though the beauty is  surrounded by a little roughness along some edges. That's what art really is--when  beauty outshines its surroundings. Two examples are found here.

Church  Windows in a Bar

Colorful roof tiles on an old deteriorating building

After the Floods----

the water is finally beginning to go down, nearly a week after the last rain drops stopped falling.  That kind of indicates how much like a sponge the earth really was with 24 of 31 days of rain. Still, there are areas where acres of standing water exist, but the lakes are being opened to anxious boaters and their wakes will not rush water into someones living room like before. There was plenty of that as it was.

With so much rain, it has given me plenty of time to play with camera settings and  the mastery of what I have learned is paying off. Every thing in life is a trade off, however. Officially, Texas is out of a five year drought in less than four weeks, but now, with the rediscovered sunshine, temperatures are filling the next seven days with low 90 degree readings. It is June already for sure. Temperatures in the low 90s happen this time of year down here. Here's hoping that the evaporation, which does cool the air, will keep the temperatures out of the triple digits during July and August! 

Who would think that a cactus could be so pretty.

This is a beautiful bud just ready to open.

The blooms are awesome!

So, since I have worked so hard to refine the macro of shooting, I did fine some subjects that were a test  and some came out well, others came out alright. I'll show you the alright ones here.

Make sure you click on one of the images to get the HD version.

No Rain Today!

Cathay Pacific's 747 rescheduled to San Francisco now, then on the Anchorage.

The weathermen have been all over the fact that it rained 24 of the last 31 days. So that is how we got the Trinity River to 42 feet when flood stage is 30 feet. Or: so that is how we got the lakes full  when they have been negative 24 feet or negative 18 feet and so on and so on! The old adage has always been, "it takes a flood to get out of a drought".  At any rate, it was just nice to be out in the sunshine and have the humidity below 40 percent, well, at least 53 percent.

Looking back and forward:

The Mighty Trinity River. 2000 feet of water from bank to bank. So much for the new Toll Road the politicians are trying to shove down the voters throats.

The new Sylvan Avenue Bridge will not open to Trammel Crow Park until the water goes down from the exit ramp!