Raining Cats and Dogs Again.

Rain being trapped in a gossomer web looks like ice

Crow in a Halloween Tree. Gloom, Gray and Ghostly

Texas is a crazy place for weather. Right over Dallas is the "mixing bowl" of cold air, warm humid air, Gulf moisture, Jet Streams, High Pressure Systems and just about anything else that can be blended for some mixture that we call weather. Hail. Tornadoes. Flash Floods. Ice storms. Snow. Tropical Systems. Eastern Pacific Hurricanes that come in over the Baja of California into the desert southwest and get picked up by the jet streams. Speaking of things that get picked up....a few years back, a run of tornadoes danced just south and east of the Metroplex and picked up semi trailers and were floating them around the funnel like they were little toys. To see the video of that was just wild.
But, in the scheme of things it all fits together and trying to figure it all out waste so much time of our short time on Earth. The lesson then, must be: Don't worry about the things you cannot control. Worry, after all,is interest paid twice. The animal kingdom knows this. We are the ones who have a difficult time figuring it out early in life. 

In the winter of my life, I don't want to spend all my time inside so I make a point to get out of the house by noon for three or four hours very day. Today was no exception even though it as raining like crazy. I'm a patient driver and try to stay safe. The second worse thing to being inside the house would be to be in the hospital.. I drive my 18-mile route which is like the spoke of a wheel. It's 18 miles up one side and 18 miles back the other side. 36 miles is about the same as one gallon of gas.

When chasing birds, I always go back to where I saw the bird last. It seems that they are more creatures of habit than us humans. I saw one guy doing at least 80 down a stretch of road. It was an accident prime for pileup and I saw a few of those while I was out. I'm thinking already, gee, this could turn into more of a Live News Feed kind of day than chasing beautiful hawks, eagles, ospreys, or Great Blue Herons. Egrets are every where. It's the elusive Great Blue that  can smell a camera a mile away. That's the challenge. I've been more lucky of late but then, the dang bird, like crows, knows me with their keen recognition ability. I talk to the animals too. It's amazing how they can sense the tone of a voice if it is friendly or a threat. The squirrels now come and pose when they see me parked. That's how I got the shot of the Chick-filet-A squirrel fabricating that cup for his nest.

 The one thing that I have trouble adjusting to in Dallas is the way the streets drain. The curb lane is always blocked with water. Sometimes, for nearly a half a mile before a drain to taking the run off. I'm not used to slanted roads like that. I much prefer the high crown that drains to both sides of the roadway and work much more efficiently at draining runoff away from the curbs than making one side of the road a lake.

I saw one young guy walking get drenched by this car that came barreling down the curb lane sending a spray of water a good 6 or 7 feet high and  drenched this young guy from head to toe. The guy that was responsible didn't even slow down. He just kept going like nothing had happened. I felt sorry for the guy that was walking. He looked like he might have been trying to go to work or to a bus stop.

Then, I started to see telephone poles lined with birds just sitting on the wire not moving an feather. It's rather comical how they line up row after row. There is one like pole at an intersection and the birds have been on that pole every day this week. Just sitting there. Rain, heats or what ever. It must be a daily afternoon ritual. The pelicans take their bath every day about the same time after they come in from riding the thermals. So you see, humans, we are not far removed from that point of God's creation. We think we have it all figured out. We do have the ability of speech, although animals have their own form of speech. We can reason. I've seen lesser animals reason almost as well if not completely better than us humans at times. Even the turtle came up at the dock a few days ago and begged for some bread. He's learned that humans toss bread to the birds so now, the turtles are begging like the birds. Got that image published. It's a learning experience for all ages to see an image of that turtle begging for a hand out. Have not seen the sea gulls yet this season. With the Gulf being churned up with storms, the picks are better there than here, I'd say. We will see later if they eventually show up en mass like years past.

Anyhow. The lake was beginning to flood when I ended the trip and started to head for Aldi's to fill in milk, eggs and bread. They had whole chickens for just over $3.00. Kroger's had wanted nearly $6.00 for the same whole chicken. To me, a chicken is a chicken is a chicken. I put it in a kettle and boil it for 40 minutes until the meat falls off the bone and then I make my dumplings and drop them in with seasoning and yum, yum yum. I'll get about three meals out of that. It's going down into the 40s next week so between chicken and dumplings and home made chili, that's when I don't mind staying in the house. Yet, I do supplement my income with picture sales and you got to shoot the pictures before they can be sold and converted into income. Someone ask me once why I did this? I tried to explain what I just explained here and they couldn't get it. Then, I said, " You create the beast you got to feed it." They understood that instantly. Now, when someone ask a similar question, I give them that answer and not once has anyone ask me, "What do you mean?" They all get that. Strange to me why such phrases stick to the wall where others fall off, but hey, we are humans. Some birds know to get in out of the rain and hang out on bridges under the over hangs. while others are out and about doing the bug and grub thing in the grass. Then, there are those like I saw today sitting on a wire in the midst of a downpour  seeming to be just find with the rain for what ever reason. Life is strange in that way. It's another reason why we should never judge. Even when we think we have sufficient reasoning. Enough rambling. There is a point to this.Some will get it. Others will not. Some will snuff it off  with no thought. Those---I will pray extra hard for tonight.

I'm parked watching the trash flow in to White Rock Creek from this branch of the Trinity Watershed that will hit the lake around the bend, flow over the dam and spillways and then hit the Trinity Rive for it's final trip into the Gulf of Mexico. I'm wondering why people don't use trash containers? Oh, yeah, they are just humans! They have more important things to tend to than waste workout time to walk over to a trash container.

Serendipitous Finds And I Don't Go To The Doctor Until Wednesday.

The beauty of a variegated gladiola blooms

Well, the act of finding things without looking for them seems to be a gift from above. Today when I left  el Casa, the humidity was already thick, but there was a nice breeze that had carried rain-cooled air in with it so I had a chance to put the windows down in the car and actually be comfortable. The second weather factor of note is the fact that only one more day of looking out at the thermometer on the porch and seeing it stuck on 80-degrees. Psychologically, seeing it from the start at 80 for six months is a relentless feat that does have an overall negative pull on ones emotions and views and overall temperament.

Wednesday, I see the electrician cardiologist. My plumber cardiologist was in procedure when I went for my appointment. We rescheduled and on the morning of the reschedule, he was in procedures again. And, in the Rule of Murphy, you got it, he is on vacation this week and I don't see him until the following week after I see the electrician. So, it goes without saying that I hope to do some exploring after the appointment this week and enjoy that 'feel of fall'. It's been long in arriving and I will welcome it with open arms. Actually, I think my battery is already dead and seeing the electictian on Wednesday is a pretty good thing. I've had a few events to lead me to believe that I might be the next procedure.

I started out looking for a do-it-yourself- car wash with a good vac.My car had a summer of stone and sand and other unknown items. The first one took my 50-cents and did nothing. Down the street was a second car wash and it had a "super vac" for $1.00. The change machine worked and with the dropping of the last quarter, the hum, then, the roar of a vac broke the silence around me. It looked so much nicer after words when I got back into the car. WOW, I should do this more often!

The short story behind the first pictures was the sign that caught my eye and cause me to look beyond the sign where I say the most beautiful glads that I have seen in decades. Solids. Variegated. Actually, Stunning.

The third image (actually, the second) was like a beacon in a lighthouse as I came up under the trail bridge to the stop sign from the Water Filtration Building.

The Red Tail Hawk is in 'his' territory. This is a new place for him but the workmen are still working on the trail bridges above the one where he is sitting. Once they clear out, he'll go back to his favorite perch for watching over his territory.

I love church signs. They are creative, and humorous and most likely, divine.

First Big Chill To Finally Hit.

There are a number of amazing things going on this weekend in Dallas. The State Fair just ended its first week of a 3-week run. The auto show is going on at the KBH Convention Center. Pumpkins at Dallas Arboretum number 50,000.  FC Dallas, Ranger Baseball, Football, both college and pro-teams, and other things around the metroplex and the big OU/Texas Cotton Bowl Game was a big hit already. Top Celebs on stage. Basically, something for every one.

And, of course, there is food to be had around every corner.

On scouting missions, the train tracks for TEX rail has now entered in restricted parts of DFW property south of Airfield Drive West.The work on the Cotton belt coming to DFW from Plano track along Belt Line Road is showing signs of work getting underway. Orange Barrels come in here and go up over there. It's not going to be just a summer project, either. At the old Texas Stadium site, Irving has started work on "their bridge" project to bridge across the Carpenter  to connect the two properties that will be developed. Dallas Metroplex IS a bridge Metroplex. No, that isn't a typo. And while Tex DOT has been counting and logging bridges, they added  a few hundred more with the 183, Horseshoe, 35 Express Lanes and 35 to Denton projects.

If you can't have fun with one of these somehow, somewhere here in Dallas, then you must be an alien from another planet. Unless,you are the original, ALF. In that case, we already know you are here by the jokes. Did I mention the Petite Palace in Tent at The Cultural Bath House at White Rock Lake? Check it out. It's funny.

Clouds Mimic roof shapes. 

Awesome clouds over Dallas the past three days with more to come.

Big puffy billowing type clouds

Even the birds know something is up. After the heavy rain due Tuesday, the real feel of fall is on the way for next two weekends. It's going to get interesting. My thermometer on the porch will not read 80/95. According to the weather man, it's gonna say 52/70!!!! Bring it on!!! This stretch has lasted for six solid months and I'm tired of

The Lady of the Lake Seen Again.

Since the 1930's, the report of a Ghost of White Rock Lake or as some say, The Lady of the Lake, has made national attention over the years. Some years, the story is hardly mentioned, while at other times, it's like UFO sightings---everyone seems to have seen her at the lake,

Well, I was on my way over to the park office to talk to "the man" that oversees White Rock Park when I came down the curve at Williamson Road where the old T&P railroad bridge was taken down and replaced with a new bridge for the trail extension, when I saw the hooded cape sitting on the edge of the retaining wall looking down into the water. Doing a quick turn around, I came back around and under the T&P bridge, not getting to much of a good view as I would like. So, I turned around again and came back under and around the triangle and back again. Any angle I tired, I could only get about the same view as the first glimpse. That's when I knew it had to be the Lady of the Lake. Chills are still going up and down my spine this evening. It was something that I had not expected. I'm pretty solid and ground-rooted in not letting old wives tales and such take hold of my common sense but there was something very different about actually seeing this. What ever or who ever it was.

I even re-read the old stories of previous sightings over the years. They all seemed to leave people with that same sense of judgment that this wasn't just some tall tale. Even the national press stories seemed to have some weighted factor that, "well, there may be more to this than we know." So, I can't just right it off. And, since I travel with my camera on the passenger seat of the car all the time, I got a few shots, albeit about the same view, even though I was shooting at different angles. That was enough to convince me that something here, was a bit different and left more unanswered than could be answered. One thing for sure, I can now say, " I've seen the Lady of the Lake or The Ghost of White Rock Lake be them the same or two separates and I have heard the stories over the years but never encountered her, or it, or them until today and an encounter it was. It's logged now with the camera's GPS and logging system.

Could it be?White Rock Lake Story

My eye catches the out of place things where most don't see things like this.

Dreams of A Lazy Afternoon

Catamaran in low gear, not the racing where you need the Great Lakes 300 miles of water ahead.Although, if it were on the Great Lakes, it would be at home.

Dreams of a Lazy Afternoon

Amber Waves of Grain

Elon Musk Steps Down as Tesla CEO

What is this world coming to? The thought caused me to stumble this past week. It came to mind that as Google turned twenty this past week, prior to Google and Facebook and all the spin offs that we tag social media, there was a lot more organized and though and processes and decorum in American.

Post social media, frankly, all hell broke loose and all that decorum flew out the window. What's even more troubling to me is that the mil lens think it's okay to stand up in the name of free speech and yell, "FIRE" Well, it's not. There has been case law to support the fact that you better not do that or you are going to bare the consequences of the fall out. And, that's exactly what people think: "I can chime in on every thing and stand up for what I believe and blah blah blah until one is blue in the face. Social Media is the closest thing I have seen in my life that comes to fit in the box of an "anti-Christ" And frankly, again, I'm sick of the self-centered mentality. I see it every day and it gets worse by the day. It's not improving anything. It's a set-back
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The point was driven home again this week when I received in the mail a proxy statement to vote as the Board of Directors Suggest. That's not the issue. The real issue is that they want, " to approve an adopt an amendment to the Company's Certificate of Incorporation to effect a revers stock split, reduce the number of authorized shares of Common Stock and increase the par value per share of our Common Stock". A reverse stock split. It doesn't sound as bad as Elon wanting to impress his girlfriend by suggesting going private at $420 per share. He might have been smoking something, if you recall what the meaning of 420 was originally. The company lost so much value per share that like Pappa John, "the official Pizza of the Dallas Cowboys", and others--- you bust your butt to build a company and then some Jackass takes to social media and yells, "FIRE" and the only way out of the fire is to step down and turn your company over to someone else. Somehow, being on the Board of Directors and not having the CEO attached to your title just isn't the same in more ways than one. It's the reverse of what "the American Way" was from the start and was until we got Google and Facebook and the rest of the bunnies that don't have anything better to do but hop on the band wagon of someone else and slap the reins on the wagons power train, the rump of the horsepower.
Now, I understand what the Board wants to do with a reverse stock split. I don't like it. I don't like it especially after the Feds marched in on a Friday after closing and closed the bank and whacked off many little zeros to where I had not much left.That was part of my retirement. Then, after a Bankruptcy finally, the company became a Phoenix and rose up out of the ashes. I received notice that I had some shares again, albeit nothing compared to what was there originally. Now, with the reverse split, that stands a chance of being taken away in round two of what amounts to a ROYAL HIST! I could take to social media and do all sorts of things declaring my this and my that and not even feel better afterwords, but I was raised with organization, a sense of dignity and decorum to respond to such wickedness. But, I'm not going to do that. The proxy gets voted tomorrow and that will be the end of that. The big buck attorneys and security dealer houses already have the outcome in two folders. Plan A and Plan B. Either way, the solution sits ready. Funny thing--I happened to notice the address that the company is now using and low and behold---its in Coppell, Texas. At least they moved to Texas. It wasn't as hard to take with that as it was in being told that your stock was basically worthless now. So either way, I'm taking it one day at a time and maybe I might have enough to donate to the North Texas Food Bank when I kick the can.

In case you missed it, the big reveal this past week was that Google was paid by Apple to remain their default search engine. Now, why do you suppose a company like Apple would pay Google $9 Billion to stay a default.  When the next bubble pops, it might be the pop that was heard across the universe. Elon, by the way---how is your red sports car doing up there?

Another one of those things that I find on the way to the Doctors.

The Perot Family Did Good Here. It's at Coit and the George Bush Turnpike Area.

Hummingbirds On The Mind

Found My Keeper!!

The past 10 days save one for flooding, I have devoted my time to capturing a near perfect image of a hummingbird in flight at a flower as if it were suspended in mid air. Today, was the lucky day.

The thing about wildlife is that when you think you have them figured out and what they will do next, they usually turn the tables on you and send you packing to regain your thoughts about what you did wrong. Yesterday, purely by accident, I discovered that the plant that I had been hiding behind was the very plant that they worked the most.

Knowing that hummingbirds like red, there was this one big lush bush were I found them working initially. As it turned out, I parked the car and walked inside the garden and sat down on one of the benches. Suddenly, there were dozens of little green hummingbirds darting in and out on the every plant that I had parked the car behind, hoping to get a clear shot of one on the big lush red plant.

Today, I headed straight to the garden and just watched what happened as I moved around the gardens perimeter. From then on, I didn't stop shooting until I have shot well over one hundred shots. Giving the camera's battery pack a rest, it was time to see what else was happening as the sky began to clear.

The first real autumn cold front is due to hit tomorrow morning early. Mid day, I have a doctor's appointment so today was the day to get enough work shot to carry me the next couple of day.


I ran into a friend with a big 600 mm of glass. We had shot the eagle together earlier in the week. I ask him if he shot hummingbirds. Long story short, he didn' t know about the area where  I had been shooting and ask if he could follow me over there. As he walked up with his camera, he was in awe of what he was seeing and as I left, he was clicking away like mad.

Photography guys are odd about letting others know what's happening and where. It's basically a little club like in high school. To me.... shooting God's beautiful creatures should be shared from the heart rather than to be selfish and hording. I know there are those who don't understand that way of thinking, but God is a benevolent  God  and  his Grace does come back to those that share His will accordingly. So, yes, I will share a location as long as it doesn't create a situation like telling were the eagle's nest is located. I know that if I gave that out, it wold be a mad rush there and either the area would get fenced off or the eagle's would book to another location miles away. So, you have to use a bit of common sense and apply it accordingly. Know what I mean, Vern? Vern, knows what I mean!

So, my goal for the summer was to reach a published goal of 8,000 images. At the moment, I sit at about 7,700 +/- a few dozen. It's been a hot summer to work that goal, but you adapt and learn and adapt and learn some more. As it turned out, I shot early in the day when it was still in the 80s  and by 11 when the temps were beginning to press that triple digit number, I'm in the house at the desk working on edits and submissions and the like. Sales have been good and growing. It's hard to stay ahead but like anything else that is worth while, you just have to put your nose to the grindstone and work a bit harder. The results have been the same as when I learned that at 14 delivering a major daily and Sunday new paper to a small town. That's right--- I said T-O-W-N! the whole town!! Goals have always been in my thinking from having learned that at an early age. I'm thankful for it today, of course.  Dad would help me on Sundays but during the week, I was on my own.

Click on an image and all three will enlarge.