Inside Yesterday--Had To Get Out Today

The rain and gray clouds and cold were closing in inch by inch by inch. By noon time, it was out the door with the bumper shoot  in one hand and the camera bag and tote in the other. Just at Love Field, already, we have picked up an inch and a half of rain. The snow went north to soon.So, to be positive about the matter, we got liquid snow instead.

For a bit, I had the wipers on intermittent. The drizzle was just enough to have them on. When I got to the lake, it was clear that the water levels were even higher than they had been with the most recent flooding on the parking lots and roadway. The dock at one of the boat club marinas had been smashed and rearranged by logs floating down stream and striking the under carriage, raising sections out of the water. So with that siting, it was a full sweep of the lake to see what else might be amiss, all- the- while looking for the pairs of hawks that are getting ready to nest. Not one hawk did I see. Not one. This is the second day and it somewhat worries me. The weather can cause hawks to go elsewhere.

What I did discover was that the pelican's island was totally under water for the second time in less than two weeks and what was worse was the the logs that they like to nap upon and preen their feathers were totally gone. None!! Even the ones out father into the bay area were missing. I also noted that the number of pelicans were  much less than what normally hangs out there. There were only a dozen more on the lake drifting and none down by the dam when I was there. It was on the way home when I made a sweep over the  top of Flag Pole Hill and down to Goforth along White Rock Creek when I discovered about thirty pelicans on the creek bank between Northwest Highway and the cross road that runs east and west behind Flag Pole Hill. There were even many more Great White Egrets and a few more Great Blue Herons that I have never seen all together hanging out like today.

It will be interesting to see how the return goes when the lake levels drop a bit and the creeks flood stage currents lower and slow down . Will the group of pelicans stay there or return to  Sunset Bay? The Park Superintendent told me about a month ago in his office that he can't put logs back into the water. Environmental control factors, nor can he take them out unless they wash ashore like the ones did along the lake shore and the marina docks. I fully understand that process. And there is a lot of loss limbs and branches  on the ground where the disease and rot weakened the branches to where finally, the rain soaked wood's weight pulled them down. Big ones. There is a good semi load of wood on the ground now just along East Lawther from trees down and branches down. So the hope to have nature replace the logs for the pelican and cormorants has greatly diminished after the scouting mission today. 

At least the temperatures will be normal and even well above above average for the next ten days or so. I noted a 70 degree day just a few more days down the pike. Tomorrow will be seasonal but the mitigating factor to all of this is sunshine!! Sun, Glorious Sun!!.  Annie, yes, "the sun will come out tomorrow"!

See the log on the left. It runs to the right middle of the undercarriage. That's what lifted the dock up.

Slightly blurred. I'm not a memeber of the 600mm club.

The Sailing Club Has been Around and Around again. It's the anchor of the Marina.

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!!!

2018 Will Soon Be In The History Books.

As the sun sets  as the last sunset of 2018, the year has been somewhat a turmoil-type year. Those kind of years are bound to happen over the course of time. Living through a few myself, its just one of those thing where you deal with it as a 'give-me' or 'given'. That's part of life's equation. But, in the  grand scheme of things, frankly, I'm glad to see it go for several reasons. My hope for all here is that 2019 will be a better year all the way around for everyone.

Errands filled my late morning hours and my brother and his wife took me out to lunch at Desperados, the official caterers of the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Cowboys, the Texas Rangers and the 2011 Super Bowl. If you have eaten there more than once, you quickly understand how they got to be that well known, although the family has been cooking wonderful meals since 1976. I like the Chicken Chimichanga. This was my second time having them. While I don't eat big meals much any more, this is one that I can handle and not feel like I've over eaten when leaving.

Also, some think that they are a bit over priced. Not so. The service is exceptional and any time you have waiters and host and busboys standing at the ready in the main dining area, you know you have a quality place to eat. I should go back there more often than I do.

The errands took me to the gas station, the drugstore and the supermarket for a couple of items to help make New Years Day to feel welcomed. I sat in the driveway talking to a neighbor. He was on his way to the drugstore where I had just come from myself. In the middle part, I had made a pass of the lake seeing the little Kestrel Hawk (sparrow hawk) sitting in his favorite tree. He's a cute little devil, having remembered that the last time that I shot him just has I clicked the shutter, He evacuated. There are funny moments in photography.

The other stop was to photograph one of the Dallas Sears Stores that made the latest list of 80 Sears and K-Mart Stores closing. Actually, there were more than just a handful that I recognized in four states. This store was part of a mall that closed several hears ago and was torn down around  the Sears Store leaving it truly a stand alone store with Lowe's and several others building on the old mall site. I noticed a bit of maintenance that always seems to be the case when businesses are let go and fall in disrepair.

The fast moving cold front that is forecast to bring snow and sleet and freezing rain very near us on Wednesday has slowed down and will linger another day even closer. I'm so hoping to have snow to photograph. I'm not wishing for ice and the misery that comes with down power lines and tree limbs. Time will tell. It is time to start reading the National Weather Service Discussion topics more closely on the time cycles that they generate.

So, with this post, I'll close out this year. I have already changed the codes in my camera for 2019 copyrights. Which reminds me---I have to do that on the blog and the web page, too!.

American Kestrel Sparrow Hawk

This Sears Store and one other that are closing are the two closest to my house. The last time I was in here was about three years ago and the clerks were NOT helpful. I never went back again.

American Kestrel Hawk. Cute in a cute way.

Happy New Year. Hope to see you in 2019, again. Thanks for reading our little corner of the world.


12/31/18: to remove ghost words from text.

A Surprise I Had Not Expected.

My surprise was to discovered and read an article written by an NPR reporter about my great uncle and his son, which would be my dad's full uncle and his son being my dad's full cousin. In the line of family history, my paternal grandmother's sister was the wife of great uncle. Farther down the line there was a mention about another enterprise of my great uncle and his nephew had been the one to keep that going for many years. He would have been the son of my paternal grandmothers other sister and their dad had been the leading  one who provisioned  live stock for several counties of farmers. In addition to being one of the board members of the Board of Education for that community he was a well know businessman. 

Now, I have seen and read articles that  were on the web by other family members, but never by a journalist that wrote for NPR  ( I love NPR stories that they produce). So I took my time exploring the article from top to bottom and reading all the captions under the pictures only to find that there was one image that the reporter published but captioned, "I have no ideal who this is." Well, I do. It was my mother when she was in her teens. Several months before she passed away, she had retold the story to me because I had found an old picture and had ask her about it. After she had passed, I was going through some of her things and I was in particular, looking for that picture. It was no where to be found. Mom had a little habit to sending things to people  that were in the media that she knew without any explanation who had sent it. Then, she would wait to see if they picked up on the story or made mention. There was a an anchor that she was particularly found to banter back and forth with.

One of our neighbors was a local news anchor. There were a few radio personalities that she was fond of as well. The link to all of these were the fact that they were broadcasters at either radio stations or television stations. And that link was something our family had always been proud to be a part.


In the article, the reporter noted his photography interest  and how that also included trains. Both of those things are long noted in this blog of my own profile. So, this coming week, I will send an email to the reporter and let him know about his picture that he had no ideal who it was. Hopefully, It will help in some way. He has authored a book on the subject.

My youngest brother and I are having our Christmas lunch on Monday, New Years Eve.  Ice, sleet, freezing rain and S*N*O*W are being forecast for Wednesday. While the models are all coming closer to agreement on the Pacific storm, Not any of the models can give an accurate track or how much unforeseen moisture  there is to work it above the fact that there will be some!

My Great Uncle Founded KBTM AM 1230 Radio

and his son began the first FM radio station in the state of Arkansas

.

Christmas Is Officially Over In My House

An old light standard in a parking lot near Love Field that was still working, but now, it has been cannibalized. It is sad to see cast iron ornateness in such beauty and no one is restoring  for a shop sidewalk or  even a yard in some of the Ronnie Houses.

When I sit down to have the first bowl of homemade Turkey noodle soup after rendering the turkey carcass down to the end stock, then Christmas is officially over. Well, I just had the first bowl for this year and not to brag, but UH! was it good!. Something about homemade soups I have always liked, I even do the same thing to the ham bone making ham and lentil soup. Although, I don't eat as much ham as I once did, I will have at least one during the course of the year. But this year, I had turkey breast on Thanksgiving and on Christmas. Even buying the turkey breast with the bone in, works just as well as a full turkey carcass.

Starting out, a little salt, poultry seasoning, parsley flakes, two bay leaves, cut carrots, onion, bell peppers, celery, mushrooms, water to cover the carcass and boil until the balance of the meat begins to fall off the bone. Reducing heat, I then let it simmer until the bone marrow  becomes liquid enough to cook out. The last 15 minutes I put in the noodles and cook until the noodles are tender but not soggy. Then, it's time for the chef to sample the goods!  It's really easy to do. Tomorrow, I'll have a bowl for lunch, With the weather being a cold rain tomorrow all day, most likely, I'll have another bowl for supper. Then, it's put into little one-serving freezer tubs and moved to the freezer.

In fact, I do that with home made chili and home made chicken and dumplings (yes, I make my own dumplings). By planning ahead a bit, you can combine thing and/or use them with other things. When I make chili mac, all I have to do is cook the macaroni, defrost the chili and combine and heat for three minutes. Voila! I used some of the sliced turkey for sandwiches and then I take my last chicken and dumplings and add some turkey meat that I had already sliced and have one heck of a good turkey and dumpling dinner one evening.  My time in the kitchen is cut to almost nothing and I still have good healthy meals. I steam frozen broccoli florets in 5 minutes. Pan fry carrots. French cut green beans can even come from the can if you buy one of the national brands such as Del Monte or Green Giant that they make for private label use for one of the family of  Kroger brands or Albertson's or Winco's.

Part Two Pictures

A song bird perched over the tall grasses looking for a meal, no doubt.

The Topography of the area rises a little more than a hundred feet. The tall prairie grasses are now showing the full color difference in the red tops vs the brown tops.

A young photographer with his subject.  Normally, I would not comment but I watched the process of a future competitor and found it interesting that the best shot was missed when the photographer was looking at his view finder.  Time is the best teacher overall in this art.

 I use this image in an editorial capacity and as an illustration. Therefore it will be blurred on any enlargement.   

Oh! What a Difference A Day Makes Times Two.

Within the last three days, the lake has gone from visible sand bars in places to flooding well into the parking lots along the Eastern side to receding waters. That does not mean much to some, I know, but the drastic change does have an effect on the wildlife and the visitors and the regulars; all in varied levels of stress and anxiety.

The most drastic change was in the world of the pelicans. They have a little island and logs that that they like to sun upon. The island, is actual land. It is also away from predators like coyotes and bob cats. Normal life when those factors are in place. Not so normal when they are not.

Along comes a 2.5 inch rainfall with some areas north getting upwards of 3 to 4 inches as a Pacific Cold Front moved in day before yesterday. Yesterday, the lake levels were up several feet as a result of the watershed that is collected in White Rock Creek  and the Dixon Branch, among others. That water passes into White Rock Lake and over the dam, down the two spillways and back into the White Rock Creek south of Garland Road, aka State Route 78. From there it flows back into the Trinity River on Loop 12 south of the Trinity River Audubon Center and the new Trinity Forest Golf Course on the renamed Great Trinity Forest Parkway. And from there, of course, then into the Gulf of Mexico.

The day after words, that is to say, yesterday, the pelicans were not happy campers. Even the geese were in flogging arguments in the water because the logs were all gone. Floated toward the dam, if not over it. Staying away from the dam when everyone wants to see the water rushing down the spillways is always a smart move. So, with that said, no, I have been to the dam to walk eitherside.

The island was under water. The pelicans were hanging out on the shoreline between the lake and East Lawther in front of Sunset Bay. With the holiday bowl games in town, visitors were out in force with their phone cameras. The pelicans just kept moving until they could sit still for a while. Being displaced is as bad for them as it is for humans displaced from storm damage, fire or what ever else.

Today, the island was back and the pelicans were happy to be upon it once again. However, since Christmas Day, I have not seen a single hawk of red, either shoulder or tail, an owl, an eagle or the osprey again since the awesome citing on Christmas Day of him in flight riding the thermals over the marina nearest the Culture Bathhouse. I've looked at all the known spots and a couple of spots where I have found one pair hanging out in a "new" area. Nothing. And, unusual, also.

The weather is not going to be good the next two days. It is going to be down right cold and strong winds will make the misery index even higher for North Texas. Cold rain will also return on Sunday with the thick low hanging clouds arriving over night tonight and tomorrow.
Here are some shots that will require a second post because I can only post three images at a time. Some crazy thing like band width.
Click on any of the images to open the enlarger. Then use the enlarger thumbnails to select the image you want to enlarge.  There will be another post to follow this one with just images from the day. 

For the water line to be this far into the parking lot you can see the two docks that are about 4-5 feet to be level with the ground. That's how much water rose from the run off in the flash flooding the night before.

Another view of the trash and wood from the high winds that fell and were picked up by the water being carried into the lot.

Ecology is not a cut and dried thing. There are many, many variables that all interchange like a big puzzle, with many picture to replace the puzzle just put together, so to speak.