Up and At'Em Early Today

An early morning errand had me out the door and on the move before 2 bells this morning. After the errand, I had the full morning to shoot. By eight bells, I had already stopped at two grocery stores and was minutes from being home. The cold front was slipping into the Metroplex and it will be a hard freeze tomorrow morning plus it will be about 10-12 degrees cooler for the day high, but by the weekend, its forecast to hit 70F.

I've seen the minus 17 degree cold before and hopefully, never again. The Great Lakes haven't been frozen like this in years!! It takes cold to do that. The tap water is ice cold from the lakes and really taste good. I miss Great Lakes Water. We will not get that much of the Arctic push into North Texas. But, being inside and out of the wind as the temperature drops has a great benefit---called warmth!!

My final run before heading to the store, I made the circle of the lake. Much to my surprise as I'm sitting at on the of parking lots looking across the lake, I see Bufflehead ducks. They are here in migration from the boreal forest and aspen park lands of central Canada. They are small, feisty, disappear into the water much like the cormorants and American Coots. The big difference is the colorful displays of feathers.  It was simply being in the right place at the right time.

The male has colors like a wood duck but not identical.

Will be going back to look for them specifically. I want some better shots. These runs for the blog help keep breaches of copyrights down to a minimum, but they also turn up finds that  help to produce income later on.

Spring In Popping Out all Over

While out today shooting Capital Improvement Projects, I ran across a bit of hope. Now, true, this is on the cusp of an Arctic cold front due to hit tomorrow, but that doesn't matter.  Nature has the upper hand. Believe that! These shoots are hardy and will stout.

It was a bit of a surprise to see it at the end of January, but  I'll take it!

Here is a bit of supporting proof. (click on the image to open a larger view)

Fair Park Is Really Changing!

With the new management to open up Fair Park during the days beyond and up to the State Fair run of three weeks, the changes were very obvious and people were all over the 177 acres of  grounds. It was a much more friendly atmosphere and from what I saw today, the changes will only make Fair Park a true park and second jewel for Dallas as it should be.

With Fair Park getting much needed work, crews were also doing that, too! The place  just looked alive more than I can ever remember. That pretty much sums it up like this: " With the State Fair not running, the place was more alive than ever!" No mid-way, no concessions, but people were just totally enjoying their day. After yesterdays punishing walks,  I though it might just be my imagination that was giving me a false reading, but no, even I enjoyed the afternoon.

The Art Decco paradise still just blows me away to see so much in one location. If people don't realize what a prize this is for Dallas, then they need to get out an explore the wealth of this place. Usually, I make a trip down there about once ever four months with my last one being  the installation of Big Tex prior to opening day for the fair.

Fountains outside Hall of State Building. These are not the amazing programed music water and light show with surround sound directly in front and across the plaza from the Hall of State Entrance.

Originally opened as Star Plex and since has undergone several sponcorships. The groups, performers, bands, and music is still the good stuff. It's an outdoor lawn venue with sound stage.

The art decco collection of buildings is getting a boost from the city to the tune of $50 million. Cracks, paint, repairs  will be a well deserved fix.

Historic Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe

It came as a shock to realize several years ago that I lived on the subject tracks of this post. It had never really been a subject of discussion with my railroader friends but I knew that the tracks in the Dallas area were still live and were used as a short line track. It was not until several more years before I figured out that the tracks were, indeed, the tracks behind my house and were under the Short Line Railroad  operated by Kansas City Southern.

This discovery and renewed interest came about when I walked the Santa Fe Bike Trail split with the White Rock Trail just below the dam at White Rock Lake. The trail follows the White Rock Creek on its way downstream toward the Trinity River in the Great Trinity Forest in deep South Dallas. At that time, I came across the tracks near the Tennyson Highlands  and the Tennyson Glens courses at Tennyson Park that split off the old line for the Texas & Pacific that runs back through White Rock Lake. At that time, I discovered the old trestle farther down the line on the "S" curves. While I did not walk down there at that time, only going to the point were T&P line had been abandoned. Several months later, I did return and walked down to the trestle but did not explore beyond that point. However, I had always wondered where those tracks made their way toward my house. It was just one of those things where I just never got beyond looking at an old map to see the line's route on the map, but I already knew that I wanted to explore more at some time to see how the puzzle  fit together. All that happened about the time that the Big Boy was being moved from Fair Park to it's new home in Frisco. Then the new container yard opened in Frisco and the traffic was greatly reduced as it went past my house. A very typical short line operation of a few box cars, maybe a few flat beds with  UPS trucks but those were basically supply cars for the industrial parks that run from south of here toward Garland to the KCS yard at Shiloh, south of Northwest Highway and between Shiloh and Garland Road where the double stacked containers and the pigs were loaded for UPS.

Today, as I was checking on one of my most favorite neighborhoods--- a little subdivision built about the early years of the twentieth century around the time that White Rock Lake was being built. The homes are the original tiny house of about 1000 to 1500 square feet, but the neighborhood is called the Little Forest Hills. It is architecturally one of the most amazing places one could see in any urban area. When I first discovered it, signs were in the yards advertising, " Keep Little Forest Hills Little". I had already seen a couple of what I call Ronnie Houses, big, modern 3500 to 6000 square feet mansions squeezed on a small lot. All it takes is one of the big, new houses to go up after the little house has been bulldozed away forever for the disease to spread throughout the entire community that is a treasure for any city to hold on to except in Texas were land is more valuable than a house.
As I turned to start to go toward Fair Park, the second half of the city's water upgrades had blocked off the road at the rail road tracks. It's interesting in that long before I discovered the neighborhood, I had heard the train whistles, sometimes while at the lake and others as I was doing a shoot along Garland Road. It reminded me of the old Mystic Mood Album, One Stormy Night,  with a cut of a thunderstorm and rain and the sound of a train horn. I loved that album and just this past week decided that I needed to find out if it had been cut on CD. It's so soothing to listen to when reading or working on edits  from the days shoot.

As I went over a couple of blocks to find a street that took me across the tracks, I saw a photographer walking toward the street that I was on and it hit me right then, that this was the other end of that trestle that I wanted to see. By the time that I circled and came back, the guy had gotten in his car and headed out. So I decided right then that I was going to walk down there, having figured out about how far it was from what I knew of the area. Basically, from the end of the Glens course to the far end of the Highlands course---two full golf courses in length. Sure enough, from  the crossing down to the first curve was about a 20 minute walk, but as I rounded the curve I could see the metal trestle a bit farther in distance. That was about another 10 minute walk, the ballast was big and loose along the sides of the track. I learned a long time ago that you don't walk down the center of the tracks. People end up dead that way. Any how, I got my shots, saw a couple of "park anywhere" bikes down below with bent rims. One a V-bike and the other a Lime bike. At least the destruction of the bikes was spread around the rental companies and one company didn't have  to see a double loss.

At the point of the trestle, where White Rock Creek crosses under the trestle, there is an up-scale profession gated community  on one side and the Tennyson Glens lower course on the other. So, now, I have shots of the "s" curves and the Trestle from the south and west views as well as the north and east view of the Trestle and and their "S" curves. By the time I got back to the car, I was feeling pretty beat. I had a small snack in the car that I carry in my travel bag and I sat there for a couple of minutes eating my snack in hopes of gaining my energy back. My plan was that I had to head toward the Walmart Neighborhood Market on the way home to get my favorite fresh baked Cuban rolls. I split them down the center with my bread knife at breakfast and pop them in the toaster. Then, I spread a light coat of butter on the hot rolls. Oh! They go with breakfast like none other. It's been a long time since the, 'goodby toast, hello Cuban Roll'.They are 5/$1.00 and this will get me 5 days of breakfast before having to go get more.

As luck would have it, when I got the WNM, I saw a space right up front after the handicap parking and I circled to come around. Just as I got there, some guy whips in with his big 2500 or whatever it was and took the space. So, round and round we go again finding one a few more spaces away from the front. When I got out, there was an electric scooter next to my car. I sat down. It was charged up and I pushed down on the bar and away I went. It was non-stop to the sliding doors, across the cart room and into the fruits and veggies, around the table and down the isle to the bread bin. I'm thinking, I should try this more often, but I really was beat up from walking that distance on that loose ballast. I got my rolls. Headed to the check out and Murphy's Law kicked in. All those empty lanes and self check outs were lined up like the Super Bowl was today. But, I got  to check out and and headed for the car, parking the scooter right where I had found it originally. Into the car before the pain started. By the time I had diner the pain was pretty strong and I took a plain generic aspirin and the pain has not come back since.  It's all in the day's work for a retired old man who loves his full-time hobby of urban photography.

By-the-way, when checking my e-mail after eating tonight I had a few sales. That made it all worth while---I-think!

The Old Buzzard Greeted Me, Too! He was being a bit vocal.

Looking South and West. The old shots are looking this way

The "S" curve. It's a 20-minute walk back to the car.

Some Arguement May Insue but, No, Virginia,

it isn't a red tail hawk. It has been confirmed that it is a two-year old male osprey that is probably nesting for the first time and is looking for a mate. Sorry, to disappoint those that will swear on a stack of fake news gossip that it is a red tail but there are two distinguishing characteristics that confirm him from a couple of long-term experts that do this for a living.

Besides, I know an osprey when I see one or I would not have troubled a couple of professors that love this bird as much  I have come to appreciate if I hadn't seen the two distinguishing characteristics.

Oh, since it is our blog, and we announced that this blog wasn't turning into a bird blog, we can still post bird pictures of interest, don't you know?

2-year old Osprey Male according to a couple of experts that study the breed academically.

Beautiful in flight

A new sandbar has emerged from the island all the way across Sunset Bay to the area left of the dock. That's a sandpiper in the center confirmed by yet another birder. It didn't get out of the mid 40s today with a 24MPH NW wind. C-O-L-D!!!

The Cat Is Out Of The Bag

When the weatherman lets the cat out of the bag, you know there is something to the story. I am talking about the HARP  Project, the mysterious program that shoots laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) beams into the upper atmosphere to try to change the weather. Last night, during the weather, a local weather man  mentioned that  "maybe we can get them to change the weather". Most probably did not catch the subtle mention but there are many that have taken notice of the 5,000 mile cloud this year and a few other odd happening.

Today was another one of the most gloomy days that I have ever seen in Dallas, Texas. One of several cold fronts made it dark enough to keep the headlights on today. This isn't the first time this winter that that has happened, either.

 I can take the cold. Cold and sunshine are just fine for me. I would rather have sunshine and 65 but sunshine and 45 is just as well. Anything but this gloom.

Fun To See This Stuff

The Trees Are collecting fishing gear again!

The Rider Is Actually On A Trail Trough The Mid-Height Prairie Grass. I love this return to natural grasses the Park System reintroduced.

There's Irony In Mother Nature's Guardian Time Keeper USNO

Currently, we are experiencing the coldest mornings of the season with a hard freeze in the mid to low twenties. Yet, as I go about my route routine, I find all kinds of new shoots that are breaking out into beautiful green leaves.  Usually, our trees show buds and growth around the first of March and our flowering trees begin to show white and red and pink blossoms all over by the end of March. The grasses have come out of their winter's sleep, rolling back their brown dry color for beautiful greenish color and growth.

My potted trees on the porch are beginning to show their swelling buds this season, I'm afraid that I will have to start to trim them back. If I put them out on the sidewalk, then the lawn crew's big mowers have a hard time maneuvering and they don't like that. So, I might have to look for someone who wants three free trees this fall that can plant them this time next year.

The irony, of course, is that while one bush has seed pods still hanging from last fall, it also has new growth popping out at the same time.  While I don't like to push things but rather take it as it comes, there is one (which is really 4) times a year when I do choose to push some.  That's the difference of an astronomical start vs. a meteorological start of the seasons.

Astronomical    Spring:     March 20 at  5:58  pm EDT
Meteorological   Spring :     March  1

Astronomical    Summer:   June  21    at 11:54 am EDT
Meteorological   Summer:   June   1

Astronomical    Fall:          September 23 at 3:50 am EDT
Meteorological    Fall           September 1

Astronomical  Winter:        December 21 at 11:19pm EST
Meteorological  Winter       December 1 

Nesting Season Has Begun

Blooms have started in ground cover plants

New grown shoots with old seed pods still hanging  on.

Quickly, it's easy to understand why I choose to go with meteorological rather than Astronomical dates.  First, the days are always going to vary because of the lunar cycle. Second, the time will vary as well for the same reason. Third, note eastern daylight times and one eastern standard time with the daylight savings scheme in play. It's just plain easier to go with the meteorological dating of when the sun will cross the various boundaries on its way north in the spring and its way south in the winter with the equator being crossed in spring and fall. The months don't change it's still March, June, September and December, you just don't have to spend a lot of brain cell time  with all the details involved for four days of the year. Spring is still going to happen just as it really does in March.

Now, not to lessen the importance of the U.S. Naval Observatory that brings us all this information. They have use for specific time tables, but me---I really don't need that information beyond the month and neither does Mother Nature when the new shoots and buds blossom. They are not just sitting there waiting for March 20th at 5:58 pm EDT to bring forth new growth. It's already happened where I live. And when I lived in the Great Lakes, I could always count on the trees having new grown from their opening buds by Income Tax Day (April 15th).