12th-century French romances here in Dallas

The French people are like New Yorkers. You must get to know them to understand them. For me, I love them both and today I visited Camelot and all the lore of King Arthur's special world. It is just one of those things that have escaped me in the twenty years that I have been back in Dallas.

The romance of it is the streets that are jigsawed around a greenbelt that runs through the area. The area is a typical example of the Scottish highlands climbing some 100 plus feet from the greenbelt up to the ridge line. It's a neighborhood of modest and well kept homes. They also have a very unique feature that some would recognize and for others it would go unnoticed totally. That uniqueness is the perfect landscaping that is textbook in nature.

I've driven through the neighborhoods before and knew it was one of my favorite if I were in the house market again. But, today, all that splendid landscaping and architecture and physical lay of the land all came together in that uniqueness that you know somehow it is just a magical place to be.

One of the images will show the one-sided street that borders the greenbelt and the other will show how it blends two neighborhoods together. Since I grew up in a new house that mom and dad had built on a hill street like those I drove today, it gave me that feeling of comfort and attachment to the earth like I grew up in and around. Mom and Dad were  one lot away from the top of the hill but I have always loved being on a hillside.

I have long believed that my car goes where it is directed, but it's the Lord that is really driving, using me as the physical aspect of mechanics like braking, stopping, turning, etc.,etc.No, I"m not nuts by a long shot. I've just lived long enough to know that fate and a higher power control those that are loved and I thank God every night that He and the Grace that he sheds on me is well received as I offer thanks.

So, check out the images. While it was overcast today, it was comfortable. Another Gift from Above!

One home had 9 dogwoods in bloom at the corner of their lot. Others had more than one or two. This came from one of two trees that were between the sidewalk and the curb on a curve as the street wrapped around the greenbelt.

Actually, there are two species here. This image is of wild Jade Vine that if found hanging from high in a tree canopy over a creek that is part of the Trinity Greenbelt and Watershed District.

This one, is wild Wisteria and it too, hangs over the creek and has tree roots on the one side of the Greenbelt in the neighborhood. There is a footbridge that connects the two neighborhoods together and both the streets are one-sided lots, the other being part of the greenbelt.

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A Trifecta of Owls

Top-parent owl, middle below parent is crow, but just below crow on left is the  owl chick, The second partent is in the lower right hand corner.

 

 

Grackle showing his feather display to a potential mate in the next tree.

This mocking bird stopped singing and was watching the grackle's loud calls.

The crows told the story that they were unhappy in a grove of trees. That same grove has been the nesting site of Bard Owls and Red Shouldered Hawks in past seasons. The story board has changed this year with a family of Great Horned Owls taking over the grove.

A  couple of weeks or three, ago, I had seen, along with several others, the male, the female and the fluffy chick. Today was a trifecta of tickets with a parent on a top branch, the growing chick  in the middle and a parent on the bottom branch. It was a delight to see all three with another person that lives a few blocks away.

I'm glad he got to see all three together.

Bluebonnets

 Lupinus subcarnosus, the only species recognized as the state flower of Texas since 1901.

 Lupinus subcarnosu, since 1901, is the only species of Bluebonnets in Texas. Other species have been found in the southwestern US.. 

The bluebonnets are popping up all over a bit early this year. There are several patches at White Rock Lake. Remember, if you walk where they are coming up, they will NOT come back next year at that place. People like to do photo ops with their kids and pets and unless there is a specific path behind the patch, please don't destroy the beauty for others.

California stopped people from even getting to the orange poppies that are blooming in the high deserts. People were destroying them so the  HP closed off the roads to the patches. 
 

Addendum to Today's Post, Fri.,29 Mar

Unrelated to the fire other than it was on the same street. The interesting thing here is the guys cowboy boots! Style comes to the linemen.

R&R Setup. Firemen need breaks because of the heat and loss of  hydration. These are very much part of their job and should be!

To me, the story is not the primary story. It is the vehicle that brings everything together. The real story is the firemen, themselves. What must he be thinking? These are the shots that I look for when I come across a fire like this.

Changing Animal Behavior Confirmed

Springtime and Fall are my favorite times of the year.

A mudhen (American Coot) keeps its feathers in tip top shape.

My little buddy that flies into the sensor pole when I check out the Master Gardners Garden.

Gonna be be much cooler this weekend. Out normal high is 72F. This weekend  forecast 57-60F
I'm not gonna complain because in July and August we will be wishing for that level of temperatures.

Now, the message of this post is that I have been saying since the first flood in early January (there have been three,now) that the water levels and winds were stressing out the birds and wildlife, changing their behavior. There were some who disagreed with me. That's fine. But, in a National Geographic Report about the effect of climate change in Northern Alaska, the first state in the Continental US to see changes, is reporting the amount of stress that the birds, wildlife and fish are experiencing with the change in climate. Evidence suggest melting ice, rise in sea levels, deep arctic cold fronts lasting longer and being more frequent are changing animal behavior. I'm not one to say, "I told you so", but I will say, " I've heard that before somewhere!"

The Cupboard Pantry Held A Secret

A Crow. Or is it a Raven? Or, a Magpie? 

Just popped a McDonald's bag of whole kernel popcorn that I found in my cupboard. One-third cup of bulk corn is 172 calories. It also meets the daily recommended consumption of grains. I salt lightly and do not use butter or oil. I like the corn dry and fluffy when popped.

The McDonald's bag is an old trick that I learned years ago. It's perfect and cost nothing. Use once and toss it out. When I get a cup of coffee at McDonald's ( I love their senior citizens price) I save the bags.. In the past, I might have run into Kroger's bakery and got a donut or two, then pull into the McDonald's that sits on the corner of my Kroger's parking lot and get my coffee.

So, this weather has been just perfect. I had forgotten my checkbook and ran out to get it from the car. I had gone to the bank after lunch and when I got the camera bag out of the trunk, I put the check book in the trunk. My thinking was that I would remember it when I got home and before I went into the house, I would get it out of the trunk. Well, that didn't work and when I went out to get it  just as the blue hour was setting in, the air had chilled and me in a T-shirt and cargo shorts got chilled in just that little time. So, much to my dislike, I turned on the heat just to take the added chill out of the house. I haven't had the heat on, even at night, for better than a week and I have slept as snug as a bug in a comforter.

The lake was rather sad today. Only a few of the aged pelicans remain and don't usually make the trip north any longer. A little larger population of cormorants hang on all year, too. Plus, the lake is full of sand bars with all the wind we have had and Sunset Bay is a mess. I talked to one of the Civil Engineers today and get ready---the trail is about to get ripped out and totally redone. from Lake Highland to Poppy and south. That will ruffle the feathers of a few bikers.

Red Winged Black Bird

Little Sparrow-like Songbird.

There is a Tree in the Parking Lot of the Big Thicket Cottage.

Had a bit of dental surgery yesterday. Couldn't get the bleeding stopped until late in the evening. By this morning, some degree of normalcy was on the horizon. I was slow getting out of the house on purpose. The coffee pot was holding me in the house. No coffee yesterday. Coffee is my thing. Plus, I didn't know how the surgery was going to react, although the dentist said that I could have coffee this morning. But, I did drink it much slower than normal and I haven't pushed it beyond that today. Tomorrow should be a back to normal type day.

The dentist did call me about 11 am this morning. She wanted to see how I was doing as she had never seen a situation that was presented her yesterday.Even the X-rays didn't tell the full picture until she go in there. The good news no pain during the procedure and no pain after words after the numbing began to retreat and my face returned to its normal shape.

Meanwhile, I didn't venture far from home. But was still able to find some interesting things to shoot. Ironically, after my cover image of the hawk and the snake , one of the local stations  ran an almost identical image of a snake and hawk that some though was dead, but the snake was larger and the hawk was being squeezed by the snake in a death grip. The good news is---they both were alive and went their separate ways after words. I did see a big snake on a log on Sunday sunning with a hand full of turtles as log mates. So, the snakes are once again crawling in North Texas for another season. Watch the grasses and please don't wear flip flops in the grass, even if it looks like it is just a little long ruff. Snake bites are upon us again. Be Aware.

Mockingbird with nest material in mouth. He would enter the nest and leave the nest  in a protective mode. From here, he would drop down onto a branch then dart into the vine covered underbrush at the base of the tree. On leaving, he could come out  even lower and fly under the wharf. He had the caution routine down pretty well.

The plaque on the tree was the eye catcher today. From time to time I check out the items on the tree that people have left. The plaque was pretty neat.

The tree with the plaque is to the right in about the middle of the roadway. Here, the cottage at the Big Thicket is surrounded with red bud trees and they are all in bloom. Quite a site.