Other Light Adventures Around the Metroplex

Learning to be a good listener has been a life-long course. Even today, I find myself picking up on things people say that they don't always understand just what they said. I guess that is where the old adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" comes into play. But, somethings, getting a picture of that in action isn't always an easy task, even in the days of Tik Tok videos and the like. 

There were 2,755 Billionaires, according to Forbes. And, 86% are richer than they were a year ago for  a combined $5 trillion increase in wealth since 2020, according to Forbes. Some say that is a clear sign that billionaires do exercise their risk-taking muscle. AH!

Bob Jordon, will become Gary Kelley's replacement as CEO of Southwest Airlines in February 2022. You may  have to fly Southwest even more. Because Bob needs the money, now. That's a  little take on the funniest bumper sticker that I have ever seen concerning a business  on the Forbes lineup. During  Herb Kelleher's  founding run as CEO, the bumper sticker read: "Fly Southwest. Herb needs the money."Thanks Gary. Welcome, and congratulations, Bob. 

Not a hill that I want to die on, but the Governor, Mr. Abbott , made the statement , "That's pretty goofy" and now has tested positive within the week for the Corona Virus. He had meet a large (3,500) social gathering in Plano, a Republican Party fund raiser. (He's running for Governor again.) Now, his staff says that the Governor  meets large groups of people. What they failed to say was those crowds you could not get within ten feet of him. The news file footage had many surrounding his wheelchair. They were all notified that the Gov could have spread the virus even though he said that he had received both vaccinations. He mentioned that he had received his booster but that is not confirmed. Currently, he is mansion-bound in quarantine.

At the Dallas Zoo, it has been a couple of months of celebrations. First, the zoo had two new arrivals in the Giraffe barn. They were both  born in July and have been  released  into the Savannah to run and frolic seeing this big old world for the first time.  So cute. And this week, a trio of big cat cubs turned 1-year old and got a frosty treat. All three were licking it up! They each weigh about 150 pounds now. No "here kitty kitty.!

It's now only  5 weeks until the State Fair starts its run this year on September 24th  You can get 20 bucks of food coupons if you  roll up your sleeve under Big Tex and get your Covid19 shot at the fair. People won't get their shots on their own, but you can bet they will grab up those $20 coupons as they roll up those sleeves. It makes no sense. Did they even think that they had to pay to pass through the turn-stiles at the gates just to get in? My favorite TV kid that makes me laugh when he says, "I'm only 6. You figure it out." had another hit with that one. 

The hot air balloon festival in Plano has been cancelled again this year. Bet they hate that.

And on closing this post out, I head someone say the other day, " Don't you have an obituary to be in?"

 Cannot forget about Mary Wallace Funk aka Wally Funk, Jeff Bezos' Goodwill Ambassador for her flight on Blue Origin. The woman is no slouch. She has over 20,000 flight hours in and was the first female member of the National Transportation Board. She is from the Grapevine area...didn't get to far from DFW airport though until she left planet Earth and experienced real weightlessness. No big Bowing going up and down to create weightlessness.Wally finally got to experience the real thing.  Also, she's only an octogenarian, not the nonagenarian, that Miss Opal Lee has in the bag. 

 

Miss Opal Lee, the  nonagenarian, who walked to D.C. to get a national holiday established for June 19, 1865, (also known as Juneteenth) the day that about 2,000 Union troops made their way to Galveston Bay, Texas, with the executive decree announcing that a quarter of a million enslaved black people were free.Today the nation has a new Federal Holiday. Miss Opal's walks and talks got the legislative bill passed creating the National Holiday in 2021.Thank you, Miss Opal.

Finally, a couple of weeks ago a pet black banded 6-foot cobra slithered out of his unlocked cage. When his owner of only a few days or more discovered it, he called 911. Long story short, since that news cycle ended, not one word was been said about whether the snake (very venomous) has been seen, recaptured, killed or whatever. People were scared and rightly so. So the news clamps up. 

Tonight, on the news, a python was seen crawling out of the spice isle in a Sydney, Australia supermarket. He was captured by a shopper, who turns out to be a snake handler, put it in a plastic bag and later released it into the wild. What are the odds. It's non venomous for one. Catch and Release johnny on the spot. End of story. 

Several years ago, I was shopping at a SAM's Club and saw a lot of blue vest running from isle to isle. It turns out, there was a snake loose in the store. It most likely came in on a pallet. It was finally caught and disposed of. When you hear people say, "be aware of your surroundings" they don't always limit that to a villain, don't you know. 

 

We got plenty at White Rock, too!

Returning Post Soon

 Posting will resume very soon. Meanwhile, The one who lost the male leaves with her train still showing that she will be back. Notice the male off to the side while the match is going on. The peafowl live on one street basically. They are wild. There are about 60 of them and the city maintains and manages the population. Their ancestors have lived here for the past 45 years according to one of the neighbors. 

Ad Astra per Aspera; To the Stars Through Difficulties ---

 or if there is no wind, there will be no wave; Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears. And if philosophy had to rethink reality, it would have been last Monday the 26th if July that I missed  my last chance to have good brisket BBQ at Mac's BBQ, on Main Street in Deep Ellum. Billy McDonald, closed his business that was founded by his dad 70 years ago. Furthermore, as any old photographer will tell you---the camera always moves away from the action.

 So, when the large utility transformer box that sits on its pad not far from where my door and gate is, blew at 12:04 a,m. last Tuesday, it was something that hit my mental power surge protector. It was hot and with no air, the night was not going to be pretty. It was going to be a very long night. The estimate from the Emergency Oncor guy said it would take three or four hours to round up parts. I woke up at about 4 with flashlights shinning in my window from the crews that were now installing the new box but knowing that, that was not going to be " we have to change the light bulbs now and then" when their web site is down. This wasn't some website. This was the whole side of the street and oh, yeah, the transformer on the pole in the back yard area was on fire as well. The thinking was, the utility was in worse shape than they had let it be known after the winter storm six months prior. This was two pole transformers in the past 60 days.Now this! The equipment is old, but we all got new digital meters not so far back in time. Go figure. If that isn't bottom line thinking, for a big utility that already has been in bankruptcy after building their six new gas-coal generating plants.   

I haven't been outside since to even look at the new and more modern fixture. It now blocks my view of where planes from both Love Field and DFW are handed off to the High Altitude Control Center at Fort Worth Center. I can't watch planes from home base as they slip past the setting moon. Those images from my porch are now blocked by the "new and better" version of a pad electrical transformer. " I'm only 6, you figure it out." a kid on television said the day following the new installation and a much cooler nights sleep with my AC back on. That set off another round of thinking about why my electrical company and its right arm service provider keep popping up. Speaking of that, today, I got a survey from TXU Energy wanting to know what I thought about their web site where I can check my utility usage by the hour, day and month. Perception is one thing and flat out poor timing is another. They score bad on both counts this year, thus far. They are on the back stretch rounding the turn already about to come down the stretch for the wire. I'm not looking for that horse to win. I'll never bet on those horses.

Usually, I don't get angry. I get frustrated at times, but angry, no. Waiting all month to see a red moon and watch the air traffic from both the big airport and Love Field send their planes on their way gives an old photographer many chances to get some great shots with the blinking red and green light on wings and the flashing strobes on their bellies and air frame tops makes for great shots especially with a full red moon shinning and back lighting the planes. Yes, I was being a bit self-centered, I suppose. There will other days. Hopefully, I'll not be pushing up daisies for the next red moon and the weather is good. Being on the porch had all the bases covered. Next time, I'll have to walk down the alley and try to find the same angle.

The Fire Bird Came A Calling for QB Quinn Ewers

 Usually I don't get such immediate and sound reaction to some of my statements in my post quite so fast. But in the  July 30 post segment about Southlake Carroll turning out NFL players on a routine basis,  following that post,  Quinn Ewers, the current QB at Southlake Carroll announced that he is forgoing his senior year and committed to Ohio State University. He will be the first to take advantage of the new rules that allow college players to be payed for the use of their name etc.,etc. The sportscasters in Dallas are saying that he will have opened the door for others to follow. The young man stated that he isn't doing it for the money as much as for what is best for his football career. He has led Southlake Carroll to a state championship and is considered to be the best overall recruiting prospect in the nation for 2021. His timing could not be better. 

It had been noted in our post that former NFL player and broadcaster Pat Summerall,  lived only a mile from Southlake Carroll. In some ways it could be viewed as "out of the ashes came this opportunity ". The late Summerall, had bought the land and developed it into a 5-acre estate that was just sold within the past month when the early morning fire destroyed the mansion.

My late son was a graduate of Ohio State passing away 100 days following his graduation. This old Michigan- Go- Blue freelancer will hold no grudge against Ohio State out of respect for my son. I have in my living room an authentic box seat stadium chair from Ohio Stadium and a section of the goalpost, both,  from the 1998-2001 renovation under AD Andy Geiger's  approval, don't you see. On the bottom of the chair is a piece of bubble gum someone left there many years ago.  It will be hard to convince me that fate didn't have a hand in this young man grabbing his chance for a brighter future and career as it presented it self to Quinn. The fates reveal themselves in the most mysterious ways. Be they the host of angles or The Lord God Almighty, God's grace and His will is about to be executed again  and some are left to just scratching their heads.

 

 

                                                                    Double Helix Cloud

                                                                       

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Moderately Muggy; Cold Front Due Sunday; Sadly for Southlake

 At the 13:53 reporting, DFW International, the official reporting station for Dallas is:

wind calm, partly cloudy with  a 10-mile visibility. The sky is scattered at 050, The air temp 96°. Dew point 70° with relative humidity at 43 and a heat index of 103°. The altimeter currently  at 30.06 mb and sea level at 1016.7.

A cold front (don't laugh,  but that is what they actually are) is on track to arrive on Sunday evening. Next week we are expected to enjoy a daily high that is below normal for this time of year by 10 degrees. By mid week we should enjoy some rain and thunder storms with  dry air making life a delight for this time of year as temperatures return to seasonal norms.

This morning, in Southlake, the former home of the late NFL player and broadcaster, Pat Summerall went up in flames. The home had sold and was being updated and remodeled. The mansion and others in Southlake enjoy massive set backs from the road and fall well within the million dollar range plus. Summerall loved his Southlake. 

Northwest of DFW International, the area is where the Jonas Brothers lived for a while. There are several sports figures that currently live there. The estate is 5-acres and some have called it the best backyard in the Metroplex. With Southlake Carroll High School just over a mile away, the Friday Night Lights there turn out some future NFL players on a fairly regular basis.

The images come from a hillside of the old Carpenter Ranch in Las Colinas where exciled priest from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution in Zirc, Hungary found  Abbot, Anselm Nagy's leadership bringing the exciled priest to Dallas where they founded  Our Lady of Dallas Monastery and establishing the Preparatory School.

Heat:Marriage;Training Camp; Neal DeGrasse Tyson ; Pay Attention, People

You know. Since my retirement a decade ago, my center of thought has changed by a few bubbles, degrees, or altitudes. In other words: some when up and some went down. But none stayed the same. It wasn't until today when Simone Biles stepped back because she wasn't into the task at hand mentally. The girl just went up on the scale of humanity for all the right reasons. 

Ironically, I had just seen Neal Degrasse Tyson, as he reviewed his new book, "Cosmic Queries" last night on James Cordon's show. The point of the book was basically the same thing with Simone Biles events today. Over the years, seeing events like this parallel each other is something that got my attention numerous times. In fact, when something rings my chimes, it's almost natural to wait for the counterpoint to show up fairly quickly like today's Olympic events and the interview with Cordon.

After missing last year's training camp for the Dallas Cowboys in  delightful Oxnard, California's weather, sports guy Mike Doocy had to go out an buy a sweater while training camp was under way. And speaking of Oxnard and Mr. Doocy, Jerry Jones got rather emotional as the Cowboy's Training Camp got underway. Jerry also announced that his granddaughter had married last weekend. 

For the first time this season, we reached 100° and the streak is increasing. Today,was the third day it  hit 101° or more. But as any Texan will tell you, it's not the heat. It's the dew point. A former NBC weatherman, Jym Ganahl, now an ABC weatherman in Columbus, Ohio, had a simple formula for finding the level of comfortability, temperature wise. When you add the dew point and the humidity together and the total equals 110, you begin to sweat just standing still. Jym, may have used 115° but he wasn't in Texas either, but it works universal none-the-same.

Back to Neal Degrasse Tyson, He basically said that we are going the return route to a cave man because people just don't care about their fellow human kind. Must put this book on my read list. I see on Google that 96% of those that have read it agree.Cordon is an amazing interviewer and Tyson is an amazing mind and the book gets the 96% rating.

As I think about the fact that come this Saturday, we are at the two week mark for the iconic end to our hottest part of our summer. From there on, the daily highs begins to drop. As my mom would have said, "come on September". Without my car now, my traditional markers of how the seasonal change was making its progress into the Metroplex. Seeing it from the rail line or the bus window is alright as I have already been looking for new markers that will suit public transportation. Still, giving up my car was by no means a wrong decision. I have enjoyed being chauffeured around without much worry. With no fixed itinerary now, even if I should miss a train or a stop, it's no big deal. Once I get the first official color report from the UP of Michigan, I'll be able to calculate the daily move south. Thereby being able to pinpoint color change here in North Texas as color moves south about 10-miles per day. Don't you see? All things work together for man's benefit. All we have to do is pay attention and  use some common sense (apparently not everyone has enough of that stuff).

 

A Brazillian Berimbau 

                                                         Being played by a true Brazillian

Busy Creating Products from Textures from our photos.

link to those products:    https://www.zazzle.com/store/sam6372?rf=238388026414770745'm f

One would think that after my bout with the operating rooms over the past two years there would be so much down time to do things like this. The point of the matter is that I was flat on my back. As I slowly regained my strength, there were other problems that popped up as a result of those surgeries. Another set back. Walking with a cane is actually better than taking another fall. However, everything has its down side and downsides has never been in my vocabulary.

 Having said all that, it's been rather comforting to find that my readership is up. My picture download royalties have come up a tad and my eyes have reviewed my archive file of more that 100,000 images looking for textures that have been missed on the original edits. While I have about 10,000 on line at any given time, keeping the web page and the daily blog running with fresh water over still water has had its problems too. I'm finding after 19 years of doing this that there are those that wish to see you fail. 

As in any problems that come from human minds, some just can't seem to be nice at all. Over the years, I have noted with journals and record keeping that you cannot let those things hold you back. You must keep moving forward and doing what you can do day-by-day and not worry about the rest. After all, worry is interest paid twice. If you think you know where I am going with this, you just might be right. Then, there again, you just might be wrong. Does it matter? No! Because I've already had a successful career and have seen the views from the castle. On my way down the stairs to retirement, I took my passionate hobby over the years with me with hopes of turning it into something that might give people some joy, happiness and hope.

That passion while the bedrock of itself, has been swayed and twisted and worn down to something not even recognizable to me much anymore. Copy cats have raced in and tried to do all sorts of things to it. It---you say---yes, it. It being photography from a point that isn't focused on monetary gain. Yet, there is some. You need that just to maintain you equipment and do simple upgrades. I've seen some guys already 40 years my junior buy $3000 lenses like there were throwaways. Having that kind of mentality defies anything that makes the hobby worthwhile. I'm still using a camera that has upgraded software but the body is still working better than mine. Go figure.

So, the short of the longer story of rambling thoughts focused on this point of time is that as long as I can continue to take pictures, I am going to do that. As long as I can walk or scoot or move in some motorized way, I will do that. And most of all, at my diamond birthday, I still search for things that I have missed along the way, but most of all, I try to understand what caused me to miss those things---what ever they are. Learning from what your mind is trying to tell you is that first, you have to listen to it. Secondly, you must be willing to make the changes necessary with the intention of always being better along the way. My hobby has taught me more than a college education. It has taught me to see things that others miss when looking at the same view. It has taught me that life to very very complex but we are all designed to navigate through it with some reasonable degree of success. Hope still lives. 

Being thankful for the blessings that have come my way is something that does not go unnoticed by myself. Hopefully, my current state of health will hold and life will grace me with not only another day, but a month, a year or many more. I love life. I cherish it. The images that I post on the headers of the web site and the blog are chosen with care and with my gratitude to those that posed along the way. God bless their sweet spirits.