Here it is the 29th of November. Does your yard look this green?

 

Then, just so you don't feel left out with the traditional Novembers as a snow bird we also have things to make the birds happy, too. 

And, yes, things that make the bees go crazy like these

It's been a crazy year, I must say. We have not had a killing frost here in the city. It  got to freezing for a hot second any then went back above. From the flowers and the grass you can see that the lawn landscapers are still cutting grass and blowing the clippings. I saw one yard today that was totally covered in leaves. That part of the landscape companies will come when the growing season ends. It should have done that a couple of weeks ago on average. 

Rain all day tomorrow and then we will be back into the mid to upper 60's for a few days running. 

Mason California; Aidan Adirondack

"Abruptly, circumstances arrange themselves so that the commonplace becomes the significant and the routine the memorable---so memorable that perhaps it changes you for the rest of your life.

Sometimes, what you encounter is simply a time and a place. 

Usually, though, a truly memorable encounter involves some one else. There has to be an exchange of some kind, an insight, an awareness that lingers in the mind, impervious to time. Afterward you know that you have learned something valuable---something that can't always be described exactly, or measured, or fully explained. But something.

When one of these luminous encounters take place, most people feel an impulse to preserve it, somehow. Some try to keep a tangible reminder: a flower, a photograph,, a handkerchief, perhaps.

A writer tries to preserve it in words".

In the words above, they come from one of my most favorite author of everyday life that counts. It comes from a chapter in a tattered and worn book that came to me as a gift from a long, long time friend that is a Methodist. My uncle was a Methodist minister for 50 years. So when I began to read this gifted book, many things just set off bells-a-ringing from what I had heard my uncle say at family gatherings this time of year. 

The chapter is entitled: The Gift of Bright Encounters. The book is entitled: A Tough of Wonder. The author  was: Arthur Gordon. If any of you have read some of my old post on a regular basis, you will note that in some situations, I will write that I had to pull, Author Gordon, off the shelf again. Over the years of this blog, I have made that statement many times. 

Well, yesterday, I met two of the sharpest young men that I have meet  in sometime.  They were polite. They were gracious. They were from West Coast to  almost the Eastern seaboard. And, they were certainly not expecting me and I wasn't expecting them as I rounded a corner. But, as Arthur noted above, it was a luminous encounter. Literately because one of the young men got his brother on the phone for me to say hello to as well. 

Usually, I don't pass out my business cards to the younger crowd but these two just inspired me to offer each one a  card.  Mason, even made a comment about the background on my card, which is native prairie grasses. In short, I welcome any comments that they would have from my website, because they got it right from jump street. Photography is my passion and anyone that can understand the layout scheme of my site are visionaries indeed. 

So, Mason and Aidan ( I hope I got your name spelled correctly) I hope to run into you buds again. It was  a joy meeting you both.  

Any time you, Mason, want to go to Truckee---give me a shout out, And Aidan, I love the Adirondacks, too!

                                            To Mason and Aidan from the bottom of  my heart.

                                                           Have a blessed Christmas, indeed

The E-ticket Weather Roller Coaster Continues

 The Australian Flag is for the man that I meet who was here from Australia, He was working across the street from the White Rock Creek Trail and it's Greenbelt where these images were shot. He had gotten out of the office a bit and had walked along the train. He had also commented on how clear the water was as we watched it flow on it's way to White Rock Lake then to the Trinity River and finally on its final flow into the Gulf of Mexico. 

The gentleman seemed to be impressed that such a large urban area would have this type of nature so close. It is a plus for those of us in the Dallas Metroplex. The trail system is one of the finest in the south and southwest. Greenbelts are such a wonderful way to keep nature close at hand, for sure.

With a drought year, getting a 10-inch rain fall and then these current systems from Pacific Hurricanes and the jet stream dipping down to where it should be again allows waves of low-pressure systems to move across us one after another bringing the fall rains, even the grass has come out of its dormant state and started growing again. And, we have had a frost already on top of that. It's a crazy world today, folks.

There is a light rain falling since last night and as this day moves along, the heavy rain is due later this afternoon and into the night bringing falling temps along with it. I'm house-bound today.

Carrollton Festival at the Switchyard----

 was street to street people, vendors and rides. The size from last year was a quadruple balloon in size. 

The weather was great. The sunshine was fantastic and it was a town square of lawn sitters around the gazebo. The stage area had not only music but dancers included. Carrollton police table had old-fashion suckers that I have loved since first touring the

Spangler Candy Company's facility in Toledo, Ohio. It was fantastic, too. Even the fireman at the table said that he liked them more than any other he had tasted. 

 

90 last week.50 with freeze tonight. It's a weather e-ride ticket.

 Well, enough on the weather. It is what it is.. But, it has cut into my shoot time. I was so pressed for shots that I changed the lens on the camera, made sure I had house keys in my pocket and stepped out on the porch for one of the most  amazing  moons that I have seen. 

Yesterday, I was watching a HD camera from Lake Tahoe as the moon came up over the Carson Range of the Sierra Nevada on the east side of the lake. I was stunned at the size.It was like the sun had come up again out there. So, I checked out the cycle of the moon rise for here and then for Lake Tahoe. While waiting for my coffee to finish brewing, I braved the cold and stepped out on the porch with camera in hand.   It was cold.I have not  acclimated from the summer morning heat of 80 that meet me all summer long. But, the view was  so spectacular that I  actually took more shots that I had planned. 

Tonight, when I had a  chance to download the images, it was well worth the chill, the effort and the time.That's what I like about photography.When it thumbs you up along side of the head and you realize that the image could have been better, you just keep trying and trying until you get that shot where the  camera shocks you with something extra that made the shot even more spectacular than you had hoped form. That pat on the head this time was worth all those thumps in the past.

Fall Scenes

 It will be the last day of good weather as we are expecting 5 straight days of heavy rain from the Pacific Hurricane that hit Cabo yesterday. The system is moving slow at about 4-5 mph. So, we got out this afternoon and walked the edge of our favorite forest thicket. 

Found some interest things, too. Walked about 8,000 steps. 

There is a lot of construction  going on in the parks and many of the old haunts are closed for upgrades. It's got to be done and I suppose that there is no time like the present to get it behind us. 

I had  expected to see less color than I found because of the drought conditions this summer. The old adage that it takes a flood to get you out of  a drought. From the forecast and the clouds from the hurricane
already here during the day today, the forecast of rain amounts are going to be heavy---so hopefully everything soakes in and  doesn't run off.

A New Town Square Reopens and a Couple of Royal Visitors As Well.

 Last weekend, the Downtown Garland Town Square reopened after a two-year make over, several millions of dollars, American singer and songwriter, LeAnn Rimes performing. After the crowds were all gone (I thought) I made my way to see the finished product on a beautiful fall day. From the Dart train station, I walked the long block to the Northeast corner of the old square and rounding the corner, I meet  group of  people on the sidewalk. Almost instantly, the Royal Mounted Police Uniform stood out with that famous Stetson hat design that they wear. WOW! it's been a number of years since I last saw one of those. I crossed the street and almost instantly crossed back again, excused myself and ask the woman the uniform adorned if, indeed that was a Mounted Police uniform. "Yes", she smiled and replied. I then ask her and the gentleman that she was with if I could have a picture of them. "Yes",she replied again. After taking the shot, I ask if they were visiting on business or something formal. She replied that the gentlemen was also part of the Mounted Police and  that they were here for a conference and to visit their hat maker..I had forgotten that the hat maker was only about a mile or so away and that I had been there myself and checked out their shop that is open to the public with a large selection of hats, some even Stetsons. I learned from her that their hats were  that famous look that I had seen before and didn't realize that the had was made right here in Garland. 

Yesterday, I saw the local news show them in the hat shop. Yes, I even scooped the local tv station and had even sent an image to my brother the night before. But in the moment of this writing, I then walked back across the street and toured the new square from corner to corner before visiting my favorite deli on the Main street side of square. 

One thing that I noticed right away was all the traffic lightss had been removed and the corner crosswalks had been rounded with crosswalks  in colored tiles. New stop signs on new standards were also present. It was at Main and 6th that I had taken a picture of the street sign "Main 600" several years ago that became one of my top sellers. Well, that image is now a historic shot because the sign is long gone now. But I did get a shot of the new standard across and diagonal to the original  in front of the theater.

 

                                                  There are Canadian Flags in Texas, too!