Well, Mother Nature hit us with the first freeze and is going to do it again twice this coming week.

Although, I did get out two days in a row with the wind chills and strong Northwest winds gusting to 40 MPH. Living in the Great Lakes for over the years taught me well as to how to dress for the cold. Thank goodness. I can't wait until mid-March. Knowing ahead of time that it could be a hot summer again this year, I'll take it better than the cold, and I like snow and ice. It's the winter season wind, I don't like.

Onto the journey of photography. Most of the leaves are now down. There are still some winter plantings that are in bloom and they will soon be rotated out and replaced with a more hardy version. My porch plants that I relocated from the porch to my living room are growing like crazy. 

My desk drawer has been piling up with things that need to be done for the new year. Usually, with

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, I still review, but take no action until the final week of the year between Christmas and New Years. So two of my outings in the dreaded wind, I got somethings cleared up early. One-by-one the rest will giving me a chance to clean up some more after New Years  when I  need to get out and can do some imaging in between chores an feeding the beast that always munches on some light-hearted stuff. 

The Link to one of our portfolios had to be taken down again.

 

The links were taken down for some bad actors. There are those few that ruin things for the many.

I am in talks with some IT firms and hosting sites that are working on this very problem from other bloggers. 

Hopefully, we will be able to post all our agencies portfolios so you, or readers, will be able to see 10,000 

on blog if you so choose. Have a safe and Happy New Years.

In my Live News Feed Days, I loved doing that part of photography, but it just got to where it took to much time in a rat-race kind of work.One of the guys that I still follow also likes trains, like me. What caught my eye was a rat-race kind of happening that we all have done at one time or another. He had posted BSNF of his shots of Intermodals heading to the west cost ports. This is what it should be as shown on a car rack carrier of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Line. I watch the Union Pacific bring three mile lone strings from west coast ports that they now ship from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, and from Chicago they also ship to the Inland Port Facility in South Dallas and on into Mexico. So, UP ships now to Mexico, US and Canada from coast to coast. 

My favorite spot is shoot them is as they roll toward the Inland Port Facility and if I happen to be waiting for a train at Dallas' Union Station I like to shoot under Reunion Tower as they pass.  

Very Much Likely to have our first freeze tonight ~~~

with even another one towards the end of the week. The good part of this past weather evens has been the rain. Boy, did we need rain and as my grandfather taught me as a young boy, "it was a million dollar rain". When I ask him what that meant, he said, it is gentle and a good ground soaking rain. It would be years later that I realized that him being Irish, he used the Irish manners for family. He had been referring to the Irish Blessing rather than the St. Patrick's Day Wish for his family and peers.

A St. Patrick's Day Wish for You

May your life be long,

May your heart be true,

May your path be clear

and your skies be blue. 

May your soul be happy

and you know deep joy,

May your dreams take flight. 

The different is what he was using to answer my question was this:

An Irish Blessing

May the road

rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

the rains fall soft upon your fields and,

until we meet again

may God hold you in the palm of his hand. 

In his context, he considered a soft rain that rained all day and into the night as a "million dollar rain, one that soaked the ground but was not washing as a run off or flood, or frankly, a blessing from God until he could get back into the fields again as now, his crops would continue to grow to harvest. God, had sent a million dollar rain.

Tis Nutcracker Time of Year Again.

The weather has been good but there is 5 days of rain due beginning tomorrow. Have been watching it come in over the Sierra.  It's gonna be a wet Christmas in Dallas this year, but we still need rain to make up for the yearly deficit following this years  drought conditions. 

The growing season has not officially ended this year in Dallas, thus far. It's been unseasonably warm this year. The temperature roller-coaster has been  doing those E-ticket rides even in mid and late December. 

So, while the weather is nice, being out shooting images makes for a nice way to end the year. 

Talked with a guy yesterday about license plate frames that we put our images on that have been abstracted. The one above is a screenshot from our store on Zazzle of one of a honeycomb yellow. There are three cut-outs for states A,B,C. You can check with your state for the style that they use or you can eyeball the three styles on the site. "C"    is the style that California uses for their plates as a reference point.

Started out with a long walk, ---

then, I caught a bus to the train station then caught another bus home. It was 61°F today with clear blue skies. Delightful walking and exploring and watching some 80 Canadian Geese visit some of their Texas relatives. It was like Cabo to them. They were fishing (bottoms up),bathing in the lake, sitting down on the grassy hillside and some were just nibbling the native grasses. The first couple of miles into my walk I had to move on, though, I could have watched them all afternoon. 

Tomorrow, it is going to be just above freezing for the BMW Marathon that will occur. A bit chilly to start  but more manageable once under way to regulate body heat. While yesterday, while out, I put my original thought of using a two wheel cart to do some grocery shopping while out since I do have my groceries delivered in. The cart was so nice, I decided to dump my back pack and use the car for as  my camera gear cart. That ideal worked so well that it held my folding stool, my water bottles, camera cases with room for rain gear and a folding windbreaker jacket. I've used it to pick up a 4-pack of blueberry cupcakes for weekend treats. That worked out well without crushing anything that I set out yesterday with the full intention of filling in some holiday food items from my Neighborhood Market,Walmart style. It must be said that the cart  was totally full to the top where the cover overlaps. It's not a wire or metal cart, rather it's a canvas bag that is held in a folding frame. The increase in weight was not a problem and after researching the cart until I found what I wanted, it was fulfilled every bit of what I had expected including even more. 

So, while the weather is so good for this time of year, I had to get out and shoot a few things that were on my list where I also use those images to create items for my stores on Zazzle. I have enough fall colors of leaves etc., to fill in for some of the older stock that will be retiring. "Once you created the beast you have to feed it." I've always said. By that I mean that buyers of media can only use some items for a couple of turns when they start to look for new  material. I respect that and have always tried to keep that part of my photography updated. It's not like someone writing a blog that can use an image over and over for certain times of the year. Already, since the Texas Rangers became World Series Champs, my images of a baseball score board has been licensed for the upcoming spring season for little league, I would imagine. 

So, tomorrow will be a rest day. I've got 41,311 steps in for the month thus far. That's 17.60  miles with a calorie burn of 1,532.1 calories. I don't want to overdue it. Last month step count was 95,426 so I am pretty much on target for the month. I don't go out every day of the month. But, I do try to keep my steps out to meet the standard of about 4-6,000 steps every other day. 

                                          

10,154 Steps on the University Crossing Trail ```~~

that is 4.32 miles with a calorie burn of 376.3 calories. It was a delightful walk with temps in the mid to upper 50s with little or no wind. Today, it's 70 as I recoup. Sunshine is in the forecast thru this coming Friday. 

It continue to amaze me at the colors in the leaves after such a drought year until the fall rains came. With no freeze yet, plants are still blooming and producing new shoots of green. Now that I have had the new camera a bit and adjusted to the changes from the old one, the experimenting stage has begun with light, angles, and shutter speeds. All-in-all, I am very satisfied with the results. 

The new cart for camera case, water bottles and folding stool is also working out very well in traveling on the buses and trains. It reminds me of an old credit card commercial: "--never leave home without it".

An added benefit is also that I can stop along the way at my favorite market and pick up a few things in between grocery deliveries (i.e Sprout's pistachio cupcakes. They sell them as singles and 4-packs. I buy the 4-packs). After checking out, I can roll it to where the shopping carts are returned, put my bags in with the camera equipment and on to the bus stop or train platforms, then home. 

The Dallas Christmas Parade was yesterday and I had no interest in going. The city Christmas Tree is now a regular at Klyde Warren Park. I had no interest in that, either. In fact, with everything going on in this world today, avoiding crowds has become more normal than ever. Yesterday while on the train. I was sitting behind a guy on the train who appeared to be texting or reading something and the train made a stop before I was ready to get off, I cleared my throat with my arm covering my mouth. He  jumped up with words of profanity as he was getting off the train and his rage was explosive. That type of thing I try to avoid at all cost. Being aware of your surroundings is one thing, but you just never know what is going to set someone off like this guys rage.(Dart made a big point that they had officers on the trains and they have. I just didn't see one on my car when it would have been more comforting for everyone. He startled a lot of riders in his outburst.

Respect the ride is my motto and Darts as well. No loud talk, no eating, no drinking onboard, no putting your feet on the seats and I abide by Dart's rules. On the bus, after getting off the train, one guy, who had carried on several grocery bags (I have no problem with that as long as it does not delay the trip or blocks an isle) sat down in his seat and proceeded to eat a bag of potato chips, drink a large bottle drink of something and then, hit the bell for his stop and took forever and a day to get his bags together, then rearranging them, before finally getting off the bus. I  guess it was just one of those kinds of days.Planning my trips are done with avoiding rush hours and things like that in general. I have a generous about of patience with people and the circumstances in which they may be in at the moment, but even there, sometimes, I have gotten off at a stop earlier than needed and wait for the next train or bus just to get away for a problematic situation. So, when I am on a hike and bike trail the theme besides photography is to enjoy the moment  and enjoy the beauty of that moment.

Sometimes I have to chuckle when a longtime friend, who is a psychologist, a member of my former church and just a good guy overall once told me in his office about all the things that I had been through and endured and experienced to "get the hell out of my office----for heaven's sake, you are more sane than I am. Go do something YOU enjoy." I took his advise then, and still do today when stressful situations develop. It is the one thing that has gotten me through  ruff stretch of the road, the ruts that you find yourself in looking for solutions and above all, knowing that my spiritual side is well developed. I am a lucky man, indeed I am.

The pumpkin had such a sad face, I could not resist. 

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.