Thursday, May 23, 2024 is National Turtle Day.

 Support a good cause. Support the rehab centers that take care of these magnificent creatures or even adopt one from one of the centers.

Just a Kid when the Northern Lights were seen by me. This week, I missed the first night and last night it was cloudy.

Thank goodness I can say that I have at least seen the most fab light show in nature. 

Today will be 100 % rain. It's another indoor day, I'm afraid. 

It's nice to know that we are in surplus standings thus far with the heat and evaporation yet to come as the summer months build and the rain systems taper off. Yet, I would rather be outdoors.

Dallas voters approved the $1.25 Billion bond propositions this month. Streets, Parks, a new Police Training Academy were the big winners. 

Representative Colin Allread, of the 32nd District of Texas meet with  Minister Ishigaki of Japan to discuss moving forward on the Texas Central High-Speed Rail Project between Dallas and Houston.

The non partisan and non profit media organization, Texas Tribute, previously reported along with the Dallas Morning News, that Texas currently has 30.3 million residents. Of that total, 68% live within the triangle of the four largest metro areas, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. It also informed by noting in a January issue of the Dallas Morning News North Texas kept Dallas-Fort Worth king of the heap at 8 million souls and counting. 

One-Hundred and Ten Years ago today in the small town of Grafton, West Virginia, a memorial service was held for Anna Reeves Jarvis. It became Mother's Day as we know it today. 

Yesterday was a delightful day that found me not even reaching my regular train station.

Although, I was less than a couple of football fields away. The weather was delightful with clear skies beginning, temps in the upper 70°F range, a gentle breeze, low humidity and low dew points. I stopped one stop before reaching the train station and had lunch on an outdoor patio.

Then, I simply moved hour by hour to three separate benches  along a tree lines sidewalk, people watching, sizing up various things that would bring out the camera and basically, did absolutely nothing except soak up some vitamin D, get a lot of great fresh air and just enjoy the afternoon.

After I got home, and brought out the camera to download, I realized that I only had a couple or thee images but most importantly, I remembered just how much fun I had being outside and doing nothing. It allowed me to re-calibrate why I go out with the camera every chance I get. Rain or weather being the only reasons that keeps me inside, in general.

One of the things that came to mind yesterday was that I have been downtown almost every weekend of May but I have not been back to the Ron Kirk Pedestrian Park on the old Continental Bridge. The Trinity River Park is finally going to happen as envisioned originally.  So, I have added it to my follow-up list of places to revisit. It is a great place to get a shot of the Amtrak crossing the Trinity river on the great architectural train bridge built some 90-plus years ago.

 It is also a place were you can find serendipity happenings. One that I continue to remember and hope to hear again is a trumpet player standing under the bridge playing with the echo's and reverberation out of this world. Maybe some music majors from SMU or UNT might want to bring their instruments down there and spend an afternoon of practice time and/or experimenting with acoustics in the great outdoors. Or some one who played an instrument years ago. Brass would be the top ones, but guitar and violins, cellos, even bagpipes would be great additions, too. After all, it is about musical sounds and acoustics. Those great stone trusses are still there waiting to  bounce that sound off their structures.

 

 

 

The Mixing Pot of North Texas is Getting Active with 19 severe weather watches going on at present.

 Yesterday was so hot and muggy again, even the weather man kept the chain saw out to cut the humidity. Currently, the humidity has dropped to 69 % and the augmenter, Mr. Dew Point is also at 69°F. The temp is holding at 80°F with a heat index at 83°F. Compared to the past two days, it ain't that bad out there if you only want to get a few breaths of fresh air before the sweat starts to run. Most of the storm threats will be out of here by 7PM tonight. Rain is going to add to the conservation levels of the area lakes (that's always a good thing). The plus side is that the cold front is generating most of the hail threats this afternoon and the daily highs for the next few days will drop into the upper 70s. Tuesday will be the next day the sun is out with clear skies, if only for a day or two before another system races through. Having said all that, I can move on from the weather report.

On the sports side of things, both the Mavs and the Stars are in the second round playoffs. Today, Dallas got a pro women's soccer team that will call the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park it's new home as the Cotton Bowl is in the middle of a $140M renovation again. The old gal is a landmark. In my younger days I watched the Cotton Bowl Parades on TV and the football  games. It's always been a bit sentimental to me. AH, the days of our past youth.

My pictures have been hot and to those that use them, I Thank You very much. It is because of you that I do what I do. Always looking for something new and different from my days when I had the priviledge to know Whit Northmore Schults, the founder of Northmore's, a massive mail order house in Chicago. Not only did I consider him a friend but he, as a motivational speaker, also motivated me to begin Seaway Specilaties that got me started with not only a unique group of businesses that served the Wedding Industry, but taught me how to plan and follow the graphic arts calendar, which  I do even today. I shoot on that calendar specifically for the graphic arts (i.e., ga's are already ending their summer needs and moving toward fall already). 

So, while I have been  cabin bound without the fever, the normal routine of getting things done that pop up at the same time every year is upon me again. Actually, I might even be caught  up more than I had first though. A couple of doctor's appointments are scheduled but that should  be the end of those till December. With hope, I can be out shooting some interesting things again. 

   

GO MAVS

GO STARS

The Porch Thermometer Hits 100°F Yesterday for the first time this season.

In some mitigation of that headline is that for about 30 minutes the angle of the sun hits the porch at the hottest point of the day. Still, the temps were close and the humidity and dew points were sky high. 

Then, this morning, the news reports made mention of how bad the humidity and heat were  yesterday. I know, I was out in that heat and even had to use my umbrella at one bus stop. One weatherman said that the humidity was so thick,"could cut it with a chain saw." 

With heat index readings of 100 today, it's going to be an 'inside day' without question. 

So, without making excuses, I missed the shot of the day because I was holding an umbrella at an unsheltered bus stop. The shot was a double wide mobile home moving from west to east on the top 5th level of the Dallas High 5. It was so weird to see a house up there, some 120 feet above grade level.That is looking into the office buildings 10th floor. That was a totally unexpected event and proved to me even more the reason I have always traveled with my cameras. Making shots like that are lost in a moment if not paying attention, or by doing a simple thing like keeping the hot sun contained while in a warming environment of today. 

A cold front is on the way for the weekend with temps in the upper 70s and much lower humidities. The thing about cold fronts in Texas other than winter is that they are usually short lived.

 

 

Cannot do any hurkle-durkling or any WCS. I already burned that candle on Wednesday

 What the heck is he talking about? You don't want the long answer because that goes back 200 years where it began as a Scots term. The short answer could be the route to take here. 

The old Scots term of hurkle-durkling was used to indicate a meaning of lounging in bed well past the time you were supposed to get up. That has never been my style. I get up with my internal clock every morning at about the same time, give or take a couple of minutes on either side. That goes back to my teen years when I had a entire small town route for a large newspaper publisher owned and operated by Gannett Co., Inc.  delivering to the entire town of 1498 people, where most were customers. It was a chore and my dad would help with the Sunday Papers driving me in the car loaded with heavy newspapers filled with ads. Every one got screen door service. But for a teen, the money was fantastic.

So, getting up early and getting the day started just became a habit that continues even until today. And, with that history, the WCS fits right in there just about [here]. That stands for weekend catch up sleep. Quiet simply, there was none. However, there was a slight adjustment made with this one. It meant going to bed earlier than normal bedtime. This past Wednesday, I went to bed at 7PM and did not wake up until 7 AM the following morning. In my book, that took care of about four weeks of WCS. That has never become a habit, either. I like to say, "Only when needed". That need usually is about the time that we switch Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time on either side shortly after the change. 

                                                        An early morning painter

April Steps Fell, Weather brought shut-in days. Happy May Day, Too!

Springtime in Texas is mixing up the cold air with the warm moist Gulf air inflow, but it was still, a pretty good month weather, health and sales wise over all. And, I'm even ready for National Turtle Day this month on Thursday, May 23rd. 

Thistle's are amazing weeds. The geo-patterns and colors just don't come to mind when you think of a weed that grows along fences, around construction sites or in a field that has been unattended for a while.