Another 30 Pelicans Have Arrived Right On Time.

Well, last year, the pelicans were here on October 12th. About  ten days ago, the core of 17 arrived to stake their claim to the lake. Today, another 30 had arrived over night. I even got a shot of three in flight over the dam. But the bigger news is that after receiving word about a month ago that the Monarch's were in flight over Lake Erie on their migration to Mexico, today, I saw the first one on a milkweed plant covered in honey bees. It was starved for energy-building nectar after a long, long trip this far. Even tons of honey bees could not keep it for dining. They still have about a thousand miles to go yet.

It is also amazing to me that with all the hurricanes in both the Gulf and in the Eastern Pacific off the coast of Mexico, that the butterflies timing is just unbeatable. The Pacific hurricanes south of Baja cut across the central mountains of Mexico and come in over West Texas. Maybe that is why we are on the migration path. It seems they come down right in a valley of air currents. Little frail butterflies on wing all that distance. Amazing. One cold front has passed, the next one is due tomorrow night and will drop the temps some 25 degrees for a couple of days before going back into the upper 80s. October is such a roller-coaster of temperatures here. Not complaining---snow birds!

American White Pelicans here until about mid February

Rest stop for migrating Monarch Butterflies

The honey bees were 50 or more per bush but the butterfly was going to rebuild its strength none-the-less. I saw one bee try to sting the butterfly but he stayed right where it was hanging.

Observing the Birds Today

Some days just lend themselves to being mundane, yet so revealing. It was a lazy afternoon. Its  ending found me sitting  on a bench and watching the birds that make the core of the domesticated stock. Once in a while I do that because it never fails that I see something or learn something about the birds that helps me photograph them better in future encounters. Watching the wildlife isn't always just a therapeutic rest, but it does calm the soul from the rushing of life.

Another photographer came by and sat down next to me. Together, we shared photographic past. It was just about a month ago that someone ask me a question and I tried to explain how I had photographed one object hundreds of times but just had not found the effect that I had wanted to produce. Then, it happened and it was like being struck by a lightening bolt that brought me to the exact point in time that was made for that image to be made. All three came out exactly as I had envisioned originally. Today, the photographer and I were talking about such things and I had explained to him from a question that was ask that you get into a routine of shooting a certain way and the creative mindset is still there, it just doesn't come out in the way you see it. He still shoots with that clearcut way unencumbered and I tried to encourge him never to give that up at any cost.

The pigeons were nervous. They would land and then take off again.

This goose was rounding up a few of the pigeons and made it very well known that the hawk should leave.

The hawk flew in front of us landing in one tree, then coming back closer to us and finally up in my old sycamore that I love so much. From there he took off and headed back to the area where he usually hangs out.

Halloween Scary-Stuff Has Begun

Last Saturday on my rounds, there was a semi-tractor trailer at one of two local churches that I usually check out about this time of year. They both have large pumpkin patches that are pretty super for their pumpkins and also for their own decorations. One of the churches even donates their proceeds to an Indian Reservation a state west of here. It is my favorite for their mission work but also for their decorations and consideration for those that purchase pumpkins.

The week before, I had started watching for signs that  would be an indication that they would be selling pumpkins again this year. And in the process it has been noted that some pretty scary yard displays have already popped up. Some are rather simple, but show the spirit that  I have always looked forward toward. It sets the tone for the two holidays of the season that we all seem to honor;  with our own traditions and the traditions of others.

Yesterday, while checking on the progress of the Monarch butterfly arrivals at the lake, I got that sudden and unexpected WOW surprise as I came around a curve on the West Lawther side of the lake on the downside curve from T & P hill. The lakefront homes that are on the hill side escarpment overlooking the lake usually decorate their home with some neat stuff. One year in the past,  one of the driveway gates were done in some pretty neat spiderwebs with jack-o-lanterns in the flowerbeds. And, one of the homes that I favor architecturally usually comes up with some nifty stuff, too. A big pumpkin sitting on top of the two outer and two inter gate column coping caps are stunning. 

This home, in the years past has tended to keep things rather simple but with a whole lot of class. I also favor that type of decorating over the full-gawdy look that some do by overdoing or just being carried away with the thrill or joy of doing some decorations. We've all been there. The old adage, "keep it simple, stupid" is always a winner in my book. And, that same home that I favored for its architecture not only gave me that WOW effect when I first saw this years display, it stopped me dead in my tracks. It took a couple of minutes for me to catch my breath to where I could make a judgment on what I though of the whole scale of the decorations. In the end...I'd say that the owners did a super job of creativeness in creating a show stopper with plenty of class and simplicity. Well done.

The eyes have blinking red lights that show up in the daylight. I can only imagine what it would look like at night.

Actually, with the stone work and the new gate, the size and the theme are all plus factors.

There are four skulls total. Equally balanced and positioned for full effect.

Today Is....

My favorite  leaf, the Sycamore. I measured one today that was 15-inches by 11-inches.These are at the very top of the tree but I have a feeling that they are about that same size as the ones that I measured.

National Look at the Leaves Day and National Butterfly and Hummingbird Day. Just happen to have a few shots today of such things.

WRR Radio, the classical station  here in Dallas, has a weekly program at 8 P.M. our time (CT) featuring a Symphony Orchestra  each night. Tonight's broadcast is from the New York Phil and the program is once again playing Mahler's Requiem, in memory of those that were lost in the Las Vegas Shooting. It seems that they, NY Phil, plays this when there has been a major national tragedy. The chorus and the orchestra together have a very deep meaning for me. Gustav Mahler and I would have made good friends in our musical thinking.

So, the rain has finally made its way up from the Gulf as this post is being written. Eagerly, I am waiting for the 50 degree nights due next week when the day time temps will be in the 70s finally. It really has been a long hot summer. It hasn't been that Texas Sizzle that drains your energy completely, but it''s been hot non-the-less.

Sorry that I didn't come across a hummingbird. So, I'll sub in for the hummingbird, the place where the mallards have been hanging out this summer to stay cool. The tires and the ducks kind of blend in. Click on any of these pictures to enlarge and see the details closer.

Under the training sail boats are 10 mallards in the shade.

A butterfly recharging it's energy with some nectar for the milkweed and others that draws butterflies like honey to a bee.

Water Towers Are Not All About Water Anymore.

The expansion of cell phone use can be seen just about anywhere. You don't see anyone hardly anymore that doesn't have a phone in there hand or up to their face. The second part of that equation is not only the number of cell phone towers but the increasing number of decks being added to those towers that are already an eye sore of sort. Last week I even saw a cell tower in that now famous triangle arrangement that was covered with a dome like a radar at the airports. Get this. The dome was a dead give away in that it was not round. It was---wait for it----triangular in shape. Now that excites me. Who in the world would go to that length for a cell tower when they are everywhere, bare and cable exposed!

Besides, we have all seen the high tension towers for power lines that runs across hillsides, through meadows, down mountainsides with as wide of a right-a-way as the tower itself. Plus, an equal amount on either side of the outside wires that are strung from tower to tower. Now, the city has started to create additional bike trails that wind there way along these cut right-of-ways with flashing pedestrian crossings at streets underneath the wires mile after mile after mile. They even have names for the section of trail done in stone work and steel mind you. Water fountains for not only you but the kids and the pouch are part of this money grab. Looks like a stepping stone on a toadstool. Nice. But, dang, there are still streets with mammoth potholes from three years ago! But that little gem we will let ride for another days post.

Now, even those, the trail high tension towers, are adding cellphone triangles at their tops. While that kind of cellphone tower makes more sense to me than the single pole type that juts up from  the corner of a church parking lot or behind the local Jimmy John's sub shop's alley, or even a neighborhood's girls soccer field. Even the soccer field abuts the local Kroger store and makes a couple of turn lefts-turn rights and still ending up with a cell tower at the end of the club house area  near the covered patio with picnic tables. There is, of course a lots of reasons for the choice of a site for these things. What is even more amazing is that to get the people to say okay to putting one on their property, there is a little pie sweeteners called  a monthly rent check from the cell provider. That raises even more questions about the utilities getting rent from the cell providers. Do you see a reduction on your monthly Edison (electric) bill? No. I bet you don't! So where is that money going?

Today, as I started out and traveled my regular Sunday route, I noticed a cell tower in a shopping center where I shopped before moving farther way from the old neighborhood. It's on both sides of a major street. There is a water tower set back out of the way that has had a few microwave dishes mounted to its catwalk railings. They encircle the tower beginning at the bottom of the tank and going upwards to the top were a little red light is required by the FAA. It is on the approach area for Love Field. Not so bad. It's stood there for years and likely will be there for more years to come. But, I also noticed a shocking event happening. Workers in multi-high cherry pickers and others with there little boatswain chair seats already attached to their rear ends.I pulled into the parking lot, made the circle to the side where the tower stood and got some shots.  Remember that those white pop sickle sticks are transmitters sending out that little signal or receivers and are the length of a six-foot tall man.

Just for comparison, I also ran across a tower crane being disassembled with one section of the cross bar already on the ground. It was higher than my car and through the sunroof, it was visible about another two feet. That tower crane will now go to a customer that has been waiting over a year to get it. In the metroplex currently, there are more than 100 tower cranes that are up and running. I counted 15 in downtown and 4 more at Love Field that are on my Sunday route. Today there were 3 at Medical City and 1 at White Rock;  2 at Northpark. That's a quarter of the 100 right there. Sundays are good for things like that when the traffic can endure more lane closings while another crane takes one apart. There are others on the tip of my tongue, too. It's mind-blowing.

Water Tower, Microwave towers and Cell Tower

The top deck is without any equipment---yet!

The man with his boatswain chair will need  as he rises upward to the higher deck above the  round dish to the infamous triangle that points the way.

The World Is Messed Up!

If you haven't noticed in the age of social media and other light news lately, the world is messed up! It also seems to me that during the course of my lifetime, things have gone from the good-old-days to the terrible-days-we're-in. That's just my observation, mind you, but I'm fairly confident that there are more than just a few out there that feel the same strains that are pulling on society.

What brought this up---you ask?  Well, I'd like to say nothing in particular but as it turns out--- it's every thing in particular. Neighbors against neighbors. Workers against management. Governing bodies against constituents. Political party against political party. Military against military That is, of course, the tip of the iceberg, the blunt end of the sword, the short end of the stick. The Howdy and the Dowdy of it all. Which, saving the best for last is or was the Howdy and the Dowdy. Just yesterday, I said to my self, "I wish I had my digital recorder with me. These drive times could be used in creating a comedy routine."

The things that I see while making my rounds is the point of this. I begin to see things that the average person would not even know was going on or what a parked car could mean in a parking lot. I don't even mean to imply that it is all nefarious. But, in today's world, being cautions and not walk up on something is a much more keen safety awareness than ending up being shot. Having a bit of street smarts is far better than having none.

 Years ago, when I came back to Dallas, I'd walk up to the drugstore to pick up a refill rather than drive less than a mile each way. I enjoyed being out in the fresh air and just taking in the sights and sounds of a big city that I love.  As I came back to my mom's place, I'd see these tennis shoes hanging from the telephone wires. I'd never seen that before. When mom would come home, I'd mention to her about the funniest thing that I saw today. It was my mom who told me what tennis shoes over a telephone cable meant. It blew me away, actually. I remember saying to her, "you got to be kidding me?" Not totally  about the shoes over the wires as much as my mom knowing what it meant more than I did. But she had been an officer of the court and appointed to serve as a probation officer.  It was then that I started paying more attention to things than ever before. Rather late in life, I might add.

The first taste of my awakening was when I came back from Brasil and at Miami's airport when we cleared customs, I saw just how ignorant American's were to the rest of the world. Remember thinking then, also, that "this is not good". As it has turned out, we have gone asleep at the wheel, just like the TexDot guy said to me a couple of years ago when we were talking about the high tech equipment going in on LBJ635. He had said,"The people of Dallas don't even know it's to late, already." Since then, I have observed more examples of what he was talking about and to me, it is frightening. There are people next door (figuratively) that still think that if civil war broke out or some type of martial law invasion would happen, they would still have time to go to the bank or think life is still normal for them. In other words, they are not aware that conditions could be like the Mel Gibson movie, Mad Max.  Not in America!

Meet David. Senior Citizen. Retired from Army at 63

David  kayaks every week for a few hours. Including unloading and loading his kayak onto his trailer and stowing equipment.

David is 85 currently. He is a Legion of Merit holder.

They're Back!

A week or so ago, thoughts turned to the return of the pelicans to the lake. After checking the log from last year, it was noted that the pelicans returned on Columbus Day, the 12th of October.  Also, I had spotted a big blob of white a ways out from Sun Set Bay's dock on the logs that wash up on an ever increasing sandbar. But, it was only today, that I could, for my own satisfaction, confirm that the blob of white was indeed the core group of 16 pelicans, mixed with this years fledglings. The old male that knew the way down to Texas has been the leader the past couple of years, at least. It is my guess that with the cold already setting up north along the Canadian border, the "old man" took the rookies and headed out to claim the lake for another season. The older birds will bring what's left and come on down fairly soon, I would think.

There was snow in Montana last week and Idaho got a 9-inch snow fall already in the boarder towns that have ski lodges. With the trees already turning and dropping leaves here, it has been a general consensus that fall is coming early this year. Even the Farmer's Almanac at the checkout at Lowe's points to a pretty good winter up north. The National Weather Service has also indicated that the Great Lakes were going to have a rather "old fashioned" winter this year. That's cold and snow from early November through May generally. Been there, done that already for a number of years. Some of you will remember reading already this month on this blog where I mentioned the flipping of the leaves on the trees showing up. Our first 50-degree night time temperatures are due next weekend as a fall cold front settles in on us next week.

My doctor's office called  today around noon to tell me that they had messed up on the quantity for a refill and they had just corrected it with the pharmacy. While it wasn't that bad heat and humidity wise, I decided to head out early and swing by the pharmacy and come on in early today. There were pictures to load and to edit. It has been a busy month for pictures and the doctors. Plus, saving on gas as the price begins to fall isn't a bad ideal either. Gas today was at $2.449, down from the $2.599 when the hurricanes were shutting down the refineries in Houston during Harvey's rage.

Plus, as a bonus...meet my new friend that I discovered today. Enjoy

The core of 16 have arrived from up north.

New friend by accident
Beautiful white peacock. Look at the second, more traditional plumage up against the tree trunk in the background.

Big Bird and Little Bird.