A TREK TO THE PINEY WOODS OF TEXAS

The first weekend of December was "the weekend" to drive to the piney woods region of the state (East Texas) for the annual selection and cutting of the Christmas tree. The drive to Lindale, Texas takes about 90 minutes and is just far enough to make one feel the big city is far, far away.

The Christmas Tree Farm is also home to some 4H animals. This year the stock was 100% different than last year. This was taken through the wire cage. Loved the contrasting colors.

Since the weather was beautiful (crisp but not overly windy or cold) we decided to have a picnic lunch along the shore at Lake Tyler State Park. Naturally I set out with camera in tow to see what I could find in the way of flora and fauna.

This photo turned out a bit dark, but I love what the exposure did to the color of the water.

Toward the end of the afternoon the colors of the foliage started glowing in the reflections.

The ride home was spent taking a zillion shots of the sunset (I was the passenger). I need to practice this since I am none too pleased with the results. I get my settings wrong and then the foreground looks blurry. Oh well. The colors painted across the sky were exquisite regardless of my photographic abilities... or lack thereof.

Until I find more time...

GENA

A DAY OF THANKSGIVING

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is blaring from the television. The pie is made. The turkey is ready for the oven. Now for the aroma to fill the house.

The autumn color in the city has emerged in the recent week or two. While it is never particularly spectacular by New England terms, it has been beautiful. I take the camera with me at every opportunity and find myself frequently stopping on the side of the neighborhood streets as I drive to the grocery store, to work, or to the house of a friend. Here are some of the finds.....

I was sitting at the traffic light on the way to work this past Tuesday morning. This was taken through my windshield as I waited for the light to turn green.


The colors in this yard have caught my eye on numerous occasions. The tree on the left is yellow; the tree on the mid-right is multiple colors - all one tree. Green, orange, red, yellow. It is gorgeous.

This is the crape myrtle tree in my front yard. The autumn foliage of the crape myrtle trees have been particularly colorful.

The other night I was headed home at sunset. As I crossed the bridge over the freeway this is what I saw to the west. A spectacular sunset of color.

And as if not to be outdone or forgotten, at the same time to the east the full moon rose in the sky. Gorgeous!

A little taste of autumn in Dallas, Texas. Hope everyone has a wonderful Happy Thanksgiving. Every day should be a day of giving thanks! There are many things for which I am thankful, despite the lousy chaos of life that seems to always subvert the expression of what is in one's heart.

Now back to the kitchen I must go.

Until the next time...

REWIND... then hit PLAY

We are enjoying a very pleasant autumn in this part of the country. Yes, we've had some needed rain, but at last the daily highs and lows are more temperate... almost... mind you, ALMOST... making it seem as if the unrelenting heat of the summer is worth enduring provided this is always the end result. But only almost!

Rewind to last Saturday afternoon and evening. My cohort and I ventured to the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park to experience the Hindu Festival of Lights Celebration.... known as Dewali. The local south Asian population was out en masse in their cultural garb to share the festivities with their community. The food was excellent and the entertainment enjoyable. We were definitely minorities but that made it all the more special and left us with the feeling we'd truly experienced an adventure. Plus admission was FREE and it only cost us a train pass to get there.

This is a fountain at Fair Park. I was waiting for some elephants to arrive and practiced varying shots of this fountain as the breeze carried the misting spray into the sunlight. I so enjoy experimenting with unique aspects of photographic composition.... like this rising mist.


At last the elephants arrive. The lead elephant is named Lisa and the handler kept saying "this way, Lisa" and "tail up". Lisa was guiding the second elephant by the trunk with her tail. The children were in line for camel and elephant rides during the festival.

Fast forward to yesterday. I've been on a major financial austerity program so it has been ages since I ventured to points beyond the immediate metropolitan area. Deciding I wanted to make a particular trek to a photographic opportunity while in the early hours of sunshine, I calculated it would be wisest to do it before the clocks reverted to standard time and the sun would begin presenting itself an hour earlier each day.

We met for an early breakfast and traveled southwest to find the Brazos River. I had a destination in mind which would offer the setting I desired. It involved following a maze of farm-to-market roads and rural county roads, some nothing more than gravel roads. At one turn we found this sign in a rock.

Jumping back into the SUV and again traveling the road, we soon reached the destination and were not disappointed.

An exquisite, old bridge crossing the Brazos River. It is no longer in use, but remains in good enough condition that foot traffic can access it freely and safely.

From the opposite end...

The river seems rather low but that isn't surprising since the lake which it feeds was a record 12 feet low in recent months. Some areas still need rain desperately.

Ahhh. There is something so appealing to my senses about rust. I truly don't understand it.

View from the current bridge in use.

While seeking the next point on our journey.... a park... we were directed to travel a gravel road. We never did find the park, but we found this wonderful rough-hewn canyon through the rocks for the railroad track. The only thing which would have made this discovery more perfect would have been the approach of a train being pulled by an old steam engine.

Finally finding our park, I surprised my companion with a picnic lunch which I'd prepared especially for the day. This guy decided he wanted to join us!

All destinations featured points along the Brazos River. The parks generally allow both day use and overnight camping. One of these days I am going to give the overnight camping a try.

As we enjoyed our lunch I kept snapping photos of various wildlife.

This white crane/egret entertained my lens for quite some time. Then I started taking telephoto shots through the trees and brush with focus in the distance.

Waterfowl in the distance.

Another park along the Brazos.

Apparently my love affair with things rusted or stark continues...

These adventures have soothed my soul. Hopefully they will never fail to do so.

Until another post...

STATE FAIR OF TEXAS 2010

It is autumn and that means the annual State Fair of Texas has its usual 3 - 4 week run. In the 1960s I went to the fair a couple of times, but until the last few years I'd not attended the event since those 60s. It is one of those events about which one has a tendency to become complacent because it is in the same city. Typically we venture to the fair toward the end of its run; this year we went the opening weekend. It allowed seeing things from a different perspective.

We started in the animal barns, mainly because that was the parking lot we used. It didn't bother me a bit. I adore the fair animals as much as I enjoy seeing them at the Fat Stock Show each winter.

This goat was in an exhibit geared toward city children who are unfamiliar with farm animals. He posed so nicely for me.



We watched the cattle being unloaded from the trailers and put in their stalls. First they got weighed. This fella weighed 1325 pounds. What amazed me was the next specimen to be weighed was 1011 pounds and there was no visible evidence of that missing 300 pounds. I'd figure it to have been a noticeable amount.

I stood watching the cattle get bathed upon arrival. It was interesting to note how each individual person did the washing. Some used powerwashers with preloaded soap; others used Dawn dish soap and a regular scrub brush. Regardless, the cattle didn't seem to mind one bit.

This piece of beef was gorgeous!

More cattle being led to their stalls after being washed.

Across from the cattle pens are the horses. The Dallas Police Department Mounted Patrol houses their horses in one of the buildings. We watched as the shift changed and the officers mounted their huge horses. These were some of the tallest horses I'd seen in ages.

Not far from the animal barns is the Creative Arts Building. This is where the winners of the crafts were displayed. The photo behind the glass that looks like a swirling nautilus shell is one of my entries. It won Honorable Mention!! I was thrilled to get the ribbon since this was the first time I'd entered the statewide competition.

This is a wonderful fountain. The day was beautiful.

Big Tex says, "Howdy, folks!"

The mounted patrol on its way to get in line for the evening starlight parade.

I thought this was a cool picture since the Cotton Bowl was in the background.

Little Miss Texas. She walks around the fairgrounds handing out pictures of herself to other little girls.

The floats in the evening parade are very colorful.

This was my favorite float.

These costumed characters on stilts were very bright and colorful.

This man definitely was in the spirit.

The giant Texas Star ferris wheel.

I spent the majority of the evening taking pictures of the Texas Star... from every angle and while displaying every color. In all, I took over 500 photos during my visit and at least 300 must have been of this attraction. I was playing with my 50mm lens. It was purposely the only one I took since I didn't want to carry camera gear. I didn't even take a purse. It was my self-imposed challenge to take photos without benefit of wide angle or telephoto lenses. One I enjoyed, I might add. It put me outside my comfort zone in such a large space though, particularly since I still adhered to my "no flash" habit. It's much easier to use the fixed focal length lenses in smaller, more confined spaces.

The Cotton Bowl sign was glowing between the supports of a Pirate Ship ride in the Midway.

A parting shot as we begin walking back to the parking lot.

We had a wonderful time. We tried all the 2010 fried food winners to mixed reactions. Hands down, the Deep Fried Frito Pie was delicious. Fried Margarita was not too bad. Fried Beer was disgusting!!! But Fletcher's Corny Dogs were their traditional tasty.

Now to start the hunt for the perfect pictures for next year's photo contest!!!

Until another adventure....