nature walk

 

Cloudy skies surrendered to sunshine this morning as we walked around the Lubbock Lake Landmark.  Publicized as a "photography workshop" of the native wildflowers and the wildlife of the archaeological lake site, the group consisted of birders, master naturalists and a few photographers.  I should have taken notes as terms such as "black crowned night heron" and "purple thread awn" were thrown about!  Thanks to the Landmark for this Oasis on the Plains Lecture Series event and to Kippra Hopper, tour guide.

 

 

 

Lubbock Lake Landmark

Lubbock, Texas

distillery dodge

 

Leave it to me to find a rusty, old truck in trendy Toronto. The Distillery District housed Canada's largest distillery from 1832 to 1991.  Then the brick and stone buildings were turned into shops, galleries and restaurants.  The leftover Dodge was kept as an industrial art installation.  The brick background is a contrast to the weedy pastures where I usually find old trucks!. 

Distillery Historic District
Toronto, Ontario
5.14.2016

peony

the audience

 

The Audience is a set of two original sculptural art installations placed on the northeast and northwest corners of the Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays. The exuberant fans, created by  Canadian artist Michael Snow, greet visitors with variations of fan behavior.  During my visit to Toronto, I resembled the photographer, with camera glued to face.  I became an exuberant fan of Toronto.

 

 

Rogers Centre

Toronto, Ontario

5.16.2016



you are here

 

With this morning's sunshine, droves of people in tour buses descended upon Phillips Square to have their photo taken (often with a selfie stick) at the Toronto sign.  Installed in 2015 for the Pan-American Games. the sign proved so popular that it's now permanent.  There are red  footprints indicating the best places to stand and people are encouraged to share at #share3DTO (if you're into that!).

 

Phillips Square

Toronto, Ontario

union station

 

We arrived in Toronto at Union Station after taking the express train from the airport.  Today I traveled from Union Station on the subway.  Union Station opened in 1927 and boasts of a Great Hall.  Unfortunately during my visit the Great Hall was undergoing revitalization and was filled with scaffolding and draping.  It was a major disappointment. 

 

Union Station

Toronto, ONT

 

 



flatiron building

 

The flatiron building wedged between Front Street and Wellington Street is a historic landmark of Toronto.  The Gooderham Building was completed in 1892.  Today it is surrounded by skyscrapers of the Financial District.

Toronto skyline

 

The Toronto skyline is dominated by the CN Tower, highest in the western hemisphere, and the Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays.  The city is impressive from a boat ride on Lake Ontario.  The flight paths of the Billy Bishop City Airport, ninth busiest in Canada, descend over Toronto to land on an island.

 



king street

 

After a relatively uneventful trip, we arrived in Toronto about dusk.  A stroll in the Entertainment District found a delightful Italian restaurant La Fenice.  We sat and watched the activities along King Street.

 

King Street

Toronto, Ontario

the lighthouse keeper's garden

 

From atop the Tybee Island Lighthouse

Tybee Island, Georgia

4.20.2016

manual typewriter

 

Whether it's vintage, repurposed, retro, kitschy or just plain junque, you can find it at the Fish Art Gallerie on Tybee Island.  This vignette brought to mind Mrs. James, the high school typing teacher.  Did your hands have the right arch over the keyboard or did you slump?  Manual typewriters (even those electric Selectrics) have gone the way of the dinosaur.  And typing has become keyboarding, an elementary school skill.  Who cares that I once could type 90 wpm?

 

Fish Art Gallerie

Tybee Island,Georgia

4.20.2016

early morning flight

 

One of the pleasures in visiting my friends at the lake is sitting on the porch and watching the birds over the water.

 

Eagle Mountain Lake

Azle, Texas

5.6.2016

chandor chinese bridge

 

Douglas Chandor, an English artist, married  local girl Ina Kuteman in 1934 and they settled in her hometown of Weatherford.  They surrounded their home with English and Chinese-themed gardens.  Today Chandor Gardens are open to the public.  I hadn't heard of either the artist nor the gardens, but enjoyed visiting this picturesque setting in the Historic District.  And because last Friday was National Garden Day, my take-home gift was a small Natchez crape myrtle -- already planted in my yard!

 

Chandor Gardens

Weatherford, Texas

5.6.2016

 



barn on dill road

 

We had a nice afternoon searching out old cemeteries.  Parker County has 112 or so listed. We discovered this delightful old barn enroute to Veal Station Cemetery.

 

Dill Road

Parker County, Texas

5.6.2016

water buffalo?

in Azle, Texas?

You're kidding.

 

 

 

 

Azle, Texas



abandoned on ross lane

 

Across Ross Lane from my friend's property is this junked 1956 Chevy station wagon.  I would have taken another photo from another perspective but the snarling dogs keep me in the car.

 

Wise County, Texas

pit master

 

Tonight cuisine won out over photography.  At Hard Eight BBQ the maître d' wears a t-shirt and the pit master serves you right from his grill. You pay by the pound for whatever you choose. I had ribs, brisket, sausage, corn-on-the-cob and cold beer. Certainly a square meal at the "square pair."

 

Hard Eight BBQ

Coppell, Texas

beach reflections

 

Today was cloudy with false promises of rain so I stayed inside and worked on my Georgia coast  images. Since it was a great  "photocation" with photographer friends, I have a few pictures to process (OK, there's 700 or so!)

 

St. Simon Island, Georgia

4.24.2016

hampton point marina

 

St. Simon Island, Georgia

4.21.2016

beach umbrella

 

St. Simon Island, Georgia

4.24.2016

baseball player

 

I didn't see any major league scouts at this evening's A's vs. Royals game at the Idalou Sticker Patch.  I suppose the 4-year old TBall talent is still raw. Great-nephew William probably won't even be drafted into the peewee league.  Baseball isn't really his thing -- he prefers right field over left because it puts him closer to the John Deere sign on the fence.  At his infield position he pays more attention to the rocks and bugs than the action on the field.

 

 

 

Idalou Sticker Patch

Idalou, Texas



for they shall obtain mercy

 

Christ Church on St. Simon Island is Georgia's second oldest Episcopal parish.  The dilapidated 1820 church was rebuilt in 1884 and is still an active congregation.  Both Charles and James Wesley preached on the island.

 

Christ Church

St. Simon Island, Georgia

4.21.2016

miss brenda joyce

 

The Miss Brenda Joyce was just one of the shrimp boats docked in Darien.  I was just a few weeks late for the "Blessing of the Fleet", a three-day festival ending with each shrimp boat being blessed in the hopes of safe travels and bountiful harvest.  Darien is on the Georgia "Agritourism Trail."  There were many bumper stickers that said "Friends don't let friends eat import shrimp" or "Say No to Drugs; Don't Eat Imported Shrimp" on the pickups parked at the seafood wholesalers by the dock.

 

Darien, Georgia

4.25.2016





st.simon's lighthouse

 

The 1872 lighthouse on St. Simon's Island was built to replace the one destroyed during the Civil War. And no, I did not climb the 129 steps to the top -- only viewed afar.

 

St. Simon's Island, Georgia

4.23.2016

sunrise at driftwood beach

 

Jekyll Island, Georgia

shrimp boats

 

Darien, Georgia once had the largest shrimping fleet on the Georgia coast, with several shrimp and oyster packing houses in town along the banks of the Altamaha River. Supply and demand of shrimp and increasing costs such as diesel fuel and loans on bigger, more modern boats have resulted in economic uncertainty in recent years. Today, Darien's shrimpers struggle to survive against competition from cheaper, imported shrimp. Many boats, like these are docked.

 

Darien, Georgia

horses of cumberland island

 

Cumberland Island off the coast of Georgia is home to bands of feral horses.  Although I had hoped to see horses on the beach, today they were in the meadows. Cumberland Island, once home to the Carnegie family, is a National Seashore operated by the National Park Service and accessible only by boat.. There is still limited privately owned property but the feral horses outnumber the few residents.

 

Cumberland Island, Georgia

 



sunset on st simon island

 

St. Simon Island, Georgia

tybee lighthouse

 

The Tybee Island Light Station is one of America's most intact having all of its historic support buildings on its five-acre site.  Constructed in 1736 octagonal in shape and constructed of brickwork and cedar piles, at ninety feet tall, it was the tallest structure of its kind in America at that time. It;'s 178 steps to the top and I climbed every one of them!

 

Tybee Island Lighthouse

Tybee, Georgia

savannah sidewalks

 

I had a delightful day strolling the sidewalks of Savannah -- lined with oak trees dripping with Spanish moss.

 

Bay Street

Savannah, Georgia



three trees and storm clouds

 

Lubbock County, Texas

4.16.2016

Tahoka Daisy

 

Marketing is everything and horticulture centers  sell Tahoka Daisy seeds.  The story goes, according to the City of Tahoka website, that about 1898 the Tahoka Lake Ranch's foreman's wife noticed these flowers.  About 25 years later Mrs. W. A. Myrick of Lubbock became enamored with the flower and convinced Burpee's to include it in their seed catalog.  The Tahoka Rotarians carried seed packets to Rotary International conventions and distributed them to delegates from every state. You can probably find a Tahoka Daisy in a nearby vacant lot.  One woman's wildflower in another's weed.

 

Lubbock County, Texas

summer cowboy

 

A member of the Texas Tech Ranch Horse Team watches the club's saddle-breaking demonstration in the horse pen at the Ranching Heritage Center.

 

Lubbock, Texas

4.9.2016

schwabacher landing

 

While reviewing my Yellowstone trip images, I came across this forgotten gem. (I really need an improved process management system!).  Schwabacher Landing is on the Snake River (a few miles from where Ansel took his photo) is in the Grand Teton National Park.

 

Schwabacher Landing

Moose, Wyoming

9.14.2015



lamar valley

 

 

Today's rain reminded of a similar day last September while in Yellowstone.  As we left Lamar Valley, the sun came out and blessed up with a double rainbow!

 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

9.19.2015

It's boots and chaps
It's cowboy hats
It's spurs and latigo
It's the ropes and the reins

                       --Garth Brooks

 

Ranching Heritage Center

Lubbock, Texas

4.9.2016

heavy metals

 

Commercial Metals -- a junk yard by another name!  Reduce, recycle, reuse is the slogan for the metal recycler located outside New Deal.  The high steel fence can't obstruct the glimpse of the interior workings from the motorists on I-27.

 

New Deal, Texas

 



blacksmithing

 

Today was Ranch Day at the Ranching Heritage Center and after a rainy morning, hundreds of people wandered through the fourteen acres visiting the historic ranch structures and observing typical ranch activities.  The first structure erected at the RHC was this blacksmith's shop, which was moved from the Renderbrook-Spade Ranch.  Purchased by Isaac Renderbrook, ironically the manufacturer of barbed wire, the Spade Ranch consisted of 128,000 acres in Hale, Hockley and Lamb Counties.  The ranch name originated from the  spade-shaped brand recognizing the first herd's original owner J. F. "Spade" Evans.

 

Ranching Heritage Center

Lubbock, Texas

kaiser

 

The Kaiser was a short-lived car, produced for about a decade between 1945 and 1953, until the company was done in by the Big Three.  This sedan has probably been parked half a century or more.  An interesting tidbit: A Kaiser model was sold by  Sears Auto Centers during 1952 and 1953 under the brand name Allstate as a product of Sears-Roebuck.  I couldn't find a reason why the hood ornament has a buffalo but learned I could buy one on eBay for $9.99!

 

Rising Star, Texas

2.17.2016

Farmall 560

 

On Sunday I got a call from my dad to come and take a tractor picture.  From 1958 to 1963 International Harvester built 65,982 Farmall 560s.  The price for a 1963 model was $5,500. This was the model designed to get the edge on competitor John Deere.  Pop's friend Brooks purchased this Farmall 560 LP Gas new sometime in the 1950s.  After Brooks retired, the tractor made its way to a farm sale and was picked up by the auctioneer. Because of its age, it wasn't a hot item.  It sat awhile and when the auctioneer couldn't get it started, my nephew was called in. Seth got it running and ended up with the tractor, which he restored.  About the only modification-- made by Brooks-- was moving the headlights from the front to the middle.

 



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Farmall 560
Fortenberry Farms
New Deal, Texas
4.3.2016

getting ready for spring planting

 

This blue sky is not from today!  Today is a "red flag warning" day with brown skies, southwesterly winds 20 to 35 mph, 8-12 percent humidity and 82 degrees. Yet optimistic farmers are preparing for planting season even with the low market price of cotton for this year's crop.

 

Lubbock County, Texas

4.3.2016

Pity the poor cowboy who draws this bull for his eight-second ride.

 

ABC Rodeo

Lubbock, Texas

4.2.2016

saddle up

 

ABC Rodeo

Lubbock, Texas

4.2.2016

grooming for the grand parade

 

The 74th annual ABC Rodeo is in town.  Outside the Coliseum, a cowboy grooms his horse before the Grand Parade.

 

ABC Rodeo

Lubbock, Texas