Sunrise this morning was spent at Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The weather was clear and cold. I didn't know how cold until I got back in the car to drive back down...The temperature was 19°. Here's what I saw as the sun came over the horizon... And…
I closed yesterday with a shot of sunset so lets open the day with the morning sunrise fro the other side of Asheville... Heading back to breakfast I stopped at the French Broad River Overlook and caught this... Now its time to get ready for the Biltmore Estate and any…
We drove into the darkness on Sunday to get to Birmingham. The only observations from the drive on Sunday were we both commented on how dry Mississippi looked. It was a noticeable change right at the state line. The roadside went from green in Louisiana to brown looking in Mississippi.…
The mapping software I ordered from DeLorme arrived late on Wednesday night so Thursday morning was spent installing booth programs and checking the GPS receiver during my regular blogging time. I must say that what little time I've had to play with the software and the GPS sure has me…
I walked out of the house yesterday to see this sight... The color of the sky was so arresting I had to grab a shot. Then I waited to see the sun peak over the tree tops. This whole daylight saving time is screwy though...I shouldn't have to wait till…
Where once there was laughter...Silence This week's challenge: 'Silence'. Please read our Participant Guide before deciding to submit a link. Your link must be to a static page that will always show your challenge image, and not your website's main page. Read this for more info. Reminder: Submit only one…
Our first Grandson had his first birthday party over the weekend and I finally managed to process some shots. The capture above was of him and his personal birthday cake...He had fun until he noticed everyone was watching and laughing... All of the little ones at the party seemed to…
This week's challenge: 'The City'. Houston on a beautiful winter day in February of this year. Taken while attending a National Geographic Photography Session at the U of H Downtown Campus. This week's challenge: 'The City'. Please read our Participant Guide before deciding to submit a link. Your link must…
The long overdue trip into the Blue Ridge Mountains is almost here (knock on wood). I almost feel like I shouldn't even think about it unless I jinx the whole affair. This trip is about as unstructured (and unplanned) as any we have ever done. No kids(?), no agendas, just…
From my drive on Monday... I went looking for this shot as there is no way you can call this windmill "on the way home"...Though I drive by it often enough. Of all the windmills I am acquainted with I like the looks of this one the best... ++++++++++ It…
From my drive home yesterday. The weather was threatening to follow me home...but it didn't. The clouds were amazing. And a little post processing in Photomatix Pro never hurts to bring them out in HDR. I drive by this location regularly since I first discovered it last fall. For a…
“What politics has become, requires a level of tolerance for triviality and artifice and nonsense that I have found in short supply.” - Al Gore ++++++++++ The MSM has been abuzz ever since the announcement with the question of Al Gore running for President. I have just one question...Why? Why…
The weather out is delightful, even the humidity has fallen below 90%. Morning temperature is 64°. The skys are clear and the day has yet to break. We should be heading into a beautiful weekend. It could be time for a photo road trip... ++++++++++ Well...It looks like the Industrial…
The alarm clock is failing in it's efforts to motivate me out of bed this week. The fall weather (another tease, I am sure) is not helping it in it's appointed task. The snooze setting of 30 minutes normally gives me that extra little bit I need to go ahead…
I never thought I could get this excited...Driving home yesterday I heard the weather prognosticator calling for "seasonable" temperatures this weekend. My goodness, who would have thought that "seasonable" would be the new cool... I can only hope they are right...We can hardly complain. Our summer was not it's normal…
I keep seeing these high record notices scattered up and down the east coast. New York, New York (10001) Conditions & Forecast : Weather Underground Record high temperature set at Kennedy...a record high temperature of 90 degrees was set at Kennedy today. This breaks the old record of 75 set…
HDR Slideshow
I am just about moved into this new blogging machine. New computers are such a pain as you try to get all of the essential programs installed...Even the ones you forgot were essential right up until they were needed. But I am beginning to feel comfortable that I can get…
My new toy finally arrived from Dell yesterday...A 17" laptop with some bells and whistles to make photo editing easier. I planned to post the first blog this morning. I got a little sidetracked with a phone call from a high school buddy making arrangements for the 35th reunion this…
From Coffee Muses Babe in his mother's arms...That's comfort. This week's challenge: 'Comfort'. Please read our Participant Guide before deciding to submit a link. Your link must be to a static page that will always show your challenge image, and not your website's main page. Read this for more info.…
Galveston, Texas as the sun comes up over the Gulf of Mexico on a fall Sunday morning... This week's challenge: 'The Beach'. Please read our Participant Guide before deciding to submit a link. Your link must be to a static page that will always show your challenge image, and not…
When I wandered in to the kitchen for that first cup of coffee this morning the weather station on the shelf informed me that the outside temperature was at 70°. I didn't even bother to look at the humidity so I can't report what it might have been but the…
The fantasy of a fishing camp on a week day while working away at the office.....You don't even need a hook and bait. This week's challenge: 'Fantasy'. Please read our Participant Guide before deciding to submit a link. Your link must be to a static page that will always show…
The sky on an autumn morn as the sun comes over the horizon... This week's challenge: 'Purple'. Please read our Participant Guide before deciding to submit a link. Your link must be to a static page that will always show your challenge image, and not your website's main page. Read…
The Labor Day weekend played out long as usual. The bar-b-que was well received by one and all. I think we ended up with a bakers dozen here at one point or another during the afternoon. We pigged out, literally...Ribs and sausage (though there was some fresh chicken sausage on…
I spend most of my time these days trying to ignore the insane direction that George W Bush and his enablers have taken this country for the past six years. Then the White House comes up with a strategy to push one of their failed agendas that screams out for…
We are starting an update of our bathroom today. I went in to this project with some misgivings. Today's start has not made these misgivings go away. Realize please, our house predates electricity and most probably indoor plumbing. So needless to say the house only has one bathroom. It was…
As a youngster growing up on the Gulf coast I naturally became a bit of a rockhound. Makes sense doesn't it? What with no natural rock formations being available within a hundred miles of where I lived. I think the rocks that first caught my eye, and are still my…
Unfinished Grandson... This week's challenge: 'Unfinished'. Please read our Participant Guide before deciding to submit a link. Your link must be to a static page that will always show your challenge image, and not your website's main page. Read this for more info. Reminder: Submit only one link per challenge!…
Old Friends And old photo's of Old Friends... We still get together once and a while, me and my old friend from the 6th grade...It is over 40 years ago that I developed my first school boy crush on this old friend. She went on to be the steady of…
The predawn hours have been accompanied with the distant rumble of nature's own percussion section. Tropical storm Erin moved ashore just northeast of Corpus Christie this morning and the outlying rain bands began to come ashore here yesterday morning. So far we have managed to dodge the heavier bands of…
It's been a while since Fred First came up with this idea...contest? So I thought I'd throw out another mention just to see if I could push it about a bit... It would be neat for contributors from all over the country to offer their images to an aggregate gallery…
While most of the country encounters a Christmas Snow with a fair amount of regularity, this is the only known Christmas Day Snow in Brazoria County, Texas. I would think that would rate it as an "oddity". On Christmas Eve 2004 the snow began to fall at about 10pm. It…
In my internet wanderings and muses I find myself being drawn to many of the same subjects that interested me 3o plus years ago. It appears the wanna be back to the lander, mother earth news reader, Rodale convert from the '60's still resides inside these middle aged bones. Which…
This is what my front yard has looked like on way too many days this summer. This week's challenge: 'Wet'. Please read our Participant Guide before deciding to submit a link. Your link must be to a static page that will always show your challenge image, and not your website's…
Todays number is 32...The effects of swallowing the sun are beginning to manifest themselves. The gravel in my voice has become a whisper this week (along with the voice itself), and my energy level has fallen to a new low. Almost done... I was running through my Reader today and…
Todays number is 31...Look Ma, no voice...He said with a raspy whisper. If this doesn't look like the eye of an angry God, I'll eat my fire and brimstone upbringing. I have visions of a bird of prey here... The Helix Nebula Dust makes this cosmic eye look red.…
Technically, it's the last day of week six since the 4th fell in there and these treatments run their course in 35 days and not 7 weeks. But, since we started on a Wednesday, and we'll end on a Wednesday, this Wednesday will be the start of the week for…
From Coffee Muses This week's challenge: 'Vacation'. Please read our Participant Guide before deciding to submit a link. Your link must be to a static page that will always show your challenge image, and not your website's main page. Read this for more info. Reminder: Submit only one link per…
I got involved in a WordPress Upgrade this morning along with trying to find some answers to some questions Fred had with his migration to WordPress over the weekend. I'll try to post something this afternoon after my radiation shake and bake and Dr. musings...Later Oh, If ya really miss…
I see my Congressman is still stirring the pot... When U.S. Rep. Ron Paul recently gave the keynote address at a ceremony presenting overdue medals to 24 veterans, he talked about patriotism, the country's debt owed to veterans, the need for a strong military and strong personal freedom. What he…
We carry with us these footprints of vanished places: apartments we moved out of years ago, dry cleaners that went out of business, restaurants that stopped serving, neighborhoods where only the street names remain the same. Verlyn Klinkenborg - Remembered Spaces - New York Times Today's number is 24...One of…
This week's challenge: 'Barren' Taken in January 2005 on my last trip to Vegas... PHOTO FRIDAY Please read our Participant Guide before deciding to submit a link. Your link must be to a static page that will always show your challenge image, and not your website's main page. Read this…
Lady Bird Johnson dies at 94 | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle Lady Bird Johnson, a former first lady, a Texas legend, a woman who used the humble wildflower to teach an entire nation to treasure and preserve the environment, died Wednesday. She was 94. She was a damn fine Texas…
I have been lax lately in being the doting grandpa....Here are a couple of shots of the grandson . Father and son eating ribs on the fourth... Mother and son at rest...
Gray Day on Galveston Bay
Today will be the 9th radiation treatment of 35. You could say we are about a quarter of the way through. The strange thing about these treatments is you never know from one day to the next how your voice will react. Saturday everyone said my voice was stronger, Sunday…
One of the blogs I like that comes from the Appalachian Mountains is: Appalachian Treks Here's another bit of advice I read somewhere that changed the way I take pictures: Find a different perspective. The vast majority of all photos are taken from a position 5'2" to 6'2" off the…
What it is I dream of...
The weather the past two days was...to be nice...wet. Occasional heavy thunderstorms interspersed with steady rain. Short periods of local street flooding. One of the changes I have seen in my half century in SE Texas (particularly the flat coastal plain) is the change in road building styles and flood…
From My PhotoBlog at Gary-Boyd.com I just learned an interesting fact. If you ever had a Blogger Blog that you posted photo's to, you seem to also have a Picas Web Album for that blog. You can go to your Web Album and create a slideshow like the one above…
Currently: 73° Dewpoint: 72° Wind: Calm Humidity: 97% Pressure: 29.87 in Hg Average: High 91° Low 72° Record: High 102° (1998) Low 62° (1995) Today's Sunrise: 6:20AM Today's Sunset: 8:23PM (14:03 hours of sunlight) I am still working on a repeatable format for this blog, so bear with me. If…
You can always tell when election season rolls around, the Republicans start warning about voter fraud. And I love the way they do it... Georgia Law Requiring Voters to Show Photo ID Is Thrown Out - washingtonpost.com: "'There have been enough reports over the years of voter fraud that it…
A few days ago I thought I posted a comment on gas prices, but, for some reasons I could not find it anywhere. So here is a reprise...And the election season has begun...Isn't it just amazing that after months of exceedingly high profits for the oil company's and $3.00 a…
I was trying to come up with a way of expressing my feelings for this anniversary of the day America awoke to the realities of the world...This post led to same thoughts...Daily Kos: The lessons of 9-11: "The lessons of 9-11by kosMon Sep 11, 2006 at 10:53:17 AM PDTAravosis learned…