Texas Total Solar Eclipse

 North Texas was lucky enough to have partly cloudy skies on April 8, 2024 so the total solar eclipse was visible for a couple of hours on a beautiful spring day. Giving all who saw it a little bit of a chill despite the typical Texas spring temperatures.

The progressing eclipses projected using a telescope.

Leaves create crescent highlights of the eclipse.

Keith House Piano Siting

 I got a chance to take some photographs of Cliburn President and CEO Jacque Marquis playing the piano as a group was invited by Adelaide Leavens to the new Keith House to site piano placement and seating bench arrangements for future performances. The space, located in the Edwards Ranch under a grove of huge oaks and pecans, creates a serene enclave in what is becoming a very busy part of the westside of Fort Worth.

North Woods Meteor

 With the passing of the yearly Persiade Meteor shower, the one frame I made of a meteor was in the North Woods of Ontario Canada, near Chapleau. In the deep, dark woods with thousands of mosquitos lurking I put my camera on the ground and used a flashlight to bring some color in the trees as the Milky Way framed between the tree tops. The exposure lasting up to half a minute gave me a chance at getting a frame or two with a streak from a passing speck of space dust or a pebble. Low and behold on the computer it shows up.

Wind Waves

 Headed to the lake for a quick windsurf session, but found the wind had raised a bit of chop on the water that was making the waves pitch over as they rolled onto shore in a rather magical fashion. Put a DJI Osmos in the water to catch a few pictures of the waves, just a little difficult to time the tube with the shutter lag involved with these cameras.

Texas Chill

   Precipitation in in Texas is a little on the rare side to begin with. To get the combination with cod temperatures is even less frequent. Since all that has to combine to get what most people would consider winter weather, North Texas is really rather sparse in that category. When it does happen it usually is the worst combination. For the past few days we have had thunder sleet, freezing rain, and a heavy glazing of ice just to make roads impassable, tree branches break and everyone just a little stir crazy.

Alfie's Lake Games

 Alfie the Yorkie does what he wants, because that is what kids do. When it comes to playing he is all kid. After a long day of exploring, demands to come and get in the car are answered with the creaking sounds of crunching on a found plastic bottle and playing keep away from anyone trying to coral the little monster in the last warm rays of a setting sun on an unseasonably warm fall day. 

Stockyards Santa Claus

    Met a western Santa today, a real western Santa. growing up in Alvarado and being the official Claus for the Fort Worth Stockyards, Mikey Richardson sports a real fulling length white beard and a pair of stingray boots to cap his loop stitched red jacket. Even had a drawl in his Ho Ho Ho laugh.

 

Big Sur Sunset

  A couple of frames from the sunset at a small beach south of Big Sur along the California coast. The beach was a little steep so the crashing waves just made a big shore pound which ruled out any chance of surfing. A beautiful spot non the less

for watching a pod of whales as they made their way north to the Monterey Peninsula.

Evening Porsche Drive

    Needing to do a little work for a friend in the country with no equipment needed to speak of, it seemed a perfect opportunity to take the long ignored 1983 Porsche 944 for a stretch of the legs. I can not remember the last time we went past the city limits so a drive of more than an hour into the Texas countryside was a welcome change of pace. The fact that we were preceding what has been predicted to be the equivalent to Snow-magedon just made it that much better. 

   I really did not expect to enjoy a jaunt down country roads in a nearly forty year old car to be so thrilling but I presume that is the benefit of having a badge from Zuffenhausen on the hood. The feel of a non assisted steering rack may be a little heavy in a parking lot but on the open road it is visceral, making the inputs to balance a bit of power oversteer at the rear sublime. 

  So now I sit in a warm house with a cold rain slowly turning to freezing rain falling outside, and I am content in the thought that the next warm day I can zip out of the garage and take mom's car out for another dash.

Bowling in Texas

   Who knew that bowling was the next pandemic hit. For the Fall Fashion shoot for 360 West we took advantage of the generosity of the folks at Bowlounge on Vickery in Fort Worth as a location for a fashion shoot with the latest former Miss Texas, Taylor Kessler who was a blast to work with and had no problem throwing around a ten pound bowling ball. Great space and a great folks made for a productive and fun afternoon. 

Wavey Sunset

 Washing back to shore with the last of a strong evening breeze, muscles aching from way too much time hanging on to the control bar of my kite. The scorching heat of the day has dissipated and now the splash of the water chills the skin. As I look to the West the last rays of the setting sun sparkle thru the tops of the waves lapping onto the shore. A calm slides over me an I feel true contentment. No matter what happens during the day, an evening like this brings out the true beauty in life.

Stormy Beach Day

   A strong cold front blew into the very southern tip of Texas on New Years Day with winds in the 40 knot range and gray skies. The tops of the waves rolling into the beach in South Padre Island were just peeled off and blown back to sea. I worried about the new year for 2021 after watching this introduction.

A German Christmas Memory

    With a parent from Bavaria, it is just natural to develop a taste for the fruit laden German delicacy of Christmas stollen from my fathers youth. To find someone that makes a really good example in the rural one stoplight town in North Central Texas is a real surprise. After spending the afternoon with Letty Thome and Marche Ann Mann at the Bakeshop in Boyd, Texas I definitely found the goods and feel like Christmas is just over the horizon, even if it is still in the 80's outside.

A mound of dough ready to divide.

A double dip of butter. 

A final dusting of powdered sugar.

A slice of Xmas.

Summer Storm

  On the first business trip after being Socially Isolated I ended up in a hotel in Sugarland, Texas as a summer thunderstorm rose up over the outskirts of Houston. I just felt like the introduction of a new normal was introduced with an apocalyptic storm. Beautiful to watch but glad I was not in it.

Sidelined and Watching

 I found a good excuse to take a few photos of the kiteboarding crew at Benbrook Lake. Had a little mishap and dislocated my right shoulder so I could not kite on a rather windy May afternoon. Always hate to be sidelined by injuries but left me with no excuses about taking some photos from the shore especially since we were kiting at Baja Beach for a different perspective. Complaints of it being really gusty but definitely had some push to the wind with gusts to 40 miles an hour.

Peter getting some airtime. 

Serena exploring a different shore.

Justin Moore throwing a little spray.

Martin Mitter launching over a windmill.

Justin Moore committing to an inverted front roll.

Martin Mitter airing it out.

Close up Beard

   I love to study objects and the closer you look the more you can discover. AS individual as its are in nature, it always amazes me how structural parts can be so similar especially among completely different species. I took a really close look at the beard of a bearded iris and on closer inspection, it looks so much like tentacles seen in sea life. The structure is the same as anemones and the cellular structure of the leaves looks like the scales on the skin of a ray. It seems that nature uses the same techniques in multiple applications.

The delicate tentacles of an Iris Beard. 

Water droplets on the beard of an Iris.

Special Sanctuary

Peggy and Tommy Wadley are long time members of the church. 

The Aisles are lined with exquisite stained glass.

The organ at the back has been rebuilt once, but is still beautiful.

  Peggy and Tommy Wadley are long time members of St. Stephens Presbyterian Church. They were also the first couple to be married in the beautiful church sanctuary which was completed 50 years ago at the location on a hill overlooking the Parkhill neighborhood in Fort Worth, Tx.