Let Down

A lot of excitement at the American League Championship Series, an electric atmosphere, a Josh Hamilton homer and it all looked wonderful for the Texas Rangers. Taking a 5 to 0 lead over theNew York Yankees early in the game.

In the eighth inning however, the wheels came flying off and the Yankees won 6 to 5, and that hissing you hear is the Rangers fans balloon deflating.

Scary Baseball

The Tampa Bay Rays came to Arlington, I thought the Texas Rangers were going to do some celebrating but instead they faced some really scary situations. Batters really watching the fielders, and the Rays bats came to life in two separate games. One last chance to break the playoff curse.

Summer Memories

As the weather is starting to cool off (yeah cool, it just isn't breaking a 100 degrees) it makes me think back on the summer that is so quickly beginning to fade. Just a few pictures of pretty simple scenes that you see along the way. I am gonna miss it as soon as it is gone. Then you have all the leaves changing colors the breezes picking up and all that the changes bring up. Right after that I am praying for snow so I can go ski and then you are right back to sun, warm weather and the heat of a Texas summer. Damn the time flies when you get older and the seasons pass so much faster than you really want them to.

A Real Luddite

It can be really cool taking pictures of peoples houses and possessions. You never know what you are going to run across. Looking thru the knick knacks on Robert McCann's coffee table, I was drawn to this little notebook he had sitting on it.

The cover just says think, and the inside is a small pad of paper. Behind the paper pad is the comment, for refills come to the IBM store in New York City or write to the company. Looked to be a 1960's vintage type of thing. It just amazes me how far technology has come in 40 years, from the very first "Think Pad" to what we have now, which are just really small super computers.

I find myself to be a little on the old fashion side, since this is my speed of "think pad". If you have the proper writing utensil you can even correct your mistakes, you can tear out pages and send them via mail. All those things that we now take for granted.

Cool drink

Found a new way to stay cool today. Just stand close as you shoot pictures of cold drinks. The chilly splash will cool anyone off. Makes a hell of a mess too.

Summer Storm

With the oppressive heat that every Texan equates to summer it can be difficult to think about anything else. Thanks to that heating though, we do get some massive evening thundershowers. When you end up in the right location you either get a gorgeous show of mother natures lighting capabilities or your lawn gets a soaking without your water bill going thru the roof. Either way you can not lose and it is all because of that oppressive afternoon heating. Guess I better stop griping and just look up more often.

New Door Gaurd

I think the summer rains have shifted the lives of the insects and animals as well as the plants in north Texas. Found this interesting creature in the bushes on the front porch. It is making me feel a little like the pig in Charlotte's web. I am not sure if I am allowed to head out that way.

Chasing Hurricanes

When you live in Texas it can be a little arduous to get a good day of surfing in, and even more difficult to luck into all the forces to work together to make a stellar day of wave sailing come together. In the summer, as everyone living along the gulf coast dread the arrival of hurricanes, surfers look forward to them. They always come at times that are not convenient for the schedule, so you always have to drop everything and run at a moments notice. 

I made the commitment to chase some swell as hurricane Alex approached the Texas coast and lucked out with a gorgeous day of surfing, kiteboarding and topped it off with an epic session of windsurfing in some of the nicest and biggest waves I have seen along that section of coastline. The fact that all the directions worked perfectly still takes my breath away. 

Ancient History

Getting out of the summer heat, I spent some time digging thru some files of negatives. Scanned some old black and white medium format images into the computer. Wow, they look like ancient history with all the modern digital stuff and technology that I usually use, but oh what images the old film stock could make.

These are from a kayak trip with a group of friends down the Grand Canyon in the 1990's. Truth be told it was just a few years ago but it feels like ancient history now, probably partly because of the film source. Ahh what memories of cold water it brings back. Really hard to believe that I think of cold when I see pictures of the Arizona desert.

Daily Discovery

Rather than just going on a dog walk this morning, I took Kimo on an exploration of the banks of the Trinity River near the Joint Reserve Base formerly known as Carswell. The folks at Stream and Valleys have actually made access to what is called the Falls on the Trinity really easy, so the dog did not even have to get his feet dirty. Operative words are "have to". Of course he loved it, even with the big snakes, snapping turtles and slimy algae he was skittering across the tops of what is a nice little drop creating a cascading fall on a tributary of the West Fork of the Trinity River.

A good little adventure and he came back mouthing to all his friends how he was in the country, even if we never got more than a stones throw from civilization.

Way Back Machine

You can see it all, the wall of flame rising. Palm trees ablaze in a plume of napalm as The Doors "This is the end" blares from the speakers. That opening scene of Apocalypse Now runs thru my head as the rotors spin up on the Hughes helicopter. You rise into the air, but instead there are only Texas cattle pastures below as we fly over the "target". It turns out that we are only taking pictures of a corporate campus but we are doing it from a beautifully restored 1968 Vietnam era helicopter. AS simple as the craft is, just a bubble and two seats, it is perfect for shooting aerials since there are no doors and the three blades makes it a much more stable platform than the typical 2 rotor Jet Rangers I have been in. Great fun flying in a classic machine, especially when you are supposed to be working.

Close Call

So had a discussion with Patty about the difficulties of being an umpire and trying to be in the right place at the right time. First picture is the ball coming to home plate, runner sliding in. Remember that he has to get to the bag before the glove of the catcher touches him with the ball. Judging by the position of all three in this instant, you make the call.

The second image tells you what the umpire saw, and shows you where he saw it from. I do not think he has the best angle view, but where else could he be to make the call? No wonder he has the toughest job in Baseball.

Wreaking Havoc

  Being a wind junky, I just can not imagine why people hate windy days. Watching the Texas Rangers play the Chicago Cubs in a baseball game last night and the trouble the teams had with pop up balls, I can see that they hate the wind the way I dread perfectly calm days.

  Just another example of to each his own.

Something New

Here is a true sign that I am spending way more time at home. I notice this long stalk emerging from the center of one of the aloe vera plants I have growing in a pot on my patio. I have been watching it for a few weeks thinking that it really resembled one of the beautiful century plant blooms I so often see in the desert. Yesterday I notice that the blooms were actually weeping a honey like nectar. I asked the green thumb folks that I now if they have ever seen an aloe vera plant bloom before, but it seems as unusual to them as myself.

Not that I am an expert or anything but I have had these plants in pots for more than 10 years and have never seen them do this. Turns out to be a really dramatic flower. It is the thing I learned today, these aloe vera blooms are yellow with a tinge of red and drip a really sweet nectar.

I'm writing that one down.

New Shape

Kind of neat to see what a few years of development in design and refinement can do especially with the modern materials that keep evolving. Since the sport of kiteboarding is still so young, a couple of years can be like going from the paleozoic to the cenozoic era (like a billion years of evolution or something) in one step. I have been riding a couple of kites that were designed in 2005, and the past couple of weeks I spent time on 2008 and 2009 models.

Wow, the equipment can make one hell of a difference. Don't get me wrong, the old C kites still work and I can still have a blast with them but the flatter shapes have so much more power and turn, fly and jump so much faster.

Rode a Naish Cult 9 meter in what I used to use a 12 meter C kite, never over powered, at times light but could generate plenty of speed anyway. It just created a way bigger window to work with. Technology can actually be fun to play with even for an old luddite like me.

Board Shorts

Ahhh! Temperatures are in the 80's, the wind is blowing a little. Perfect to get to the lake and do some kiteboarding. Guy, Justin, Mike and Jordan met at Benbrook Lake near Fort Worth, Texas for a session of big jumps, spins, flips and rolls.

Have to take advantage of the conditions before the summer doldrums show up and put an end to all the fun.

Working Legend

Growing up in Texas, the image and grandeur of the historical cowboy has always inspired me. I have met a number of them over the years and not always on ranches since it is an attitude as much as a character. I had the pleasure of taking some photographs of one of my favorites. Bob Moorhouse is the epitome of a real cowboy, having spent his working life at the Pitchfork ranch near Guthrie, Texas. He was the fabled ranch's manager as well as inspiration for an entire generation of cowboys.

He was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame as a ranch manager. Raised his kids to have a free spirit and enjoy themselves always. He now has a comfortable retired life closer to those daughters, but still riding horses and doing a bit more fishing.

After a conversation with him you can understand why young boys want to grow up to be cowboys.

Mowing

  Rain and warm weather in Texas and the first thing you get is a really good crop of thick green grass.  After wading thru puddles for two days, NASCAR was finally able to get the races run at Texas Motor Speedway a day late and as a double header. 

  Jeff Gordon and his Sprint Cup buddies did teach me a new way of mowing the lawn, and it even involves a bit of adrenaline since he was going about 180 miles an hour when the melee started. At the end of it all they blamed Tony Stewart and called it a no harm no foul racing accident.

   If we were on the street they sure would call some fouls on that.

Big Cheese

He hangs around most days on the living room couch, grumphs a little if he hears someone move. The only time he does anything strenuous is when the mail man comes. Then it gets a little crazy with all the barking and running from room to room.

Obviously he is just saving his energy for road trips and hikes in fields. Spent the day taking pictures in Cresson, Texas and Kimo got to go along. Judging by the smile on his face I guess he does not like bluebonnets. He was diligently romping around trying to step on as many as possible.

I think they got the last laugh though, he sprained his foot and spent the next couple of days limping.

Last Blast

  For anyone that grew up in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Texas Stadium in Irving has been a landmark for directions, a shrine for football fans and a traffic causing nightmare all in one. As of early Sunday morning April 11, 2010 all of that changed as more than 2000 exlosive charges brought the remaining concrete and steel of the almost 40 year old mecca of the Dallas Cowboys to a pile of rubble. 

   For some it was a truly sad day, for others it was good riddance. I am just wondering how I will ever find my way around Big "D" without the reference point of the old stadium on the horizon to guide me.