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.

Seasons Greetings

 Alfie the Yorkie and his new best friend want to wish everyone an absolutely wonderful Holiday season and lots of really fun games to boot.

Early Texas Freeze

  Every year, in the fall the Gaylord Texan Resort brings in thousands of pounds of ice, a crew of ice sculpting artisans from Harbin, China and creates a frozen wonderland. This year the theme for Ice! is a Charlie Brown Christmas and the creators are taking full advantage of the capabilities of coloring ice in the design. Using chisels, chainsaws and scrapers the creations are amazing to see

The entrance title carving.

Chainsaws make great cutting tools for large blocks.

Ice can be clear or an assortment of colors.

With layers of color and clear ice, an entire room is created.

Carving a nose with a scraper

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Terrierist Extraordinaire

  From my experience with young dogs I have known the difficulties of trying to bend the ideas of a playful pup to aligning with the norms of human society. Those unexpected puddles and little smells in places you don't expect always get the temper to escalate. For some reason I am having a harder time with our new Yorkshire Terrier puppy Alfie than I remember having with my chow mix Kimo. Size might have something to do with it or it might just be the silly little faces he makes, trying to keep you from getting ad at him. Whichever it is, I am determined not to be swayed and bend him to my will, I am not going to cave!!

The face of the terrierist.

"Who me, what did I do"

Beach Party

  Proof that sand between your toes gets everyone in the mood for a party. Our pups Alfie and Rosie met a dog on the beach in Frankfort, Michigan
along the shores of Lake Michigan and instantly started to play. In no time at all they were making Conga lines and rolling in the sand. Instant party even without the beach umbrella drinks.

Doggie line dancing.

Road Tripping

  Well guess where we went on our summer vacation? Since it was Alfie's first he had to do something easier to learn the rhythms of the road. Rosie started by drinking from the fountain in the middle of Belle Isle in Detroit. She forgot her passport so she could not visit Windsor. Then the road took them to the shores of Lake Michigan and Alfie carried stick that he claimed were logs felled by Paul Bunyan and Rosie tried to raise the water level. All in all a great trip and the adults even survived.

Furry Critters

  Met a pair of furry friends, one a rather large and very docile German Shepherd named Darcy and the other a really cute and small Prairie Dog named Prince. They have bonded and are now best friends but owner Taylor Williams has to treat them a little different when they go on walks since Prince the Prairie Dog just can''t keep up. He gets his own ventilated back pack so he gets to tag along,

Best buddies.

Prince gets an adapted cat carrier. 

Prince wears a leash when out and about.