Happy New Year

This is the Homeless Christmas Tree. Standing alone and isolated near downtown Fort Worth, it is decorated to remind people of the plight of the homeless. For more information, Google "homeless Christmas Tree Fort Worth" and consider a donation to a homeless shelter in your city.

Merry Christmas

Colors of Thanksgiving

The trees behind our house have been more colorful this fall than usual. While past their peak now, they still have a lot of color. Happy Thanksgiving!

Robins!

Woke up this morning to find dozens of robins in the back yard. Got this photo of one that came up to the bird bath.

Postscript: They must have been just passing though, as I have not seen any since that morning.

First Frost

We had the first real frost of the season this morning.

That's the way the Cookie Crumbles

My daughter brought over some baseball cookies the other night when we watched the Rangers blow game six of the World Series. They went on to lose game seven to end their season. Oh well... "that's the way baseball go".

So Close!

In the ninth inning and again in the tenth inning of game six, the Texas Rangers came within one strike of winning the 2011 World Series. I was taking photographs of the TV screen to commemorate the impending victory, but it was not to be. On to game seven.

Celebrate!

The Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers to win the American League Pennant. They advance to the World Series for the second year in a row.

Back Yard: Butterfly on Thistle

I was taking photos of flowers in the back yard when I saw a small butterfly fluttering around. I waited to see if it would land on a flower, then noticed three butterflies already on a flower. I don't have a good shot that shows all three, but notice the butterfly on the back of this flower as well as the more obvious one. Note also that the head of the butterfly is at the bottom, not the top of the wings!

From apple.com

Most of the cool stuff I own is the result of Steve Jobs vision.

Light Show

We had another great light show tonight. The first shot is from the front yard. Second shot is from the back yard.

Rainbow

I noticed this beautiful double rainbow that went completely across the sky (sorry I don't have a wide enough lens to get it all) when I went out on the back patio this morning.

Ginger, 1997 - 2011

Ginger was a great companion and lived a long and healthy life. She was always smiling, like in the photo above taken this spring and the one below taken during the February snow storm.

Remembering

This photo was taken on October 14, 2001.

A Cool Change

A front moved through on Sunday and broke a long streak of triple digit temperatures. Finally I can enjoy sitting on the patio in the morning.

A Different Angle on the Game

Ina Kinsler gets a hit. We get to watch from these seat just behind the dugout.

Cardinal

The Cardinals have a distinctive chirp. We always know when they are on the patio eating.

Rain Over Me

After 40 days of triple digit temperatures, the streak was broken just two days short of the record Thursday when storms moved thru the metroplex. I don't think we got any rain at our house that day, but today the storm clouds rolled in and minutes after taking this photograph I felt the first raindrop in a couple of months.

It rained pretty hard for about 20 minutes, then slow and steady most of the night. Should be back to triple digit temperatures soon.

Day 38

It's the 4th inning at the Ranger game and it's 103 degrees! This is the 38th straight day of triple digit temperatures, and as you can see there is no end in sight. Friday we will tie the record for most consecutive days of triple digit temperatures.

23 Days and Counting

This is the 23rd consecutive day of 100 degrees or higher. I think our back patio is the hottest place in Texas!

Big Dipper

I was playing catch with the dog in the back yard just as it was getting dark and noticed that the Big Dipper was very obvious in the northwest sky. I finished playing with the dog and got my camera and tripod and took this shot. I believe Polaris (the North Star) and the Little Dipper are also visible in this shot.

Goodbye Space Shuttle

As the space shuttle Atlantis touched down for the final time, the NASA announcer spoke of the shuttle as "having fired the imagination of a generation". I wonder what, if anything, will fire the imagination of the next generation?

Big Bug

Found this guy on my back patio. There is nothing in this photo to give you a sense of scale, but this guy was close to two inches long. I have no idea what it is.

Crazy Like a Fox

I've seen this guy around the back yard early in the morning, but today he was out in broad daylight, kinda crazy behavior for a fox. He ran off when the neighbors dogs started barking at him.

Got Milk?

Based on Mom's reaction after this photo was taken, I would guess the answer was "no!"

Hummingbirds Return

Back at the end of March a hummingbird came around but left when he didn't find any feeders. Yesterday, the Forth of July, I saw a hummingbird for the first time since we put up the hummingbird feeders. This morning I was able to get this shot of one.

Happy Independence Day!

If you're in South Korea, you celebrate Independence Day on August 15. In Afghanistan it's August 19, Turkey it's October 29, Nambia it's March 21, Syria it's April 17. But here in the United States of America, it's July 4. And we celebrate with pyrotechnics (we blow stuff up).

Red, White and Blue Bird

I was on the patio grilling hot dogs for the Ranger game tonight when this blue bird flew up. I ran inside and grabbed my camera and got several shots of it before it flew away. (Dogs got burned)

Back Yard: Swallowtail Butterfly

I went out to mow and saw this butterfly, so I ran back in and got my camera. I followed this Swallowtail from thistle to thistle all over the back yard. I'm kind of glad I didn't do anything to control the weeds this summer. By-the-way, this photo was taken at just about the time of the summer solstice. Summer is officially here!

Willow Park: Lightning Show

We left the Ranger game early and on the drive home noticed a lot of lighting to the north. When I got home I ran out to the back yard and got some good lightning photos.

First Fawn of Summer

I was sitting out on the patio when two deer wandered out of the woods, followed by this little spotted one. This it the first fawn we have seen this summer.

Goodbye Charlie

The old truck being driven off by it's new owner

I finally sold the old truck I had bought from my parents about 17 years ago. My dad had nicknamed the truck "Charlie II" after the old english sheepdog they had owned. The new owner plans on restoring it. Since he lives nearby, I hope to see it again in better shape someday.

A Pair of Woodpeckers

I knew that I had seen two woodpeckers around the yard the other day. Here I caught them pecking on their favorite "tree".

Back Yard: Fox Alert!

Sitting on the patio this morning I saw and photographed several different birds, deer, and this fox. He came out while the deer were there. The deer didn't seem to mind him showing up.

Back Yard: Bees

The bees were really going for the flowers, especially on these thistles.

Weatherford: Lightning!

I was watching the weather report and they mentioned a thunderstorm cell south of Weatherford. So I went out on the back porch and got a few good shots of lightning off to the southwest of us.

Before the Storm

Before the storm, the sun made a dramatic exit.

Back Yard: Woodpecker

I've photographed a lot of different birds in the back yard, but one that has eluded me until now is the woodpecker. I know that they are around, however they seem pretty shy. I saw a couple of them in the dead tree in the side yard the other day, but they were gone by the time I was able to get my camera. Today this one showed up and I was ready for him.

There are a lot of cardinals in our yard. This one showed up about the same time as the woodpecker.

Back Yard: Wildflowers

This wasn't the best year for wildflowers in our yard. We didn't have enough rain this spring for a bumper crop. The few we had were real pretty though.

Indian Blanket, my personal favorite.