Guadalupe River State Park - II

This is one of my favorite pictures from this series. It exemplifies my impression of a "typical" Texas River. The Guadalupe, the Frio, the Sabinal - each is shallow, cool, and inviting, but you'd not be terribly surprised to find a dry or nearly dry riverbed in its stead. After all, this is Texas. But by the same token, a broader, deeper river would never provide such a feeling of relief on finding it flowing, and would seldom induce you to kick off your shoes and go wading for a while.

The marvelous root systems of these cypress trees look like something a Disney animator would come up with. Your eyes are drawn to them immediately, searching for any sign of movement, lest you become ensnared by some great tree with a grudge. And, of course, there could be snakes. . .

I like this one too - it's all about texture. It makes me want to pull out my carving knives and chisels and make huge heaps of wood chips. It makes me want to wander through the woods and find the perfect walking stick.

When we moved to Texas from Virginia in 1963, it seemed that as soon as you transitioned from city streets to a ranch road or farm to market road, every bend in the road was marked by an armadillo carcass. They were everywhere. More than 40 years later, you hardly see them anywhere, even as roadkill. This great example makes me think of the old Austin, in the 60's and 70's - the Armadillo World Headquarters, Sixth Street, all the rest - so different from anywhere else I'd ever been.

Ready For Spring??? Absolutely!

Well, this week didn't do much for my average in picking football games. Both TCU and Georgia Tech came up on the short ends of their respective games but that gave me some hope that Texas would surprise most of the country in Thursday night's Championship game with Alabama. The first five plays, before Colt was knocked out of the game, provided a glimpse of what might have been. The surprise to everyone, I think, was the generally excellent defensive play of the Longhorns, and the fact that Garrett Gilbert managed to get fairly comfortable for a good portion of the second half. But that's alright; the 'Horns will get after it next year.

*****

We never did get any rain this week, still, the clouds moved out today allowing our spirits to rise a bit. But it's three o'clock in the afternoon and the temperature is only 36°, and that's way too cold. Consequently, I'll take this opportunity to do what I can to hurry the seasons along into Spring.

I don't think there's any better way to do that than with variety and color. I don't know offhand whether these pictures were taken in the Spring or the Summer, but I know it wasn't Winter! This hibiscus is one of the many residents of Karen's garden.

These tiny whatever-they-are grew wild around the spring house at Joe's cottage up in Yancey County, NC. At least I assume they are wild.

I'm not absolutely sure, but I think these are known as Sweet William or, if you were on the other side in the American Revolution, Stinking Billy. Now, lest you think I'm the only one whose mind runs to trivia, I didn't read that anywhere - Karen told me. I also think these particular flowers were hers.

The lovely azaleas above were sort of mine, though I didn't grow them. My next door neighbor in Kennesaw planted several of these bushes across our property line to hide a couple of unsightly boxes one of the utility companies saddled us with.

Back by the pool in Karen's yard I found these guys especially appealing - mainly, due to the fact that I could use the sky as a background without actually having to get down on the ground to shoot the picture.

Across the pool, I found these little pastel whatevers and decided they were something I'd never seen before. I still don't know what they are, but they're pretty - and it was warm when I took the picture.

This thing, except for the little bit of damage on the right, looks like I remember a pansy. Only it seems much thinner and more delicate than those I remember. Again, I think it's Karen's.

And, last but not least, I shot these little guys at the edge of my patio in Kennesaw. The largest of these is slightly less than half an inch in diameter and I almost missed them altogether. This time I know it was early Spring, because I had just gotten my new camera, unpacked it, and gone out to sit in the sun and shoot everything of any interest in the backyard.

I hope, wherever you are, these pictures helped you forget how cold it is. I know it's helped me.

Guadalupe River State Park - I

I've been feeling a bit under the weather last couple of days. Nothing major, just an annoying cough and feeling stuffed up in the morning. That seemed to be a good reason to camp out on the couch with warm blanket, a book, and some lemonade - not having had the foresight to lay in some Jack Daniels. I must admit I haven't gotten very far in the book yet, with bowl games scheduled for nearly every waking moment. So far, seven of "my" teams won and seven lost. I've got two more games before the BCS championship, so I'm hoping that the Ramblin' Wreck and the Horn Frogs both win to bring my average up above .500. Then, of course, on Thursday night the Longhorns will play Alabama. I'm okay with the fact that few give us any chance for a win. I'm hoping that we've lulled the Crimson Tide into a false sense of security. In any case, I can't wait for the game. I can't take it any longer!

So today, with no college games, I'll push out this post while watching the Cowboys and Eagles decide who's going to represent the NFC East.

*****

These pictures were taken 31 December 2005. Gillian was spending the Christmas holidays with me and we had driven down to San Antonio for Ellen's and Stan's New Year's Eve party. I had been talking to Ellen about their occasional campouts at Guadalupe River State Park. When she mentioned it was, for all practical purposes, "just up Blanco Road", Gillian and I decided we'd drive up and see what we could see.

The first thing I noticed about the area were the monotones, any autumn colors having long since faded. My initial impression was that there would be nothing to take pictures of. Then, I somehow managed to shift my attitude and was able to see all kinds of things to shoot.

The trees on the river bank, I believe, are bald cypress - at least, that's the closest thing I can find in my Peterson's Field Guide to Eastern Trees. You might not want one dropping its needles on your lawn, but every one seems to have its own character, and beside the river there are more than enough view points to keep the photographer busy all afternoon.

The water was shallow and the water's surface served up reflections attenuated by a light breeze. With the Longhorns going to the championship game against USC in the Rose Bowl in a few days, I remembered thinking the needles being shed by these trees were nearly, if not actually, burnt orange. (Okay, at least concede that they're "rust colored" - that's close enough to burnt orange for me.)

All these pictures were taken along a quarter-mile section of river bank, with the sun alternately shining or hiding behind broken clouds. Towards the end of that quarter-mile section, I came upon several much older, larger trees with lots of the character I mentioned earlier. And as I panned farther to the right, I started picking up reflections of the sky which I hadn't seen before, but which added some great contrasts - in value and color - which I found interesting.