air show

wingspan of B-29



On a bright cool October day we recently enjoyed a trip to the lakefront in New Orleans to see the WW2 airshow.
The aircraft are amazing, kept in great shape and still flying. Visitors can still ride them for a fee, which seemed rather steep until we were told it takes about $10,000 a month to keep the B-29 maintained and flying.
Business was brisk and there were many customers waiting for their chance to experience these old warriors.

Why? you many wonder would a old chick like me be interested in old planes?

I guess my interest came from raising 2 sons who were besotted with them and their history. Still hanging on the ceilings of their old bedrooms are models of the planes in the photos above. We often traveled to airshows then and watched history documentaries for hours.

Of course, in my generation we were raised to admire the men who flew those planes at great peril to save the world . Some of them were family and friends of our parents.

It was a beautiful day--full of history and memories, both  bitter and sweet.

Marfa, Giant, Paisano Hotel

The west Texas town of Marfa is a very small town in  a remote part of Texas. The movie Giant was filmed here more than 50 years ago.
The cast and crew of the movie lodged at the grand (for its day) Paisano Hotel.

The Paisano is still very nice and maintained as a luxury hotel for those who like desert scenery and hard to get to places.

The movie was premiered at the Palace Theater which is across from the hotel. All that is left of any of the movie sets is in the last photo---the posts for Jett Rink's ranch sign and the wind mill. 

marfa lights

While in west Texas,  we couldn't pass the opportunity to view the Marfa lights.

Marfa is a small community situated in very remote west Texas. The skies are big and one can see for very long distances. There are very few towns and the skies are dark at night making for great star gazing.

It was a beautiful evening when we drove down the empty highway admiring the vivid sunset and anticipating the Marfa lights. When we arrived, I was surprised to find the attractive and comfortable viewing area created especially for observing the lights.

We sat with a few other people who showed up. No conversation--just the dark and big spaces. A light twinkled on in the distance, then another--they bobbled, flared, changed color , sometimes combined or split, faded out and then others took their place. I really didn't think I would see so many.
Some may be lights on a distant highway, but those that were above the horizon or on mountains were unexplainable.

I don't know what they are--electrical phenomena that occur because of the geology of the land? certainly not extraterrestrials --
but magical they seemed to me in that very far corner of Texas on an autumn evening.

west Texas highways

A quick trip to west Texas---buggy windshields and empty highways.

I loved it!

a foggy morning

Foggy mornings.

Weather continues warm and the farmer is still making hay.

Hoping for some cooler weather later this week.

Venus and Jupiter

Tempted by the dazzling dawn display of two planets kissing, I braved the West Nile carrying mosquitos and snapped a quick photo with my iphone.

I managed to see 2 Perseid meteors while I waited and heard the great horned owls on the north end of the place.

Fair reward for the risk.

Fischer Dance Hall

We have driven pass this dance hall quite a few times in our Texas explorations, but the door was never open. So when I found it open on our last visit I couldn't resist the opportunity to take a few photos and see what was inside.

The hall is over 100 years old and was built so the community could have dances and special events. However, today there doesn't seem to be much near by, but I found that it often rented for weddings and other gatherings --and has even been used for movies.

On this day the manager was unhappy because college students had partied the night before and didn't clean it as stated in the contract. I'm kind of glad because that's why the door was open and I got to visit.

stalking the black capped vireo

While in Texas last month we drove to the shin oaks observatory near Austin to add the black capped vireo to my year list. It's a pleasant visit made easy by the platform set up for observation.

The environment is harsh--dry and rugged--and very hot in summer. With just a little patience we sat in the shade and were able to catch some glimpses and hear some song without disturbing the nesting of the birds.
The golden cheeked warbler, another endangered species from hill country Texas, has eluded me this year, but I haven't really made a search for one.

My younger son has challenged me a bit this year with his list. He travels often and made a trip to Hawaii where he picked up quite a few that won't be on my list.

It's all casual for both of us, but makes for pleasant conversation whenever we compare lists and experiences.

life endures

Tiny glimmers of green--tentative, hopeful, promising.
A few very deep coldspells this past winter killed back some of my old favorites. I have learned not to be hasty, but patient and wait. Inspecting them every few days I found these sprouts reaching up from below the dry dead branches. So happy that I can coax them to grow again!
The first was from a cutting of my dad's grand duke jasmine that I have had for 40 years.

passion flower

There's a patch of passionflowers growing beside the road that I walk every morning. It's hard to pass them without trying for a photo. It looks so exotic, but it is a native wildflower.

In the past our ancestors assigned a wealth of religious meaning to its structure and so came the name passion flower.

from Wikipedia because I don't type large tracts very well:

The "Passion" in "passion flower" refers to the passion of Jesus in Christian theology. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries adopted the unique physical structures of this plant, particularly the numbers of its various flower parts, as symbols of the last days of Jesus and especially his crucifixion:^{[citation needed]}

Blue Passion Flower (P. caerulea) showing most elements of the Christian symbolism

• The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance.
• The tendrils represent the whips used in the flagellation of Christ.
• The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles (excluding St. Peter the denier and Judas Iscariot the betrayer).
• The flower's radial filaments, which can number more than a hundred and vary from flower to flower, represent the crown of thorns.
• The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail
• The 3 stigmas represent the 3 nails and the 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (four by the nails and one by the lance).
• The blue and white colors of many species' flowers represent Heaven and Purity.