2015 Cruise - Shipboard Dining

Not only do you get all you can eat on a cruise, you get fine dining!  Every day.  If you book it early enough and do some planning ahead...

2015 Cruise - 2015 Cruise, Tug with Barge

What must it be like to make your living - or even to live - on the water?  Met someone while I was teaching down at Clear Creek High School that lived on a boat and they were a unique, fun-loving and adventurous couple.

My dad was one that would have done something like that given a choice.  We always had a boat in the family, and some of my earliest memories are of a week-long vacation that we took on the water, traveling along the intercoastal waterway heading east from Orange, Texas.  There were six of us in our little cabin cruiser - my parents, three of us boys and our German shepherd, Rinnie.  I guess it must have been a little cramped, but to my five-year-old eyes there was plenty of room for us all, as there was a separate bathroom, kitchen area and places for us to sleep.  Dad was a good planner, and had it mapped out where to get gas and enjoy some excursions during our stops.  Very good memories that were very fortunately captured on 8mm film that we watch from time to time.

2015 Cruise - Departing Sights, Working Craft

Moving on to more travel...

In December of 2015 we embarked on a 7-day cruise to destinations in Central America.  Cruises are the perfect way to spend a week vacationing - it's relatively inexpensive for the time you get away from home.  Everything from the food to the entertainment is neatly packaged.  No driving, dishes or any housework.  As long as one stays healthy it's the perfect way to go.

Even before departure it's fun to see things that you don't see every day, such as this whatever-it-is working away in Houston's Ship Channel at Bayport.

Civil War Weekend - Hanging Flower Jar

This is the final photo in the Civil War series on the Liendo Plantation.  Hats off - first to the men and women who served and serve in the military for us all.  Then to these folks who serve to help us remember...

Civil War Weekend - Branches

Speaking of patterns...

Civil War Weekend - Loom with Thread

Photographers are forever looking for patterns, and this one fit the bill.  There was a lady making string at a spinner, which was then fed into this loom.

Civil War Weekend - Fiddle Player

This lady really caught my attention, with that craggy, wizened look.  There is something alluring about a woman that plays the fiddle, as can be seen in this post and this post from the Renaissance Festival back in November of 2011.  And, as in those posts, one was captured as we made eye-to-lens contact:

Civil War Weekend - Fiddles

The "Civil War Weekend", as they call it, is a festive occasion as well as a somber one.  This little ensemble played under the shade of an awning to stay out of the November sun, which is still mighty hot in the Houston area.

Civil War Reenactment - Liendo Graveyard

These happen to be the graves of some former owners of the plantation, Mrs. Elizabet Ney and her husband Dr. Edmond Montgomery, who were there from 1873 until 1911.  But it brings to mind that, as in all war, so many end up like this, and far too young.  It's easy to take for granted those who either are conscripted or volunteer to go into harm's way for a nation and its ideals.  Does one think about the real sacrifice made here?  All of the anguish of loved ones that lasts through generations?  Not to mention of the soldier (or unlucky civilian) who lost his or her very life!  As they say, the ultimate sacrifice...

I was traveling with a friend one time who served our country in the army.  He was an accountant and kept the books.  He told me the interesting fact that for every soldier in the field there are at least a dozen support staff to back him up, taking care of logistics, infrastructure, communications.  And keeping up the books.  Thanks to all of you who serve.

Civil War Reenactment / Union Line

This is a panorama of the Union line advancing on the rebel garrison - the details show up much better when expanded to fill your screen.

Thank God they won the war.  Few people know very much more than very general details of the Civil War and the events leading up to it in the decades preceding.  Fortunately for those that have the desire to delve into it, there is a multitude of books, letters and diaries that give first-hand accounts of the experience on all sides of the issue.  One of the best Apple apps out there is that of the British Library - the parallel to our Library of Congress.  It's not cheap at more than $90 USD, but is worth every penny because with it you get a lifetime of reading from books published exclusively in the 19th century.  I've read books by James Silk Buckingham, who came from England to tour and observe the slave states in the 1840's...one of the best authors I've ever read.  From the same app I retrieved Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, a well-written and fascinating read.  Also there I found a book written by a battlefield nurse, Mary Ashton Livermore,  who served on the Union side and personally met Abraham Lincoln in a receiving line at the White House, describing both her service and meeting with Lincoln in riveting detail.

There's also the book store on Apple devices.  I just finished the works of Frederick Douglass, one of the keenest minds of the era.  In his writings Douglass had high regard for a Samuel R Ward who was a speaker and author of the day, so I sought and purchased his book entitled Autobiography of a Fugitive Negro.

After reading those and many other tomes, a picture emerged from the horrifying details of the war and from slavery that likened them to Hitler's state policy of mass murder.  People should wake up to the reality that these things occurred on American soil, and should never again be repeated in concept or in deed.

Civil War Reenactment - Tree Silhouette

I would like to take this opportunity to thank a co-worker.  Occasionally someone who follows this blog will offer a suggestion or idea that really makes it better, and such took place a couple of weeks ago.  I was pulled aside with the suggestion that the technical aspect of these writings be either eliminated or placed elsewhere; reading about lenses, f-stops, depth-of-field and post-capture techniques is simply not interesting to the average reader.

This gave me pause - not that the suggestion was made, which doesn't bother me a bit and in fact is most welcome.  It gave me pause in that for the first time I really thought about the purpose of this blog and who my target audience is.  Since I am not a professional photographer, surely the rudimentary knowledge included thus far must be child's play to anyone knowing enough to make sense of it.

And then I realized that I was using that technical information as mere fill...as a crutch to bulk up postings with verbiage.  So no more of that.  It's time to concentrate on writing that might strike a chord with the average following - that is, chronicling the many stories that I've been blessed to share with friends and family and students in the classroom over the years.  As time and energy allows I will include as many of those as possible.  In the interim there will be simple thoughts or statements of philosophy on the meaning of the events and times of our day.


So thank you, co-worker, for your contribution!

Civil War Reenactment - Lone Tree with Horse / The Campesino

This tree presented lots of photographic opportunities.  The setting and characters in this frame reminded me of something that happened while I was living in Old Mexico.

I hadn't been there long - just a month or so - when on a long night walk in the country a friend and I stopped by a lone adobe hut among the cultivated sorghum fields.  This was near El Ejido Charcos in the state of Coahuila, and in that region back in 1980 you didn't have to go far to encounter areas without electricity or running water.

The stars were bright enough to guide our steps, and we could see that a man was sitting in the doorway of the hut with a small fire almost burned down to the coals.  This man was a middle-aged campesino, and since there was no electricity he had a small battery-powered transistor radio softly playing ranchera music.  As we approached he offered us a seat on a log across the fire from him and we exchanged greetings while he turned the radio off.  It must have been unusual to see a couple of white guys way out there in the dark of the Mexican night.

Soon we were engaged in light conversation, which in a few minutes grew into a deeper discussion of the lore of the area.  After a while our eyes were fully adjusted to the added light of the fire, which cast an orange glow around the shadow of the campesino on the side of his hut.  A tree close behind us was silhouetted against the starry sky.

Just then a guy on a horse pulled up, dismounted and tied the steed's reigns loosely on a branch of the tree.  The vaquero joined us on the log, removed his hat, and muttered a low greeting to everyone before engaging in small shoptalk with the campesino.  This scene was growing more impressive, because now there is a horse off to the side and a cowboy sitting next to us describing his long day with the dust and the cows.  I thought aloud to my friend how we had stumbled upon a scene that could have been plucked straight out of 1880 instead of 1980.

In a few minutes it became apparent that the two Mexicans had a routine and that we might be intruding, so I excused us to walk back through the star-lit trails to my new home.  But it's a scene that I've thought of often since, when we visited a place that time forgot.

Civil War Reenactment - Confederate Position / Rebel Flag

This is the entire Confederate position in the reenactment, which was way off to one side of the field.

Something to say about that flag.  In the fall of 1981 I was driving through the Deep South and stopped in Columbia, SC, to visit a friend.  As I was driving around looking for his place, the state capitol building suddenly loomed ahead of me with this flag perched on top, beneath the state flag.  The sight appalled me!  I remember thinking, "What are they doing with that thing up there...didn't it go out a long time ago?"  Also I was sure that it must be offensive to a large portion of the state's population to see it there day after day.

Fast-forward to recent times when another battle played out - this time in the courts - to finally remove the thing.  I was glad with the result, and saddened that too often mankind must be forced to do the right thing by others.

Civil War Reenactment - Gibson's Redoubt

Not too often that you get to see something like this...plenty of smoke, noise and chaos to make it seem real.  Occasionally, though, an anachronism will pop up like the guy talking into his cell phone below:

Civil War Renactment - Horse with Cannon

It's easy to imagine this horse asking, "What damage hath though wrought?"  War is such an ugly thing, but interestingly a thing that evokes sentiment and nostalgia in later years.  Same for the history of the Old West - life in those circumstances was mighty harsh and uncomfortable, but easy to get misty-eyed about while sitting in an easy chair reading a book.

Civil War Reenactment - Cannon Firing

Going back through my archive of 50,000+ photos I discovered a collection of several hundred that hadn't yet been processed - those from a Civil War Reenactment in 2012 on the Liendo Plantation just off of Wyatt Chapel Road near Hempstead, TX.  My daughter went there to get some extra credit for her high school history class, which ended up being a bonanza for me and the Big Cahoona.

Houston - Purple Bloom

Every year I can hardly wait until February here in Houston, when the purple blossoms appear on these trees.  My sister-in-law (the one with Teddy and the birds) has such a tree in her front yard.

Houston - Birdies

These are my sister-in-law's cockatiels, who don't know what to make of Teddy but aren't the least bit intimidated either...

Houston - Teddy

This is Teddy, the new star of my sister-in-law's family.  My nephew Scott made a wise choice to bring him into his parents' life, providing anchor and focus during their retirement years.

Japan - Miscellaneous, Awesome Tour Guide

This will be the last post from our journey to Japan, and as such I cannot end the series without pointing to our tour guide as the reason for its success.  This guy was great...very entertaining, informative, and more than reasonable in honoring our requests.  THANK YOU!!

Japan - Miscellaneous, Branch Patterns

I've always been drawn to the pattern of branches, as can be seen in this post, and this one, and this one, plus this one.  It was no different on our hop to Japan...

Japan - Miscellaneous, Sign Posts

Don't know what they said, but these posts were encountered in many places along the side of the road.  This and the pic below were both captured in rural areas.

Japan - Miscellaneous, Temple Mantis

This guy was captured on the grounds of one of the temples we visited.  These are the most fascinating creatures, and so varied.  There's one called the Kung Fu mantis that's red and black, and several that look like leaves or orchids.  And of course the green ones.  The infinite variety in the creatures on Earth, even from one genus, never ceases to amaze me.

Japan - Miscellaneous, Pigeon

Birds are fascinating - even common ones like the pigeon.  Such a beautiful thing to photograph.  Strange is the paradox, then, that without those feathers it's one of the ugliest creatures around!

It's also worth noting that what makes them so beautiful is also what makes them fly.  Or, better stated, what makes them fly happens also to be what makes them so beautiful!  Either way, an apt allegory on life itself...

Japan - Miscellaneous, Bamboo Brightness

Occasionally the sun will shine through vegetation on portions of plants, providing opportunity for capturing contrasts such as this.

Japan - Miscellaneous, Roadside Reeds

Much of this miscellany was captured while on the bus.  We were stopped at a light when this pic was taken.

Japan - Miscellaneous, Ferris Oblique

The same Ferris Wheel, but this time from the highway itself while on the bus.  The photo below was snapped a moment afterward as we were moving along:

Japan - Miscellaneous, Ferris Broadside

This was taken from the Disney parking lot - the dark bar along the bottom is an elevated highway.

Japan - Bridgeways and Architecture, Yellow Steps

This building was captured partly because of the color, and partly because of the portion of the stairway that shows up through the trees.  

This is the last photo of the Bridgeways and Architecture series.   Next up - a little of this and a little of that in what I'll call "Miscellaneous" to top off Japan.

Japan - Bridgeways and Architecture, Ship's Mast

It took a little figuring out, but we finally got it that this building is supposed to look like a ship, complete with mast/bridge and flag.

Japan - Bridgeways and Architecture, Rainbow Bridge Span

Here's a wide-angle view of almost the entire bridge that was posted yesterday.  This is just a single frame, but I also zoomed in to create an 8-shot panorama of the same view that would print twelve inches by eight-and-a-half feet.  I played with the pigeon a little also, a posting from which will be published at a later date.