Random Gnome Photos from Yesterday

Fueling up the P-40 Warhawk. We witnessed a rare event in that the fellows were flying the planes to Fredericksburg for the celebrations there on Sunday.

Gun turret of a B-24 on exhibit.

My Mr. Mallory inside the C-47.

I asked Richard if the men had cushions, and he replied, yes, their butts. The sat on the aluminum seats while they waited their turn to jump out of the plane with their parachutes.

My Mr. Mallory studies the information on the glass of a B-24 gun turret.

I uploaded the two photos below to my pbase site.

One of my fave photos.

Downtown Marble Falls

Downtown Marble Falls exhibits many sculptures by regional artists.

View from Main Street at Avenue H of Highway 281 crossing over the Colorado River.

Bill serves wine at the fundraising auction held at The Falls, a wine cellar on Main Street.

Gnome in Gun Turret

Self-portrait on the shiny fuselage of the Douglas C-47 at the Highland Lakes Squadron Commemorative Air Force Museum.

A P-40 Warhawk took off, giving us a fly-over before heading off toward Fredericksburg.

A mechanic walks through the exhibit of the museum.

The Bluebonnet Belle served for the Canadian Air Force, then as a commercial airplane, before making her home at the museum on the grounds of the Burnet Municipal Airport.

A member of the museum painted the artwork on the nose of the Belle. She had red hair, too.

Cockpit of the 1944 Douglas C-47.

Our tour guide, Richard, discussed with My Mr. Mallory the particulars of the C-47 engine.

How did my dear friend Herman fit in here? This is the gun turret of a B-24 on exhibit at the CAF museum.

Window on the Plains Museum in Dumas

Google it, plan it, and visit it. Soon.

A Hike on Thanksgiving

Startled mudhens fly across the lake.

My Mr. Mallory fosters nine horses. They were neglected by their owner. Now, a year after staying with us, they are looking healthy and happy.

Cardinal in mesquite.

The mound behind the post provides an abode for many rattlesnakes.

We observed this snake while it lay motionless along the shore of the lake.

On Highway 50 West of Pueblo

Just six miles west of Lamar stands the Star School (1899). The Historic Restoration Company seeks funding to restore the school. To donate, visit their web site.


Mist covered my view of the Cheyenne Mountain (top), while on the Broadmoor Lake Black Swans paddled along, past ice-covered trees, presumably toward their breakfast ground.


I did not allow myself to zoom past the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum, no matter how longingly I yearned to find myself wrapped in Mr. Mallory's arms. On Highway 50 just east of Pueblo, the aircraft museum is easy to find -- and well-worth visiting. The exhibit is exquisite with items from every war in which the US men have fought. To honor these men, their loved ones have either donated or loaned the museums their military paraphernalia, such as complete uniforms, medals, swords, personal weapons, and even cigarrette lighters. Passionate veterans of the military run the museum, and as I strolled in the hangar accompanied by my guide, ninety-one year old Herman Gerres, I could perceive the fervor with which they brought together this museum. See their web site at http://www.pwam.org

Rudy's fully-restored 1944 Stearman sits unobtrusively yet impressively in a corner of the museum's hangar. Rudy has raised close to two million dollars on behalf of the museum.


Dog Tag stamping machine.


Herman stands next to the intervalometer. Inside, human crosshairs aide the airman in his accuracy.


Photo of Herman's plane and fellow airmen. He stands far right.


The exhibit explains the history of the Tuskegee Airmen.


Display of US Air Force bases in England during WWII.


Herman glimpses through the cockpit door.


Glen and Herman were in charge today. Stop by to say hello.

Gnome BROaDMOORing

Outside the Hayden Hays gallery, I photograph the reflection of my legs on the window.

After Spencer Penrose died in 1936, his wife Julie gathered the carriages and other vehicles they owned, plus carriages owned by friends, to continue the legacy begun by her husband. The collection includes an 1841 Williamsburg Brougham used by William Henry Harrison during his inaugural parade, and an 1862 C-Spring Victoria owned by Chester A. Arthur.

Icon of Dallas

The red Pegasus, adopted in the 1930s as the logo for the Magnolia Petroleum Company, sits atop the Magnolia Hotel in Dallas.

Along the Way to Colorado Springs

Undulating hills on Highway 287 north of Dumas soon become a straight line northward.

A tire shop in Boise City displays the famous Pegasus sign used by the now defunct Magnolia Petroleum Company.

Cimarron County Courthouse built in 1926-8. Cimarron County is the western-most county in Oklahoma.

The Stage Stop on Main Street in Springfield, Colorado.

Gnome Ponders Composition

I quarrel with myself sometimes, in regard to my skill at art, specifically photography. As I learn to use my camera, I learn to compose a scene: What should develop first, an artful eye or mastery of one's equipment; and does ignorance of one's equipment necessarily curtail development in art?

Gnome Gone Hog for a While

Give me the quintessential freedom on the open roads afforded by a Harley, an American icon.

Gnome in Archer

I put some miles on the Z3 this evening by driving to Archer City. As I drove up to the main corner, I noted that the sun's rays lit the Spur Hotel nicely, and so I parked across the street for a quick photo. I hadn't noticed the two skateboarders practicing their agility on the porch of the hotel until I stood next to the car looking at the hotel. One of them called to me, "Hey, can you take a picture of us skateboarding?" I would anyway, so I took a sequence of them in action. Some of them turned out pretty well, and I emailed them to the skateboarders. One of the things they asked me about was a skateboard park. "Do you know the major?" they wanted to know. I could only encourage them to visit the big city of Wichita Falls nearby to use the newly-opened skate park.



Zooming down the highway I saw the sign pointing to the cemetery. I had to go there to photograph Will's mausoleum. He is long gone, but his presence is still strong, as if he were still alive and sitting next to me.

Gnome Intrigued by Inscription

On my way from the Adolphus to the Dallas Public Library I spotted a quintessential view of the city of Dallas. In the photo we see the Adolphus Hotel on the left (the beaux arts architecture) and the red Pegasus horse on the top right.


Photo of the pony "Penny's Worth" on the monument on the southeast corner (Commerce and Weatherford) of the Fort Worth Court House. The inscriptions interest me: "who watered his horse here" and "who saved the horse"; so I find myself elbow-deep in files looking at any mention in regard to the horse.

Gnome at Lunch with John Mark

John Mark walked up to the counter and slapped a penny and a nickel down. He smiled at the owner of the restaurant and then said, "I found these out by your trash bin. You are not minding your money very well." The owner smiled back at John Mark, took the coins and tossed them into the cash register without saying a word. I felt grateful to witness an act so small but with such a depth and implication that only with the passage of time will I fully comprehend it.