More Emil

Prevalent Marigolds this Year

Holy Spirit

I served as chauffeur to Father Nyberg to a special ceremony at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Graham. Along the way, we spotted many blooming Prickly Pear cacti. Recently, I learned that some people consider the Prickly Pear as the Yellow Rose of Texas. The ceremony involved the consecration of the two windows below, situated in the chapel. Father Scott requested photographs of the windows.

The narthex shows a church re-built gracefully after a fire a few years ago.
As we made our way up Hillcrest Drive, the church appeared. This view shows the narthex and the offices and parking lot on its right. The sky behind it shows the kind of weather we had for most of the morning, with thick thunderstorm clouds all around North Texas.

Birds in My Binos

Flycatcher through a gate.

Female Red-tailed Hawk in flight over Lake Kickapoo.Purple Martin arriving home. Female Cardinal

Cedar Waxwing heading into a berry tree.

Eastern Kingbird Western Kingbird.

Female Cardinal on the fence (squint and you will see) with motorcycle in the background.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Red-tailed Hawk and two fledglings. Great Egret flying across Lake Kickapoo.

Eastern Phoebe.

Tagging Along with An Oil Man

Pipe rack and shale shaker surrounded by flowers and a cotton field.

Red-tailed Hawk. Other prevalent birds were Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, Cowbirds, and Sparrows. Salt disposal.

Planting cotton. From the back seat of a truck that stays at the Post Airport.

Walking with a tape measure to find the next location. No pounding.Electrified wellhead.Workover rig.

With the Naked Eye

The flowers along Highway 82 enchanted me so much that I enjoyed looking at them with no aid except my glasses; I held my camera on my lap while I observed the colors along the highway. Carrie placed sunflowers on her tables for us, and off her porch I took a few photographs of flowers and fresh deer tracks.

"Naked is better," noted My Mr. Mallory, a quiet nudist, off subject and deep in thought.

Chasing Down Emil

Above I show an image of an oil painting of Papa Herman by his son, Emil. I spent most of the day driving from home to home photographing paintings by Emil.

Frank Kell and his wife at the Museum of North Texas Archives. I took another image of two paintings, side by side, of the Kells, in the alcove just off the Grand Ballroom of the Kemp Center for the Arts.

Emil painted landscapes, portraits, and some animals. Of the fifteen to twenty paintings I saw today, Roy Rogers struck me as one of several of his sweetest works.

Worms for the Wren

A rescued Bewick's Wren opens wide for a meal worm. Wrens do not do well in captivity, but this one has survived at the Wild Bird Rescue Center since its nestling days. Any day now the wren will fly to live a normal life in the wild.

Admiring the Grand in Electra

"You one of 'em cross-country bikers?"
I said, no, not me, then removed my helmet. He stared at me for a while, then said, "There's one of 'em cross-country bikers left New York for Los Angeles. S'posed to be here today. You ain't him. You're a girl."
My motorcycle is an F 650 GS with Touratech panniers; it's the bike used by motorcyclists to cross the African continent, which is why he felt impelled to ask me that question. If I had ridden a Harley to Electra, he would have known with a glance I am "'round these parts." I thought of saying, "and you're a boy," but I like to get along with folks, especially hopelessly nice folks like this fellow.
I asked him if I could have his photo in front of the Grand. After the photo, I learned more about him: He's assisted in the renovation of the Grand for many years -- decades. As a proponent of history, I felt a kinship with him. I asked him about fundraising, and he said they have eighty-five thousand dollars available that they are using to renovate the floors in wood. In addition, they'll need a couple million to bring the Grand to its former grandeur. (Pardon the rhyme.) The Grand was built in 1919, and was scheduled for its opening in 1920, which was interrupted by a snow storm, unusual for these parts of the United States. He asked me to send him a copy of the WFLAR, so I will, gladly, with a call for submissions. He sped away in his scooter.
One link to the Electra Grand Theatre:
http://www.texasescapes.com/Texas_architecture/Driveby_architecture/Electra_Texas/Grand_Theatre.htm

For Motorcyclists to Follow Bliss

My friend was big, as big as a skyscraper.
His personality was big, as big as the world.
His eyes were hazel and his hair seemed
like a hasty growth of long Pampas grass
kept short as a microbe during his rides.
His legs were as long as Phelps’ in 08
and he’d swing one over his motorcycle
then place both feet solidly on the ground
like magnets on a steel plate that slowly
detached when he turned the throttle
speeding off knowing the world was not
big enough for a man as large as he was.

Feeding Cattle

In the Texas Panhandle, a young cowboy feeds cattle from a carriage pulled by a team of mules.

Milestone

I donated a 63 Thunderbird for scholarships at my alma mater. Acreage available in my garage now occupied by My Mr. Mallory's 67 Chrysler.