Prickly Pear, Rocks, and Mesquite

Lichen grows on stones at the ranch.

On the branches of the mesquite in the background grow mistletoe plants.

Prickly Pear.

Rock crops.

In a small forest grove I found another nice stand of Prickly Pear cacti.

Interesting stones are everywhere.

My Mr Mallory poses before stones and a view. 

Caterpillar tracks? 

And above us we saw Snow Geese.

God at Work with a Small Creature -- Me

"Elizabeth,

Jesus invited all to His table, tax collectors, prostitutes, slanderers, adulterers, and hypocrites. Do not deny yourself His blessing, His body and blood, because of indignation or righteousness.

I love you,

Nancy"

I do not feel surprised when I see the Almighty working through my friend, Nancy, and yet, I feel awe, wonderful weirdness, inspiration, and sense an element of mystery whenever she expresses God's work through herself. With no other way (yet) to show my solidarity with Jesus of Nazareth, I will resume communion. I see now, thanks to my friend, that there is no sense in denying myself.

Cedar Waxwing at Wild Bird Rescue

This patient suffers from head trauma and will remain at the center for a few days.

Emil Painted the Good and the Bad

Respected and held in high esteem, the Maskat Shriner

and town mayor pictured above "got away with murder"

after he murdered his son-in-law.

This was one of Emil's favorite paintings.

He painted "The Arrival in Calvary" in 1905

and restored it in 1965. It is now

at the Lamar Baptist Church in Wichita Falls.

Northern Shovelers, Angus Cows, and Prairie Dogs

This photo shows the unusual shape on the bill of the Northern Shoveler. This is one of a pair I saw near Holiday.

Caught My Eye

I enjoy looking at the contrasting textures

and colors of a Hereford skin (yikes), the Saltillo tile, and the silk rug.

Replacing the "u" with a "w" seemed highly clever to me.

Was I the only one who noticed?

Meet Fernando Ramos

We drove through beautiful countryside in North Central Texas.

The S in Texas carved into stone covered with fossils.

We visited with our host (pictured above) who introduced us

to another cool cat, tile artist Fernando Ramos.

Shown above, Susan Toomey Frost's book,

Colors on Clay: The San Jose Tile Workshops of San Antonio,

in which she mentions the work of Fernando Ramos.

Work by Fernando Ramos, who became famous, too, as a Flamenco dancer.

Detail that shows Ramos's signature.

Frolicking horses surrounded our truck

as we drove across the farm toward the gate . . .

and escaped into the front field.

My Mr Mallory stopped the truck alongside a pond

where Canada Geese stopped for the evening.

I startled them out of the water with my presence.

The two Herefords across the pond looked up

at the gaggle of geese flying overhead.

Sweet cows.

Sunday Friends

Moo

Mac's New Aerobatic

Mac and My Mr Mallory's reflection on Mac's newly acquired Extra aerobatic airplane.

Hanging Around a Hangar

Emil and William Sr and Jr

Pelican on Frozen Lake

I had the honor of releasing a pelican. He stayed at Wild Bird Rescue Center recuperating -- and we don't know what happened to him -- ate many minnows provided to him by Lila, but he was ready to go free. He may have suffered from hunger and exhaustion after the recent blizzard and subsequent cold temperatures. The surface over most of Lake Wichita remains frozen. The pelican, though, seemed to know what to do, and headed toward the lake. Eventually, he stopped at the opening of the cove and sat down near the reeds to wait through the evening.

Photographs by Bob Lindsay.

Pit Stop in Meers