Playa Lakes and Smartweed

Smartweed, grows prolifically in the playa lakes of the Texas Panhandle. 

The playas play an important part of the ecosystem. 

Texas Parks & Wildlife's Panhandle Playa Lakes 

Graham Post Office Mural

       "Oil Fields of Graham," oil on canvas, by Alexandre Hogue, (1898 - 1994), installed in 1939.

    For more information and better images of the Texas Post Office murals, see Philip Parisi's book, The Texas Post Office Murals, Art for the People, ISBN-13 978-1585442317.

The community of Graham now houses a museum and art gallery in the former post office building. The mural is on loan to the museum by the U. S. Postal Service.

A large photograph of the building before 1992.

A marker stands in front of the building.

Graham Post Office

      Built in 1935-1936 at a cost of $60,000, this was the seventh and first long-term post office in Graham. It was one of a number of Depression Era federally funded projects built in the city. An excellent example of a moderne style post office of the 1930s, the structure contains an intact mural by regional painter Alexandre Hogue. The edifice was designed by U. S. Treasury architect Louis A. Simon. Its distinctive features include decorative aluminum grillwork, sculptural metal lights and zig-zag art moderne stone friezes. The U. S. Postal operations were relocated to another site in 1992.

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark  - 1999

Ranger Post Office Mural

     "The Crossroads Town." Mural by Emil Bisttram (1895 - 1976). J. F. Mathews visited the mural and later posited on his blog that the man at right in the foreground is the artist. Read his interesting observations at this link: https://artnm.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/emil-bisttram-walks-on-austin-street-in-ranger-texas/#comments

A simple design for Ranger's Post Office.

The layout is not unusual.

Example of one of the mailboxes.

Scale.

Eastland Post Office Mural

     The facade of the post office in Eastland, Texas, has the three bas reliefs that show the ways the Postal Office delivers mail. Namely, by train, plane, and ship. It is the same design as the post offices with murals in Electra and Quanah. Inside, friendly employees do not hesitate to point to the mural.

     "Buffalo Hunt." Mural by Suzanne Scheuer, (1898 - 1984). Heavy canvas installed in 1938. A pencil and colored pencil rendering on paperboard exists at the Smithsonian and is shown at this link:
http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=35943

Floor and boxes at the Eastland Post Office. 

Milky Way

 The Red River Photography Club hosted a field trip to Benjamin, Texas. 

          My first time making images of the stars, I felt so excited that I packed my camera a full week in advance. Mark, Nick, and Mike trekked ahead of the group to mow the grass, grown tall by the high levels of moisture the area has received. The moon was bright until two o'clock. By then, I had left to wind my way back home, delighted about learning about some of tools for sky photography. 

Crepuscular rays at sunset and Ben's camera working to make an undoubtedly great image.

    Of interest only to me, this is my first ever image of the dark sky. If you squint hard enough, you can glimpse Ursa Major in the top half of the picture. The moon lights up the cliffs below. It is the same view that Ben's camera captures in the top image using the basic nighttime camera settings of ISO 6400, f4, and 25 seconds. The difficult part of making these images comes later on, in front of the computer. 

     And this is my favorite image of the evening, rendered with basic post processing for now. The moon washes out the right side of the picture, but one can still see the Milky Way and the group of members in the foreground. The monitors of their cameras light up their faces as they check their shots of the Andromeda nebula. Ben and Gene stand at his camera (with the long lens), Tom stands behind them, Seth sits under the eve of the cabin, and Nick sits to the right.

Berty and Star

Photos by Mary Morris.

At left, Liberty, and at right, Star, born on the Fourth of July.

Berty, two weeks old.

Berty, four weeks old. 

Duck Lake Overflowing

The water did not reach the spillway, though, it came up to a few feet from the road. 

The pond has a nice grassy and extensive shore, as shown in my image taken last year:

http://travelerliterarygnome.blogspot.com/2014/09/infrared-lake.html

Larry Hamilton's Table

Green Darner

Quanah Post Office Mural

     Quanah is located at the south eastern corner of the Texas Panhandle. It is a small town with a big history. We focus on its post office.
     Standing before the building, I noted that the architecture is identical to the post office in Electra.
The building appears cared after carefully; indeed, the reliefs depicting the various ways that the U.S. Mail delivers -- by train, plane, and boat -- had several coats of paint to protect them. The lamps that flank the top of the stairs had no wear, considering their age. The mural looked good, too, and brilliantly conceived by the artist. I leave you with photos and the text I found on the wall.

MURAL IN THE U. S. POST OFFICE QUANAH, TEXAS

A Treasury Department Art Project

Commissioned by the Section of Painting & Sulpture

Procurement Division, Treasury Department

Executed by Jerry Bywaters in 1938

DESCRIPTION OF MURAL DESIGN

Quanah, the county seat of Hardeman County, Texas, was named after Quanah Parker, famous Comanche Chief. The mural is dominated by a life-size figure of Quanah Parker who is represented pledging peace and friendship to a white man who symbolizes all the early cattlemen and settlers of this region. 

In addition to the dominating central group the mural depicts historical events in the left half and shows the contemporary interests of the town and territory in the right half. 

LEFT SIDE OF THE MURAL

The country where Quanah is now located was originally the range for millions of buffalo. Near the townsite are several hills named "Medicine Mounds" by the Indians. Near these mounds the Texas Rangers captured Cynthia Ann Parker, mother of Quanah Parker.

Among the first white men to enter the territory were cattlemen who either used this part of the Plains as range or drove their cattle along the Pease River to the Kansas markets. The cattlemen gradually displaced the Indians and when the buffalo were killed of the Comanches were forced to move to the North of the Red River. 

Although the country was opened up by the buffalo hunters and cattlemen, it was not really settled until after the coming of the railroads. The town Quanah was named by General G. M. Dodge who surveyed the first railroad through the country in 1885. The first passenger train came to Quanah over the Fort Worth and Denver railway in March, 1887.

RIGHT SIDE OF THE MURAL

After the coming of the railroads Quanah developed rapidly. Cattlemen replaced the longhorn with better beef stock. Cotton, wheat, and corn were cultivated extensively. 

The industrial interests of Quanah were represented in the mural by plaster mills, cotton gins, oil mills, compresses, and railway repair shops. In 1905, an irrigation and power project was conceived and later the Lake Pauline dam was built furnishing water for the hydroelectric power plant of the West Texas Utilities Company. 

                                      "THE NAMING OF QUANAH"  Mural Painting by Jerry Bywaters

QUANAH, TEXAS POST OFFICE:

     

The mural painting over the Postmaster's door was executed by Jerry Bywaters of Dallas, Texas. Mr. Bywaters received his commission as a result of an Honorable Mention in a Section of Fine Arts Competition. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE MURAL:

The town of Quanah, Texas, was named for a Comanche Chief, Quanah Parker. In the center of the painting Parker is shown pledging peace and friendship to a white man who symbolizes the early cattlemen and settlers of this part of the Texas Panhandle. in the left background are items of historical interest: The "Medicine Mounds," the mesas are near which Cynthia Ann Parker, mother of Quanah, was captures by the Texas Rangers; a longhorn cattleman, one of many who first opened up the country; one of the early railroad trains which actually settled the area; General G. M. Dodge who surveyed the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad through Hardeman County in 1885. On the right hand side are represented contemporary activities and buildings; beef stock which replaced the longhorns; cotton, wheat, corn, and hog raising: plaster mills, cotton gins, oil mills, and cotton warehouses; high tension towers representing the lake Pauline dam and hydroelectric plant.

NOTE ON THE ARTIST:

Jerry Bywaters was born in Paris, Texas, May 21, 1906. He studied at the Southern Methodist University, Dalls, the Art Students League in New York and in Europe and Mexico. He has won many awards and he has exhibited widely. He is represented in the permanent collections of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, the Texas State College for Women, Trinity University in Waxahachie, the Princeton Print Club, North State Teachers College, and others. He has executed murals for the Dallas City Hall, and the Paris, Texas, Public Library. Mr. Bywaters is also an art critic and editor and is assistant Professor of Art, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. His other work for the Section of Fine Arts includes murals for the Post Offices in Houston and Farmersville, Texas. 

SECTION OF FINE ARTS:

The Aim of the Section of Fine Arts is to secure murals and sculpture of distinguished quality appropriate to the embellishment of Federal buildings. Approximately 1% of the total limit of cost of the buildings is reserved for this decoration. The Section holds open anonymous competitions, national, regional, state or local, to which all citizen artists of the United States are eligible. A different jury of painters or sculptors, unattached to the Section, judges each competition. 

SECTION OF FINE ARTS PUBLIC BUILDINGS ADMINISTRATION FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY

      

     

Original boxes, walls, and floors. 

Pealing Bark

From a juniper or cedar at the foot of Zenobia Trimble's gravesite, Lake View Cemetery.

Mr Stauffer's Fireworks

     My first attempt at photographing fireworks provided a pleasing experience and more fun in Photoshop than I've had in a long time. I posted a journal of my experience and more images at my site: http://www.texashistorysaunter.net/mr-stauffers-fireworks.html

Update: Ben showed me how to blend images in Photoshop. With great enthusiasm I blended the things that I liked best about some of the photographs, nine total.

Lisa Lake 360

    After Jack repaired the dam, the area received four inches of rain. The water level reached the spill way.
    Eagerly I made my way to see the lake, camera in hand, and happy to see the clouds pitching in a good effort to improve my pictures.

Agile Canine Athletes

     The Obedience Training Club of Wichita Falls annually hosts competitions.

     Oldgene hosted an illuminating workshop on how to photograph agility dogs. The dogs are already fast and nimble; then, when they jump over and through obstacles, their skills as athletes pose a challenge to the photographer. 

      In addition to the challenge of capturing the subjects in focus, the differing lights overhead changed the white balance in as little distance as one yard. It is essential to use RAW and manual metering. ISOs were bumped up from 6,400 to 12,800, making post processing a challenge for me.

      I noted that part of the charm of the event presented itself in the people and their interaction with the dogs. On a number of occasions, I felt that I should turn my camera away from the arena and document touching scenes along the sidelines. 

      And I knew it! I felt a tear or two because I still miss my doggies. Pet grief is terribly real. 

      I particularly enjoy two photographs: The antepenultimate photograph in this series shows a handler wearing a pink shirt with the text, "Tough Guys Wear Pink," which amused me as he competed alongside a Chinese Crested dog (I think I identified the breed correctly), somehow charmingly homely; and in the last photo, Carolyn shows her enthusiasm as she encourages her young Birdie as they compete.