Windmill Park - Spearman, TX

We took a little jaunt into the northern panhandle today, and paid a visit to the Windmill Park in Spearman, TX. They have many windmills that were designed to pump water, as opposed to generate electricity or grind grain. Many of them are wood structures, some are steel.

(Note the scroll work on the platform supports on this one.)

--dts

Discovery

We got word this morning that the shuttle was going to stop over at AMA for fuel on its way back to Florida. I went out to the airport to get some photo ops and to see the real thing. As it approached AMA, Shelley reported that it flew right over our house! How cool is that?

This is the tail of the DC-9 that accompanied the 747/Discovery.

Billboard Collage

Here is a collage of all 5 of "my" billboards with their locations. We finally got to get shots of the last ones today. Click on the image for a large view.


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Harrier Party

We got a treat this morning at Rick Husband International Airport. A squadron of a dozen or so Harrier "Jump Jets" stopped over on their way home to North Carolina, and Steve and I were there to see them. They had been at Twentynine Palms, CA for training - "Blowing things up." as one pilot told us. One of the pilots was available and kind enough to take us out to the flight line and give us a tour of one of the Harriers. Never saw one up close until today. Awesome machine! Here are some shots I took of them.

The Harrier "Jump Jets" were accompanied by a C-130 support aircraft. Here, they are warming up its engines.

This pilot gave us a tour of this Harrier. Awesome machine!

A pilot boards his bird in preparation for takeoff.

The Gatling Gun on the Harrier is enclosed in a pod.

The Harriers depart AMA with the Amarillo skyline in the background.

The "tail feathers" of some of the Harriers on the flight line. Note the jet's yaw control ports on the tail.

Each of the pilots waved at us as they passed on their way to the end of the runway.

(As always, click on the photos for a larger view.)

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Saturday Sunrise

If you elected to sleep in this Saturday morning, you missed this! It only lasted a few minutes and was a breath-taking sky on the heels of a morning sunrise.

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(I got a couple too, but Shelley's were better.)


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Geronimo!

This Kite played with me over the last week or so, by perching in this tree until I got my camera. He would leave as I came back out with my camera. Today he decided to pose for me for a while. Here he was just leaving. You can see a couple more shots on my bird blog.

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Rhubarb Maladay

We have some really nice rhubarb plants, but they are getting their stalks killed off before they can mature. The culprit is a little rascal resembling a termite somewhat. If anybody knows what they are or how to get rid of them without killing our boys (cats), please let me know.

Click on the image for a larger view.

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Billboards

"My" billboards are up! We checked a couple of them out yesterday before going to a birthday party. Mine is the one for KACV with The Lighthouse on it. I took the photo on my first hike (6 miles round trip) to The Lighthouse in Palo Duro Canyon while shooting photos for a calendar.

This one is on 45th, viewable eastbound just before Teckla.

Viewable southbound on Western at 33rd, south of I-40.

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Morning Glory

We have some morning glories climbing a portion of our fence at the side of our house. I caught them just about right in the evening to give kind of a unique composition.


The billboards are going up around the area now. I saw one the other day. We'll be doing a billboard photo tour and I'll post one/some. Stay tuned!

Ah..... A cool mountain stream in New Mexico

A cool mountain stream at El Porvenir Campground, New Mexico

Dale and I had to take off our shoes and socks and wade a little.

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From Dale:

Here are a few of the shots I took on our road trip Friday.

New Mexico Highway 104 is a bit on the desolate side at times.

A log cabin is dwarfed by Hermit's Peak, west of Las Vegas, NM.

I have no idea what butterfly this is. It sits on a mountain aster.

Not sure what this one is either, but it appears to have had a rough life.

This is a black-billed Magpie. It's the first I've seen in person, and there were a lot of them in one small area.

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Me? A Bird Brain?

I can't help it. I have a great fondness and respect for these raptors. To me, they have the qualities of a miniature eagle. Proud, graceful, and strong predators. When they hunt, they remind me of Peregrine Falcons as they dive after their quarry. This is one of the few species that eat on the wing.

This guy was nice enough to pose for me while I did an impromptu photo shoot - with him as the subject. No, I really don't know if this is a male or female. The female has very similar colors to the male, but is slightly "duller" - if grey isn't "dull" enough already. ;)

See more of my Mississippi Kite photos and information HERE.

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Is It Broken?

If it is, I didn't do it! It was fine when I was done playing with it, honest!

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Light Show

Storms passed to the south of us tonight and gave us a pretty good light show with all the lighning flying around. Never got a drop of rain in town, light breeze blowing, good setup for shooting the lightning. Unfortunately, there wasn't much cloud-to-ground lightning, mostly cloud-to-cloud.

(This one was taken from in front of the house, clearly showing cloud-to-cloud strikes. Cloud-to-ground is much more photogenic, IMO, as far as lightning itself goes.)

Cloud-to-Cloud strikes can be very dramatic. In the next two, you can see the lightning flowing out of the clouds to the right. This scene would have been better with some ground strikes. Maybe next time.

(Click on images for bigger size.)

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The Bombs Bursting In Air

Here are some shots of the fireworks we watched tonight. None of them have been edited other than cropping and adding text.

I like to call this last one the "Palm Tree".

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Happy Birthday America!

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Today marks the 233rd anniversary of the signing of our Declaration of Independence. It is the day that marks the starting point of our Country. Since the Declaration was signed and delivered to the King of England, many have died doing their best to keep its principles intact. The primary one is Freedom.

On this 4th of July, reflect on our history and how we came to be. When you see the fireworks tonight, know what they represent. Those "Bombs Bursting in Air" represent the battles our forefathers fought to free themselves (and us) from tyrannical rule. It has been (and still is) our responsibility to see that it remains free.

Have a Happy and Safe Independence Day!

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*** A Humbling Experience ***

This morning we went to the parade in downtown Canyon. It was the biggest they've had yet - markedly bigger than past years. It lasted over an hour this year. We loved it!

As the floats of military men past and present passed by us, they were met with grateful applause all along the route. As they passed by, I stopped my applause to take a few pictures and give them a high "thumbs up". One of the floats touched me. I was standing there with my US Coast Guard cap on, camera in hand, just minding my own business. ;-) Two of the soldiers (shown here) broke loose from escorting their Veterans of Foreign Wars float to come over to me - ME, of all people - for the purpose of shaking my hand!
I was surprised when the first one (a Desert Storm veteran) extended his hand and said, "Thank you, sir!" (I thought they just wanted to say hi to the kids in front of me.) I was kind of glad he did though, because I wanted to thank them - each and every one in the parade.

I was very much humbled. It's been over 30 years since I served and I must admit I felt a little unworthy. I remember thinking, "Everybody should be thanking you guys."

Thank you, Gentlemen!
Thank all of you who are putting it all on the line (and have put it all on the line) to keep our Country safe and Free.

--Dale

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Emily not too excited about waving the flag here.

But wait!!! Something about dad just brings out the patriotism in her!
(red headed and blue eyes!)

--Shelley

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Good ole Ken (friend of the family) made an appearance on one of his tractors.

--post by Dale

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