Springtime in the Hill Country (Pictures!)

Spring in this part of Texas is not really a season. If the year was a play, spring in Central Texas would be intermission…a pause between the dead brownness of winter, and the oppressive heat and mosquito swarms of summer. But that pause is, as they say, refreshing, because a lot happens during that brief… Continue reading Springtime in the Hill Country (Pictures!)

A minor diversion…

One of the silver linings in the COVID-19 stay-at-home protocol is that we have time to pursue trivial matters that previously would have been preempted by more important things like…well, don’t ask me. I’m retired; I can pursue all the trivial matters I want, at any time. But, perhaps you aren’t that fortunate, but you… Continue reading A minor diversion…

Here’s what I’m doing on Instagram…

Art installation – San Antonio Museum of Art (heavily Photoshopped) I try to post a new image to Instagram every morning. I’m not 100% successful because I’m lazy, but I don’t miss too many days, because I enjoy the discipline of creating and sharing those pictures, when I’m not feeling lazy. I also like Instagram… Continue reading Here’s what I’m doing on Instagram…

Roaming the Web

It’s been a while since we’ve wandered around the web, looking at some cool new tech. Here’s a roundup of some things that have come across my Twitter feed lately. Snap – The Flying Camera Snap, the 4K flying camera with auto-tracking, is ready for the spotlight https://t.co/Kjf4LEtTgs pic.twitter.com/LwHABEOLs9 — TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) January 8, 2016… Continue reading Roaming the Web

Disappearing Snow Time Lapse

As promised, I’ve completed the time lapse movie showing scenes from our back yard in the days following the massive (for us) post-Christmas snowfall, aka Winter Storm Goliath. It took me a lot longer than I expected, not because of any special technical complexity, but mainly due to my use of Apple’s iMovie, a consumer-grade… Continue reading Disappearing Snow Time Lapse

Newsflash! Mother Nature Inexplicably Thwarts Man’s Best-Laid Plans

A week ago today, Midland experienced its third heaviest daily snowfall in recorded history. Officially, we received more than seven inches of snow, making for some very pretty scenery. I had a brainstorm while gazing out at the winter wonderland our back yard had become. Given that I’m a long-time West Texas resident and thus… Continue reading Newsflash! Mother Nature Inexplicably Thwarts Man’s Best-Laid Plans

An exercise in observation and creativity

I was captivated by this photo someone shared on Twitter and tracked it down in the Library of Congress archives. It’s an undated, uncredited picture of what some have dubbed the “Mark Twain Tree” (which is how it was titled on the Twitter post). I can’t confirm this (and, in fact, I doubt it; see… Continue reading An exercise in observation and creativity

More Texas wildflower action (with 17% more bugs, too!)

The bluebonnets are thinning out in the Texas Hill Country, but wildflower season is far from over. The amazing fields of blue are giving way to even more vivid arrays of yellow, red, and white blooms, and not just from the typical flowering plants. Cacti are busy putting out their own displays of color. And,… Continue reading More Texas wildflower action (with 17% more bugs, too!)