Where has all the green grass gone?

Football is coming to Lamar University soon. That means all the grass has to go?

The Stadium is getting a sprucing up -- new field, fixed bleachers, new fieldhouse and more.

Meanwhile it is a strange site to see the field looking more like a mud bowl that a gridiron. You'll have to wait a while to see the final results.

--steve buser

Lamar University, Football, Beaumont, Texas

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Little Green Heron

I am up in Austin today.  I waw wandering outside of the hotel just now and found a path down to the Aboretum, This Little Green Heron (Butorides striatus) was wading for his supper catch as the sun was getting ready to go behind the Austin hills. The Little Green is the smallest of the herons in North America. He had nothing to fear from me, but the group of people at the other end of the pond left with their duck-feeding kids and all the ducks, geese and grackle came flocking to see if I was so inclined. Pretty soon, our protagonist here decided to flutter down the pond a distance.
--steve buser

While I wondered dark and dreary...

I was just wandering what it would look like if they dressed up the Stark House in Orange, TX, for a movie shoot. Maybe one of the old sinister, ghoulish movies. So, playing around in my digital darroom I came up with this for one of the peaks on the house. Hmm........ --steve buser

Glass mountains

I didn't really like this photo when I took it. It captured the towering hiehgts of the buildings in downtown, but doesn't have the feel of life and vitality you feel there. So I put it aside. A freind saw it and told me I needed to use it. So here it is.

--steve buser

downtown, Houston, Texas, skyscrapers
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Cool Church

The First Presbyterian Church on Green Avenue iit was the first air-conditioned public building west of the Mississippi River and its dome is the only opalescent glass dome inside of the United States.

It was commissioned by Frances Ann Lutcher as a memorial to the Henry Jacob Lutcher family. The church, a strong example of the classic Greek Revival architecture, was completed in 1912.

It serves as a focal point of the center of Orange where the Lutcher Theater, the Stark Museum of Art, Lamar State College Orange and City Hall all sit nearby.

--steve buser

Orange, Texas, Landmarks

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The Spindletop Gush blows again in Beaumont

The Spindletop Gusher which usher the age of oil into Texas blew again today in Beaumont

The precious, sparkling liquid shot more than 100 feet above the derrick. Above, the man under the derrick is catching some of the precious spray in his hat.

It was, of course, a re-enactment, together with the actors, a throng of watchers, Tracy Byrd's "Spindletop Song" about the early 1900's event, and 10,000 gallons of water (sorry, liquid gold is too precious and too messy).

The occasion was to mark Lamar University's successful employee contribution drive to its fund-raising campaign. The event was held at the LU Gladys City/Boomtown museum -- a replica of a town at the time the gusher blew -- the largest gusher that had ever blown in the U.S. It started a gold rush in Southeast Texas and brought plentiful and cheap oil to fuel the new car craze sweeping the nation.

--steve buser

Spindletop, gusher, oil, Texas, Beaumont, Lamar University
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Willet wait to wade

A Willet(Catoptrophorus semipalmatus) waits on a moss cover rock for some food to pass by. he had been wading in the shallow water near Moody Gardens feasting on thing he found, but decided a little height might make things a little clearer. There were several Willets further down the shoreline, but they protested when I came near --probably they had a nest there at their Galveston Island, Texas spot.

--steve buser

Galveston, Moody Gardens, Willet, bird, Catoptrophorus semipalmatus, Texas

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Orange Juice Sunrise

MinuteMaid Stadium in Downtown Houston greets the sun as it spreads its first orange juice rays across the sky.

--steve buser

MinuteMaid stadium, sunrise, Houston, Texas,

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Zig zag sunset

The steps at the Montaigne Center at Lamar University make a interesting pattern in the fading Beaumont evening light.

--steve buser

Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas, susnet

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Houston's heart

Downtown Houston, with its curved glass and sky-scraping buildings -- it's one of my favorite places to shoot. I don't get to do it much, but one day, I will make a trip out of it.

--steve buser

Downtown Houston, Texas, skyscraper

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Bluebonnets -- as Texas as it gets

The Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis (Fabaceae)) are starting to pop out.  

This was undoubtedly not the best day to photograph them -- overcast, dark, drizzly with a touch of mist.  Focusing was hard.  Depth of field was impossible. At least the wind cooperated for a while.

The explosion of blue along the Texas highways is a sight to see.  On the back roads, field are covered in them like a Paul Bunyon-sized flag laying across the ground.

The Texas Department of Transportation maintains a wildflower sightings site, though it is not very robust.

We were traveling along Highway 105 from Conroe toward Navasota when we started to see a lot of patches of that signature blue.  On the way back were took Hwy 149 and 1365 through the Sam Houston National Forest -- not a lot of bluebonnets in the forest but a lot on either side.

There is a tradition around Texas of taking pictures of children and loved ones in fields of Bluebonnets.   Here's a picture my daughter took of our two grandchildren  (beware, the law of unintended consequences has been invoked.)

--steve buser

bluebonnets, Texas, Conroe, Navasota, Sam Houston National Forests, wildflowers

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Stark wonder

I think this goes a little beyond serendipity -- when you are searching for something and you unexpectedly find some other valuable thing. We've talked about that before.

But this? Way beyond that.

I was shooting a picture of the famous Stark House in Orange, TX the other day. Then I thought I would get some shots of the details. That's when I shot this.

I didn't even look at the picture till just now. I saw it just a few minutes before you. - the three egrets flying past.

Now, I don't believe this is seredipity, because I was only shooting a picture. Its as if you were shooting a picture of the Mall in Washington, D.C. and the President walks up. No way you can say, you're being in Washington allowed that to happen. It did of course, but that was just the smallest cog in a bunch of cosmic gears that would allow something like that to occur.

These three cosmic actors puzzle me. I suspect there is something going on in this universe that I cannot comprehend. Somehow, that comforts me.

--steve buser

Stark House, Orange Texas, egrets, serendipity

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The bridge to heaven

The Rainbow Bridge between Bridge City and Port Arthur, TX isn't quite as steep as it looks here, but once you know the history, you'll appreciate a ride to the top on it.

According to the "Handbook of Texas Online" -- the proposal of a bridge to replace a ferry along Highway 87 casued a fight between Beaumont and Port Arthur factions -- Beaumont folk were fearful a bridge would impede navigation of the river up to Beaumont's dock. Port Arthur wanted the bridge to allow more vehicle traffic along the highwat and therefore more commerce.

"Beaumont representatives offered to end the controversy if the Port Arthur faction would approve a vertical clearance of 185 feet for the bridge. The matter ended with a compromise of 176 feet. The bridge was built with a vertical clearance of 176+ feet, a main span of 680 feet between main piers, and 600 feet between fenders. The clearance was to allow the tallest ship afloat at the time (the Navy dirigible tender USS Patoka) to pass."

At the time this was the largest bridge ever built by the Texas Highway Department ( it was also built to withstand a 130 mph wind -- something it has been tested with a few times in recent years)

Check out the whole story.

--steve buser

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Lazy, crazy days of winter

Remember those days of driving down to the water front in you shiny new Ford Fairlane convertible to watch the boats chug by? This couple was reliving those days at the Port Neches waterfront park the other day when we were there with the grandkids. In the background, a couple of fishermen (well, a fisherman and a fishing lady) try their luck.

A little further down the waterfront but out of sight, was a guy trying to see how far he could hit golf balls into the Neches river -- hoping I guess to hit them all the way across.

Hmm. To each their own.

--steve buser

Port Neches, riverfront, classic cars, fishing, Neches River

Levee Walk --Port Arthur

Enjoy a relaxing walk along the levee on the Sabine Neches Waterway in Port Arthur. The board walk gives a scenic view of Pleasure Island and occasional passing ships and barges.
-- steve buser

I want an iquana

Our granddaughter Sophie and an Iquana at the Houston Aquarium seem to have a communication going on. We took the kids to the Aquarium for a a break. They enjoyed the fish and squirmy things, but most off the rides. I should say they enjoyed the train and the carousel. That's about as far as their bravery would take them.

--steve buser

Houston, Houston Aquarium, kids, iquana, Texas