Zebra Swallowtail

The one that got away

Through the Fence

This young calf decided to scoot under the last strand of barbed wire on the fence and go for a stroll along our driveway.  When I decided to go out and open the gate to the back lot, hoping she would go through and rejoin the herd, she showed me how it's done.  She just stooped down really low and went through the last slat  in the gate!

48/100 Dogs - Pit Bull/Terrier Mix

I don't like taking photos of animals through a chain-link fence but I couldn't resist since this little guy was posing for me.  He has amazing eyes; they're even color-coded to match his coat!  I discovered him while on a walk through a residential district in Rusk, Texas.  He may be little but he looks like a tough cookie!

Oxalis

Lioness

Ellen Trout Zoo

Lufkin, Texas

Hitching Post

This iron hitching post remains near the street in front of one of Nacogdoches' historic houses.  Gone are the days when horse and buggy was the preferred method of transportation in this old town.  I think it's a fine decoration and I'm happy it was left there to remind us that things continually change.

Fantasizing

Deep East Texas where I live is a virtual jungle.  Anything that stays still long enough is quickly covered with vines.  Fence rows, old tree stumps, barn walls.  If it is immobile long enough, nature takes over.  This old tree which has been dead for many years, probably from a lightning strike, has gone through several transformations this summer.  In the early spring as the vines started their encroachment, I could see a traffic flagman, holding up his arm to stop traffic which has been routed to one-lane travel due to road construction.  But as the vine grew and started drooping over the flagman's arm, a new image emerged for me. Now I see a Southern belle, with wide hooped skirt standing on the veranda, with lace handkerchief in hand waving goodbye to her love as he rides off to war. And you're tossing around an idea in your mind, too, aren't you?  Has she lost her marbles?  Maybe so.  Some people see images in clouds; I see them in vines!

Cleopatra

Canna lilies are an old-fashioned flower.  They can be seen throughout the South, towering upwards of 6 feet tall, hiding flaking paint on the weathered sides of old houses, coming up each year alongside country roadways where homes once stood but are no more.

This variety is named Cleopatra.  How my mother got such a beautiful hybrid I have no clue, but it's two-toned leaves of red and yellow with speckles is an outstanding specimen.  No two flowers are alike.

Once called "flags" they indeed herald a special beauty.  If I ever leave here I can't forget to dig up some of these lovelies to take with me.

Shelby County Farmers Market

At least once a week I drive over to Center to visit the farmers market held on the courthouse square next to the historic 1885 Shelby County Courthouse (one of the most beautiful and unique in Texas).  It's open six days a week and the produce is delicious, usually harvested just that morning, and reasonably priced.  I'm a tomatoholic so I make sure I get my fill of fresh tomatoes while the crops are plentiful.  Here a local farmer, Royce Johnson, greets a customer.  Many elderly people simply drive up in their cars, roll down the window, and one or another member of the Johnson family will provide a drive-through service.  Royce's dad was a frequent visitor to my granddad's country store when I was a child.  One of the reasons I like this farmers market is because it is required that all produce be grown within the boundaries of the county.

This is watermelon country and there's always lots of these big fellows because so much of the soil in Shelby County is sandy, which is conducive to producing big fat juicy watermelons.  Don't you love that Texas emblem on the pickup tailgate?  I wish I had one for my truck!  The building with the bars on the windows to the left in the background is the old Shelby County Jail.  For a personal story concerning the jail, see this post from back in 2010.

What a spread!  Lots of green and red tomatoes, several varieties of peas and beans, either to shell yourself or already shelled and washed, squash and zucchini, several varieties of peppers, pickling cucumbers, potatoes, onions, cantaloupe, okra, and homemade salsas, relishes, chow-chows, pickles and jellies.

Foggy Morning

A young buck sporting velvet walked up out of the fog to graze in the pasture behind our house this morning shortly after daybreak.  I took this photo with a Canon 5D, which happened to have the best lens already attached to it and which also happens to have a rather noisy shutter.  One click and he is on high alert.

Several more clicks and he turns and hightails it (maybe this is where that word has its origins) back into the woods.

Foxglove

About a mile from our house is a dirt road which serves as a "back way" to leave our area.  It's a pretty good road, well-maintained by the county, but I prefer to go the paved route because the dirt road can either be wet and muddy or dry and dusty.  Either way I don't like what it does to my vehicle, but sometimes I find the need to travel that direction.  During the spring or summer there is usually some kind of wildflower growing by the roadside.  I spotted these one day when I didn't have my camera and it took a couple of days for me to get back and hunt them down.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were digitalis, or more commonly called foxglove.  They had already begun to lose their petals.  Within two more days they were gone.  I've learned if I see a wildflower I want to photograph, I'd better do it now or else it may have disappeared in no time at all.

Cardinal in Mimosa

Building a Nest

For three days I watched a Carolina Wren couple work tirelessly building a nest in a flower pot on our front porch.  I couldn't resist checking it out several times a day.  I even made plans to take daily pictures and hoped to eventually see the eggs and then babies and then fledglings.  I suppose I was too curious about the nest because as soon as they got it finished (or it looked finished to me) they abandoned it and never returned!  Next time I'll remember to keep my distance

Summer Roses