Oaks at Dusk

This is a shot I snap at the Farm bee yard along Highway 123 and Kingsbury. I roamed the hillside as we were "stuck" for a bit on the side of one of the lovely slopes. Note to you - do not attempt to turn your vehicle around and allow your tires to rest on any green. :-) Looks like the wet winter and spring has really soaked our grounds! It pretty much became ice under our tires and we managed to slide about eight feet down the hill. This is what the ground turned to after spinning tires for a bit and slip sliding around. Towards the tank.
 
Time to call for backup! Our friend David came to the rescue and brought along a very long cable and voila - we're pulled back up the hill. Thanks, David! It was still a lovely evening and I got some play time in while the beekeepers worked on getting us out of there. Here they are strategizing on the best way to proceed.

Luckily I had my boots on so I could explore all I wanted to without worry about bugs, bees and snakes. Poor Bluebonnets. Sorry we trampled you. We didn't mean to but you grab our tires and wouldn't let us go! Y'all have a great weekend!

Fall Colors

On beautiful days like those that we've had lately, we had to get out and enjoy it this weekend. I accompanied Mark out to a couple of bee yards so I could see what was happening in the countryside; it's been a while since I did that. I loved the cool air and the clear skies. Though we don't have the gorgeous fall colors I'm used to from growing up in North Carolina, there is still beauty to be seen and enjoyed. We do have Lost Maples Park a few hours north of here but we were too busy to make it out there so perhaps next year. Meanwhile, here are a couple of shots from this past weekend.

Hope you had a good aMonday and that the rest of the week will be a great one for you! I get my wisdom teeth pulled manana so we'll see if I feel like posting this week. You never know...there might be something interesting to share. There is always something interesting going on around us, right? :-)

Whipping Oak & Sky Watch

We have some very old (estimated 500+ years old) and very beautiful oaks in town. Some are also very famous! This is a shot of the Whipping Oak on the north side of Central Park (our downtown square). The ring you see here is about 3 inches and was driven into the oak about 5 feet up from the ground. During the mid-1800's, prisoners were tied to the ring and receive their punishment in the form of lashes. Mark showed me these after he learned about them during some research this week. He found two of them on the square. I thought it was very intriguing to think of the justice dispensed there on the square.

You can Google "whipping oak seguin" for more information or check out these links: Texas A&M or Seguin Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Other famous oaks include: the Civil War Oak (Seventh block of West Baker Street), the Coffin Oak (Corner of South Camp and West Donegan Streets), the Ranger Oak (Gonzales and Camp Streets), the Goodrich Oak (South end of Goodrich Street), and the Sam Houston (Sixth block of East Nolte Street). No longer standing are the Hanging Oak (Corner of South River and East Nolte Streets) and the John Ireland Oak (Middle of North Travis)

And for Friday, here is my Sky Watch. You can check out other Sky Watchers as well. Have a great weekend everyone!

Ducks #3

If you don't like ducks, tune back in next week because I think I'm going to do a duck series this week. They're so cool and I couldn't decide which shots I loved best so I will share some this week.

This is the same pair I photographed in the first photo -- that's the oak tree they seem to like to hang out in at Second Baptist Church. Here are two observations and wonderings:

1. How in the world do the ducks not slip off the trees and the tip of the church roof? I notice their webbed feet do not form and cling to the surfaces. Interesting.
2. That cool hole in the tree that one of the ducks is standing in has also been home to an opossum, a snake (unconfirmed but that's the story) and who knows what else. I am curious to see how deep that thing goes down. But I'd need a ladder in order to get to it.

I want to share with you all how much I have enjoyed being a part of this photo blogging community. I learn so much photograpy, blogging and other cities. Thank you for all your support, visits and comments!