Hello All

Greetings, I'm back and so is Mark. Last week I had to go back to Virginia but this time it was awesome since Mark was able to go with me. It turns out he has been wanting to look for confirmation that Joe William's (Seguin's baseball Hall of Famer, 1999) grandfather, Calvin Williams, had once been a slave in nearby Orange, VA. It was about an hour's drive from where I was for work so it worked out great. Anyway, while we were there, look what we got to enjoy together!? SNOW. It was so awesome and not enough to make travel a truly huge ordeal - I was still able to get to work and Mark was still able to get over a mountain that separated Orange from Harrisonburg. So, we were thrilled to be there for the ocassion.

We're back in Seguin and I'm still a little weirded out by the drastic change in climate, to be honest with you. Today we were up in the lower 70s and had a lovely time out at one of our bee yards. I'd show you a shot of it but there's something funky going on with my laptop, which I unaffectionately call PC (you know, like in the Mac commercials) and I think my internet connectivity is spotty. Maybe it can't handle my large photo files. Who knows but your warm weather shot will have to wait. I'm off to figure out why I can't transfer files from my desktop to a thumb drive. PC, you gotta just love it or else you end up throwing it out the window.

Signs of Spring

Not that this is from this year's crop, but I love persimmon and I like to photograph them. Not sure if it's the sentimental since I typically only enjoy their deliciousness at Lunar New Year time (Tet in Viet Nam or Chinese New Year, as it is known to most). Anyway, today turned out to be a lovely day. Actually, beyond lovely - perfect. Yes, perfect. Nip in the air but a clear blue sky to enjoy. Plenty of sun.

We had a bit of rain lately and I'm hoping that means good things for spring blooms. Come on rain. We could use a little more and on a regular basis. Not asking too much, are we? :-)

This persimmon was on a little tree that was in a customer's yard when we went to deliver some honey. He has an orchard he's trying to bring back and I think that would be sooooo lovely! I'm excited at the thought of being surrounded by beautiful, orange persimmons to photograph!

Celebrating Martin Luther King

Saturday was a busy, busy day and even though I was super tired from getting up at 4am to get home, I was sure glad I went with Mark to the MLK Banquet at the Coliseum! This year was special, not just for our keynote speaker (Dr. Marcos Nelson above) and music (Cristal Smith and her band), but also because Mark delivered the invocation. Sadly, I did not get a great shot of my honey in action. Hard to snap pictures while you're suppose to have your head bowed and eyes closed. :-) Still...wish I had a shot of him! This year's banquet was awesome!

Chilly Nights Mean One Thing...

While I'm in my own cold climate traveling for work, it seems you guys are also enjoying some chilliness back at home in good ole Seguin! That's one of the few times Smokey will want to curl up inside. That cat loves the great outdoors typically. Once it hits 30s or 20s, he's on his favorite spot - Mark's jeans and bee suits. :-) Y'all stay warm! I'm in Virginia and it's in the low 20s at night and 30s during the day. Hardly a snow storm, however. Boy was I disappointed! Here's all I got -

New Things in the New Year

Happy 2011 everyone! I thought the new year deserved an appropriate new shot. This is our new county justice center. It actually opened a little while ago but I had forgotten to show it to you. I like the color and the modern look. And behind here is the Walnut Creek project, which I posted on before and which I need to update this weekend if I have a chance to go photograph the progress. It's all coming along nicely.

Hope your year is off to a great start and that you have a wonderful year ahead. I'm off on a work trip soon so not sure when I'll post again. Take care, in the meantime.