Around north Waco

A few nights ago Jay called me to go look at some tagging being done in north Waco. I didn't photograph it then since the cameras we carry are not very good. Today I had to go in for a little while, so I figured I would swing by N. 26 and Grim and get some photos. Seems to be two or three taggers with one showing some talent and the others just learning.

I started looking at the buildings and noticed what nice lines they had.

This is one old sidewalk.

The back of the 25th St. Theater.

Look at the work just above the metal overhand. Isn't that cool.


This isn't very old, just painted with cheap paint which faded quickly.

Old TV program "The Rookies"

A few weeks ago I bought a DVD Titled “The Greatest 70’s Cop Shows”, It has the first episode for “The Rookies”, “Charlie’s Angels”, “S.W.A.T.”, “Police Woman”, and “Starsky and Hutch”.I just finished watching the first episode of “The Rookies” which aired on Sept. 11, 1972. “Concrete valley, neon sky”, has the rookies dealing with the inner city gang problem. Although they talk about the gang members as juveniles, they all look like they were in their late 20’s or early 30’s. The show takes place in the city of Southern California. The characters were named Terry Webster, Willie Gillis, Mike Danko and his wife Jill Danko. Kate Jackson, who was a lot better looking in this show than she was in “Charlie’s Angels”, played Jill. Oh yeah, they didn't have a Sgt. only Lt. Ryker.
I was almost 12 when this show started. I was attending 5th grade at the Sam Houston Elementary School. It was located at the old Brazero processing center in Eagle Pass, Texas. I liked the show, okay, I liked all the cop shows on TV then, but I don’t have any one episode that stands out in my memory about the “Rookies”. I don’t even remember ever watching this episode.Well, I guess street gangs only existed in large cities in the early 70’s. I am sure I would have been impressed back then with the tough hoods that came out in this episode. They sure were a lot friendlier looking then than the hoods from now. They all looked like construction workers.
This was not a great episode, but it was fun watching it and seeing how little TV has change in its portrayal of what police work is suppose to be. Oh well….

Can't sleep...

I couldn't sleep... so I walked out of the house with my camera. I found the moon a willing subject for my midnight photo safari. The air was crisp and cool, clear, clear dark sky. It felt like a Fall night. Aaah, such a beautiful moon. Made me think of forty years ago when our astronauts landed on its surface. I watched it on our new 19 inch black and white portable TV. We were in La Salle, Colorado. So many things have changed, so many things will change again, yet the moon looks the same. It's surface creamy white against such a dark sky....

There were a few clouds floating high, so high above me. They slowly disappeared leaving the moon by itself.

Hey that's me!!! Yeah, no one to play with, so I used myself as a ghostly subject.

Yes, I still love my wife and I wrote it for her with light.

Elfie slept through my experiments with light.

The neighborhood was quiet. Somewhere past our fence, beyond the dark pasture, a lonely cow called out for the rest of the herd. A lone cat hunted crickets quietly under the street light. Sister stood by the gate watching me taking pictures. The yellow light from the street corner washed over everything out on the street. No breeze, the flag was motionless on the flag pole. The perfect night, wish my sons had been with me.

Family time on the front yard

Sister came up to the fence to smile and show us her pearly whites that she uses to chew up everything in the backyard. That is one silly dog.

I was outside taking pictures when Elfida got home from work. Maiko and the girls came over a few minutes later. Isabelle showing me her disco pose.

Maiko had come over to watch the Cowboy vs Eagles game. I hooked up the projector to the cable and he was happy. He was even happier when the Cowboys actually won!!

Lily chased the dogs and caught Foxy. Foxy was not happy.

Oh yeah, she knows the cheers and the dance steps that Isabelle practices. Lily will be playing then all of a sudden break into a dance. She is funny.
Isabelle was also practicing her cartwheels. Even grandpa did a couple of cartwheels.

I was going to give Maiko a piggyback ride, going to... nah.

She was playing pic-a-boo with grandpa. She is silly.

Almost got it.

Nice close up.

Up in the air. It's fun when daddy is strong enough to lift her up in the air.

And Strong enough to through her up in the air and catch her. Boy she just loves this.

Elfida's flowers.

Backyard safari

This morning I got up and went to eat lunch at school with Isabelle. It was grandparents day. Elfida met me there. Nathan, Isabelle's friend, adopted us as grandparents for the day too. His dad recruited Carlos into the Marine Corps. We ate with both of them. I wore my uniform, and met about 15 more kids at lunch.
I got home and it was to hot to do any yard work. I grabbed my camera and went on a photo safari in my own backyard.

The first two are pictures of our crape myrtles.

It was such a hot and muggy day that all the dogs were hanging under the Live Oak shade.

Elfida said she was going to buy braces for Izma. I don't know why he makes those eyes when I take pictures of her.

I drove down the old Lorena road and went under the new bridge. I took some more pictures of the water that still remains there.

The minnows still survive in the small puddles of water.

I placed the camera on a tree stump and took a picture of myself.

Don't know their name, but they are beautiful.

Use a tripod for this one.

I found a crawdad grave yard.
The rain came out of nowhere. It pored for about 30 minutes. It was still raining when I headed home. I drove about a mile and the ground was bone dry.

An exploding rain drop.

I spent the whole 30 minutes under this bridge. I took over 100 pictures.
Love the colors after a rain.

Lots of traffic here. Everyone was friendly and would honk and wave.

My last photo. Pearls falling from the bridge.

The sisters

Summer sounds, light laughter,

sweet smell of green grass.

A little girls voice,

cheers learned just yesterday.

Pom poms and uniforms.

No more soccer games.

It's cheerleader dreams for now.

What thoughts fly inside the mind

of such a pretty girl?

How many dreams will come true?

Let me hold your hand,

let me walk with you,

Be my sunshine.

Proud grandma!

At home

We finished the fence around the patio and put some solar light on the front posts. They make a beautiful pattern on the concrete. One bad thing about our fence. Izma can fit right between the fence post and the first board on the gate. Well at least it keeps Sister out. She is the one that was chewing on all the chairs on the patio and she would bang on the patio door sounding like some lumber jack was trying to get into the house.

Since I had the tripod out I went into the back yard about 100 feet and took this photo of the house. Nice.

We celebrated Maiko and Isabelle's birthdays today. We bought the meat and I started the cookout. I cooked the chicken breast and all the knuckles on my right hand. Maiko then showed up and finished cooking the rest of the meat. I hate cooking on a grill. Maiko and Amy are trying their hand at making cakes. They made this one for Isabelle. It is Chowder. A cartoon character that Isabelle loves.

It is also a cartoon character that is drawn by her Uncle Alex Almaguer. If you go to the link on the right side of the page "Alex Almaguer" you can see some of his other work. Maiko called Alex and told him how much Isabelle likes the cartoon. Alex sent her some of the cartoon toy figures that are made for the artist that work on the cartoon.

This was taken just as grandma pushed Isabelle's face into the horn or hair of chowder causing her to bite it off. You can see Lily's hand reaching out to get some of the cake.

I love black and white photos, they capture more emotion that color photos.

Isabelle opening the toys Alex sent her. She love them. And look at the excitment on the other kids' faces as they react to the cartoon figures.

Okay, got to put some more lotion on my burnt knuckles. Next time I will leave the cooking to those who know how to cook.