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DoubleTree Icon

This is one of the newest buildings in downtown Abilene.  It has the typical rooms that a motel has.  It's within walking distance of many restaurants and coffee shops.

I've never been inside but I looked at the photos on the website and it seems pretty beautiful.  

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Whirly Sculpture

It was so beautiful outside today that I forced myself out for a walk in town again.

It's getting pretty tedious since there doesn't seem to be anything different in town, but I walked past this whirly sculpture and decided to try another shot of it from a different angle.

When the wind blows just right, the discs at the top spin around, but there wasn't much wind today.

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The Mill Restaurant

One of the buildings on the edge of downtown is an old mill structure that's been transformed into a popular destination restaurant.  It's a real interesting structure and it's always tempting to try to get a different image of it.  

I've never eaten there but I know people who have and they say the food is really good.

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Old Overhead Door

During my walk downtown today I saw this door, which is part of an abandoned building.  It looks like it used to have a loading dock.  I don't know what this building once was or what it's being used for now.

I just like the way it looks.

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Renovated Structure

It was a beautiful afternoon.  I took another walk around downtown Abilene.  This structure has been under renovation for a long, long time.  I think it might have been a school once upon a time, but I honestly don't know for sure.  

It's a beautiful building but I don't know what it's being renovated into.

My heart is grateful for:

the good results of the election and the beautiful day it was today

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Retro Tombstone

I pulled into a cemetery looking for something interesting to photograph and I came across this retro tombstone propped against a gnarly tree trunk.

The letters are very hard to read but it looks like the last date is 1896.

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Ice Cream Shop

I met my daughter, sil and grandkids met at this cute ice cream shop in their little town this afternoon.  I got there before they did and was sitting with my camera looking for photo ops when I noticed this cute little scene right outside the shop.  

I love the pink and aqua colors together.

My heart is grateful:

for the cooler fall weather

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Operation Christmas Child

Every year Samaritan's Purse conducts their Operation Christmas Child ministry.

My church is readying for the ministry by displaying a sample box with potential gift items.

This church provides all items to be packed at a packing party, or you can get your own boxes and pack them yourself.

Their goal is 800 boxes, up from last year.

What an amazing ministry!!

Praise God for Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son, who developed this project through Samaritan's Purse. 

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Shoeboxes

It's that time of year.  Operation Christmas Child.  My church stacked these empty shoeboxes in one of the lobbies for people to take home and fill.  

The boxes go to a central distribution center, they're checked for appropriate contents, then sealed and sent to various locations around the world. 

The children receive the boxes with options to attend classes to learn about Jesus.

What an awesome ministry conducted every year by Samaritan's Purse which is led by

Franklin Graham.

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End of Track

One set of train tracks in Abilene, TX comes to an end.  Another set goes straight through the downtown area.  

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Union Pacific Train

A train track runs through Abilene, Texas.  This train was parked on the tracks.

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An abandoned Cabin at the Cisco, TX zoo

The zoo in Cisco, TX that was active in the 1920s-1930s had several cabins on the property that could be rented for people to spend time in the country near the zoo exhibits.  The cabins were small, usually one or two small bedrooms, living room, bathroom and a kitchen.  The structures are still standing, but they are empty and windowless and trashed.

One can only imagine what it was like in its hey-day.

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Another animal enclosure

This is one of the animal enclosures in the abandoned zoo in Cisco, TX.  

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Abandoned Animal enclosure

In Cisco, TX there's an abandoned zoo.  It was active in the 1920s-1930s.  As primitive as it seems now, it was state of the art at the time.  It closed because of several suspicious animal deaths within the zoo.

Now there's about a mile of walking trail through what once was the zoo grounds and you can see the remnants of the enclosures and some of the fencing.

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Empty Building

This looks like a pretty interesting building, and even though it seems to be abandoned, there's a chalk drawing on one side and one of the overhead doors on the end is open, so there must be some kind of business--auto repair, machine shop or something of that sort.  

It seems weird that the main part of the building has been vacant and boarded up for years, but there's a business of some sort in one part.  

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Train Wheel

There's a small park in downtown Cisco, TX, and there's an old train car that the kids can climb on and get into.  I've taken photos of this train car before, but today I was trying to get something different from my previous images.  This isn't too exciting, but it kind of tells a story.  

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Fire Escape

An apartment building on the main street of  downtown Cisco, TX. On the back side of the building is this huge, easily navigated fire escape.  

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Tilted Silo

Cisco, Tx.  

I always wonder what this silo is doing in the middle of the sidewalk.  There are also the car barriers but I've never seen a car parked there.  

Just a curiosity.

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Railway Cars Converging.

I saw these rail cars downtown where there are many rail cars that look like they've been abandoned.  There are no locomotives or cabooses, so it's tricky to get a creative image of these ordinary looking cars, but I thought this was interesting.  It looks like they'll run into each other if they both go in the same direction.  Not an award winning image, just something to think about.

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Railway Spike

I saw this while walking around downtown where there are many railroad cars that look like they've been abandoned.

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Coffee Shop at Night

The other night some friends and I attended a meeting and afterward we decided to go to the coffee shop to visit with each other.  I got there first and discovered that 1) all the inside tables were taken and 2) it was open mic night which meant we probably wouldn't be able to have any kind of a comfortable conversation.

But...for the first time in many months, the weather was beautiful and perfect for sitting outside.  It's been a very long time since I sat outside and it was glorious.

Sometimes it's the very smallest of pleasures that are the most meaningful.

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Words on a Wall

This is a sign inside one of the downtown parking garages.  The entire message is "Parking.  Violators will be Towed"

The garage was partially remodeled a couple of years ago but some of the walls were left like this.  

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Window Shadows

This is seen inside one of the downtown garages.

I'm always surprised at the images I can find downtown if I'm in the right mood.  I've taken photos in downtown Abilene more times than I can count, but if I look for details I can almost always find something I haven't seen before, or that is a little different than what was there "last" time. 

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Jug Behind Glass

I'm not sure what this building is, but I never walked past these windows before until tonight while I was waiting for my photo meeting to begin.  I love the way the jug looks behind the textured glass within the small windowpane.  

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Shadow on the Wall

It was dusk and the setting sun cast these shadows on the wall through the blinds.   I just thought it looked so interesting.

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Back Yard Gate

I just love the look of this rustic back yard gate with the vines growing on it.  

 

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Aqua Door

While walking around today, I saw this pretty aqua door with the wreath.  It was late in the day so there was a lot of contrast between the shadows and the sunlight, but I love the archway of the front porch, the color of the door and the pretty welcoming wreath.

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Pretty Green House

I see this house every time I go to my grandkid's Ju Jitsu lessons.  I got there a little early today, so I grabbed the camera and took a few images.

I love the color of this house and it looks like it would be real sweet inside, but I'll probably never get the chance to see it personally.

My heart is grateful that:

the weather has been so nice lately

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Fall Decorations

It's just the third week of Sept and still in the mid-90s here, but this house is ready for Fall.  I can't say I blame them, I'm looking forward to cooler weather.  I'm just not ready to put out the fall decorations.

My heart is happy that:

it's a little cooler and that the grass is green again

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Ferris Wheel and MerryGoRound

Seen at the West Texas Fair and Rodeo~~an annual event located just outside Abilene, Texas.

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Calf Roping

This was an indoor venue and the camera self-adjusted to the necessary settings, so the image isn't great but it tells the story.

I LOVE rodeos and cowboys.

It was a good night.

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Watching the Ride in Awe

A child and his mom watching one of the rides at the West Texas Fair and Rodeo.  

Just look at the great expression on the boys face.

 

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Wacky Structure

Seen as a decor piece in the hallway of the Albany, NY airport.

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Random Luggage

I was in the Albany, NY airport walking around while waiting for my flight the other day.  They always have the most interesting displays along the hallways.  I neglected to get the low-down on this display concerning the artist, but I love the display. (there are 3-4 other configurations of random luggage, and the open pieces at the top are filled with greenery)

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Urban structure

This structure contained a restaurant until it recently relocated to another space in downtown Abilene, TX. I haven't seen the new location so I don't know if there's an outside eating space as there was here. 

The weather has been much more tolerable although still warm and it was almost pleasant being outside and walking around after dealing with temps in the high 100s and up to 113 for a while.

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Downtown Alley

Seen in downtown Abilene, Texas.  While waiting for a friend to meet me at a coffee shop I wandered around for a few minutes with my camera.  I'm always surprised at how clean the alleys are.

The weather has been much more tolerable the past couple of days.

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Downtown Building

It's been averaging between 102-105 degrees here lately, way too hot to go outside to make images.  But now I'm way far behind my photo-a-day and probably won't be able to catch up by the end of the year.

So I decided to rework an image from my files.

This is one of the buildings in town.  I think it's a bank on the ground floor, but I don't have any idea what the upper levels are.  

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Hat and Scarves

One day, years ago, I walked into a shop in downtown Honolulu and on one of the walls there was a display of 4-5 hats with hanging scarves.  It was really striking and the shop owner was kind enough to let my friend and I take photos of the decor.  

Ever since then I've had this hat and scarves hanging in my bedroom.  The hat was a gift (I don't wear hats) and the scarves were also gifts (I don't use scarves either) and together they make a beautiful wall decor~~at least I think it's beautiful.

It's 8 pm and the temp is still 97 with the forecast of low 100s for the next week.  Ugh.

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Baby Portrait

Today's half of the Maternity/Baby Portrait workshop we had a 10-day-old newborn and the family.

The students had the chance to photograph the infant.

What a precious baby and what a great keepsake this will be for the family.

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Maternity Shoot

I attended a maternity/new baby workshop this weekend.  I made this image with my phone so it's not sharp but I like it better than any of the others I took.  

I seriously dislike maternity photos, but that's what the workshop was about.

The mom-to-be loved the images the instructor took and I guess that's what it's all about.

For being our model, she'll receive some free images.

Hooray for her.

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Weeds in Cement

I was walking along a sidewalk the other day.  It was cracked in one spot and this weed was growing through the crack.  Nature is amazing.

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Alaska State

I saw this wall decor in a coffee shop in Fairbanks,  Alaska.  I've seen it before and I love it.  I don't understand the passion of living permanently in Alaska, but all of the locals seem to have that passion.

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Pickleball Game

White taking a photo of the rackets in the previous post I decided to get a shot of a game in progress.  These 4 folks are really good.

I still need all the help I can get...

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Pickleball rackets

I accidentally got hooked on pickleball.  For 5-6 years I thought it was a stupid game and refused to even try playing it.

When I visited my son, he talked me into trying it, and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

I play at the Y every day.  When the kiddos are out of school there's only one court available.  The rackets are piled in groups of 4 so when one game is over, the next 4 people can play.

The kids are going back to school soon so maybe there will be more playing time because the other side of the gym will be open for the game. 

(I've heard that for the past 3 years Pickleball is the FASTEST growing sport in America~~go figure!) 

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Houseplant

I love houseplants.  This one is turning out to be a beauty.  It needs to be repotted though. I already purchased the soil so now I have to be on the lookout for a bigger pot.

It's Saturday and it's 101 F.  right now.  By Wed it's supposed to be 108 F. with no rain in the forecast. This is too tedious and it's really

No Fun At All.

My heart is grateful for:

air-conditioning

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Coffee Maker

I came into the world of drinking coffee pretty late.  I had a Very Occasional cup in college because it was the cheapest item at the grill and I had very little discretionary money in those days.

I was probably in my late 20s before I started drinking coffee with any regularity and even then I preferred iced coffee.

These days I drink it every day, usually iced, even in the winter.  I use flavored creamer which satisfies my craving for sweets.  

When I first moved to be near my daughter who was just starting her family, she gave me the Nana cup. Coffee seems to taste better in a cup I like.

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Sunflowers

A few years ago one of my photo groups held a workshop led by a woman who is a seriously good photographer and we had the opportunity to photograph random still-life scenes with flowers and other items. 

One day I impulsively purchased these three sunflower canvases.  Maybe someday

I'll give them to someone as a gift.

Until then, I'm really enjoying them.

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Favorite Books

When I moved into a smaller place a few years ago I seriously cleaned out my stash of books and only  kept the ones I really loved and knew I wanted to re-read.  I tried desperately not to accumulate any other books~~and just to be honest, that plan failed but I did re-read all the books I kept.

Most of the books I've accumulated have been for bookgroup.  They were great.  Will I read them again?  hmmm  Should I get rid of them?  Probably.

If I don't get rid of them soon it will be up to my daughter and other kids to clean my house out at some point. I don't really want to leave that burden to them.

It's a conundrum.

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Decor

I was in Hobby Lobby the other day.  I found what I wanted and was on my way to the cash register when I wandered down an aisle where home decor was for sale.  I know this isn't very sophisticated, but there are times when I need a little whimsy in my life.  I basically fell in love with this picture AND it was on sale for a great price.

 

So now it lives on the wall above my couch and is one of the first things I see when I walk through my front door.  

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Books

I've loved to read since I was old enough to read.  Seems like I always have more than one book going, but lately I've been holding back.  I belong to a bookgroup and we read one book a month.  

Sometimes I start another one.  But right now I have three that I'm interested in reading.

The top one, "The Dictionary of Lost Words" is the bookgroup read.

"The Defiant Brides" is historical and I'm struggling to get into it, but I'll persevere a little longer and see how it goes.  It was a birthday gift from a casual friend so I think I need to make an honest effort to read it.

The bottom one, "Perceptions of a Renegade Mind" is one I read before.  It was amazing.

I think David Icke is my new favorite author.