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Monday, December 31, 2007

Berry Merry Christmas

We ran into these berries while visiting our daughter's family in College Station over Christmas. I had never put it together that these berries were around for the holidays. I guess that cutsy saying, "Have a Berry Merry Christmas" was true to life.

--steve buser

Make sure you stop by and see New Orleans Daily Photo while your here

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Flying fearlessly

You're big now. Four-years-old. Nearly a man. It's time to take the big leap. Grab that motorcycle by the handle grips and leave the bounds of earth. Mother Earth. Cut the strings. It may be only for a second or two, but you are flying into a place where only clouds and eagles live.

Again and again. Around and around. Almost seems like a ride at the fair. Almost.

Our grandson Sullivan shows how it's done. Who would have thought that out of all those motorcycles, he would get the fastest, meanest, highest-flying of the whole bunch? Who would have thunk it.

Only the bravest of the brave.

--steve buser

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Slipping out to sea.

Looking back out the plane window as we jet out of Houston, the alluvial deposits sparkle in the late after noon sun. The City of Anahuac is in the lower left on the shore of Lake Anahuac. That lake is released through a dam which is barely visible into the Trinity River. The Trinity isa line come in from the right of the picture and taking a sharp turn toward the top of the picture right in the center. It spills through a channel into Trinity Bay.


The water finds its way from there into Galveston Bay that comes up to Houston. Eventually the effluent makes its way out to the Gulf of Mexico. But before it does, it makes a lot of sailboat enthusiasts happy and makes it possible for large ships to come into Houston.

So much for all the commerce and geography. I just thought it was an interesting shot.

-steve buser

Friday, December 28, 2007

Shared existence






















 

The single stalk of grass owes its existence to the weathered fence behind it. Snuggled close to the aging boards, the grass is inaccessible to lawnmowers chomping by. So what can it give back to the fence? It's too small to offer much shade from the weathering of the sun or the the pounding rains. Just companionship, that is all it can offer. They live separate existence. Neither aware that their fates are intertwined.


-- steve buser

Monday, December 24, 2007

Sunset jet stream

The last rays of the sun capture this high flying streaker. Standing on the ground, it was obvious that the plain was zooming across the sky. The camera, lens however, looses track of up, down -- a sort of vertigo, loosing track of the horizon. The effect makes it look like a comet striking down.

In a sense, it's a kind of metaphor for life. Loose track of what's terra firma in your life and things that are just streaking by you seemed to be crashing down on you.

--steve buser

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Bird watching

This critter is one of the regulars at the Trinity River Mouth Waterbird Rookery on the east side of the I-10 bridge over the Trinity River. The Rookery has a parking area and a overlook pier that makes a favorite spot for bird watchin. Bring binoculars -- the view is incredible but the action is often on the other side of the lake. Look for Anhingas, White Ibis, Little Blue Herons, and Roseate Spoonbills in this area. It is incredible that a site such as this is available just off the I-10.

So what's this guy doing there? Well, birds sometime slip from the trees.

Boy in a bubble

Another shot from the Downtown Aquarium in Houston. Our grandson, Sullivan, gets a fish-eyed view into a tank filled with sting rays.

--steve buser

Friday, December 21, 2007

It's Christmas time in the village

The Christmas Village, where time stands still. Peace and warm lights. Snow, for sure, but not the messy kind. No traffic. No snarling faces. No fences. No jails. No crime. No run down buildings -- they're all ideal, architecturally perfect.


I was just preoccupying myself for a few moments at my daughter Vicky's house and started shooting pictures of the Christmas Village on her counter.


The Village has been reinforced over and over in our mind from young ages. It lays deep in our psyche. For one moment in time --- a week, a fortnight, a day, a morning -- we drop our defenses, our bickering, our jostling and enjoy the peace of the season with one another.


It's Christmas time in the Village. May yours be Merry and Bright.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Fog focused

A walk along the waterfront in Victoria on Vancouver Island. The fog doesn't let distractions sneak in. You're fully in the moment. Strolling. Sharing the moment with friends. Even the cold seems more of a friend than an enemy. The water is only making soft rippling sounds. The birds are quiet. "Why sing when you don't know what lurks?" they think.


The quiet stillness of fog. One could say the focus of fog.




--steve buser

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Ferried away

One of life's simple pleasures -- the ferry boat ride. The water and the waves. The passing ships. The eager seagulls. The sea breezes. Kids of all ages love it And why not. Fifteen minutes off from the regular world into a world which we share with explorers of yore. This is the ferry from the Bolivar Peninsula to Galveston Island, Texas.


--steve buser

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

WhatChaGot?

Expecting some good eats, the sea gulls zoom in on a lad just wanting to see the ducks down in the water at Kemah, Texas. The Kemah Boardwalk had a bird feed vending machine just behind the rail here, so the gulls knew what the rules are and what to expect. They zoomed in and took a very close look over and over, wondering "what's wrong with this guy?"


--steve buser

Monday, December 17, 2007

Not with a whimper but a bang


And thus it end, not with a whimper, but with a bang. After the jousting match, while the band plays Renaissance songs, the fireworks explode above. The Texas Renaissance Festival closes for another night. The fall festival outside of Houston is an annual attraction for thousands
--steve buser