Needle in the night

Night piercing amour
The Seattle Space Needle in the night is a beautiful site. It pushed the limits of my camera to get this pix though. We were staying a few miles away and it was a landmark for getting around. I tried shooting it a few nights while we were there. The Needle was the tallest building west of the Mississippi when it was built. And, since you asked, No, I did not get up the courage to go up it.

Click on their web site above, they have a neat web cam that you can spin around and view the whole of Seattle.

--steve buser

The fun never stops

Birds wait for food to be tossed into the air. The ducks wait for it to fall. People face in the wind, staring out at the boats in the bay grabbing the wind.

This is all why the Kemah Boardwalk is one of my favorite spots -- activity is buzzing around you on several levels. But each actor knows his part. "The fun never stops."

Kemah is just south of Houston along Galveston Bay. The Boardwalk is lined with great restaurants and there are rides for the kids. In the middle is a hotel looking down on a courtyard where bands keep the buzz going as kids splash in the dancing water spouts.

Great fun.

-- steve buser

Country spirit

Anybody home?
Was the church abandoned? It appear that is was. But the grass was neatly groomed.

In any case, it was on a lonely country curve miles from the nearest town . Next to it was the cemetery. Where church members were laid to rest. Kind of a traditional thing, and not just for the Deep South.

But was the church abandoned? Or does the spirit still live?

People sometimes abandon churches, but does God?

--steve buser

March of time

Wandering the back road a few weeks back I cam upon this house out in cotton country near Simmesport, LA. Probably and old share croppers home. The weather-worn look just have a nostalgic feel to me. As we march through time, technology by technology, we leave behind things that were once active and useful. We leave our past to the elements.


-- steve buser

Sun worshiping

This sun worshiping perennial was on the side of the road at J.J. Mayes Wildlife Trace just to the east of Houston, Texas, when I stopped there several years ago. The nature preserve is on the Houston side of the bridge over the San Jacinto River near Wallisville.


--steve buser

Don't tell

Uncovering secrets.
Don't tell.
It's dark, nobody will notice.
You remember when you were a kid and were just so fascinated with things, that sometimes it was worth getting in trouble just to find out what made that fancy Christmas gadget work. Here, Our grandson, Sullivan, does a a covert operation in stealth mode in the darkness.

Paw Paw sits in the shadows unnoticed, gathering photographic evidence.

Don't tell.

--steve buser

Lagniappe

Icons on icons

Two well known icons, with their icons on top of the icons -- Grand Central Station and the Chrysler building in New York City. The John Donnelly Company did the statue at the top of the station . Fleet-footed Mercury (messenger of the gods and god of abundance and commercial success) stands tall in the middle, flanked by Hercules (renowned as having "made the world safe for mankind" by destroying many dangerous monsters")and Minerva (who was noted goddess of wisdom, commerce, crafts and more),

The Art Deco Chrysler Building, opened in 1930, remains the worlds tallest brick building. The 125-foot spire was actually built inside the building to keep it a secret until it was hoisted into place.

--steve buser

The clock's stuck on five

The beach. The sun. The life. Cozumel here. One of the commercial beaches. Umbrellas ready. Drinks and eats a few steps away. Blues. Every color of them. But no one can mimic the color of the ocean. Azure blue. Turquoise blue. Clear blue. All in one. And its always five o'clock.


--steve buser

Getting nosy

Our grandson, Sullivan, is excited and at the same time unsure, as an elephant gets a little nosy. Still, the rest of the day he kept talking about how he and his Nanny touched the nose of an elephant at the Texas Renaissance Festival near Plantersville (don't ask me where we were, just go to their web page).

It was and exciting day seeing, jousting, and knights and a medieval sights of every variety.

--steve buser

Last rays, last pumps

Central Park. New York. Chilly Day. Dusk just around the corner.

The dark filters first down into the tree shaded jaunts of City Park. Buildings around the park soak up all they can of the last rays. Our hero here, the skater on the bottom, has a open road as he gets his last muscle-hurting pumps in before retiring for the night.

--steve buser

Sundown, lights up

I was very conflicted here. I was trying to capture the lights on the courthouse in Marshall, Tx. But there was also this wonderfully pink sunset that was setting up in the distance. Finally I decided to see if I could get the two in the same picture. Voila!.

--steve buser

The dragon riding hero

You want to talk about real bravery?


Try grabbing on to the back of a fire-breathing, roaring dragon who then gyrates, slaps his tail, flails and humps his back over and over in circles to fling you off. Look, the dragon's smiling. He loves this. Throwing off little children.


A real dragon rider does it all with a smile, too, thank you. Bravery is enjoying this and getting off the dragon and back on again. Over and over. This may look like the little boy that sleeps in your house. But inside his mind awakes Sullivan, Dragon Rider Extraordinaire.


By the way, Sullivan, Dragon Rider Extraordinaire -- the one in the front -- is our grandson who was displaying his dragon-taming talents to us the other day when we were with him and his mom at a fair in College Station, Texas. Suddenly this dragon lands in the middle of the place and we did not know what to do. To the rescue.... you know the rest.


--steve buser

Spinning down

I am totally convinced that the sky likes to play with rustic things. Even in this case, where the windmill was totally ornamental. The spinning toy tower sat out in front of a miniature golf course. But what did the sky know? It just saw a windmill and said "that would look neat with some bright pastels and some glowing highlights. So, one night the sky showed off its work -- I happened to be passing by and caught it with my glass eye.

--steve buser

Mud Show

The Mud Show at the Texas Renaissance Festival near Houston is a perennial favorite.. We were at the festival recently -- our last time there was about 10 years ago. But, to our surprise, the Mud Show was still there. Still the same. Still the same mud bathers. Still as funny as ever.


--steve buser

This is your New York

Okay, I tried. I admit it wasn't for long, but I did try. I resisted the urge. But it was too strong. I mean the poster was sitting right there. I had to find a little bit of a oblique angle to make it work but that wasn't hard. And suddenly, I had the shot. New Yorkers. Watching the ice skaters at Rockefeller plaza. This is your New York. -- indeed.

--steve buser

Kid shapes

Did you ever notice that different shapes of people's space? Adults keep their hands in, their feet under them. Kids run with their hands flailing, hair blowing, and legs shooting forward.

This picture was taken in College Station, TX -- we took our daughter and grandson (Sullivan) to one of those parking lot fairs with all the rides. You know, the buy-a-bracelet-and-ride-all-the-rides variety. Sullivan took full advantage of the that -- five hours worth. It was a beautiful, cool, breezy day. One of those kind you remember forever.

--steve buser

Neither lights, nor bustle, nor pizazz shall keep...

Times Square, asplash with color and lights and glitter. Filled with the brushing and bustling of tourists caught up in the awe. But remove the lights, tone down the pizazz and behind it all, live goes on. Needs get meant. In the center of all this? FedEx delivers another package.


-steve buser

Marshalling interest

Christmas brings out the best even in courhouses, as the Marshall, TX, Courthouse gives evidence to in this photo. The lights are a favorite a tourism attraction in the region. It is a great advertising for their bus tour of Christmas lights through the town.

-- steve buser

Wave watching

Curiosity. That's all it was.

I watched this guy wander (wonder) down across the rock outcropping to where the waves were practicing slam dunks. He was making a pretty good pace, bouncing from foothold to foot hold, then slowed, trying to find the closest place that was still out of read of the splashes.

The scene is in at the beach front in Cozumel.

--steve buser

Into the heart of the sunset

Heading into the sunset over the I- 10 Atchafalaya Basin crossing at Whisky Bay. The bridge is about a 25-mile crossing of the swampy basin. The Atchafalaya River is sister to the Mississippi in the Southern part of Louisiana. It would love to carry all of the Mississippi River's water to the Gulf, were it not for a gate structure built by the Corps of Engineers to prevent that.


I guess if that ever were allowed to happen, this bridge structure would have to be twice as long.


--steve buser

Coming in

It's been a fun day. The sun has baked your skin and the wind has been brushing past it all day long. But it's time to call it a day. Turn on the motor and lower the sail as you steer slowly back to the channel that brought you here. Your fellow sailors and captains line up in front of you and behind you -- it's their quitting time, too.

This is a shot from the Boardwalk in Kemah, Texas just south of Houston. Hundreds of boats pass by each day heading out from the Clear Lake area into the Galveston Bay for a day of sailing or speeding cross the waves.

--steve buser

Catching Crabs

It was early morning and this young man in Guatemala had just got started on task fo catching crabs. But he pulled along side us and pulled out one to show us. We had landed at Puerto Santo Thomas de Castillo and were heading down the Rio Dulce.

--steve buser

Horn-heavy

This friendly creature is from the South Texas State Fair in Beaumont Texas. This particular year was the first year the fair was held at the new Ford Park.

Seems long-horn cattle are a source of pride in the Lone-Star state.

--steve buser

Walk-on ...rather .. . Fly-on appearance

Seems like everybody wants to be part of the drama. After all, this is the Big Apple. The two feathery thespians hope to be discovered by an impromptu appearance at the statue at the entrance to Central Park in New York City.

--steve buser

Real real

I don't know why they call it make-believe because it's as real as they get. When a young kid gets a new toy that really sparks his imagination he enters a world more real and alive than the... how do you say it... more real than the "real" one. He creates all the action, all the rules, all the drama. And it spills out into his toys as they come alive in his mind.

This is a shot of my grandson, Sullivan, enjoying new toys on his birthday. If you don't know the names of these "guys" you have to go back to play school -- your assignment is to Yahoo "Lightning McQueen."


--steve buser

Sprayed on fun

This is the Spray Park in Groves, Texas, a favorite for kids (and for moms and dads). As you can see the splashing action just encompasses the whole space.

Where is this splashy space? Here

--steve buser

Artesian Springs

Artesian Springs is a hideaway resort east of Newton Texas. The area offers exciting white beaches in the middle of pine forests. It is a favorite camping area.

--steve buser

Steamy sunset

Low hanging clouds above, a retiring sun, a clear horizon and steam billowing from a plant combine for this effect. I caught this shot south of Lafayette, LA the other night as I was driving home from a trade show. A little bit different twist on the sunset genre. Seems to me the sun doesn't just use clouds to do his aerial art works. Like any good artist he likes to experiment with different media.


--steve buser

I am not talking to you

Are bird tempermental? I mean do they do things like not talking to each other for several days? Or is that just a human thing. I know I have seen some pretty human things from them.

I remember a cat I had back in college. She would lay in the front yard and the mocking birds would come and perch on branches near her. She would pretend not to notice.

Then the game would be for the birds to swoop down and try to rattle her. She would continue to feign inattention -- it was a game of chicken. More and more daring, the birds would sweep closer on their strafing runs toward her. Time after time, she would look away, totally unbothered.

Then on one bombing run, a bird would come into her air space and she would spring suddenly to life and swipe at them. She would occasionally knock them out of the air. A few times she even grabbed one in mid flight -- it was after one of these episodes that I would get a gift.

But the pair of pigeons in the photo today seem to be having just an ordinary lover's spat. "I'm not talking to you, and I'm not telling you why."

--steve buser

Gentlemanly attire

Grandson Sullivan shows how the gentlemen port themselves at a New Orleans wedding reception. In the background, the jazz and blues band are red hot.

-- steve buser

Wall-waved flag

Jasper, Texas has a series of murals on several of its downtown businesses. If you'e in the area, it's worth a swing by and a drive through the downtown area.

-- steve buser

Bubbling baby

Our granddaughter Sofie tries to understand what makes the ground bubble up at a water play ground at the zoo in Houston. This picture was taken by her proud mom, and my daughter, Vicky Lynn.

--steve buser

Water pad

The Tony Houseman State Park and Blue Elbow Swamp greet you as you come into Texas on the Interstate 10 from Lousiana. It's unfortunate, that without a boat, you can see much of the beauty. Even the boundaries of the park and wildlife management area are not marked off.

But with a good guide, the park opens its soul to you, as you see in this shot. Canals lead you to old logging sites and drilling areas. How about Swamp and River tours in Orange. I totally enjoyed my time with them --

-- steve buser

I'm in high cotton

I'm in high cotton. You don't hear that saying so much any more. I always liked it though. It always had a sense real good feelings about life. I'm not sure there are good substitutes. High cotton -- an overwhelming sense that life is going your way.

I caught this picture coming back from Alexandria a few weeks back -- decided to take the back way. Glad I did. I was in high cotton.

--steve buser

Blue Jelly

If the blue seems to jump off the screen here, I can assure you it was even bluer in real life. The jellyfish were a big hit with our grandkids on this visit to the Aquarium in Houston. Guess they never even imagined that something like this can exit. Of course, there we lots of tanks and lots of wide eyes. The sharks sure kept them quiet.

Where was this? Here.

-- steve buser

Atlanta and the leadership question

This was Atlanta a night from my hotel room a couple years ago. I was there for a leadership conference. I took a lot away from it. I did, however, leave with a bigger question than I can with.

Every community needs leaeders. There is big interest in learning how to develop leaders. At the conference, and other meetings I have been to, there was a strong assertion that enthusiasm is a hallmark of a leader. In fact, many believe that it is a "sine qua non" of being a leader -- without this, despite all your other leadership skills, you can't be an effective leader.

My question -- how do you train a leader to be enthusiastic? Is enthusiasm a skill? Can it be trained?

--steve buser

The fence walker

This fence walker was one of my favorite photo subjects in the backyard of our last house. He and I would spend quite a lot of time together . It was a strained freindship -- he was always ready to bolt if I did anything he considered threatening. But some times he would let me get close enough for a good shot. Sometimes, like this, he thought he was more invisible that he would. Any tree was to him a cloak of invisibility.

-- steve buser

Tools of the trade

Every trade has its own unique tool box. Lawyers have their writs and suits. Journalism have their style books and note books. Dentists have their drills and filling tools. This toolbox of ropes is from a shrimp boat down in Sabine Pass back in 2004. There is a whole fleet of shrimp boats which sail from there -- ice houses, docks, repair yards, all support that effort. I haven't been down there this year, but I suspect that things are mostly back from Hurricane Rita (and the smaller hurricane this year), but there are probably lingering scars.

Sabine Pass is a about 25 miles south of Beaumont Texas. It is the where the Sabine and Neches Rivers (they're one river at that point) empty into the Gulf. The waterway there is a busy place with repair yards for offshore oil rigs and two new LNG terminals under construction. The river there also brings in ships to the refineries and petrochemical plants in the area and the area's three ports.

Where is this? -- Here

--steve buser

Daredevil

Our grandson, Sullivan, holds as he careens down the steepest of mountains, made from a piece of siding and a couple of bricks in our backyard. Such daring.

--steve buser

Going Home

When the sun sets early in the winter, going home can be a darkening experience. This shot is the Laurel Street overpass (over the I-10) in Beaumont, Texas.


-- steve buser

Backyard sunset

This was my first sunset shot with a digital camera. Back in 2003, in Beaumont, I was out in the backyard barbecuing when the sky just exploded with color. I ran inside and was able to capture it just before the sun got tired of spray painting the undersides of the clouds.

Where is this? Here

--steve buser

Water Wow!

My granddaughter, Sophie, is fascinated by sea creatures at the Houston Aquarium. We took her and her brother there a few weeks back. The pair were capitvated by the colorful display and things that go swim in the night.

--steve buser

Cozumel calls.

A skiff off of Cozumel's coast sure did bekon me when were down there last year on a cruise that stopped at the four locations on the Yucatan Peninsula. The azure blue water just pulled the cares right out of you.

I think the boat has my name on it.

Where is this? Here.

On the seas again (I just can wait to get on the seas again)

Okay, the day in Cozumel is over. Don't feel sorry though, it's back to the ship for a good meal and fun time as our Norwegian Lines ship sails further south through the night to the bottom of the Yucatan Peninsula to Quatemala.

This is from a trip we took last year about this time. It's only when you are on the dock that you get a true feeling for how big these ships are.

So what did we do during that day? We rented motor scooters and drove around the outside of the island to the other side -- the scenery was pure eye-candy.

Where is this? Here

Anchors aweigh..

--steve buser

Into the misty

I had to play with the photo of this boat quite a bit, because it was a lot foggier than this photo suggest. The scene is the harbor of Victoria Island, just off the coast of Seattle. It's a fun ride out their by ferry and the town and the island is quite quaint. Unfortunately, we got there right at the end of the good season for seeing things.

Where is this? Here

Oh! the web we weave...

This guy was blocking my path as I went down to the water to get a shot. I guess he was mad because his spider web was getting all messed up. The scene is White's Park -- the Chamber's County Park, just off the I-10 about 40 miles west of Houston. Turtle Bayou flows along the back of the park.

Where is this? Here

--steve buser

Clouds don't sleep

On a nearly cloudless day, the clouds have escaped onto the dark glass of this building in Beaumont, TX.

Where is this? Here
--steve buser

Arboreal art vs kids climbing land

Through the workings of storms and millions of little happy feet, the trees near the lagoon in City Park have been formed into very climbable works of art. The branches hang low enough that even the smallest of munchkins can climb aboard and pretend to be aerial arborists. But the tops of the tree, seem to want to distance themselves from all that and use their twisted limbs to wave Spanish Moss art at benched parents.

--steve buser

Sun bathing.

Thousands of flower enjoy the soft sunlight bath at the Timberline Nursery near Woodville, TX.

The nursery's indoor growing cycle allows year round output for retail nurseries all around Texas.

--steve buser

Waterfall -- concentration, struggle, peace

Calm, peaceful, struggle. I captured this image at a waterfall up in Washington State on a trip we took to Seattle a few years back. I keep it framed. It captures a message for me of concentration no matter what is crashing down around you. And enjoying the struggle because that is what it is all about.

--steve buser