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