Rain Equals Green

The mosses and ferns are happy again.

This hiker is always happy.

Bikers in Texas

The flatlands of west Texas are a training ground for these two cyclists of a professional cycling team.  I wondered where the rest of the team was but never saw them.

But you were expecting bikers of this sort from the title of this post.

That would annoy me having those flags flapping in the wind behind my head.

Texas doesn't have a helmet law so that just made those flags even more annoying.

More From West Texas 2011

People think I am nuts when I tell them how I enjoy driving the Great Plains states when there is nothing to see on the flat lands but acre upon acre of corn fields and wheat fields.  "Boring!"  

So I never say much to anyone about how much I enjoy driving west Texas.

Yeah, this scenery goes on for day long.

Occasionally there is some point of interest.

 A drive-up window at a liquor store.  What a wonderful state Texas is.

Pyrrhuloxia

I remember seeing this bird while in southern Texas and was so excited as I saw my first...well I don't remember, for at the time I thought it was something else other than what it really was.  

Yes, I am no bird authority.  The name looks like a mouthful to say so I'll just call it by its other name

the Desert Cardinal.

Dead Cottonwood Tree

I was looking at some of my photos from road trips in the past.  This was at the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico five years ago.  I wonder if that tree is still standing.

White Turkey

Seen on my walk in the park yesterday.

There must have been 50 or more wild turkeys in this herd.

I waited for Whitey to cross the road which he did so very rapidly.

I suppose there would be no dark meat on this turkey.

Smallest Church in America Destroyed by Arson

This really saddened me to learn about.  Evidently this happened right after Thanksgiving last year.

Here I have copied a local news report dated December 1, 2015.
Below that is a copy of my original post after visiting the little church in April of 2013.

DARIEN | Four days after a suspected arson destroyed the Smallest Church in America in northern McIntosh County, donations of building materials and cash are pouring in to rebuild the 190-square-foot structure, officials said.
The fire was reported just before 1 a.m. and firefighters found it burning throughout when they arrived, McIntosh County Fire Chief Mark Deverger said.
The fire was put out quickly, but because the structure is so small it was a total loss, he said.
Justin Lamb, an investigator with the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office, said a state fire marshal concluded that the fire was not started by an electrical short and was most likely arson.
The church is kept up by donations that visitors dropped through a slot in a safe and, Sam Clark, a contractor and firefighter, pointed out a spot where it appeared someone had tried to use a torch to cut into the safe.
The fire marshal had reached the same conclusion, Lamb said.
“From what he could tell, someone had tried to force it open,’’ and the caretaker said the damage had not been there earlier, Lamb said.
Frank Williams and Clark were at the church early Tuesday taking measurements to calculate what would be needed to rebuild the little non-denominational tourist attraction on U.S. 17 just south of the Interstate 95 interchange at Southport.
“It’s going to be rebuilt soon,’’ Williams said. “Money’s coming. Lumber’s coming. It’ll be done by Christmas.”
A stack of donated 2-by-4’s lay on the edge of the property, and Clark said demolition wouldn’t be a problem. The fire was so hot it cracked the concrete block walls, he said, pulling a block down with one hand.
The small pews and pulpit burned, but the safe was still intact mounted on a wall.
The church is 19 feet deep long and 9 feet, 6 inches wide and was built in 1949 by grocer Agnes Harper, who stipulated it be deeded to Jesus Christ.
The sign says visitors are welcome and most of those who stop at the church are visitors.
County State Court Judge Jean Bolin stopped by Tuesday morning and said it had no services but that “thousand of people stop by here.”
The has been the site of some marriage proposals and many weddings.
Lamb said there was a wedding there about 6 p.m. Friday.
Investigators don’t believe those in the wedding party were local, but they’re trying to track them down to speak with them, Lamb said.

In 1949 Agnes Harper, a rural grocer, built this 10 x 15 foot building, the best she could do with limited funds knowing she could not afford the kind of chapel that would do justice to God.  She wrote the deed in the name of Jesus Christ.  Mrs. Harper died and Rev. G.W. Ward took care of the chapel, holding services plus the occasional wedding or baptism.  The reverend died in 1986 and since then various people have volunteered to be caretakers for it.  It remains today as a curiosity and a sanctuary for the traveler who seeks rest and escape in a cozy confinement.

Open the door, the light comes on.



Standing at the pulpit one has a good view of all 12 parishioners.

I Miss West Texas

From my trip through Texas in 2014

Art at the Flea Market

I stood there at the table and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what this artist was creating.  

Well modern impressionist art is sometimes difficult to figure out anyway.

Then I finally reasoned I was standing on the wrong side of the table.

I turned the painting around and...

The Knife Seller

After the pile of jewelry the next flea market seller of interest was the guy selling knives.  He had a whole bunch more spread out on his tables but I was focusing on the colorful display on this board.  While composing this picture a gentleman walked up and asked the seller if he had any U.S.A. made knives.  The seller had only two.  And so goes our consumer choices in America these days. 

Pile of Jewelery

Would you bother rooting through this tangled mess in search for something that fancys your eye?

One lady was not deterred.

One Last Visit to the Flea Market

El Nino will begin in earnest this week and is predicted to carry on through March.  

This means that for most Sundays my local flea market will be washed out.  

These vases caught my eye, especially the one on the left.

How did they do that?

End of 2015

Time to go outside and bring in the Christmas decorations.

We wish everyone a good 2016.