Thanks. This isn't the most picturesque place around but it's nice and peaceful. I also get to hunt deer all year, as long as I use my camera that is.

I decided to use the same location for all four seasons. This location is my "back yard" and all shots were taken within about 150 feet from my back door. I had to go back eight years to get the winter picture. The rest are from the last three years.

I started working on this for the Vintage Advantage challenge and it changed into something very different. I was trying to learn some new Photoshop techniques and got a bit off track. I'm not satisfied with the image since the "Polaroid" images I placed my the desk still look like they've simple been pasted there but I'm going to keep working on it until I get it right (or at least much closer to it).

Sorry. I was thinking too literally.
I wasn't thinking about that one. I'm not even sure if it runs. I can't remember the last time I've seen it anywhere but in that spot.

Except for when there are special events it is very quiet. There are tours but there's no need for a taxi (not sure if there are any). Even though you could spend a day browsing the shops, the Museum of Measurement and Time, and such it's mostly in walking distance.

As for the train, not a Ferrari. Its just a General Electric ET44AC, one of 80 currently on Norfolk Southern's active roster.

B&W is outside of my comfort zone but I decided to try anyway. These were taken tonight in Jefferson, TX. I figured that if any setting is appropriate for B&W photography, this is it. I love this town. I can't see many significant changes in the look of the downtown area from when I first started coming here when I was a kid. All of these were taken in the downtown area.

If you are in the area and have time a few hours exploring or an overnight stay in one of Jefferson's many bed and breakfasts is worth your time. Here's a link to the tourism site the town has up. https://visitjeffersontexas.com/ Jefferson is roughly sixty miles south of the Oklahoma state line and thirty miles from the Louisiana state line. US HWY 59 runs through the city limits but all of Jefferson's sights and charm are East of the highway.

One more thing about Jefferson: It's full of "haunted" buildings. I'm not fully convinced but I have seen enough unexplainable things to make me wonder.

I haven't been able to find out how old this gas station is. It sits at the North end of the main street through downtown.


At first glance this might be mistaken for an old photo but once you see the neon Blue Bell Ice Cream sign..


The general store is indeed a treat. It's got a bit of everything but groceries. They still only charge 5¢ for a cup of coffee.


Like many small towns they roll up the sidewalks after the antique stores close. There is at least one restaurant/bar open at this time of day though. This is looking North from Polk street.


Looking South from the same intersection. To emphasize how deserted it was, I was able to stand in the middle of the road and not have to wait for any moving cars to get out of my shot.


One of the things I love about old towns like this.. When the railroad line was moved two blocks South the old bridge was preserved and a park has been built around it.


The one modern thing I shot tonight. There are two sets of railroad tracks running through town. Kansas City Southern has a line on the East side and Union Pacific has one on the West. It gets a little noisy. No.. VERY noisy.

In a way I'm thankful for those health problems. Yes, the stress at work made them worse but wasn't the root cause. They were the push I needed to remove myself from the stress and focus on healing. Now the challenge is to adjust finances and hopefully find a way to not have to go back to work at all. Oh yeah, and to learn better photography techniques.

I feel the same way. Processing to remove what I don't want is often the way I go but sometimes it's just pleasing to leave things the way they are.

I have so much to be thankful for that it's not possible to list it all and photographs cover so little of it. Six months ago I was working an extremely stressful job and was not in good health. Because of the health problems I had to take an early retirement and am finally on the mend. Now I just take things as they happen and am learning to enjoy life like I haven't in a couple of decades.
What I can show you in pictures is the peace I am thankful for. To some these would just be pictures of a pasture covered in frost at sunrise or pretty clouds at sunset. To me, however, they represent the time I have gained to slow down and appreciate what is around me. To appreciate the beauty that is everywhere. To appreciate that I have a place to live and a family (some blood, some not) who loves me.

"Neon popcorn" is how the majority of the shots I took that night looked. I've learned my lesson and keep one of my old tripods in the car at all times now.

These were taken in March. I didn't know the carnival was there and wasn't properly prepared. I didn't have a tripod or a remote for the shutter with me. My kids got a laugh at me leaned over the car trying to brace my shots and hold the camera steady. All things considered, they turned out better than I expected.
I went back the next night with all of the gear I needed but the carnival was shut down and packed up.

I have always loved the fall season. When I was younger my favorite thing was seeing walls of vibrant, colorful trees lining the roads and surrounding the fields. Thanks to the droughts we have had in the last number of years I can't remember seeing much of that in the last couple of decades.

As I have gotten older I have come to realize that what I love most about this time of the year is the relief it brings from the blistering sunshine and oppressive temperatures that come with Texas summers. If I remember correctly we had 24 days with temperatures in excess of 100 degrees and 93 in excess of 90 degrees. Hopefully we are done with all of that.

It's still more than a little warm around here though. It was still 84 degrees when I took this picture a little after 6 PM yesterday. At least it's possible to sit outside and enjoy an evening on the front porch again.

I took these from my back yard this morning.
My main purpose was to sneak out of the house and take pictures of something, anything. I'm waiting for bypass surgery (hopefully this week) and have been confined to the house for two weeks now. My secondary purpose was to get the first half of before and after pictures of the ponds. We are under a flood watch because of heavy rain we were told would be coming today. We got some but not really that much.
I 'm sure that here in East Texas we aren't in the worst shape of any area of North America but it hasn't been fun. We have had 20 days of 100+ degree weather since the last week of June and almost no rain until the last few days. There have been enough small showers that there is once again a little green in the grass.
The pond on the right is down about 4 1/2 to 5 feet. Yes, that is (or was) a pond in the second picture.
The plowed area in the foreground is a fire break my father has plowed around our houses.

There aren't many picturesque bridges near my home and none of them are in the town I live so I decided to go another route. Something I really love is the railroad. I chase UP's steam engines around as much as possible and have been known to stop and take pictures of the modern diesels as they come through. My choices for this challenge are the two old railroad bridges which are in out of the way locations that haven't been replaced with the modern looking concrete and steel structures that are more appealing to the eye and have better clearance for vehicles. Both are inside the city limits.
The first of these is only a few blocks from the main business district but out of sight for most people. I had to work hard to find an angle that didn't show the piles of trash built up around it.
The second is in an area that used to be rural but now has some nice neighborhoods within a few blocks. The road is mostly traveled by residents of those neighborhoods who need to get to the highway about a mile north of the bridge and don't want to have to drive an extra five miles on nicer roads to get to the same place. Unlike the other bridge the area around this one is kept clean but as you can see the bridge and roadway have become popular for kids with spray paint. This bridge has a very low clearance and when I was a kid it had "Wolf Creek Pass" painted on both sides. The red on the right side of the second bridge is safety netting that has been pulled down. There is a massive hole there and traffic can only pass through the lane on the left.

I apologize for posting outside of the given time period. I took these on Saturday afternoon and wound up being admitted to the hospital before I could get them out of the camera.

My summer fun is actually what I do year round: searching for something to shoot pictures of. I'm on vacation and chose this week specifically because of a rare photo opportunity. Union Pacific's 4014 came through town yesterday and I wanted to make sure I had enough time to find the best locations to get the best shots.
I also have spent two nights at an area lake taking pictures of the stars and full moon. I don't have all of my editing done yet but here are two. I have four days left and am trying to plan where to take my camera next.

The moonrise photo was taken at Lake O' the Pines near Jefferson, TX and the one of the steam engine was in Atlanta, TX.