Flora, Fauna, and Fire in Tow,TX

Lisa's petunias--battered by a recent hail storm.

I tried and tried to catch them with their wings open but couldn't. I love the dirt in Tow. It's pink and full of tiny crystals. I miss that pink dirt. Driving through the residential area of Tow you see more pink, dirt roads than gray ones. And it's more like sand than dirt.

The North American Soft Shell Turtle, Apalone
(at least I think so). Someone tried to tell me they were leatherback something or others, but I think the leather backs are all sea turtles. And, it so happens, Lake Buchanan is far far far away from the sea. Either way, he was a very cool turtle and I took sick pleasure in my aunt's fear of him. I had scooped him up to look at him and she hid behind her car door and kept telling me I was close enough, she could see him fine. I have to hand it to her, though, she came around. Perhaps once she saw that he wasn't hurting me she decided he was safe enough? Whatever the reason, she ventured a finger to feel his "shell" and was as amazed by the texture as I was.

There wasn't a great deal of time for photography while I was in Tow this weekend and as you can see, these photos are nothing to get excited about. I did, however, get really excited about the turtle because I'd never seen a turtle that didn't have a hard shell. This guy had the coolest "shell." It was soft, pliable, and made for swimming. Made me think of dolphin fins. The last thing I wanted to share is the fire truck below. No, it's not a fab photo or anything, it's purely for nostalgia. My grandfather and father both were in the local volunteer fire department when I lived in Tow and it's possible that both of them rode this truck. I never paid attention to what they drove in the fire department when I was a kid. I just remember Dad's big, metal water can that he wore on his back to fight fires with. It was always in the back of his old, faded, chartreuse yellow Ford.

Fall Creek Vineyards in Tow, Texas

I shot and shot and shot out at the vineyards. I must have at least 40 photographs of the Cypress Trees alone. It was just so beautiful. The grapevines looked terrible and I didn't get any good shots of them. But it was SO much fun shooting out there. The staff was incredibly polite and service oriented. They didn't mind my camera and tripod at all, even on the tour. They were great. And my aunt did the wine tasting and found four bottles that she had to take home with her. I envied the wine tasting, but it was so fun being there that I was able to put it out of my mind. Oh, I didn't shoot him but there was a VERY fat and happy cat on the premises. He was named "Casey" after all the many cases of wine being sold at the time he made the vineyard his home. The winery is open seven days a week, although their weekend hours are different from their weekday hours: Fall Creek Vineyards

Finding your friends in Tow, Texas--just look for their signs.

Tow, Texas Hay Farm

The one above is my favorite in the hay series because of all the oblique lines. And I took a freaking lot of shots of this hay field near The Fall Creek Vinyards in Tow, TX. I may have also taken a rather big risk. They were shooting out at the end of the field! Target practice, I'm sure. I just kept hoping they weren't drunk and that they were aiming off into the field and not at the road where Pinki and I were shooting them..... quite harmlessly with our cameras.

So, I was talking about the oblique lines in the above shot. Yes. First the sky, then the hills, then the trees, then the greener swath of grass in front of the trees, and lastly the yellow grass stretching from the foreground all the way back. My mentor Jean Levert Hood

taught me to look for certain shapes when I compose my shots. Until this one, I hadn't quite nailed the oblique lines thing, and really I didn't know all those shapes were there until I got home and was looking at the shot on my puter. I thought when I was shooting that the oak tree and tractor shots were going to be my favorite. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect "S" shot.

le Sigh.