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BELTANE 2011
| ROAD TRIP! We pulled the kids out of school a day early, loaded up the hippo and took the "scenic route" AKA Highway 82 from Sherman to Texarkana, down a two-lane highway through many small towns such as "Paris" and "Clarksville." While we took the interstate most of the way back in a quick, three-hour jaunt, the lackadaisical approach was most assuredly the way to get there. |
Holiday Inn Express; No, I don't feel any smarter...
| Sadly, the hotel I got with my corporate discount was a sister hotel and despite being $10 more a night than the more-than-adequate hotel I stayed at in Austin, it had zero amenities, a pull-out sleeper sofa and a *single* queen-size bed. When I had asked for their largest king suite, they'd assumed I meant "king" as in "big" and it was indeed an enormous suite...with only a single queen sized bed. The front desk girl was awesome and called the Holiday Inn Express across the street who had an even larger suite with two - count them two - queens and a a pull out sleeper sofa. We were now set for the weekend! |
Maypole
| The Druids opened Beltane with a ritualistic bardic fire which was really awesome to watch, then they took a step back for the remainder of the festival until it was time to open the Maypole circle, which again was in the Druids' realm. My son was partnered with Aranon, a retired Chief Warrant Officer who preached on both ignorance, and our children being the future - really neat guy and I was thrilled my son was paired with him. |
The Road Less Traveled
| The boy, growing restless during his mother's workshops, talked me into taking him on an exploration adventure! I haven't seen him smile this broadly in a while - we found an old "Road Closed" sign at the edge of the driving path and continued past it. Its entire surface was thickly covered with a bed a pine needles and went on for miles. It was a wonderfully bonding experience and a fantastic waste of time. It was very beautiful and the perfect weather for such a great impromptu outing. The road made a mighty fine path indeed, what with its width and straightness - very easy to follow and return - a plus when you're traversing unfamiliar territory. |
Texarkana
| I personally found everyone I interacted with in Texarkana surprisingly friendly - surprisingly because even when they had no reason to be, they were. I'd driven through Texarkana many times when I was stationed at Langley, but I can't remember the last time I stopped to visit. Beltane was gorgeously situated at the foot of a dam in a clearing surrounded by trees and the weather was very complimentary to the fest all weekend long. We had some magnificent storms on the way home the last day, and its been cold - very cold - and rainy ever since. Its a nice day for a day off :) |
Saint James Catholic Church in the City Center
ROAD TRIP: PART THREE
Grade school in Texas is filled with stories of Texas Independence and "Texas History" is a required course in junior high. Most everything you've ever heard about us Texans is true, and its instilled at a very early age. The first time I saw the greatest landmark of our history however, was Basic Training Graduation back in 1990. Every single USAF enlisted member goes through Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas - home of the Alamo. (And you're going to need to click that image - its magnificent when its...larger). My folks came down for Graduation bringing with them my buddy who retired this past weekend - he was three months behind me in getting a slot for Basic - and this is the first time I'd been back. Fitting, really.
This has all happened before and it will all happen again.
Wanting to escape the nearly month-long oppression of 100+ degree days of Dallas, but scared stiff of the humidity which comes in the Southern part of Texas I begged my friend to lie to me and tell me it was cooler. He did such a good job that I believed him! Sadly, it wasn't to be. I was dismayed by how "wet" the heat was while I was there. Still and all, the Alamo ought to be photographed in full Texas sun, and in that regard, I wasn't disappointed! Illuminated as it should be.
Remember the Alamo!
Later that night, I volunteered to "take the hit for the team" and designate myself as driver during the pub crawl, which afforded me the opportunity to photograph the famous Paseo del Río or San Antonio River Walk...at night. We arrived on the scene - seven of us - around 2130 and while my brood "closed down" the bars on the strip, I hovered around with my tripod taking night shots. In this picture, you'll see a series of tri-level sub-subterranean interconnected edifices rising into the streets much like Wookie Village. This picture was taken six minutes past midnight with a 15-second exposure at f/3.2 (you'll need to click the thumbnail to see the entire thing):
I miss H.E.B. Its a South Texas supermarket. With an impressive selection of beer and the BEST TORTILLAS I'VE EVER HAD, ANYWHERE (not to mention they sell Texas Olive Ranch Mesquite-Smoked Olive Oil) I made as many trips there as I could. What a great culture. What great people. With so much to see and do in this fine town, boredom never came. Its vast tourist-friendly-yet-small-town-feel was very welcoming and set me right at ease no matter where I went.
Amarillo by morning, up from San Antone...
San Antonio is larger than Dallas, but not as formidable as the entire DFW Metroplex. It is indeed a massive city. The humidity aside, I sure enjoyed the sheer number of taquerias in the area - something the more Southern parts of Texas excel at. Its been many years since I've lived in South/West Texas, and while I'm comfortable in maintaining my North Texas suburban lifestyle, I can't wait for my next trip to San Antone!
ROAD TRIP: PART ONE
I grew up in East Dallas right as the urban revitalization was beginning on Greenville and affluent gay men started buying the old houses in our neighborhood (I remember one couple fastidiously washing their 70s orange BMW every weekend). I saw most of my movies at either the Lakewood theater or the Granada. Like Star Trek The Motion Picture and the first Superman. Back then, I don't exactly remember having an "Arts District" but we did go to the Dallas Museum of Art quite a bit. The rest was either already there, or sprung up around it.
I'd been meaning to photograph the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe for the last couple of months having been inspired by some of the wide-angle architectural shots of Philly![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bruhinb has been posting to the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
photographers community, but I honestly never find myself near Downtown.
However, with my Road Trip this weekend I found myself at its exit when I was alone in my car with my camera and a full day of leisurely driving ahead of me. I was back on the road fifteen minutes later.
I grew up in East Dallas right as the urban revitalization was beginning on Greenville and affluent gay men started buying the old houses in our neighborhood (I remember one couple fastidiously washing their 70s orange BMW every weekend). I saw most of my movies at either the Lakewood theater or the Granada. Like Star Trek The Motion Picture and the first Superman. Back then, I don't exactly remember having an "Arts District" but we did go to the Dallas Museum of Art quite a bit. The rest was either already there, or sprung up around it.
I'd been meaning to photograph the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe for the last couple of months having been inspired by some of the wide-angle architectural shots of Philly
bruhinb has been posting to the photographers community, but I honestly never find myself near Downtown. However, with my Road Trip this weekend I found myself at its exit when I was alone in my car with my camera and a full day of leisurely driving ahead of me. I was back on the road fifteen minutes later.
Idar-Oberstein
| Idar-Oberstein, Rheinland-Pfalz, Deutschland is the gem capitol of Germany and a bustling village for gem collectors and tourists alike. The pedestrian walkplatz is filled with vendors selling their wares of raw & polished gems and jewelry as well as trinkets about the town itself and tours of the gem tunnels and local museums. I wasn't much interested in semi-precious stones, but what did capture my imagination was the Felsenkirche - the Church of the Rock, and the legend surrounding it. |
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Legend has it that two brothers, the Counts of Oberstein, unbeknownst to each other both courted the same beautiful maiden, the Lady of Castle Lichtenburg - who gave herself to the younger brother while the eldest was away. Upon his return and feeling betrayed, the eldest threw his brother out the window of the castle (Schloss Bosselstein) where he fell down the mountain to his death. Fleeing in shame and remorse, the eldest sought his own death in numerous battles until he returned home to discover that his love had died of a broken heart while he was away. At her graveside, the eldest brother confessed his sin to an abbot who suggested he build a chapel where his brother had lain, as penance. When he finished building the chapel with his own hands, a spring opened up within as a sign his sin had been forgiven, and he died, finally reunited with his brother. |
| As a romantic, and having recently read such classics as Rebecca, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights I was moved by the beauty of the legend, and the quaintness of this little city in Europe. I therefore made my way to the top of the mountain, and took many pictures of the city below. Being American, I was fascinated by the lack of safety at the top of the mountain, and kept inching closer and closer to get my photographs of the town below: This fascination lead me to take a shortcut down the mountain. Rather than miles of mindless walkpath spiraling down the face of the cliff, I thought I'd traverse the near-vertical face directly, in a straight line. As it turned out, that was indeed the fastest route to the bottom. |
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 | I was able to cross the 60-80 feet between horizontal paths with little trepidation, which emboldened me to continue, despite the distance of the next drop being closer to 120 feet. Once again, it started well enough, but quickly escalated out of my control. It was too steep to continue standing so I dropped to my knees and slid quickly down the rough brush, successfully forcing myself to stand again once I realized what a poor mode of transportation that made. I began trying to 'step' my way down but each step was a huge leap with lots of ground being covered and accelerating me downward. From my orientation the next walkpath appeared as though it were a wall, so I leap away from the mountain, pushing myself further out into open air, and realized at that moment, that I might *actually* die. |
| At some point mid-air, I became prone. Now this would've made me very missile-like except for one great aerodynamic disadvantage: I was waving my arms and legs like a panicked person. Best of my recollection, I soared 10-feet over the heads of the pedestrians below on the walkpath before crashing head-first into some bushes. When I opened my eyes, I was laying on my stomach, facing up the mountain, entangled in branches. I squinted around until something reflective caught my eye - my glasses were in arms reach, hovering in front of my face. I took them from the branch suspending them, put them on, and crawled out of the brush. From certain death to a few scratches and a sprained ankle - nothing the base hospital in Wiesbaden couldn't handle. The next day at work a man I didn't know sidled up next to me at the urinal and began asking me some very pointed questions about the incident. It was a little off-putting, but only because I was at my first duty station and was unaware there was such a thing as a Safety NCO. America has excessive safety in place because we're dumb. I'm living proof. |
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