Black hole sun

When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat. ~ Ronald Reagan This is a closeup of yesterday’s panorama. Enjoy.  

Beams of light

   “Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness.” ~ Mother Teresa  More clouds and land.  I have photographed this location before, it’s on my ride home along Hwy 5 between Tracy and Patterson. Here’s a few slightly enhanced versions also, as well as the last which is bigger.

Rainbows and butterflies

"In my world everyone is a pony, and they all eat rainbows, and poop butterflies." ~ Katie from Horton Hears a Who Not a robust rainbow, but the sun shining through onto the fields made for a nice view on my drive home yesterday.  The version below is just larger.  Enjoy.

My train’s a comin’

“If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.” ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer This is my second or third picture at the city limits of Westley, CA.  I see this train every morning, and wave and flash my lights at the guy.  Sometimes he sees me and blows…

Altamont Train Trestle

“We are told never to cross a bridge until we come to it, but this world is owned by men who have ‘crossed bridges’ in their imagination far ahead of the crowd.” ~ Anonymous This train trestle (bridge) passes over Hwy 580E on my way home.  I took this pic by holding my camera out…

Angry clouds over the Altamont

Before we had airplanes and astronauts, we really thought that there was an actual place beyond the clouds, somewhere over the rainbow. There was an actual place, and we could go above the clouds and find it there. ~ Barbara Walters  A cube-mate here said that these pictures make it look like God is about to…

Another panorama of hay

Consider the lilies o’ the goddamn field or… hell! Take Delmar here as your paradigm of hope. ~ Ulysses from O Brother Where Art Thou I know, big deal, another pano of a field of hay. But look at that the cute poofy clouds on the horizon! Come on, you know you wanted to say “awwww.”  …

Bigger than a breadbasket

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.  Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s…

Hay, what’s up

Make hay while the sun shines. ~Proverb Yep, it’s sill hay season.  Lots of those giant bales waiting for pickup.

Chilaquiles

“I am not a glutton – I am an explorer of food” ~ Erma Bombeck Another Mexican treat that most of us gringos know nothing about – chilaquiles (chee-la-KEE-lays).  Very basic breakfast or lunch food – fried corn tortillas cut into smaller pieces, add freshly made salsa (green or red) and queso fresco, and you have…

Conservative, YES, GOP, who cares?

"The impetus for the Tea Party movement is excessive government spending and taxation. Our mission is to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize our fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with our three core values of Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets." From the Mission Statement of the National Tea Party Patriots website…

It’s not rust, it’s primer

“You may be a redneck if . . . you have spent more on your pickup truck than on your education.” ~ Jeff Foxworthy (American comedian, b.1958) Here’s an old flatbed near my home, waiting for the sander, or a coat of paint, or something.  Here’s some other versions, including the original photo.  

Bringing in the hay

“There is no reason to fear the wind if your stack of hay is well tied” ~ Irish Saying These are actually huge bails of hay.  Just part of my daily commute. 

As American as apple pie and burgers

If it’s flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s, be the best hamburger flipper in the world. Whatever it is you do you have to master your craft. ~ Snoop Dogg  This is the view from my car in the McDonald’s drive-thru in Westley, CA.  I thought it was neato.

Pigeon launcher

"Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil… prayer, fasting, good works and so on. Up until Doom, no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun. Eat leaden death, demon." ~ Terry Prachett, Novelist and gamer Our church men's group went out into the hills to shoot clay…

Dripping fire

“The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined.” ~ Neal Barnard, M.D. We had a men’s outing this weekend where we fired shotguns and grilled tri-tip.  Here’s the meat on fire, with dripping fat and flames.  

Empty corral

"We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way." ~ George S. Patton  I tried to capture the closed in feeling of this corral, which has the cattle gate to the right.   

On cloudy days, the road goes nowhere forever

“RAILROAD, n. The chief of many mechanical devices enabling us to get away from where we are to where we are no better off. For this purpose the railroad is held in highest favor by the optimist, for it permits him to make the transit with great expedition.” ~ Ambrose Bierce  I sure hope the cloudy…

Leave a message somewhere

A message prepared in the mind reaches a mind; a message prepared in a life reaches a life.  ~ Bill Gothard  This photo is a smaller part of a bigger abandoned storefront in Crows Landing, CA.  The broken light is the most interesting visual item here, as well as the message.  If you look at the…

Good Bank and Locker Service of Crows Landing

“A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain.” ~ Robert Frost (American poet, 1874-1963) This is one storefront in an abandoned building in the small town of Crows Landing, CA.  The county sign says the town has a population of…