Dallas Omni Covention Center Hotel...

...all dressed up for Christmas...

Merry Christmas!!!!

Joplin, Missouri...still rebuilding...

...I made a couple trips through Joplin this fall on my way to see my dad.

In April of this year an F5 tornado tore a 1/2 - 3/4 mile

wide swath right through the middle of the city.

Over 140 lives were lost, the city lost one of it's 2 hospitals and nearly every

school in town was destroyed.

To top it all off, the storm raged through the part of town where most of the

residential communities were...

Months later, this is what still remains of the mess...

Houses with holes punched through them...

Telephone pole snapped at the base...

just stumps and foundations remain of many houses...

...stone structures fared better than most...

what's left of peoples homes...

Ever seen a FEMA trailer? Well, here you go...

About the 3/4 the size of your typical mobile home,

these stretch on for a good mile or more.

This is literally just South of the Joplin airport, pretty much on the approach to the landing strip.

 I was sitting in the car across the highway on airport property, during a rainstorm taking this photo,

 I had a hard time getting the camera to focus on anything but raindrops so it's a little out of focus.

...pretty much sure this is all that remains of a church...

This...was a neighborhood...

only a the stoop, foundation and fireplace chimney remain...

but progress is happening in the background!

...only the steps remain...

...Fighting spirit...

The praying hands in Webb City, the next town North of Joplin. These praying hands are

made of quartz quarried in the area and were erected to the memory of all the

miners of the area and in the honor of the people that serve in our military...

..when I was a kid, it was a sign that we were almost to my grandparents house!

Joplin, Missouri...still a mess..

...in April of this the city of Joplin, Missouri was hit by a F5 tornado. It cut a 1/2 - 3/4 mile wide swath through the middle of town. Right through most of the major housing developments and schools.

 I made a couple trips through Joplin this fall and this is what I found...

... these were once neighborhoods...

Dallas Skyline

Butterflies at the State Fair...

...some shots of butterflies in the "Butterfly house & Insectarium"

at the Texas Discovery Garden building at the Great State Fair of Texas...

Blue & White Longwing (I think)

Heliconius cydono

Central & South America

Monarch

Danaus plexippus

North & Central America

Owl Butterfly

Caligo memnon

Central to South America

Not on my ID card...

...but very pretty, nontheless!

Monarchs

Danaus plexippus

North & Central America

Then and now...

Ok, this is fun! On the left is an iconic American photo by Photographer Jeff Brouws, http://www.jeffbrouws.com/ , in 1993 of the Capri Motel's sign in Joplin, Missouri, while traveling the old Rout 66...

...on the right is a photo I made this past Sunday while passing through Joplin on my way back home from my Dad's house...

...I hope to go by there on my next trip in the evening and try and do an exact update, if the thing is still working. The hotel is going through repairs from this past April's devastating tornado that cut a HUGE 1/2 mile wide swath through the Southwestern Missouri town.

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Air Force One...

...at Love Field, Dallas. The President is in town for some fundraisers...

It's a winner!!!!...

...Honorable Mention (4th Place), 2011 Great State Fair of Texas Photo Contest

... B&W Architectural Features & Details

come by the Creative Arts building at the State Fair and see it in person!

Cozumel day dreaming...

...The boat marina & lighthouse in the Northern Hotel Zone, Cozumel, Mexico...

cool thoughts for a warm day...

...warm, hell it's hot! Summer has come in like a lion this year. As of this date we've had 40 - 100+degree days, 33 of them consecutively.

 Currently 110 in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area. Here's a little winter scene from the snow falls earlier this year...

Architectural Interiors....

...3 selections, the first 2 are of the same house in Highland Park, Dallas...

...center spine staircase leading to the Master Suite...

...the very large Family room, wet bar to the rear...

...another client's house, this one in the Greenbelt Parkway area of

University Park, Dallas.

Fireworks fotoz...

...found a cool spot on the Houston St. bridge to observe the fireworks at Fair Park...



I got something in my beak!...

...Lorenzo, the green parrot at Coconut's, on Cozumel, Mexico,
 attempts to open the toothpick bottle...