Under wraps....for now!

#9 in the Top Ten Stories of 2008 from the Corsicana Daily Sun:

Number 9

Interurban Railcar finally back

In early November, the city went and fetched back its partially renovated railcar from Alabama, where it spent five years in the yard of the Edwards Railcar Company, a professional restorer that specializes in trains.

The No. 305 spent much of that time exposed to the elements in what was to be an on-again, off-again process. The owner of the company admitted that he underbid the project, and didn’t have the funds to finish the job. In the end, local residents urged the city to say “enough,” and bring it home.

While the project wasn’t completed as contracted, the company was paid in full by the city for the contract to restore the railcar.

The next step is to build a protective metal shed for the railcar, so the reconstruction process can resume locally.

SWF -- Leaning Tower of Corsicana?

No, the tower is still perfectly upright. But it was too cold to get out of the car (OK, I'm a wimp) so I just lowered the driver-side window and held the camera up!

This is the way our sky has looked the last few days. Today there's sunshine, but I really wanted to use this picture!

More Skywatch here.

Calling TIME OUT ....

Life is a little crazy right now and I have to admit that I can't do it all! So, I'm taking a breather from the Corsicana Daily Photo Blog. If anyone out there wants to take my place at City Daily Photo for Corsicana, PLEASE DO! In the meantime, I'll poke my head in once in a while, but not on a daily basis. I will try to continue Gun Barrel City Daily Photo on a near-daily basis! Thanks for your understanding.

Sky Watch Friday -- We can't do it justice!

Believe me, this rainbow was much more beautiful than you can see here! Taken between Hubbard and Corsicana. Click the link above to see more Sky Watch photos from around the world!

Odd Shots Monday -- who moved the courthouse?

When I was coming home so late the other night, I got the idea to see if I could get a night shot of the military memorial at the courthouse. I was a little nervous...it was late...I was stopped in the middle of the road between the courthouse and the jail....guess something startled me because I apparently made a jerky movement just as I snapped this first one! The second is better but shooting from the car wasn't the best idea!
Click the logo above to see more Odd Shots this Monday!

Camera Critter Sunday -- Are you gonna eat that???

They say there's a place for us all in nature. I'm glad my place is not eating bird poop off of plants! Anybody know what this critter is? He's dining on an upper level of a plant who's name I cannot spell! But I know it's leaves are often used to wrap fish for cooking.
Click on the logo above to see more Camera Critters around the world....

Photo Hunt: Colorful --- sometimes it takes nerve!

There's just something about this house that strikes me every time I see it. It's hard to put my finger on what it is really. I think it's just the striking color! How many of us have the nerve to paint our homes in some out of the ordinary color like this? I know I don't! This photo has been sitting in my folder for weeks now because I just couldn't figure out how to use it. But with TnChick's Photo Hunt subject for today being COLORFUL, I decided to pull it out. This home is in the little town of Hubbard, between Corsicana and Waco. There are a lot of wonderful old homes in Hubbard, carefully and lovingly maintained or restored. If you're ever passing through there, do yourself a favor and get off the main highways to see more of this lovely town!
Click on TnChick's link to see more colorful entries today.

Sky Watch Friday -- from the archives

When I lived in Corsicana, I drove by this field almost every morning on my way to work. I saw many wonderful sunrises! But I wasn't a CDP blogger then and had never heard of Sky Watch Friday, so I usually made it to work on time! LOL. This particular morning I just had to stop and shoot a few. Click the SkyWatch Friday logo above to see the sky around the world!

Late arrival....

Missed yesterday's post because I was in San Antonio for a couple of days. Came in pretty late last night and was struck by how pretty the fountain at Navarro College is at night. My photos don't do it justice!

On the road again.... no words needed for this one.

One I had considered for our August 1 theme of "metal" .... pulled from the few photos I brought with me on my thumb drive ... taken west of Waco.

Odd Shot Monday-- Why didn't I think of that?

It's a little hard to see what this is...I had to shoot it quickly while "pausing" in a traffic lane on a state highway! The front "wheel" of this bicyle is actually a rotary push mower! What a novel idea! Wonder how well it works? Good for the environment and good for the lawn caretaker!
Click the logo above to see more Odd Shots at Katney's Kaboodle!

Camera Critters -- Elusive Locust

This locust was on the outside of our screened porch so I had to shoot thru the screen. Our property is very sloped, so to reach this critter from outside, I would have to fetch the extension ladder and climb about 15' off the ground. Passed on that little chore! The 2nd shot shows the shell left behind by another locust. We were serenaded nightly for a week or so, but they seem to have moved on again now.
Creep, crawl, trot or fly over to Misty Dawn's for more Camera Critters!

Cloudy Sunrise in Corsicana

I'm being indecisive again! Couldn't decide which of these to post. I like the first because the landscape orientation shows more of the clouds. But I like the second because you can just see the line painted on the edge of the road (click to enlarge) that adds some dimension. What do you think? These were taken on highway 31 on the eastern edge of Corsicana.
Click the Sky Watch Friday logo below to see sky views from around the world! And have a great Friday and a great weekend!

Another one caught my eye....

I've already posted photos of this building ... Smith's General Store ... The color combination between the red-painted brick and the green-painted doors and window trim just really struck me today, though I've looked at it a dozen times. Today I saw a better way to crop it.

Sometimes I don't see the small details like this and sometimes it's all I see. Does your photographer's eye have "moods" like that?

ABC Wednesday-- C is for Corsicana CDP Challenge -- Arte y Pico

Today marks my 106th post on this blog. The photo above is the first one I posted, on March 30. I started this CDP blog in hopes that someone else would take it over and I could concentrate on just the Gun Barrel City/Cedar Creek Lake CDP. I must admit that I haven't put as much energy or thought into this one as I do the other. But with the encouragement of Babooshka (see note below) and others, I've a renewed interest and I pledge to do better! Thanks for the CHALLENGE!

I was deeply humbled to receive the Arte y Pico award from Babooshka last week. It's my first award ever! It's been hard to decide which five of my favorite bloggers to pass it on to. I decided to spread them around the world and to a very diverse group:

1) Steve Buser--New Orleans Daily Photo for the spirit of New Orleans people and nature, captured beautifully
2) Michelle at Rambling Woods NY -- for showing us how close we are to nature at all times
3) Strangetastes--Saint Louis Daily Photo -- for showing us how to take one subject and see it in so many different ways (plus there's much more there than the arch!)
4) Fotka po Fotka -- Belgrade, Serbia Daily Photo -- for sharing a part of the world I'll probably never see
5) Dina -- Jersusalem Hills Daily Photo -- for helping me relive a childhood dream of becoming an archeologist.

Now, you five get to spread the award! Here are the rules:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each awardee has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award: http://arteypico.blogspot.com/

5. Display these rules.

For those of you looking for more ABC Wednesday posts, please be sure to head on over to Mrs Nesbitt's Place!