The Big Thicket 2011

It's been 4 years, a hurrican, and a drought since my last visit to the Big Thicket.

Nature has been dealing some daunting blows lately, but the Thicket perseveres.

Many of the oxbows have dried up (like this one here) and the Thicket looks a little thin from tree loss, but as the Ranger pointed out to us, this area is one of the least affected areas in the state from the drought.

Our visiting friends, Sue and Bernie were just thankful to get away from freezing rain, and enjoy a sunny, spring-like hike through the woods.

Downtown Houston

city haze

church reflections

glass appiritions

Our friends from Canada, Sue and Bernie, wanted to see downtown Houston while they were here, so we took them up 60 floors in the Chase Building, down through the tunnel system (which was a waste of time thanks to the last few hurricanes), and then around photographing churches and glass reflections. I learned from the trip that Houston does indeed have a building more than 100 years old (Houston is such a new city by most standards). The church in the second pic is about 150 years old. Sue says that everyone they visit learns something new about the city they live in while they are there.

More From Galveston

While in Galveston with Sue and Bernie, we took the ferry over to Bolivar Peninsula from the island.

Sue and I spent the entire ride photographing the seagulls...

Then watched the sunset on the way back to the island, where we ate steamed clams and Italian seafood for dinner.

Sue's Visit

My friend, Sue, and her husband, Bernie, came to visit us the last week of 2011. How exciting to meet for the first time someone that I've been friends with online for a while. We had a week of taking pictures, talking about writing and music, and showing my Canadian friends some of East Texas.

We spent a day in Galveston.

A day in downtown Houston.

Standing on top of the world on the 60th floor of the Chase Building.

And, a day at The Big Thicket National Park.

The Madisons - Greener

My friends have produce a new CD, and asked me to do the cover art. I used Inception for the front cover, and Sprout for the back. The CD won't be released until February, but here's the video for the first single:



and here's how you can download the song:


See the sweet write up she gave me on her blog The Madisons, and say hi while you're there (she's still trying to get the hang of blogging and could use the encouragement).