Everyone Is Equal

Some people think of Texas as a place where people are intolerant of othes that are not just like them. Well... I'd like to say that Kyle, Texas is not like that at all... Kyle Texas is accepting of all kinds*... as this poster typifies.

Although he may strike fear in the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of a great many cities and states... FUELMAN is accepted here. FUELMAN is so accepted here that someone made signs to make sure everyone knows it.

I love my city.



*Please note that I am not qualified to speak on behalf of the city. I applied for that job but did not get it. Go figure.

HEB Plus... Part I


Here's another of my series of things that are being built. This is the new HEB Plus.. well the bones of it. I'll hopefully bring an interesting series out of this.

Here's a little background on H-E-B. This is from a press release that it located at the end of the page that the photo here links to if you click it.

The Kyle HEB
store is expected to open in Summer 2007. For 100 years, HEB has been an innovative retailer. Known for its fresh food, quality products and convenient services, HEB strives to provide the best customer experience at the lowest prices. Based in San Antonio, HEB proudly employs over 60,000 Partners and serves millions of customers in more than 150 communities throughout Texas and Mexico.

Hey.. that's hay!


It has always been my dream to run down a line of hay bales. I may have to settle for this photo.
Happy Sunday.

Take A Seat


I decided I'd check out some of the new things that are being built in town and so I drove to the east side of the town. For those who don't know... Kyle, Texas is a city that is located between Austin and San Antonio and is kind of split in half by Interstate 35. The "west side" includes the city square and "old Kyle" the "east side" contains many subdivisions... and few businesses along the highway. Recently new developments like a Goodyear, Motif Furniture store.. and other things. I decided to check out that side (which is a bunch of "roads" that will eventually lead to stores once they are built) and I came across this photo. It made me laugh... a sofa in a field with the highway behind it.

I'm sure I could come up with a fantastic social commentary about this... something containing words like "pausing" and "highway of life" but lets face it.... someone dumped their couch... that's it.

So as you cruise down the highway of life.. make sure you take time to pause and look at what you have accomplished thus far.

OK.. so I came up with the social commentary anyways.

Happy Saturday. I'm going to a Neil Diamond Birthday Party tonight.. hooray me. MAYBE I'll share photos... perhaps not.

I'm coming to AMMMMEEEEERRRRIIIICCCCCCAAAAAAAAAAA TODAY!

(See? When I don't post for a while you get posts like this...)

My Fault this time
Allright.. I got really really super busy and forgot to post.
I had the photos ready... just forgot to upload them and post them.



What was I busy doing> Well... manicure and pedicure of course. It's hard to be a 2 3/4 year old in the world today.

I'm sorry I missed posting. it won't happen again (unless it does).
I know I am behind 3 photos.. but this one will have to do.
Happy Friday!

I LEARNED
Because my account has been wonky... I missed a few days without knowing it... so here they are. The theme continues to be "it was cold." I'll change the theme tomorrow.

Saturday, January 20

These gnomes were frozen in action...

Sunday, January 21

I love a good sky/tree shot.

Monday, January 22

Yes, The United Methodist Church of Kyle was frozen too. It was really warm inside though... you should stop in some Sunday or Wednesday.

Tuesday, January 20

I was in motion when I took this shot.... the train was not.

A Little Jealous

This is the snowman (or sleetman) my neighbor built on Tuesday afternoon. I'm a little jealous since I didn't build one. 4 years ago when it snowed I made a daddy and kid snowman... my wife was pregnant with my daughter at the time. The good news is... this time my daughter got to see the ice/snow in her own yard for the first time.

Hooray ice!
Now scram.

Happy Friday!

um... sorry


Remember earlier this week when I was so excited about the little bit of actual ice on my icycle lights? Well... never mind about that.

Happy Thursday.

Burrrrrleson Street


We finally got out of the house today (my wife had to work so I drove her). I grabbed the camera and took a couple of shots around town. I thought this stop sign looked pretty interesting... and the street name was pretty perfect for an icy sign shot.

Happy Wednesday!

Winter Part II


OK... this marks day 2 that I'm not going anywhere... so here's a shot of my house with ice/sleet and yes a little snow. For those who live in the north or in places where snow is a normal occurance... feel free to laugh at central Texans... but I'm staying put inside my house... other people are scary in cold weather. It's not me... it's them.

(Oh.. if a central Texan reads this... that last sentence was about someone else... not you)

SNOW DAY!

OK maybe an ice day.

Two things about today's photo... it couldn't be made possible without the help of mother nature as it is a frozen day in Kyle, Texas. It also couldn't be made possible without laziness. You see, I haven't taken our Christmas lights down yet and because of that my icycle lights are true to name.

Happy Monday!

Here's Your Sign


We had C.S.A. Beef Raisers. What did you have?

Can I Buy A Vowel?

This sign is in front of a metal building business. Well... the busines itself was actually wooden, but they SELL metal buildings... like sheds and parking garages and stuff.

Happy Saturday. Stay warm!

Facing Friday


I thought the trunk of this tree looked like it had a face on it.. it made me laugh. Hopefully you'll get a smile out of it too.
Happy Friday everyone!

Buggin' Out!


This shot is a "blast from the past." I took it in 2003. It's interesting to me (and perhaps only me) that the Diamond Shamrock on the right is now a Valero sign and the bridge that I featured on Tuesday is the old one... and you can see it (barely) in the distance.

Now.. I also think it's a darned cool VW Beetle. I took this while in motion through my windshield.
Now.. do you know the last thing that goes through a Bugs mind when it hits the windshield?

Happy Thursday!

Some Assemblly Required Part 4 - Assembled!

On November 24, 2006 I posted the third part of this study of a home being built... Follow this link for part III. Part two was posted on November 8, and part one was on October 8. You can link backwards if you'd like.

I may have another update.. but this may be it because after I shot this photo I saw people moving into the home. So no matter how much you like this home... it's sold. Sorry folks.

Of course if you like this home and are thinking about moving to Kyle, Texas let me know I can point you to a few of the homebuilders in this neighborhood (Plum Creek).

I hope you've enjoyed checking the process of this home being built as much as I have bringing it to you. Maybe I'll find something else being built to follow.... I know an HEB Plus is coming to town (HEB is a big chain grocery store that runs rampant in Texas and is headquartered just down the road in San Antonio, Texas).

Happy Wednesday.

Birdges over Hays County

Last August I posted a photo of the bridge over Center Street which was in full construction mode. Follow this link to see that shot. Well.. it's about done so I thought I'd give an update. The 4 lane bridge is really nice and almost makes for the annoying construction on one of the two bridges into town.

Happy Tuesday.

A Little Chilly


It's actually dropped to the 30s and 40s round these parts. A far cry from the 70s from a few days ago. See... even the horses are wearing jackets.

Happy Monday!

The House


If walls could talk, I'll bet this decomposing house would have some great stories. This house is actually surrounded by newer, inhabited homes in southwest Kyle... right around the corner from the Sledge Chapel Missionary Baptist Church that I featured a last Tuesday..

I hope everyone has a fantastic Sunday!

Pasture Prime

On Wednesday I posted a photo of three horses hamming it up for the camera. This shot was taken about 2 minutes before that shot... this is the shot I was going for initially (before I got the cooler shot that I posted on Wednesday).

Hope you are having a fantastic Saturday.

No Tresspassing


This field is bordered by railroad tracks on one side and a house on the other. There is a "No Tresspassing" sign on the tree. It looks so inviting though. For the record I didn't step foot on the property to take the photo... I actually stayed in the car... so I'm OK.

If you know the song by the Five Man Electrical Band (Or Tesla in 1990 as I learned it) sing along with me.. OK?

"Signs Signs
Everywhere there's signs
[Messing] up the scenery
Breaking my mind
Do this, don't do that
Can't you read the sign"

Happy Friday!

Berry Good Thursday


I hope you have a "berry" good Thursday. Yes I'm aware it's a horrible pun... I actually used to have a Science teacher in 7th grade who's "v" sound always came out sounding like a "b." Maybe she just liked Strawberry Shortcake and wanted to talk like her. I don't know.

Anyhow... I thought the contrast between the green bush, blue sky, and red berries worked well.
Happy Thursday!

Three...Three Horses ahh ha ha



I was taking some photos of an old barn with some horses in the field... but then the horses decided to come up and say hello to me. So... these three curious horses are my photo of the day for January 3, 2007.

Three for three.
Happy Wednesday.

Open The Doors And See All The People


Actually, there wouldn't be many people there on a Tuesday afternoon when I took this photo, but the Sledge Chapel Missionary Baptist Church on Kyle made a cool photo.

Happy Tuesday.

Splish, Splash, We're Polar Bears!


My wife actually got permission at our last pre-natal visit (yes, we're adding to the family in April 2007) to jump in the Kyle Pool for the New Years Polar Bear swim. We missed the "big jump" at 1:00, apparently there were about 30 swimmers, but we did it! I've split the photo for today so you can get our official...

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE CLAES FAMILY!!