May Your New Year Start Swimmingly


If you need to find me tomorrow between 1 and 3p.m. I'll be in the pool.
POLAR BEAR TIME!

Happy New Year everyone! Be safe and have a fantastic time tonight!
We're having a few neighbors over for sausage, black eyed peas, and tamales.

What is your New Year's tradition?
(We have black eyed peas for good luck)

Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day.
(From: http://wilstar.com/holidays/newyear.htm)

Windmills of Change

Welcome to the day before New Year's Eve. Here's another of my 2003 shots I found. I used to drive by this windmill almost every day. I just love the way it looks and the fact that you'd never know that across the street is houses... and it's about 1/4 mile from the golf course...

Well.. happy pre-New Years Eve!

Classic II

This year seems like it's going out like a lamb... or sheep... or mountain goat... (I'm trying here)... hopefully 2007 will come in like a lion!

I took this shot back in 2003... If I remember correctly I snapped this shot at a field that now has a home on top of it. I doubt the house is as interesting as these animals.

Happy Friday!

Classic Shots


I was going through some of my old photos on my computer and I came across a few shots from 2003 that I took... so in the interest of the upcoming new year... the next few days I'll post the "out with the old... in with the new."

Here is one of my favorite homes in Kyle... more to the point I really love the way the old wire fence (I'm guessing more ornamental than actually useful" is rusted but the owners have decided to leave it be. Something that I think many people do without thinking... replace something when it gets a little old when the truth is... the beauty is in the rust.

Happy Thursday.

This was the scene


This was the scene in Kyle City Square on Christmas Day. I was looking for something to let me know just what the city thought about the holidays... you know.. I was looking for a hint... maybe even a sign.

I found this sign. Yea.
Happy Wednesday.

My wife as a Christmas Ornament


I was sitting on the couch working on the computer the other day and my wife was talking to me... I realized that her head was perfectly aligned between all of the Holiday decor we have up on our "breakfast bar" between our living room and kitchen.

Of course I then had to ask her to move a little to the left...a little to the right... until I had the perfect Kyle Daily Photo shot.
Happy Day After Christmas AKA Happy Return Gift Day!

In "keepers news" Yesterday my wife gave me a raquetball racket and a membership to the gym in San Marcos (about 5 miles south of Kyle). I'm really excited about it.. I have not played raquetball in about 3 years...and I love the game.

What was the best gift you received?

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!


This was the scene yesterday morning at Church as the church was letting out. The church was still set up from the children's Christmas play from the day before and the tree was all lit up. The band struck up a great rendition of Feliz Navidad.


Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero año y Felicidad

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas
I want to wish you a Merry Christmas
I want to wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart



Here it is live... and by Jose Feliciano

Tomorrow is Christmas!


I haven't decided weather I really like this display or think it's entirely too much. I like the way each bush is a different color... I like the polar bear looking at a disco ball... all together I'm not sure though...

I'm very excited tonight because we're starting a new family tradition tonight... Christmas Eve, after getting home from Christmas Eve service at church, we're going to pop some popcorn and settle down to watch my favorite Christmas move... Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas!



I know.. it isn't "The Grinch" or "Frosty The Snowman" or "Ruldolph" but this is the one I recall growing up watching. I'm not sure how many others will recal this one. We actually had to hit 3 places before we found it (Best Buy..no...Target..no...Hastings...YES!). I looked it up on Amazon when I looked the photo up and there's none available...

I've got one now!
Woo-Hoo!
Merry Christmas Eve!


What does your family traditionally do on Christmas Eve?

Two For Saturday

(Here's what yesterday's SHOULD have been had I taken the time to download photos from my camera...)


This is one of the coolest houses in town that puts up a grand Christmas display. I think it's the parsonage for the Baptist Church across the street. I really like the fact that they have a huge sign that remins "Jesus is the reason for the season" but I also laugh a little when I see Santa at the other end of the yard.

I took this this shot in 3 pieces so I could get it all... and I pieced it together.
Happy Saturdayl.... DECEMBER 23!

What is the coolest card you've gotten so far?

Time is Dragon


Three days until Christmas..... Whoa.

Only FOUR Days until Christmas!



I figure now is the time to dedicate the photo blog to Christmas decor... so I'll do that. This house has a big sign that says "Merry TEXmas Y'all." I thought that was a pretty unique way to look at it.

Four more days!!! Woo-Hoo!
Have you sent your cards and gifts yet?

Santa Claus..I KNOW HIM...I KNOW HIM!



The old song goes "Santa Claus is coming to town" but he came by our neighborhood a little early this year... you know.. in order to survey the children to see what they truly want for Jesus' Birthday. This shot is actually my daughter. She's 2 and a half and this is the first time she had no fear of Santa. She had already had her "staged photo" and when there was a lull in the line, she walked up to him to talk a little. She decided to give Santa a little peck on the cheek. I caught it with my camera.

For the record, when asked what she wants for Christmas the answer was toys and books. What kind of toys? Pink toys daddy... pink ones.

Five Days Until Christmas!

We Get A New ROAD for Christmas!

Christmastime in Texas

Swim At Your Own Risk

Fly

Near...far



One of these days I'm going to count all of the water towers in this town... this is the second one I've featured on Kyle, Texas Daily Photo...

The first was on August 8, 2006.

I've not featured the "signature" tower yet... the one in the center of downtown Kyle. I'll do that one soon.
Happy Friday!

Nail biter...



In the interest of close-up photos... I took this one of a tire. Hmmm... wonder what caused this flat?
This wasn't my car... it was at a tire shop (I put a photo up of the shop a few days ago)

Happy Thursday!

What Wood You Do If I Sang Out Of Tune...



It's getting cold out there... I brought the wood pile... the rest is up to you.

I thought this angle reminded me of one of those puzzles in "Games" magazine where they do an extreme close-up and you have to guess what it is....
Maybe it's just me.

You can Totally See The Bottom Of The River From Here!



This beautiful house is on a hill overlooking the Brazos River... when there's not a drought and the Brazos River is actually there.... The dirt you see at the bottom of the photo is the Brazos River. Click the photo to see what it looks like with water...

Permission to Dump, Sir.



I know it shouldn't... but this cracks me up.
Happy Monday.

It's all for Show



It's like my favorite childhood TV special is on vacation! The cast of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer summers in Kyle...
(OK it's not summer... but the green green grass of Christmas doesn't quite make the season does it?)

Snow White's a little stiff these days



I stopped in at a local landscape shop (Dat Landscaping Supplies) the other day and took a few shots of the concrete yard creations. Most of the statues aren't painted but a few were...and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs caught my eye. They're discounted if you're interested!

Happy Saturday!

Charlie's Cows



I saw these three cows in a row and I though... hey.. those look like a cow version of Charlie's Angels.
Yes.. I'm aware I'm an odd one.

Happy Friday!

Oh... allright.. here's what Charlie's Angels is:


(Click the photo to find out more)

Forgot my carion



I don't care who you are... a field full of vultures is a little creepy.
Here's one for you.

Happy Thursday.

Phone Home



I swear I posted Monday and Tuesday.. I'm not sure what happened. Anyhow... It's Wednesday...

This is a funky public telephone I found at the same place as the "No Swimming" photo. I don't think I'd seen one quite like this one before. Kind of reminds me of Mork from Ork...

Nanu-Nanu.

No Swimming.



I'd kind of dare you to TRY swimming.
Actually, when it actually rains long enough to fill this part of the Blanco River, this is a really nice park. It's called Five Mile Dam. The draught has caused it to dry up. I wrote a feature in August about it that was printed in the Austin American-Statesman. If you click on the photo, you'll go to my archived story.

Happy Sunday.

Cow hear this.



Sometimes... the grass IS greener on the other side of the fence. At least it's tastier.
Happy Saturday.

World Wide Tires.



I was driving home from dropping my daughter off at daycare and I saw this HUGE sign from the access road... so I thought "I've got my camera... may as well investigate." After talking to the owner and explaining I'm not just any weirdo who's taking photos and running away... I took a few shots of the cool tire stacks and the sign. I liked this one the best.

Apparently these guys wholesale and retail tires... so if you have a need in the tire department.. call World Wide Tires at 512-268-3600... tell them Kyle Daily Photo sent you. That'll freak them out.

Happy Friday December 1. Only 24 more shopping days until Jesus' Birthday!

COMING SOON!



Woo-Hoo we're getting a Family Dollar!

King of the Mountain!



Happy Wednesday!

Donations Needed for Four Legged Friends





I stopped in at the Kyle animal shelter, P.A.W.S., and found them in desperate need of donations. Everything from dog and cat food to grooming supplies (clippers) to washers and dryers (they said any working ones will do..they'll use them until they break).

Click on a photo to visit their Web site. Here's a little bit about them from the site.

P.A.W.S.' purpose is to prevent cruelty to all animals. P.A.W.S. (Public for Animal Welfare Society, Inc.) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3), organization and shelter for animals, serving Hays and surrounding counties in central Texas.

P.A.W.S.' mission is to care for, protect and find quality homes for abandoned and neglected animals; to aid in the reduction of pet overpopulation; and to provide community education for the mutual benefit of animals and people.

P.A.W.S. envisions a time when our community celebrates the human-animal bond the overpopulation problem is solved; permanent homes for all animals are insured; and all animal suffering ends.

P.A.W.S. is available to visit schools, churches, and civic organizations to help people learn about the issue of cruelty to animals, and what they can do to help.

Dog-gone sign



I found this in someones front yard. This is about the most inventive "Don't let your dogs do their business in my yard" sign I've ever seen.

Oh.. and if you can't leave home without your dog... I found a site that gives you 35,000 places to go with your mutt (click on the photo to go to the site). None of which is this person's front yard.
Happy Monday.

How to dress up an Electrical Box



Say the electric company places a box on your land... so you can have all of the advantages of electricity (Amish need not read further... but if you're Amish and you're reading this... are you really Amish?). Now you have a big white or green box on your property... what do you do to dress it up a little?

Why.... let some greenery grow up and around it.

And that's Sunday.
Happy Day.

Time to give up?



This for sale sign has been up for a long long time. Perhaps it's time to either renew the sign, or resign to the fact that this property isn't going to sell...

I'll bet if you're ready to relocate to Kyle... Franke Real Estate would make you a sweet deal on this land!
If you buy it.. tell-em Kyle Daily Photo sent you. It won't mean anything to him... but I'd get a hoot out of it.

Happy Saturday.

Some Assembly Required Part 3



At the beginning of this month I posted the Second part of my series called " Some Assembly Required " (click on link to go to "Part 2" which links to the original). I wonder if this home is a "For Sale" or it alread has an owner...

All I'm saying is I don't think I'd have chose that color.

Happy Friday!
Hope your Thanksgiving weekend is going well.

Hundred Year Flood



Last Friday the Lucky Cup Coffee House hosted a Happy Hour with the Austin/Santa-Fe band Hundred Year Flood (click photo to go to their page...and download the free song "Rich Man's War"). It was a good time. You shoulda been there. Since you weren't... here's a photo from the night.

Happy Thanksgiving all.
I'm thankful that interesting people come through Kyle and allow me to photograph them... and interesting things and people already exist here.

Celebrity Guest Shot - Peter French



This shot of the new City Hall in Kyle was taken by Peter French, former president of the Chamber of Commerce and one of the developers in the city. His Benchmark Land Development actually developed the land I'm sitting on right now... my neighborhood, Plum Creek.

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'll be away from an internet connection tomorrow.. so I'll post my shot LATE when I get home.

Keep On Truckin'.



Because Kyle is one of the "little cities" in the Austin to San Antonio corridor, it's got a truckstop. The Best Fuel Stop (Conoco) is a good place for truckers to park (pictured), shower, and sleep.

Happy Tuesday!

I caught you diggin' it.



I don't care HOW much you may like this photo... the instructions are painfully obvious. DO NOT DIG.
Can you dig it? I hope not. You're not supposed to.

Apparently there's some electrical lines... since it says GTE...which was swallowed by Verizon...
Happy Monday!

Home In Progress



While driving around one of the new subdivisiona east side of IH-35 (Kyle is kind of split between east and west via the highway) I came across this home. Nothing out of the ordinary at first glance. It made me laugh though because I instantly thought of the ad for the home.. "New Home... 2 1/2 baths. Open floor plan"

Aliens Leave Our Cows Alone



This cow has not been abducted by aliens... (click the photo for a link about alien cow abductions).
That is all.

Happy Saturday

Welcome to Kyle... RRXing



If you've ever been to Kyle.. you've done this... waited for a train.
Up until a few months ago, when a train went through town it cut the west side of the city from the east side. Nobody was going in or out from IH-35 for a few minutes (a real pain for emergencies). Plus, my wife works in San Marcos, TX (10 minutes south) and if she gets caught by a train in San Marcos on the way home... she'll be caught by the same train in Kyle 10 minutes later.. kind of funny the first 10 times.... or if you're not in the car.

Well.. I finally had my camera close to me when a train passed. This was an AmTrack passenger train so it was only about 6 cars long and it travelled at about 45mph so I waited for all of 20 seconds. Usually they are cargo trains that are a mile long and go about 20mph.

Happy Friday.
If you're in the area... come on by The Lucky Cup tonight for a Community Happy Hour.

Hosted By: HUNDRED YEAR FLOOD/FREE HAPPY HOUR
When: Friday Nov 17, 2006
at 6:00 PM
Where: Lucky Cup Coffe House
Corner of FM150 and Jack C. Hays Trail
Kyle, TX 78640
US
Description:
HUNDRED YEAR FLOOD/FREE HAPPY HOUR

Click Here To View Event

Basketball Court... Needs repairs



While driving down a side road in Kyle I passed by a cool shop called "Great Big Signs." It's one of those places you don't find unless it's by accident...or because you're invited but Great Big Signs are the ones who have done a lot of really cool sculptures in town..and you may know their work from Freebirds! World Burritos..they did those sculptures as well.

Anyhow... next door to them is this neat old shack of a place called "Green Oaks." What made me stop was the basketball backdrop... that struck me as just odd enough to snap a photo.

Happy Thursday.

Get it all out of you now...



I was driving by my church yesterday in "Old Town Kyle" and saw someone was putting a sidewalk in. The first thing I thought was "awesome..the kids from the elementary school (in the background there) will have somewhere safe to walk." Then I looked closer and saw someone was walking up and down the sidewalk already. Made me laugh.

I hope they get it all out of them before they pour the concrete....
Happy Wednesday.

I don't know who she is... but I'd sure like to meter!



This old meter is outside an abandoned building in town. Sometimes we take things like this that are rusty and don't work and leave them out for the elements to continue to do their work on them.... until someone comes along and does one of two things.... sees it as trash and junks it or sees it as a treasure and displays it proudly in their home.

I just took a photo so I woldn't get my hands rusty trying to bring it home.

Happy Tuesday