I wasted no time after quitting my job in May in procuring my Pyrotechnics Special Effects Operator license, and got to work on a pyro shoot the very same day I passed my test! Here we are horsing around with the wiring system (that's Spencer on the left).

The Knibbe ranch where we did the pyro shoot was a gorgeous old classic Hill Country property not far off scenic Texas Highway 165. The tree you see on the right in this picture is a freakin' GRAPE VINE! Can you imagine how old that thing must be? Amazing.

It was nice to be there at that magical hour where every blade and leaf and stick is edged in gold.

The beautiful little creek that ran through the property wasn't more than 20 feet from our shooting site. It was teeming with life and as I wandered around taking photos I was given the delicious opportunity of pulling a vibrant blue damsel fly from a spider's web. She looked grateful, but a bit woozy.

Congress Street bridge on Lady Bird Lake captured at yet another pyro shoot. I'm so happy they changed the name of the lake to Lady Bird.

A refreshing custom beverage I had the pleasure of quaffing while chatting gaily with my Tuesday lunch companions: iced tea, lemonade and just a squirt of foofy hippy tea.

I spied this festive display in the window of a tiny thrift store in a little bitty town on the backroads. The window dresser had put a small fan under the grill so that the plastic strips would flutter and (somehow) simulate a bed of glowing coals. I sure admired the artist's creativity in the face of limited materials.

On that same road trip, I ran across this fabulously engineered set up for pepper sauce at the charming Prause's Meat Market in downtown La Grange, Texas. Be sure and notice that the bottle is chained to the table.

When I was cleaning up stuff in my driveway recently, I moved a pile of sheet metal to a new location and found this unfortunate fellow sticking to the siding when I removed the last panel. No telling how long he'd been there, almost 2 dimensional. As gruesome a discovery as it was, I couldn't help responding to the beauty of the thing. I love all the patterns and subtle color variations. Not to mention how fabulously scary the legs are!