Noel's Adventures

  This is looking towards downtown in Herman Park, Houston, TX.

Today the people of Barbados will bid farewell to the late Prime Minister the Honorable David Thompson. After the state funeral at the Kensington Oval, St. Michael, he will be laid to rest at the St. John's Parish Church cemetery. May he rest in peace. (Photographer Unknown)

  I have been very busy so it has been quite a while since I last made a post. The beautiful Fall weather is here and we thought Gracie's Garden was finished until next year since our plants are predominantly annuals. We knew that the butterfly bush is a perennial and should survive the Texas winter so were not surprised when it continued to flower. The real surprise came las week when we saw this caterpillar feasting on the plant. It becomes a monarch butterfly, and seeing it immediately brough back memories of the "old days" when I used to chase butterfly images just as I chased sunsets. I did the best I could with my 18mm-70mm kit lens on this one. A macro lens would have been great under these circumstances. Oh well, maybe I will have one next time.

  More "Ocean of Soul"

  Texas Southern University "Ocean of Soul" Marching Band performing at half time.

Here is a slideshow from the half time show of the PVAMU "Marching Storm".

  The Labor Day Classic football game(American football) between PVAMU and TSU was played on September 5, 2010 and turned out to be a true classic and "nail biter" down to the end. PV prevailed to win 16-14 and made it four straight victories. As usual, the PVAMU Marching Storm was phenomenal at half time and had something special to offer. It is amazing how quickly time passes, I first made a post on this game on September 7, 2009.

  This is a common sight in Ethiopia. I have not seen any figures to support it but I am sure that commerce surrounding donkeys makes a significant contribution to the Ethiopian economy.

  Ox-plowing in third world countries is very much alive. These animals are rented just as farming equipment is in developed countries.

  This is a typical countryside scene with someone tending to livestock.

  We reached this area too late in the day to get the best light but the rolling hilss and greenery still make for a nice landscape.

  Typical Ethiopian taxi/ minibus. I have never been in one but I am sure that the three to four hour ride into the countryside interacting with the people would make for a very interesting blog entry.

  The San Diego trip was great but it is time to say bye until the next time. I will switch gears to Ethiopia for a day or two. This rose was taken on the way to Debra Berhan which is approximately in the center of Ethiopia. I think the city is about 600 years old and it is very interesting how it has maintained that feel. We ate at a restaurant that is owned by an Ethiopian olympian. Cannot remember the name now but the food was awesome (will re-post on the name). The scenery is simply breathtaking and it is quite interesting to see how the vegetation changes as you move from an elevation of approximately 2350m (7709ft.) in Addis Ababa to about 2771m (9091ft.) in Debra Berhan.

  The guy yesterday was taking of the "Stoneman". I guess the guy yesterday was shocked that both of them made it into the 21st century.

  I did not know they had digital cameras during his era. Tomorrow I will show you what he was photographing.It was refreshing to see the Caribbean represented at the event. The steel pan music (see the musicians in the background) gave the San Diego bay a tropical feel.

Entertainment from the Hispanic culture was very colorful and exciting.

I cannot believe five days have gone by since I last made a post. Time really moves quickly! Anyhow, we had an outdoor reception the second to last evening of the conference. There was food and entertainment to satisfy all cultures. This was the first party I have been to that had a few thousand people, and believe it or not food was left over. To be honest I really haven't been to many parties, I can easily count them on my fingers (and I only have ten). Here is the first of a short series of pics from the event.