Keepin’ Busy

Yeah – keeping busy.  That’s the real reason I haven’t posted lately – I’ve been having too much fun.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that Texas had a primary election recently.  In South Texas, local politics get pretty raucous.  One race for a state legislative office was particularly rough – at one polling place, the cops were called because the two candidates were going at it in the parking lot.  During early voting, anyone getting near the voting place was met with whistling and screaming – in Spanish.

(Be sure to click on the photos – you’ll see a larger version that way.)

Around here, we have a phenomenon called “Winter Texans.”  In Florida, they’re called Snowbirds. Escaping the harsh winters of the upper Midwest, these retirees enjoy the warm Rio Grande Valley.  This gentleman is 83, and retired from being a golf pro in Minnesota.  He still walks 18 almost every  day.  I took a lot longer taking the photo than I needed to – I just enjoyed nursing a cup of coffee and chatting with him and his buddies.

With the advent of spring sports, I’m not always shooting inside a “dimnasium” and it’s nice to get a daytime assignment too.  Of course, when I’m assigned to shoot a soccer game, I’m in deep trouble because I know nothing about the sport.  Nothing.  However, I know a good athlete when I see one.

Spring break starts this week for the public school students.  It’s a great time for kids to get in trouble, especially here in deep South Texas where South Padre Island is a mecca for hell-raining college students.  One student at a nearby high school lost a friend in January.  The buddy had just completed Marine Corps basic training, but died in a car wreck while home on leave.  From that sad experience came a school club promoting teen safe driving.

If you are a high school senior, you know your life is about to change – big time.  These three girls have lettered in varsity softball together for four years.  That’s quite an accomplishment. They’re good friends, and it was obvious as I was working with them during the shoot.  They kept insisting I take more photos – then I realized they were having more fun posing for the camera than they would practicing.  They laughed when I pointed that out, let me take one more shot, then went back to sweating in the sun.

Finally, I shot a track meet last Friday, but the start pole vaulter didn’t even make his first effort until the sun was low in the sky – low enough that the stadium lights were turned on.  The photo sums up the day.

Comments

[Russ]

Love the golfer. Looks like he has a little Slammin' Sammy Snead in him.

[Terri]

Great picture of the goalie! I've got an all-state soccer player here in Ohio if you ever want to come shoot some pictures. We'll even clue you into the rules of the game!

[Tom]

Is there anything more enjoyable than high school sports and the atmosphere on campus in the spring with graduation around the corner. Life gets a bit more serious for kids as they leave high school and accept the challenge of life as a college student. High school is fun. College kids seem as stressed as any group and research shows the stress is very high.

So I say to all high school kids, enjoy these last few months.