Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Chamberlain St. Update

The temperature in Dallas has reached triple digits for the 26th consecutive day, and is expected to continue well into next week. It feels as though the flames of hell are licking at my feet when I walk outside. I've always said there is a reason God chose the heat with which to threaten mankind. Notice he didn't choose ice or snow as a deterrent. 

Anyway, what was my point? Sorry, the heat zaps what little thought process taking place inside my head. Oh! Just that I haven't been able to get out with my camera as much as I'd like, but I was curious as to the situation on Chamberlain St. and their exploding heron population, so I went to check it out. 

First, I stopped at a nearby pond because I noticed a different looking heron with wonderful charcoal gray markings. See him? It's a juvenile Little Blue Heron. Did you know baby Little Blues are solid white? As they mature, they start showing more blue. This young'un is about nine months old or so.


One of these birds is not like the others. Does anyone know why the Little Blue Heron has white vertical stripes? Is it the water reflection?
Arriving on Chamberlain St. my eyes began to burn as soon as I emerged from my car. The smell is more horrific than ever with this ridiculous heat. The street is noticeably absent of vehicles parked in front of the homes for obvious reasons, and no humans could be seen or heard. I parked my car at the end of the street to avoid an unsightly mess and walked. More like trudged, at the same time praying I wouldn't pass out and die on this godforsaken street. Looking up, I tried to remember to breathe through my nose and keep my lips closed. Didn't want any "deposits" ending up in my mouth. Next time I really need to be prepared with a face mask. Or oxygen tank.

An explosion of fledglings, among other things, are evident.


Who knew tons of bird poop could resemble a light dusting of snow?
After Chamberlain St. I needed to clear my head, so I drove to a nearby nature preserve. The drought is really taking its toll. I wish I had thought to take more photos of these deep crevices in the earth.


How anything is living in this heat is a mystery to me.
Credit: Kim Klassen's Dream texture

Oops, how did this end up in here? Tee hee. Played around with Coffee Shop's new Vintage Frame 14 action. Love it! But I was treated for third degree burns on my arm after posing for this shot. Not really; sometimes I like to exaggerate.



33 comments:

Nadine, Chewy and Lilibell said...

Sheesh, and here I was complaining last week when we had that (only) 1 day of triple digit heat!! Hope the heat breaks soon for you and you get the much needed rain. I don't know how you can stand for it to be sunny and hot day after day without a day of clouds and rain to break up the monotony!

Love the picture of the sunflower against the blue sky, the colors are absolutely brilliant!!

Andy said...

Oops, my comment may not have gone through.

We experienced a heat wave in my neck of the woods too.

The bird poop covered mail box - wow and yeck!

TexWisGirl said...

oh, good lord, THOSE folks on chamberlain street live in hell! cannot imagine...

Anonymous said...

Do people actually LIVE on that street?? If so, what a nightmare! It must be all the water that's still there, that attracts them. Poor fellows. Nowhere else to go.

Love the dream image!

beth said...

omg....that mailbox !
oh lord, ireally don't know if i could live on that street...with the mess and the smells.

and those stripes...well i think "she" forgot that horizontal stripes just don't work very well on curvy girls....just look how much wider her hips look then they would normally :)

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Hope the weather cools soon! So many birds! I wonder if they will all move on when breeding season is over???

Shug said...

Oh my....yes mam....it is HOT!

Wouldn't you just hate going to get your mail? I think I might would have to move!

Praying for rain for all of our beautiful state of Texas...
Blessings...
shug

hootnonny said...

My heart goes out to yall and the intense, oppressive heat! The 90s here have about done me in!

Can smell the amonia just looking at those pics. My favorites are the sunflowers and the one of you. They look fresh!

Lisa Gordon said...

I now feel so sorry for complaining about the high 90's we had last week. These are great photos Gail, and sure wish I know what was going on with those herons. It is so strange.

LOOKIN' GOOD next to that car!!

LindyLouMac said...

Amazing temperatures I do hope you are adapting and taking a siesta in the heat of the day.

Maureen said...

Oh. Em. Gee. Those poor people in that neighborhood. The heat is bad enough to suffer through. I can't imagine coming home to that each day. *shudder*
How fun is that vintage frame action? I need to try that out.

Starla said...

My sister lives in Texas, and says the heat is just beyond terrible and all the animals are suffering/dying as there is no water. I feel for you all! We haven't been hit with our heat wave yet, and I'm afraid that Aug and Sept are going to be miserable.

I can't imagine living on that street. We usually battle swallows in the spring, but this year, they must have moved onto new nesting grounds. Can't say I missed them, as the mess is horrible if they are allowed to complete their nests.

Your photos of the sunflowers are my favs!

Tricia said...

Those birds are so pretty, but oh my, the poor souls that live on that street...how awful. Heat + stink = misery. On a happier note, your photos look beautiful. I sure love the sunflowers.

Tricia

drdesigns said...

Yes, that mailbox took my breath away. Ewwwwww. Great shots. Love the new car.

Rosemary Aubut said...

Great shots Gail! It has been very sticky here in MA. Love the birds, love them all!

Anonymous said...

Unreal! I can't believe how bad it is... no word on why they've gathered in that particular location, yet?

There's so many strange things going on all around... The Yellow Sea in South China has mysteriously been covered in algae, which cuts off oxygen to the fish, which in turn is killing the fish, but they can't figure out why the algae is surfacing to begin with.

There's tons of a specific type of fish (can't remember the name of them right now) washing up dead in California & they don't know why...

Earlier this spring, there was dead birds falling from the sky in a town in Ark, then a bunch of FISH started dropping from the sky near that same town a little while later, and they don't know why.... the list just goes on & on.

Sorry about ranting, but this is just all very strange, & interesting, too.

I would imagine bare skin on a car in Texas really WOULD cause, at the very least, 3rd degree burns! YiKeS! Be careful =)

Thanks for the update!

Charlotte Wilson said...

Gail, the heat here is also oppressive. I went to Kroger the other day and the walk from the car and back just about did me in. And do you know that someone actually left 3 dogs in a car with the windows rolled down about 2 inches? I alerted the store manager. What kind of people...sorry I got off track.
I don't understand why this situation is still going on. Are people less important here. Great shots by the way.
I feel sorry for the folks that live in this mess though. wonder if they will be able to prevent another occurance.

BTW, I was at Hobby Lobby the other day and saw so many Fleur de Lis statues {?} in black and some in red, sizes around 10 - 12 inches high. Also went on Restoration Hardware today and they have a fleur de lis pillow on sale that is really pretty. Check it out.

Try to stay inside until it gets cooler.

hugs,

charlotte

Laura Delegal - Leroy Photography said...

It's all perfect. You captured everything perfectly. Hope you have a good weekend.

Katherines Corner said...

Stay hydrated sweetie. Loved the blue heron photos. Hugs!! P.S> it's been 99 here...........ugh

trump said...

Sadly the heat is coming back again over my way. It was nice to get a break even if it was only for a few days. Richard

holdingmoments said...

That heat must be unbearable. I can't imagine how it must be.

Anonymous said...

Those are great shots of the Herons. I can't imagine living on that street - is this a one time phenomenon or does it occur every year? The heat is taking its toll on everything and everyone - we're about to break a record streak of days above 90.

Unknown said...

Great shots, love the mail box:) It really seems to be very dry. We had something on the news about the heat in USA so it is unreal hot there. We have also hottest summer in 23 years. Sometimes I have been thinking am I in Finland or in Spain, it has been so unreal. Now it is like normal and I like it, you can even do something outside, that is so nice.
Take care and let's hope you get some rain.

Hilary said...

Some lovely photos here. The tree limbs and the mailbox... those birds... that's quite the POOPulation explosion!

Rosie Grey said...

Now, that's really hot! I can't even imagine... we had the trillionth thunderstorm this summer, it's raining again and temperatures never get for beyond the 70s. I love seeing the herons! Unbelievable what a side effect they have...! ;-)

Leontien said...

Ohhh Beautiful birds! But OMG that poo!!! wow!!!

And yes those holes in the ground are almost as big as ours! I think we had in the last 7 weeks 0.3 inches... yes pretty depressing i know....

Beautiful pictures and good blogposts make up for it a little!
Leontien

septembermom said...

Hot! Hot! Hot! Hope it's cooling off somewhat for you.

Can I use one of these wonderful pictures for Write With Pictures next week? You know how I love your photography.

La Vie Quotidienne said...

I know that you have been faced with some very extreme heat this summer, it must be so debilatating...and just plain awful. I so enjoyed your photos of the birds, they are amazing although I don't like it when they visit me and eat all of the goldfish in my pond! Still, they certainly are beautiful. Hoping you see cooler weather soon.

Blunt Delivery said...

dude, my friend had a pigeon crap on her while we were taking the boat tour of chicago.

it was great.

and the most disgusting thing ever.

bluntdelivery.com

Leslie said...

Wow! I have a mild addiction to photography and a serious addiction to my iphone. I have 3 grown children and a mom with a Parkinson's diagnosis...and that's just with a quick look at your 101 things! Great blog. I love it and glad I came across it.

Leslie in Vancouver, Canada.

Unknown said...

Where did you got that google+ little logo button to the right corner!?! I have tried to find gadget to put it to my blog but haven't found. I'm so new in g+ that I have to figured out how to do some things how they work. I didn't even know how write this message to you throw g+ so have to come here?!

Michelle said...

What a nightmare for those that live there. I can't imagine-just hearing about the smell and your eyes burning puts it all into perspective. You got some wonderful pictures though. I especially like the second one.

Thanks for your note. All is well. -It's nice to be back.

Nancy said...

You are right. We do seem to travel in the same circles, don't we?

I'm surprised at the heron population. That's incredible. I would imagine there's some death and sickness there with all of the droppings and fledglings. Please wear a mask next time. :)