Tag Archives: Photography

Water Off A Duck’s Back

Posted on by Bill Chance

“-Hey, listen,” I said. “You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?” I realized it was only one chance in a million.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Bachman Lake, Dallas, Texas

I watched the ducks go about their start of the day routine from a bench along the water at dawn. One ritual was to repeatedly duck under the water and rise up – letting the water run off their feathers. Like taking a little duck shower.

Cell Phone Tower Reflected in Bachman Lake, Before and After Sunrise

Posted on by Bill Chance

“There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.”
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

Bachman Lake, Dallas, Texas, before sunrise

Bachman Lake, Dallas, Texas, after sunrise

Crew Practice

Posted on by Bill Chance

“How often have I watched, and longed to imitate when I should be free to live as I chose, a rower who had shipped his oars and lay flat on his back in the bottom of the boat, letting it drift with the current, seeing nothing but the sky gliding slowly by above him, his face aglow with a foretaste of happiness and peace!”
― Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way

Bachman Lake at dawn, Dallas, Texas

Out of bed at five AM out of the house at five-thirty. My son Lee was running a 5K – four laps around Bachman Lake at dawn. I enjoyed sitting by the lake, watching the sky brighten and the sun rise, the early morning planes lifting off from Love Field, the ducks coming to check if I’d give them something to eat, and the early morning crews rowing on the smooth lake. There was no wind – the only disturbance was from the ducks and the boats.

Lee wanted to run a fast time on the flat and open course. He did succeed in a personal best, beating a time he ran years ago, in high school.

The Christmas Tree Is In A Hurry

Posted on by Bill Chance

“If my Valentine you won’t be,
I’ll hang myself on your Christmas tree.”
― Ernest Hemingway, 88 Poems

Grapevine, Texas

Not Just On Halloween

Posted on by Bill Chance

“I think if human beings had genuine courage, they’d wear their costumes every day of the year, not just on Halloween. Wouldn’t life be more interesting that way? And now that I think about it, why the heck don’t they? Who made the rule that everybody has to dress like sheep 364 days of the year? Think of all the people you’d meet if they were in costume every day. People would be so much easier to talk to – like talking to dogs. ”
― Douglas Coupland, The Gum Thief

Cosplay, Grapevine, Texas

Playful Rebellious and Immature

Posted on by Bill Chance

“Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature.”
― Tom Robbins

Grapevine, Texas

Up the Chimbley!

Posted on by Bill Chance
“Pop guns! And bicycles! Roller skates! Drums! Checkerboards! Tricycles! Popcorn! And plums!
And he stuffed them in bags. Then the Grinch, very nimbly,
Stuffed all the bags, one by one, up the chimbley!”
― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Grapevine, Texas

The Mad Were Often Allowed To Mingle Freely

Posted on by Bill Chance

“I had noticed that both in the very poor and very rich extremes of society the mad were often allowed to mingle freely.”
― Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye

Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

A Question With No Answer

Posted on by Bill Chance

“Indeed, the only truly serious questions are ones that even a child can formulate. Only the most naive of questions are truly serious. They are the questions with no answers. A question with no answer is a barrier that cannot be breached. In other words, it is questions with no answers that set the limit of human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human existence.”
― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Traffic Barriers, Fair Park, Dallas, Texas

Feathered With One Of the Eagles Own Plumes

Posted on by Bill Chance

“The haft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagles own plumes. We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction.”
― Aesop

Bird sculpture in process, The Cedars, Dallas, Texas