Zach`s Graduation Party at Mizzou

Posted on May 28, 2016 by jwj

I drove Mom and Dad up to Mizzou on Saturday morning, May 14th, for Zach`s graduation party…Mom wanted to get there early enough that we could take some family portraits there on campus somewhere. The dinner and party were going to be held at The Heidelburg, a local bar and grill not too far from Jesse Hall and the Columns, so we parked in the parking structure on top of the hill behind it and then met up with everyone across the street and walked down to the area by the Columns…it was a bit cool, Dad and I had our jackets on, he in his Mizzou jacket and me in my UP jacket…let me just say that everyone there thought it was cool except for Zach…he wore shorts. We stopped off next to a statue of Benjamin Franklin where Dad and Courtney sat down with Ben and Mom stood behind the bench for a portrait….

…Court`s a lot of fun when it comes to getting her picture taken….we spotted a pretty beech tree nearby and I took a photo of it for Mom…called a Tri Color Beech….

…and we avoided the Columns which are a very in demand backdrop as you can tell here, everyone and their brother and sister were out there on them and around them in close proximity to them….

…we opted for the steps in front of Jesse Hall instead…and we were not the only ones taking portraits there either…great minds apparently do think alike….Landon, Zach`s roommate, took the first portraits for us after I prefocused and set the flash….

…and then we headed over to The Heidelburg for a good lunch and fellowship….

Congratulations to my nephew Zach for his successful completion of four years at Mizzou !!

Barn Fire Hwy A Near Hwy 185 Mid May

Posted on May 28, 2016 by jwj

I was just about to shut off my computer and head to bed the other night when I heard the tones drop for Sullivan and they were dispatched to a barn fire, well involved, on Highway A…I looked up the address online and the maps put the address at Indian Creek where there were some big farms in the area, so I grabbed my camera and flash, and Onyx and I headed for the truck. I drove thru town and headed down Hwy 185 into the state park…the highway thru the park there was under construction and I had not been down thru there yet, so I got to see all the roadcuts made thru the hillside as Modot widened the path of the highway…something that should have been done many years ago. I figured that I would be able to see a glow soon and that would give me a better idea of where the fire was located on Hwy A. Soon after rounding the curve just past Hwy K, the entire sky lit up with a HUGE orange glow, indicating that this fire was much closer to Hwy 185 than the map indicated it to be…and I was looking for a parking spot out of the roadway as soon as I turned on to Hwy A. I turned the air on low for Onyx and hoofed it down the highway to the fire, with my camera in hand, arriving at the scene to see a medium sized barn fully involved…..shooting without flash on the first one….

…..and then spotting a mobile home extremely close to the fire as well….heavy smoke was seen coming from the end of the trailer on the barn end and a blue hoseline going into the trailer…interior fire crews wisely entered the trailer to locate and attack the fire inside there first….

…and then I spotted EMT Ronnie Martin up on the hillside in front of Pumper 854 attacking the barn fire with another hoseline….

…I walked up and took a few from the hill above and behind him…he told me there were upright gas tanks by the wall of the barn in front of him and he was trying to keep them cooled down….while Captain Cody Martin and Firefighter Gary Midyett were inside the trailer….

…soon after I arrived, a second Sullivan pumper arrived and set up at the bottom of the hill in the driveway next to the highway, where a drop tank was set up for tanker operations to supply water to 854…..

…soon the interior crew came outside and began to attack the barn fire after cooling down the trailer from the outside and extinguishing a small fire under the trailer…

Rainbow April 21st

Posted on May 28, 2016 by jwj

My neighbors were all excited across the street, pointing up in the street with big smiles on their faces, so I grabbed my camera the other day and walked outside and looked up to see a gorgeous rainbow, that at times even had a small double shimmer to it….

Sunbeams and Showers Mid April

Posted on May 28, 2016 by jwj

We had a day of sunbeams and showers all day on April 21st….love those days….

…and a few more in early May…first one is a bit fuzzy due to driving and shooting and AF not working like I expected it to….they have a mind of their own sometimes….these taken on my way home from work morning of May 4th…

City Pool Restroom Arson Fire April 20th

Posted on May 28, 2016 by jwj

I was getting ready to have some ice cream the evening of the 20th of April when I heard the police department dispatched to a possible fire at the City Pool, which is about two blocks from my house. Onyx and I headed to the truck and arrived moments later as the Fire Department was being dispatched to it as well, arriving in time to see Officers Zack Hudson and Sgt Jeff Rohrer knocking down the fire in one of the exterior restrooms with a powder fire extinguisher….

…and then they waited outside for the Fire Department to arrive….

Family Reunion in Arkansas April 2016

Posted on May 28, 2016 by jwj

While we were down in Arkansas the second weekend in April, we drove down to Waldron and out to Sehorn Cemetery, where my grandparents are buried…a few weeks before, the cemetery was hit by an EF2 Tornado that touched down a little ways west of there in the valley and traveled right thru the middle of the cemetery and then turned northeast passing over Hwy 71 a few miles north of Waldron. Many of the huge cedar trees and old oak trees that ringed the cemetery on the ridge top, were snapped or twisted off and pulled right up out of the ground….this is how it looked as we drove in….a week or so after a massive cleanup by many volunteers assisting county crews….

…my grandparents and great grandparents are buried just to the left of the hanging baskets and the group of cedars in the middle of the cemetery took a hard hit from the strong winds, but for the most part, remained standing strong as sentinels watching over the grounds….Uncle Harold was out there assisting the crews that cleaned up the downed trees, he said a huge tree fell down near my grandparents graves and the top of the tree came to a rest just inches from their tombstone….

Aunt Dorcas and Uncle Harley Celebrate Their 50th Anniversary

Posted on May 25, 2016 by jwj

I drove my parents down to Fort Smith, Arkansas mid April to attend the 50th Anniversary Party of my Aunt Dorcas and Uncle Harley…Mom and I were asked by my cousins to photograph the party as well. We stayed at the Residence Inn while there, one of the most comfortable hotels there and centrally located. My Uncle Harley is my Mom`s youngest brother…here he is in a family portrait many years ago, the blonde boy in the front row on the left side, sitting next to my grandpa….

….he and my Uncle Joe are retired from many years of service to the Fort Smith Police Department…he was a motorcycle cop for the first several years with the department…..seen on the left riding his Harley Davidson Hog….

……and then transitioned to a police car later on, even pulling a short stint in communications when he first made Sargent. I have many fond memories visiting with them on our frequent trips to Waldron, often stopping off at their house near Kelly Highway, and his motorcycle was always parked under the carport. Aunt Dorcas worked in one of the major manufacturing plants there on the other side of the city and they raised two of my cousins, Billy Joe and Sherri, who are now married and have their own families. Sherri and Bill contacted me through Facebook and asked if we could come down and document this for their family, and after checking to make sure I could take that weekend off from work, we graciously accepted. Soon after arriving and checking into the hotel, we met them over at the Furr`s Buffet Restaurant for supper.

The next morning we drove over to their church, Temple Baptist Church, arriving to find Sherri and her husband Darrel, sons Derek and Seth…with Bill and his daughter Alison, decorating the fellowship hall…..Bill`s wife Peggy and son Greg arrived a little later to help as well…..

Bill showed me the slide show he had set up to play while the dinner and cake were being served, and there was one table set up with photo albums as well…Mom and Dad were checking some of them out too….there were some neat old photos in the slide show….

…as people began to trickle in, Mom and I were able to shoot some family portraits of our families there….starting with Uncle Harley and Dorcas` family….

…then Uncle Harold and Aunt Raye`s families…..

…then my Mom and her brothers, Uncle Harold, Uncle Joe, and Uncle Harley….

…Uncle Joe and Aunt Billy Jean….

…and then everyone started with the dinner…bbq from a local restaurant with all the fixins…

…the cake arrived during dinner and we began shooting more photos soon after that….

…and then it was time for the photo including everyone that was at their wedding fifty years ago, so I had my cousin Steve take this photo for us….

…and then all of us first cousins present……

…and Bill`s family helping Sherri serve cake and punch to everyone….and Uncle Harley was visiting with his friend Cecil….

…and my cousin Marilyn took a great photo of Bill and Sherri`s families eating dinner after serving dinner to everyone first….Great Job to a Great Crew Here !!

Alley Spring Mill April 2016

Posted on May 25, 2016 by jwj

Onyx and I were on our way to Eminence the morning of April 3rd, to meet members of MAGS…the Memphis Archeological and Geological Society, one of the clubs I am fortunate to be a member of…to take them rock and mineral hunting at the quarry there. It was a cool morning and mist could be seen coming up off the waters of the ponds we passed on the way there, so I decided to stop off at Alley Spring Mill and see if there was mist there as well. It was a good place to stop and stretch our legs as well, and since there was no one else there, I left Onyx off his leash and away we went….