Jackson, Mississippi - Dec. 8 & 9

Photo: The Mississippi state capitol building.

My first ever visit to Mississippi came on Tuesday (Dec. 8) when I flew to Jackson, the state capitol of Mississippi. I arrived to overcast skies and a slight drizzle (which later turned to a driving rain later that evening). I was met by a driver who took me to my motel - the Holiday Inn Express in Pearl - a suburb of Jackson.

The following morning was superb - clear blue sky with a cool temperature. The purpose of this trip to Jackson was to give another in the series of my lectures that I am presenting on behalf of a professional society for petroleum engineers. My presentation was held at the River Hills Club outside Jackson. Before my talk started at 12 noon, I asked my sponsor if he'd mind taking me into downtown Jackson to allow me to at see at least one main attraction in the city! I chose the capitol building. With blue skies in the background, it made for a picture perfect day - see the above photo! After our brief excursion downtown, we headed to the country club where we had lunch followed by my talk which lasted 45 minutes. Attendance = 17 people.

My presentation was over at 1 pm and by 1:40 pm, I was at the Jackson Airport where I managed to snag an early flight home to Houston. My kind of trip .... short and sweet!!

The eagle atop the state capitol buidling.

The old capitol building, located a few blocks from the current capitol building (shown at the top of this posting).

The Mississippi state flag. In the upper left corner is the old Confederate flag (the "Stars and Bars"). A little nostalgic but upsetting to some as it represents bad elements of the old South.

The River Hills Country Club where I gave my lecture presentation.

A view from my seat in Row 19 (the last row) of the flight home to Houston.

Snow in Houston, Texas!!

I fully realize that most folks living in the northeastern USA or in the upper mid-western states or in the Rocky Mountain areas (Colorado, etc.) or anywhere else (for example, northern Europe or northern China, etc.) will chuckle, chortle, laugh or just shrug ("so what's the big deal ...") at all this fuss I am making but, hey, today's weather is a BIG deal for us Houstonians! Today marks the earliest recorded snowfall in Houston - ever. Never before has it snowed in Houston as early as December 4th!! Normally we go for several YEARS without any snow so when we do see some snow - even if only in small amounts - we are excited! And, today, the meteorological conditions were perfect! In my area of West Houston, we only experienced a light dusting of snow - about 0.5" to 1 " total accumulation. Outlying areas had up to 3 - 4 inches accumulation! And the best outcome of all .... our office workplace was closed at 12 noon. A perfect way to spend a winter day in Houston!

The snow by our apartment pool area. Talk about a strange juxtaposition!!

Snow covered vegetation .....

I managed to scrape up enough snow from these cars to make a few snowballs!!

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Follow-Up: Saturday was a superb day: clear, blue sky and very cool temperatures. The day began at 26 deg F and eventually rose to around 50 deg F (10 deg C). My neighbor's flowers all withered away from the thermal shock. Sadly, with the temperature quickly rebounding, it wasn't long before all traces of our recent snowfall disappeared. Oh well, our one day of winter! It sure was nice while it lasted!

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Madame Lefty: Welcome back! It's great to get another posting from you and also good to hear that your teaching job is going well. I must admit I was surprised to learn that our local school district (Houston Independent School District - HISD) kept classes going while our company - and many other large corporations - let their employees off from work! Oh well, it's still early in the season, maybe Houston will get a 'double-header' and receive yet another wintry blast! I hope!!

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Ron: Thanks so much for your suggestions! I am always afraid of checking my camera and lenses for fear of theft by the TSA and by baggage handlers!

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Nichole and Kyle: Many thanks for taking the time to leave comments and glad to hear you liked my posting!

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Hindsfeet: Glad you like my photography! It's my favorite hobby .... after traveling, of course!!

Happy Thanksgiving

To all my loyal followers here in the USA and to whomever else celebrates this day of Thanks .... I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

I started out the day taking pictures around the west side of Houston during the early morning:

A new artwork appeared two weeks ago next to the new Westchase Park office building near the intersection of Westpark and Beltway 8. The new artwork is entitled Synergy and was created by Texas artist George Schroeder.

Next stop: church; then a fabulous buffet meal at the Omni Hotel (Woodway and Loop 610). Excellent food and atmosphere. Total cost = $70.00 USD!! Expensive for sure but since I only indulge in this sort of extravagance only about once a year, well, why not! After I stuffed myself with delicious food, I wandered around the front courtyard of the Omni Hotel and photographed the geese swimming around a pond adjacent to the hotel. One goose in particular - after eyeing me intently for a few seconds - started to chase after me snapping his mouth several times!! (Talk about a wild goose chase!!)

Anyway, I survived the chase and after capturing a few more photos I departed for home.

FYI: This was my first Thanksgiving at home in Houston since 2006. Having spent the last two Thanksgivings in Kuwait, I was quite pleased to be home again for the Holiday this year!

Rice University (Houston, Texas)

I'm still at home (and will be for a few more weeks) but at least I had the pleasure of spending a day over at Rice University to attend a semi-annual joint-industry-project update. Wednesday was one of those rare days in Houston when the sky was virtually cloudless and the humidity was low. After the morning's presentations, we all trooped over to the Faculty Club for lunch and as we walked I managed to get a few pictures of the beautiful campus. Almost makes me want to go back to school again ..... almost .... but then again, since I still need the income, I'd better keep working!

At Home in Houston ....

My original plan was to be in Kuwait this month but since the Eid al-Ada holiday (a big Holiday in the Islamic world) falls almost on the same day as our Thanksgiving Day, it was decided by the powers-that-be in our company's office in Kuwait that I remain here in the USA and travel instead at a later date (yet to be determined). Although I must admit I miss traveling, at least I will have the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving at home here in Houston for the first time since 2006! (The last two Thanksgivings were in Kuwait!) So, my dear followers, I hope you won't be too disappointed by the lack of new postings. I have a short trip in early December but otherwise I shall remain housebound for the next few weeks.

One pleasant item to report: my kind and generous boss has allowed our team to purchase a new telephoto lens for our team's camera. Our new 'toy' is a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM telephoto lens. The picture below shows the lens mounted on our Canon 50D SLR. I will practice using the new lens over the Christmas Holiday and if I capture any interesting photos, I will post them here. One word of caution: the lens weighs 3 pounds (ca. 1,500 grams!).

As a first example of what this lens can do, I took a picture of the new Memorial Hermann Hospital building located along I-10 (near Gessner) in West Houston and then I zoomed in on the ghastly top of the building. You can see the difference in the 100 mm and 400 mm focusing ranges. My question to anyone who lives here in Houston: just what the heck is that thing on the building top anyway? An observation deck? And just how much did (or will) that architectural trifle cost the hospital's patients??!! No wonder we have a health care crisis here in the USA!!

The new Memorial Hermann hospital building at 100 mm focal length (above) ....

and at 400 mm focal length. So what is that thing on the top of the building??!!

Happy Halloween - The Road to Recovery

The Traveling Chemist has been home for about nine (9) days with what turned out to be a 'bacterial infection'. At first I thought it was the 'flu' but I had my suspicions. One clue: the "Tamiflu" anti-viral drug I was prescribed had no effect. By the time the doctor considered using an antibiotic, the 'bug' was - thankfully - all gone. (I just hope it stays away!!!)

Anyway, I finally recovered and returned to work last Monday. Today (Friday, October 30) has ushered in some excellent Fall weather here in Houston (temps in the mid-60's F; ca. 18 - 19 deg C). Finally, the heat and humidity have gone and I can roll down my car windows, open my apartment windows and let the fresh air in.

>>>>>>>> HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

One Day in Covington, Louisiana

I had the pleasure of taking a short (one-day) trip to Covington, Louisiana - a small, upscale community located about 30 miles north of New Orleans on what is termed the 'North Shore' of Lake Pontchartrain (see photo above) I have been to New Orleans many, many times but have never ventured outside its main metropolitan area and thus this visit allowed me an opportunity to experience a new part of Louisiana.

Our one-hour flight to Houston was relatively pleasant (despite the 40-minute delay). And I flew out of Hobby airport - something I haven't done in recent memory. (FYI: Hobby handles mainly local commuter flights to/from Houston - most of which are of short duration. Also, there are no international flights out of Hobby to my knowledge.) We rented a car and my colleague volunteered to drive the one-hour trip from the New Orleans Airport, along the 20+ mile causeway that connects the south and north shores of Lake Pontchartrain into Covington.

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Unlike the central, main business district of New Orleans - which often seems to me to be rather shabby in appearance - Covington has a much more pleasing 'eye appeal'. Nice, upscale homes and several excellent local restaurants - two in which I had the pleasure of dining. We had a lot of business to conduct and thus I have relatively few photos to share of this one-day trip.

Copeland's restaurant in Covington. This restaurant was directly across the street from the Courtyard by Marriott hotel where we stayed. Excellent food!! The following day I had lunch at Zea, another fine restaurant which I can heartily recommend!!

A local goose who got a bit disturbed when I approached him!

The flight home on Southwest Airlines was smooth and ON TIME!

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Replies to Comments:

John: The menu at either Copeland's or Zea's is quite varied and as is usually the case with many restaurants nowadays, you can access their menu on-line. Zea's menu and locations can be found at: Zearestaurants.com Enjoy!!