2008
Song Saturday: Last Name

“I had no clue what I was getting into. So, I’ll blame it on the Cuervo. Oh, where did my manners go?”
Returning to my Samsung playlist, submitted for your approval on this first Saturday of the new year…I present Last Name by Carrie Underwood. Released in April 2008, it was written by Underwood, Luke Laird and Hillary Lindsey. It is the eighth track from the album Carnival Ride and the third release. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart on June 21, 2008, was #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, made it to #3 on the Canada Country Billboard chart and #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
I remember when she wowed the whole world on the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. It’s hard to believe that it has been over 15 years since she stormed the music world. I never watched the show but, she was all over the media. When I heard Before He Cheats on the radio, I knew she was gonna be an incredible star and, as far as I’m concerned, she could sing the phone book to me. I don’t own any of her albums/CDs as, after the 90s, everything went digital.
♦ The music video portrays the song as a prequel to her Before He Cheats song, even going so far as to hire the same actor to play the man in question.
♦ [This song] became Underwood’s fastest single to hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart after only 13 weeks of its official release […]. It stayed there for one week.
♦ 2009 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
Other Awards
Carrie Underwood Official (Official Website)
Snapshots Sunday: Walsenburg

As a companion piece to the Fort Sumner post, my ex-Marine and I headed north, still on our way to Liar’s Lodge. We headed into snow and landed in Walsenburg, Colorado, in Huerfano County, a town smaller than the one I am living in and, as of 2019, continues to hemorrhage people from a peak of 5,855 in 1940. We arrived after dark and stopped to eat. There’s not much there, back then or now. ~Vic

Click for a larger view.


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the diner looks like it’s from 1974.
Alpine Rose Cafe
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We had a decent meal.
It’s still there as of 2018.
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It appears to still be there.
It is the only home of Colorado Rockies Baseball
in Southern Colorado.

The lights in the windows are odd.
Click for a larger view.

while I was attempting another picture.
Additional Reading:
Returning to the Place I’d Never Been (Acts & Tracks/radioronin.wordpress.com)
City of Walsenburg (colorado.gov)
Walsenburg (colorado.com)
Walsenburg (Uncover Colorado)
Shutterbug Saturday: Old Fort Sumner Museum
I lived in Texas for nearly a decade. My ex-Marine and I did some traveling through the west when we had opportunities. I’ve been digging around in some old stuff and found some photos from a visit to the Old Fort Sumner Museum in New Mexico in December of 2008. We were on our way to Liar’s Lodge. The museum closed in 2017. ~Vic

It was so overcast.
It never occurred to me to take pictures inside.

Lucien Maxwell
Fort Sumner
Bosque Redondo

Joe Bowlin
Notice the reference to Texas International Airlines
Jarvis P. Garrett is Pat’s son.
UPI Article on the 1981 Recovery

Charlie Bowdre December 23, 1880
Tom O’Folliard December 19, 1880

AKA William H. Bonney
AKA Billy The Kid
July 14, 1881
“The boy bandit king,
he died as he lived.”
Late Add:
Photo Credit: Erans World
02-11-2014
Click to view full picture.
Additional Reading:
BTKOG (Billy the Kid Outlaw Gang Site)
Whiskey and the Devil: Taiban, New Mexico (City of Dust Blogspot January 10, 2012)
Billy the Kid’s Two Graves (Roadside America August 15, 2020)
Caught With His Pants Down: Billy the Kid vs Pat Garrett (True West Magazine August 1, 2010)
Brushy Bill Roberts (Wikipedia)
Snapshots Sunday: Pooh Bear

Stumpy-tailed Manx
05-14-2008
Pooh was not originally my cat. When the Marine and I moved to Texas, Pooh (the owners called him Oliver) lived three doors away. He was very friendly and walked the sidewalks like a person. The story we got from the owner was, he was purchased as a kitten for her son. Her son developed allergies to the cat so, she put him outside. He could get in and out of the garage and, had a sleeping pad on a bench on the front porch.

01-01-2008
He didn’t visit our house too much because we had Buddy. When we lost Buddy, he got closer and closer to the front door, unsure because he wasn’t allowed in his own home. One day, we opened the door and he walked in. We fed him some tuna and…he stayed. We taught him how to use the cat doors we already had and he returned to us every day. His previous owner, at this point, had re-married, had two more kids (plus the husband’s kid) and three dogs. I’m not sure they ever noticed.

01-24-2011
He didn’t look like an Oliver to us. My Marine made the remark that he looked like a little bear walking up the sidewalk. I immediately went to my childhood days and thought “Pooh!” He got a new name with his new home.

Pooh liked to watch TV.
02-25-2009
Poor Pooh had spine problems related to his stumpy tail. The entire time he was with us, he had spells…twice a day. Something in his spine would move or catch and he would howl in pain. Then, he would chase the pain…until he was dizzy. It was something bizarre to watch and you couldn’t miss the sound. Think Looney Tunes’ Tasmanian Devil. When he regained his faculties, he would begin to groom as if nothing had happened. Unfortunately for me, some of those spells occurred in my lap. I still have scars…bless his heart.

He was our baby for three and a half years. He developed pancreatic cancer and had to be put down February 17, 2011. He was a character. When he wanted your attention and you weren’t fast enough, he made this sound of frustration that always reminded me of Number 5/Johnny Five from Short Circuit.

06-20-2009
Chris Thomas: Earth’s Chronological Chart
A Forum Blog Post From: The Chris Thomas Files

Photo Credit: NASA on Unsplash
[Preface from a client of Chris Thomas: My friend Chris Thomas, who is “hard-wired” to the Akashic, has produced a list of events in Earth’s history that I would like to share with you. Chris Thomas’ books go into much greater detail about the [below] but, this is quite a nice summary.]
14,376.279.386 years ago…..Creation of our Universal envelope.
100 million yrs ago…..Creation of the six non-physical races.
40 million yrs ago…..Completion of our solar system with early life forms on the outer planets.
30 million yrs ago…..Creation of the seven semi-physical races.
25 million yrs ago…..Beginnings of life on Earth (Earth’s choice).
20 million yrs ago…..Creation by earth of the Sidhe’ and the Faerie.
4.5 million yrs ago…..Neanderthal Man developed by Earth from early primate models.
4 million yrs ago…..The arrival of The Merlin on Earth.
3.9 million yrs ago…..Removal of 4 planets from our solar system.
3.8 million yrs ago…..Arrival of Cro-Magnon man’s template from Mars.
3.6 million yrs ago…..Disruptive alien race called the 14th faction burst into our Universe.
94-98,000 yrs ago…..Lemuria established.
85,000 yrs ago…..Atlantis established.
65,000 yrs ago…..Atlantis destroyed and the Sphinx constructed in Egypt.
28,000 yrs ago…..New energy matrix to support human life post Atlantis.
20,000 yrs ago…..Human resettlement of the planet begun.
12,000 yrs ago…..First use of language in the form of Hewbrewa.
10,000 yrs ago…..Construction of energy sites at Silbury Hill, Avebury and Stonehenge.
Aug 14th 1996…..New Earth energy grid activated for whole planet.
Aug 16th 1996…..A bridge between Avalon and Glastonbury Tor is made so that the Sidhe’ could counteract the threat of genetically modified organisms.
Dec 31st 1999…..Earth energies boosted to speed up human evolution.
May 30th 2000…..Earth alters her base frequency from 7.56Hz to 3,500Hz.
Jan 19th 2004…..Energies changed chakra speeds and all colour was lost from the chakras.
Aug 2nd 2004…..Earth charged up all its crystal deposits.
Feb 2005…..Another energy boost and this time, the energy level is maintained. Also, a higher-self census was taken to see who was to remain on the planet.
© Chris Thomas 2008
The Forum (One Vibration Forum/Blog August 6, 2008)
Download The PDF & Share
Shutterbug Saturday: Old Halloween Stuff
It’s finally October, home month of jack-o-lanterns, ghosties, ghoulies, witches (the cartoon type), bats, spiders, skeletons, and the like, for the upcoming Halloween. I love wandering around to get shots of local decorations, much like Christmas. This post, however, covers some of my old stuff…stuff collected over the years (remember email forwards?)…stuff I didn’t take, myself, plus…a really cute video from 2005. I have no idea who took these. ~Vic
Take a look at Halloween Local.

Image file reflects 12-05-2000

Image file reflects 09-30-2001

Image file reflects 10-31-2001

Image file reflects 10-19-2002

Image file reflects 08-26-2007

Image file reflects 10-12-2008
Shutterbug Saturday: Critter Collections
Nature’s wonderful creatures with many legs or, none at all. All photos are my personal collection. ~Vic

Found the little guy in our shed in the backyard (mating season).
I had trouble snapping his picture as he kept moving and I kept jumping.
09-10-2008

We turned him over to a friend who had Tarantulas as pets.

Nature Preserve in Round Rock, TX.
10-25-2008

Nature Preserve.

06-20-2013

He had places to go.
08-30-2013


More to come…
Shutterbug Saturday: Feathers 3.0

I love watching and listening to the birds. They are fun and fascinating. A few evenings ago, I was sitting in one of my Adirondack chairs I have in my yard. They are underneath a very large Hackberry tree. This tree is huge and old. As I was enjoying the sunset and journaling, I heard tapping…above my head. Then, I noticed dust-like material gathering in my lap, my pages and on my phone (and, no doubt, on my head). I looked directly above me, which was not an easy task in a high-back chair. Yes. It was a small woodpecker. This little thing had the entire tree to beat its beak into but, decided to do its routine…directly above me. I struggled to get shots but, I got a few. That will be for another post in the future.

Invasion of the Buzzards
03-07-2017





Sadly, all of those trees had to come down last year.
03-03-2013

But, a Cooper’s Hawk or a Sharp-Shinned, I’m not sure.

12-12-2008
Foto Friday: Tribute Pictures 6.0

Photo Credit: Natalie Rhea Riggs on Unsplash
The below is now Part Six of the final Seven Part Series showcasing my former supervisor’s work and, additional photos taken of him at various stages of his life and career. The above picture of Big Bend National Park, I never got to see while I was living in Texas. It’s a big state and there is a lot to see. I confess that I spent a rather large amount of time traveling back and forth, between the Austin area and the Houston area, as I had a very dear friend and classmate living in Spring. Texas will always be my second home.
♦ Part I
♦ Part II
♦ Part III
♦ Part IV
♦ Part V

This picture has no time stamp. I haven’t a clue when it was taken.

03-24-2010

03-24-2010
03-24-2010
The following three pictures, he sent to me on November 17, 2008. I have no idea when or where these were taken but, they were his friends and they requested his expertise.

He is from Houston.
He is from Lubbock.
That is all I have of the pictures he took. Everything forward will be of him.
Last post, tomorrow. ~Vic
Shutterbug Saturday: Tribute Pictures 5.0

1st Street Bridge
Town Lake (Colorado River)
Photo Credit: Carlos Delgado on Unsplash
It appears that I have more Patton pictures than I realized. Some of them are of him, not by him. Nevertheless, this is looking like a seven part series, now.
♦ Part I
♦ Part II
♦ Part III
♦ Part IV

06-04-2008

08-27-2008

02-24-2009




05-08-2008

More to come… ~Vic
Foto Friday: Tribute Pictures 4.0

This is part four of a five, possibly, six part series showcasing my former supervisor W. H. Patton’s photography. The first post is here. The second post is here. The third post is here.
Round four…

10-09-2008

10-09-2008

02-21-2008

02-27-2008

03-07-2009

03-07-2009

05-18-2008

05-18-2008
Shutterbug Saturday: Tribute Pictures 3.0

This is Part Three of the five-part series showcasing my former supervisor W. H. Patton’s photography. The original post is here. Last Saturday’s post is here.
The above picture (on a phone) or the picture to the left (on a PC) is from the Texas Lone Star Wind Farm just outside of Abilene (northeast) and Clyde (northwest). On one of my visits to his ranch in Clyde, he took me out to this wind farm installation. Those wind turbines make the weirdest noises.
I wish I had remembered MY camera.
Round Three below.

Wild turkey in his backyard, 04-07-2008







Shutterbug Saturday: Tribute Pictures 2.0

The Percy V. Pennybacker, Jr., Bridge on Loop 360, Capital of Texas Highway, Austin
In my previous post from November 24, I spoke of my former supervisor, W. H. Patton, whom I worked for, and with, from September of 2002 until he retired in May of 2007. This is Part Two of a five-part series. Below are more of his photography works.

From his ranch in 2007, a pair of Bobcats

From his driveway, 09-16-2008

From his driveway, 09-16-2008

From his backyard, 09-16-2008

From his back patio, The Quartet 08-10-2008

From his back patio, The Texas State Bird Chorus & a couple of wasps 08-10-2008

From his back patio, 07-23-2007

From his backyard, 07-23-2007