White Christmas?

Its cool and sunny today. But last week was a different story. This is the view last week out of the outside elevator at Canal Place in New Orleans. The fog had lifted high enough only to show the bottoms of the tall buildings. There tops were lost in the low ceiling. I guess that's the closest thing to a White Christmas that were going to see around here (New Orleans).

-steve buser

Lagniappe ( a little something extra )


I guess that cutsy saying, "Have a Berry Merry Christmas" was true to life. Today on Pixel Eyed

Duty worn

Our lives seem to be filled with shining hardware. You know -- drawer pulls, door knobs, levers of all types. With luck, they will last a few dozen years or so before they are replaced and discarded. Then, there are those that have survived almost a century... maybe more. Rusted, craggy, scabbed, prickly, but ready to perform. Staid and trustworthy to generation after generation.

There's nothing pretty about those rough-hewn relics. Or is there?

--steve buser


Lagniappe -- ( a little something extra)


Grab that motorcycle by the handle grips and leave the bounds of earth. Mother Earth. Cut the strings. It may be only for a second or two, but you are flying into a place where only clouds and eagles live.

Today on Pixel Eyed

Fading in the fog

The fog is rolling in off the river -- blurring and covering. Landmarks are slowly fading to gray. Not much to get your bearings by. But look for the taller things. They stand out. The Steamboat Natchez is still there, tall in the fog.

While it may slow down river traffic. The fog here on the Moonwalk in the French Quarter of New Orleans adds a romantic air.

--steve buser

Lagniappe -- ( a little something extra)

Alluvially speaking it spills into Trinity Bay and makes its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Hydrologically speaking a dam and channel control the flow.

Geographically speaking it is a source of water that supports the tourism and industry of Houston.

But we're speaking pixelly here, and I just thought it was an interesting shot.

Today on Pixel Eyed

Bayou Boogie

The sun is setting. Not much time left. One last fishing spot to check out before boogeying back home. Bayou Lacombe sparkles in the dimming light of dusk. Maybe it will be hypnotic for the fish that have been eluding you all day.

--steve buser

Lagniappe ( a little extra)

They live separate existence. Neither aware that their fates are intertwined.

Today on Pixel Eyed

All that we have seen

As we come to the close of another year, I thought this would be an appropriate shot. I was focused on shooting the globes when I took this shot and did not notice the words below. "all we have seen." Certainly a good wrap up for this past year.

The shot was from a shop on Magazine Street in New Orleans.

--steve buser


Some other "closing out the year" photos on other City Daily Photo Blogs today"

Lendemain -- Arradon Daily Photo

Chill Out Day ... #209 -- Wellington Daily Photo

Christmas Dawn at Jebel Hafeet -- Al Ain Random Interval Photo Blog

Wishing you a Blessed Christmas

This is the Nativity scene from Al Copeland's Christmas display at his Metairie Lakefront house. The scene is central to the this holiday season. May I take this moment to wish you and yours a very Merry and Blessed Christmas day. I hope you will be surrounded by loved ones on this special day.

--steve buser

Lagniappe (a little something extra)

In a sense, it's a kind of metaphor for life. Loose track of what's terra firma in your life and things that are just streaking by you seemed to be crashing down on you. Today on Pixel Eyed

Light up the night

Tunnel visions
One of the best things about having grandkids, is that it gives you an exuse to do all the things you ever wanted to do. Take Santa's Village for instance. We were in College Station, Texas visiting for the holidays and we all piled into the car for the ride through the lights -- daughter Vicky, son-in-law Aaron, grandchildren Sullivan and Sophie, and Linda and I. This is the scene through one of light tunnels. Real eye candy throughout. Unfortunately, the cold blistering wind, kept us in the car and did allow the chance to wonder through the village on foot. Oh, well, there is always next year.

--steve buser

Lagniappe ( a little something extra )

There's the birdwatchers up on the pier with their cameras and binoculars. But if you look close, you might find another kind -- this rookery is right off the I-10 just outside of Houston. Today in Pixel Eyed.

Jax Brewery

The Jax Brewery building is an attractive building in the French Quarter in New Orleans at the corner of Jackson Square. The brewery was a New Orleans icon for years. The building is mostly empty -- a victim of a slower tourism numbers since the hurricane. But, with tourism picking up, I expect it will be humming with commerce again.

Taking the high road

High view of the city
Not much of a commute this morning -- a lot of people taking off for the holidays. This is the view a few days back of the Crescent City Connection -- alway jammed with traffic in the morning bringing commuters from the West Bank of New Orleans to the East Bank.

The bridge gives a great view of the river as well as sunsets and sunrises. The view is also spectacular of the skyline as you drop down into the City of New Orleans.

--steve buser

Lagniappe ( a little something extra )

Peace and warm lights. Snow, for sure, but not the messy kind. No traffic. No snarling faces. No fences. No jails. No crime. No run down buildings -- they're all ideal, architecturally perfect.

Today on Pixel Eyed

The bare law of nature

Foot-worn story
Alongside the path in City Park in New Orleans, sits these two weather-worn and kid-worn oak knobs. Years of tennis shoes and barefoot toes have polished them and laid them bark-free to the sun that finds its way through the trees.

Those were not mean-spirited encounters. Each little foot was enjoying this form of nature -- it was that love of experiencing nature that inspired each little foot rub.

The experience has brought out their grain. But most of all, it has taken two plain-looking knobs and turned them into things of beauty. Their story lies bare on their face..

Seems an almost universal law.

--steve buser

Lagniappe -- (a little something extra)

The fog doesn't let distractions sneak in. You're fully in the moment.

The quiet stillness of fog. One could say the focus of fog.

Today on Pixel Eyed in Victoria

Clay fired sunset

Heightened awareness
The high spot. The mountain. The view from above. It has played a central place in literature and religious works all the way back in time. It is a place of meditation, of inspiration of enlightenment. Certainly, on high mountains, looking down clouds that others look up to gives a sense of seeing things in a a different way. The thin air gives a feeling of lightness. And in olden days, just getting to that high mountain top, was a stress that sent endorphins cruising through ones veins.

But, there is on thing that I think many people miss -- the sunset is just different from high places. The sun has to slip further below the horizon to hide. With fewer obstructions, the sun can paint brighter and longer lasting colors on low and high clouds.

Certainly, here, above the high downtown buildings in New Orleans, the sun was using some new found brushes and pastels to do a yellow and adobe masterpiece.

--steve buser


Lagniappe -- (a little something extra)

One of life's simple pleasures. Fifteen minutes off from the regular world into a world which we share with explorers of yore. Today on Pixel Eyed

Fascinated with the flash and splash

Reflecting, pool side.
Fascinated by the light of the fountain, and the fish swimming around, this youth takes a reflective moment before continuing on the tour of the light of the Celebration in the Oaks at City Park in New Orleans. The holiday season tours attract huge crowds to wander through the newly replanted Botanical Gardens.

--steve buser
Technocrati Tags: Fountain New Orleans

Lagniappe (A little something extra)

WhatChaGot? The seagulls know the rules. They're zooming in close to check it out. "WhatChaGot?" Then bring it.

Today on Pixel Eyed
Publish Post

Curiously Carousing Canal

Wow. See that? Our nephew is amazed with the passing scenery as we roll down Canal Street on a street car. I guess hanging out a bit gets you closer to the scene carousing by. Meanwhile, my wife is enjoying the enthusiasm boiling over.
--steve buser

Lagniappe ( a little something extra)

As the band plays on, it ends with a bang, not a whimper. Today on Pixel Eyed

The bustle of Christmas

Enduring fancy
Local restauranteur Al Copeland has been for decades a colorful part of Christmas in New Orleans with his decorations on his Metairie lakefront home. This year was no different -- crowds pass by in cars and gawk in slow procession (note the traffic cones at the bottom of the picture). Many disembark to get an up close feel for the bright and busy display.

As you may notice, the display does not tend toward the mono-color lights that seem popular these days.

--steve buser

Lagniappe ( a little something extra )

Your guess is as good as mine as to why the four poles were in the middle of the lake. But they were just one of the actors in this scene. Another was the black swath of a weather front stretched thin on the horizon.

Today on Pixel Eyed

Crowded real estate

The real estate market seems to be affecting everyone. With falling prices, everyone is rushing in to scoop up that highly desirable waterfront real estate. As these waterfront experts note, the waterfront is getting really crowded.

The picture is from the boat launch dock at the Kenner lakefront. There are actually three launches here with four docks surrounding them. All but one of these docks was loaded with these waterview investors.

--steve buser Technocrati Tags: Birds

Lagniappe ( A little something extra)
He liked us alright. Came right up to the boat and swam alongside us. Was he just curious? Or waiting or one of us to fall overboard?

Today on Pixel Eyed

Sunset stroll

River view saunter
The Levee Walk -- the get home, get-the-dog, head-out-for-the-evening-stroll Levee Walk. Everyone's your friend. Everyone's winding down. It's letting out the frustrations of the day and catching the soothing view of the Mississippi River and the last rays of the sun.

This shot is where Magazine Street runs into the levee just past Audubon Park.

--steve buser           Technocrati Tags: sunset

Lagniappe ( a little something extra )

Galloping underwater steeds -- at the Houston Aquarium.
Today on Pixel-Eyed

Nocturnal, aboreal, primal fête

Misty moonlight merriment
The lights of the night celebration, the glow of the fountain, the stone flautist playing through the spray, strange wanderers soaking up the scene -- the scene caught on camera is a bit stranger than the real world.

The Celebration of the Oaks is going on this Christmas season at City Park in New Orleans. This scene was on the fringe of the lighted-path show -- it seems to reminisce of a more primordial arboreal merry-making.

--steve buser

Lagniappe -- a little something extra
You've been there. The plane waits at the gate for clearance. You wait for the plane to board. The sun doesn't wait. When it's tired it slips below the horizon.

Santa's coming with his alligators, cher.

Dem gators, dey got funny names, eh?
It will not be long before Santa comes down the bayou in his skiff carrying toys for tout le monde. There will be his eight favorite alligators pulling him along. Now what you call dem gators? -- I can't never remember. Gaston? Boudreaux? I know dey got Pierre and Alcee, dat sure.

The scene is at the Celebration in Oaks at City Park in New Orleans where they have a a re-enactment in lights of the Cajun Night Before Christmas by James Rice Trosclair and Howard Jacobs. Ole Santa, he looks good all dressed up like a muskrat from head to his toes. Don't you think?

-- steve buser
Lagniappe ( a little something extra )


Okay. Here's the scenario. You take a large tube and spin it and then tell a bunch a kids to walk through to the other side. Instant body parts jumble, tumble.

Twinkling walkways

A thousand points of light
One more look at all the magic at the the Celebration in the Oaks at City Park, this holiday season. The dazzling display covers the Botanical Gardens and more. We were at the event Sunday night and there was a large crowd wandering through the newly replanted gardens all asplendor with lights by the thousands.

--steve buser

Lagniappe (a little something extra)

It's getting late. The sun is sliding from the sky. The road is getting longer. Up ahead the bridge at Whiskey Bay rises straight into the sun... what's left of the sun.

Today on Pixel Eyed

Night Light

Night reflections
It's the annual Celebration in the Oaks -- a magical lighting and musical celebration at City Park. This year has a special twist -- it's the new replantings in the Botanical Gardens (replanted after the damages from Hurricane Katrina) that makes it special. Here the Conservatory of the Two Sisters with its spectacular Glass Dome frames the popular Poinsettia Tree exhibit -- the reflecting pool adds an accent in the foreground.

--steve buser

Lagniappe (a little something extra)


They do what others do -- they shoot the photo to remember. They don't just shoot what's there. It's what's not there that makes the photo memorable... that's wha they come not to see.

Today on Pixel Eyed.

The different forms of light

Pelican pole vault
A pelican decides he's had enough of those land-bound lamp post along the pier at Mandeville's Sunset Point park. The pier is a favorite spot for fishermen and for just gawking out over the lake.

--steve buser

Lagniappe (a little something extra)

You're going no where today. Let you mast wiggle their reflections in the harbor. It's going to a be a day on land.

Today in Pixel Eyed.

Time travel

Days of future passed
In this day of crowded traffic lanes and too-narrow streets, there seems to me to be a certain sense of luxury in carving out two lanes in the middle of the main street in town to allow passing mementos of passed-times. It says something about the City of New Orleans and why it has remained as unique as it has. Traffic planners everywhere would drool over the opportunity to use the space for more traffic lanes in crowded downtown areas.

But this shot down the middle of Canal Street speaks to me of a city that looks the future in the face, and says we're coming, but we're also holding on to something and some way of life that we cherish.

If you get to New Orleans. Take a street car ride. You don't have to take it to anywhere. Go to the end of the line and back. Take a street car ride. In a sense, the reality is the street car ride will take you -- somewhere where you need to go.

--steve buser

Lagniappe (a little something extra)


There are places you never leave, even if you do get back on your boat or plane. This place, part of me is still there.

Today on Pixel Eyed

The colors of night

Painting the sky
The slowly sliding hues of a sunset over Lacombe Harbor. The blues cede way to the yellows then orange and roses. But the high canopy dome above wants to show off it's deep blues and lavenders until the last second. Meanwhile, the crickets, frogs and cicada mark the passing sun with a complex syncopated clicking suite.

-- steve buser

Lagniappe (a little something extra)


Today on Pixel Eyed it's recycled sunshine.

Painstaking Canstruction

Curved care
Another peak at some of the work at the recent Canstruction contest at the Shoppes at Canal Street. Here, three workers exert painstaking care to get the curves right. The Canstructions were all designed from food containers. The AIA sponsored event was to raise food donations for the food bank.


Lagniappe (a little something extra)

Get your body ready to spin, tumble, fall, and swoop in the hands of mechanical monsters -- it's just that time of the year.

Today on Pixel Eyed

Wind walking

How do they do it?

They look about as graceful as a tank. But still they stay in the air. Almost seems to me that if they can fly, I should be able to. You alway see them around in places where there are good currents of air -- must help lift them up. The cruise along the Causeway, enjoying the breeze that that cars and trucks create rushing by. Here, this brown pelican heads into the wind and shows a few earth bound wind-lovers how to sail.

-- steve buser

Lagniappe (a little something extra)
A seldom cited law of the universe is that when an ersatz cowboy climbs aboard his steed, he will always pick the wildest stallion in the stable. Let the merry-go-round begin.

Today on Pixel Eyed

Bridge Soaring

Skimming the clouds
"Over. I can fly over. No bridge is too tall. No challenge to great. Wind filling my wings. Wind picking me up. I'm Bridge Soaring. Today, the big one. The wind from the rushing cars and trucks creates a slight turbulence as I cross. Reminds me that I am the one they are looking up to see."

This bridge soarer takes on the Crescent City Connection bridge in New Orleans.

-- steve buser

Lagniappe ... ( a little something extra)
Sunrise fishing. Just you, the pier, the water, the fish.... and serenity.
It's all about focus.

Today on Pixel Eyed.