Even though I am most definitely a ‘city boy’. I am from Texas where we have our share of cattle. In fact my Alma mater is The University of Texas and our mascot is the Texas Longhorn, a type of cow with (you guessed it), long horns.
Scotland has it’s own version of long horn cattle called Highland Cattle. They are beautiful animals with amazing long hair including long bangs that often completely cover their eyes. One day while driving in Scotland, I pulled off the road onto a drive leading up to a ranch house to try to get a few photos of what folks in Austin Texas might refer to as “Hippie Longhorns”. After a few minutes of unsuccessful shooting (the cattle were being very shy) , I noticed a truck approaching from the owners house. Concerned that the owner might see me as trespassing I prepared to explain what I was doing & pack up my camera. Again I had underestimated the kindness of the Scottish people. In fact Murray (the owner) had seen me photographing & brought some feed in order to get the cattle to come close to where I was photographing. As soon as they saw Murray approaching, the cattle all ran to my position in anticipation of getting fed & posed for their portraits.

Thank you Murray.

Another stairway photograph. This one is in a hotel I visited in Paris. Although this stair is also surrounded by flowers, it is pretty much the polar opposite of the Butchart Gardens stairway image I posted a few weeks ago. Looking thru my archives I’ve noticed that I very rarely shoot a stairway from the top looking down. I suppose that is because I think of a beautiful stairway as a metaphor for moving up through life.

This green eyed beauty is by far the smallest of those living in her household. She shares her home with two dogs, one far larger and much less sophisticated cat and two humans whom she has trained to provide her with food and a warm spot in her bed. While she is seemingly shy & demure, she is quick to communicate that she is the positively queen of them all.

The Texas State Capitol is one of those “Grand Old Buildings”. I love grand old buildings. I understand that ‘old’ is a relative term and to those of you reading this in Europe or Asia, or in virtually in any country but America the Texas Capitol building completed in 1888 may seem relatively ‘new’. Regardless, even in the short span of 120 years the ability to create new buildings of carved granite has simply become too expensive. Today we create fabulous modern glass skinned buildings that while they are also often quite beautiful. They are never quite as grand.