mcmurtrey67 - Tumblr blog

[mcmurtrey67]

Ten hours west of Houston, Texas on interstate 10 lives a national park, Big Bend National Park.  Host to the Chihuahuan Desert; with a heat index that often exceeds 100 degrees to the Chisos Mountains with Emory Peak the highest peak in the park at 7,832 feet (2,387 m).

Massive volcanic rock formations, sometimes so contrasting you think you are walking on the moon.  Rich burnt sienna, elegant contrasting quartz, limestone, sandstone, magical colorful contradictions as if Mother Nature was bored and she decided to mix the paints on her pallet.

The rolling Rio Grande forming an international boundary between Mexico and USA cutting like a knife to the spectacular Santa Elena Canyon.

Majestic in its beauty, photographs capture the landscape as if it were fake.  A landscape vast, humbling, powerful, you feel the energy of mother nature, you sense how it must have been long before man arrived, stark, brittle yet constantly emerging with a subtle sense of beauty.

The fauna: Bears, Coyote, Vultures, Peccary, Mountain Lions, Foxes, Deer, Rabbits, Hawks. Playing hide and seek within this landscape, the ultimate game of survival.

Dark skies at night for the ultimate star gazing, the dust of the desert, the rolling fog, the chill of the night air in the mountains, rock formations with intense color tones, the weight of your hiking boots and the majestic hiking trails.

There is reward that outweighs the effort to enjoy this park.  Breathe deep, spread your arms wide open your eyes….in awe.

          how does a bear live in the desert? Ten hours west of Houston, Texas on interstate 10 lives a national park, Big Bend National Park. 

[mcmurtrey67]

Lost Mines Big Bend National Park. #lostmines #bigbendnationalparktx #chisosmountains #

[mcmurtrey67]

#thehaymerchant #craftbeer #underbelly #ighouston #themagnificentapple

This is not a tale regarding Chris Shepherd owner and James Beard award winning chef at Underbelly & The Hay Merchant (sorry Chris).  This is a tale of two people who experience life and talk about it via current social media outlets.

Sounds like most everyone else out there right?

Except…. there is a place you can “belly” (attempt at a funny) up to the bar, stare at a wall of draft beer taps crafted by found objects, enjoy homage to the brew being served in appropriate glassware, be it a snifter, a tulip, or standard pub shaker, (no plastic solo cups here) and feast on gastro pub style food.  Pinball wizardry, tattoos and Mumford style beards, nestled in the heart of Montrose.

This is a magical place that sits just right with Jim & Sam, also known as “The Magnificent Apple” ……. good things happen after some time here……our own little idea lab…..

  1100 Westheimer Road This is not a tale regarding Chris Shepherd owner and James Beard award winning chef at Underbelly & The Hay Merchant (sorry Chris). 

[mcmurtrey67]

This is not a tale regarding Chris Shepherd owner and James Beard award winning chef at Underbelly & The Hay Merchant (sorry Chris).  This is a tale of two people who experience life and talk about it via current social media outlets.

Sounds like most everyone else out there right?

Except…. there is a place you can “belly” (attempt at a funny) up to the bar, stare at a wall of draft beer taps crafted by found objects, enjoy homage to the brew being served in appropriate glassware, be it a snifter, a tulip, or standard pub shaker, (no plastic solo cups here) and feast on gastro pub style food.  Pinball wizardry, tattoos and Mumford style beards, nestled in the heart of Montrose.

This is a magical place that sits just right with Jim & Sam, also known as “The Magnificent Apple” ……. good things happen after some time here……our own little idea lab…..

    1100 Westheimer Road This is not a tale regarding Chris Shepherd owner and James Beard award winning chef at Underbelly & The Hay Merchant (sorry Chris). 

[mcmurtrey67]

Palm #palm #botanical #green #plants #gardens @themagnificentappledotcom.wordpress.com

[mcmurtrey67]

They got a honeysuckle growing on a honeysuckle vine And love is a blooming there all the time We’re every southern belle is a Mississippi queen Down the Mississippi down to New Orleans

She wears ribbons of many colors & creeds, she dabbles in Cajun and French,  she is the host to many music genres, she is athletic, a survivor, she has a distinct scent, a river you learn how to spell with a rhyme, she is beautiful, daring, green, she is poor, she is famous, she is artistic, culinary fruitful, she is violent yet passive, she is cultural, she is decadent, she is jazz, she is voodoo, she is crayfish, she is the color of bourbon.  Host to cobblestone streets and garden districts, cathedral spires and a superdome.  She attracts the likes of Katrina, Gustav and Rita; she is known as part parish. 

She is a grid of electricity provoking goosebumps. 

She is epitome of southern belle with a dash of red lipstick. 

Southern Belle They got a honeysuckle growing on a honeysuckle vine And love is a blooming there all the time…

[mcmurtrey67]

I have an obsession.  I can’t help it.  The Peony bloom embraces herself to angel wings; soft delicate shades of color, ultimate in femininity. I love April, May and early June;  I yearn for the signs outside nurseries stating that Peonies are finally here;  I chomp at the bit to own one or two stems for a little while, nursing them just as a newborn child. The peony is not camera-shy, she embraces the lens, taunting the photographer with her lush full blooms. She just cant help herself….

The peonies bloom, white and pink. And inside each, as in a fragrant bowl, a swarm of tiny beetles have their conversation, for the flower is given to them as their home.

Mother stands by the peony bed, reaches for one bloom, opens its petals, and looks for a long time into peony lands, where one short instant equals a whole year.

Then lets the flower go. And what she thinks she repeats aloud to the children and herself. The wind sways the green leaves gently and speckles of light flick across their faces.

Czeslaw Milosz

  magnificent fleur I have an obsession.  I can't help it.  The Peony bloom embraces herself to angel wings; soft delicate shades of color, ultimate in femininity.

[mcmurtrey67]

Peony Day 3 #flowers #peony #spring

[mcmurtrey67]

It must be Saturday. Farmers Market. #texaspeaches #igkatytexas #farmersmarket #sweettomatoes #indianfood

[mcmurtrey67]

Peony Day 2 #peony #flowers #love #fragrance #spring

[mcmurtrey67]

Peony Day 1

[mcmurtrey67]

Born 1969 as a hole in the wall spaghetti joint nestled in the heart of Montrose which at the time was Houston's own Haight/Ashbury a hangout for free thinkers, flower children ........ For more visit. themagnificentappledotcom.wordpress.com. #andersonfair #timleatherwood #lylelovett #robertearlkeen #lucindawilliams #houstonig #folkmusic #acoustic

[mcmurtrey67]

For the Sake of the Song

For the Sake of the Song

Anderson Fair, Acrylic on Canvas-Jim Koehn Born 1969 as a hole in the wall spaghetti joint nestled in the heart of Montrose which at the time was Houston’s own Haight/Ashbury a hangout for free-thinkers, flower children, and folk singers; a place to gather as friends where politics leaned toward the left; there were not many places in Houston where people could talk about art and politics.  Local…

[mcmurtrey67]

For the Sake of the Song

For the Sake of the Song

Anderson Fair, Acrylic on Canvas-Jim Koehn Born 1969 as a hole in the wall spaghetti joint nestled in the heart of Montrose which at the time was Houston’s own Haight/Ashbury a hangout for free-thinkers, flower children, and folk singers; a place to gather as friends where politics leaned toward the left; there were not many places in Houston where people could talk about art and politics.  Local…

[mcmurtrey67]

Anderson Fair. #andersonfair #johnegan

[mcmurtrey67]

Carnation. Mothers Day.