Babe’s Chicken

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In my need for texture, I present Babe’s Chicken. Those who follow my blog know that I live in the Frisco, TX area, a city that is only 12 minutes old. Everything is new. Well, almost everything. Given that, the new stuff seems to look all the same after a while and I needed some texture. I needed something that was weathered and has stood the test of time. That is why I walked over to Babe’s Chicken. While the restaurant is not very old, the building is full of character. I didn’t go inside. I probably can’t afford it. So the outside will have to do.

 

 

Retired from Service

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I’ve been an amateur photographer since 1976 when I saved up my money and bought a Canon Ftb. With the exception of being a professional for the Texas A&M yearbook staff in the late 1980s, and few sports gigs for newspapers, I’ve maintained my amateur status. I have taken easily a hundred thousand photos. Most of those were usable for the moment, many of them good, a few of them that were great and one or two that made me step back and wonder how I did that. I’m not sure why, but the two photos of the firetruck below fall into that last category. I was truly surprised at how well they turned out.

Part of the reason for that was that I was surprised when I found the firetruck. The discovery began when I grew tired of the modernism of Frisco, which I’ve mentioned before, and spotted Babe’s Chicken next to the Heritage Museum. The Heritage Museum is nothing to look at, given its newness, but Babe’s Chicken had enough character to get my attention. The building has been around for a while.

I walked around Babe’s taking shots, and then spotted a sidewalk and another building with even more character next to Babe’s. I immediately moved in that direction, taking pictures. It was an old garage and I spotted a beautiful old firetruck inside. It was spotless. I started looking for a way to take some pictures, and spotted a missing board in the side of the garage. The gap left just enough room for me to get my camera inside to snap a few pictures. I hope you like them as much as I do.

 

 

Ugly Fountain

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I kept trying to take a picture of this fountain that I liked, but couldn’t seem to do it. I showed this latest picture to Heidi and she said she didn’t like it because the fountain itself was ugly. It dawned on me. She’s right. It’s just not that nice of a fountain. It reflects everything in Frisco: new, modern, with lots of edges. Nothing is weathered. Nothing has character. Well, it does have character, but the character that comes from being fashioned or made within the last 20 years. Newness does have its place, but when everything is new, it gets old very quickly. (Think about that for a moment).

I included a picture of a fountain from Union University in Jackson, TN, that I do like. Perhaps you can see what I’m trying to say.

 

Town and Country

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One of the benefits of living in Frisco, TX, is that it’s far enough north of the DFW metroplex, that it’s on the edge of country life. In the field next to the Frisco Athletic Center, some farmer is still growing hay. It really makes for a mixed culture with Cowboys, combines, country clubs and billionaires. Before you ask, I don’t know any billionaires, or Cowboys. I just know the Dallas Cowboys training facility is here in Frisco, and there seems to be a lot of billionaires living here given the cost of housing. (What I mean by that is, they have billboards for new homes, starting in the comfortable range of $2 million to $6 million. I don’t think Heidi and I will be putting our roots down here).

 

 

Trains in Blue

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I took my boys to TrainTopia here in Frisco, which is a miniature train museum. I thought it was a great opportunity to combine two hobbies, photography and trains. The best pictures were those that had the night lighting, giving everything the blue hue.

The layout cost about $1 million to build, and was done so by an oil man, Steve Sanders in his North Dallas home. It was recently moved to Frisco for the museum. It has quite a story and you can read more about it here.

 

Indian Chieftain

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Another awesome discovery while driving through the Frisco Square last Saturday was this 2014 Indian Chieftain with custom paint job. The owner, Jim Graham, had no problems letting me take pictures and explained to Andrew that the paint had actual gold in it. I wish I had taken a close up of the gold, but didn’t know about it till we go home and Andrew told me. If you look closely, you can see it. The bike truly was beautiful.

I really enjoyed the opportunity.

 

Frisco Municipal Library

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I’ve wanted to try some of these shots for a while. This one was in my mind’s eye, and Andy complied and made it come to pass. My goal was to have him stand really still, so that he would be in focus, while anyone else would be a blur. It worked.