Friday Night Lights – the littlest Sting!

Tonight at the Stephenville Yellowjackets football game, the Stingerette drill team set up for the traditional Victory Line while awaiting the team to return onto the field from halftime. The Stings had a little help from a future drill team captain and she was in perfect form!

The boys did well tonight in their home opener at TSU stadium, beating the Abilene Wylie Bulldogs handily by 33-21 in front of a nearly sold out hometown crowd. There is just nothing better than Friday Night Lights in Texas, especially when your team wins.

Captured with: D700, 70-200 @ f/2.8, 1/160, ISO 3200, 200mm.

Several more images from tonight’s game, just click and let the slide show play:

Texas, whitetail heaven….

Last night I was lucky to be invited out to Bear Creek Ranch by my good friend, Stephen Frisina. He has been working for Mac Coalson’s ranch over the last 4 years developing a premier whitetail breeding program. To say he has been successful would be an understatement. The shear size of these whitetail is astounding. I sat in a steamy deer blind last night with sweat dripping off my brow and didn’t even notice the temperature as I spent the weaning minutes of daylight racking out my telephoto lens trying to capture the perfect image of these behemoths. I’m not quite satisfied, but this one is getting close. Funny thing is, the buck walking off in the background was even bigger…

Captured with: D700, 70-200mm @ f/3.5, 1/80, ISO 800, 200mm.

Friday night lights – Stings hit Aledo Stadium

Texas high school football opened the 2010 season across our fine state this past friday night. We were in Aledo for a re-match of the 4A district state championship playoff round 2 game from last year at Dallas Cowboys Stadium – which Aledo won in overtime by 3 pts. They went on to win out the next 3 rounds by double digit margins with each game and ultimately became the state 4A champs. Here in Stephenville, we still believe the true championship game was played that night in Dallas. Most in Aledo probably would agree.

Friday night was all about regaining the momentum that the Stephenville Yellowjackets lost last December at the Cowboys stadium. We returned 16 starters from last year including our starting quarterback, Conner Washington, now a junior. But alas it was not meant to be…..beating Aledo, in Aledo, first game after winning the state was just too tall an order to fill. It still baffles me why we had to play them again on their home turf for the second year in a row as our season opener. It would only seem fair that they would have returned the respect by opening this year at Stephenville….but that is another discussion.

Nevertheless, the Stingerettes put on a halftime show backed by the Yellowjacket marching band that was a feast for the eyes and ear. The image above is Sting captians Mariah, Heather and Maddie leading the squad through their routine.

This friday night is the home opener for the Yellowjackets at the Tarleton State Univ Stadium in Stephenville. They will be hosting the Abilene Wylie Bulldogs who were in the Texas State 3A championship game last year. The Bulldogs won their first game last week already, which means this friday’s game should be another challenge for the Yellowjackets.

Captured with: D700, 70-200mm @ f/5.0, 1/250, ISO 3200, 170mm. 

Cojolya – mayan weavers of Guatemala

At the town of El Remate, Maddie and I came across a number of artisans. The most interesting was the loom weaving. This is an ancient art that has been preserved over 2,000 years since the Mayan times. It has been handed down over centuries and thrives today despite 400 years of Spanish colonialism. If you would like to learn more about the intertwining of philosophy, weaving and the Mayan way of life, you need to visit this site.

Captured with: D700, 70-200mm @ f/4.0, 1/200, ISO 200, 200mm.

the Covingtons’ – “pigtails & otoscopes”

Big hearts, steadfast ethics and gobs of empathy. Thoughts that come to mind when I think about Dr. Ben & Lori Covington. Our recent medical trip to Belize wouldn’t be complete without the husband/wife team that “just do it”. If you ever need anything in a 3rd world country medically, these are the folks to call.

Ben is the epitome of a rural Texas family physician = guts, medical intellect (think House) and always a smile to make your day. Lori runs the show. I wish she ran my office too. She is an RN with savvy to manage a business,  provide excellent care and supervise 4 daughters….with time to spare. Together, they oversee the medical technicalities of a multidisciplinary mission team which must transport supplies and medications (10,000′s of pills) to be delivered on time and packaged for single usage from Texas to Belize, each year.

If you are ever in Dumas, Texas and need medical attention, these are the folks to call.