Alligators of University of Louisisana - Lafayette

My child is interested in going to college.   So this spring break we decided to check out a few of them, one of which was the University of Louisiana Lafayette  http://louisiana.edu/ .   While there we saw the campus student union and in front of it was Cypress Lake.  In the lake there were alligators, fish and turtles which we were able to feed.
Here are the images I was able to capture.
This is the quadrangle.

 I just thought this was a pretty building and got its picture.  I think its Stephens Hall.

 Cypress lake.  As soon as there were people near the wall the gators got interested and started to head towards it.  If you look at the bottom center there looks like a log but it really is an alligator.

 I zoomed in on it and was able to get this picture of it.

Cypress Lake alligator at U of LA Lafayette 4-1-2016

 With this one, you could tell he was checking us out.  Before we started to tour the campus they had 'fish food' if we wanted to get some.  I did pick up a container of it and knew it was more for the alligators than the fish.

 Someone started to throw the food and the gator went to get it.

 When the food stopped  it was like this one was saying 'come on is that all you got?'

 Then he and his buddy stated to swim away and it sure did seem like the two of them were talking about the potential new students.

Cypress Lake alligators at U of LA- Lafayette

 They came over to me hoping I would give them something but I didn't have anything for them.

 So it was turn around and check someone else.

 While the one was turning away I couldn't believe a turtle would be so bold as to climb on top of that alligator.

I went ahead and cropped another image so you could see this better.

And of course it wouldn't be the south without one of the magnificent live oaks that they have.

 

I was impressed with the University and I wouldn't be surprised if my child doesn't choose to go here. 

2016 Good Friday visit to Norton Art Gallery - Azaleas

Every year I loved to visit Norton Art Gallery and the park that they have there during the Easter season to see the azaleas in bloom.  This year I went on Good Friday- March 25th, since my family had the day off and I had the free time.  It seemed like it was the perfect day.  The skies were blue and the temperature was in the low 70's. We got there in the late afternoon and the way the sunlight was hitting the trees seemed just perfect to really bring out the colors and contrasts. When I went there it felt like I was getting a taste of heaven - it was so incredibly beautiful.  It seemed like we had gotten there on the perfect day.  Most of the azaleas were in full bloom and there hadn't been a major storm to knock them to the grown so the bushes were magnificent.
   I knew I shouldn't have taken the pictures but I couldn't help it along with many others- they were just to pretty and words just couldn't describe them.  We were using our cellphones and that seemed acceptable.  It is posted not photography but by that I think they were referring to professional photographers.  The thing with these pictures is I took a whole lot more than I thought I did.  I was only going to post a few of them but when I tried to select I had trouble deciding which ones to use.  They all seemed so nice.  I settled for 15 but they kept on changing.  Finally I settled on these 18.  Enough writing here are the images I walked away with-

azaleas at Norton Art Gallery 3-25-2016

pink azaleas at Norton Art Gallery 3-25-2016

 I just had to get this image of this rock.  Its a sandstone but I really liked the weathering on it.  It was obvious someone else liked it too and had it brought into the area. I could tell it had been position to where it was and wasn't a natural outcrop.  Along with those flowing water features - I can remember a time when they didn't exist.  And I know the person who has put them in.

 Just look at how they look like a river of flowers.

Azaleas at Norton Art Gallery 3-25-2016

 I really liked this water feature they have put in.  Its so peaceful and relaxing to be by.

 All good things must come to an end and the area was closing at 5:30 and had to exit the fenced in area.  At least they had some across the street that we could still look at and get some parting images.

 aren't they magnificent?? could you be there and not want to have taken an image?

Ghost Walk -Shreveport, LA

I'm a Red Hatter.   One of the activities my Red Hatter friends had planned was to go on a ghost walk in our city.  The walks are done on Saturday evenings in October.  So on Saturday Oct 17, 2015 we went on the walk.  We were doing it just for the fun of it and really thought of it more a history lesson of Shreveport than a  "Ghost Walk".  It started at the court house on Texas street.
I thought it was nice that the guide was dressed up to look like a turn of the century guy.

To me I liked it because it was a walking tour and we were taking the time to really look at the buildings and such in the area. Just look at how pretty the court house is. Our guide pointed out that the top floor used to be the jail and they had hanged people up there and that is why its haunted and was the start of the tour.

 I did like the statue and thought I would get some images of it to but the tour was taking off and  I didn't want to miss anything.

 Most of the pictures I tried to take did not turn out well and I often wondered why I bothered with that.  But the city was pretty at night and I don't get downtown very often so I went ahead and took some images.

To me this was more a tour of the downtown and finding out about things I had never heard about before.  So much has changed over time and I was not a native and never realized some of this stuff.

 With this shot of the street you can see where the cable cars used to run.

And some of the lights used to be gas lights that were converted over. I don't know if these were some of them but they did look pretty to me.

 Most of my pictures were of the quality you see above and nothing really to write about

 I took them because I liked the buildings and the art with them. 

 These building are suppose to be really haunted ones.  But to me they were just nice architecture and stuff you don't see a lot of anymore.

I finally got back to the statue and was able to get some good images of it.

 I did like this one of the generals.

 The one thing I did find interesting was the Last Confederate Flag is buried by the statue. 

This was a ghost walk.  And if you asked me did we see any ghost I would have to tell you actually we did.  At the beginning of the walk we went to a local restaurant. We went down into the basement and heard about the lady in white.  The restaurants basement had the first walk in refrigerator installed and it was right across the street from the morgue and was and undertaker and funeral home.  Bodies were stored there.. The lady in white was believed to be one of those. As we were there I looked around and didn't see anything interesting.  Just a basement, so I was curious why my friend all of a sudden started to take pictures.  Then I felt a chill go through me and I knew why. I was standing next to her and saw them on her cell phone as she took them.  She did nothing to touch them up when I saw them becuase it was just seconds later. 

This is what she wrote on Facebook Oct 22. (I did get Beth's permission to reproduce this here - but this is not  my stuff and is not reproducible ) :

These are the pictures people are asking for. Taken in the Rendall Building on the Shreveport Ghost Walk last Saturday night. Although the building houses a restaurant today, in the late 1800's it was a coffin manufacturing business with a coffin showroom. In the 1880 census J.S. Rendall is listed as an undertaker and possibly conducted funerals at this address.
Through the years, consistent stories of haunting have persisted about the Rendall Building. A "Lady in White" has been seen wandering through the building, and unexplained noises heard during quiet times. In January, 2013, the Ghost Hunters television program investigated the location, recording several EVP's. To the best of my knowledge this is the only photograph ever gotten of the "Lady in White".

 

The walk was worth it. I felt like we did see a ghost.    I don't know if you believe in ghosts or not but I do know I do, especially after having felt this one. 

Orange Co area, CA -5; Images of Laguna Beach and leaving

I went on a trip to California and one night we decided to go to Laguna Beach.  Most of the images I took did not turn out but I did get a few that were worth sharing.

All good things must come to an end.  As I was headed back I was fortunate enough to have a window seat this time.  It had rained the day before and the skies were pretty clear.  I got to see some amazing things looking out that window.  I was even able to get a few good images too before we got above the cloud cover.

I might write up more later but for now this is it.
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