Tea, Time Out, and Texas

There's an art to cooking on an outdoor grill. Speaking as someone who's outdoor cooking leans more towards cremation than culinary prowess I really did appreciate the cooked ribs and chicken I had this week... not to mention the wine, the travel, the endless cups of tea, and the conversation (in English).

I'm back in Missoula now, having spent the past week in the company of some wonderful Brits - in Texas of all places. The Brits are all from the Midlands (the area of the UK where I grew up) and have made me feel very welcome - thank you all for your very generous hospitality.

Of course I picked an interesting time to go to Texas. The temperature was over 100F (around 38 to 41C) during the day - and has been so for several weeks now. Night time temps have been similar to day time temps here in Missoula. Those ribs and chicken pieces would probably have cooked by themselves if left out during the day!

An eatery on San Antonio's River Walk that does a really nice bangers and mash.
What's that quote about mad dogs, Englishmen, and the midday sun?

So why go to Texas? Well...  after 11 weeks of working hard at Summer Intensive I needed to get away for a break and to relax before launching into the next part of my photo studies and I had the opportunity to visit a friend who grew up about 20 miles from my home town. It's funny how activity can be relaxing when it's somewhere new and trips to Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and south east Oklahoma made the week go by very quickly. I also saw signs of Texan wildlife, past and present.

Not native wildlife but a lot better suited to the heat than I was. Pics taken in a wildlife park.

All that separates my foot from this dinosaur footprint is a few million years.
Which is fortunate cos I'm not sure bear spray would have worked on these beasts!

More dinosaur footprints preserved in stone.

Part of the old Fort Worth stock yards

Views from the top, Oklahoma

High up in Oklahoma at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Reserve

The last time I posted here I had just two days to go on the SI course. Those two days saw my final project completed at last, and then the RMSP Summer Intensive graduation. They also saw a lot of goodbyes to a bunch of really lovely people who have shared, and made, my summer. In many cases it was all I could do to give a hug - any attempt to say anything would have tipped me over the edge. Some wonderful friendships have been made in SI and will continue. One of the things that struck me at the graduation was the quality of the photographs we had to show - easily of professional standard. We've learnt a lot about photography and about ourselves.

Many of my fellow students will be back for some or all of the Pro Studies courses and the Advanced Intensive which follows. I'll be studying one week courses in "The business of outdoor photography", "Documentary photography", and "Food and product photography", followed by the six week Advanced Intensive course. It's back to class tomorrow.