Not McKinney, Castello Sant' Angelo

Here is a not-McKinney image that I thought I would share. This one is of Castello Sant' Angelo in Rome. I don't think I have posted this before, have I?

This is in Rome, just down the Tiber River from the Vatican. It started out in 130 A.D. as Hadrian's Tomb. About 400 A.D. it was fortified and became strong defensive point in the city wall. You probably remember from your history lessons that Rome fell to invaders around 430. Point defense doesn't often work too well. Invaders have a irritating habit of just going around these strong points and attacking the weak areas.

In the early 1200's this place was connected to the Pope's residence in the Vatican by a bridge. The Pope and his entourage would head over here when they felt threatened by another invasion. Today it is a museum and main tourist stop in the eternal city.

Crape Myrtle Babes aka Texas Master Gardener Calendar Girls

The local Texas Master Gardeners group participated in the Crape Myrtle Trails event. To become a master gardener you attend a series of classes over a period of about six months, then you volunteer 65 hours of community service. My wife is in the community service phase of the training. If you want to learn more about the Texas Master Gardeners program then just click on that highlighted part over there.

Here are the ladies in action, answering a question from a Crape Myrtle lover. My guess is that they are convincing him that he really does need to buy those 12 Crape Myrtles that his wife insists would look so nice in the yard.

Who has seen the movie Calendar Girls? If you have, what do you think about having these ladies in a Texas Master Gardener calendar? Hmmm, wonder how that idea would go over.

Here is my personal favorite master gardener wannabe. How about that hat! That was my doing. I picked it out for her. The kids think it is pretty dorky but I like it. What do you think?

THE Texas Gardener

While people were outside learning about, admiring, and buying Crape Myrtle stuff, inside THE premier Texas Gardener, Neil Sperry, was conducting his KRLD Texas Gardening radio show.

Neil and his engineer were set up in the library were a few people were observing the show. I was a little nervous and asked if it would be O.K. to shoot some pictures (I hardly ever ask!). They immediately put me at ease and welcomed me in.

Neil is definitely my kind of guy. Check out the sweet Canon SLR he has at hand!

Crape Myrtle Central

Boyd High School was the center of the activities. The parking lot turned into a big nursery where Crape Myrtle's, fertilizer, and all the other stuff gardeners will buy was for sale.

This event started about 8:00 in the morning and it was already over 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It is hot in Texas in the summer! Nevertheless there was a good turn out for this. A lot of the trees seemed to get sold within the first hour or so.

Crape Myrtles come in a wide variety of colors and styles. They flower in sunny locations throughout the hot summer. Plus, they are pretty hard to kill, even I haven't been able to murder one of these yet! As a result they are a popular pick for landscaping around here.

Happy Crape Myrtle Trails To You

Mckinney, while growing by leaps and bounds, works hard at making sure that the city is also a pretty place to live. One such effort is the Crape Myrtle Trail that winds through the city.

Earlier this month the Crape Myrtle Trail organization hosted a plant sale and tour, which I will show you over the next few days.

Controversy

Sometimes the umpire and coach don't see things the same way. This often calls for a quick discussion about the umpire's eyesight and the coach's knowledge of the rules of baseball.

These friendly discussions sometimes degenerate into a argument about each other's family background. In this case, while the discussion went on for quite some time, it seemed to end peacefully.

On The Field

Here is some more action from the field. Our man was out at first.