World's Largest Bosai Tree

Here in League City (the City of the Oaks) we're proud of our oak trees. A 100-year old oak, planted by one of the original settlers of the city is threatened by the reconstruction of a roadway.  Locals were outraged. So at considerable expense (around $200,000) the city is moving the tree.

In this photo it looks like they've transplanted the tree to a giant planter.

Here's a broader view.

2011 Summer Clearance Trade with the Night Owl

Greg, the Night Owl is another long standing trading partner. He saves his excess Phillies and Astros for me and I save excess Dodgers for him. I got an offer earlier in the year from my Dodgers which I made but was able to pile up enough more for Greg.

2006 Topps Allen & Ginter #65 Jon Lieber
2006 Topps Allen & Ginter #130 Mike LieberthalTwo missing Phillies from this set, Lieber and Lieberthal.

2009 O-Pee-Chee Black #332 Kyle KendrickI was surprised to find that I had no Phillies cards from this parallel set. Greg also sent me an Astros O-Pee-Chee Black, the only Astro card from the set I already had. Win some, lose some.

2009 Topps Allen & Ginter National Pride #47 Ryan HowardI pulled a lot of these National Pride cards but didn't get this one.

2010 Bowman Gold #160 Roy HalladayKeep sending those Roy Halladay cards.

2010 Topps Chrome #9 Shane VictorinoI only had a couple of these 2010 Topps Chrome Phillies. Wasn't the 2010 set the most annoying in years? I don't understand what Topps does from year to year with these Chrome cards to alter their warp factor.

2011 Bowman Finest Futures Domonic BrownBrown made his debut in the outfield last season and the Phillies liked what they saw so much, they let Jayson Werth go to free agency and made Brown the starting right fielder this year.

2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects #87 Jarred CosartThis was a fun card to get. This kid was born in League City TX, which is where I live. We moved here in 1995. Cosart was born in 1990 which makes him 2 years younger than my youngest son. It is likely they were in high school together although my son doesn't remember him.

2011 Topps 60 Years of Topps Reprints Craig BiggioThis card really stood out from the rest that Greg sent. It was the only old card in the pack. Oops, wait, fooled again. Only the second post-career Biggio card I have.

2011 Topps Opening Day Stars #180 Roy OswaltThis is the second Phillies card from this set I've gotten in the Clearance Trade.

2011 Topps Opening Day Stars #1 Roy HalladayThese cards don't scan well, but they are cool cards.

Photography - League City Texas

League City Texas, where I live, is located south of Houston about mid way between downtown Houston and Galveston. It's a small town (about 67,000 people) but it's a Houston suburb. When we moved here in 1995, the southern portion of the town was still pretty rural. But as you can imagine, a rural area so close to a big city is going to succumb to growth and League City is no exception. In January 2007, my youngest son and I drove around some of the quieter parts remaining in League City to take some photographs. Philip took most of the photos (he's currently taking photojournalism at the University of Houston). Here is some of what we saw.

There are still quite a few horses in League City. Cattle as well. This is Texas afterall. We saw this horse who clearly believes that the grass is greener on the other side.

There is a lot of growth in the area now. All that growth requires earth moving equipment. Here is a recently opened place which sells and rents all sorts of heavy equipment. We liked the row of earth movers reaching into the sky like some sort of alien presence.

League City, although not incorporated until about 1960, was first settled in 1873. In old League City is the Fairview Cemetery, which was founded in 1900. There are Civil War veterans buried here. Unlike modern cemeteries, the head stones are scattered all over, with odd bits of statuary and even a small reflecting pool. We're not sure who maintains the place but clearly it is being maintained.

A bit of life in the cemetery. This is a purple martin house. Behind it is a very large live oak tree. League City is called the City of the Oaks because of the number of large oak trees in the old city area. The area which became known as League City was purchased by a man named J. C. League around 1900. In 1907, he brought in two railcar flatbeds of oak trees for residents to plant. Many of these trees survive to this day.

The cemetery is located along a stream called Clear Creek, which drains into Clear Lake which is an estuary of Galveston Bay. Although it doesn't get real cold in Texas in the winter, it still looks like winter. We saw a spot of color along the banks of the creek and found this child's toy hammer logged in the flotsam.