Pecan Grill

La Madeleine Briar Forest West of Eldridge

Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup on Highway 6

La Pho next to La Fisherman on SH-6

Sports Bar and Seafood on SH-6 - LAGNIAPPE

Big John's Ice House (Energy Corridor)

West-bound on Briar Forest Drive - Big John's Sign

12640 Briar Forest Dr, Houston, Texas 7077

Big John's West Houston Icehouse
on Briar Forest past Dairy Ashford intersection

Harvey's Icehouse on Highway 6: "The Dam Ice House"

The Dam Icehouse ... as in Icehouse on the Dam (Barker Dam) 

State Highway 6

Harvey's The Dam Icehouse seen across SH-6

View of the Icehouse from top of the gravel trail on Barker Dam looking East in the direction of the City

Artistically enhanced concrete surfaces enliven the drab wintertime landscape

While the green grass is gone and the landscape often looks dreary under the winter-time envelope of clouds, new graffiti on at the dam structures are adding a touch of bright color and cheer. While notions of what counts for art surely vary widely, the authorities do well leaving the debate and appreciation (or disapprobation, as the case may be) to the pedestrians and bike-riding public that frequents these outdoor venues, rather than aggressively combating the unapproved art indiscriminately merely because it pops up on unapproved surfaces that would otherwise be as drab as their cold-season surroundings.

This spray can mural has graced the Buffalo Bayou flow control station
on Barker Dam for many months

Rebel dam art (mural at Buffalo Bayou Flood Gate) 

vs. 

Sample of approved road art on elevated Houston area highway

More Bayou Graffiti on back wall of Highway 6 transmission shop

What's that green ball in the branches of that tree?

Bear Creek Park in Winter

Evergreen mistletoe plants are highly visible in the crowns of deciduous host trees in winter.

Mistletoe cluster in a tree crown over Barker-Clodine Bike Trail
in George Bush Park

The Enchanted Lake beyond the perimeter of the big city

The lake behind Barker Dam is one of the best locations

for sunsets in West Houston

Deer at sunset in the woods: Where is the deer?

There are plenty of deer in George Bush Park (Barker Reservoir) and in Cullen Park (Addicks Reservoir) North of I-10. You can even watch them from the respective dam roads. These are large areas -- large by suburban standards -- that are basically left to nature running its course and no hunting or even carrying of firearms is allowed in these parks (except for the shooting center on Westheimer Parkway).

Find the deer in this landscape

The white-tailed deer enjoy quasi-protected status, and they are easy to encounter, much easier than, say, the feral hogs, that also roam the grounds along the meandering bayou. But they typically emerge at dusk, and shooting them with the camera is quite a challenge. They freeze alright and stare in your direction, but they don't let you get very close, so you need a powerful zoom or telelens; but you also need a longer exposure because of the dim light conditions. If the animal moves, your image of it will get blurred. At best usable for special effect, if you are lucky enough to have a whole group in front if you and some move while others stand still and gaze at the camera.

Apparently got to close for comfort - this one is taking off;
it almost looks like a kanguruh

Wrong pose ... and tail is not even white, at least not
when in the "down" position

These two look okay as small versions on  the screen, at ISO-800 and 1/50 shutter speed, 

with a little editing and cropping on the computer upon return from the woods

I accentuated the colors a little bit on this one with the photo-editing software.
The natural lighting was quite good actually better than during the warm season
because there is no foliage to interfere  with the illumination by the setting sun.

Another abortive foray to watch deer: The live specimen on display, and happily grazing -- at Bear Creek Pioneers' Park do not quite match the interpretive sign providing background info on the White Tailed Deer. It's educational all the same. You will just have to enjoy the ponies and donkeys and leave the deer-watching for another day in another place: perhaps the nearby woods.

 Farm animals at Bear Creek Pioneers Park

at other times of the year when the grass is greener

More Dam Work

More construction work commencing on Barker Dam and Buffalo Bayou flood gate

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is sponsoring another project on Barker Dam. Seems like an annual thing. This one is called "Conduit and Parabolic Spillway Repairs", to be carried out by an Oklahoma company as contractor.

I consider myself a pretty well-read person, but I don't know what that means. If the Corps goes to the trouble of putting up signs to mark the commencement of another upgrade of the imperiled earthen mount designed to temporarily keep water out of the City of Houston in a major storm, it be worthwhile explaining to the public what it's all about.

This is an older photo showing the gate from the East

What might be the purpose of the parabolic flow course? Better splash action? Better aeration for the benefit of the fish and other wildlife downstream? Enhanced dissipation of kinetic momentum  of the jets of water gushing out of the reservoir at higher than normal water level? Who knows?

Gear set up for action in fenced-off area South of the flow control gate / spillway

In the spring and summer of 2013, the channel running Northward on the outside the dam was widened and solidified at the ramp coming up from the Briar Forest parking lot, what used to be Noble Road.That project (click link for earlier post) was pretty straightforward. To guess the purpose to the current project, by contrast, poses much more of a mental challenge.

Barker Dam - US Army Corp of Engineers 1949 project (contemporary photos)

Buffalo Bayou spillway on East side of flow control gate (mid-Oct 2013)

Addicks Project Office on Highway 6 at Buffalo Bayou

Addicks Project Office in Highway 6 - View from the West (from the Dam) 

Flow control gate and structure inside the reservoir, looking West
from top of Barker Dam

Unofficial mural on concrete base of gate structure

Lone deer on reservoir grounds - Looking down from the trail
on top of the Dam at dusk

 View of and from the Dam Road Trail in the winter when the lush green foliage is gone

Barker Dam in winter: Looking North
New Energy Crossing II office building
in the distance (at center)

Barker Dam Road: Elevated gravel trail offers nice view of reservoir and Energy Corridor skyline

Gravel Road on top of Dam - Looking North from Westheimer Parkway

Birds aloft

Berry-shape yellow fruits on the ground among the dry grass

What the reservoir grounds look like in winter when the foliage is gone

Sun dropping behind the treeline in Barker Reservoir
View from the Dam Road

Waterhole just behind the Dam at Westheimer Parkway

Area on west-side of Barker Dam at Buffalo Bayou exit gate from the reservoir