A Not-So Comprehensive Look at San Antonio

[bilbao58]

Late Afternoon Light by bill barfield, on Flickr


K by bill barfield, on Flickr


<— That Way by bill barfield, on Flickr


Prickly by bill barfield, on Flickr


Prickly by bill barfield, on Flickr


Prickly by bill barfield, on Flickr


It’s Not Polite To Point by bill barfield, on Flickr


E Arsenal Street by bill barfield, on Flickr


Mission San Juan Capistrano by bill barfield, on Flickr


Mission San Juan by bill barfield, on Flickr


Confluence Park by bill barfield, on Flickr


Untitled by bill barfield, on Flickr


Untitled by bill barfield, on Flickr


“It looked bigger in the movie.” by bill barfield, on Flickr


Ruby City. San Antonio by bill barfield, on Flickr


An Astronaut On Houston Street by bill barfield, on Flickr


HOUSTON @ N ST MARYS by bill barfield, on Flickr


Untitled by bill barfield, on Flickr


Children’s Hospital by bill barfield, on Flickr


Riparian Repast by bill barfield, on Flickr


Good Old-Fashioned Texas Architecture by bill barfield, on Flickr


Pearl Brewery Stable by bill barfield, on Flickr


Pearl by bill barfield, on Flickr


The Pearl by bill barfield, on Flickr


Paseo del Rio by bill barfield, on Flickr


Starry Night by bill barfield, on Flickr

More where these came from…

[bilbao58]

As the Sun Sets Behind the San Fernando Cathedral by bill barfield, on Flickr


Cathedral of Our Lady of Candelaria and Guadalupe by bill barfield, on Flickr


Tourist Town! by bill barfield, on Flickr


Prickly Panorama by bill barfield, on Flickr

[hauntedheadnc]

"Prickly"? You'd merely call those hand-stabbing devil's paddles "prickly"? I think not.

At least the one in the pot on my front porch, however gorgeous its yellow flowers may be, is Satan's own beaver tail.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

Satan's own beaver tail.

I think some are worse than others. The ones in my photos look pretty tame.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

I think some are worse than others. The ones in my photos look pretty tame.

I've had to throw gloves away because of the one I have. It has all these fuzzy little knots all over it, and the fuzz is these copper-colored little spines that break off in your skin. I got that cactus from my grandmother more than twenty years ago, and it's still going strong. The yellow flowers are absolutely gorgeous, but they don't last long once they've bloomed, sadly.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

It has all these fuzzy little knots all over it,

Yeah, it's the fuzz that'll get ya.

[Echoes]

San Antonio is cool.

[202_Cyclist]

Great photos, thank you for posting. We don't see a lot of photos of San Antonio here. I want to take a trip for about two weeks and go to El Paso, Big Bend National Park, San Antonio, and Austin. It would be fun road trip and a great way to see a part o the country that I haven't visited.

[Murphy de la Sucre]

Wow gives me the vibes of the the the ... New Orleans...Nashville....and even New Mexico

[bossabreezes]

Nice pics. I have a feeling this place will be a boomtown in the near future.

Right now it's being kind of outshined by Austin, but someday soon I think SA will get its turn!

[xzmattzx]

Nice pictures!

I have quite a few relatives in San Antonio. I need to go down and visit them and explore.

[bilbao58]

A few more:


Camera Shake Sucks by bill barfield, on Flickr


La Antorcha de la Amistad by bill barfield, on Flickr


La Antorcha de la Amistad by bill barfield, on Flickr


Try To Remember... by bill barfield, on Flickr


Scary-Looking Giant Monster With Bart Simpson Hair by bill barfield, on Flickr


Children's Hospital by bill barfield, on Flickr


Children's Hospital by bill barfield, on Flickr


River Walk by bill barfield, on Flickr


Local Color by bill barfield, on Flickr


CALVIN by bill barfield, on Flickr


¡No, gracias! by bill barfield, on Flickr

[EastSideHBG]

Nice!

[dc_denizen]

Wow , this is the most pedestrian friendly downtown in Texas

Take note, Houston and Dallas

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

Wow , this is the most pedestrian friendly downtown in Texas

Take note, Houston and Dallas

Don’t let the pretty pictures fool you. Most of the city looks like this.
Untitled by bill barfield, on Flickr

[FrAnKs]

Awww, thanks for the beautiful pictures! I fell in love with this City when I visited in october, definitely my favourite city in Texas. This brings back some nice memories!
That remind me that I also should work on my pictures of San Antonio soon...
Thanks for posting.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

"Prickly"? You'd merely call those hand-stabbing devil's paddles "prickly"? I think not.

At least the one in the pot on my front porch, however gorgeous its yellow flowers may be, is Satan's own beaver tail.

Most cacti afford you the warning of big ole thorns that are easily seen and that even if you somehow get pierced by, you can remove them fairly easily. Prickly pear, though, there's no reasoning with them. I have some out front by the street, and their "thorns" are more like the hairs of a tarantula, where if you brush up against them, they simply come off into your skin, continue to poke you, and cause an irritation and rash the same way tarantula spider hair does. Getting them out is nearly impossible since they're so fine. I usually just end up dragging a knife across them to hopefully remove a few and chop the top off and let it be. I've seen huge groups of these growing on people's easements here near the street, and while zipping by on my bike, I've always been horrified at that thought of wiping out and then landing in one. They are pretty, though, and they have really pretty yellow flowers with red on the inside. Bees and butterflies love them, by the way.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Most cacti afford you the warning of big ole thorns that are easily seen and that even if you somehow get pierced by, you can remove them fairly easily. Prickly pear, though, there's no reasoning with them. I have some out front by the street, and their "thorns" are more like the hairs of a tarantula, where if you brush up against them, they simply come off into your skin, continue to poke you, and cause an irritation and rash the same way tarantula spider hair does. Getting them out is nearly impossible since they're so fine. I usually just end up dragging a knife across them to hopefully remove a few and chop the top off and let it be. I've seen huge groups of these growing on people's easements here near the street, and while zipping by on my bike, I've always been horrified at that thought of wiping out and then landing in one. They are pretty, though, and they have really pretty yellow flowers with red on the inside. Bees and butterflies love them, by the way.

They're also durable. If you plant them outside here on rocky ground, they'll go mad even though it gets bitterly cold and rains constantly -- rather different from the hotter, dryer conditions they're native to. Behind my grandmother's house there was an old garage whose roof had caved in and been carted off at some point, and she grew them in huge troughs inside the ruin. I have no idea where she got them, but she'd had them a long time. As kids, my cousins and I were always warned to stay away from them, for obvious reasons. Then, one Thanksgiving back in the 90's, when my dad and I went out to pick her up and bring her to our house, I decided I wanted some. We went out and very delicately filled a big pot with some, and they're still growing strong in that same pot today.

Who knew a San Antonio thread could bring back happy memories of my grandmother?

[JMKeynes]

Very beautiful!!!

[Nightsky]

Really beautiful!