Tree at TSD

While I was in Texas I stopped by to visit the Texas School for the Deaf where I worked during the 96-97 school year. It was strange going back. For one thing , It's a closed campus now and I had to go with security and get a tour from a staff person. Walking through the grounds was a little like walking in a ghost-town. All the kids were in class during my mid-day visit, so everything seemed empty. When I was working there, the whole campus was under construction. Only a few of the new building were finished (including the dorm where I worked). Now the whole complex is not only complete, but lived-in, aging, no longer new. It's quite nice, though; much nicer then when I was on staff. All the plans that seemed to be distant dreams back in 1997 are now fact -- the new cafeteria, auditorium, and media center. New huge school buildings now house the classrooms that used to be scattered in small, dilapidated structures connected by covered walkways. One thing I always loved about the campus was the live oak trees that had been meticulously spared during the construction. There was one right outside the dorm where I worked. I could stare into its upper branches from the office. I looked at it for months before I finally brought my 4x5 camera to work and photographed it. The small image was the result of that picture taken 10 years ago. The larger image is the biggest reason I wanted to visit that campus -- to see that tree again, and photograph it one more time.