The Destroyer Escort 238 USS Stewart was commissioned into active service on May 31, 1943 having been constructed at the Brown Shipbuilding Yards in Houston.
St. Martins sits on state highway 237S, about three miles south-west of Round Top, Texas. It's billed on a sign by the road as the 'smallest Catholic Church in the world'.
Like the Elissa, the USS Texas is no longer seaworthy. She lies in a berth off the Houston ship channel just north of the San Jacinto battleground where Texas won it's independence from Mexico. There are plans to make the berth a dry dock but that's not due to be completed till 2017, so she sits on the mud quietly rusting away.
Taken around 3:00pm on a late January afternoon, the trees are all devoid of leaves. The sun was still high enough in the sky to light the face of the barn and the gate without interruption from the shadows of the trees.
This 'nodding donkey' was whirring away on the beach near High Island in Texas. The sun is still a 33 minutes away from breaking above the horizon.
Since yesterday was Mardi Gras, that makes today Ash Wednesday, so here's a photo of some ashes. OK so that's a bit weak, I know - my wife often reminds…