Secrets of the Museum

No, not the TV show. This is about the Museum Towers. Remember the one that was reflecting sunlight onto the sculptures at it's neighbor, The Nasher Sculpture Center in the Arts District from the glass panels on the tower. Yes, that one! Well, it appears that it is the only Penthouse in Dallas that has a full 360 view of downtown. Granted, it is situated  on the 42nd floor with a roof top pool and garden, not high enough to keep the 60 and 70 story office towers from looking down on you as you sip your afternoon cocktail.

The secret is, of course, after being built with the Police and Fire Pension Fund, which was a scandal of sorts and police and fire started pulling their money out of the fund before anymore money was wiped out of retirement accounts.  It is just now selling out the units and the price for the Penthouse is  quoted at the pricey amount of $24million. Don't every one rush all at once to do the deal. After all, while the most pricey zip code for homes in the whole State of Texas is right here in Dallas at 75205. That would be the whole of Highland Park and a very small shadow that falls into University Park, not  the 75201 zip code that covers the Arts District in Downtown. There is still one more thing---at 560 feet in the air  you and Wolfgang Puck can wave at each other across town. He, however, can shoot off fireworks from the top of  his dining room.

The Top at $24Million

Can You See The Penthouse?

Seriously, it is a well appointed pad. And, the Dallas Federal Reserve is just across the Woodall Rodgers

Three Planes for the President and Other Light Armor

C-17 globemaster iii based out of Charleston AFB carries the limos and other light armor.

While Air Force One pulled a sneak and slid over on 13R after the dog-leg turn onto his final (cross winds were bad) rather than his usual 13L landing, the Vice-President arrived separately on another government plane for executive branch use. The C-17 globe master iii sat parked at the far end, what looked to be on the threshold of runway 18. I have not seen that runway used since May of 2005. Highland Park, University Park and  Preston Hollow does not  like the noise! 

There were also two weather systems in the area in the early morning hours. A low level stream of moisture from the Gulf (visible between the buildings downtown) and an upper level system. By the time the Vice-President landed, the skies had already cleared leaving only strong southern pressure gradient with gusting 18-32 MPH cross winds. There was one Southwest that came in sideways from the cross winds. Always fun to see the bigger planes twist in the wind.☺ Still believe that is why Air Force One came in on 13R with the longest runway at Love. ATC ♥ calling  the shots by the book yesterday, most likely.  Usually, in past trips, he handles the shorter runway with ease. Not totally sure, but the new parking garage is being built on that side of the field. That could also have played a part in crossing over to Dal-Forth Fueling for parking. It's always a poetry-in-motion and just fun to watch. This will also end President Obama's trips to Dallas, most likely unless something else jumps off.

Hope to see the new 747-800 when our next president makes his first trip to Dallas. My one shot of  Air Force One in 2009 landing is still a super seller. I was hoping for arrival to be on 13L as always, but now we know, it didn't happen!

The Vice President's arrival on 13-L tail number 80001

Air Force One on 13-R tail number 28000

♥ ATC-Air Traffic Control

The Story Tellers of White Rock Lake

If trees could talk, there are a few trees at White Rock that have probably seen it all from  their growth  stand. It occurred to me not long ago that another severe ice storm like we just dodged, or straight-line winds could bring these old story tellers down to the ground and reduce their massive, scared trunks to firewood.

There is a story about the old Pecan tree that stands on the Cole farm in Highland Park that is decorated every year. KERA has run the story as fillers many times over the course of its creation. But  people that live around the lake; regular visitors to the lake or even a one-time visitor visiting family here in Dallas looking for some place neat to sight see, also notice some of these old haunting trees with their rabbit-holed trunks. Their twisted, sometimes sawed off, even bent, and mangled branches have their own character that are just as old as the Cole pecan tree, if not older in some cases.

The project sprang up when I was looking for something of significance to shoot at White Rock Lake. First, one thinks of buildings. Some good, some bad, but they have been shot over and over and over .Eventually, the list came to be titled, "old trees"  The odd thing is that during the summer, when leafed out, it's easy to miss some of the character of the tree itself. But, in late fall and early winter when the leaves start to fall and branches are bare, one can see the real beauty of the tree from an age stand-point. The character just blossoms.
Here are just a few of what I found today.

The trunk is split from the base up the trunk for nearly 15-feet.I would guess that a lightening strike hit the tree more than just once.



The trunk is straight but it has been mutilated by weather, disease or lightening.

Another tree that has overcome lightening strikes, wind damage, and who knows what else.

These old trees have a ghostly character that only age can bestow on this old story-teller. The wood would be interesting to inspect. Old wood like this is filled with so much character, no wonder people search the planet for old trees like these for a variety of reasons. Many, just walk by the old tree and never notice its character at all.