Arboretum August Days

With the city wanting to turn over the management of Fair Park to the parent of NBC television, I wonder what will really be in store for the public who live here. Tourist will come and go but it is the people in Dallas that may suffer the greatest down side of the overall planned up experience.

My thinking is that I have watched the Zoo and the Dallas Arboretum grow and draw in the people, but the cost of an average person going was never more obvious as to what really is happening this past Thursday. What I mean by that is the the membership has shot up into the $90 bracket, which is steep. August was always a fun time to go when the crowds were less and admission during August was $1. Well, scratch that, too, because the August admission is now $2.00 and that of course does not include parking. Parking in Dallas is almost as bad as New York, though not quite, yet, but it's coming. Keeping in mind that Ft. Worth's gardens are free. Albeit that even Cow town is talking about charging admissions as this is being written if they haven't done it already.

The Pavilion is behind what you see here from the lower level. It's air conditioned and a tasting demo was going on. The chilled frozen sorbet/sherbet from orange peppers was out of this world. The planted vegetable garden was ideal  (after all, it is at the Arboretum). Orange pepper arrangements were also displayed on the outdoor patio settings overlooking this new water Lilly pond

The new bridge is where the old privacy fence once stood as you walked up to the terrace where the restaurant order window remains and with an expanded terrace. 

The view of the dam is awesome from this viewpoint. I have watched this during the construction and wondered what the view would be like. It is yet another gem of White Rock Lake being on the eastern edge of the Arboretum.

I was talking to a gentlemen who lives in Allen, that said he had, 'stopped coming on the weekends',  during the spring and fall because of the crowds--which also includes my thinking, as well. Gardens such as the Arboretum throughout the country have always demanded respect at the ticket booth, but these are elective visits and people with some degree of caution, are beginning to see their electives going to different things more useful than just entertainment wise. My thoughts have echoed that more than once or twice of late. Never-the-less, I found myself wanting to see the finished product of the new Pavilion that sits down new steps from the old ones that went toward the Asian gardens, but that entire hillside that overlooks the lake is new and it adds great value to the Arboretum as a whole. For that alone, I'm glad I went.

Cremation of the Big Oaks at White Rock

It is sad to report that another of the big old oaks at White Rock came down in a storm this past week.  This one was about 31-inches in circumference. There were three others that sustained severe damage to large limbs in the same area in an around Preservation Grove. Ironically, last fall, there had been a planting of many new trees by Friends of the Lake in the Grove area.

This past winter, I had started to photograph the old and mighty trees that have so much character and grow around the nine miles that circumnavigate White Rock's shores via  roads and accompanying trails. There are about thirty of particular interest that have received many lightening strikes over the years; lost limbs during storms or were felled by some type of disease or infestation. It has long been my opinion that the big old oaks that have so much character are part of the overall character of the lake itself.  Many lake-goers simply see them as trees and nothing more. I hear all the time," it is where I go to bike" or "I run there".  I'd like to say, "no you only pass through, you don't notice anything else about the jewel of the Dallas Park System" but I don't. I keep quiet. For me that's difficult!!

The past couple of years, there has been some new home construction at the lake. One modern with solar power, one classic revival , one country-style, one mixture of modern and old. There is one that jumped out at me on a rather steep hillside  blends into the trees so well that had not the glass picked up a reflection, I wound not have know it was there. On the east side of the lake last year, several homes were gutted and remodeled  in this type of architecture. I counted four new homes under construction that are at the completed foundation level of building.  So, while the planting of the new trees at Preservation Grove will grow and age with these new homes, it is difficult to see the mighty trees that grow at White Rock go away one-by-one; being cremated in someone's fire place.

Note the thickness of the bark covering.

Two more big oaks are seen in the background along with the new plantings from last fall.

Timing Is Everything and ..........

On Sunday's last trip to Fair Park before the State Fair, the Chinese Lantern Festival had created some very tall Lotus Blooms. The thought did cross my mind as to how they would be used. Today, a sky crane helicopter lifted them from the staging lot near Gate 5 to the Lagoon where they were placed. Now only did I miss the lift, I missed seeing them in the large lagoon where the big swan paddle boats can be rented. It's just one of those things......you cover what you can and sometimes it works out and some times it does not.
The train move has occupied some time. The Chihuly glass exhibit has been at the Arboretum for nearly five months and it leaves the first week of November and the pumpkin display opens this Saturday for it's annual run. On top of that---the Perot Museum of Science and Nature opens in it's new building in downtown much earlier than first announced. The new 5-acre deck park opens too! There is a lot of stuff happening! The old adage that it never rains but what it pours seems to be holding true.

Waiting to move to Frisco

Most likely, the big boy will be the last to leave Fair Park
 

With just the things mentioned here would  add another $100 just for parking and admissions. Gas and food would be extra, of course. The cost of an enjoyable hobby today is an expensive undertaking, though not complaining. So for now, since timing is everything and I came up short today.....here are a couple more shots from this past Sundays shoot.

 

As Much As I Love the Arboretum, Build Your Garage on Your New Lot!

The City of Dallas wants to cut (and destroy) the fields of Wildflowers at Winfrey Point,White Rock Lake,especially with the Dale Chihuly Exhibit about to open at the Arboretum The first hint of trouble came earlier when parking was allowed at the ball diamonds and a shuttle ran trips from the lot to the arboretum.  Last year,  a lot was used on Gaston Avenue with tour buses running shuttles every 15 minutes. The kicker: Parking at the big lot on the grounds of the Arboretum went up from $7.00 to $10.00 this year and when you park off grounds, the Arboretum looses the parking fees. This year, a new lot across SR78 (Garland Road) opened but now city hall is talking about a garage! A 15-17 million dollar garage.

One of the areas in the background where the city wants to destroy the wildflowers and build a garage or establish parking. Note the local CBS affiliate trucks in the lower right of the sign. Another TV crew was off to the left filming.

The wild flowers are one of the unique things about Texas springs. This is when we really need Lady Bird Johnson, again!