When my portfolio was low on aircraft and remembering the old days of Love Field when you could park along the fence on Denton Drive and watch the planes, it didn't take long to recall that those off-the-road parking spots were gone now. Also knowing that the big airport was now so big, the distance between the five parallel runways is so vast that take off aircraft where good pictures can be taken just was not in the picture. So where do you watch planes? Founder's Plaza someone said. So I set out one Thursday to find the answers for myself. Those Thursdays because know to me as "Discovery Thursdays" from thereon. Much has evolved over the past sixteen years but I still have Discovery Days each month when I go in search of those unanswered questions for new material. Yesterday was one of those days--as it turned out--it was also a record setting day for the first day of Spring, too. It was 92 degrees F and humid. The discovery was fun and filled with delight, however.
In Dallas, there are Greenbelts that run through neighborhoods for blocks on end. Although I drive this one street almost daily, it wasn't until this past month that I had noticed a footbridge crossing from the curbside of the street over a ravine. So at the next intersection, I turned and came back along the street on the other side. Almost instantly the Parks and Recreation Division had posted the signs that the area was a Natural Prairie Grass Area--an instant recognition of a designated greenbelt. Most of the houses on the passenger side of the car were higher ground overlooking the street below. So driving slow, you could look for wildflowers and unusual scenes. It was only a couple of more blocks before it really got interesting and I found the footbridge on this side of the ravine from where I had been when it was first sited. I crossed over to get back on the street where I had originally been only to discover that the plot layout had changed and the street there was not the street that I once had traversed less than a half-hour before. Then, I spotted the foot bridge on this side and it wasn't the same foot bridge that I had seen originally, but was the other side of the one that I had just viewed on the street over. What is going on here, I though. Vines were in full bloom with mini iris-type flowers hanging in bunches like grapes. They had grown so much over the years that they were now well up into the 20-30 foot level of some old growth. I got out and took some pictures. They will appear in stock and note cards in my sundry section on Glendine's link on my web page.
Back in the car, I made yet another left turn to get back on the street where I had been and instead of getting there, I ended up somewhere else. Over the years, various neighborhoods had seemed to confuse me like that and I learned to
drive using landmarks. Many people do. But, in the process, I ended up
being back on the street where I thought I had been. Instead once again, I had landed
on yet another street. This one, however, had something amazingly odd
about it. There was a cream colored cowboy hat hanging on a tree trunk
several feet off the road and into the wooded thicket going toward the
ravine. I stopped. Pulling the car to the curb, I got out and started to
explore. At first I thought that there might have been some memorial as
old silk flowers were in the "Y" of a tree trunk. Then, I spotted a red
lantern hanging from a tree. It just got more interesting as I
explored. A car pulled up and the gentleman called out, "Have you ever
seen such insanity?" As it turned out, he was the curator and gave me an
escorted tour of things that I had missed including the poison ivy I had almost brushed up against. It was a delight and my
"Discovery Day" had once again revealed how much we all need this type
of insanity. Here is a few items that I especially enjoyed.
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| Refreshing. An offering to the wood Nymphs? |
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| Howdy. A Texas Bird Home. |
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| Music in the escarpment know as Lake Highlands Area. It almost could be a state trumpet. |
