Vendor Tents

At one time, I was a strong supporter for March of Dimes. Growing up as the first group of baby boomers, The March of Dimes was a well respected organization. When it comes to  organizations as a whole,  I'm not so sure about that anymore,but I still give March of Dimes and a very limited number of others their respect in this day of "Everyone has a Cause" grab-game of money and power. Having said that, this Saturday, April 21st at 9 am at Norbuck Park at White Rock Lake, the March for Babies event kicks off for another year. The tents have been going up for two days. There are 70 vendors and get this: NO PARKING. Everything is shuttle bus ("please allow 30 minutes to park and ride the shuttle"). The closest and shortest shuttle ride in distance is the Dart White Rock Rail Station. The longest and it might be a toss up in miles......Valley View Mall or Mocking Bird Station. It might be more efficient to load a C-130 Transport and drop the crowd off at once! I've co-chaired large events before. Most were when a cell phone was mounted in the trunk of your car and not in your pocket. We've come a long ways, I suppose. Imagine riding a shuttle ("please allow 30 minutes to park and ride the shuttle") every time you needed to use your phone in those days.

Turtles on a Log and a Goose on a Nest

The turtles have been scarce of late but today, I found the old crew hanging out in a new place. While trying to get the shot before they piled off the log into the water, I found a goose setting on her nest. By the time I got back to the turtles, a park survey was heading toward the turtles.......luckily, the guy saw me and sat down on a picnic table until I got my shot. As I started for the car, all I could hear was the plunk,plunk, of turtles diving off the log into the water. The park guy was going the other way with his clipboard under his arm. Here is the goose and a bunch of big turtles.

A goose on her nest

The Senior Citizens of the Turtle Community

A Big Slide for a Crawfish Dinner

White Rock is ever-changing, evolving and  a wonderful place. There is always something new happening which makes it such an enjoyable and creative display. The big slide was just such a creative item, but when combined with the event--a craw fish dinner-- it certainly is to be hoped that the slide races were before dinner, rather than afterwards.

18th Annual Deep Ellum Arts Festival

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One of Deep Ellum's familiar faces

The 18th Deep Ellum Arts Festival got underway Friday. Pictures are from day two (Saturday) with the closing day Easter Sunday.

Deep Ellum is an awesome area . It is one of the most eclectic entertainment districts from before the days of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrows who lived in Deep Ellem,Texas at one time. It is a historic district that continues to thrive as an entertainment district when music,film and fashion are in their most creative modes.Artist do what they do and Deep Ellum is the place to do it. There are actually two Deep Ellums. One by day and the other one by night. During the day it is a sleepy place with old line businesses caring on their daily business. About 4PM, Deep Ellum comes alive with restaurants,bars,clubs, some of the best tattoo salons anywhere. Rock and eclectic band groups, keep the entertainment going into the wee hours of the morning.

Sheridan of the band,Convoy and the Cattlemen on fiddle.
Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for them boots!

Convoy (Tyler) in the black hat and rattlesnake boots with Joel on guitar. Not pictured is Alex on lap steel ,Benji,bassist and Chris on drums.

During the festival, it is one of the few times each year when you can actually walk down the center of Dallas' Main Street eating corn dogs and funnel cakes! Or, listen to a band from a stand-up table while drinking  cold brews.Albeit a few hundred blocks from the center of downtown.

Dallas Little League Make the Big Leagues!



Close up  of the Big New Board

The Big New Sign Board

The Second and Smaller Score Board

Dallas Little League not only got new fields with lights, the new score boards are up,too! They look very nice. This summer at Winfrey Point will be a class act on the diamonds.

Two Generations of Kayakers

On this late winter afternoon,the low gray clouds that hung over the lake this morning and cast that gloomy winter's look, lifted. The sun was warm. There was a North wind that had a bit to it at times but outdoors was the place to be.

Now, this is what I had in mind.



Where's Forward?

 There were two kayakers that I had seen on the lake earlier when I came across a guy putting in a paddle board and a father and son team getting ready to launch their trip on the lake. This team  represented two generations of the sport and for that reason, that is somewhat unusual, brings them to the blog today.

Aargh! Portage!

Missed the Demonstration but Caught the Event

In solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, the General Assembly of Occupy Dallas staged a demonstration today. The Death of the American Dream was a mock funeral and complete with a casket. I would have liked to have been there.  But, I did happen upon the No War on Iran event.

The System was Never Broken. It was Built This Way

No War on Iran

I'm a product of the 60's. My first demonstration to attend was right in the middle of Court Street and Union under the center hung stoplight. Antioch College,the birthplace of protest, was about 80 miles North  and West of the stop light. That movement,while birthed at Antioch,  moved West to San Francisco and  became the Haight-Ashbury cradle of the demonstrations and protest of the Viet Nam War. The rest--as they say--is history. So, I remember intersections and their potential. When I saw the crowds on all four corners of Royal Lane and Greenville Avenue today, I had to stop and get some pictures of the No War on Iran event.