Gussied up for a 100 year Celebration and a splash of Chihuly about to be Opened Officially

The Munger Place Methodist Church, founded in 1913 is a fine example of English Gothic architecture. With the help of Highland Park Methodist, Munger Place got a face lift.

The orange ball is part of a many pieces of blown glass by glass artist Dale Chihuly being readied for the opening of the exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum the first few days of May. The exhibit will run to November 5th.

100 years in 2013. As English Gothic Architecture goes, 100 years is just a toddler.

The Dale Chihuly Exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum is preparing for the May opening of the Exhibit. Sam Champion of ABC's GMA will be at the Arboretum on May 5th to kick off the opening. Today, from Winfrey Point, one of the pieces can be seen on the grounds of the Arboretum as the displays are made ready. Let's all hope that Dallas does not get any big hail storms until the exhibit closes.

Absolute Absolutely

An afternoon walk through the tall grasses.

Texas Wildflowers rise above the tall grasses.

It was an absolute that it was a perfect spring afternoon in North Texas,absolutely! Enjoyed an e-mail from an old friend who had just returned from Charleston, South Carolina. It inspired me to get out and take some pictures today.

A New Look for Spring

Dear Readers,

Some of you will like the new look while others will not. The new look offers a lot more options and the social media groups will be more able to share my images with their family and friends. It will be a bit frustrating until the regular users adjust to the in and out flow of material. The new visitors will learn from the beginning and it won't be a big problem. It's been frustrating for me already but I'm getting the grasp of it already so I know you will too. Just hang in there!

I hope all of you continue to visit us as before. The one thing that I miss already and will need to restart is the world map by location of our visitors. Most of you have already noticed that the counter stopped at 7473 and the world map has archived more than once already. That was a precursor to the changes you see today. I'm trying very hard to get things back to a normal situation. All I have to do is "Hang In There!!!!!"------Like you!

Thanks for being patient.

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.