Fair Park the Day After

It was a hard decision to not go to the fireworks at Fair Park yesterday. The heat isn't good for an old man like me. My prescription bottles even say that I should avoid the sun and long exposures to the heat. So by the time mid morning rolled around, it was time to get out for a couple of hours before it got really hot.

Cleaning up after the fireworks was in full force today. It usually is a cool time to get some interesting shots. Also, one of the stations had been moved from the Railroad Museum to its new home in Frisco within the past week. The rolling stock is scheduled to be moved over live tracks later on this month. While at Fair Park I wanted to  check out the train situation. I pointed Nikon  Buggy toward Fair Park and headed out.

The Texas Button on the Texas Star Ferris Wheel

The Texas Skyway was even testing out the cable cars.

Admiral Nimitz and Cotton Bowl Circle

As expected, the 177-acre park of streets, museums, restaurants, etc., crews were busy all over the place. The interesting shots abounded,too. In keeping with the prescription warning, I parked in the shade, traveled in the shade and shot from the shade. A limit in some sense but still manageable, all things considered.

Perot's House of Dreams

Ross Perot donated 50M. That donation was directed toward moving the Museum of Nature and Science from Fair Park into the heart of Downtown and an ever-growing Uptown. The new 174-foot tall building (that's the equivalent of a 15-story building)  which  has an impressive glass box on the outside  houses a 54-foot escalator. The behemoth staircase at Busch Gardens in Florida isn't enclosed in glass. But, where technology and history meet there is sometimes a chain reaction and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science certainly will create that chain reaction. Columbus,Ohio's COSI is an amazing place for science and industry, but the Perot Museum of Nature and Science will surpass COSI in short order.

This image was taken from on board the M Line as it crossed Woodall Rodgers.

Dallas' Medical District Transforms Hi-Tech,Bio and Teaching!

The East Campus of UT Southwestern Medical Center. There are also North,South And West Campuses and soon, the new University Hospital as shown in the website listing below.

Two new hospitals are well under construction in the Medical District. The William P. Clemants Jr. University Hospital is 460 beds for UT Southwestern Medical Center and The New Parkland will be 862 beds  about a mile and a half South of the new University Hospital. As anyone familiar with the Medical District on Harry Hines Blvd. knows, the sprawling and much-cramped complex is made up of Children's Hospital, Old (and Historic) Parkland Memorial, Zale Lipshy Hospital, St. Paul's Hospital and the North,South,East and West campus of University of Texas Southwestern Medical School,Medical Center and the Graduate School in Bio Medicine. The 21st Century of Medical Care lives on Harry Hines Blvd.

The two web sites are: http://www.newhospital.utsouthwestern.edu
http://www.buildingparkland.com

Looking East from the TRE Rail Station at the historic Parkland

Looking West from the Dart Rail Station at the new Parkland

Amphibian Car from 1967

The kids can't have all the fun!

It's a full car!

The ride.

 Summer fun can be almost anything, but today.......it was a ride of a lifetime for this group.

A Pun Fully Intended

Everyone handles unwanted decisions in their own way. Some, have a more difficult time at it than others. I learned early on that you need to watch those that handle difficult decisions much more because they become your teacher on how to handle those decisions more effectively. Over the years, the common thread seems to be: Find the humor in a bad decision and laugh then move forward

This brings me to the most current and recent decision to rename the White Rock Marathon and begin immediately calling it the Dallas Marathon. I can see that.....but it doesn't make the decision any less painful for a lot of hard-working volunteers that love,The Rock! Not that they don't love the city any less, it's just a thing that grows on you over time. And, as in most cases, in time-----the Dallas Marathon will be the norm and good memories of the old days of running the rock will be memories for the grand kids and old friends.

I'm in training to run the Roc-------No,wait-----

December 9th, I'm running the Dallas Marathon!

So, for those of you who are having a bit of a hard time adjusting...... I found a little humor this week at White Rock that can lessen the burden of a decision already made.

A Three Year Old Question Answered

Yesterday, following a checkup with my cardiologist, I drove out Forest Lane toward the Tollway. There is a MC Castle being built that I have watched take shape for a while now. What amazes me the most about all that is the fact that in Dallas, beautiful seasoned ranch homes are being bought up, and bulldozed down. What  I call MC Mansions and MC Castles are are being built on already wide lots by Dallas standards. Reclaiming of well established neighborhoods in one of the most desirable areas of Dallas is part of the driving force. The other: the Dallas economy, not to be confused with the National economy. There is a difference! That's why I could  understand why K. Kardashian never liked Dallas. In her circles, she was the underdog here.

After viewing the progress on the MC Castle and in the process discovering at least two more within a couple of miles of MC Castle that were in construction, the thought occurred to me that I have been puzzled for three years about the four tall spirals I have been observing in an area well familiar to me. Now would be the time to check it out. Much to my amazement, I found an architectural wonder: Dallas Temple Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So, I pulled into the gated driveway and stopped at the security office. The gentleman was very cordial and listened as I explained that I had observed the spirals for three years and had to admit that I didn't know what it was. He explained to me about the facility, since it was not one of their worship centers. He said that I could take pictures of the outside only and that I was welcome to drive around to the front and the far side and see the layout before I shot any images. I did as he instructed and came back to the gate,parked and got out to shoot from the lawn and walkways. The stonework and design interest me about the architectural element of a building. This gave shadows,tone changes and was well blended into the overall design. The setting was peaceful and sacred  One could feel the peace and sacredness. There aren't to many places today where that feeling in a perimeter area permeates the air penetrating everything like a beam of radar. But, I could feel it there.

As I left the compound, I was satisfied that I had finally answered  an outstanding question of the past three years. The area is within a couple of miles of  the Bush's; the Ross Perot's, the Jerry Jone's, Mark Cuban's, Tom Hick's, T. Boone Pickins.........well, now you know why everyone wants to destroy a sprawling ranch home and build a MC Mansion or a MC Castle,but that's just Dallas.

Atop the South Spiral

The Eastern Front Half

The South Eastern  Portals near side and the South West Portals on the far side

The Fire Boat Was Back !

The Annual Dragon Boat and Kite Festival kicked off this morning on the canals of Las Colinas and Lake Carolyn. This was my fourth year to attend. The first year, the Irving Fire Department had just gotten their fire boat and were having fun shooting streams of water in the water with a few mis-directed that sprayed a few on-lookers. It reminds me of a mis-fired seltzer bottle in the hands of a circus clown. It brightened the day of many people. Then, for the past two years, I've ask," where is the fire boat?" and with grim looks, a fireman would say, "it's not here this year."
Today, walking along the vendors and food vendors row of tents I ran into a group of water rescue firemen. The first thing I ask was: "Is the fire boat here this year?" Laughing , the reply came. "Yes".

So, I set off to find the boat. Nothing else was in focus. There it was. That little boat with a canon  that can shoot a powerful stream of water 75 to 80 feet.  Wow! She was beautiful resting there in the water along the brick and concrete wharf. There was only one fireman sitting at the wheel. He said he was working overtime today and didn't know that the boat had not been at the festival the past two years. In fact, there were a lot of people who didn't know that the boat had been missed by a few more than just myself.

Then, out of the blue came this young Asian girl and her tag along "friend". Before the fireman and I had completed our conversation,she butted in telling the fireman she had been "hired" by one of the event planners to take pictures and informed the fireman that she had also been told that they would take her and her "friend" out on the water. They exchanged cell phone numbers and were still talking as I walked away toward the Marshal's tent to find the team  I had photographed a couple of weeks ago practicing at White Rock Lake, the Dallas De lite Team.

The Crew of Irving Firemen



Welcome Home little fireboat

I found the team, shook hands with one of the members that I had meet at White Rock and like a bad penny, there is this rude little girl and her "friend" and that whinny little voice. With that, I headed toward the wharf on the other side of the even ropes where the teams came down to board their boats and run their scheduled heats. Finding some amazing kites being flown, I walked the entire wharf  around the kite field and headed toward the car stopping here and there to photograph as I made my way closer to the car. The last look I had of the festival was of the fire boat heading out for their water-shooting playtime. I took a quick shot  only for the honor of the boat and the  crew of Irving Firemen who are a class act.