Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel

At one time on this planet, there was a golden age of glamor. Today, we have none of it left. I've been reading a lot about those days and it always amazes me how there is always a common connection somehow. Such is with another one from that great generation of glamor. Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel.

I was stunned at her humanity. A couple of sources seem to verify her generous moods. In Coco & Igor, Chris Greenhalgh  and Karen Karbo in The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Woman, the stories of her are amazing and yet, being human during a time of war almost cost her everything.

Igor Stravinsky, with his family, stayed with Coco. He was in the early stages of his "The Rite of 
Spring". It was Coco, who guaranteed financially the success of his production.  Later, she took care of yet another family and payed for the husband's funeral following his death. It just so happened that he was the head of the German SS which almost cost her everything. Coco, had had an earlier affair with the German.

Coco was once ask why she did not marry the Duke of Westminster. She had also had an affair with him. Her reply came, " There have been several Duchesses of Westminster. There is only one Chanel." This original account was first published in her Biography.

When she left Paris, she moved to Switzerland and remained there for years. She had designed and built her villa, La Pausa, on the French Riviera. It looks toward the Italian and French border on one side and overlooks Monaco on the other. It sits high above the village of Roquebrune. It was built in the 1930s during that golden era and of her own design.

In 1953 Coco sold her villa, La Pausa, to the Hungarian publisher and translator Emery Reves. He purchased the villa from Coco with his translations royalties of foreign languages for Winston Churchill's

Not the French Riviera but still a pretty awesome place.

books. Churchill lived there four months of each of the years 1956,1957 and 1958 while he worked on his book. After Emery's death, his wife Wendy continued to live there until her death, but in the early days after her husband's death, the Dallas Museum of Art approached Wendy about the master collection of fine art that was displayed in the house from both Coco Chanel and from the Reves. Fearing that she would sell the collection as a whole, the museum agreed to terms set down by Wendy. She wanted five (5) rooms replicated from La Pausa and to include pieces of furniture belonging to Chanel. The museum built  a 16,000 square foot addition to house Wendy's collection. Today, the Emery and Wendy Reves collection can be visited at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Chanel No. 5 has always had class. It was the woman who developed the concept as a fashion designer that lifted Chanel No. 5 to the top shelf. Coco Chanel is buried in Switzerland following her death in Paris. She had lived in Switzerland for 30 years after leaving Paris the first time.

What Do You Think?

Alright, I was editing images at the computer when a commercial came on the television. Something just caught my eye about the cow in the Aldi milk commercial. Then, wham! on came a Chic-A-Filet commercial featuring a cow in a reverse dunk tank, which turns out to be the same cow, I think. Markings almost confirm that. I need to watch the commercials  one more time. I never thought about it but hey, the black and white cow in two commercials is rather unusual. I've only know one other cow until now and that was Elsie, from Borden's! Elsie didn't look like the cow in question here.

Several years ago, I was out at South Fork standing at the pool when out of the hedge row that surrounds the pool came a  rabbit. Then several years later, I ran across a rabbit at White Rock Lake. Then, last fall I ran across one eating grass along the trail just north of Medical City Hospital. They all looked alike and I didn't think they were the same rabbit. After all, there is only one Easter Bunny.

Interesting .Now, I've got to find out who is that cow's agent !

The Perfect Backyard Weather Station

Everyone complains about the weather, even me. Although, I have a bit more tolerance than most for a couple of reasons: one, never complain or worry about things you cannot control; two, donot put all your eggs in one basket with the local weather guys. There is a better forecast from the National Weather Service, which the weathermen take their cue and add their spins. But the best forecaster that I have found is in a pole with a piece of tube or metal bolted to it. From the metal is hung a string with a stone suspended in a string sling. A sign near by list in one column the conditions and in the second column  the forecast. It is basically 99% accurate.

conditions                                                             forecast

stone is wet                                                                             rain

stone is dry                                                                     not raining

shadow on ground                                                                                sunny

white on top                                                                               snowing

can not see stone                                                                                       foggy

swinging stone                                                                                         windy

stone jumping up and down                                                                                   earth quake

stone gone                                                                                           tornado

This way, you know for sure! Happy Forecasting.

Balloons in a Tree

From The Ground Up

It was another beautiful spring day in Dallas. The temperature topped out at 81-degrees F and there was no wind or breeze. Flags hung limp on flagpoles on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. The grass was a beautiful green against a medium blue sky. Yet, for me, it was a tad warmer than I like when I am out with the camera. A camera crew five-strong, with all their heavy and well-padded cases, were heard complaining also. They said they were "shooting Dallas" on a positive note as they headed down between the levees.

I have been rather anxious for spring this year.  I wanted to try out a couple of things on my old and trusty cameras. Well, camera in this case because the big Nikon over the winter is still in the hospital with a bad case of software malfunction. Nikon wants me to up grade. Funny thing about that, though. Nikon does not want to kick in anything toward the upgrade.  Over the years, I have known several AP photographers that have used the same equipment for many more years than I have used the new digital, but we have one thing in common: they liked shooting with their equipment and I like shooting with the cameras that I have. I'm not totally sold that I need 24 mega pixels or sensors twice the size with no mirrors, either. The case to be made is that cameras are kind of like an Apple i phone series 5 or 6. Apple wants to sell phones so before you learn all the features on your 5, you just have to have that new series 6! As my grandfather would say,"hogwash". That is were I am now with the decision on cameras. I'm not so sure that upgrades are always the right choice. Never-the-less, I was able to test out the adjustments and the adjustments worked just fine.

A bee sits on a flower with his wings folded.

This tree has been flowering for ages. It has about a 60 foot circumference

See, there really is water below the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge!

Maggie 2 Update

The Margaret McDermott Bridge on I-30 crossing the Trinity River. This is the second Signature Bridge as part of the Trinity Corridor Project.

The construction of the Margaret McDermott (Maggie 2) is moving along about the same pace as when the Margaret Hunt Hill (Maggie 1) was under construction. Crews were working. The work field is mired in mud with all the rain that has been falling and the melting of the snow and ice. Also, I was rather taken aback when I finally realized that the final height of the center arch was a bit lower than I first thought. While the Maggie 1 risers to 400 feet above the Trinity, Maggie 2 will not be that tall. It is estimated to be 250 feet above the Trinity, some 150 feet less than the Maggie 1, but still a significant and respectable height.

With the weather being cold, blustery and damp, attending the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Greenville was passed up for the second year in a row. After lunch my prescriptions were ready for pick up. While out, I drove down to the bridge, which looks almost like it did last week. Then, I took Beckley to Zang Avenue to Bishop Street. The trolley lines are nearly ready. The station drop-off and pick-up points now have the weather and wind shield covers in place.

On the way over, I was wondering with the festive mood going on in Lower Greenville, if the Bishop Arts District would be rather down in attendance. Much to my surprise, the crowds were big, the lines were long and parking was just as bad as in Lower Greenville. It was encouraging for city growth to see both areas "going strong". It also occurred to me that the Dart Trolley would probably get used a lot.Current thinking is that the trolley would be full most of the time if not all the time. Lower Greenville doesn't have that service and it wouldn't take much to run the Trolley from City Place down Henderson to Greenville. Since Klyde Warren Deck Park was so successful, and with the extension of the trolley lines along both ends of the park the "M" is going to have more riders this summer than expected, I bet. Remember also, it isn't that far to the Perot Museum, either.

All-in-all, Dallas has it together and is showing signs that make economics fun. The amount of  construction going on is really amazing, especially in roadways, airports, public transportation. The Trinity Corridor was, without doubt, the development catalyst equal to what DFW was for the city.

My How Time Flies: Ah 1 and Ah 2

It was mid May of 2013 when I first meet Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg in a very big white tent on the tarmac of the executive aviation area at DFW International Airport. The name of Bertrand Piccard was more familiar to me having followed his efforts to fly around the world or across the Atlantic in  balloons. Another, who I had known, had tried the balloon thing and splashed down in the North Atlantic bobbing around for three days until a Russian Trawler had picked him up and saved him from hypothermia. Karl was every bit excentric in that way but had made a few million along the way but was more excited about the adventure than money and the journey was just as excited. Racing in the latest of designs in sailing boats from New Zeland to New York was just as much fun to Karl and his sailing experience may have kept him afloat until his rescue. I'm just saying, it might have.

Still, meeting Andre and Bertrand was an honor for me and their own excentric personalities had propelled them across the United States in Solar Impulse 1 after lift off at Moffett Field in the Bay Area. They were very much aviators and had crossed paths with excentric aviators like Karl and Sir Richard Branson in more recent years beyond Lindberg and the Spirit of St. Louis. Albeit Lindberg's son today is a friend of both Andre and Bertrand and support their efforts.It's like Jack Lemmon once said:" If you are a success at what you do, you send the elevator back down as many times as you can."

Now, Solar Impulse 2 has begun its trip RTW (round the world), departing from Abu Dhabi to Oman on the first leg piloted by Andre. The second leg was Bertrand from Oman to Ahmedabad, India. SI2 is scheduled to land again in Phoenix as it makes it way around the earth. I am hoping that the trip will bring them to DFW again, although I cannot be sure at this point if that will be the case. Frankly, I really don't want to know at this early stage of their trip.

My best wishes to the two co-founders of this project, Bertrand and Andre, their wives and families, their chase teams, support teams in Morocco where their mission control functions. They proved that they can fly from the west coast of the US to the east coast and not use a drop of fuel. The bigger proof is the future of solar energy which I  support for the current generation and the generations to follow. Aviation has led the way for so long, it isn't surprising to see aviation leading again with bringing solar energy into the forefront once again. Congratulations on your RTW endeavor Bertrand and Andre. My prayers are with you all.

Co-Founder and Pilot Andre Borschberg at DFW International 24 May 2013 during Solar Impulse 1 "Flight Across America"

Co-Founder and Pilot Bertrand Piccard at DFW International 24 May 2013 during Solar Impulse 1 "Flight Across America"

Texas Wonderland, Scene 2

Under another Winter Storm Warning. Accumulations are for freezing rain, sleet and several inches of snow!