Oh! DelMontico You Hatter You

It has always amazed me how one thing leads to another. Then, there again, it should not amaze me at all when given the quantum physics of our universe. But, it still does. This season will be my 48th season of being a dress hatter, yet, living in Texas, there is less of that and more Western hats. Now and then, a few kangol caps and driving caps (Tony Romo) appear. My beloved Borsalino Fur Felt Fedora has started to show up,too. The Harris Tweeds are not as populated (I have one for rainy and cold snowy days).

With the hot Texas summers, I should wear more straw but the 'ol baseball cap (Michigan block M) is my favorite followed by the plain GAP and The Arkansas Chapter of Trout Unlimited (my brother is a noted fly fisherman). With a Masters of Theology under his belt, my youngest brother and I held up my mom's funeral an extra day while the fly fishing theologian drove back from Alaska--actually he was already headed back and was in Watson Lake Yukon when he reported in with us. Later, we discovered he had stopped to fly fish a couple of hours in Yellowstone. So when he presented me with that Trout Unlimited  hat, I teared up! Mom is most likely still laughing about that one.

So, I have been working on building a portfolio of  straw hats worn in the Dallas area. It is influenced by the culture of Mexico since before the days of the Alamo. Saying it is a bit out of place would be totally inaccurate. It is apart of Texas history that sometimes gets overlooked. That is why it has appeared on my project list for sometime and from time-to-time, I actually do find some great hats being worn.

While trying to find the exact description of one hat I photographed this past weekend, I ended up on my hatter's website. Hence the 'how one thing leads to another' prior. I have been purchasing hats from Delmonico Hatters on Elm Street  in New Haven, Connecticut for years.  It is almost a foregone conclusion now, that a hat purchase is in the cards for me. It is also the first time that where those hats come from has been revealed. The last trip physically made there was in the early 80's. Since then, it's been on the web all the way.

Since 1865 when John B.Stetson started producing his hat in Philadelphia--yes, Stetson's got there start in the East and not here in the West--Hatco has made and licensed those famous hats in the modern era. DelMonico were chosen to be recognized this year as the 'Dress Hat Retailer of the Year'. Dress hats are non-Western style hats that are commonly known as Fedoras. My hat!

Although, the Australian writer poet, Akubra is know for that famous 'Snowy River' Australian hat. And the more famous Lucas Film Ltd licensing of the 'Indiana Jones' Fedora is more recognizable. I have one of those for casual wear, as well. It's a Fedora. What can I say?

Thanks to four gracious gentlemen for sharing their headwear with me so that I can share it with you!

Sombreros at Bachman Lake

Now that's a Sombrero near Mockingbird Station

Straw Palm Hat at White Rock Lake

DelMonico Hatters

Had Fun This Afternoon

Greeting Card by sam6372
Look at more cards from Zazzle.

The next time you see one, you might want to re-think what you might be seeing.....Check out the card then send on to your friend. You do still know how to address an envelope and put a stamp on it....right?

Dallas, Texas - From orbit you can see just how big DFW airport is (it even has its own ZIP code). pic.twitter.com/L009LmXwwL

— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) March 7, 2013

A Doug Parker prepares to land!

They Work Not In a Big Cathedral but do Cathedral Work

Most of the time, people do not stop to read the signs that the city is required to post for various reasons on projects underway. Generally, I read the projects post. A couple of days ago I was taken aback a bit when I came across one the size of the smallest yard sign at election time. It was a most interesting read. The posting was the formal post by the city. The work being done on the new trail improvements on the east side of the lake, as the lake follows Mockingbird and then Buckner Boulevard is also part of the work. The dog park revamp also got new stone work from these guys.The signs said: Small Business Contract.  I guess small businesses do not rank enough to have the big SWOPP sign postings, In fact, I almost missed the sign completely.

Then, as if the sky parted, there was this white sedan on the trail hidden by the tall prairie grasses. With camera in hand, my  route meandered around the water system put out to water the new sod that was being laid down. Then, as I got closer, I could see a human head level with my feet on the trail, only off the trail by four or five feet. Then, as I got even closer, there was another head. EERIE, I thought. Then the one head moved. In short, the two men were down in a drainage ditch with stone, chisels, hammers and mortar board. They were, hand crafting stone around the culvert below the trail were the hillside had natural drainage.  As it turned out, each man was on one side of the trail about 20 yards apart, but Martin, had come over to get a tool. The work on both sides of the trail was magnificent.

Here is part of their work

A master at his work!!

The car was the only clue but if you look closely, you can see the tops of their heads.

Martin waves

12Sept2015: Edit to correct the word train to trail. It had been corrected prior and shows corrected in master but not on the public side of the last two sentences of the article.

Maggie 2 Arch Complete

Early this morning, in the cover of darkness, the contractor raised and fitted the final center piece of the arch on the Margaret McDermott Bridge that crosses the Trinity River on the eastbound IH30 side. Now, work can begin at the transition bases on the other side of the bridge. There, the second arch will transition out of the bedrock skyward into the air along the westbound lanes of traffic.

Unlike Maggie 1, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, also designed by Santiago Calatrava, famed Spanish Architect, the arch was placed by crane. Although it was a much shorter arch, but taller, the Maggie 2 center piece was raised much like an elevator to the top were it was bolted and welded into place.

 It was a bit after one o'clock this afternoon when I finished up my texture shoot and made my way down to the bridge, When I got out of the car, a local news anchor, was walking back to his car. I ask him when the arch was in place-- yesterday or this morning? He said that the work was done during the night beginning after midnight.  At 5 o'clock this evening, the news media had time-lapse of the raising. It seems that the local mainstream media all got heads-up on the event and the freelancers got nothing. And what we did get was after-the-fact.

 It is an insult to the freelancers who promote  the city as much and often-times more than the mainstream media, especially on events like this and  others likened to the move of  the Big Boy Union Pacific engine and all the cars and engines that were at Fair Park before the move to Frisco. But, that is the way the world works and Karma eventually will balance out those slaps in the face.

Former Mayor Tom Leppert,  knew how to promote the city using freelancers and he was a CEO of a major construction company.  Having said that, here are a couple of shots from this afternoons trip.

The eastbound arch is completed this morning.

A view of the east bound arch from the west side, where work will now begin on that arch.

The westside transition bases have been poured and cured for months, even before the floods in May.

Salute to Visitors Captured

The Fire Department at Dallas/Ft.Worth International Airport, on their way back to the station on the west side of the airport, passed by the outdoor observatory and viewing area at Founder's Plaza. As they did, they saluted  visitors with a blast from the water canon.

Thank! for protecting lives and property at DFW.

And before someone is quick to judge them as playing around......the dense smoke is at the training facility just beyond the fire station and they were out working to keep their training up to scale. 

A Beautiful Way To Start Any Day

Here is a great start to a great morning! Just over a month to go before the beginning of fall.

The outline of the low cloud deck to the east

The power of the sun burns through the deck

The reward of the morning