Climbing Blocks

Since the old Continental Bridge was re-purposed from a 80 year old traffic-carrying bridge to a park for pedestrians, bikes,skateboards and roller blades etc.,etc., the newly renamed Ron Kirk Bridge has been a pretty popular place for families to take visitors from out of town. Out of towners find it on their own and come for a look see.The chess pieces have disappeared after the first season. The climbing blocks and other toys on a very spongy and safety-oriented area for children to play were at first, for the kids. But after a few seasons the one thing that I have noticed at the bridge in the past two months is that there are a whole bunch of grown-up kids that like to play on the climbing blocks. Although some kids still play on the blocks under helicopter parents eyes (and I don't say that as a negative thing) but there is a shift in who plays on these blocks now and the adjacent pogo-like spring loaded "king of the mountain" type things. And, actually, I think that it makes for a much better use of the area.  Why? because it is drawing more people to the deck park which has competition with Clyde Warren Deck Park over the Woodall Rodgers Expressway just a couple of miles down the road, literally, from where the Ron Kirk is located.

The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is the end of the Woodall Rodgers Expressway, just a few feet from the Plaza of the Ron Kirk. There is a full days of activities planned for this coming  March 4th weekend beginning with an opening run at 7:30 AM. The posters went up today on the poster houses located around the Plaza area and at the levee ramp that goes down under the bridges onto the Trinity Skyline Trail.

These Climbing Blocks Are a Favorite

They seem to be seeing more and more big adult kids having fun on the block.

The back-drop has also become a favorite for photo ops.

A Much Better Look At The Red Shoulder

This afternoon as what low level clouds there were had burned off, the sunlight, blue sky and moderate winds not only lifted my spirits, but brought me an afternoon in nature that was just absolutely stunning. And, if that alone was not enough, it got even better, if that  could be possible.

Long story short, patience pays but knowing that it pays even rewards you more. After the discovery of the nest and the mated pair of red shoulders refreshing the enormous nest from last year, I have been watching this particular nest for the 2017 season. There are at least 7 known nest that have some activity with other red shoulders. While the red tails are a bit larger, the red shoulders have become a favorite of mine. The only thing that would stir more interest would be to see a nesting pair of ospreys or, of course, the American Bald Eagles that still show up at White Rock from time to time.

Here is the reason that the afternoon was such a delight.

Tender buds are out and so are the squirrels eating their fill.

This was an amazing young red shoulder to watch. The male was sitting in his usual place high in the nest tree. Later, for here, she dives into a thicket, grabs a mouse and comes half way back up to her blending perch that almost caused me to miss seeing her entirely.

And, of course, with Valentines coming up after the weekend, Happy Valentines Day to all.

Final Post from Oak Cliff

The Parking Meters. The meter maid officer  was nice. She even waved at me later on as she left the area.

The architecture elements on this building are awesome.

10 blocks of this. Active, cultural diverse, retail up one side and down the other, sidewalk cafes and coffee shops.

Additional Pictures Oak Cliff and Acrocats

I like this cat and the bell!

What a Wrap!

Technology has changed our cars, trucks, busses and trains forever.

Move Over Orange County, Dallas has an OC, too!

There are three times in my life that I have vivid memories of where I was when a major historic even took place. First and foremost was November 22, 1963 in Dallas. I was in my senior high school history class 1200 miles away from here when the radio transmissions began to come over the PA system without introduction. Second, was the landing on the moon.I was crossing the Ohio River on Interstate 71/75 on my way north toward the Michigan/Ohio line. Third was the attack on the World Trade Center in New York. Opening my mail box at my apartment here in Dallas, my maintenance man, Dave, was sitting in his truck listening to the report on the radio here in Dallas. I stood outside his truck as we both were silent listening to the boradcast. There was time before I left for work that morning to return to my apartment and watch the second tower fall on TV.

Times change and time moves on. The older I get, the more I come to realize (I'm a science nut) that we are most likely living in parallel worlds and what we think we are (something really special) is in reality, at best, a hologram. In fact, there is growing evidence (and science needs evidence to acknowledge something as true) that we are a holographic universe. Now, before you think me weird, I do believe in the Apostle Creed. Counterpoint? Not at all. There is so much we don't understand about religion and if you follow the bible as a historic book, it even tells us that there are things that we will never understand because we are not ready to have that level of understanding.

Okay, so this is headed toward my trip yesterday to OC.  Here in Dallas, we call it Oak Cliff. Some locals call it the Bishop Arts District and others call it 10 blocks of the most active retail traffic in the United States. But, a whole lot of people call it home. It is an amazing area of beautiful homes, cliffs and scenic views. It is also the the end stop from Dealey Plaza at the Texas theater for Lee Harvey Oswald and officer J.D.Tippit at Jefferson near Zang.

Since it was again in the 80s for early February, it was also the first time that I have worn shorts in 2017, although I could have worn them a couple of previous times. There will be plenty enough times to wear them in really hot Texas summer weather when it hits sooner than we all think it will. But, I do admit that it was much more comfortable with shorts and a t-shirt as I walked both sides of the Jefferson and Bishop crossings. And, I also keep forgetting that the Dallas Streetcar now will take me there with a little walking, too. So, I hope to explore the fab architecture that I like so much later on in the summer or fall.

As I stood outside the Texas theater, I was still left with a rippling emotion that while life goes on and history marks only time, something that day came together in a way that I cannot fully explain. I've been to Dealey Plaza and watched the tourist walk out into the center of Elm Street and stand where the mysterious "X" always reappears, or to look up at that 6th floor window that somehow isn't the real thing but still conveys the event. Or that quiet and ghostly feeling you get standing at Lee Harvey's grave when you should not have that feeling at all.

Hopefully, this summer, I will make it to Laurel Land quietly and peacefully to bring together a moment in history that for me has always felt somewhat incomplete. Perhaps because of how it all began, with a radio signal being rebroadcast through a schools PA system. It's something that I cannot explain, but know where it is coming from in this boy that grew up with a radio station in the family and how those signals have always meant more to me than I could ever explain. That radio station is well documented on wikipedia, but by it being in the family, it is a magnetic charge that draws me to things like a compus.

The Sign

The Ticket Window

Now Playing theatre marquee

When I used to fly  with our pilot on the company plane, that radio signal was like a beacon  to me and I was never lost although it was in a sense a navigational beacon transponder. Looking out the window from thousands of feet above the earth, I knew where I was. That ability is still with me today and days like yesterday gave me a more completeness to the history that I have lived through. All three of these historic events have come to me over a radio signal. JFK. John Glenn's moon landing. 911 on the radio of my maintenance guy, Dave, on a radio in his truck. Don't even try to tell me that a force of nature--quantum physics, no less- is at work and I have tapped into it somehow and feel deep emotional ties. Weird? Even I have to say at this point. Somewhat!

Upcoming ----yet today----
There will be an additional post of pictures for the Acrocats. For my youngest brother-- yes, the car had California plates! I bet it's been in Truckee, too!

Being In The Right Place At The Right Time

The afternoon started out with a plan. That plan had holes in it from the beginning. The old water tower in Rowlett that survived the Christmas Tornadoes a year ago, was later determined to be unsafe and would have to come down. That day took a year to come to the point that today would be the day. So, since it is pretty much a straight shot for me to get there on my spoke wheel shooting route, I stopped at Whataburger to get the namesake burger and a chocolate shake. I had hardly made it into Garland when Garland police were racing up and down side streets. It was pretty obvious that they were looking for something or someone.
As I drove along sipping on my shake that was so thick I could have done better with a spoon. That's the way that I like shakes and one of the big reasons why I still go to Whataburger for my shakes.  Every one else has changed up there shakes to make it more "Starbucky" I suppose. Even the last hold out was DQ and when they went to the plastic top stuffed with whip cream and a cherry, I said to my self," Self, we are going to Whataburger from now on for our shakes."

I'm now about three miles up the road and this motorcycle cop come whizzing by zigging in and out of traffic doing every bit of 75 or better. Then here comes a regular SUV patrol car trailing the cycle cop.By my last car count that was a total of 6. The guy got his man, he had the guy and his little white sports car pulled over in a garage parking lot and the SUV patrol car was coming out of the car. Don't want to know what that was about. But, driving on, when I got to Rowlett, there were 5 Rowlett police cars sitting at the light. Again, I didn't even want to know what was going on there.  I got to what I thought was the water tower-- only to find out it was farther north.

While there, it was time to check on the sellout job the city of Dallas did on the city park that was right on Lake Ray Hubbard. The city even put it up for a vote and it was one of those deals where the wording was yes for no and no for yes. It even tricked me. Then I found out listening to Dallas City Council Meetings on WRR that the city sold out to raise money. Not in the best interest of all citizens. They gave away one of the best pieces of ground in Dallas county to the city of Rockwall basically because they were desperate. And the land is in Dallas Country but now owned by the city of Rockwall  of the same county. Oh it will be for the  developer, not the city( laugh here please). The property will match the other side of the causeway. In short, our elected officials sold us out lock stock and millions to  line someone's pockets. ( We all know where those kinds of deals go and the city never sees the money anyway.)  I learned from the city of Detroit when in high school that you didn't use Police and Fire Pension Funds to finance construction projects. The city of Dallas is looking at a major shortage in just that department right now because they financed a high rise lux condo tower across from the Arts District.

Just last week, I was talking to a guy who brought up Para sailing and I mentioned to him that I had shot a lot of images out there but since it is fenced off and posted and all  private now (so much for the citizens benefits). I had mentioned to him that I was still looking for where the group had gone or what happened to the group. When, to day, out of the corner of my eye, I saw beautiful para sails in the sky in the same place that they once had used, only this time, they were the only ones that could get into the place. So shooting could not be like before.

When I got out of my car, here comes this big F250-maybe even a F350, I flagged him down, but later realized he was checking me out or the car or what ever and that he was watching the properly, even the open boat dock. I mentioned to him in our short conversation that I was still a bit mad over the way the deal went down in city hall.  He rubbed this index finger and thunb together and said lots of money. I later said, $14 million. Then he drove back to were he was parking and re parked. I shot the para sailers only to see one sail come flying off the ground and into the lake. With gust as has as 32 mph and steady winds of 20 mph the waves and swells were growing and lapping at my feet on the dock area. I continued to shoot the sail as it would lift out of the water and then fall flat on the surface. Then out of the corner of my eye again, I saw a guy in a full wet suit running along the curving shoreline as the para sail continued to move away from the shoreline, although I had already figured out that once it got a bit farther out, it would begin to come my way as the 3-5 foot swells were coming right at my feet.

The pictures will tell the rest of the story except that another guy in a Range Rover and wet suit  arrived just as the other guy had jumped into the water to try to catch the sail before it was snagged in the trees and underbrush. He also jumped into the water. I drove back to the guy in the big F-what ever and mentioned to him that the number that I had tossed out to him had come from Dallas City Council meetings that had aired over WRR. We agreed that the less number was for the land, but that the final deal of many millions more was for other rights and goodies. He mentioned $45 million. I'm getting the impression that the guy has a stronger tie to the deal than just sitting in a big Ford F1 or 2 or 350. Did you know that Ford even makes a F650? Well, they do. It's a big monster, too!

I never did find the water tower. It was on the news tonight. Lots of people were there. All I found out was that the next time I'm going to Rockwall, I'm going to Boots Hamburgers. The guy still runs the hamburger joint out the back of his house (legal of course) and is only open about 2 hours a day. Like he said," It's my business. I can run it when I want." I grew up with a hole in the wall burger joint that I still get that smell in my head today and have never found a burger that comes close to it other than a plan Whataburger with mayo. So going to Boots is now a mission in search of my childhood burger taste for another day.

This is the guy that was chasing the sail from the shoreline

The shoreline here is very rocky.

The swells were 3-5 feet with gust winds of 32mph and substained winds of 20MPH

New Uniform Police Park Rangers Are Here

The last five years the growth of Dallas' Park System has not only grown, but it has tons of increased visitors to the parks. The new uniform officers will have police power on patrol and the best part is that they will begin enforcing the city ordinances that are on the books----like no off road parking!!!!!!!

They were relieved in the 1980s because of budget restraints, but the city council is well aware that the need to have them back is now!.

There will be changes that some will not like, I'm sure. but in other cities the size of Dallas, they are a good thing overall. They will have a speaker forum as well and they can come as a speaker to your groups. Always check with the city website for further information. Also, more Rangers will be hired in the short term. So when you see the green and white pickup-truck patrolling in the city parks, give the new Rangers a warm welcome and wave.

New Uniformed Police Rangers for the Dallas City Parks.