Moving 20Miles Per Day

Nature has an app that works pretty well year in and year out. Once in-a-while, it gets snarled up but hey, "that's life"---or as they say in midtown Manhattan, "You'll have that from time to time, yes you will." Already, I hear my mid-town and upper west side friends racing to get back to the steel pilings in South Hampton, Riverhead and Brentwood. Hello, Mike! Hello, Steve. Hello, Denis.  This could be very confusing, but there is a Steve in Riverhead and one in S. Hampton. Denis in Brentwood and another Mike in the Westbury area.

The white flowering trees are fully out as well as red buds like this.

The Daffodils

This is Winfrey Point, the highest point at White Rock Lake. During WWII Winfrey Point was wooden barricks that served as a prison camp for Rommel's North African Army. (The Desert Fox's men lived at Winfrey Point as prisoners.)

Red bud trees, flowering trees, new growth are showing up all over the Metroplex.  And--get this--there has not been a single day in February that has hit the freezing mark. Spring, my friends, has sprung!

When that happens, it even has an official measure. A measure that says that spring moves northward at a calculated rate of approximately 20 miles per day. Ironically, when the leaves begin to turn up north, the peak colors move south at a rate of approximately 20 miles per day. Now, that's an app that mother nature perfected eons ago. Amazing. It's truly amazing. But, you take the facts that the Tropic of Capricorn that is the southern most point that the sun reaches on that first day of winter; spring or fall occur when the sun crosses the equator and of course,when the sun hits that  most northern point that is know as the Tropic of Cancer, we have summer and the southern hemisphere has winter. In other words, the northern and southern hemisphere are in reverse. So the old Celtics, Mayans and other early cultures payed attention to those things in order to live. Now, we just take things for granted and don't even stop long enough to say thank you.

So, here's to spring 2017. May it be everything we anticipate. Anything more---well, that's just a gift don't you think?

Happy Valentine's Day

It is raining in Dallas. What was I to do?

Peek-A-Boo

Many times I have gone looking for examples to draw a more simplistic conclusion to a discussion or a problem or to prove a point. In short: a picture is worth a thousand words for any of the above. For good or for bad, today, that tenant still works today. It seems that in this age of social media, people take great personal pride in that mess. For me, I actually totally dislike social media. The days of the old telex machines in a new room or radio station or television news room was much more accurate, more to the point and always sourced. You knew when the news bells went off that something worthwhile was happening and you raced to find out what it was. Then, you sat on the edge of your seat waiting for updates.

Do I want to go back in time? No, not really. I look at that question in a different way. If all the Face books, Google's, yahoos, e-bays, amazons, etc.,etc., were to fail today I could still carry on with the old pencil and paper form. I'm not saying that I want some cosmic force to upset our magnetic fields and play havoc with our orbiting platforms in space. I'm just saying that knowing where to look and when to look and what to look for is the edge that the new tech businesses don't have. The old ways were time-tested and dependable. So, I continue to look for examples.

Should I be doing more consulting? Yes. But, I don't want to create something for the sake of just creating it. I still want it to be functional and have a worthwhile need. I have never liked doing work twice. It's the same as interest paid twice.

Doug Parker turned down a trip to the White House. There was a time when a CEO may have had previous engagements, but when the President of the United States invited you to a meeting or a conference, you found a way to get there. It's a priority kind of thing. It's a sense of urgency.  But Doug is just that kind of such a great CEO that he tells the President he can't make it to the White House. American Airlines passed on a meeting at the White House. That says a lots why the new uniforms are causing the employees to itch and scratch from the material, or his company cannot paint an airplane that shows the kind of pride that the airline once had. Yes, I know. People say they like the new livery. People also tell little white lies. But the fact is, the current generation of livery for American is so MD-80 boring! Take a picture of the tail and see how chewed up the paint is on the tail. There are plenty of Nikon 600MM glass focused on your tail every single day from coast-to-coast like apple butter on toast.

There my be something, however, that puts things into a simplified form in the old way of doing business.

A row of new rooftops after new rooftops and a field next to the subdivision with rolls of hay still in the field. Holding out for a better price, most likely. I went past a piece of property in Preston Hollow today that now has a new sign saying: 4 Lots for Sale. It once was a single piece of property. On either side and up and down the street are MC Mansion style homes with what I call handshaking neighbors that never have to leave their individual houses to shake hands, just open a window and reach out and shake hands.

Alaska Air painted this plane especially to celebrate the approval of the sale of Virgin American to Alaska Air. It's called More to Love with a blend of red paint from Virgin American to the royal blue fade and the Eskimo on the tail. Tom Braniff would be so proud of Alaska Air. Up to this point, Gary Kelly, at Southwest,  is the only good student to Tom Braniff's "How to Paint and Airplane" legacy.In short, this plane says that Virgin at Love Field where Southwest controls the gates, is now a closed deal for new owner Alaska Air and the Eskimo on the tail ties to Alaska Airs Livery. An excellent merge for a merger in paint. Why can all the other airlines get it and Doug boy doesn't even think he needs to go with his industry leaders when the President calls. WOW. that is arrogant.

Even the sweet ladies around Love Field were expressing a more of a LOVE theme than a Happy Valentine's  theme of the past. Do they have a marketing guy that's paying attention?

 

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.