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Metropolitan Life

A few local shots over the past month ...

This is Museum Tower going-up in December.

Seguey tour at Market and Pacific.

Welborn at Hall Street, late afternoon.

American Airlines Center ...

Downtown from one of the bridges in Oak Cliff ...

... but as my friend Zhang Yu in China would say, "Yeah, but where are all the people?"

Twister

A couple of weeks ago we had a tornado in Dallas.

In fifty years I have never seen a tornado in person before, and considering where I live you would think it would be as casual as seeing cows.

Once in Mexico I was indoors and suddenly out of nowhere a cold wind blew through and everything in the garden stood up on its hind legs. Laundry, dust, scrap paper, all of it suddenly whirled-up in the air. I ran outdoors and a funnel passed over the house, and I excitedly pointed up in the air and said, "Tornado! Look!"

"Noooooo Gringo," they said, as lackadaisical as if they'd seen a cow, "It's a remolino." Cold air comes down from the mountains in the afternoon and mixes with the hot desert air in the valleys and creates these 500 foot high whirlwinds.

With civil defense sirens going off that Wednesday and the thickness of the air and the lowness of the scudding clouds, I knew I was going to see a twister. I had even been following it on radar and knew where to look. I saw the wall cloud, but buildings and things were in the way from my vantage point and I couldn't see anything.

As it turns out, it was a very very polite tornado, mostly kicking up dust and debris, then casually flinging an 18-wheeler into a warehouse, and no one was hurt. It was the perfect tornado for Dallas: All of the drama and none of the commitment.

Wisteria

A Further Study in Contrasts

Last Night ...

 

This afternoon ...

Snow Daze

This was taken last night after 24 hours of uninterrupted snow. It was the most snowfall in Dallas since 1924.

Eleven inches.

It would have been thicker but there was a little bit of a melt midday yesterday, and a good thing too because as it is, tree limbs are down all over town and many places are without power.

This is Kinda Cool

I was downtown Monday doing downtown things, when I happened upon this amazing twenty-story billboard on the face of the Bank of America Plaza celebrating the coming All Star Game coming to Dallas soon

However, I was wrong ... its really THIRTY EIGHT stories tall. That's pretty amazing.

This just in ... Autumn 2009

 

This Afternoon at White Rock Lake Spillway

A view of the refurbishment of one of Dallas' hidden treasures.

 

And the classic White Rock Lake pic ...

East Dallas Peregrinations

Today was a day of chores mixed with some light exploring.

I thought I would begin by taking some Fall photos, but there is not much color happening around here (yet) as there was last year ... but last year's color was more to the end of November, so we'll see what develops.

I went to Old East Dallas, to the Wilson Block of Swiss Avenue near downtown, but all the trees there are 120 year old live oaks; not much color there.

So I then went to unload some storage, and on the return leg I picked up some tamales and then went to La Huasteca, a store I saw days earlier in passing which I thought might have some Mexican honey from the Huasteca area. But no, it turned out to be a very lovely restaurant with plenty of ice cremes, pero no miel.

Across the street was Fruiteria Cano, my favorite place to get good fresh fruits. They sell fresh aguas drinks in many tropical flavors, fresh chunk fruits already cut-up for you, many paletas, which are Mexican fresh fruit popsicles, and ice cremes again. However, again no honey.

Finally, I was starving, so I went by La Princesa, my favorite Mexican restaurant that I have not been able to go to for a year or so because of the economy. I have joked in the past that the restaurant is actually a front operation for a vast ice creme empire, which in fact is true. Despite the glories of the restaurant, their primary business in the adjoining building is an ice creme plant of that makes frozen sweets that are shipped all over the Southwest.

I was expecting a Sunday afternoon throng, but as it turns out, I was the only one there.

During a lengthy discussion in Spanish with my server, she said that the crowds have not been by for some time now because of the economy and the shifting Hispanic work population in Dallas, so they usually close by six. This is truly terrible, because their food is EXCEPTIONAL. I have taken clients there from all over the world and they all have raved.

Chiefly, their Guiso de Res, an unctuous beef stew of tomatoes and chilis that ... ohhhhhh ... its just marvelous. I could have had TWO plates. I thought about asking for one to go.

So if you get a chance, drop by the intersection of Philip and Graham Street and give them a try and help keep a good thing going!

Reassurringly Underfoot

Original brick pavement revealed by construction on Field Street between Pacific and Elm in Downtown Dallas on Monday, August 24th, 2009.

Its always fascinating to see archaeology-in-action ... digs in Rome and Alexandria go down twenty feet and the various eras over 2500 years are neatly stratified and you think, "Why is that? How does it get buried? You'd think people would sweep up!"

But here in Dallas, after only 150 years the street is already a foot thick.