Dallas / Fort Worth and Me

While tooling around looking for the neighborhood of Lower Greenville recently, I somehow ended up at White Rock Lake and came across the Bath House Cultural Center. Now, anyone who knows Dallas would probably wonder how the hell I managed to end up there when I was supposedly heading for a whole other part of the city, and don’t ask me how it happened; my only excuse is that I was suffering from a combination of too much heat, irritation at a condescending store clerk, an upset stomach, and an annoying bout of moving house. Yes, I really have been living in Dallas for 15 years, and yes, I really did get completely turned around the other day. These things happen to me. Look, shut up.*

Bookmark to:

[Read more →]

Danger, Will Robinson!

I’m going to warn you about this ahead of time: if you’re a PETA member or just don’t like hunting and fishing, then this entry is not for you. But I figure you’re more or less like me, Devoted Reader, or you wouldn’t return here again and again (all three of you who do). See, I’m from semi-rural East Texas, where hunting and fishing are an integral part of the lifestyle. While I can understand why people might choose not to do either, I don’t really see anything wrong with it, as long as you’re not wiping out an endangered species. Yes, and that’s coming from a political liberal, too.

Bookmark to:

[Read more →]

Well, folks, I’m back from my trip to Far East Texas, otherwise known as the Carolinas. I had a great time while vacationing, and the landscape was beautiful, but alas — since it’s a bit far from DFW, I won’t be going into too much detail on this blog about what I saw and did. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to offer you a little information about my trip, so here’s a nice website about the cool archaeological site I visited while I was away. It’s called Topper, and contains evidence that people might have been in South Carolina as early as 50,000 years ago (!).

Bookmark to:

[Read more →]

Welcome back to our whirlwind tour of White Rock Lake, that watery oasis in the middle of East Dallas. Previously, I discussed the dam complex and the lake itself; today, we’ll explore a few more of its wonders.By the way, here’s the new house I just bought on the shores of White Rock Lake:

Bookmark to:

[Read more →]

And now it’s time for a visit to everyone’s favorite Metroplex reservoir, the famous White Rock Lake! This 1,254-acre body of water, so named because it was formed from damming White Rock Creek in East Dallas in 1910, was originally created to provide a source of drinking water for the rapidly growing city. That lasted only until it was superseded by Lake Dallas (now Lake Lewisville) back in the 1930s. White Rock doesn’t provide much of Dallas’ drinking water these days, but it has become a recreational fixture in the Metroplex. It’s also used as a coolant source for a local power plant, I believe, and the old waterworks has become a historic site on the National Record of Historic Places.

Bookmark to:

[Read more →]

Before we get started, a quick riddle: what did the fish say when it swam into the concrete wall?

“Dam!”*

Bwahahaha! Well. Now that that’s out of my system, I’d like to introduce you to one of my favorite places: Lake Lavon. Of course, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers insists on calling it Lavon Lake. Okay, they created it, so I guess they can name it — but it’s Lake Lavon to the vast majority of people who live in the area, and even the state of Texas uses the popular term.

Bookmark to:

[Read more →]

As you may recall, I’ve just finished a humongous move, which really sapped my time and energy. I moved from Richardson, near Highway 75 (or Central Expressway, as we call it in this part of Texas), down to south Garland, about 15 miles away, not far from Interstate 30. While we’re that much further from Deep Ellum and the cultural mecca that is Fort Worth, we’re closer to some other neat places, not least of which are the Mequite Rodeo and Lake Ray Hubbard, one of the area’s largest reservoirs. Here’s what it looks like from Interstate 30, gazing southwest:

Bookmark to:

[Read more →]