“Losing faith is a complicated business and takes time. There are no epiphanies, no “moments of truth.” It takes much thought and concentration in the later phases, which thenselves come about through an accumulation of small accidents: examples of general injustice, misfortune falling upon the godly, prayers of one’s own unanswered.”
― Thomas Pynchon, V.
Fair Park
Dallas, Texas
“Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don’t go along with that. The memories I value most, I don’t ever see them fading.”
― Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
Mural, Fair Park
Dallas, Texas
I have always loved the Art Deco Murals along the Esplanade in Fair Park. I think they are among the many unappreciated public artworks in the city. The ones along the southern side have been beautifully restored.
However, the murals on the North Side – exposed to the southern sun – are very faded and in need of loving care (and very hard to photograph). I hope they get some, they are just as gorgeous as the others.
Mural, Fair Park
Dallas, Texas
I love the art deco murals and sculptures in Fair Park. My favorite may be the Spirit of the Centennial sculpture in front of the Woman’s Building.
I have seen it in the daylight many times and took some photos of it. But I had never had a good look at it at night. It glows with a preternatural beauty – worth a gander, for sure.
Spirit of the Centennial, Woman’s Building, Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Spirit of the Centennial, Woman’s Building, Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Leonhardt Lagoon, Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
(click to enlarge)
I made it a point on the Stop and Photograph the Roses bike ride to swing by Fair Park. I love the Art Deco architecture, sculpture, and murals there. Plus, there is Leonhardt Lagoon, with the incredible 1986 walk-on sculpture by Patricia Johanson, Saggitaria Platyphylla (Delta Duckpotato).
“The lagoon was in the middle of Dallas’ largest park with four major museums along the shore, and it seemed a wonderful opportunity to convert it into a home for native wildlife—ducks, turtles, fish, shrimp, insects—by cleaning up the water and conceiving of landscaping as food. The “sculpture” was thought of as not just aesthetic, but rather a means of bringing people into contact with the plants and animals and the water.”
—-Patricia Johanson
It’s interesting, but there really is a Sagittaria Platyphylla (Delta Duckpotato) – it’s a water weed. The only thing is, the real thing is spelled slightly differently than the title of the sculpture (one G, two T’s). I’m sure she did this on purpose – for something of this size, you want to get it right.
Saggitaria Platyphylla (Delta Duckpotato)
Saggitaria Platyphylla (Delta Duckpotato)
Saggitaria Platyphylla (Delta Duckpotato)
A pond in Fair Park. The red paths are part of a massive sculpture by Patricia Johanson. I have always loved those red paths running through the water, weeds, and turtles. A neglected jewel in the city.
A while back, Chris of Biking in Dallas contacted me to help set up a bicycle ride. He and Amanda of Dallas Cycle Style had the idea of a slow bike ride dedicated to photography.
The idea is that on so many bike rides you see something that you want to stop and look at – or take a photograph of – but the ride goes on. We wanted to do a ride that was purposefully slow, more or less dedicated to photography, and that would go and stop whenever the fancy took us. The ride was called Stop and Photograph the Roses.
I took on the task of designing the route. We wanted to start in the Dallas Arts District, visit downtown and some photogenic spots in the area. My first routes were too long with too many stops. Thinking about it, there were simply too many places that I thought people would want to see and take pictures of.
So I whittled it down. And whittled it down some more. And finally took a last couple out. Out were Klyde Warren Park, the original Belo Park, the Bowler Hat and the rest of the Cedars….
What was left was a route that started at One Main Place, went through the Arts District, then on to the new Belo Garden Park by way of the Dallas Eye. Then Commerce Street to The Farmer’s Market – with a stop there for rest and lunch. Finally, a short ride past some favorite murals of mine to Fair Park and then a return through Deep Ellum.
We had a surprisingly good turnout – maybe thirty folks. As the day went along, it began to get hot and we lost some folks along the route – there is so much going on this time of year, but more than a handful stuck it out the whole way.
I think everyone had a good time. It will be cool to see the photos that everybody else took as they filter across the internet. The one disadvantage of planning the route is that I was familiar with almost everything along the way – and already have taken (and placed on this blog) shots of most of what we saw.
Still, that let me enjoy the ride more than the photography – and I still collected enough for a few blog entries to fill in some upcoming days.
And now I think of the places we didn’t go. Maybe we can do another….
Cyclists arriving at Belo Garden Park.
Amanda, Chris, and I
There is a cool little hill in Belo Garden Park
Stopping to look at a mural along Hickory Street. This is a part of the city most folks don’t visit.
Bikes along Leonhardt Lagoon in Fair Park.
A Facebook Video from Andrew Pearson – an interview with Chris Curnutt on how the ride came about.
Texas Star, Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
(click to enlarge)
“A Boat
O beautiful
was the werewolf
in his evil forest.
We took him
to the carnival
and he started
crying
when he saw
the Ferris wheel.
Electric
green and red tears
flowed down
his furry cheeks.
He looked
like a boat
out on the dark
water.”
― Richard Brautigan
A pond in Fair Park.
I spent a few more minutes sweeping the bridge over the Trinity River than I had intended, so I had to rush out. Bike Friendly Richardson was doing their annual Black Friday Ride at 1PM and I only had twenty minutes to get out to Beltline and 75. It shouldn’t have been a problem, but this was Black Friday and my GPS showed a dark red streak at 75 and Northwest – folks were backed up trying to get into Northpark Mall. Nothing to do but wait it out.
So often when I’m in my car these days I wish I was on the bike.
It wasn’t too late when I arrived… I was able to put my old Technium together and ride out with the group, no problem.
It was a very nice, easy ride – a ten mile tour of the “other” side of Richardson, across 75 from where I live. I said, “It’s nice to ride around Richardson and not look for sculptures.” We stopped at the Pearl Cup for some coffee and then rode back. The weather was perfect – not a breath of wind… maybe a little cool when stopped, a little warm when pedaling.
Bike Friendly Richardson, Black Friday Ride
(click to enlarge)
Bike Friendly Richardson, Black Friday Ride
(click to enlarge)
Bike Friendly Richardson, Black Friday Ride
(click to enlarge)
Waiting for a flat to get fixed.
After the ride, I should have stopped in for some beer at Haystack, but this was only the second of three bike events I wanted to do. This was the last Friday of the month – so it was best that I head home and get ready for Critical Mass. I was worried about the weather, but shouldn’t have been – it was as nice as it could be.
Usually I am a stickler about leaving my house on my bike but today I thought it prudent to drive to the Forest Lane DART station and leave from there. That way, if I missed the midnight train home, I could ride to that station on the White Rock and Cottonwood trails.
The Critical Mass rides are getting smaller now that the winter is here, but there were enough hard-core fans to make it fun. One interesting thing about these rides is that nobody knows where they are going until they get there. The Black Friday route looped through downtown and then Deep Ellum, ending up on a winding path through Fair Park.
Riding through the fairgrounds with a big group on bicycles after dark was pretty interesting and a lot of fun. We wound through the art deco buildings, past the wonderful murals that loomed overhead in the gloom of darkness, and around the sculptures gleaming as best as they could in the murk. Finally we looped past the bright lights and giddy crowds of the Chinese Lantern Festival which was a riot of bright color thrust above the opaque night.
A pond in Fair Park. The red paths are part of a massive sculpture by Patricia Johanson. I have always loved those red paths running through the water, weeds, and turtles. A neglected jewel in the city.
– it was a lot darker on the bike ride, of course.
Mural at Fair Park, taken during the day.
The bicycles poured out of the park and everyone split up to go to their favorite night spot. I had a quick beer at Craft and Growler and then received a text that Candy and Lee were with friends and relatives at Rustic, in Uptown. After some thought, I realized I could get there on my bike, so I rode up Exposition, through Deep Ellum, across Downtown, then turned north through Uptown to get to Rustic.
I really enjoy riding my bicycle through the big city at night. The traffic is broken up and I have decent lights, so I feel surprisingly safe. The cool night air, the giant glittering buildings overhead, and the close look at the heart of the metropolis from the saddle is a lot more fun that fighting the traffic and looking for parking spaces.
I locked my bike outside on a light pole and walked past the disapproving stares of the doormen carrying my helmet under my arm. The Rustic isn’t my kind of place, but it was fun to see everybody. One good thing is that it is right next to the turntable at the end of the streetcar line and the long escalator down into the DART tunnel – so we rode that back to my car and home. Taking my bicycle down that escalator was a bit awkward – but it worked.
Candy’s car was at another DART station so I left again on my bike to go pick it up, getting home at about one AM. A nice long Black Friday – mostly on a bicycle.
Leonhardt Lagoon, Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Leonhardt Lagoon, Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
(click to enlarge)
Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
(click to enlarge)
Bill Chance 