Tag Archives: park

Beck Park

Posted on by Bill Chance

From when I worked Downtown I have had an fond appreciation for small “pocket” parks in the dense urban core. I have a deep love for these tiny jewel-like pieces of nature stuck down in the concrete vastness.

A really nice one in Dallas is Beck Park, a private oasis that is open for public use. Carefully designed, it is a set of four “room” with a waterfall, some rocks, grass, and tables.

I like it and miss the days when I worked down there. Maybe some day during the holidays the weather will be nice enough for me to go down there and sit for a while, read a little, write a little, relax. That would be nice.

A skyscraper towers over the water feature in Beck Park

 

I forgot to write down the name and artist of this sculpture in Beck Park

Bob Woodruff and Oak Point

Posted on by Bill Chance

The horrible heat that has gripped North Texas for months now finally broke this week. My intention is to, for as long as the weather is bearable, try to go for a bike ride every day- or at least as often as possible.

On Saturday, the weather was nice and I had a little time to spare in the morning. I thought for a bit, and decided to drive my car with my bike in the trunk up to one of my favorite spots, Bob Woodruff Park in Plano and go for a ride. I parked at the south part of the park, put my bicycle together, did a little light maintenance, and took off.

That section of the park, south of Park Boulevard, is a beautiful grove of thick trees nestled in a curve of creekbed. I have enjoyed going there for decades – something about the dappled light coming down through the branches is so relaxing….

Bob Woodruff Park

I love this spot in Plano's Bob Woodruff Park - a perfect grove of trees.

One time, years ago, I wrote about the place:

 There are few things as beautiful as dappled sunlight meandering down through a grove of trees.

I simply couldn’t take it any more today and had to get away, so after hitting the old todo list as hard as I could from seven to eleven I took half a day of vacation and booted out of work. I drove to a park and found a little nook in the creeky woods to spread a blanket for awhile. The weather was perfect, a cloudy morning burning away to a sunny afternoon.

The illusion of being out of the city was alarming and wonderful. Despite being smack-dab in the middle of the booming northern suburbs I barely saw a soul, heard almost no sound. I ate some fruit; the pinapple was the best I’ve ever tasted.

A woodpecker rat-a-tat-tatted overhead. One oak amazed me with its huge size. It must be almost two hundred years old.

There are few things as beautiful as dappled sunlight meandering down through a grove of trees.

I checked the date… October 15, 1998 – almost thirteen years ago. It seemed warm that day, hard to believe it was October. The grove of trees hasn’t changed, though. Today it was a lot more crowded – everyone is out and about in the sudden, surprising nice weather.

Bicentennial Tree

The plaque at the base of the Plano Bicentennial Burr Oak.

There are some big trees there. One is the Plano Bicentennial Oak (renamed  the Plano Quincentennial Bur Oak – it was older than they thought). It has a plaque mounted on a concrete stand that says:

 1767 – 1987

The National Arborist Association and the international society of arboriculture jointly recognize this significant tree in this bicentennial year as having lived here at the time of the signing of our constitution.

I could have hung out in the dappled sunlight all day – but I wanted some exercise, so I pedalled out. From looking at Google maps I had seen that a whole new park had been added to the north of Bob Woodruff – it was called the Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve and it has a complex of concrete trails webbed across it.

The new park was a blast. I spent the rest of the morning exploring and trying to cover all the trails, even the Santa Fe trail that branched out into the neighborhoods to the west.

What surprised me was that there were some hills to ride up. In the northern corners of the park trails branched out and coursed up some hills. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed riding hills – the burning legs, thumping heart, and empty lungs – it reminds you that you are alive.

Oak Point Nature Preserve

From this picture you would think I was out in the country somewhere, cruising the Great Plains, rather than in the heart of the urban, tony suburb of Plano, Texas. Look how dry the grass is... you can see how the fires in Texas are happening. Most of the trail winds around the ponds and creek bottom woods in the background.

The weather was nice, though the drought has left the lakes drying up, the trees stressed, and the grass as yellow as hay. There were a lot of people out – couples, families, a couple of crowds that looked like whole neighborhoods. Everyone was friendly, everyone said Hi as they passed on the trail.

Entrance

The entrance to Oak Point Nature Preserve on the North Side. This is actually at the top of a little hill.

I rode almost twelve miles on the trails and visited most of the area.

A good day.

Pocket Park

Posted on by Bill Chance

Though it was fantastically hot today, I decided to go for a bicycle ride. I resurrected my Camelback hydration pack and filled a couple extra bottles with iced water and set out. I wasn’t going to go very far or too push myself too much… just get a little exercise in.

The other day I rode a bit of the Glenville trail over to Duck Creek and then a bit up the Owens trail under the power lines. Today, I decided to go the other way and ride the length of the Glenville trail there and back.

The heat was plenty hot but I felt fine and without further ado I was at the south end of the trail. The Glenville trail stops in the middle of a neighborhood – I understand the original plans were to extend the trail farther and link up with some other routes but the railroad wouldn’t grant a right-of-way. I wanted to go a bit more so I wound around on some sidewalks, crossed the railroad, and went to an alley to take a rest at the Memorial “Pocket Park” at Centennial and Grove.

I go by this little park every day on the way to work and it confuses me. It a very nice tiny park (the city says it is 0.84 acres) and has extensive landscaping and nice little curving brick walls that are the perfect height to sit on. There is a flagpole and a large bronze plaque that honors the city’s war heroes. The city must spend a lot of time and money on landscaping work to keep it looking so good.

Memorial Park, Richardson, Texas

Memorial Park, Richardson, Texas

If you look in one direction, you see the pretty little isolated park.

Centennial Street

Centennial Street

But the other direction is all busy street, fast food, gas stations, liquor stores.

The thing is, I never see anybody actually in the park. Nobody uses it. That isn’t surprising because there is no way to get to it. It is bordered by busy streets on two sides, with a high wall enclosing the third. No parking, no through path, no access from the neighborhood… nothing. Why did they build this? Why do they spend the money on upkeep?

Across Grove street is Woodhaven Park with a small parking area and a playground. I’m sure it is useful to the folks in the neighborhood with children. But to get to Memorial, you have to walk across at the light and then… there you are.

I guess that’s fine with me. I had the place to myself and I settled down in the shade to finish off my ice water and rest a bit, then packed up and headed home. Maybe I’ll ride there again, take my kindle and my Alphasmart with me and settle in for a while. I don’t think I’ll be disturbed.

Memorial Plaque

Memorial Plaque

This is the bronze memorial plaque from the little park. You can see it in the picture above right in front of my bike.

Detail from Memorial Plaque

Detail from Memorial Plaque

If  you are not from the South, you might be a bit surprised to see the C.S.A. by the names of the Civil War heroes. If you can’t guess, that stands for Confederate States of America. The Huffhines family is very prominent in Richardson to this day. You might even be surprised to see that it isn’t even called “The Civil War” but “The War Between the States.” Welcome to Texas.

As I was sitting there thinking I realized that the route I had chosen was on my way to work and I had ridden more than halfway. Can I ride my bike to work?

The route past that point is more treacherous – there are no trails and at rush hour there will be a lot of traffic. There is one spot on Buckingham Road that curves through a wooded area with no sidewalks – I’ve always been afraid of that spot – it would be dangerous for a slow bike rider like me. But maybe I can find a different route. There are some alleys and a new development to the north… let me see.

What would it take to be a bicycle commuter? I threw away the rack for my bike years ago, I should get a new one to hold a change of clothes. I could get a light for the winter time. Other than that… If I could work on it a bit, improve my fitness, lose some weight… I could get to work on a bike almost as fast as I can in a car.

It’s funny, I don’t live very far from work… maybe six miles. But the thought of being able to ride to work two or three days a week – it sounds to me like climbing Everest or getting Hannibal’s elephants over the Alps.

Something to think about, though. Something to work on.

 My route today… only 5 and a half miles, but a nice way to get out of the house.