I am in the final stages of finishing my book of short stories that I want to publish on the Kindle, and am struggling with the illustrations for the book. I want to put some in simply to add interest but I don’t know how many. For one thing they add size to the file, and that takes up more room on Amazon’s servers and on the reader’s Kindle. Mostly, however, I simply am not a graphic artist and don’t feel qualified to produce story illustrations.

I’m looking for photographs that I can manipulate and stick in the book. I needed one of a unique looking gas station, and set out early in the morning on a photographic quest. I wanted to take some pictures at Fair Park of the Art Deco sculptures and murals  and on the way drove around the neighborhood looking for a gas station.

If you are not familiar with the Dallas area let’s simply say that the neighborhoods around Fair Park are not the most affluent in the city. You would not want to wander around there late at night. Early in the morning, however, they are pleasant enough. Driving down one of the major thoroughfares, I drove past the exact gas station I was looking for and made a right turn into the neighborhood to loop around and find a spot to get a picture.

The streets were very quiet and narrow, the small garishly painted wood frame houses set back in the shade of a forest of mature trees. Their windows and doors were all covered with a mesh of iron bars . As I turned onto a narrow side street that led back to the thoroughfare right across from the gas station I saw the road was blocked by the body of a pit bull stretched out dead in the middle of the road. He must’ve been hit by a car in the middle of the night. I was glad that Candy was not with me; it would have upset her a lot.

The road was so narrow I had to steer to the curb on the left side to avoid the dog. Driving slowly, I maneuvered around the corpse and turned into a parking lot, pulled my camera out and began to shoot the gas station. After each shot I couldn’t help but glance over at the pit bull and noticed that at least he didn’t seem to be torn up or bleeding or anything like that.

After my last picture I turned, looked, and jumped. The pitbull was sitting up and looking at me. The dog had been sleeping in the middle of the road. As I looked closer I noticed two more smaller pitbulls snoozing in the weeds nearby. For Dallas, it was a cool and crisp morning and I suppose the dog had picked the warmest spot he could find. He didn’t even budge when I drove around him in my car.

After staring at me for a second he stretched back out and went back to sleep. I drove on to Fair Park and took some more pictures. I was glad he was not hurt, and amazed at his bravery and resolute attitude. I guess a pitbull feels he owns the neighborhood – damn the cars.

What’s odd is, if you’ve read my stories, you know how close this all is to something I’ve written. If you haven’t… wait a month, spend 99 cents, and buy the book when it comes out.

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.

One of the many fantastic Art Deco art works in Fair Park - the recently restored Countertenor.