Hello from DFW, Dallas, Texas! A four-month lapse in updates is somewhat deplorable but thank goodness for long lay-overs in which to finally mellow out with a mocha latte and play with pictures. :) The humorous part of it is that I'm already two weeks out from my weekend with the ladies in the Roses, my college household. In fact, I'm heading out to California just now, but apparently it takes crossing state lines and official vacation time to allow mental and scheduling space for blogging!
But two weeks ago I actually spent the weekend Texas with my college household sisters...
April is Texas' loveliest time of year, I suspect. It was also much milder and more in-bloom than Illinois was that week! It felt like a true vaction, if only for 48 hours. :)
There is nothing like friendships that have taken root over years (college + 7!) to bring out the best and the most relaxed side of one's personality. It has been a long time since I spent two full days just soaking up friendship... Good coffee, slow mornings, botanical gardens, and superb fajitas and margherita's never hurt! And there's good reason for that. My reading time on the plane today was spent on some essays by Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche communities. There I found a beautiful comment capturing this:
"Autonomy can be good to a certain extent, but in our community a number of people who wanted to live alone fell into loneliness and alcoholism. It always comes back to belonging....
"... We have to discover more fully that the Church is a place of compassion and fecundity, a place of welcome and friendship.... There are three activities that are absolutely vital in the creation of community. The first is eating together around the same table. The second is praying together. And the third is celebrating together. ...
"... By celebrating together, I mean to laugh, fool around...
to have fun, to give thanks together for life..."
Thanks to Amanda (and Michael!) we indulged in a whole lot of time and laughter together...
And spring beauty!
The Fort Worth Botanical Gardens' Conservatory is really a sight.
Waterfalls... there are always two views!
Botanists have a good sense of humor sometimes.
This tree's name had something to do with fish scales... based on it's leaf pattern.
I think coral-pink was the theme color this year....
Amanda & Baby Johnson #3-on-the-way!
Giant, seriously giant, ferns!
Sunshine would have been a great touch, but the lushness made for a beautiful walk!
The cascading rose garden... (a bit of a hike!)
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At the opposite end of the spectrum, there's the Fort Hood Stock Exchange!
Get out the magnifying glass...
You'll learn some good details on the Texas Rodeos at the Coliseum.
We also arrived in time to see the traditional evening cattle drive. The way the officers zealously cleared the street you would have thought there would be a hundred fast-stepping long-horns coming down the road.
Not exactly.
Not that I want to get in the way of horns that long, but my general impression was that these may be the retired and geriatric Long Horns.
Makes a great picture though. :)
After that we were off for some excellent margheritas!
(And a more authentic touch of Texas. )
Back to the ranch.
In Texas everything gets bigger. Some Roses get as big as the Long Horns... if they stretch.
Evening run...
And beautiful sunset...
I realized while looking at this beautiful mound of clouds that you can't see much of the sky in most areas in Peoria, so the sunset was a welcome change.
Gwen and the dogs before taking off for Colorado...
"I will not get left behind!" (Not that this has ever happened!)
Lenny and company got the outdoor fire primed for the evening...
(Kelly - it's just me, not a Texas bobcat!)
Sunday we enjoyed Mass, brunch, then a trip to downtown Dallas...
For the history buffs among us, the Sixth Floor Museum detailing Kennedy's presidency and assassination was really interesting. I was also intrigued by the fact that most of the photographic footage was taken by amateurs and snapshot cameras, which were just becoming every-day items. There's only one professional in the whole lot of photography of the event.
6th floor of the textbook warehouse where the shots were fired from... most people think.
After two walls worth of debate documenation, I'm not qualified to make general statements.
On to brighter things... Liz & Kelly en route to ice cream before the airport stops. :)
General consensus: we should do this more often!!
Sunset over Texas
April 17-19, 2009
