North Texas Treasures
North Texas is a land of treasures for me: the Stockyards and The Modern Museum of Art in Fort Worth; Chaska House BnB and Getzendaner Park in Waxahachie; the Arboretum, the Trinity River, and White Rock Lake in Dallas. Add dear family members, good food and mostly sunny weather–I loved my seven days in North Texas in May. Listen to these longhorns:
My friend Sandra Stiles, with whom I shared twelve years of Phillips schools, has lived in the same house in Fort Worth for 49 years, surrounded by beauty indoors and out. She showed me her treasures and we talked about the good old days in Phillips and our beloved grandchildren. I told her that I had discovered that Fort Worth is named for the same General William Jenkins Worth as Lake Worth FL and many other places in the US.
Waxahachie, an hour south of Fort Worth, is the home of my brother Joel and his wife Elisabeth, and my niece Susan’s family. Ernie grilled ribs and sausages while the rest of us put together a “brain hat” from the Cambridge Science Festival and talked about what we’ll do in Florida next July. We missed Ben, who was rehearsing his high school musical.
Joel and Elisabeth were hosting Doris Artner from Austria, so they put me up in a beautiful Victorian Bed and Breakfast filled with books. My room was named for F. Scott Fitzgerald, so I read one of his short stories and listened to Lawrence Wright read his new book, God Save Texas: a Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State. We revisited Getzandaner Park and walked around the restored Chautauqua building, still in use for summer concerts and plays.
In Dallas, Shelby and I watched a documentary about Rachel Carson, one of the outstanding American women in a book Thomas read to me. It was great to have time for uninterrupted conversations with Shelby and Sean. Stephen showed me the study guide he used to prepare for an academic decathlon competition that weekend, when his baseball team also had a tournament. Thomas is also on a baseball team, but especially likes to devise his own games in the front yard, where he enlisted me to pitch. Thomas went with Sean, Shelby and me to the Dallas Arboretum on a beautiful morning before we all attended Stephen’s decathlon finals. Each team answered five questions about world geography and culture, eg. “how many countries do scientific research in Antarctica?” I guessed wrong; the answer is seven.
Sean invited his friend Linda Donnelly, Rice ’81, over for mint juleps, chili, and the Kentucky Derby. He knew Linda and I would have many interests in common–did we ever! Sean and Linda serve as Cub Scout leaders at the Dallas Unitarian Church that we attended on Sunday. The church has a lovely sanctuary and a playground. The sermon I heard solved a problem I had; I got to see Thomas’s skill on the monkey bars.
Since the last spring recital I held for my piano studio was seven years ago, it was a special pleasure to attend grand-niece Vivian’s recital at University Park United Methodist Church. Her teacher is Iris Leu. She played two German Dances by Beethoven with skill and sensitivity, extending our family tradition to the fifth generation.
The final treasure I visited was White Rock Park Trail–birds, flowers, cyclists, interesting homes. Best of all was a long walk/talk with Shelby before boarding my three hour flight back home. Click here for more treasured photos from this trip.
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