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| His Fierceness: "don't even think about touching it!" |
We then proceeded to walk around the Trinity River through Trinity Park's bike/walking trail. The snow geese were floating along the river, some dipping their heads into the water foraging for food. It's such a glorious walk this time of year, the breeze rustling through the few leaves that remain, forcing the weakest to finally succumb to the force of the breeze releasing their grip on the branches. Traffic around University was busy - people scurrying about getting the last of their Christmas shopping done at University Village, grabbing a bite to eat at the local eateries like Hoffbrau's Steak House, Panera Bread, and the local favorite Ole' South Pancake House.
It's these things that make me appreciate my city/town. I call it a city town because Fort Worth is a large city - it ranks in the top 20 of largest cities in the United States, and yet, everything about this city feels like a town. Just about every neighborhood has its favorite hangout places. In my neighborhood one of the favorite local restaurants is Old Neighborhood Grill. Nothing super spectacular about the place, but the food is good, and the service is spectacular! Some of the nicest people you could ever want to meet work there, and many love to meet friends and family there. On Saturday morning you'd better get there plenty early because the regulars are there early and you may have to wait a while for a table. You can go down Magnolia and find new restaurants that have opened and blossomed the last few years in a revitalized South Side Urban Renewal - and I mean great restaurants and clubs. Just about any night you can drive through and find people milling about deciding which place they want to try this night. So. 7th has become the new "downtown" hangout for the young professional crowd. There are lots of new restaurants, clubs, shops - even a bowling alley!! (not that I bowl - my best score is a 42). And it's very close to the south end of Trinity Park for walkers, runners and bikers, not to mention a great place for picnics!
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| Water Gardens in the evening |
People often associate Fort Worth with Cowtown, as this is pretty much the reputation it held for many years. I remember when we first moved here from Ohio, one very hot July, we were driving through the Stock Yard area, and the stench was horrendous. WOAH!!! What the heck is that?? We started wondering if our parents had made a very dastard mistake moving here rather than the trendier Dallas. But no, they made a right decision, for, though the city may have been known as, and continues to hold the reputation of being a Cowtown, a title the city holds proudly, we also brag of having one of, if not the only, water gardens in the middle of the city. As some say, it's an oasis in the middle of a bustling city. You can visit it, and totally forget that you're in the middle of a downtown.
Yes, this place has lots to offer anyone. I've often said, I hate the hot Texas summers, and if I could live anywhere, of course it would be near water. But I would have to be able to pick up Fort Worth and physically move it to where I want to live. Since that's virtually impossible- not to mention physically impossible, I am happy to live right where I am. When the former fashion store Sanger Harris came to town several years ago, its slogan was "Fort Worth, I Luv You!! Well, I can say the feeling still hold true for me - and many today. I remember in the old Judy Garland movie - Meet Me in St. Louis her little sister saying how lucky they were to live in their town because it had the world's fair there. Fort Worth may never have the world's fair here, but I sure feel lucky to live in this place. It is - MY KINDA TOWN!!!
I am drunk and depressed that I'm about to spend Christmas without the love of my life yet still have to put on a happy face for sake of my girls SO... that's the only reason that I'm letting myself flow with my genuine thoughts on the matter. Tomorrow I will deny any memory of having written this, do not attempt to ask me about it.
ReplyDeleteI love you, you know I love you but you have no thesis. Where's the point B? Where's the conclusion that you've systematically led the reader to? You say Fort Worth is your kind of town and of course I agree. Fort Worth is an amazing and beautiful town that's full of culture and art and realizations of hopes and beauty that many places never attempt. It's a varied and open place that allows itself to the simple fact of beauty and effort where ever an artist or investor decides to place a stone. We do not shun art of arts sake nor do we say we are too cool to question quality or too 'merican to fight the arts. We embrace both older and newer forms of expression. Fort Worth doesn't have to be "hip" like Dallas or "commercial" like Arlington. To put it simply, in this drunken girl's opinion- Fort Worth is the definition of an instant classic. We don't have to bother with being current. Our only concern is finding the truest, most noble way of living (at least the better parts do). That's how we define ourselves and it leads to a wonderfully, mystically open canvas that allows the Kimbel as readily as the Modern Art, 8.0 as quickly as Bass Hall and The North Side influx of hip and modern literally blocks from the culture district which is drenched in history. That's the beauty of our town, to me- it's versatility and yet innate sense of true north nevertheless.
This sort of idea is exactly what's what you have to get at, that's what you have to see in what you're saying, through your thoughts into your hidden implications. Have no doubt, just now I read through this tiny comment three times before figuring out what I was getting at and, rewriting it, polishing it out into the best possible discussion on my thesis that I could drunkenly form. That's what you need- a sense of what you are trying to say. When talking about Forth Worth's attributes are you talking about yourself? Are you talking about life? Are you talking about something else? It's a town that has defined your perspective for most of your adult life. HOW? Think it over. Let it's little details flow over and out of you freely, then afterwords look back at them, at yourself, and aim to see the hidden truth written between the lines. Break into your subconscious by searching, deeply, conspiratorially, hideously and beautifully (as the truth must always be), into yourself as implied by everything that's caught your attention. What are you trying to say? What are you trying to realize?
Search it, find it, find your point B, and you will have landed on the valuable thing life has to offer- the sight that sees inside by seeing out.
Baba, you said it brilliantly, even in your drunken state!! You completed what I failed to complete, and wonderfully and magically! I can write an 'I love my city, Part Deux!!'
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think there's a reason some of the best writers were notoriously dastard drunks as well. Nah, I'm mostly just glad I didn't make an ass of myself.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to part deux!