Fort Worth Water Gardens

Designed by architects Philip Johnson (who also built the Amon Carter Museum) and John Burgee and completed in 1974, the Fort Worth Water Gardens is a park like no other.Here is The Mountain, with its ten terraces of 20-inch-high steps.


The Aerated Water Pool, has 40 spraying nozzles, set 40 feet below ground level. The park is an oasis of concrete terraces, water and greenery on the edge of downtown Fort Worth.


The Quiet Pool, which one reaches by descending a narrow stairway, is surrounded by a wall that is bathed in noiselessly cascading water. It is as inviting a pool of water as I've ever seen, although wading is strictly forbidden.



The Active Pool is about as close to boulder-hopping down a stream in the high sierras as you can get in the middle of a city, and almost as thrilling. A family was killed here in 2004. The park only reopened again in 2007 and still doesn't have a railing.

Gwendy Lynn with up-doo

like it or not, my baby is going totally Texas. Here she is on the way to the theater with her dad.

Princess Party

At least one of us has a social life. Gwenny's friend Emma had her sixth birthday party at Sweet and Sassy, a salon for little girls. After getting their hair done, the little princesses strutted their stuff on stage, played games and ate cake.

Spring comes to Fort Worth

Eat your heart out, Cincinnati. It's the first week of March and we have flowering trees and balmy spring weather. Here's a park by our house. Notice how short the trees are. I don't ever think I'll find Fort Worth beautiful.

Horse Thieves and Cattle Rustlers

"I'm sorry. Since that's a separate problem, you'll have to make a separate service request," the woman at ARC Rapid Rooter told Lloyd when called to tell her that the drain they had cleared not three hours earlier was now backing up into the kitchen sink. What could be more maddening? I'll tell you: Lloyd and I committed a small fortune to having "radiant barrier" sprayed in our attic. Imagine how furious I was to discover, after hours researching what exactly it was that ABC Installation was calling "radiant barrier," (it was Radiosity 3000) that it was in fact little more than a thin layer of flat interior latex and nothing remotely close to Heat-Stop 75, the industry standard. "Gee I'm sorry," the contractor says, through the salesman, 29 clams to stop payment on the check and numerous angry phone calls later, "I didn't know. I've been installing this stuff for years and no one's complained." Please tell me how a middle aged woman who wakes up in the middle of the night with the sneaky suspicion that she's been swindled knows more about the product than the guy who's paid to install it. Unfortunately, that seems to be the law of the land here. Suckers beware!

Sunday Downtown

Tired of being boring, the Buck Bruce family dressed up and headed downtown to take in a Sunday matinee at the Bass Center. Following a spectacular performance of Swan Lake and feeling a touch of altitude sickness from having bought the cheapest seats, we wandered over to Uno's for pizza. When the weather gods were handing out climates, they cursed Fort Worth with both unbearably hot summers and freezing winter nights. The galloping mummy is actually a topiary that someone has lovingly wrapped in little blankets so it doesn't freeze to death.

New New Cat

Aside from being somewhat unsociable, Tank had some nasty personal habits. This weekend, we traded him in for a excessively cuddly calico named Rosalyn. Rozzy likes to walk across the keyboard while I type. Charming.

Guest Room

You're invited! It may not look like much, but it's freshly painted and has all new bedding and is waiting for you.

Fort Worth Sunrise

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

The Stock Show, which attracts almost 1 million visitors and nearly as many head of cattle, swine, poultry and horses, has been part of Fort Worth's culture in some guise or another for over 100 years. The stock show/rodeo/carnival takes place in the Will Rogers Memorial Center, in the center of the cultural district, just a stone's throw from the three major art museums. Imagine letting thousands of tons of livestock, cowboys from every western state, and their trucks and trailers, occupy the center of the city for 23 days. That's Fort Worth fer ya: City of Cowboys and Culture, sharing the same parking lot.

We went to the Rodeo Monday night. I was completely enthralled by the galloping horses and gallant cowboys. There was calf roping, bareback bronco riding and more. Champion rodeo competitors come from all over Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Montana, Kansas, etc. I'm totally fascinated by cowboys now, and the lives I imagine them to lead, the people I imagine them to be. I've started to fantasize about being a cowgirl and being as comfortable maneuvering a big, sweaty horse around barrels as I am behind the wheel of a car. Then again, this kind of activity looks like it could really hurt sometimes.