New Cat

We hadn't even fully unpacked and Lloyd was off to the Humane Society to get a cat. Our new family game is "find the cat." Here he is in the top of Lloyd's closet.

Snow Day in Fort Worth

10:30 am. Here's a view of Alava Drive from our front door. No school today, or work for me. And if you're thinking, "why, that doesn't look like much snow," consider that it's all ice. Last we looked, 300 people foolish enough to think they could drive in this got into accidents.

Pool Fairies

The white fairy's name is Charlotte and she's a friend of Gwendolen's. The water is still too cold to swim in but we love our new swimming pool.

Not Fort Worth

I got to visit my old stomping grounds, Seal Beach, California, while traveling for the Alzheimer's Association.

My New Job

Monday I started work at the Alzheimer's Association of North Central Texas, where I'll be implementing an art program called Memories in the Making. Wow, what a learning curve! I spent the week visiting an assisted living facility, a nursing home, a family support group and home visit as well as learning more about the work of the Alzheimer's Association. All my new colleagues work with the elderly, specifically Alzheimer's Disease and dementia patients, as their life work. They have degrees in social work and gerontology. Soon, I'll be conducting art "classes" for people with various stages of dementia. I'll know how to communicate with people who may no longer be able to speak and helping them retrieve lost memories through painting. Photo courtesy of the Alzheimer's Association.

The Modern

I didn't have a New Year's resolution until I took my mother to The Modern today. Now it's spend more time at the Modern. Their permanent collection, which is filling several galleries just now, comprises a "who's who" of contemporary art: Carl Andre, Jackson Pollock, Anselm Kiefer, Elsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter. The thing is though, that Tadeo Ando's building offers so many amazing vistas that familiar works become spectacular, especially when installed in these galleries by the water. There's a Felix Gonzales-Torres green candy piece they wouldn't let me photograph that sings harmony with the light coming in the window, the stones lining the pool and the glass and concrete of the building itself.

Billy Bob's Texas

I've been wanting to get to Billy Bob's Texas, the world's largest honky tonk--is that the same as a bar?--since I moved here. Six acres of bar and a whole lot more in a building that used to be an open air cattle barn. The best was the people watching. Where do all these cowboys and cowgirls come from? Fort Worth is a big city. Do they drive in from the country to party or are they city people in western wear? And everyone was white, like thousands of people and practically no one of color. Lloyd and I danced, we drank beer, we had fun.
I didn't bring my camera, so thanks to whomever posted this picture where I could borrow it. This wholesome group pretty much typifies the Saturday night crowd.

The Fort Worth Stockyards

I explain the Stockyards to my California friends as being like a beef themed Fisherman's Wharf. Historic western buildings, rodeo grounds, brick streets, the stockyards themselves, and saloons bedecked with stuffed animal heads testify to its historical authenticity as much as the Muslim and Asian families posing with costumed Indians betray its current role as the area's number one tourist destination. People come here to satisfy their fantasies of "the Old West" and to buy tee shirts, western wear and Texas souvenirs.
On a warm Saturday afternoon, the sidewalks were crowded with foreign tourists, cowboys of every color, boot-wearing promenaders, horses and bikers. I came to the conclusion that although it may no longer be the place where a long cattle drive comes to an end, it's as authentically Texan as anywhere else.

Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show

This was really lame, for tourists only. The historic 1908 Cowtown Coliseum was cool, and those lean, athletic cowboys galloping around the arena on pinto horses were to die for. The western movie soundtrack was at times even exhilarating. But the show? Totally unimpressive. And short.