Creekside

It's been close to 3 years since I made my first volunteer visit to the [then] new headquarters of our local NPR station. If you can't remember the post I wrote about that outing, I don't blame you. But here it is, in case you want to re-visit, for some reason, those early pandemic days. (Although you might also find it interesting to compare that post's pictures with the ones below.)

But with all my boosters, and our county's [fingers-crossed!] continued low danger rate, I'm back in the saddle on Friday afternoons, filling in for the station's receptionist so that she can spend some time on her other tasks without interruption.

The fabulous downtown location has certainly gotten spruced up in the intervening 33-odd-months. It's right along San Pedro Creek, which has been undergoing quite a facelift in the last few years, becoming the San Pedro Creek Culture Park. After my shift a few weeks ago I took a stroll along its banks to see in person what I'd only read about in the paper (and heard about on the radio, of course). I hope you enjoy learning about this new urban park and at least some of its features that I'll highlight for you.

A major tributary of our eponymous river, this creek was no more than a drainage ditch, concretized as a flood control measure after some pretty disastrous 19th-and-20th-century floods. But, like earlier work on the San Antonio River above and below downtown, refurbishment works have transformed the ditch into at least the beginnings of a wonderful space to see wildlife, learn about the city's history, and appreciate some wonderful art. (To see how the Museum and Mission Reaches have transformed these sections of the River, follow the San Antonio River label on the right.)

this water feature stretches all along the side of our building, and beyond

This very impressive waterfall/wall is right outside the door to the offices. It even lights up at night! I want to come back down after dark sometime to see this. The sound is amazing; when you exit the doors, you seriously can't hear anyone on your cell phone!

Another artwork that's not quite as relaxing is on the other side of the building...

I like the stripy mural, but the head has caused some problems

Here's a piece detailing that the sculpture (a tiny Mao on Lenin's head) is supposed to be an anti-communist statement. But not everyone took it that way; someone set off an explosive device there in November. As the second link will tell you, TPR doesn't own the sculpture or the piece of land it's on, but it's right next to the building and there are lots of folks who think NPR is a communist plot anyway. Kind of a cool sculpture, but I wish it were somewhere else!

Looking upstream from our building, there are some less controversial public art installations. Like this one, that highlights the history of the Alameda Theatre. (The movie-house, which you can see above on the left, was built in 1949 and is right behind the TPR building.)

And there's another lovely, if more abstract, tile piece opposite it...

Looking back downstream from further along my walk, you can see how these two pieces complement each other...

the Alameda mural is on river right, as you look downstream

Another large mural appears further upstream...

Yes, these murals are tiles, and longtime readers of my blog are well aware of my fascination with mosaic tile art. I just couldn't stop snapping pictures (with our new camera!) of the decorative tile work on the many benches that are conveniently spaced along the path:

Several streets cross the creek and they haven't been overly gussied up, but their plain concrete has been decorated a little...

And not all of the bridge decorations are just pretty; I learned from the Culture Park website that some of our current street names aren't original. For instance, Travis Street used to be Obraje, and decorations on opposite sides of the bridge make this plain:

There are informational signs along the way, too, that elaborate more of the history of the creek. Even when the archeologists don't really know what a feature was for, like this circular tank-like construction, described as "puzzling" on the self-guided tour:

it's next to another lovely mural, though!

Finally, at the end of the park, you can see part of a flood control structure in the background, but in the foreground a nice array of stepping stones. And, of course, some more decorative benches.

The neighborhood around the creek is still a work in progress, although there are some nice apartments and a few other new structures. But this side of downtown, as well as the creek, were quite neglected for a long time and it will take a while to make it completely worthy of the Culture Park. But with the TPR building, as well as the new Frost Bank tower (which I can't help think got transported from the Austin skyline) it's on its way.

On the coast

A short business trip earlier this month gave us a chance to visit—briefly—a part of the state we don't get to much anymore. We spent a couple of days in Corpus Christi, and I was looking forward to enjoying sea views...

...but this is what you could see from our hotel balcony when we first arrived:

It was like this into the next morning, but things did start slowly clearing...

So before we left for home, we took a drive along the bay (where the photo at the top of the post was taken) to Cole Pier Park for at least a brief up-close glimpse of the coast. 

The link above tells you that it was recently refurbished, and we were impressed with how sturdy, neat, and artistic it was. Here's a close-up of the canopies that probably afford some shade on sunny days (of course, we didn't need that protection!):

And here's a look back toward land, along the pier, showing part of the very nice park from which the pier juts out:

a happy in-lander enjoying time on the water

As you might be able to tell from the photos above, not only did we not have to contend with sun, but no waves either; the water was practically flat, it was so still:

There are other things to see in Corpus, of course, but we didn't have time to do much more sightseeing. However, the view away from the bay out our hotel window was also interesting...

And on the way out of town, among the many, many oil refinery towers and tanks, I spotted this very attractive church. I couldn't figure out from googlemaps what it's called, though. Can any of my readers with Corpus expertise tell me?

Wordless Wednesday: our new yard sign

 

Sort of an explosion

Maybe it was our early cold spell last month, but for that or some other reason, our fall color seems much more vibrant than usual this year. It could be that more leaves turned all at the same time, rather than gradually, because of the early chill. Or they might actually be brighter, who knows?

Regardless, I'm certainly enjoying the show. Here are a couple of round-the-'hood shots to demonstrate:

as usual, it's cedar elms that are the brightest participants

a Chinese tallow in the park

I particularly like it when the ground at the feet of these guys looks looks like it just snowed colorful leaves...

In fact, our front yard and driveway have been practically carpeted in color lately...

cedar elm leaves make our sidewalk look like Midas'

a "red carpet," for sure! from our neighbor's ornamental pear

a close-up of the vibrant red guys

So even though it's kind of a pain having so many leaves getting tracked into the house, not to mention the near-constant irritant of leaf-blowers in the area, autumn's show this year is a real treat!

Wordless Wednesday: Thankfully not prophetic

 

Visiting the old homestead...

...well, sort of.

Henry got to attend his 50th Rice reunion last month (I didn't get mine due to *&#%&# covid!) and we had a pleasant day visiting the ol' stomping grounds. Although (as I've told you before) the campus as it exists today is barely recognizable as where got our B.A.'s in the early '70's. The super-cool fine arts building you see above is but one of the snazzy new buildings that have gone up in the last few years.

After a nice party for the class of '72, we opted to take a stroll at dusk around the west end of the campus; it was just parking lot and fields when we were in school there. But now there's all kinds of buildings, as well as this wonderful installation:

When we were here before (it's featured at the end of this post, which describes our visit to the campus in its centennial year), it was just called the Skyspace. But now it has a different, longer name.  However, it is just as impressive and we spent a good bit of the magic hour here. The Medical Center skyline even color coordinated itself with the pink part of the pavilion's cycle:

Here's a couple of shots highlighting the structures changing color, as well as it's "skylight" hole in the roof...

that's the Shepherd School of Music in the background,
another post-Henry-and-Kathy addition

...and another view as we departed...

Not far from the pavilion is the home of the Baker Institute, a relative old-timer (1993) at this end of campus. It has a very nice fountain:

Of course, most of the buildings we knew intimately are still there, although occasionally refurbished and added-on-to. One landmark for Henry that doesn't look different (at least from the outside), is the old Hanszen tower, site of many undergrad hijinks:

And another site we were happy to see as unchanged, the Rice Chapel, where Gramma and Grampa got hitched, not quite 50 years ago:

to see what it looked like during our nuptials,
check out this 2011 post, at the end

Of course, there was also a football game this reunion day, although the less said about that the better. However, the Rice MOB entertained as always, especially with alums participating:

I'll close with another piece of campus art. I think you'll agree that, even if you're not an alum, this campus is a spot worth a visit if you're looking for something new to do in Houston.

A late finish

Thanks to an unreliable senior memory, I thought I had finished my series of Maine blogs...but, no. I wanted to show you a few sights from the lovely Evergreen Cemetery near the kids' house. As you can see by the fact that I have a "cemeteries" label to this blog (on the right) I do enjoy exploring these memorial parks. They're especially interesting in New England, where some of the memorial customs (like the rows of family member headstones you see above) are different from what you find in the South.

They also have more really old graves, like this one, whose occupant was born just after the birth of the nation, in 1792 (although the headstone has obviously been replaced more recently):

Also, in contrast with many graves and memorials in southern cemeteries, if you see a Civil War notation here, the person fought wore a different uniform. "GAR" on this emblem stands for "Grand Army of the Republic," which Wikipedia tells us is a fraternal organization for Union vets:

(I've been doing some genealogy research this past year, and found that I have ancestors on both sides of that conflict.)

A rather interesting memorial that I noticed during this latest visit is this rather rustic, but enormous, boulder...

...with this plaque to tell you about the honoree, another 18th-century baby:

Nearby was this very sad chronicle of a family's grief. It's the backside of the family headstone, with two children's names. I hope you can read the inscriptions (click on the photo to enlarge), but if you can't, it tells us that Howard, Jr., was born and died in 1923, and Mary Dell was born and died in 1927. You know, intellectually, that back in the day it was likely many of a family's children would die as infants, but seeing a record like this, in stone, really brings home the sadness. And makes this grandmother so very, very thankful that we are living now and not then.

That does finish up tales of my trip to Maine, but some closer-to-home excursions are coming up.