New park is a hit. New sun dial is not.

The new deck park in Dallas is a load of fun. People were out on a warm Fall Sunday and it felt as if we were in Chicago or San Francisco. It was multi-ethnic and mixed ages. Folks were walking, throwing balls, playing guitars and singing. And below us, traffic was whizzing buy at 60+ miles per hour and we didn’t even know it.  Dogs were out with their masters as were children. (I can’t tell who was better behaved, but I’m thinking the canines might have a slight edge here.)

I can see the activity in the park falling off in say, August or even July, but right now it is a great place, especially for downtown and mid town families to get out and stretch their legs and grab some warm Fall rays.

A job well done, Dallas. Well done.

Now, if we could do something about that giant sundial of a building that floods both the Nasher and the new park with bright hot spots throughout the afternoon.  They were all over the park. Very bright. Very hot. Like the hot spots from a magnifying glass when you used to burn holes in leaves. That hot.

Yeah, yeah, the architect says a giant scrim can’t be applied to the western side of the building. I call B.S.  Something about design integrity. That’s a load of sun-heated crap. It has been done in other cities and it has worked.  This architect screwed up and doesn’t want to admit it. It is an environmental eye sore and a potentially harmful one at that.

And photographers, be careful if you get too close to take a picture of it. Armed guards will approach you and tell you to stop taking pictures. It is a copyrighted creation and a photograph of it will violate the intellectual property rights of the creator (said architect…).

Just another way America is becoming the Land of the NOT SO Free…faster than you can say…hold it there, Mr. Kodak.

I say I can take a picture of any building in the city where I pay taxes to keep the place afloat.  Don’t like it?  Don’t build a building on the skyline of my city.  I am a citizen of this city and I will photographic it as often as I like.  End of discussion.

But the park is really great. Visit it. Take a friend. Buy a drink from one of the many vendors. A sandwich, too. Make a whole afternoon out of it. Play a game of chess. Read a book. Sunbathe. Practice yoga. You might even forget you are in Dallas.

I know I did.  Until I wanted to take a picture of the sun oven.  Then I remembered where I lived.