Texas. Texas is a big place. I’m here in Houston for eight weeks for an extended medical treatment at MD Anderson. I’m not renting a car. Uber is very efficient here usually arriving in three minutes.
To me, it’s an adventure walking through new places to get the texture of the neighborhoods. Particularly the details, things that some might be passed by unobserved.
Houston, at least around where I’m saying, is flat, which, for me, is a change. No Santa Monica Mountains, no Colorado Rockies , no San Francisco Twin Peaks. So the orienting landmarks, my navigation guides, are more often signs, buildings, (though they seem similar) or oddities.
It’s a mile from my apartment to the Proton Center. On one street the sidewalk suddenly stopped. For no apparent reason.
Bike paths look like grass, but they’re rough textured sharp edge concrete. Dont fall.
Walking miles, but don’t see a lot of people. Uber drivers are friendly
In Texas, when I see this I can’t help but think of THE Lyndon…
And I wonder when when Robert Caro will finish his last book in the LBJ series.
The Texas Med Center is its own city - dozens of tall buildings - one for every ailment.
Despite the density of the Med Center buildings, there are a lot of vast empty lots. They are rapidly being eaten up with new construction - more buildings for the Medical center which is already the largest in the world
»»>. Blue «< I’m sure there’s a reason
Across over Brays Bayou, one of those rivers corralled into a concrete sluiceway, like much of the LA River.
I cross it every day but still don’t know where it goes.
Rivers that once were organically integrated into the life and landscape of cities, are now exiled and imprisoned into these channels.
At MD Anderson - A Welcome ~~~
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The blue fire hydrant dates back to the bicentennial when neighborhoods painted the fireplugs red, white and blue. Probably at one point there was a standard design, say red on top white in the middle and blue below. Over the years I noticed on visits that there was a lot of experimenting with patterns and shades of the primary colors. The bayous (not rivers, S'il vous plaît) let you know that you are in the western most extension of Louisiana. The bayou eventually empties into the upper reaches of Galveston Bay(Houston ship channel). The longer you stay and the warmer it gets, you will notice that it is a very humid place. In the summer months terrific storms roll in and drop inches of rain. ( The temp can drop and it is rather exciting if you can open the windows and sit out on a covered porch.) Because the general elevation of Houston and neighboring counties varies by inches it is vital that water in the bayous moves rapidly during rain season. Thus the concrete lining. There were a lot of questionable decisions over the decades about development and sprawl. But you have to play the cards you are dealt.
Your endless curiosity is one of your keenly developed traits . A blessing in life as well as keeping one young
The blue fire hydrant dates back to the bicentennial when neighborhoods painted the fireplugs red, white and blue. Probably at one point there was a standard design, say red on top white in the middle and blue below. Over the years I noticed on visits that there was a lot of experimenting with patterns and shades of the primary colors. The bayous (not rivers, S'il vous plaît) let you know that you are in the western most extension of Louisiana. The bayou eventually empties into the upper reaches of Galveston Bay(Houston ship channel). The longer you stay and the warmer it gets, you will notice that it is a very humid place. In the summer months terrific storms roll in and drop inches of rain. ( The temp can drop and it is rather exciting if you can open the windows and sit out on a covered porch.) Because the general elevation of Houston and neighboring counties varies by inches it is vital that water in the bayous moves rapidly during rain season. Thus the concrete lining. There were a lot of questionable decisions over the decades about development and sprawl. But you have to play the cards you are dealt.