White Rock Lake was built in 1911 as a water reservoir for the city of Dallas. It is surrounded by a park and has a hiking and biking trail around the lake with nice vistas. On a Monday morning it was quite deserted, but did not feel unsafe, apart from the occasional biker swishing by and barking helpful warning shouts from the back : "On your left!" which made me jump until I saw the signpost.
Dallas Arboretum and Botanic Garden is in White Rock Lake Park. It is a spectacular garden, a perfect oasis, beautifully maintained and with an unsual lay-out and a series of privately funded small gardens dedicated to families.
a cormorant
red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
young barn swallows
Blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
A Woman's Garden
Magnolia Grandiflora
other visitors
a strong-scented gardenia
the hug
Echinacea purpurea
Close by is the George W. Bush library on the campus of the Southern Methodist University (SMU). I did not expect much, but it is certainly worth going - very well presented, in an interesting building, stories about family and upbringing and general politics, not only a vindication for the unpopular war in Iraq.
(image overlay of two presentations)
