Steel City or Boom Town

Last night I sat at the Fish Market bar in Pittsburgh and had dinner while I talked to Texas oil men who were betting their fortunes on Ohio and Pennsylvania shale plays. Fortunes are being made investing in the leases prospective for the Marcellus and Utica Shales. One entrepreneur grew up dirt poor in Wichita Falls, Texas and never finished college but had made tens of millions of dollars flipping leases to independents. A couple of guys had started a business laying pipe and delivering thousands of barrels of water to producers for their hydraulic fracture treatments.

All this made me think of Jack London's book Call of the Wild. Jack set off for the gold strikes to make his fortune. Fortunes were made mining gold and selling picks and shovels. The shale plays are similar opportunities. Every generation has an opportunity for adventure and fortune whether it be from natural resources or computer chips.

After dinner I walked Pittsburgh's downtown streets in the cold night air. The streets were damp from one of the last rain storms before winter. Christmas decorations were on display signaling the snows to come. The buildings house a mix of restaurants, hotels, residences, and charter schools. Pittsburgh brings the industrial commerce on major rivers together with office workers from Mellon Bank, EQT, etc. It will be interesting to see how downtown changes with the shale boom. I ran across a theatre on Liberty Street that shouted out a welcome to my grandson by the same name:

P.S. Harris, HB Jones claimed that Call of the Wild by Jack London is the only book he ever read.

Spook Houses, Giraffes, and Doodles

Here it is the day before Halloween and we expect perfect weather for trick or treating in Houston.  We do not get many trick or treaters anymore.  Times have changed and a lot of the little folks go to parties with their friends instead.

This weekend we celebrated my niece's wedding and so I saw a lot of the young adults who were my spook house guests twenty plus year's ago.  The first spook house I remember hosting featured the "Great Pumpkin".  The children were young and we did not not want to scare them so we made the pumpkin about six feet in diameter and it was hung on a plastic sheet that billowed from the fan behind it. We had an audio track of Halloween sound effects and the children reached into the mouth of The Great Pumpkin to get their treat.  These four year olds were not impressed and I determined to do better next year.

I read an article on the Disney Imagineers that design rides in the amusement parks.  They determined that you have to fool two or three of our senses to make a ride scarey.

I found a rubber finger puppet that we called the Ogre.  We designed an entrance to the Ogre's Cave featuring his picture on the front.  If you were small enough you could crawl into his cave which was about thirty inches tall and wide.  It was carpeted for crawling and had spider webs stretched from wall to wall and floor to ceiling.  The cave floor inclined at the entrance and pivoted on a fulcrum like a see saw.  The cave had a wonderful creek and groan accidently designed into its construction that added to the spooky sounds.  As the floor of the cave started to teeeter downward from the weight of the spelunker inside, an arm coverd in a sock with the Ogre finger puppet  shot through a hole in the wall of the cave and startled the victim.  This caused the little one to crawl out rapidly and at the end of the cave received their candy.

There was also a giant spider that must have weighed forty pounds that had garden hose legs and a chicken wire and paper mache body.  He could be lowered down on a rope and was large enough to be quite startling.

This combination had a much more satisfactory mix of fun and fright.  After a year or two I was asked to help with the school halloween spook house.  This was much more organized and there was a very talented group of Mom's that ran the spook house and played the characters.  We took over the ballet building each year and spent a day of vacation getting everything ready and another day running the show. 

When you entered the building there were three rubber skeletons hanging like marionettes.  Using pulleys they rushed across the room just above your head.  As you entered the next room there were various tombstones and coffins with scary people.  The featured attraction was the "Magic Mirror".  Using lights dimmed with a rheostat and reflective coated glass the mirror reflected the faces of the school children while the Snow White soundtrack asked who the fairest of them all was.  As you peered into your reflection the lights brightened and dimmed appropriately and a horrible old witch on the other side of the mirror screeched at the top of her lungs.  Some of the Moms deserved an Academy Award for their performance.

We had great fun doing this for several years and added a few more props each year.  Eventually everything was donated to the school for the next generation of spook masters.

Halloween is still a lot of fun and Harris will celebrate his first Halloween as a giraffe this year. We had all the fun today snapping his picture on the pumpkin truck while his parents moved furniture into their house from storage.

When we returned to Houston we celebrated Champ's sixth birthday. He was born the day before Halloween in a National Championship year.  That was his treat.  This year the Longhorns have tricked him although maybe not as bad as the fright from last year.

 Champ celebrated with Jac and Luc and ate special dog cookies decorated for Halloween.

Happy Halloween and have a safe Trick or Treat!

White Buffalo

The journey begins. Our quest is to see the White Buffalo before the sun sets. I have heard that if you look at the top of the ridges, you will see him pawing the prairie grass while his warm breath fogs the air. If you look away and look back, he will have disappeared. Was he real? Perhaps Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan has the answer.

In order to find the White Buffalo, one must pass a series of tests. The first is dropping off four dogs for boarding. No matter how much paperwork is pre-filed, it always seems to take an hour. Of course, Luc is reluctant to be boarded. Somehow he manages to claw a two inch gash in my arm clinging to me in the car. Once inside he barks incessantly at every other dog in the lobby.

Returning home, we finalize our packing. It is going to be 100 degrees in Houston, yet we remember the fireworks show last year in Jackson trying to stay warm by the fire. Jackets are required. And we can squeeze chairs into the golf travel bags for the Fourth of July picnic and concert in the "Hole".

Just before we depart for the airport we received a trip alert that our flight had a thirty minute delay. A quick check showed we would still make our connection which was good because there were no other seats on the one later flight.

By the time we were ready to check bags our plane was delayed further and we would no longer get to Denver in tome to connect. However, it looked as if our connecting flight might be delayed as it was also coming from Chicago where thunderstorms were grounding planes. After further delays our plane was almost three hours behind schedule. We boarded thinking we might drive to Jackson, or spend the night in Denver.

We received phone messages upon landing in Denver that we had been rebooked on the 7:40 PM flight which now had a Boeing 757 in place of the smaller Airbus 320 freeing up more seats. We decided to eat at the airport but we had time to walk the airport and look for some sunglasses for Cherry, who had discovered her sunglasses case was empty. Before we got very far, Cherry spotted an orange and silver bolo tie in a store window. It turns out that a Navaho Indian in New Mexico had inlaid spiny oyster shell in silver to create this beautiful bolo tie. Of course we have worn bolo ties only once or twice in our lifetimes so we had to purchase it as artwork. We found some ridiculous Loudmouth golf shorts at the PGA Tour shop that would make John Daley blush. Definitely not a bored at the airport purchase, but we filed the information away for a future fun event. The Sunglasses Hut had a good selection of Maui Jim and we purchased two pair, one for Cherry, and one to replace my cracked MJ's. Airport shopping spree done so we ate dinner and headed for the Red Carpet Club to get our seat assignments. Interesting conversation with the United employees who said the merger integration was going fine until about a month ago and now everything is crashing all the time. Sounds like it is time to short United.

Trading Babies, Couple Encounters, and Pilots:

We were finally on the plane to Jackson. Has anyone noticed that babies only come in extra large now? We had a family traveling all the way from Houston on our planes with all of our delays. They had three boys nursing through two years old and they were huge. They were also not happy campers. They were spread out on the plane so there was a lot of baby trading going on. By the way if you have a boy, ditch the pink blanket.

A young man, age 33, sat in the window seat next to Cherry. After a stint in the marines where he saw the four corners of the world, he became a NYC cop working where he grew up. He served in Iraq and is an American hero who served his country. Now he has moved to Frisco, Texas where he going to college in science and hopes to have a medical carreer. His girlfriend bought him a plane ticket for a couples retreat. He had never seen the mountains and had never ridden a horse which he hoped to do. As the plane approached Jackson from the north, the sun was setting over the Grand Tetons out his window. He was very excited and used his camera phone to take pictures. We all owe a lot to brave young men who have risked their lives before they have had a chance to fully enjoy them. Young people like him make this a great country and it adds meaning to our Independence Day celebration.

The pilot on our flight was a little different than most. He asked all the passengers to be their "eyes and ears" and report anything unusual. Our marine said that his use of eyes and ears was a dead give away that the pilot was ex-military.

One more encounter to report and that was Natalie at the Avis counter. Natalie was from the Ukraine and had been in the US for two years. Natalie studied English in school growing up and she and many other people around the world yearn to live here. Let's not forget how special this country is, something our political leaders seem to have forgotten.

So we overcame all the obstacles in our path and checked into The White Buffalo Club. There is a beautiful Linda St Clair buffalo painting hanging behind the front desk but it is definitely not white. When we entered our room we finally saw the White Buffalo, a white buffalo shaped cutting board on the kitchen counter.

We spent the rest of the evening listening to a C&W band at The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. After a few Grand Margaritas it was time for sweet dreams.

Willie Mae has gone home.

Willie Mae Johnson has gone home.

Dawn: March 8, 1944
Born: Bellville, TX
Parents: John Wesley and Sadie Yancy
Education: Austin County High School
& Franklin Beuty School
Church: Fountain of Praise and Mt. Zion Baptist Church
Employment: Vanity Salon
Dusk: June 20, 2011


Willie Mae's life was celebrated on Friday, June 24, 2011 by family, friends, and co-workers.   The First Elizabeth Baptist Church, 5054 Mallow Street, Houston, Texas 77033 was full of people who loved her on a hot and humid day.  Willie's brother, the Reverend William Yancy officiated.

Reverend Yancy, the youngest brother, spoke of how nothing lasts forever and we should all be ready for the inevitable.  He knew that Willie was ready as they shared a hug in the hospital.

Willie's oldest brother spoke of Willie's strong will.  When Willie decided she wanted a big screen TV, she went out and got a big screen TV.  When she decided her Dad's belt had worn out its welcome administering family discipline she said that belt was going to go and it did.  When her brother received a failing grade in school, Willie went to see the teacher and when she left he had a C.

Those of us who knew Willie from our encounters at Vanity Salon were able to fill in some of our blanks around Willie's life.  We knew she was a strong woman and we knew she was a pillar of strength supporting her children and grandchildren.  I think we learned that she was loved by many in a community of strong faith and belief.  She was loved by her co-workers and clients who came to say good-bye.  A large contingent of Willie's classmates from Austin County High School attended about fifty years past graduation which is amazing.

Willie Mae is happy.  She brought a lot of people together to celebrate her life.  We are all different and we are all the same.  And we all loved Willie Mae!

Willie Mae Passed Away

Yesterday morning I received an email with the news that Willie Mae died that morning. She had cancer. I was surprised, Willie Mae was not supposed to die on June 21st.

Willie Mae worked at a hair salon in Houston, Texas for many years. She worked for Glennis and washed hair. My wife was a client, and then she introduced me and I started getting my hair cut by Glennis. My children grew up spending time there, while Cherry or they were getting haircuts.

Willie Mae lived a life of service. She washed hair before your hair was cut and was the first person you spent any time with at the shop. Since she knew my family she would always ask me about Miss Cherry, or the girls, or Charlie.

Willie lived a life of service at home as well. She raised her daughters and then her granddaughters and even some great grandchildren. She was very proud when her granddaughter graduated high in her class and was admitted to The University of Texas at Austin. After a year at UT her granddaughter decided to join the navy. She was based in San Diego and married inside the navy and gave birth to her own little sailor.

Willie Mae liked to cook for her extended family on holidays even though it was a lot of work. She loved to take the bus to Louisiana and visit the casinos. Willie loved to celebrate her birthday.

A couple of months ago, Cherry asked me to check on Willie Mae when I went for my haircut. She had heard Willie was sick. Willie was there and she washed my hair. She said the doctor had found a problem with her digestive system and wanted to do a surgery. She was checking on insurance before she did anything. She never gave any indication she had cancer.

Willie Mae spent her life caring for other people whether her family or customers. She ended our last conversation with the same question she usually did: How's Charlie?

Terrace in Paris

We were very lucky to find our apartment in Paris. It was five stories up and operated with a less than a half size elevator, but it had this great private terrace on the roof that offered views of the Eiffel Tower, steeple tops of Hotel de Ville, St. Jaques Tower, and Sacré-Coeur Basilica (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) on Montmartre Hill.




#7, 4 Rue Des Juges Consuls, Paris 4th



Eiffel Tower twinkles about five minutes every hour.











The project to build the Sacré-Coeur Basilica (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) was initiated by a group of influential people. Their reasons to build this monument was two-fold: they had pledged to build a church if Paris escaped unscathed from the war with the Prussians and they saw the defeat of the French at the hands of the Prussian army in 1870 as a moral condemnation of the sins of Paris.
The project was authorized by the National Assembly in 1873, and a competition was organized. The goal was to build an imposing basilica true to Christian traditions.(1)

The Sacré-Coeur Basilica has managed to keep its beaming white color even in the polluted air of a big city like Paris. This can be attributed to the Château-Landon stones which were used for the construction of the Sacré-Coeur. When it rains, the stones react to the water and secrete calcite, which acts like a bleacher.(1)









Saint-Jacques Tower, the Tour Saint-Jacques, is a monument located in the IVe arrondissement of Paris, France. This 52 metres (171 ft) Flamboyant Gothic tower is all that remains of the former 16th century Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie ("Saint James of the butchery") which was leveled shortly after the French Revolution.[1]




The Taruns admire La Tour Saint Jaque from street level.




Hotel de Ville - 1533..... Mayor of Paris Office






In July 1357, Étienne Marcel, provost of the merchants (i.e. mayor) of Paris, bought the so-called maison aux piliers ("House of Pillars") in the name of the municipality on the gently sloping shingle beach which served as a river port for unloading wheat and wood and later merged into a square, the Place de Grève (French for "Square of the Strand"), a place where Parisians often gathered, particularly for public executions. Ever since 1357, the City of Paris's administration has been located on the same location where the Hôtel de Ville stands today. Before 1357, the city administration was located in the so-called parloir aux bourgeois ("Parlour of Burgesses") near the Châtelet.
In 1533, King Francis I decided to endow the city with a city hall which would be worthy of Paris, then the largest city of Europe and Christendom. He appointed two architects: Italian Dominique de Cortone, nicknamed Boccador because of his red beard, and Frenchman Pierre Chambiges. The House of Pillars was torn down and Boccador, steeped in the spirit of the Renaissance, drew up the plans of a building which was at the same time tall, spacious, full of light and refined. Building work was not finished until 1628 during the reign of Louis XIII.







During the Franco-Prussian War, Commune extremists set fire to the Hôtel de Ville destroying almost all extant public records from the French Revolutionary period. The blaze swallowed the building from the inside, leaving only an empty stone shell. Reconstruction of the hall lasted from 1873 through 1892 (19 years) and was directed by architects Théodore Ballu and Édouard Deperthes because they had won the contest of where the best designer in the tournament got to design the City Hall.(1)




(1)Thanks Wikipedia

Location:France

Paris Poussiere

The weather in Paris is beautiful this time of year which means sunny skies and no rain. A side effect is that dust is everywhere in the city. This is especially true in the public places around the Louvre and Palais Royal where Cerise is shown standing between a row of trees