Urban essay: A landscape, grounds keeping photo journal of transforming a weed lot into a garden. A "How we are doing it from scratch" web log. Topics include: grounds keeping, gardening, planning, landscape construction design, materials, equipment and supplies. Tools for lawn and turf care, tools for gardening, tools for landscape construction, and tool maintenance. Sources for tools and equipment, product evaluations and price comparisons. Garden project cost accounting.

Friday, May 9, 2008

DeGray Lake Campout


Becky and I went camping last weekend at DeGray Lake. We spent Saturday and Sunday nights. We came back Monday afternoon, taking the long way home and we stopped to see some sights along the way. Saturday night there were few camping spaces available at the state park. The space we got was not level. It had an odd pitch and as we sat around the fire our chairs were at an odd angle. It was even worse in the tent. Sunday morning we had slid off the bottom right corner of the air mattress. Our neighbors played rap music well into the night and there was a large group of campers who partied late into Saturday night.

Sunday when I walked to the bath house, I knew Becky would propose that we go home a day early. I had the thought that since we were staying Sunday night that a better camp sight may open up. I was right, she did mention that we could just go home. But she also suggested we check to see if any better sights opened up. The first sight was in the dense woods. The new sight was right on the lake. It was perfect. These are some pictures of the site. We had a lot of fun that night. I want a tent we can stand up in without stooping and have room to move. The air mattress was not comfortable, either.

I started a new job and that is why I haven't had the time to post. I am the captain of the Argenta Downtown Clean and Green team. I have been reworking ornamental plant beds up and down Main street. I've been thinking how gardening is like governance. I'm working on a post about that. Coming Soon!

Thank you for reading my blog. I promise to write stuff that is interesting for you.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Adele's Big Adventure


My sister, Adele, came down from Indiana for a visit. From what I gather she is on a solitary sojourn. In times past our relationship has been rocky. I think we have received restoration.

She climbed Pinnacle Mountain and took this picture of the Arkansas River and sent it to me. It calls to mind Psalm 23; "...He causes me to lie down in green pastures and leads me to still and restful waters." She weathered a storm in her van and her tent got blown down. I guess that's how life can be. Usually things are pretty quiet, but inevitably there will be storms to weather.

Psalm 23 goes on to say, "...He restores my soul." That is the true restoration and the restoration that is my line of work. One time my soul was broken and I sojourned for sixteen, lonely years. My true testimony is that when I look back and reflect on what I went through those years I must say my soul was restored. I knew the worst was passed when I experienced a vision of Jesus showing me a scene like Adele's picture from Pinnacle. I realized I was in green pastures by the still and restful waters all along. I felt that spiritual exhilaration of the vision. "Lord, I believe!" is what I exclaimed. However that spiritual high was immediately tempered by Jesus' answer to me. In the vision he said, "Do you love me? If you love me you will feed my sheep."

There is nothing so private as that conversation. With that belief came the realization that my conscience alone judges whether I am faithful or not faithful. I am held to the law of love of my own self. Yet in this there is great joy and freedom. This is the secret, that thoughts become things. Often overlooked in organized religion is the great reward for dwelling on thoughts of a positive nature and excluding the worthless negatives. I don't see why people are so afraid of Jesus. He expressed this great truth in all he said and did. He said, "Do unto others..." Make every deal a good deal and become rich in all things. Be generous. Think of the good you would have in life as you can only have all the good of this life with a positive mind set and by doing for others.

People who know nothing of Jesus can live the law of love. This law is like the laws of physics, yet greater than the laws of physics. The law of love is power, power meant to be applied. Like the laws of physics, there is cause and effect. Unlike the powers in nature, the law of love cannot be applied for harm. "...love never fails."

Friday, April 18, 2008

Dreams of a Lifetime



One summer, several years ago, I was up at Aunt Rosemary and Uncle Dave's floating sheetrock in their new addition. In the evenings after supper we sat in the cool, tile floored den under the fans. Uncle Dave always had a movie picked out for us to watch. I am sad to say Uncle Dave is gone now and missed. He is remembered by all who knew him as ever cheerful. Uncle Dave was a hard working man with a happy soul which inspired me to be upbeat and to love my work. I cherish the memory of every minute of the time I spent up there with them working on their house. They were awfully good to me. From the time I was a kid, some part of their house was under construction. It seemed awfully ironic that when Uncle Dave died, he had to be interred in a temporary crypt until construction of the mausoleum they had purchased was completed. I think it is a "Condo of Eternal Rest" sort of thing. I think he would have seen the humor in it.

Aunt Rosemary has a large yard and I think she still puts in her garden. She has the whole place nicely landscaped. She has several real nice landscape picture books and I used to thumb through them on those warm summer evenings while digesting her fabulous cooking. I dreamed of having myself a yard to keep. Of all the books' usual pictures; the beautiful, flowering gardens and the acres of lush, green lawn, and of all the essays, of shrubs and trees and flowers and grasses and garden pests, the article that stuck was the one about development of a landscape plan.

I remember a particular author suggested a set of simple, colorful drawings to lead to a comprehensive, overall plan. The first drawing was of the existing area. Orientation of the sun, types and variety of the existing plants and overall lay of the land are noted there. After a discussion of the existing situation, the author leads you to another drawing of a construction plan where specific construction details, like walks or gates are shown. Lastly, a drawing of the finished landscape plan.

Based on the landscape design book I perused years ago, I produced the two drawings of this post. I found a glass shelf in the bathroom that was large enough and taped the black and white photo I printed to it. Then I taped a sheet of drawing paper over that. I sat in a chair with the glass pane on my knees and with a lamp between my feet and traced the outline. Simple and direct, huh? For the scale drawing I measured everything and drew it in on graph paper with each square representing 2'.

This method of blending the real and the imagined came together for me with relative ease. The hard part in this endeavor, and maybe any endeavor, is for Becky and me to sit down, imagine our desired garden, then put it on paper. For some reason there is always resistance to taking action. After all these years a big, deeply held dream dances in front of me. So why the hesitation? Maybe it is just plain laziness. Once the dream is given life on paper, the great universal power energizes matter and energy and starts to make the dream real.

I've been told that the great secret in life is that thought becomes things. Some great universal power energizes the deeply held thoughts which are believed and they begin to become real. That I am sitting at this computer blogging about our yard is this law of attraction at work for me. I sat alone in the dark for sixteen years, sighing and crying, dreaming this dream. Lo and behold my dream came to life. What was I crying about? I can't remember.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Maple Street Townhomes Update

Out with the old and in with the new; The Maple Street Townhomes are coming! These two pictures were taken from the same vantage on 5th street between Main and Maple, looking south. The top picture was taken last Sunday, April 13th. The bottom picture, I took this afternoon, April 15th. In the foreground is the man demolishing the old house that stood on the site. In the distance is the first Maple Street Townhome rising on that site. Way back there are the buildings of downtown Little Rock. As you can see this project is on the fast track.

I am all for this development. While I know for sure there are plenty of people who think this is folly, I also know for sure from my experience providing painting services for all types of people that this project would not now be arising if there existed no demand. You can link to this project's web site through my link to the Argenta Blog. I hear four units have been sold so far.

People from many demographics will be attracted here, but where I've seen the need is with the folks in transition from a large life in a large home, to a place like these. Out in the Suburbs there are several Townhome and Patio home communities, and for people with the need and the means, the choices are limited. A good real estate agent could probably show a client the available properties in a couple of days. What I heard a few years back when I did a lot of work in this demographic, was that they wished there were places like this closer to town. Well here they are, Pilgrim.These properties fill a specific niche. The empty-nesters may well find what they are looking for here, for those decades they still have, prior to moving into the more secure retirement centers.

The Townhomes should be good investments. They will be very well built. The price per square foot are not out of line with comparable units elsewhere, and, this is speculative, they should appreciate at a more favorable rate than in the suburbs on account of the location. Some of the best dining and entertainment anywhere in town are within easy walking distance or pleasant trolley ride from their front doors. The way to the airport is short and easy as well. This place is exciting and this neighborhood was here long before the suburbs, so it is well aged, like a fine wine. Cheers!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Unseen Wind


In mid life, Becky and I have come together again. Then, in High School as now, in mid life, Becky excites and attracts me still. We talk and we dream, we think about what would be great. We joined our separate lives into one, greater life. We cemented our bond in holy matrimony and here we are.

Becky has her mind and I have my mind. We have our mind. Our mind is greater than my mind or her mind. Some physicists have stated that thought is behind all combinations of matter and energy in some mysterious way. Albert Einstein wrote in one of his books that when he was a young arithmetician he searched for a fixed point on which to base equations. Instead he found the truth that in all of creation absolute rest is impossible. Life's a journey. There's no such thing as the status quo. Every particle of matter, every wave of energy is ever moving through space and time.

Middle age is a time of enlightenment. Because we journey we can look back on our youth. We can know the minds of today's youth. Sometimes this ability may tempt us to lament, "...If only I knew then what I now know..." Life is too short for long lamentations. We, like physicists, have the ability to create combinations of matter and energy in our minds. What we create with our minds are eventually made manifest in reality.

An unseen wind blows us all where our sails are set to take us. Becky and I have combined our minds and have set sail toward our dreams. Sometimes we sail under and over enormous waves. The wind roars and gathers the waters which rise to fearsome heights and crash to terrible depths. We are tossed to and fro like dolls. We are at our wits end. We get religion while the storm rages; we pray to survive. Then when the day dawns fresh and clear once again we remember our desired haven. Faith is restored. We are survivors and we are stronger. We acknowledge the power that brought us through as we make our way to safe harbor. We are thankful.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Filling in the Blanks

The scale drawing of our plot and house "footprint" at the top is my first drawing done for the purpose of improvement plans. So far, it remains blank. The middle and bottom drawings are, our architect neighbor, Tom's rendering of Becky's early ideas for our back yard. You may click on these drawings for a better view, if you wish. I came across these in my photo file. I wrote in an earlier post about Becky doing a simple drawing that led us to this house, it seems I have left off the follow through. I let the project out of my thoughts. Oddly, I find that some force has gently led me back to the beginning.

Give the thoughts concrete form and they begin to feel real. The law of attraction steps in with the miracle, the incomprehensible power of true transformation. Sit down and give concrete form to your thoughts and to your dreams every day. I give my thoughts expression in these ways. I write, I draw, I take pictures. In this blog I wrestle to sculpt my thoughts to my desire. My dreams and desires that pertain to the restoration of our house are given life in this blog. Thought becomes things and with a leap of faith I am creating a thing by first creating the thing in my thoughts by way of this media. I create for myself a new life to order as I create this new life in my mind and believe I have it presently.

My new life in this house means coming up with $433,000 to effect a complete restoration of this house, by my estimate. Old Bob the Painter was incapable of this achievement. Old Bob the Painter could hardly keep a leaky roof over his head or eat more than once a day. Old Bob the Painter struggled with all the bills and complications of the painting business. Old Bob the Painter was not happy. Don't be quick to ridicule or pity me, maybe you have impossible dreams, too?

Everyone applies the secret law of attraction that thoughts become things. I once was the sound and lighting "Guru" for an acoustic music venue held two Friday nights a month in a church. I would sit at my sound control table at the back of the performance hall dreaming about the show being on the radio. After about two years, someone from the public radio station, NPR, came along and made it happen. I think it still airs Saturday nights at 8:00. When I recall the happening I feel alive.

During the same time of my radio dreams I had a lot of negative thoughts and emotions on account of my allowing certain circumstances, the details of which I will spare you. In like form as the positive radio thoughts, I received negative fruits from my negative thinking. Attaining fifty years of age, my sons emancipated by reason of their ages, and most of all, uniting with my soul mate, my love, Becky, I have a clear understanding that I am not only privileged to create my life to order, but I also have the necessity to do so. I dispense with the negative, unhealthy thoughts, the source of negative circumstance and cultivate the positive impulses of desire, the source for positive circumstance. Unawares, I have applied the secret law of attraction negatively and positively and received either result accordingly.

The brain houses the most powerful force in the universe. The computer is the greatest tool brains have so far created. Rough, incomplete ideas can be refined into real gems. Thoughts and ideas are refined to remove impurities and compounded with sympathetic ideas easily on a computer. We, in our day, live with miracles all around.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

The Imagination Sees Something and the Heart Quickens


We build up, we throw what was built, back down. Out of the ashes come ideas that change the world.

I fancy in my imagination how someone, many hundreds of centuries in the past, saw the broken shards of previous civilization, rising to the surface of the ground through the work of rain and nature's elements.

Maybe as this person passed to dump his refuse or to collect water he observed these shards over many years. One day in a flash of inspiration he realizes he may collect these shards and arrange them in an orderly fashion. Using his knowledge of lime putty he understands he may set these shard in a bed of clay which will harden and hold these pieces. He can take fine sand and mix it with powdery soil which will similarly harden and fill in the spaces between the pieces and clean it of with water. On that day humanity is given the art of mosaic tile.

The centuries pass, humanity grows, the next thing you know, you are in the home improvement store picking out tile for your bathroom.

The imagination can, in a flash, provide insights that can leap far into what cannot be learned with a lifetime of ordinary study. The imagination responds when exercised and made to produce insight.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

BnB : A Toast !


When Becky and I got together and the sparks were flying, we were laying about in my apartment, dreaming. We were talking about what kind of house we would like to have. Becky could not adequately describe her dream house, so she took my work notebook and a pen and said, "Something like this...". "The front would look like this with something going on around the side." She drew the front of the house on the top half of the page. Then she said, "The inside would be like this, (SKETCH, SKETCH, SKETCH), with the kitchen in the back, the living room in the front... like this." This she did on the bottom half of the page. We studied her sketch and said, "Yeah, that would be nice."

We forgot about the sketch in the notebook and went on with life. After some weeks we actually began going to open houses, "...just to see". The idea of getting a house together grew on us and our search grew more definite. We enlisted the aid of, Joel, an agent with the real estate company that managed the apartment house where we both now resided. Excitement gradually turned to frustration and then to outright surrender of the idea. Over a period of several weeks we covered a large swath of town from the suburbs to downtown and nothing worked out. One Sunday afternoon after our tour of the open houses on our list, we just drove around talking and thinking that maybe getting a house was not the right thing. We wandered across the river in to Argenta, the last place on earth either of us ever thought we would live, due to it's reputation as "Dog Town".

It had been years since I had been there and Becky had not been there since High School days. I knew there was a restoration effort going on there as I had worked on one of the first Main Street restorations years earlier. We were stunned at how the neighborhood had turned around. We talked to a young couple with a baby in a stroller and they said the neighborhood was terrific. So we drove around and soon found ourselves out front of a neat, little Craftsman house that had been re-done. There was a little 'for sale by owner' sign tacked up above the porch. I had to twist Becky's arm to call the number as she was sure the house was beyond our price range. (It was.)

Long story, short, I came across her forgotten, little drawing sometime around the day she closed on the house. "Look!", I said. "Here is your drawing and see how it matches the house exactly!" We were stunned. I haven't been able to locate that drawing, it must have gotten mixed up in the move, but it is a piece of magic which is our touchstone when we need inspiration.

Last Sunday we were talking about our desire to enclose the back yard for Brody and the cats to play in. We would also like to have a more private and landscaped area when we cook out. Remembering the magic of the drawing, I took pictures of the back. We sat on the bed and I sketched in a rough idea of the back yard on the photos. Here it is. We believe that Becky's drawing and our mutual belief brought about the circumstances that have us living in our dream house. It's silly, but dreams do come true. May your dreams come true for you!

Monday, March 31, 2008

The Real and the Dream



I do not know if it is common to blend a construction drawing with a photo as I am doing for this project. It works for me. First I took the photo, then in the paint program, I used the eraser to remove the concrete deck. I put the photo on my drawing board and drew in the existing grade of the deck. The line below that represents what the grade should be. Evidently the existing slab was installed on top of the original porch deck. The existing porch deck is a couple of inches above the thresholds of the doors. With the grade established I have begun constructing the new deck, starting with the addition of drains. They are drawn slightly below the grade. The drain configuration is subject to change depending on how the slab is done. But for the meantime this is a reasonable representation of my desire.

This project comes to life through application of the imagination. I feel the project moving forward. I feel progress just as surely as if I were out there watching workmen going at it. I see the new construction emerging as sculpture. I hear the workmen jabbering and the machinery running and scraping. I touch a shovel handle. I smell the porta- potty. I taste the water from the orange keg. I'm out there sweating under the hot sun and it is happening. The action of wrestling with the drawings is dispelling the negative defeatism. When I can completely overcome my unbelief, I will be ready for the actual construction, somehow. By then I will have the completed plans firmly in mind and the plans will be crystal clear. When the actual construction begins, sound plans will give me a better chance of coming in on time and under budget, because I will have already encountered and overcome the problems involved. So it seems the imagination, through some mysterious process, is essential to achievement of restoration. A thing becomes real in your mind and through some mysterious process, the Infinite Intelligence manifests the thing concretely.

Friday, March 28, 2008

A Driving Lesson of the Imagination




My Dad gave me a great gift. He taught me to be an expert driver. My Dad retired from the Marine Corps. He was a pilot and in his words his primary mission was, "...flying the drunk Generals around..." He had an excellent service record and I possess his log books. He communicated to me my driving degree in no uncertain terms. I learned to drive as if piloting a transport plane. When he communicated lessons I was expected to absorb, retain and apply his lessons, or suffer the consequences.

I recently helped my son Sam get his drivers license and my technique is more compassionate, though no less thorough. He doesn't have his own vehicle yet, so he is still in my province while he drives my truck. Therefore, the driving lessons continue until he is fully emancipated. Yesterday we had opportunity to review navigation. He drove as we went out to run some errands. Before we ever left on our expedition I had the trip in mind. If I didn't find the object of my search at the first destination, we would proceed to our secondary destination in a logical, gas saving, manner. If the secondary destination came up empty we would proceed to the third destination. In my mind I plotted a course, from point "A", to point "B", to point "C". I created this route in my mind using my imagination. From this equation I could give fair estimates of traffic volume, time, mileage and fuel requirements. Because of my father’s training I was able to create this calculation in moments. Then my imagination presented my mind with a clear picture of our expedition. Incidentally, this picture could readily be modified to accept changes in the plan like one can cut and paste on a computer.

The first store didn't have what I was seeking so we proceeded to the next stop. Sam is a good driver but he still has a way to go to be proficient. Questioning Sam, I was assured he did not have his way firmly in mind. I must admit I was testing him. I only told him the names of the stores I wanted to visit and I watched as he struggled with navigation. My desire is to know he can navigate life with confidence. As we drove we talked about when he was a toddler and how as a toddler he did not have the ability to order a hamburger and fries at the fast food outlet. The faculty of imagination is generally not developed sufficiently in toddlers for them to do such a task. I think that if I walk into a familiar fast food establishment I should already have a fair idea of what I want. I am critical of grown- ups who stand in a line with a menu board in front of them and have no idea what they want when it is their turn to order. I lose patience. Use your imagination, people! Geeze!

So navigating traffic from point "A" to point "B", the imagination is utilized to create a route. This is not hard to do. In the matter of navigation while driving one is forced to use the imagination to get where one desires to go. You needn't bother yourself with baseless fears of trouble along the way. Simply fix the destination and course in the imagination, make sure you have everything you need, and then off you go. You cross those bridges when you come to them. The imagination is there to be used to make life better. The imagination is like a muscle which works better the more it is used. How could you get in a car and go anywhere without the imagination?

The imagination is applied to every achievement. If I desire so and so, then begin to draw up plans to accomplish so and so, like a puzzle, pieces crop up that don't fit, or pieces are missing. The imagination further informs of ways and means to make a fit or to create the missing pieces. Sitting where you are right now, you can imagine a specific door far away you wish to open; a specific threshold you wish to cross. Maybe a restaurant where you and yours enjoyed a memorable meal on vacation. You know you can do this. You must use your imagination to do so. Am I right? The great secret of life that thoughts become things is this use of the imagination to create in your mind a desired objective.

I have completed the first set of drawings for the restoration of the porch on our house. By doing so I am confronted with the knowledge that the project isn’t as I first imagined. This doesn’t mean it is any more difficult or impossible. I do realize I will need some expert help. I can’t just tear out the old porch and pour in some new concrete and think that all will be well. Matter of fact my imagination informs me that this is the cause of the failure of the porch deck. The Concrete caps of the porch wall will also be demolished and replaced in form similar to the caps on the columns.

Positive belief and a thrill of expectation rises as the imagination yields knowledge and understanding. The book of Proverbs says that when understanding enters into your heart it is sweeter than honey. And, that wisdom is more desirable than the choicest gold. At the moment, everything on the porch looks the same, but in my mind this project is alive and real. This transformation is taking place in my mind with the aid of the imagination. I see the workmen out there in Carhart coveralls and dirty work boots busting out the old porch. I see them with the excavation equipment digging out the old fill. I see the bricks which have been removed cleaned and neatly stacked in preparation of the new construction. I see capable men who consult the plans and build with the mastery of their trades. I see the front porch restored to endure beyond our lives. I see the property value rising proportionately. I see us enjoying life with gladness of heart on our porch with family and friends. Restoration!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Intangible Thought Becoming Concrete Reality





Thoughts become things. The Maple Street Town Homes are thoughts becoming things. The first unit is taking concrete form and soon on these three blocks will stand the homes which began as a simple, intangible thought. This is a testament to and a demonstration of the power of thought. One sound thought began to attract other related thoughts and then the thoughts began to manifest.

That thoughts become things is a law to be utilized by those who dream of better things to come. I dream of effecting the restoration of our house into a home that showcases the highest restoration standards set forth in the National Parks Service Preservation Briefs. I believe in my dream and even though all my income in the past ten years would not suffice to cover the required expenditure, I will exercise my right to apply the law of attraction to my benefit. Following the example of the Maple Street Town Homes I will continue detailed plan making. I will simply suggest to myself that there is some power or force that aids and instructs me in the most simple and direct manner to make my thoughts of this restoration real. I will constantly affirm my conviction until my thoughts crystallize into absolute belief that this house will become as I dream it to be. I see in my mind's eye my receiving income sufficient to effect the restoration. I see myself producing the detailed plans. I see handing off my detailed plans to contractors who will in turn do the work to make my thoughts real. I see myself writing the checks to pay for it all. I will turn every negative circumstance into stepping stones to the new reality. I will conduct myself as though I already have the money in the bank until that becomes reality.

This law, that thoughts become things, is what I profess and demonstrate on this blog. Maybe like me, you who are reading, you have had a tantalizing taste, an inkling of this law at work in your life. I will take a chance to expose myself to prove this great universal truth. From my demonstration you will gain wisdom and inspiration. You will receive the guidance you require for whatever it is that you desire of life.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Side Porch Demolition

This is my first drawing for construction. It is for the demolition work of the concrete slab on the side porch. The photo doesn't reveal the very poor conditions. Careful planning enables one to edit the thoughts; cut the negatives and paste the positives. The mind is strengthened to the task. Careful planning helps reveal gaps and unsound ideas. The imagination can more easily be employed for discovery of workable solutions.

In the storehouse of my imagination I have snippets of ideas on how to do drawings for this project. I have experienced a thrill to just get this far. I want what I want and I have made do with the tools I have at my disposal. The two pictures here seemed like an easy thing to do when this was just an idea floating around in my mind. Production of the doctored photo took some patient, determined plugging away to achieve. One observation I make is that by employing my imagination my mind more easily accepts the achievement idea and I feel a thrill. This is an urge to keep going. As far as I am concerned this demolition work is already a reality. Even though the failed concrete slab is still there I "feel" real progress. I will need clear drawings and sound plans for submission to the Historic Commission for approval of my project.

With digital format ability I can take this photo- drawing to my board and with "T" square and triangle draw in the new construction details. I like the masonry metaphor of building stone upon stone, each laid level and true. This is the way to apply the imagination for building sound plans of any achievement, idea by idea. In other words, "Thoughts become things". The physical properties of the house have not changed an iota. As far as anyone else can tell there is no restoration of the porch in progress. This first step taken, I "FEEL" that the project is under way and, my growing desire and faith will make it real rather than "...WHEN I CAN GET THE MONEY...". This is my restoration leap of faith.

Monday, March 24, 2008

What's Next


I made a decision about my desires to restore this house as "THE" restoration project of my life. I have more than enough obstacles in my life to destroy this dream. Repair of the brick work alone is intimidation aplenty to destroy my faith.
(By the way, that old K-5 Blazer belongs to my son Sam and is available for sale. It is a great restoration project for the right person and can be had for a good price.) I want to document my state of mind throughout the restoration of our house. Time has passed since my decision and my euphoria has cleared. The enormous task shows no movement. But I can't go weak in the knees now.

I went to my files to post what little I have in the way of drawings related to the work I desire to perform and none of them were in an acceptable format to publish here. I wanted to post a story describing in detail what I plan to do. I drew a blank. I have experienced a great thrill to learn how thought is clarified and condensed through the process of writing and rewriting and rewriting some more. So I have discovered a roadblock to my creative process. I posses only a vague idea of my desire to restore this house. No concrete plans to speak of. I will have to learn how to produce drawings which can be published to my blog if I am to show progress. This is relatively easy, because I now know what to do next. I theorize that by forcing myself to produce clear-cut plans, other opportunities will arise that will help me to start solving all the problems which stand in my way. I will receive strength to overcome the hurdles. My way will be made clear to me. I hope this information will be helpful to you. I pray I may be quickened in mind, body and spirit.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Table Service Available Here


Until Becky and I rediscovered each other I mostly worked alone and was alone. I imposed upon myself a solitary existence. This condition is not especially healthy or normal, but this condition has been my journey, nevertheless. I performed work for people who had lives. I was the proverbial fly on the wall. I had no life but to do for people whose lives I observed. I think I was stuck and I was hoping for the day when the right person would come along to share in a new life with me. I hoped and dreamed and planned and reserved for that life to come. In the meantime I did paint work for a lot of good people.

That dream was so clear to me I could define and summarize it like this: "I desire a table furnished in righteousness". A table must have a home and a home is for people. Maybe what I express is confusing. The table and the home to which I refer are not a physical table and a physical house. I mean the table and the home of human hearts. Without human hearts a table is just a piece of furniture. When human hearts share in the breaking of bread, there is the table I reference. No furniture is required. When human hearts shelter together, there is the home. No construction is needed. And so, in all my work, my guiding principle has been that I serve the tables of my customers. My dream was to belong to a living table myself. Much to my surprise my dream of restoration came into existence in a moment on a certain day when, by chance, Becky and I were reunited.

Looking back I observe, that through my fixation on this idea of a table and a home, my dream first found life in my heart. There was some mysterious transformation of my emotional estate that brought into reality, or manifested, what had been born in my heart by my thoughts. Taking an old house that has been lived in to death and restoring that house to new life and purpose is a metaphor of a human experience. My condition was like a house run down and vacated. Through an idea and a dream I have been restored to new life and purpose. Experience of restoration transformation is my template for writing this blog. As 'Bob the Painter' I am privileged to be an agent of change for people. I have a responsibility to ensure the change I bring is for the good.

People call Bob the Painter when they are in need. For a house to long survive requires maintenance and at times requires restoration in whole or in part. Whether the need is just a coat of paint to freshen the walls or whether the need is for major renovation, restoration can come about. I will serve your table.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

No Status Quo

There is a process of discovery on every road to restoration. Restoration is a journey. The journey begins when we decide that current conditions are undesired and longing for a better day has translated into action of some sort. By now we know running off helter- skelter is indeed like the proverbial headless chicken. Sometimes one seeking this restoration can feel like a prisoner trying to break out. He runs and hides and runs some more but soon the law catches up and he is returned to his chains if he's not shot on sight. Now I am old enough to have observed the secret that thoughts become things. I have made my life what it is today. If I am unsatisfied, I simply must change the habits of my thought.

My Aunt A.G.'s husband, Uncle Lou, taught economics in a college out in California. The last time I saw Uncle Lou I asked him, "Uncle Lou, is there one fundamental principle of economics you can tell me?" Without hesitation Uncle Lou replied, "There is no such thing as the status quo. You are either going forward or backward, rising or falling, gaining ground or losing ground. Any way you want to put it, there is no status quo." So the secret that thoughts become things is really no secret at all. It is constantly before our eyes. The circumstances of my life plainly declare the nature of my thoughts. If there is anything difficult about restoration, it is this recognition of self.

My condition is similar to this house. I have managed to recover somewhat from the ignorance and blind ambition of my youth. I may think life is livable but I must force myself to continually think toward further restoration and improvement. The good news is that this road to restoration, to recovery, isn't a death march. It may be the road less traveled, to borrow from Robert Frost. It is the adventure of a lifetime; my lifetime, your lifetime, whatever your road. Fear of what may lie ahead on this way must be replaced by faith and enthusiasm of exciting adventure. We don't travel alone for all of the great minds have left their marks along this way.

I borrowed the picture in this post from the NPS preservation brief on repair of masonry. Three stones laid together bound by a handsome mortar joint. That is some fine restoration work. I desire a life this solid if this be a fitting figure. I desire the restoration of our house to be this solid all the way through. I believe I have brought myself to this place to bring to bear all of my previous experience to effect a similar, rock solid, restoration. Thought charged positively immediately translates to positive effect. Stone by stone, thought by thought a wonderful house takes shape to shelter good life.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Our Dream House




Wait a minute on that tuck pointing. Before I get out my tools and get materials to start, I notice that the concrete porch deck was very poorly done as you may see in these pictures. The side porch deck is shot through with cracks and has sunk. It looks like the deck is exerting outward pressure on the wall causing it to lean. What started as a simple project of tuck pointing really means replacing the deck, steps and the top segment of sidewalk. The concrete caps on the walls must be replaced and the brickwork will have some extensive rebuilding. When we bought the house the inspector's report noted that the porch roof did not have sufficient rise and is not finished up to par. Problems with this are starting to show. So the porch roof also needs to be rebuilt. What at first seemed like a little cosmetic repair actually turns out to be the beginning of an epic journey. We will require the services of a competent Architect qualified in historic preservation. Some of this work I can do myself, but first we need sound plans.

Our house is a prime candidate for complete restoration. It is a solid house in the middle of an historic district. An historic district is a district of dreams and we bought into this dream. Historic Districts are plants of the Department of Interior administered by the National Parks Service. That is the same service that takes care of Yosemite and the Lincoln Memorial. The NPS has developed a standard for restoration. (See the link to the preservation briefs)

Our house has been made livable. It has new plumbing, wiring and a new heat and air system. The plaster has been replaced with sheetrock. There is a new kitchen. I would not say, however, this house has been restored. I have worked in construction since I was 17. I well know the work involved to restore a structure like our house. I am challenged to visualize the achievement in my imagination. Doubt pops up and blocks out my thoughts directed to the operation of faith. I doubt my ability to raise the necessary funds. I am bullied by the dead past. The first step of restoration is the restoration of faith. I must say I am successful and that I will rehabilitate this house to the highest standard of the National Parks Service and I must imagine this and believe it in my heart. Through my faith and imagination the Infinite Intelligence will infuse into my mind ideas which will enable me to manifest this thought. Important to keep constantly in mind is the finished project. The house will be more attractive and livable. The house will be a more valuable asset. Our state of mind will be more secure. Life will be better.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Looks Like A Restoration Situation To Me



Here are two more views of my front porch brick work project. Taking in a bigger overall picture it is clear that, with the tuck pointing, the concrete caps will have to be replaced. The caps are atop the whole porch wall and almost every brick under the caps needs attention. So now this simple tuck pointing project, still a simple project, is much larger than first thought. If $30 could have covered the original part, now just start adding zeros. This is what is known as "home ownership". You are going along doing just fine and you see a tiny defect in your house. You pick at it then suddenly the house caves in on you.
What we got here is a restoration situation. Panic is the usually the first emotional response to discovery of restoration situations. After all, like I said before, this discovery always comes when dark hopelessness has controlled the life of a house. The panic response thinks this situation is a conspiracy suddenly sprung like a trap. That's crazy talk. If we could watch a time lapse movie of the life of this house from it's construction up to the present we would see the workers buzzing around like ants and the house going up. We see this wall being completed and a grizzled mason squishes out a cigarette in the mud beneath his feet then collects his tools to go home. Years of living go by and gradually this area degrades. Work is done from time to time to try and hold off the restoration situation until the mind behind it gives up and the place falls into despair. The only thing going on for a long time is the rent and the crumbling and the rot.
Then in our movie the young ladies show up with their mother. They hold faith and a dream of restoration. They will labor in hopes of the reward they have bargained for. Now we see them buzzing around and the house gets a major face lift. However their budget holds them to putting minimal resources into the brick work. None of their friends were masons. Becky and I show up to give them their reward and here we are in the present.
Here's the way I see it; This isn't a situation suddenly sent to wreck us. We will carry on the restoration. Neglect has taken a terrible toll but we must believe we have the faith to set this right. Fulfilling this epic journey means receiving an epic reward for our faith. Aren't these the very elements of restoration? If we see ourselves through some kind of "eye of God" we would look down and see our thoughts becoming real. Why not think to restore in a fabulous way? Faith brings fabulous restoration which money alone cannot accomplish. We begin by directing strong, positive thinking to this restoration. We conceive the complete restoration of a sweet little Craftsman house in the middle of an historic district. We will put this house on par with the guidelines of the National Parks Service.
With the view of the ages we see that thought is the basis for achievement. Before minds and muscle show up in trucks with sand and lime and tools of the trade to make the materials conform to a new, restored property, minds, our minds must order restoration. Our reward is a more valuable and handsome property.

Maple Street


Here's a closer look at the Maple Street Townhomes' first unit under construction. This is the north east corner of 4th and Maple. The top picture is from the sidewalk looking east. There is a legend board constructed which displays the various bricks and colors and siding materials. The V3 website is on the left.
The bottom Picture was taken beside the legend display looking west towards maple street. A trolley was going by. See how close? I can't wait, it will be so neat!
The church across the street is the old First Presbyterian formed in the 1800's. I think it has a dozen or so die hard members which still attend. I was born into the Presbyterian Church but I have quit it. I felt like it was more a country club and I was not a welcomed member. Too bad, I loved singing to old hymns. I just can't go along with a theology based in guilt. God is love and all powerful. God defies being defined in such pitiful ways as church dogma. Maybe the Presbyterian Church here can also experience the thrill of restoration to relevance. (And that's all I have to say about that.)

Prettying up for St. Patrick's Day


Sam puts the final touches on Cregeen's Irish pub's front doors to ready them for the St. Patrick's Day celebration. Last year Becky and I watched the parade at 5th and Main in Argenta. V3 Partners had just begun to construct a building at 3rd and Main which houses Cregeens. We remarked then as how we would have to quaff a pint of Guinness in here this St. Patrick's Day. Now Cregeen's is a reality and the building is about complete. Cheers!
We are grateful to live in a neighborhood with so much life. Each project like the ballpark and Cregeen's have been eagerly anticipated and each has exceeded expectations. Other projects equally anticipated are coming on line and new projects are still to be formally announced. A St. Patrick's toast to Argenta and all the people hard at work to make it even better still!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

As the World Turns -Or- Look Before You Leap

You know the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words? I cut these bushes back last summer to reveal this situation and the image was burned in my mind. The thousand words I first thought concerned worry, doubt and insecurity. This is the front wall around the porch and I exposed it for all the world and Becky to see. The folks who restored the house did great work overall and they took a stab at tuck pointing this. The smudged bricks at the top are the dead give away. There is other work like this around the house.
During my years as a masonry laborer it didn't take me long to figure out that the laborer who took an active interest and learned to mix the mud to the masons' liking got the job of mixing mud. I quickly became that person thereby gaining exemption from much of the heavy lifting, toting block and setting scaffold. One year, on a hotel job in Florida, I mixed so much mud I thought a large beach had been moved with my shovel. I mixed mud for brick masons and watched them at their craft for five years.
Even armed with this great experience I must confess my thoughts have been centered on defeat. Maybe that's why this situation persists today? I began to find peace by accepting and acknowledging, not so much the ugly situation but, that my thoughts issued in unbelief. I turned my thoughts from the dead past to positive impulses of the life I desire. Then the world turned and now I see the real good in this. It is a demand to be met profitably; a perfect example of typical problems found in brick work on wonderful, old homes. Lack of faith is the central problem blocking restoration. Restoration, of a life or a building, ever begins with an intolerable situation. An idea comes and gives birth to pure, positive thoughts of life anew with fresh, young purpose. Wonderful!
Confidence is gained through study. I call attention to the National Parks Service "Preservation Briefs" link I have placed conveniently to the left. The preservation briefs are the beginning point, the best foundational resource for all restoration work. There is so much golden treasure in the preservation briefs that I feel it is my duty as an American to urge you to sift this eternal, national wisdom carefully and absorb it's import and history. For this topic look under repair of masonry.
Before the world turned I made excuses. Now is the time to make plans. An inventory of my tools reveals that I have somehow acquired all the equipment I need. I guess my sub conscience has been at work. I seem to recall a job of pouring a foundation and building a block retaining wall. I recall pouring concrete flooring tile in the basement and this gives me hope. I had to acquire specialized masonry tools for these jobs. Turning to the subject of materials I have learned there is a great old line masonry dealer not three blocks from my house. It's where I got my mud pan and trowel. The supply house, Martin Borchet Company, possibly supplied materials in 1928 when this house was constructed. So I have tools and materials covered.
Now, to devise a sound plan, I need to look at my project through the eyes and hearts and minds of the architect and engineer to plan on paper in clear detail. One rule in restoration is that there are no rules; you never know what you're getting into. Said another way, "Look before you leap".

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Looking for a Way?

When I was young I began to work up through the trades. I spent five years as a hod tender. (also known as a mason's helper) I am deeply fascinated with the masonry trade. Masonry goes back to the dawn of civilization. People realized a need and so began the laying of one stone atop another for shelter and protection. The masonry trade instructs civilization in universal principles concerning foundation, line and level. In this modern era there are breakthrough developments which enable masonry work to be done with great efficiency and creativity. Yet, all such work is firmly laid on the foundation of the eternal principles.
In this neighborhood almost every house has brick work of some kind. Unless the brickwork has received tuck pointing, almost every house needs re-pointing. Our house is a perfect example. Tuck pointing is a task requiring specialized skills. I would like to call attention to the need and show that masonry repair is a very fertile field for a person seeking such opportunity. When home owners see bricks with degraded and missing mortar the first thought may be fear and apprehension at what will possibly be a costly, but very needful repair. To a man or woman starting out this is an opportunity to calm these fears with a decisive answer. I suggest the idea of specialization to provide such repairs. A person who can learn to effect repairs in a price range attainable by the average homeowner and make a profit, can learn to create a great demand for his or her services. Such a person will see and feel a connection with the ancient craft and realize the reward of a true contribution to society.
Check out my link to the National Park Service preservation briefs and look under repair of masonry. I've taken this photo from that brief.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Coming to Argenta Redux


Today the word has gone forth that a grocery store is to open in downtown Argenta, Arkansas this summer. I love this photo a friend of ours took on a recent trip to Italy. I thought this would be a good time to post it again. Follow the link on the left to the Argenta blog for the complete story.
Many thanks to Mr. Gaudin and Mr. Hardin for taking a chance and bringing the neighborhood a much needed grocery store. I am sure it will be first class.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Thought Leads to Restoration


A vagrant spirit inhabits a dead house. When you walk into a dead house you smell it and feel it in the still, dank air. It tries to scare you and bluff you into leaving it be. A vagrant spirit is ugly and stinks like plaster rot. A vagrant spirit moves into a house gradually and finally begins to own the house by default because the human owner is unable or unwilling to keep it out. The vagrant spirit thrives on scattered remnants of dead dreams long past. The vagrant spirit doesn't want you to notice it's habitation. It wants no change. It wants you to pass by, to leave it to it's cheap wine and hand rolled tobacco just one more day. But a vagrant spirit is only a feeling of vacant thought.
A day dawns when, before the sun again sets,the spirit is cast out by decision. On this day demolition or restoration has come to the house. Someone with a mind set on restoration shows up and the vagrant spirit slips out. The vagrant spirit vanishes like stale cigarette smoke in sunlight filtering through boarded up windows when the doors are finally thrown open to restoration. A vagrant spirit never really owns a house, it is a squatter.
Thoughts are things. Abandon constructive thought, as in the case of an absent slumlord and in come the tramp thoughts. Soon more tramp thoughts are attracted and now the house is home to bums, parasites who have no respect; no positive, active thinking. Tramps won't visualize a table in the dinning room set for a thanksgiving family.
Restoration often dawns when conditions are at their worst; in the blackest, darkest night. Some good people thought well and restored what would become our house. Becky and I had known each other in High School. We reacquainted and came together three years ago. We both were alone before and both dreamed of a new home. When the sisters opened the door on the first day of restoration, and took the "before" pictures who would know Becky and I would get together? Who could have told that two years later when the sisters tacked up their "For Sale By Owner" sign Becky and I would happen along to discover a home and a neighborhood? This house was restored to new life and we were redeemed with it. Sound thinking produced a transaction that was win-win-win; for the sisters, the house and for us. Becky dreamed and I dreamed; we thought of restoration and our thoughts were rewarded. If you are in need of restoration, draft the same power into your service and think. Have and hold faith. Watch your dreams come true.

Dream, Think; Dream Some More

The focus of this post is the pink store. On the left a recently restored building houses the modern offices of an Architectural design firm. This is the middle of the 400 block of Main Street in Argenta, Arkansas. From what I have read on our neighborhood blog, which is linked to this blog, this space is to become a cafe. The last post features construction of the City Grove Town Homes model unit just beginning across the alley behind this block. The yellow mark on the sidewalk on this side of the street is a trolley stop. I took this picture standing in a parking lot which will become a farmers market for locally grown produce. (More on the farmers market project at a later date.)
When I learn of any development concerning this property I will report the story here. This is an adventure in restoration. You can bet there are many people focusing their thoughts on creating new life in this space. There are people with differing ideas; with dreams of establishing an enterprise here which will serve crowds of people a useful benefit. One idea will win out. I wish them every success!
Several spaces on Main between 3rd and 7th are available for restoration development. Many old stores on Main have been restored to new purpose.

Monday, March 3, 2008

The Real and The Dream


Here on Maple Street in Argenta, Arkansas a bold dream is beginning to come true. The City Grove Townhomes will occupy blocks 400 to 600. The builder, Dave Grundfest Company, is just beginning to make it happen. I know Grundfest builds high quality structures. Inside the orange construction netting at 400 Maple the ground is being prepared for the first unit to be used as the model home. In all I think 57 units are planned. I have a link to the development web site and there you can find all the information available.
Reality on this urban street was pretty dismal up to now. But for some time behind the scenes people have been wrestling for and against this dream of urban restoration. The dream has won out and grim reality has had to move on.
Money and manpower and materials and architectural renderings are the media to construct buildings. The real power is thought. This project began as a simple thought and multiplying thought has brought this project to where it stands today. Thought will carry the project on to completion and the plans will be fulfilled. As the final dabs of paint are put on and the last construction dust is swept away, papers will be signed and checks will be written; ownership of the dream will change hands. The new people coming in buy the dream. They will bring their stuff, their tables and chairs, their sofas and beds, but more importantly, they will bring their thoughts. (Make them good thoughts!)
Our good and positive thoughts and our prayers are with the developers and with the new neighbors yet to come. We are grateful for the growing restoration of life in the neighborhood these new homes are bringing.

Friday, February 29, 2008

Dickey Stephens Scores and Restores






This fabulous baseball stadium, Dickey Stephens,
constructed in time for the first pitch of last year's season, is home to the Arkansas Travelers, a minor league farm team of the Anaheim Angels. My son Sam and I were out for a walk with Brody. We were imagining the coming green grass of the outfield and the broomed and groomed, red clay infield under the lights on a warm summer's night.The stadium is a stunning baseball monument on the banks of the Arkansas river with a million dollar view of Little Rock's skyline.

The old, beloved and revered former stadium, Ray Winder field, over in Little Rock, was finally called "out" by the powers that be of baseball franchising against the booing and cat-calls of the fanatic nostalgics and terminal nay-sayers. North Little Rock easily shut out Little Rock in the playoff for the new park. When Dickey Stephens opened it took first place as the new standard for minor league baseball. The builders had considered all that played well in the old Ray Winder and put that on the new roster. The aspects that did not play well were cut. Record crowds poured through the gates when they were finally opened. The field was a grand slam home run hit.

Against the background of shimmering city lights in right field across the river it's baseball at it's best; the smells of ballpark food, the beer gardens, the noise of the crowd, the organ playing up the spirit. You can stroll all the way around the park on a wide concrete concourse. You can stretch out on patches of grass in the outfield. When you get back to the front you can see all the interesting things in the baseball museum, or buy something neat in the souvenir stand

On Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor day during the first season you could see and hear the performances on stage in Riverfront Park across the river on the giant screen and state of the art sound system. When everyone on both sides of the river were being thrilled by the huge displays of fireworks bursting above the river, the best seats were any of the seats in Dickey Stephens.

Bill Valentine, the man behind the dream, has a little Italian place in the park open year round. Valentine began his baseball career as an umpire and became a gourmand. After that he ran the Travelers organization and dreamed of this new park. His restaurant, Valentines, serves good wine and Italian food. The Martinis aren't bad, either.

It's interesting how all opposition melted away when the gates opened to Dickey Stephens Park. It's remarkable how quickly Ray Winder was forgotten and became a weed lot. Minor league baseball was tired and worn in Little Rock. The gauntlet was finally thrown down. Baseball is back with the crowds at Dickey Stephens Park. An idea has brought restoration.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Still First and Only


This is us, Bob and Becky, the first minute as husband and wife on the River Rail street car. (Number 411) The date was November 11th, 2006. For the ceremony the car, full of family and friends, was stopped at the top of the bridge over the Arkansas River. The folks at River Rail were very kind to allow us to be married on one of their cars. We are the first, and so far only, people to be married on the River Rail.

I am an advocate for the River Rail Line. Our home is an easy lob wedge from stop number 6. But, this is nothing to be compared to my advocacy of the institution of marriage. Married to Becky, I am restored. What a concept! The quaint, old timey trolley bumping along like old fashioned marriage. Some people will pooh-pooh marriage. Some will pooh-pooh the trolley. Some of that pooh-poohing will sink to plain, ugly hatred. All you haters I'm sorry for you- just go on down the road in peace. Love and faith in the supreme, the self and for others is the principle restoration project. Life issues from the human heart. When love and faith govern, all that is seen is new, ever growing and developing. Love is the ultimate source of all power and is ever presently available to us all for transformation, for RESTORATION!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

What Are They Thinking?

This picture was captured from our bedroom window. Next to us are two vacant lots. I was told there was a home out there in the middle that burned to the ground in the 70's, I think it was. I once saw a picture of the house that was taken sometime around 1900. The house was very large and, though we are in the middle of downtown four or five blocks from city hall, the setting looked rural. The fire disfigured the trees around the house. There is a tree, a fallen sentinel, laying on the ground that fell when the tornadoes swept the state a couple of weeks ago.

It appears there have been no useful thoughts on these lots for many years. Time is taking it's toll. I think the current owners are a little indecisive as to their plans. They may just be thinking in terms of "Maximizing Profit". They bought low and now with increasing development...who knows? It is a free country and that is their right if so it be.

This area must be a battleground of sorts where ideas have fallen. I look upon this ground and see many dead and dying ideas. So it sits and waits for someone with a sound idea to come along and make it into something; some sound idea to make this place into something of value that provides shelter, security and hospitality. If I were that piece of ground I would want to be handsome and useful for good folks. I would be the ground their lives are planted upon.

I believe thought backed with faith is how anything comes to be. I realize I desire to acquire these two lots. I think I will create a park with a fountain and swings and benches and green grass and trees. I will put in a sidewalk and lamps and beds with pleasant landscaping that will bloom from beginning to end of the growing season. There will be couples strolling arm in arm. Young people will toss Frisbees and strum guitars. Children will run and play and scream with delight. Older folks will walk their dogs and meet to gossip and talk about painting projects needing done. I will watch out for the wolves and the bears and the lions that threaten as I am called to do as a man and father. I will maintain it as a park until the neighborhood is developed and further progress demands something more needful on this ground. I desire to bring new life to this ground now. That is restoration, too.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Restoration of the Heart


Pictured is the University Mall, known as The Mall in years past, being demolished. I'm sure many of my old friends have stories from their youth about what happened at the mall. Historically speaking I recall that my parents bought a radar range and pocket calculator at the Montgomery Wards. That was in the year these items were first introduced to the public at the end of the sixties or the beginning of the seventies.

The mall grew tall and strong after it was born in suburban Little Rock. All that free parking attracted more shopping centers out west with wide, free parking lots. Life bled out of old downtown. All the beautiful things of life could be found reasonably priced at the mall. The mall was comfortable, clean and attractive. Meanwhile, in a drugstore on Main street, saturday night special handguns replaced the candy in the front counter. Pints of cheap wine replaced the sundries once offered on the shelves behind the cash register. Downtown became mean, dirty and gut-ugly. The suburbs, young and attractive.

After all these years the mall grew old and has died. The burial is now taking place. The relations fought long and hard over the inheritance. Decisions were made, the project announced and the next new thing is to be built here. It is the multi use format. Retail on the ground, offices above and residences above the offices. What was old becomes new again, eh? Property values will improve. The new buildings will be better than the old. Life surges on around the vanishing mall with little notice being paid.

Thankfully some of that surge is coming back downtown where we live. I don't mourn the passing of the mall. I celebrate the new spirit refreshing the downtown. Gone are the days of cheap wine and Saturday night specials. Hearts are lifting up and our new day is beginning to dawn. That is restoration.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Mt. Magazine State Park Rises Again



Becky and I went wandering this weekend. We discovered a fabulous treasure in our state. As kids we both had heard of Mt. Magazine. Any school kid then could tell you it is the highest place in Arkansas. There was a resort there but it burned down in 1971. Now all is new again. Every structure I saw save for the amphitheater and a small, stone pavilion was brand new. All of the construction is on par with the best the Arkansas State Parks Service has to offer. These pictures are the sitting room by registration.

We saw a menu and a promotional leaflet from the old place in the 40's and 50's. Steaks, chicken and fish and mashed potatoes and green beans were the fare. For entertainment the Dan Blocker singers were featured. Becky and I wondered if Dan Blocker was the same Dan Blocker "Hoss Cartwright" of T.V.'s "Bonanza" fame. There was a troupe of young entertainers that sang and danced and performed comedy skits on a stage. The publicity photos had several young people posed in costumes smiling and beaming like flowers in the sun. Now days for entertainment you can just sit in your room watching the television . (Too bad)

The old place was very rustic. It was actually one of those depression era works projects. The Federal Government acquired the land in the early years of the depression. Prior to the depression there was a speculative effort to subdivide the mountaintop and build a town. The onset of the depression finally killed that idea, but the effort may have been doomed on account of the lack of water and the difficulty of the basic logistics involved. It is no wonder that fire took the old lodge.

The new place is the perfect combination of the old, rustic architecture blended seamlessly with new architectural advances like fire protection and ADA access. Every room has a view the mountain is famous for. When you dine it is like dining in the clouds. There are business and conference facilities. The indoor pool and sauna are beautifully set overlooking the valley below. There is a quiet sitting room upstairs where you can read or wirelessly connect to the internet.There are hiking trails, a hang glider jumping off point and terraces just to comfortably sit watching the passing time. The State Parks visitor center is very nice. Some great nature displays and a sun room overlooking bird feeders for birdwatching. They even provide binoculars!

As we walked the paths we felt awe at the magnificent vistas. We breathed in the fresh, cold air and got the blood stirring. We experienced being part of nature. We enjoyed and appreciated the warm, sheltering hospitality of the lodge at Mt. Magazine State Park. Arkansans should make a pilgrimage to the mountaintop and experience it's powers of restoration.