More quiet spaces.
By Raquel
6 comments
Well, these are sometimes not that quiet! Houston is a noisy city, as all cities are. The metro rail passes underneath these arcs of water, and it’s always fun when you’re riding in it. I get off at this station to take the bus, and when I first got to Houston (well, after this was built – when I got to Houston this part of downtown had not been renovated) I worried about walking near the rails with so much water everywhere! For some reason I couldn’t shake the idea of getting electrocuted by mistake!! LOL
Sesquincentennial Park is a nice place to walk or ride a bike, though since it’s right next to Buffalo Bayou it floods all the time and then you have to wait until the silt and mud are cleaned up to be able to use it again! But it is a nice use of a small space, which otherwise might have been filled with concrete. The Wortham Center is on the opposite bank.
I discovered these water steps on the opposite side of the park – it was like discovering a small treasure!
And of course Tranquillity Park. The pools need a little maintenance, but it is still a nice place to just sit and enjoy being in the shade. It commemorates the first moon landing. I have to say, there is a certain quirkiness to Houston sometimes which I find cute.
15 May, 2008
0 likes
More blog posts by Raquel
Previous post: Quiet Spaces
Next post: Green plants
Comments
It's all so modern - so different from the UK where there is usually a mixture of buildings both old and new - but the water features are lovely - the sound must help to make it more tranquil.
16 May, 2008
Thanks for the travelogue, Raquel... would love to see Houston some day. this is slightly off topic from your photos and blog...but wanted to ask...I just read the strangest article in the Ottawa Citizen about an ant which has appeared in Houston and environs which seems to have an enormous apetite for modern electronics..silica?
any way... they seem to have found the Houston environs to their liking and are present now in sufficient number to cause concern at NASA...? Is this some kind of hoax or have you seen these reports too? just wondering...
17 May, 2008
Hi Bonkersbon: did you know that the ratios I think of salt and minerals in our bodies is the same as that found in the ocean? I think at some deep level water just connects us to the earth itself..and of course there's the symbolism - purification, rejuvenation, life.
Oh but I love that mixture of old and new, Spritzhenry! I wish Houston had older buildings (not much hope in a city that was founded - if I'm right - in 1836, though!) There is a very small conservation movement, but unfortunately most times older buildings - Victorian style houses, small bungalows, etc. simply get torn down to make way for the new. Even some of the modernist buildings designed in the 50's have met their demise this way. Sigh!
Thanks Lori. An ant that eats electronics? ?? It sounds like an episode of the X-Files...=) No, I haven't heard of it, but find the idea fascinating - could I access the article on-line? I'll ask around and see if this is a hoax or if people have heard about it...
19 May, 2008
No X-files I'm afraid... It is on the front page of the Ottawa Citizen, Friday May 16, 2008. "Headline... "Texas overrun by 'crazy' ants that make meal of electronics."
23 May, 2008
I have to try and look that up! =0 And I thought the only "crazy" ants I had to worry about where the fire ants! =)
23 May, 2008
Featured on
Recent posts by Raquel
- The Serendipity of Plants (or seeds that the wind throws down)
11 Oct, 2015
- A clear, blue day....
12 May, 2013
- Re-wind to February-Tulips in Houston
12 May, 2013
- Bloomin' Narcissus...!
16 Feb, 2013
- Paper whites for the first time...
2 Feb, 2013
- The Cats of Old San Juan.
1 Apr, 2012
What is it that attracts the human psyche to water? This has been so cleverly done how dull those rails and steps but with water what a transformation ! Feel that water has such a soothing effect upon us even more dramatic in citiscapes - thank you for sharing an education.
15 May, 2008