Britton and Michaela in Dublin, Texas | September 2008

On Monday I posted photos of the glass art I saw at the Main Street Arts Festival in downtown Fort Worth in April. Wednesday showed photos of downtown architecture. Today I’m posting photos of metal art seen at the Arts Festival. It wouldn’t be Fort Worth or Texas without a large metal longhorn or two.  (Fort Worth’s city logo looks conspicuously similar to the Texas Longhorns logo.)  I call photo below “Iron Bovine.”

These were pretty interesting. I especially loved the small metal monsters. The same artist created larger animals, including a working giraffe about five feet tall.

I call this one “Abstract Chicken.”

Metal Art at the Main Street Arts Festival in Fort Worth, Texas | April 2009

In addition to a few photos that I took during the Main Street Arts Festival, I’ve decided to post some from other trips downtown. Above you’ll see a night shot of the Tarrant County Courthouse between Weatherford and Belknap at the north end of Main Street. Below is a shot of One Montgomery Plaza on West 7th Street about two miles west of the Courthouse.

One Montgomery Plaza on West 7th Street in Fort Worth, Texas | April 2009

The two photos above are from Sundance Square at Main Street.  First is a shot of Haltom’s Jewelry and the second is looking north on Main Street toward the Tarrant County Courthouse.  Below (first) is Sundance Square during the Main Street Arts Festival, and (second) a look at Reata at Sundance Square.

Sundance Square in Downtown Fort Worth, Texas | April 2009

Glass Art at the Main Street Arts Festival in Fort Worth, Texas | April 19, 2009

First United Methodist Church of Fort Worth, Texas | October 2008 and April 2009

I leave for Mobile, Alabama on Thursday and won’t be back here in Texas until I’m here to load up the truck and leave permanently next week. Posting may be sparse. See you around.

Mobile isn’t an easy place for me to return to.  Going home means going back to most the mistakes I’ve made over the last 15 years.  It means going to a city where I feel outnumbered.  Sometimes it seems like I have more enemies there than friends.  It’s a difficult situation.  I faced more opposition and spiritual warfare in Mobile than I ever did in New Orleans or Fort Worth.  In some cases I’ll have to clean up my mistakes; in other cases may be forced to face those demons again.

Doom and gloom aside, I’m excited about some new friends I’ve made and that some old friends, thankfully, are still around.  I see a bright future for the church in Mobile, and with it a bright future for Mobile itself.  I have some big plans for living in Mobile, and I’ll post about those ideas in the coming weeks and months.  As for right now, I need to find a job and a place to live.

Five years ago as I prepared to graduate from the University of Mobile and move to New Orleans for seminary, I was encouraged by Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.  “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”

May it be so.  I’ve stared into the eyes of evil before, and by the grace of God I felt no fear then.  I will have no fear now.

I ate well for Thanksgiving.  This was the first (I think) time I didn’t spend the holiday with my family.  I spent part of my Thanksgiving break during my senior year of high school in Washington, DC on a choir trip, but I think I was home for the actual celebration.  My friends Britt and Kayla invited me to Kayla’s parents’ to spend the day, and I feel so blessed to be included by them.  The food was wonderful (some of it was better than back home- sorry, Mom… it’s just that you’ve never made some things). They invited me back Friday to eat with them, and my way of thanking them was to do a family portrait.

Saturday Britt, Kayla, and I hit the town. (It was best that I didn’t watch the Iron Bowl this year.) After helping Kayla work on a project for a few hours, we spent the evening running around the University Park area of Fort Worth and then Sundance Square downtown. We visited Barnes and Noble, where Britt showed he can, in fact, read (below left). We visited the Apple Store to feel trendy and intelligent, and look at expensive aluminum things.
Just for the heck of it, we walked from the Apple Store to William Sonoma, which must be the coolest kitchen store of all time. For me, it’s the Apple Store of kitchen stuff. Then we drove across the street and grabbed dinner at the Ol South Pancake House (since 1962). You know what? Aside from Golden Corral (and other buffets), any place that caters almost exclusively to the 65+ crowd is worth frequenting for good food. I’m convinced. After looking at the menu of over 7000 (I may exaggerate) variations of waffles, pancakes, and french toast, we ordered. Chicken tenders for Britt (didn’t want breakfast), German Pancakes for Kayla, and Peanut Butter Pancakes for me. We approved of both the atmosphere and the food.

See? Two thumbs up. After dinner we drove down to Sundance Square in the heart of downtown Fort Worth to get photos of the Christmas tree. Kayla promised it was 50 feet tall and spectacular. (Perhaps hyping the situation a little too much, I found myself expecting to see the tree in Rockefeller Square, New York.) Upon seeing the thirty foot tree, we were convinced another must be nearby- THE tree must be somewhere else. We searched at the Tarrant County Courthouse. Alas, no second tree.

Because it was cold, we stopped into the busiest Barnes and Noble Starbucks I’ve ever seen, so Kayla could get some tea. Here’s something you should know before making my mistake: the Starbucks inside bookstores do not take the Starbucks card. Luckily I had cash for my Chai Frappuccino (which still wasn’t as good as anything I’ve found at Eurotazza).

Then we went back to Britt and Kayla’s and watched The Holiday. I’m going to miss these days on the town when they leave in January.

[In the autumn]
I built this greenhouse with my hands.
I could not fit it through my door,
so there it sat on my floor.

[Until with help]
Into pieces it was tore.
Now there it sits
On my patio floor.

[Fin.]
The end.

It’s never good when you get a phone call from a friend asking you to find a local rehab; it’s worse when it’s someone you know who needs the help. Halloween night I participated in an intervention that nearly didn’t happen. That we found our friend at all is a testament to God; every step of the way doors opened, both figuratively and literally. Most of the details will be left out of the following story to protect all of us involved.

The story is that our friend (we’ll call him Bob) allegedly stole some money from his family and was recently in trouble for underage possession of alcohol. He left his parents’ home and for the last week he stayed with whoever would let him use the couch. Three of us spent nearly four hours attempting to locate Bob. We followed our leads and interviewed his friends (most of whom were not helpful). At one point, I interviewed two individuals who were closer to Bob. It turned out one guy (how about Dan?) had been driving Bob’s car for the better part of the week, and the other (dressed as Heath Ledger’s Joker), rented the apartment Bob was staying at. In our conversation I mentioned that they were “possibly harboring a fugitive” and that “if I don’t lay eyes on Bob by the end of the night, police will be involved.” I was out of the mall with keys to Bob’s car and an address to find him in less than twenty minutes. Eventually we found Bob, and there was intervention. Bob went home with his mother and step-father, and promised not to continue down his path to destruction.

Bob is responsible for his own actions, but I can’t help but think how appropriate it is that I met the Joker in the rundown. Joker rented the apartment where Bob and Dan were both staying. Joker was quick to aid the downfall of Bob, and just as quick to give him over when confronted with the downside of keeping him around. Both of Bob’s friends bailed on him. They handed his keys over to a complete stranger and told me where to find him. They sold him out to cover their own butts. But Bob thinks these guys are his friends. They’re the ones who “took care of me last night when I was sick.”

“I just don’t care anymore.” Those are the words that will last with me forever. And as Bob said that, I remembered the words of The Joker in The Dark Knight.

“Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It’s fair.”

We’ll see.

We started the journey at Cabela’s north of Fort Worth on I-35W. We saw many stuffed animals and hunting equipment. We toured the store, and forced our friend to fill out an application. Then we drove south through Haltom City (a less than great area) and through downtown Fort Worth, stopping at various locations to pick up applications for our friend.

Then we drove west to Rigemar Mall in White Settlement (what a horrible name for a town, right?). There, our friend picked up several more applications. By the end of the day, we had him fill out two applications and pick up eleven more. During the drive, we discussed the importance of finishing his education and pursuing better things (and better friends).

It was an interesting day of good cop/bad cop, and I was definitely the bad cop all day long. I’m sure it probably wasn’t the best method to help our friend, especially since I’d only met him a couple times. It was the best I could do on short (30 minute) notice, and I think he needed to see the real world. If he doesn’t get his act together, his family has threatened to kick him out. Hopefully today was a wake up call. Pray for our friend. He could use it.