| Larry Powell: Looking for sun in all the wrong places 01/03/2001 By / The Dallas Morning News Good morning. Fed up with our "Winter Wonderland"? Tired of the fact that the "weather outside is frightful"? Disinterested in an invitation to go "dashing through the snow"?
Criminy, this isn't Colorado! The only way to see sunshine around here on New Year's Day was to tune in to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. At our house, the cats were so desperate for sunshine, they sprawled out in front of the TV and pretended the glare from the screen was sun coming through the window. Anything to stave off an unpleasant outbreak of feline cabin fever.
Even as this is being written on Tuesday, there is no sun shining on Dallas. Downtown has remnants of snow on trees and shrubbery.
We're lucky, though. Some folks in northeast Texas and Arkansas ache to see a light bulb beaming at their houses. They haven't had juice since the big storm hit on Christmas Day. Worse, they haven't had cable TV, either.
This ice storm struck during the first season of the Border City Bandits, the first professional hockey team in my hometown, Texarkana. The team mascot is a raccoon – masked thief of the animal world. You can see it at www.bordercitybandits.com.
Here's an irony: Some of the ice hockey team's games were postponed because of ice. Maybe hockey isn't natural in the South.
One of the canceled matches was against a Central Hockey League rival from Georgia, the Macon Whoopee. Yep, the Macon Whoopee. The Whoopee's official logo includes a crane, though at first glance one might mistake it for an angry stork. See the Whoopee Crane at www.maconwhoopee.com.
When there's not enough sunshine on Dallas, a person's mind wanders in search of something to brighten the day, even if it is a Whoopee crane.
A dashing out-of-town schnauzer
Our reliable schnauzer source, Evelyn Hoover of the local Miniature Schnauzer Rescue club, says an out-of-town pup may be loose in Dallas. She says Wally of Clear Lake, Iowa, was visiting a family near Pleasant Valley at State Highway 190 in Garland on Christmas Day. When someone opened the door, Wally bolted through it. Because of weather complications, Evelyn says, the phones listed on Wally's Clear Lake tags have been out of order. So someone may have been trying to get Wally back home but may not have been able to make contact. (Call 972-285-4525 or e-mail .) Wally, a 6-year-old salt-and-pepper miniature schnauzer, has a red collar, tags and an ID tattoo on one leg. Wally's people flew home on New Year's Eve.
Observations
Reliable observer of the human condition Louise Eiseman has encountered another great moment in Dallas holiday history. Near the intersection of Norris Street and Vickery Boulevard in East Dallas, she says, someone's outdoor holiday lighting consisted of table lamps artistically hung from a tree. It's either an artist trying out "whimsy" on Dallas or it might have been the site of the Diogenes family reunion. ... At our house on New Year's Eve, we tuned to the Sanford Independence Bowl (the game formerly known as the Poulan-Weed Eater Independence Bowl). The game was played in Shreveport, La., where snow was falling so magnificently that you wonder whether the city fathers might bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Keep an eye out for those "Ski Shreveport" shirts. Or "Skiport, La."?
Larry Powell can be reached at 214-977-8487; P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, TX 75265; fax 214-977-8319 or at .
|
