Change

Change is the most constant thing in the world.  Nothing ever stays the same and why would it?  After watching the TV series "After People"  I realized that nothing is permanent in this world.  This is not a good or bad thing it is just something that happens in life.  Since I live in Oak Cliff I thought I would talk about some of the changes I have seen around here in the many years I have lived here.

Construction has always been a fact of life in the Cliff.  Since we are an older section of the city things break more and there are older parts that need upgrades.  The sidewalks in some areas here are in such need of repair that we don't even walk on certain walkways but tend to walk out in the streets.  The other day I noticed in front of Greiner Middle School that they had cut out big rectangular pieces of street.  They were clean cuts and no digging went on after the cement was removed.  They then preceded to lay rebar in the holes and fill them in.  Some were small cutouts and some were large and oddly shaped.  I know the streets were not that bad before and there are other streets that need attention more than 12th street does.  Mind you they did NOT replace the whole street-just sections.  That section of street is now a patchwork of old and new.  Next time I am going to see if they won't fix other streets. ;-)

Other places around Oak Cliff once functioned as one space and now have changed their use.  This place above was once Moore's Grocery store.  Children who went to Rosemont in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s loved this place.  I remember saving up enough change each from lunch money to buy a bag of Cheetos there on Friday.  In the late 70s Moore's closed and it stood for many years empty.  Recently it was gutted and changed into a residence.  My husband and I toured this place on a recent Oak Cliff Home tour.  It was great seeing the inside again.

 Some changes are sad.  Especially to friends of mine who grew up here and had dreams of their own that will now never be.  This building above was an old theater named the Vogue.  For people who went to Sunset High School it was a landmark place.  In the 80s or 90s it was bought by a church and renamed "Iglesia del Mundo" but the structure remained the same. A friend of mine recently told me that his dream was to convert this space into a theater for showing old movies. Now the church is making changes to the facade that make it look less and less like a movie theater and more like a church.  It will look nice but not like the old Vogue we all knew before.

Some changes are so astounding that you still can't believe it.  If you have lived here as long as I have you know what the term "Going Across" means.  I remember talking about this with friends, family and even the cleaning crew at school.  It was like we had our own language in the Hood.  Then they had an election and that all changed.  I still walk into to Tom Thumb and wonder what in the world all those bottle are.  It is like some science fiction movie where essences are being kept until right bidder comes along.

In the past few years there have been changes to Oak Cliff that are exciting and sometimes worrisome.  Oak Cliff is experiencing a nice growth and influx of new people and places to go.  People are finding out that we are a great place to live and they are bringing themselves, families and ideas to Oak Cliff.  We are seeing more variety of businesses.  The Bishop Arts area was just the first of many little pockets to have people come in, renovate and open up shop. The revitalization is creeping down Davis.  Ft. Worth Avenue is also having quite a Renaissance.  We are loving all the changes but with them is creeping in a bit of snobbery.  We really don't want Oak Cliff to become a place for only the elite and elite shops and restaurants.  There is a new and growing movement that is keeping an eye on this.  Their slogan:  Oak Cliff - Keep It Real

Odd Folks of the Hood

There are some interesting folks here in Oak Cliff.  I am not referring to the people that I know or that live in the homes around the area. I am referring to people my husband and I see on our walks.  Some are a bit creepy, but most are just odd and amusing.

I will start with this guy in the picture above.  My husband and I were off one morning to search for items for our Halloween costumes.  We spotted this fellow jumping up and down on the side of the road.  I just had to stop and take a picture but his efforts to get us to the garage sale were not in vain.  In our defense we only spent 3 bucks.  Hours later when we came back from our trek he, was still there jumping up and down bringing in the traffic.  I am not sure if he was hired or a friend of the sellers, but I would hire him if we ever have a sale.

Another morning in stand out for sightings of odd folks. We had just started on our 5 am walk when I saw this guy snuffling down the street.  He had a very odd shambling gait.  For about a minute I was convinced that I really should have bought that zombie survival kit that I saw online.  Then I realized he was either drunk, stoned or mental.  I have heard that women have a better peripheral vision than men do but mine has improved greatly because of the online game I play so I was able to divert us before he saw us.  I honestly do not think he would have harmed us but it made for a great story for my students later that morning.  I cannot remember how I worked it into the lesson on Van Gogh but my classes were amused.

For about a year folks around Winnetka Heights were talking about this strange she/he person that walked the neighborhood.  She/he was said to be very tall, very muscular, African American, long hair and usually wearing a black slip.  She/He was never violent but was around a lot and very visible.  I had never seen this person but laughed when I heard about her/him.  One night coming home at around 2 am I stopped at a stop sign and saw this large dark shadow out my side window.  It startled me, and then I realized it was her/him.  After that I saw her/him a lot.  We saw her/him in Tom Thumb buying milk one day and she/he was not that strange there.  I was actually kind of proud that we have such a unique person in our neighborhood.

The last interesting person I want to write about is "That Mexican".  I am not using this term as a put down this was just how he was referred to.  We heard about him from a woman who owned a house in the neighborhood.  When we first met her she always talked about "That Mexican"  He had done some work for her and she never bothered to find out his name.  She told us not to hire him.  We would see him sit on her porch for hours.  We assume that he was hoping she would show up and give him some work.  We would also see him walking the neighborhood with a female who we assumed was his wife.  They seemed to get around Oak Cliff very well on foot.  Things got bad between this neighbor and us.  We would see him outside siding with her as they ranted about us.  He was always on her side even though he never knew that she spoke about him that way.  It always struck me as sad.  A few years later a custodian at my school told me that some "Mexican" had been shot by the police.  I am not sure why I thought it was this same man but the description fit and I never saw him on her porch after that.

I know not many will agree with me but these people are another reason I love living in Oak Cliff.  They are humans and are unique.  Wouldn't the world be a sad place if we were all the same?