Go Fish Galvez

Is this unbelievable or what?

Of course, I had been keeping up with the ongoing dilemma of what to do about all those grand old live oaks that were ravaged by the saltwater surge due to Hurricane Ike, stately sentinels that for a century had adorned the lovely Victorian section of Galveston called the East End.

A Tin Man I'll Call Woody

Understandably, residents there were reluctant to let them go, to see them succumb to the axe and chainsaw, even though dead as doornails they were, without question.

And then someone had a great idea. Someone with one of those chainsaws, in fact.

The idea? To limb the trees but leave the stumps, and from the stumps to fashion art, creating sculptures from the ruins of the grand old trees, transforming the dead hulks into nearly living works of inspiration and hope.

Well, I thought it was a fabulous idea and even knew about, for example, the dalmatian dog sculpture, with corresponding fire hydrant, that had been reported in the paper. But I was unaware of, and not fully prepared for, the image that jumped out at me from the pages of the latest issue of The Islander Magazine: a wood carving in the shape of the Tin Man from “The Wizard of Oz,” frozen very Oz-like at the corner of 17th and Winnie. Wow! Read the rest of this entry »

An historic treasure has returned to the island, even if every single board of it is brand spanking new. Murdochs is back!

Murdoch's on the seawall

After being completely destroyed by Ike’s wrath exactly fourteen months ago tomorrow, construction to rebuild this landmark tourist favorite has been in progress for some time now.

Early reports had the grand reopening scheduled for spring of 2010 so I was a little surprised, when driving by this afternoon, to see the front doors flung wide and a bright YES WE’RE OPEN sign taped to the glass.

Ever the impassioned roving reporter, I decided to stop in and check things out. Read the rest of this entry »