Totally Texas -- Bookmark this

My daughter promised her just turned five-year-old twins we’d better go by Bookmarks in NorthPark Center in Dallas.  The boys are crazy about the kid-friendly computer programs in the Dallas Public Library’s branch inside the shopping mall, a branch designed for children up to age twelve.  But she didn’t think they’d be able to sit still long enough to take advantage of the craft project the library hosted.  But when the librarian set out a table stocked enticingly with arrays of construction paper, crayons and markers – not to mention stamping pens, kid-safe scissors, and googly glue-on eyes -- even the bossier twin surrendered his mouse.

My daughter is still amazed that there are parents and caretakers of small children in North Texas who don’t know about this little powerhouse of a library.  It’s only a few feet from CenterPark, the central plot of grass, gardens and art with space for kids to play.  And just across a corridor from family-friendly restrooms.  (Do I need to tell anybody with small ones in tow how great that is?)  If you get lost in the maze of stores, find Ad Astra (the piece of art that looks like an immense orange tinker toy) and look south to find the corridor labeled with Bookmarks’ name.

Since the library is in NorthPark, a development of art collector Raymond Nasher, it wouldn’t be complete without art.  The twins love following nursery rhymes and fairy tales through the murals on Bookmarks’ walls.  And there are adult-sized chairs and magazines available even for people older than twelve.  Bring the kids and stay awhile.

Bookmarks is closed Tuesdays but open Monday and Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., and Sundays from noon until five.  Special activities include music, story telling and crafts.  This Wednesday, March 23, at 10:30 a.m. storyteller Hazel Sandlin presents “Irish Fairy Tales for the Fairly Young” and traditional Irish tunes.  For more information about upcoming events see http://dallaslibrary2.org/branch/bookmarks.php  And feel free to pass along your own special places for the young or young at heart.

Totally Texas -- a fairy tale without ogres

I’m beginning this blog about everything Texas in a place that feels out of this world – the Dallas Arboretum’s spring festival, Dallas Blooms.  Recognized by MSN.com as one of the greatest places in the world to see spring flowers, Dallas Blooms runs through April 10 this year.  The current theme is “It’s a Fairy Tale World,” with seven playhouse-like castles based on classic stories such as Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and Rapunzel.  But for gardeners in Texas and the Southwest, the Arboretum, in the spring and all year long, is a place to experience beauty designed to deal with our alkaline black clay soils and weather that can change from icy wind chills to subtropical breezes within the same month.

The loveliness opens outside the Arboretum’s gates with a laser-brilliant display of tulips and other spring bulbs.  (Yes, we like color in Texas.)  Once inside, I usually turn right, toward the Paseo de Flores, the main walkway through the gardens.  I’ll detour to check the displays of native and drought-adapted plants and, at this time of year, some of the fairy tale displays.  One of these is the thatched-roof cottage from years past, now transformed into Jack’s house – as in Jack and the Beanstalk.

I’ll visit the toad fountain, where bronze statues of the amphibians spout streams of water.  Beyond the Arboretum’s trial gardens is the circular fountain donated by the late actress Greer Garson in honor of her husband, Dallas oilman Buddy Fogelson.  When my daughter visits with her twins, the only way to lure the boys away from the fountains is to urge them to roll down the well-grassed hill behind the gazebo on the White Rock Lake side of the Arboretum.  They’re never the only kids taking advantage of the soft turf.  Grass stains fade.  Memories last a lifetime.

Which brings us to another joy for the young in age or spirit – the “Texas Town” exhibit near the Arboretum’s entrance.  We’d get there first if we turned left instead of right at the entrance plaza.  The small buildings – think playhouses, not miniatures – include houses, a church and schoolhouse.  Nearby are replicas of early Texas dwellings, including a tepee, covered wagon and sod house.  Still tiny by today’s standards but big enough to let imaginations soar.

The Arboretum is located at

8525 Garland Road

in Dallas.  For more information, see www.dallasarboretum.org/  Let us know where your favorite places are.