Terror at the “Urban Oasis”
- Michael Jay Tucker's explosive-cargo
- Jul 3
- 4 min read
Okay, last time, I was talking about the Fort Worth Water Gardens, and how I thought that no one, no one at all, should go there because it is blatantly unsafe--particularly, though not exclusively, if you have children.
And now I’m going to get to our actual visit.
As I said, we had just finished our lunch. We got into our car and maneuvered our way to the Convention Center. To my amazement, I even found a parking space on the street without a whole lot of difficulty.
We crossed the street and found ourselves in the Water Gardens area. This proved to be a maze-like place of hills, passageways, and stone walls. I took a picture of Martha next to a sort of sign and small fountain near the entry way (see below). But what surprised us was that we didn’t see any evidence of the fountains themselves. You couldn’t see them or hear them. As far as we could see, there was only concrete and stone. And it was very hot. (So much for the “refreshing urban oasis” story.)
About the photos:
First, the run up to the “urban oasis” of the Water Gardens. Doesn’t this look cool and refreshing? No? You’re right. It doesn’t
Second, again, the entrance to the Water Gardens area. This *does* look refreshing. But...don’t let it fool you.
Third, and finally, a picture which has nothing to do with the story, but I just happen to like it. Here’s the two of us on the beach at Port Aransas back in 2020. This really *was* cool and refreshing.
We moved into the maze and followed a pathway. We saw on either side of us more walls, and, on top of the walls, greenery--brushes, shrubs, and so on. It was then, too, that I realized there were people all around us. I mean, homeless people -- the “unhoused,” -- living in the greenbelts or near them. You would see them between the shrubs and the branches, shadowy figures moving about.
We continued on our way. We came, then, to the “quiet pool.” This was the fountain that was supposed to the be the quiet, serene, calming one. You were supposed to be able to sit beside them and contemplate the waters, and come away refreshed and made calm.
Except, you couldn’t. It was down in a kind of pit circled by high walls. To get to the quiet pool you had to go down ramps or stairs--which, by the way, also had high walls, so the passages had a claustrophobic feel to them. It was a bit like going underground.
But that didn’t matter, really, because of course Martha and I have those little mobility problems that I mentioned before. Which meant there was no way on God’s green earth, or off it, that we were going to walk down those ramps or stairs. And we didn’t see an elevator anywhere. So the “quiet” pool might have been quiet or it could have been as a loud as a brass band on steroids for all it was worth to us. We simply weren’t getting access to it.
So, we continued on in search of the “aerated pool.” This is a large pool-fountain with a number of sprinklers. These create a mist that cools the area. It was *the* oasis of the larger Water Gardens and would have been delightful on a hot day like the one we were experiencing. So, we were eager to find it...
Except...
It was broken. For some reason the aerated pool wasn’t in operation. There was no delightful mist...no cooling effect...no relief from the summer heat. There was just an empty, concrete and stone shell...dry as a bone...with pipes and spouts bare to the world and awaiting some sort of attention from plumbers.
Okay, that’s two down. So we headed out to find “The Active Pool.” Actually, that was the one we were really eager to see. The pictures of it on the web and in social media were amazing. They looked beautiful. Breath-taking!
So we hurried on in search of the Grand Prize.
And, turning a corner, passing a wall...we found it.
And we were, very shortly, aghast.
More to come.
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