The Houston Heights is actually a collection of little neighborhoods. The neighborhood adjoining mine, Woodland Heights, began having "Lights in the Heights" many years ago.
At first it was just glowing luminaria placed along all the streets and singing a few carols, but over the years it has evolved. Now anything that lights, waves, inflates or glows is fair game. And the festive lighting has become more elaborate. I'm sure the power company is delighted. They still put out the luminaria, but now half of Houston comes to look.
This weekend there will be traffic gridlock, so I took a little preview today. I've drawn this house in a previous year when they had Santa waterskiing across the lawn. I thought this year's offering was clever. Luckily I
just barely know what Duck Dynasty is. After dark the little blue lights create the "pond" for the flotilla of duck decoys. And this is only a
small part of the whole display- a flock of airborn ducks hover over the yard and there's a whole sunrise scene on the other side of the yard.
I'm a big fan of 37th Street in Austin, so I love to see someone get creative with their lights.
“Robert Bruno began his sculptural home in 1973, with a very
fluid and organic plan. Trained as a sculpture, he moved to Lubbock
from Mexico
to teach at Texas Tech. A bit dismayed by the flat local landscape, he soon
discovered an anomaly at Ransom
Canyon. Even as you near
the canyon, you can't truly see it, as it is carved into the flat landscape.
But here you will find a vista with more drama, while keeping all of the
incredible vast Texan sky. This proved to be a perfect setting for his home. Over the years, the look and structure of Robert's home has
changed dramatically. Originally intended to be 1 story, he kept adding on,
carving away, adjusting walls, etc. All of the walls in the home are either welded metal,
or original glass/stained glass creations. All designed to optimize light and
his visual experience. Walls were removed to increase visual vistas, stained
glass added to create contrast to the rusted metal (with a subtle nod to his
love of catholic iconography and visual language, as well as the old churches
of Mexico).
Not limited to expressions in glass and metal, Robert also created a beautiful
wooden entry table of fluid lines and delicate grace. And he does it all himself,
setting this home apart from a typical architectural project with other
draftsmen and craftsmen contributing.”
Excerpted from:
