This past weekend we visited John’s oldest brother Michael and his adorable family. They recently moved from Florida into a huge new home outside Dallas. It’s so far outside Dallas that it’s technically part of Frisco, which appears to be made up entirely of shiny new suburbs. I’m sure it’s a real town with a real center somewhere, but the only bits we saw were miles and miles of chain restaurants, Targets, and generically-named neighborhoods.

Their house is lovely, and it’s close to Michael’s work, and they have two playgrounds and their kids’ future elementary school within walking distance, so I can’t fault them for living there. Still, the neighborhood densely packed with nearly-identical luxury houses creeped me out a little. There aren’t any trees! There aren’t tons of trees in that area to begin with, but there are more than NONE.

This isn’t just a Frisco phenomenon. Even here in Houston, much of which was originally heavily forested, I see parcels of land being clear-cut for these new treeless suburbs all over the place. People! One of the perks of living out of town is that you can have a big yard! More than two feet between your bedroom window and your neighbor’s! Trees, for gosh sakes! The mind boggles.

Where was I? Oh yes, the visit. Their two children, 16 months and 3 years, are precious. Well-behaved and good sleepers, too. I was impressed. Saturday we tried to go to the zoo but gave up when we learned that tickets were half off because few of the animals would venture out into the 40-degree weather. We went to the King Tut exhibit at the art museum instead. It was neat, but maybe not thirty-dollars-plus-fifteen-for-parking neat, especially since (1) every room was packed to capacity and (2) the boy-king himself didn’t make an appearance. I hear he doesn’t travel much these days.

Did you know you can buy a modern version of one of Tut’s elaborate pectorals rendered as a necklace for only $3000? True story. It’s in the gift shop next to the scented Tut pencils and three-dollar Tut bookmarks.

A good visit, I must say. And now…only one week left in winter break. Time to ramp up the summer job search, sigh.

Tags: family, suburbia, vacation

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