2020 June Oak Cliff

Love living in Oak Cliff’s Historical Preservation District in the comfort of a brand new home on Lake Cliff Park

Centre Living Homes offers living spaces that meet the highest preservation standards with a great view.

Centre Living Homes is a Dallas-based, urban in-fill builder, and this is our first project in a Historical Preservation District. We consulted the City of Dallas Office of Historical Preservation, and their involvement in the final design helped our project fit into our unique Oak Cliff community. We were honored when the property was profiled on the City’s website.

Neo-Classical, craftsman design is featured in our pair of 2,336-square-foot homes. Each three-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom home offers open living and an oversized porch where homeowners can recline on the swinging porch bed. The second-level terraces of both homes overlook beautiful Lake Cliff Park. Each brand-new home comes with warranties of 1 year for workmanship, 2 years for distribution systems and 10 years for foundation.

With safety at the forefront, we invite you to tour the Centre Living difference during a modified showing of these two great homes. Today, we can safely show and sell these modern beauties at a reduced price of $450,000 per home.

TABLE OF CONTENTS PHOTO BY DANNY FULGENCIO

We Can’t Stop Talking About…

OAK CLIFF COUNTRY CLUB. The Golf Club of Dallas, built in 1954 as the Oak Cliff Country Club, has a new owner. Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, a church with about 10,000 members that is led by celebrity pastor Tony Evans, bought the club at 2200 W. Red Bird Lane recently. Head golf pro Philip Bleakney said in an email to members that the church plans to keep it as a golf course. “It is clear that they just want the best for the club,” Bleakney says.

“That’s wonderful! They will preserve the community, keep developers from messing up the area.” —Lucille Evans Reddic

“Most people don’t know the history of that club. It should be maintained and not turned into housing.” —Mary Jo Cangelose Irwin

“Always loved that golf club. Underrated.” —Simon Castillo

BY THE NUMBERS

HERE’S WHAT OAK CLIFF RESIDENTS SPEND ANNUALLY ON HOME CLEANING.

ON HOUSEKEEPING SERVICES: $12.7 million

HOUSEKEEPING SUPPLIES: $9.7 million

SOAPS AND DETERGENTS: $1.2 million

OTHER LAUNDRY CLEANING PRODUCTS: $1 million

TOILET TISSUE, PAPER TOWELS AND NAPKINS: $1.9 million

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Shirley

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Mural by DTOX Art on Jefferson Boulevard.

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PIECE OF THE PAST

Oak Cliff was early on the necessary 2020 trend of curbside dining. Way early. The first drive-in restaurant in the U.S. was Kirby’s Pig Stand, which opened at Fort Worth Avenue and Chalk Hill Road in 1921. Sivils Drive In restaurant opened at the triangle where West Davis meets Fort Worth Avenue in 1940. Sivils hired “the prettiest girls we could find” and created uniforms based on those of football halftime show drill teams. The restaurant’s striking carhops even made the cover of

TEMPORARY TINY PARKS

THE FIRST “PARKLET” in Dallas will open in Bishop Arts this summer. Neighbor Amanda Popken received a grant from the North Texas Council of governments to replace a couple of parking spaces with a park space on Eighth Street at Bishop Avenue, just outside of Veracruz Cafe. Dallas City Council in May created a permit that businesses can receive to put “parklets” on adjacent city property for up to 60 days. It’s one thing the city is doing to ease into reopening businesses. “This program is intended to provide for better social distancing for outdoor retail/dining areas and as one small tool to help small businesses recover,” City Councilman Chad West said on social media.

#PICTUREPERFECT

Check out the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels flyover in honor of healthcare workers. Photo by Danny Fulgencio. @OakCliffAdvocate on Instagram. Be sure to like and follow!

3 things to do in Oak Cliff this month

June 4

NOT A FILM FESTIVAL

The Oak Cliff Film Festival was canceled, but Not The Oak Cliff Film Fest is on, and it’s free. Tune in for short films from festival alumni and filmmaker Q&As, from 8-10 p.m. RSVP is required.

More info: notthe. oakclifffilmfestival.com

June 14

PRINTMAKING WORKSHOP

Oil and Cotton offers virtual classes and workshops for people of all ages. Amber Kaiser teaches relief printmaking, like a stamp or letterpress, from 2-4 p.m. Once students sign up for the class, which costs $20, they can pick up the supply kit and then follow along at home.

More info: oilandcotton.com

Through July 29 BOOK CLUB

Sign up for the Oak Cliff Cultural Center’s “around the world” book club, which meets via Skype from 12:05-12:45 p.m. every Wednesday and focuses on one country each month. All of the books are available through the Dallas Public Library’s e-book system.

More info: occc.dallasculture.org

944 N Windomere SOLD 1650 Kessler Canyon SOLD*

1906 Mayflower SOLD*

Restaurant reopenings

Much of Oak Cliff’s restaurant scene is hanging in there during the pandemic. A few of the restaurants now open are LUCIA and MACELLAIO, which reopened for curbside takeout thanks to a James Beard Foundation grant and a Small Business Administration loan. NOVA closed on March 25 but reopened in May for takeout and with limited seating in the dining room. LA CALLE DOCE and VERACRUZ CAFÉ closed briefly after each had an employee test positive for the coronavirus. After safety measures, including testing all employees, both restaurants reopened in May.

Coffee quick

Peaberry Coffee launched a line of canned iced coffees at the end of last year called Kiestwood Iced Coffee. It comes in three varieties: black, unsweetened almond milk and Vietnamese coffee. Besides containing delicious iced coffees, the cans are adorable. Artist Will Heron designed the package, which includes the iconic Kiestwood sign. They cost $16-$18 per four pack and can be ordered online for pick-up at peaberrycoffeetogo.com.

Concha fervor

Texas Monthly chose 19 bakeries statewide to give us carbo-loaded comfort during the pandemic. Vera’s Bakery on West Davis made the list. Here’s what the magazine says: “Although the classic conchas… don’t disappoint, the best pan dulce is the Granada, a pillow-soft egg bread with a geometric topping design. The Novia, a coiled egg bread dusted with superfine sugar, is another winner. The pineapple and apple empanadas are excellent, with a nice ratio of sweet filling to wonderfully textured crust.”

Curbing street stunting

A PROPOSED CITY ORDINANCE would allow police to impound cars used in illegal street racing and penalize spectators. If the Dallas City Council approves it, authorities could seize cars suspected of violating the ordinance. If car owners are caught at an illegal event without insurance, their vehicles could also be confiscated. Spectators could be fined up to $500. The proposed ordinance comes after several high-profile street takeovers in Oak Cliff, as well as several deaths caused by street racing in Dallas

REAL HEROES WEAR MASKS

NASCAR chose a nurse from Methodist Dallas Medical Center in Oak Cliff to be a grand marshal in the Real Heroes

400 at Darlington Raceway in North Carolina in May, the first televised sporting event since the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States.

Jake Hopkinson is an emergency room trauma nurse and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. “I don’t even really consider myself a hero. I just consider myself going to a job that I love,” Hopkinson told KDFW. Hopkinson got to ride in the car of Erik Jones, who was the 2019 winner, and Hopkinson even had his own name on the car.

THE BIRDS OF THE TRINITY RIVER

Story by RACHEL STONE

Images courtesy of CYNTHIA MULCAHY and TALLEY DUNN GALLERY

THE ELUSIVE roseate spoonbill appeared to Cynthia Mulcahy during a bike ride along the Trinity River levee just this spring.

The artist had started looking for the bird several years previously as part of her two “Field Guide” series focused on the flora and fauna that’s native to Dallas.

The roseate spoonbill was the only bird she painted for the series that she hadn’t seen in real life.

“One time, I saw a pink plastic bag waving in the wind and got so excited,” she says.

Tips for bird watching

You don’t need expensive binoculars. Mulcahy uses binoculars that cost about $20, and they have lasted for four years. She also uses inaturalist.org, where citizen scientists report natural observations in their areas, to research the things she sees.

$250,000

Mulcahy started painting flowers, birds and insects in the style of Victorian-era botanical drawings for her 2018 exhibition “War Garden.”

She worked on those paintings for several years, and she also took up bird watching around that time. In researching birds online and at the Dallas Public Library, she wanted a field guide that was specific to Dallas, so she made one.

Her “Field Guide to the Flora and Fauna of Southern Dallas” published in 2018, and the “Field Guide of Fauna of Dallas, Texas” printed last year.

The guides are based on a series of paintings, in homage to John James Audubon’s “Birds of America,” that are compiled into fold-up posters that Mulcahy intends for practical use.

“I wanted to create something that was analog that you could take with you and have enough information to take you to certain spots,” she says. “I don’t know every bird, and I wouldn’t even pretend to. But the idea is to go out and look for yourself and then go back and research the things that you see.”

The most recent guide is printed “in an annoyingly large format for our phone-screen age,” she says. “You have to fold it out. It folds out to six parts, and you have to figure out what to read first.”

The intent is to draw us away from our phones.

With a grant from the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, she printed 3,000 of them, and every branch library had 20 or 30 to give out. Mulcahy visited 28 branch libraries when the “Field Guide of Fauna of Dallas, Texas” came out.

“I consider it part of the process, and I got to know the city better,” she says. “When you’re doing a public art project in an unusual format, it was helpful for me to go introduce myself to the librarians and explain it.”

While there are hikers and guides who go deep into the Great Trinity Forest, Mulcahy prefers to stay on the trails. And the guides are meant for that level of outdoor exploration.

“My interest was, ‘How do I create a guide that the average resident of Dallas could use?’” she says.

She was previously unaware of how many large wading birds can be seen in Dallas. And she thinks it’s important to pay attention because the United States government has been rolling back the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which makes it illegal to hunt, capture, kill or sell migratory birds, since the 1970s.

She would like to see signage along the Trinity River trails explaining what wildlife can be seen.

The field guide is also Mulcahy’s tribute to the majesty of migratory wading birds. Dozens of species can be seen at the Trinity River in the spring, summer and fall.

“It’s amazing what you can see here,” she says. “Anybody can do it. You don’t have to be an expert on anything.”

PAELLA PARA LLEVAR

NORTHERN SPAIN COMES TO BISHOP ARTS

SKETCHES OF SPAIN opened at the end of January, weeks before the coronavirus hit Dallas.

The restaurant was conceived as a pinchos bar, serving snacks that are the Basque region’s version of tapas. After restaurants were closed for dine-in service in March, Sketches of Spain began offering more substantial meals. On the menu are four types of paella, along with appetizers of ham or chicken croquettes, Spanish tortilla, salt-cod stuffed piquillo peppers and roasted eggplant.

There’s also a large selection of Spanish

Sketches of Spain 321 N. Zang Blvd.

Hours: 5-8:30 p.m.

Tuesday-Saturday, noon-8 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday sketchesofspain.com

wines and two nightly dinner specials. The “tasting package for two” contains two bottles of wine, salmorejo (a cold soup that’s a puree of tomato and bread), octopus a feira, ham croquettes, Spanish tortilla and cheesecake.

The dinner for two comes with paella, cheesecake and a bottle of wine.

Chef Iñaki Betran moved to Dallas just to work at Sketches of Spain. Betran got his start cooking at Arzak, the Michelin three-star restaurant in San Sebastian, Spain, that elevated Basque cuisine.

Co-owner Javier Garcia del Moral says

Story by RACHEL STONE | Photography by KATHY TRAN

Clockwise from bottom: Spanish cheesecake, piquillo peppers filled with salted cod, Iberic ham croquettes, paella valenciana and black paella.

the bank gave them a break on their mortgage payments following the recent crisis.

The restaurant is making enough money to pay the chef and keep the lights on.

“It’s not a disaster. For a restaurant that’s open a month and a half, we’re doing great, considering the circumstances and the context,” he says. “If you look at the numbers in the long term, it’s a loss. It’s very sensitive, but we can’t really complain.”

Garcia and his partners also own The Wild Detectives, the bookstore/ coffee shop/bar/event space that has elevated the culture of Bishop Arts since it opened in 2014.

That business stayed afloat during the pandemic thanks to customers who purchased books, records and gift certificates while it was closed.

For years after The Wild Detectives opened, Garcia kept his fulltime job as a civil engineer. But when Sketches of Spain opened, he had to give that up.

“It’s more time consuming than the bookstore,” he says. “We’ve been very happy with how it’s going so far.”

Above: Croquettes come with chicken or ham. Top: Paella valenciana is cooked with chicken, rabbit and green beans.

“For a restaurant that’s open a month and a half, we’re doing great.”

Class of 2020

THE BRIGHTEST GRADUATES WHO WON’T WALK THE STAGE

Members of the high school class of 2020 were born before 9/11, and they’re graduating at the height of a pandemic, meaning they finished the school year remotely. They didn’t have prom, and they didn’t walk the stage to receive their diplomas. Dallas ISD plans to hold graduation ceremonies via Zoom, and the community has stepped up to “adopt a senior” or decorate yards and find other ways to celebrate.

STORY BY RACHEL STONE

ELIAS

CALIXTO

VALEDICTORIAN / ADAMSON HIGH SCHOOL

Elias, 18, plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin.

HIS ADVICE FOR INCOMING FRESHMEN: Always be kind. You never really know what someone may be going through. Get involved in afterschool activities. My best memories of high school involved one extracurricular or another.

PARTING ADVICE FOR THE CLASS OF 2020: Always try to make the best out of every bad situation. This virus has taught me to be more appreciative of everything I have. I don’t want my class to focus on what was taken from us but rather look forward for the fun adventures that life has in store when this is all over.

THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS FROM HIGH SCHOOL: Don’t depend on anyone else for your happiness. It’s important to learn the value of self-love. Another lesson is to have fun! High school should be a time to enjoy your teenage years before you have to be forced to take on the challenges of adulthood.

SAUL NIETO VALEDICTORIAN / MOISÉS E.

MOLINA HIGH SCHOOL

Saul, 18, plans to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and major in engineering. He participated in theater tech and in his free time, he plays video and card games.

ADVICE HE WOULD GIVE TO INCOMING FRESHMEN: It’s going to be a big change from what you are used to, and chances are, you will be called a “fishie” by most upperclassmen, but don’t let it get to you. You’re also bound to make mistakes, so don’t worry too much, because it isn’t the end of the world. You will get over it and learn from it.

PARTING ADVICE FOR THE CLASS OF 2020: The world is an even less pretty place right now, but you shouldn’t be discouraged by it because the world isn’t going to stop for you. You need to get up even more than before to make the best of a bad situation.

THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON HE LEARNED IN HIGH SCHOOL: Just because you can leave something until the last day does not make it a very good option. I didn’t learn that until recently, and for the most part of school, I procrastinated on every assignment. I have pulled allnighters due to procrastination, and that is not fun at all and causes a lot of stress.

FRANK WILLIAMS

VALEDICTORIAN / SUNSET HIGH SCHOOL

Frank, 18, plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin and major in biology.

ADVICE FOR INCOMING FRESHMEN: Work hard, be committed and stay focused. Take full advantage of any opportunities that come your way. My high school experience was cut short, as I didn’t get to attend prom or say proper goodbyes to my classmates, and now won’t get the chance to walk the graduation stage. You will never know when another opportunity will resurface.

PARTING ADVICE FOR THE CLASS OF 2020: I know times seem strange and unusual right now, but don’t let that stop you from continuing to achieve great things in life. As this chapter comes to an end and a new one begins, we have an increased opportunity to become productive citizens in society when we enter adulthood.

THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON HE LEARNED IN HIGH SCHOOL: Set high expectations. Coming from middle school, I didn’t see myself as academically capable, causing me to choose on-level and elective classes, which did not provide an adequate challenge. But once I began high school, I excelled and increased my expectations.

PATRICIA MEZA VALEDICTORIAN / TRINIDAD GARZA EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL

Patricia, 18, plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin and major in international relations and global studies.

EXCERPT FROM HER VALEDICTORIAN SPEECH: What a unique and even revolutionary time we’re in. I also feel the disappointment you may be feeling, missing out on prom, our final senior activities, ending of our sports seasons and senior nights, walking across the stage during graduation, even having proper goodbyes from the amazing staff that has supported us constantly. But there is hope, despite the vast ambiguity before us. We have not been robbed of the milestone that this is as we continue to step forward into our future.

GISELA ORTIZ SALUTATORIAN / SUNSET HIGH SCHOOL

Gisela, 18, plans to major in business and dance.

PARTING ADVICE FOR THE CLASS OF 2020: We didn’t have the senior year we expected, but that shouldn’t hold us back. Many things probably changed for you, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end. We are only beginning our future, and we have the power to pave the road we are on.

THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON SHE LEARNED IN HIGH SCHOOL: Don’t be afraid to showcase your individuality. Many doubted my academic abilities because I was a dancer. When I would tell people that I was in the top of my class, they were shocked that a dancer could be so determined and intellectual. When other top students talked about wanting to become neuroscientists or biologists, I felt discouraged for wanting to pursue the arts. I soon realized that everyone has their own path.

ITZELL GAMINO SALUTATORIAN / ADAMSON HIGH SCHOOL

Itzell, 18, changed her college plans because of the coronavirus. She plans to attend Richland College and then Texas Woman’s University to study psychology and criminal justice.

HER ADVICE FOR INCOMING FRESHMEN: Become more involved. It’s important to have a support system, avoid procrastination and be yourself.

PARTING ADVICE FOR THE CLASS OF 2020: Enjoy every moment, including the smallest ones, because you never know what you have until it’s gone.

THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON SHE LEARNED IN HIGH SCHOOL

Your mental health matters. Grades don’t define who you are, and it is okay to reach out to others when you feel overwhelmed.

NATALIE OLIVARES

SALUTATORIAN / MOISÉS E. MOLINA HIGH SCHOOL

Natalie, 18, committed to Tufts University and says she is considering international relations as a major. In her free time, she likes reading and doing crafts.

ADVICE SHE WOULD GIVE A FRESHMAN COMING INTO HER SCHOOL: Don’t be afraid to be yourself. You’ll find a group of friends who will love and care for you as you are, not for trying to keep up with the status quo.

HER PARTING ADVICE FOR THE CLASS OF 2020: Although we did not properly say goodbye to each other, I hope the great memories we made as the Class of 2020 are ones you can look back on happily.

THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON SHE LEARNED IN HIGH SCHOOL: Some friends will stay while others will go, and that’s okay. In all honesty, some friends I made my freshman year are not my friends now, while others I know I will be friends with for life. I cherish all of these friendships and they all taught me lessons.

MADELYN BLAKE SALUTATORIAN/ TRINIDAD GARZA EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL

Madelyn, 18, plans to attend Messiah College and major in actuarial science.

ADVICE SHE WOULD GIVE TO INCOMING FRESHMEN: Try to be on good terms with as many teachers as possible. This will help you not only in the future with recommendation letters and the like, but it will also help you maintain your sanity. Teachers will be more than willing to help you, but you have to ask them first.

THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON SHE LEARNED IN HIGH SCHOOL: Knowing where you stand, both academically and relationally, is imperative to getting where you want to go and avoiding situations you don’t want to be in. If you want to be ranked in the top 10, know what your grades are and how to improve them. If you want to love and feel loved, know what love is. Don’t be afraid of the unknown. Shying away from it will only hurt you.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

ADVICE FROM YOUR FUTURE SELF

The class of 2020 is a historic one, with graduations online, faces under protective masks and the fall semester uncertain. We asked three creative entrepreneurs in Oak Cliff to look back at their senior portraits and give themselves advice for the future.

JEREMY BIGGERS , ARTIST

Jeremy Biggers is an Oak Cliff-based fine artist and muralist, who works under his own brand, Stem & Thorn. He created the Selena mural on Bishop Avenue at Jefferson Boulevard and the Nipsey Hussle mural at the Glendale Shopping Center. He graduated from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in 1999.

ADVICE FOR HIS 18-YEAR-OLD SELF:

“Cherish the time with your loved ones because you never know how long you have with them. And invest every dollar you make into a thing called ‘Google.’”

JEFFREY LILES , CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Jeffrey Liles is the Kessler Theater’s creative director, and he had his own music career with Decadent Dub Team and Cottonmouth Texas. He’s been part of the Texas music scene for over 30 years. He graduated from Richardson High School in 1981.

ADVICE FOR HIS 18-YEAR-OLD SELF:

“Listen, your grades are terrible, and you’ve obviously never read any of the books on the wall behind you. That tweed suit and tie get up ain’t workin’. Know your limitations. Please discover this new thing called punk rock and let’s get you into a torn-up Ramones T-shirt and a new pair of $200 black leather pants from Judy’s in Valley View Mall.”

CRYSTAL Z. PERRY , BRANDING MAVEN

Crystal Perry left a career in corporate recruiting to pursue public relations and branding for musicians, nonprofits and other clients. She graduated from Carter High School in 1993.

ADVICE FOR HER TEENAGE SELF:

“Having goals is important, and necessary even. Be flexible in how you get to the goal and enjoy the journey. Even better, know when certain goals are no longer in alignment with who you are. Give yourself permission to release those goals and set new ones. Realigning your efforts is not quitting; it’s smart.”

PIONEER PRESERVATION

The Sharrock farmstead dates to early Texas statehood

TALK ABOUT A TINY HOUSE.

When Everard Sharrock Jr. moved with his wife, Sarah, to far southwest Dallas in early 1847, he built a 210-squarefoot cabin.

Their daughter Amy was born in the cabin that October.

The Sharrocks, part of Texas’ pioneering Peters Colony, established their homestead a year after the founding of Dallas County and two years after Texas became a state. At the time, it was a two-day trip to the town of Dallas, high on a limestone bluff. They built a barn and dug a root cellar and a well that provides fresh water to this day.

The Sharrock cabin was painstakingly restored in 2012. It was taken offsite, reassembled and placed back in its original location, near what is now Grady Niblo Road and Texas Highway Spur 408. The restoration of the Sharrock barn was completed in 2019. The buildings, two of the

oldest in Dallas, recently won a preservation achievement award from Preservation Dallas.

Grady Niblo Sr. bought the property in 1934 and farmed it until the 1970s. After his son, a psychiatrist and publichealth official who graduated from Sunset High School, died in 2005, the land and buildings were donated to the City of Dallas.

Besides the age of the structure, it’s rare for a pioneer cabin anywhere to remain on its original site, says archaeologist Missy Green, who worked on the Sharrock restoration.

The barn and the cabin were built of Eastern red cedar logs and white limestone, and there are no nails.

To reconstruct the barn, the City of Dallas built a temporary pavilion over the top of it for preservation. Underneath, a modern concrete foundation was laid for

Story by RACHEL STONE | Photography by DANNY FULGENCIO

stability, but it isn’t visible.

Workers kept as many of the barn’s original logs as possible, but where they were too deteriorated, they removed the old logs and crafted replacements, using “historically informed methods” of construction, implementing some of the same tools that would’ve been used 170 years ago, historic preservationist Ron Seibler says.

The barn cost about $925,000 to restore and was funded from a 2017 bond.

The City of Dallas has plans to create a park around the Sharrock farmstead, which also includes a house built in 1927 and is envisioned as a visitor center for the planned park.

City of Dallas Park and Recreation Department project manager Raul De La Rosa noticed, on the 170th anniversary of the founding of Fort Worth, that the Sharrock buildings are older than that city.

“It’s one of the only places in Dallas where you can see something this old,” he says. “And it’s so unusual for it all to be in the original location.”

Top: Inside the Sharrock barn, built so that a wagon could pull through the center.

Above: An early 20th centrury chicken coop on the Sharrock farmstead.

The barn and the cabin were built of Eastern red cedar logs and white limestone, and there are no nails.

WORSHIP

By BRENT MCDOUGAL

Seeing the connection

Little moments can reveal big mysteries

One morning as I sat on the front porch to start the day, I noticed a blue jay bedeviling a squirrel. Mind you, the harassment of squirrels doesn’t bother me. They’re cute, but they won’t stay out of my squirrel-proof bird feeder.

Over and over the bird assailed the squirrel, returned to a particular bush, then emerged again for another attack. So I decided to investigate further.

As I pulled back the branches, I spied the blue jay 18 inches away sitting on eggs in her nest. Her small, fierce eye held my gaze. Surely she was terrified of my intrusion, but she wouldn’t abandon her eggs. We stared at one another for a minute. Then I gently settled the bush back in place.

I felt transfixed by that tiny eye, wondering how much I miss in my own front yard because I move too fast. Or perhaps there is something fundamentally flawed in the way I view the world, like through a toodirty lens.

Moses encountered a bush in the wilderness. The bush was on fire, but not consumed. Then God gave a curious command to Moses: take off your shoes, because you are standing on holy ground. (Exodus 3:5)

Sheltering-in-place has reminded me to look more closely to what’s happening in the world. Through the fierce love of a mothering blue jay, the coming and going of neighbors, working puzzles with my wife, or a butterfly feasting on fallen loquat fruit, I have been reminded of the potency of life’s little moments.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning said, “Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God,

But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”

Plucking blackberries is the opposite of taking off shoes. The world does not exist only for our needs, but instead offers itself to our imaginations and invites us to participate in the flow. We must stay a while and feel the dirt between our toes to experience the transcendent.

All the great religious traditions teach the necessity of “opening blind eyes.” Reality doesn’t change; we just begin to see it differently. Awakening arrives unexpectedly or can be cultivated through sitting, listening, and praying. Perhaps one of the hidden blessings of the pandemic, as tough as it has been, is that, unbidden, we’ve had our eyes opened. We see the needs of our neighbors more. We realize how connected all life is. We remember how important it is to love one another and every little scampering and flying creature.

Fyodor Dostoevsky said, “If you love each thing, you will perceive the mystery of God in things. Once you have perceived it, you will begin tirelessly to perceive more and more of it every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an entire, universal love.” (From The Brothers Karamazov)

So slow down and take off your shoes and see. You might encounter love staring back at you.

BRENT MCDOUGAL is the senior pastor of Cliff Temple Baptist Church. The Worship section is underwritten by Advocate Publishing and the neighborhood businesses and churches listed here. For information about helping support the Worship section, call 214.560.4202.

WORSHIP

BAPTIST

CLIFF TEMPLE BAPTIST CHURCH / 125 Sunset Ave. / 214.942.8601

Serving Oak Cliff since 1898 / CliffTemple.org / English and Spanish

9 am Contemporary Worship / 10 am Sunday School / 11 am Traditional

GRACE TEMPLE BAPTIST Come to a Place of Grace!

Sunday Worship: English Service 9:30am / Spanish Service 11:00am 831 W. Tenth St. / 214.948.7587 / gracetempledallas.org

CATHOLIC

ST. CECILIA CATHOLIC PARISH / StCeciliaDallas.org/ 1809 W Davis St. / Join us for our Live Stream Mass on Saturdays at 4pm for English Mass and Sundays at 9am for Spanish Mass on Facebook Live

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

EAST DALLAS CHRISTIAN CHURCH / 629 N. Peak Street / 214.824.8185

Sunday School 9:30 am / Worship 8:30 am - Chapel

10:50 am - Sanctuary / Rev. Deborah Morgan-Stokes / edcc.org

EPISCOPAL

CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH / ChristChurchDallas.org

Sunday School: 11:15am /Mass: 9am & 10am English, 12:30pm Español

Wednesday Mass: 6pm English, 8pm Español / 534 W. Tenth Street

METHODIST

KESSLER PARK UMC / 1215 Turner Ave./ 214.942.0098 I kpumc.org

10:30am Sunday School/11:00 Worship /All welcome regardless of reed, cr eed, color, culture, gender or sexual identity.

NON-DENOMINATIONAL

KESSLER COMMUNITY CHURCH / 2100 Leander Dr. at Hampton Rd. “Your Hometown Church Near the Heart of the City.”

10:30 am Contemporary Service / kesslercommunitychurch.com

TRINITY CHURCH OAK CLIFF / Love God. Love Others. Make Disciples. Sundays 10:00 am / Worship & children’s Sunday School 1139 Turner Ave. / trinitychurchoakcliff.org

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

MOVING PICTURE

HOUSE MOVERS sawed a 115-year-old Oak Cliff house in half horizontally and hauled it a mile down the road. A developer who has plans for the lot wanted to tear it down, but Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters agreed to move the historic structure to a lot on Fouraker, behind Davis Street Espresso.

It took about three weeks to prepare the house for moving. Workers shored it up with steel braces and gradually lifted it off the foundation using beams. On April 30, they lifted the top half off with a crane.

The spectacle drew a small crowd of spectators while Dallas was on coronavirus lockdown.

The first story was loaded onto a flatbed truck and took a route down Tenth Street and West Davis to its new home on Fouraker. Trees had to be trimmed back, and cars had to be moved off the streets in advance.

Five heavy layers of roofing were removed from the second story, which was moved on May 7.

Lawrence Marnell, an accountant for the Texas & Pacific Railway, and his wife, Sarah, built the house in 1905, and they had lived on the property since 1895. Sarah Marnell lived there for about 70 years.

Shannon Neffendorf, who owns Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters, wanted the house because of its architecture and history, and he’s planning to restore it, although he’s not sure yet what he’s going to do with it.

“The size was good for our purposes, but also, it’s a really beautiful house,” Neffendorf says. “It’s got some woodwork that’s really cool. It’s in reasonable shape.”

The house move was facilitated by architect Alicia Quintans, McMillan House Movers and Miller & Sons Construction. RACHEL STONE

Photo by Danny Fulgencio

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By RACHEL STONE

The Dallas Black Giants

Our city’s Negro League team

The old Dallas streetcar came across the Trinity River not far from where the modern one does. But it turned onto Colorado Boulevard and made its way to Gardner Park at 1500 East Jefferson, where Dallasites could catch the Dallas Eagles, or the before that, the Rebels, and later, the Rangers.

Dallas’ Texas League teams played on that site near the levee, which has yet to be redeveloped, for 50 years, ending in 1964.

But those weren’t the only professional teams that played there.

We also had the Dallas Black Giants of

players were shut out of the major leagues. The greatest athletes of color from that era had their performances lost to history.

You had to be there. Their stats weren’t recorded, and mainstream newspapers didn’t cover their games. Like too much of African American history, a regretful amount is lost.

We know that the Dallas Black Giants games had live jazz. In the grand tradition of minor-league baseball publicity stunts, they held beauty pageants between innings in the 1930s.

Baseball games were

a way to celebrate Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates June 19, 1865, when Texas slaves were freed, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

A headline in the daily newspaper, June 6, 1931: “Ball Games and Beauty Review to be Features of Negro Holiday Here.”

Black people weren’t the only fans of the Negro Leagues, but the games were still segregated. Advertisements announced “special seats for whites.”

The Dallas Black Giants played in the Colored Dixie Series in 1922 and lost the series to the Memphis Red Sox, six games to three. The Black Giants also hosted the famous Kansas City Monarchs on April 21, 1935, losing both games of a double-header.

The team folded after 1939, and the Dallas Green Monarchs played here for seven seasons in the 1940s.

The Dallas Black Giants returned

Fans at a game, possibly the first Negro Leagues World Series in 1924. Photo courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

in 1949, fielding a team that included Ernie Banks at second base and William Blair pitching, playing center field and managing the team.

Banks, who grew up in Dallas, was still a student at Booker T. Washington High School at the time. He later joined the Kansas City Monarchs for two seasons before signing with the Chicago Cubs, where he played for 17 seasons. Known as Mr. Cub, Banks remains a beloved figure in Chicago as well as one of the greatest Major League Baseball players of all time.

Blair suffered a career-ending injury after six years in the Negro Leagues. He later founded the Elite News and was a community figure in Dallas his whole life. Blair, who died in 2014, spoke with the Dallas Morning News about his baseball career in 1986.

“I don’t have any regrets,” he said. “Without baseball, I never would have met Jackie Robinson or had a beautiful relationship with Satchel Paige … I know there were a lot of things I could have done if the pigment of my skin had been different, but it wasn’t, so why look back on something I couldn’t do anything about?”

oakcliff.advocatemag.com/ best-of-2020-voting

An advertisement for the Colored Dixie Series of 1922.

“Without baseball, I never would have met Jackie Robinson or had a beautiful relationship with Satchel Paige.”

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