Dallas, Part 1: Family Reunion

4/5/24 Light rail commuters

Something about a total solar eclipse seems to bring the Koyama family together. That’s what happened on Aug. 21, 2017, in Oregon, and last week it happened again, this time in Texas. Ten of us from Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles, and College Park, Maryland, met in Dallas for the major astronomical event of the year: a total solar eclipse that would be visible through much of North America.

4/5/24 Waiting at Sea-Tac airport

I had not seen a couple of family members since before the pandemic, so this gathering was especially precious to me. We even got matching T-shirts commemorating the eclipse, including one for our newest family member, my one-and-a-half-year-old grand-niece, Kaila. She has already grown so much since I last saw her in August, and it was fun to spend time with her. I didn’t capture her likeness as well as I did in the drawings I’ve done from photos, but I finally got to sketch her from life – twice!

4/6/24 The view from the back patio of the house we rented in Grand Prairie.

I’ll get to the actual eclipse in a future post. Today I’m showing all the airport sketches, scenes from Grand Prairie, the Dallas suburb where we rented an Airbnb, and from Dallas itself. Details are in the captions.

4/6/24 A few snippets from the front of our rented house in a typical suburban cul de sac.

4/6/24 The family carnivores insisted that it was not possible to visit Texas without eating authentic barbecue, so we got takeout from the highly acclaimed Hurtado in nearby Arlington. 

4/6/24 One evening my nephew-in-law Mark taught everyone to play the Texas Hold 'Em version of poker that he favors. I'm not big on card games, so I opted to sketch everyone instead. I messed up Seila's face so badly that I covered him up with poker chips and re-drew him at lower right (much better).

4/7/24 One evening we went into the city to hang out in Klyde Warren Park, which had nice water features for kids to splash in. 

4/7/24 A few buildings seen from Klyde Warren Park, my beer at Doc B's restaurant, and Kaila eating.

4/7/24 Mark made blueberry pancakes for all of us one morning. Getting the shape of his shaved head right was apparently beyond me! Great-tailed grackles, a bird previously unfamiliar to me, were the most commonly sighted bird in Grand Prairie. Larger than crows and with elegantly long tails, they have a variety of calls ID'd by the Merlin app. 

4/8/24 I caught Kaila coloring, which meant she was 
somewhat stationery for a few seconds.

4/8/24 A small lizard on a window screen

4/9/24 Waiting at Dallas-Ft. Worth

4/9/24 Waiting in Phoenix. It's the first airport where I've seen an "animal relief station." No one was inside, neither human nor canine, so I could sketch easily. The hydrant was a whimsical touch.

4/7/24 This is my favorite sketch of the trip.