POTD: Uplifting of the Soul

From 2016 02 11 Jodhpur

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the steps of the Ranakpur Jain Temple in Rajasthan, India. According to the temple's website, "To behold this holy shrine in its spectacularly sublime setting is to experience instant uplifting of the soul." OK then. Surely this family is experiencing fun. And witnessing that fun uplifted my own soul. May this POTD do a little to uplift your soul as well.

I Support Free Trade

From 2015 05 07 Portland

#ConfessYourUnpopularOpinion. I support free trade.

There, I said it. I know it's an unpopular opinion in this election campaign. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders made opposition to free trade a major issue in their campaigns (which differ in almost every other other way). Hillary Clinton has taken to opposing free trade as well, or at least one trade deal, the TPP, although it's reasonable to doubt whether her heart is in it.

Well, my heart is on the side of free trade, even if it's an electoral loser.

How to Control Richardson Housing Costs

"Dallas joins Portland, Seattle and Denver as a top market for home price gains". That's the headline in The Dallas Morning News. And by "Dallas" the News means "Dallas-area" which includes Richardson. Everyone has heard the stories of Richardson houses going on the market and immediately receiving bids above asking price.

If you're selling, that's good news. If you're buying, that's bad news. And if you're doing neither, if you already own a house and just don't like seeing your property taxes go up, that's also not such good news. I'm here to tell you that, no matter your circumstances, if you consider housing inflation to be a problem in general, that there is a solution. And it comes from Tokyo.

Trails, Apartments, and Retail

At its July 25 meeting, the Richardson City Council approved a zoning change to accommodate the development of a 43-unit community of apartments and/or townhomes on 2.7 acres on the east side of Plano Road south of Arapaho Road.

Predictably, the neighbors were opposed. That required a super-majority from the council to approve the rezoning, which was delivered by way of a unanimous 7-0 vote. I was drawn to the statements made by council members before voting to approve. There's a lot to unpack in just the comments made by Mayor Paul Voelker.

Richardson Town Hall Meeting

A town hall meeting is an informal public meeting derived from the traditional town meetings of New England. Typically open to everybody in a town community and held at the local municipal building, attendees generally present ideas, voice their opinions, and ask questions of the public figures at the town hall.

Source: Adapted from Wikipedia.

In the spirit of a traditional town hall meeting, The Wheel has offered the members of the Richardson City Council the opportunity to answer questions posed by the public (and by public I mean me). Call it the first (and possibly last) informal online town hall meeting sponsored by The Wheel. All council members graciously cooperated with this imposition on their time. The questions and their answers follow.

OTBR: Werribee Open Range Zoo

Latitude: S 37° 55.938
Longitude: E 144° 39.468

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".

POTD: A Poem in Stone

From 2016 02 11 Jodhpur

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Ranakpur Jain Temple in Rajasthan, India. Pardon me while I go silent and let the unknown author of the temple's website describe the beauty of this place.

In the heart of the remote and enchanting valley of the Arvallis, skirting the rivulet Maghai and enveloped in the solitude of the surrounding forest, stands, in solemn grandeur, the Chaturmukha Jain Temple of Rishabhadeva. Placed on a lofty plinth, the three-storeyed marble edifice, to which the genius of the artist has imparted exquisite artistic grace, and which his deep devotion has endowed with serene spiritual dignity is, verily, a poem in stone. Majestic yet in complete harmony with Mother Nature, in whose beautiful lap it rests, this magnificent monument of devotional architecture seems bathed in celestial bliss. The very hills around, dwarfed by its imposing bearing, appear absorbed in mute meditation, as if spell-bound. The concord achieved between the bounteous generosity of Nature and man's creative expression of gratitude, stands uniquely symbolised in this Divine Creation. To behold this holy shrine in its spectacularly sublime setting is to experience instant uplifting of the soul.

Source: About Ranakpur Temple.

From ReactionImages.tumblr.com