8 we should be able to get into complete compliance. If you’re having a problem and need some help, call the Civic Club. No guarantees, but if the job can be done by senior citizens with kind hearts, then we’ll help. Again, no assurances about completion, either. We’re just helpers. If it’s your mess, so you’re the project manager responsible for getting the job done. Capiche? Oh yeah, I almost forgot... Parking on the Lawn! The following is excerpted from Texas Law : Offense: If you park on a surface that is not improved (paved) in the front or side of a single family residence you are in violation of Texas law. Okay, this law is mostly for city folks; not for our country cousins having a crawfish boil. But here in Westwood we live in the big city , so it applies to us. Penalty: While not a Capital Offense, it is still a misdemeanor to go off-roading in the front yard. If you get caught parking your mud wagon next to the pink flamingos, you can be fined up to $150. Now, in the real world (where I live), there are exceptions. We understand that. But on a clear rain-free night, your car should be parked either in your garage, on your driveway (not blocking a sidewalk), or in the street approximately 6-3/8” from the curb, but no more than 18 inches (which is also a violation). We’re issuing rulers to all Civic Club personnel. You were warned! (Ed: just messing with you about the 6-3/8”curb measurement..., but not the 18 inches! That one is straight from the regulations.) In town get-away : The Rothko Chapel Okay, all these rules and regulation got you upset? Need some tranquility? Maybe a wheelbarrow full of “AUMMM’s? You have two options: the first is to go to India and walk through the Himalayas until you find a cave with kind monk who will allow you to meditate with him and maybe even share his smoked Yak jerky with you. This option is both pricey and uncertain of success. And you just might get a bad case of frostbitten feet for your efforts. Option two is to go to the Rothko Chapel and sit quietly inside walls that have been made holy by decades of heartfelt prayer. Many will say that a Chapel can’t compare to the majesty of a church, but I know different. The Rothko Chapel is the real deal. The Chapel, commissioned in 1964, was a gift to Houston from John and Dominique de Menil. Their vision was to provide a reflective space for both artwork and meditation. Remember, this was back in straight laced 1964, when Barry Goldwater ran for president and John Glenn rode a corrugated garbage can named “Friendship 7” around the earth. But the Beatles showed up in February of this year, so you know the times they were a changin’. To help create this ahead-of-its-time concept the de Menils envisioned, they enlisted the help of the artist Mark Rothko, who painted the fourteen (really large) murals which now cover the 9 interior walls of the chapel. Having seen these murals up close, I can tell you they are both subtle and very powerful. If God were in need of a lounge chair, this is where he/she would choose to rest. The chapel is an irregular shaped octagon (meaning that not all the building’s eight walls are the same size) and was designed exclusively to house Mark Rothko’s murals. Word on the street was that Rothko and the building’s architects often clashed when it came to the first priority: was it the building or the paintings? While the discussions in the construction trailer may not have been pretty; the completed project has exceeded expectations. The Rothko Chapel is now recognized all over the world as one of the world’s first truly ecumenical worship spaces. Don’t believe me? Ask one of the 55,000 folks who visit the chapel each year. If you attune yourself to the Rothko vibe, you will be able to sense their presence imprinted on the murals. No fooling.