In the beginning of West and Clear, we invoked the name of the great Texas writer, John Graves. In the end, going back to the words of the grand old man of Texas letters seems like a good idea, too.

A little over a year and a half ago as the five of us wrote the words to describe what the hell a West and Clear was anyway, we reminded the people of Fort Worth that Graves once wrote that a whole river is too much to comprehend, but you can understand a piece of a river. West and Clear was our attempt to understand our little piece of the river here in Fort Worth. Unfortunately, our real-life demands have have left us with too little time to maintain this site in the style to which we hoped you would become accustomed. As a result, this post is West and Clear’s farewell.

We’re proud of the work that we have done here together. We wanted to create an online conversation worthy of the people here in our city. We think we’ve succeeded. More people are online, engaging and the conversation and talking about their city. We ask you to please continue with that, to keep on reading, commenting and supporting all of the other blogs and online conversations in Fort Worth.

To invoke Graves one last time, he wrote at the end of Goodbye To A River: “What is, is. What was, was. If you’re lucky, what was may also be a part of what is.” We’re grateful to have been a part of what was and what is.

Best of luck to all off you, and we hope to see y’all on down the line. Adios, Fort Worth.

The PALABRAZOS Festival of Literary Performance will be take place tonight at Embargo Bar at 210 E. 8th St. Admissions is free.

This is the second annual festival that features compelling performing poets of Texas and beyond, including Natasha Carrizosa and Joaquin Zihuatanejo who will kick off the Festival with their poignant tales of bicultural life and urban tribulations. The Festival will also feature two poets from Santa Fe, Mary Melisse Mier and Angelo Jaramillo, as well as Da’Shade Moonbeam, an award-winning nationally-ranked slam poet and hiphop performing artist from Austin. Three video poems, by artists from San Antonio and Santa Fe, will also be screened. Thanks to Fort Worth’s own Tammy Gomez for the coat pull.

Mayfest may be cancelled, but according to the press release that I’ve included below, the shows at the Fort Worth Opera will go on. I’m going to see Dead Man Walking on Saturday night, and I’m not planning on wearing a surgical mask. However, I will take a handful of the free cough drops because I like the wintergreen taste. Quite refreshing. Hope to see you there.
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Actually, Pete, the photo should look like this. Post all of you swine flu hysteria comments, and I’ll start it off with this: shutting down the Fort Worth ISD for a week. Well, OK. But why did they wait two days to shut down the schools after finding a case? Could it be because kids were taking TAKS tests Tuesday and Wednesday? So, student health is important, but TAKS tests are … more important?

Fire away.

Yeah, it’s been a little quiet around here this week.

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a pandemic going on, so we’re joining the party and hiding out until it blows over…

Feel free to head over to EightOneSeven.com and talk amongst yourselves for a bit, we’ll be back with our regularly scheduled content as soon as we get over this nasty cough.

Lots of great stuff going on in the Fort this weekend; here are just a couple of things that we’re looking forward to:

We’ve been at Prairie Fest every year since it started, and we’re equally excited about this year. Come out and enjoy the newly restored prairie, and visit with groups and companies that are actively trying to make this world a better place.

If that’s to sedentary for you, make your way by noon to Gateway Park (just across the river from Tandy Hills) to catch men’s adult soccer team FC Rahr in an exhibition match after the ribbon cutting ceremony at the new soccer fields.

What else is going on out there, Fort Worthians?

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon this claptrap, reprinted in the S-T. I’m not going to go into each point individually to point out the real non-decisions and wrongheaded assumptions made in the article, because I have come up with the answer that solves all of the “dilemmas” posited.

Don’t.

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The weather this week has been incredible! Why are you going straight home after work and sitting in your house? Get outside and enjoy the parks and outdoor activities Fort Worth has to offer! Here are a few tips to get you started:

Photo by Pete Wann

Got a pooch? Take them to Fort Woof! 2006 winner of Dog Fancy Magazine’s “Best Dog Park in the USA” award, Fort Woof is a great place to spend some off-leash time with your favorite furry friend.

Photo by Pete Wann

Get out on the trails. As you may have noticed, there’s a river running right through the heart of Fort Worth. Get out there and bike, walk, paddle, or jog.

Take a trip back in time at Log Cabin Village. (You’ll have to do that this weekend, since they close early during the week.)

Photo by Pete Wann

Walk through the prairie at Tandy Hills, and see what this area looked like before settlers moved in and changed nearly everything. (This weekend is Prairie Fest, so be sure to get out to Tandy Hills to be a part of that!)

We only get a few weeks of great weather like this every year, be sure to make the most of it!

Leaving aside for a moment the gas drilling issue — how do you think Fort Worth is doing, environment-wise? Do the citizens (and our elected representatives) do enough to protect the environment we all share? If not, what could we/they do better?

Seriously, NO gas drilling discussion. There are plenty of other threads for you to discuss that.