Which means, in the picture you are looking west at the iconic, stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, from atop one of the Tandy Hills.
Yes, my use of iconic is ironic. A couple days ago I opined about the fact that it is nonsensical for the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle to claim its three bridges over nothing are signature bridges which will become iconic images of Fort Worth. I further opined that I did not think the Boondoggle's propagandizers actually knew what the word "iconic" means. A couple clever wags then pointed out that the word should probably be "ironic" not "iconic".
Til I moved to Texas, well, Fort Worth, I don't recollect seeing the "iconic" word attached to so many things. Usually it is an article in Fort Worth's propaganda purveyor, the Star-Telegram that I will read something in Fort Worth is iconic, or will become iconic. Just recently we learned the Pier One Imports Chesapeake Energy building is iconic. Long ago I learned the Kimball Art Museum's building is iconic.
Those reading this in locations other than Fort Worth and Texas have you ever heard of the Kimball Art Museum? Or the Pier One Imports building? Do you know what these buildings look like?
For something to be iconic it is something recognized simply by its image. I've long opined the only thing in Fort Worth which is even remotely iconic is the Fort Worth Stockyards sign. Mostly due to the town's name being on the sign.
The idea that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's three bridges over nothing are going to become iconic symbols of Fort Worth is totally ridiculous. The Golden Gate they will never be.
Yesterday I saw a photo on the KOMO news website of Seattle. When I lived in the Pacific Northwest I do not recollect anything being referred to as iconic, except, maybe, Mount Rainier and maybe the Seattle Space Needle and maybe the Seattle Monorail. I vaguely recollect the reason Mount Rainier is on Washington license plates is because it was claimed it was an iconic image of Washington that people in both Eastern and Western Washington would be happy to have on their plates.
Above is the aforementioned photo from KOMO that got me thinking about the absurdity of applying the iconic word to nondescript things in Fort Worth. I suspect the Star-Telegram's misuse of iconic may be a related syndrome to their patented Green With Envy verbiage, you know, where this that or the other perfectly ordinary thing in Fort Worth is causing spasms of Green With Envy syndrome across the planet.
Are Orcas, aka Killer Whales, an iconic Pacific Northwest image recognized around the world? I have no idea. I don't know if the Space Needle is recognized all over the world as being an iconic Seattle image. If the view panned further to the right we'd likely see another possible Washington iconic image, that being a Washington ferry boat. And further to the right, if the sky is clear of clouds, you'd be looking at Mount Rainier.
Now, imagine a time, 40 years from now, maybe 50, when the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle finally fills its signature pond with water, with the three bridges over nothing finally crossing an un-needed flood diversion channel, then, after the Boondoggle has completed its vital flood control and economic development project, do you think you might float in a similar location out on Pond Granger, looking at the beautiful skyline of downtown Fort Worth and count four iconic images recognized all over the world?
I suspect not.
Perhaps the reason why that will likely be the case is a subject worth pondering. Or not.....
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