Taking Linda Lou On MSU Bike Ride With Mustangs

I went on a long bike ride this final Sunday morning of the 2021 version of May.

About halfway through the bike ride I stopped at the location you see above to drink some water and to see why my phone had made its incoming text noise.

With the phone out of its bike storage location I decided to use it to take a photo. 

A time or two Linda Lou has asked me what the university I live near is like. Like as in how, asked I, a time or two.

To which Linda Lou asked is it big? Old? Lots of buildings? Brick?

I recollect answering yes to all Linda Lou's university questions. And added that the campus is flat, like most of Texas, not hilly like Western State University in my old home zone in Washington.

The horse known as a Mustang is the Midwestern State University mascot.

Hence the four Mustangs you see galloping through a pond. The first represents the Freshman class, carefully entering the pond, the second Mustang is a Sophomore, splashing right behind the Junior Mustang. the rear end of which is all you can see, whilst the Senior Mustang is leaping out of the pond, almost knocking us over.

The building behind the Mustangs is the newest on the MSU campus. That new building sort of illustrates, for Linda Lou, what MSU looks like, due to the fact that this new building cleverly incorporates all the various architectural styles one finds on the MSU campus, with that window wall you see behind the Mustangs being the one modern element which matches nothing else on campus. 

If I find myself feeling unusually energetic, on some day in the future, maybe I'll wander around the MSU campus photo documenting the various architectural styles, and how they are represented in the new building, known as Centennial Hall.

In the meantime tomorrow is Memorial Day. I won't be putting flowers on any nearby graves. I know no one in any nearby graves...

Wichita Falls MSU Centennial Hall Built Over Dry Land In Less Than 2 Years

Til today it had been a day or two or three since I rolled my newly refurbished bike for a tour around my neighborhood.

Today's bike tour eventually took me to the Midwestern State University, also known as MSU, campus, which is currently crowded with new students.

The start of the new school year is when the campus seems to be the most crowded, soon be thinned by the 2019 versions of Limbaugh and Hannity, not able to pass a college level course, and thus turning into college dropouts.

I digress.

The four horses you see here, splashing though a pond, are Mustangs. My first car was a 65 Mustang Fastback.

Again, I digress.

Mustang is the MSU mascot, so you see various iterations of that particular horse all over Wichita Falls.

The four Mustangs you see splashing above are part of MSU's new Centennial Hall, construction completed yesterday, building dedication scheduled for some time today.

Construction began in December of 2017, completed in less than two years.

Construction of Centennial Hall began over three years after the small town of Fort Worth began trying to build three simple little bridges over dry land, to try and connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

I assume building a big building is a bit more difficult construction project than building three little bridges over dry land. But, those Fort Worth bridges still are no where near being completed, with the current completion timeline some point in the next decade, if money can be found.

I suspect MSU's Centennial Hall was a fully funded building project before construction began, whilst Fort Worth's hapless project has never been fully funded, waiting for the public works project equivalent of federal food stamps.

Unlike Fort Worth's pitiful bridges this new MSU building, to my eyes, is an interesting, well designed structure. The building seems to pay homage to all the various architectural styles one sees on the MSU campus, from the old to the new, with the part of the new building you see behind the Mustangs, that tall glass wall, being the modern, 2019 style, part of the building.

I also like how Centennial Hall looks different from every angle. Lots of curves, angles and arches. Every color of brick on the MSU campus is incorporated into the various facets of the building.

I strongly suspect no local politician's unqualified son had anything to do with engineering this new MSU building.

Solving The Mystery Of The Wichita Falls Horses Of Many Colors

Soon upon my arrival in Wichita Falls I saw a horse which caused me to wonder why a funeral home would have a Horse of Many Colors sitting by its entry.

Soon thereafter I saw another Horse of Many Colors. And then another. And another.

I have now lost track of how many of what I thought were Wichita Falls Horses of Many Colors I have seen.

This morning I came upon the Horse of Many Colors you see above as I walked to the entry to the Market Street grocery store, which my local adviser advised me was the best grocery store in Wichita Falls.

Soon upon entering Market Street I realized it was the same as Market Street in Colleyville. I vaguely recollect when the Market Street opened in Colleyville that part of the story was the store was based in Wichita Falls. Or was it Amarillo?

Anyway, a few days into being in Wichita Falls I realized the Horses of Many Colors were actually Mustangs of Many Colors.

The university which is a couple blocks north of my new abode is Midwestern State University.

I believe the MSU mascot is a Mustang. There is a statue on the MSU campus of a group of Mustangs.

Are all these Mustangs of Many Colors a city-wide thing like when Seattle did the same thing with Pigs of Many Colors back in the previous decade? Many towns back earlier in this century did a similar thing.

I recollect Dallas tried it with Pegasus statues.

If I remember right that particular Dallas effort did not go well.

Tacoma had Salmon of Many Colors all over Tacoma, as late as 2008.

Anyway, I'm having myself a mighty fine time adjusting to a new town. And last night I got to experience my first Wichita Falls Thunderstorm. The booming did not last long. But a lot of water dropped.