HAPPY HOUR II CAN BE A LESSON IN JOURNALISM

Gosh I’ll be there. All my zinnias died, burnt like crispy critters. Would have thought I put them in the oven — oh wait, sitting in 118 degree heat IS an oven. Even my lamb’s ears are dead, but I do see some new growth straining through the dessicated remains. My husband has vowed to Xeriscape next year; he’s becoming very concerned about water conservation and wants to start a home water recycling system so we irrigate with our “gray water.” (This is his new house project.) Which reminds me…a little journalistic comment: Let’s examine the way two publications in this town have handled reporting on the water crisis in North Texas, D Magazine, our brother pub, and Dallas Morning News.

The DMN’s tattle-tale report of how much water wealthy Highland Park residents use has caused quite a stir at cocktail parties, not a bad thing. Some think wealthy folks using thousands of gallons of water to irrigate their lush grounds is unconscionable; others think the DMN has turned into a Socialist Commie Rag whose editors will march into our homes with search warrants and report on our leaking faucets at any moment.

D Magazine — and yes, I am a bit biased here — refrained from rabid finger-pointing and just SHOWED the problem. SHOW DON’T TELL IS ONE OF THE AXIOMS OF GOOD REPORTING as I learned it at Columbia University’s J School back when (never mind the exact year).

Yes, we have a problem. We need to conserve water. But we are still a democracy where those who choose to pay to water their 9-acre properties can do so as long as they can afford it and as long as our government doesn’t say it is illegal to do so. Should the Village of Highland Park enact water restrictions — yes! Dallas, too, and in North Dallas we cannot water before 10:00 a.m. or after 4:00 p.m. We are watering twice a week, my lawn is dying, and my husband is right, we should be using our gray water to irrigate rather than using good fresh water. So let’s rev up the engineers to figure out ways to conserve water rather than get everyone all mad at a few good people.

Comments? What is a day without a lecture… I am turning into my mother!