Finally, about half way through July we had a few storms and weather changed to its usual pattern: mostly overcast, humid and temperatures hovering around 31 degrees C. With not much else going it was time to visit another monument to Houston eccentrics along the lines of the beer house (now actually both owned by the same organization) – the Orange Show. Located south of University of Houston in a neighborhood which London residents would describe as “rough” – i.e. not a place to go for a walk after sunset (or perhaps any time), it is a strange construction built by an employee of the U.S. post office about 30 years ago. That organization apparently acted as a magnet for the less than ordinary long time before the term “go postal” has been coined.

(Click on the picture to see it full size, use a back button to return to this spot.) The Orange Show is difficult to describe. It is certainly not a house, not a garden not really anything easily recognizable. Perhaps the best way of putting it is that it is a sculptural representation of a disturbed mind. The story I got from the groundskeeper was basically this: The builder, Jefferson Davis McKissack, moved to Houston from somewhere on the east coast and started to work as a postman. At the time Houston was going through a building boom and that involved tearing down pre-existing houses and that meant there was lot of re-usable material lying around. Jefferson, bit of a pack rat, used his postal truck to collect what he felt could be useful and proceeded to build himself a house. When he finished he still had a lot of material left over and bought another piece of land on which he decided to build the “Orange Show”. Apparently he believed that oranges were the path to long life if consumed in large quantities. The intent of the “Orange Show” was sort of an entertainment-education center. As it turned out he held only a handful of shows in the early 80s, quite predictably not very successful, and in any case he died soon afterwards.

I talked to one of my co-workers who moved to Houston in the late 70’s and it turns out that he actually knew the man. His roommate discovered the Orange Show while it was being built and they went to look at this strange construction, met Mr. McKissack, got on his mailing list and were actually invited to the first and now legendary show.

I must admit I am impressed by people who carry out their (however misguided) dream and by a society that lets them do it. Hopefully it won’t change.

It has been close to 3 years since we have returned to Houston and I have finally achieved the “tropical look” for our little garden, even though I am working primarily with flower pots.