dome homes

Cult member: Can I interest you in our free weekend session?
Homer: When is this weekend?
Cult member: It’s this weekend
Homer: Oh, I see… and how much is this free weekend?
Cult member: Er… it’s free
Homer: Uh huh, and when is this weekend?
Cult member: It’s this weekend
Homer: And how much are you charging for this free weekend [gets dragged away by
Bart], it’s free right?

rising from the earth
like big pimples, maybe boils
domes homes here to stay?

Meet Bruco (above). He’s a caterpillar made out of monolithic domes. Actually, I think he may be a factory for the domes, too. He’s actually been painted since this picture was taken – each of his humps are a different, shiny color, and his cowboy boots have been freshened up as well.

How do I know Bruco, you ask? He’s a landmark on the Dallas-Austin drive down Interstate 35. Bruco lives in Italy, Texas. (We pronounce it “IT-lee.” Or at least I do, for fun.)

I’ve been passing Bruco now for over a decade. He always has that same smile, and though his color changes from time to time, everything else about him stays the same. Recently, though, a sign has popped up on the side of the road just past Bruco, advertising the dome homes he represents, and inviting the public to stop by and take a tour of the “facilities.” As Bruco is located just about a stone’s throw from Waco, we’ve been a bit cautious about stopping to visit for fear of being brainwashed into some kind of neo-David Karesh dome home cult.

After reading msnbc.com the other day, though, maybe I shouldn’t fear a tour of Bruco. Apparently the dome home folks are going mainstream (so to speak). Good ol’ Bruco is helping people build houses to survive hurricanes (and random rifle fire, as well).

So maybe next time we drive by we should stop by and see what the inside of the caterpiller is like.

It’s probably not a cult.

Probably.