My Wichita Falls Log Cabin With Thin Man's Shadow & Lucy Park Backwoods Poodles

What you are seeing here is my Wichita Falls log cabin.

When I was significantly younger, than I am currently, I was a big fan of the idea of building a log cabin. 

Being a log cabin building fan caused me to attend a log cabin building seminar, somewhere in east King County, in my old Washington home zone. I do not remember the exact location. 

My log cabin building in Washington went so far as acquiring the logs to build a cabin. Those logs never made it to a log cabin end, but did end up being used in other projects, some of which made it with me to Texas.

Above you are looking at the Shadow of the Lucy Park Thin Man, communing with nature on this final Tuesday of the 2025 version of February. 

It was a semi-HOT walk through the Lucy Park backwoods, currently nowhere near being in jungle mode. That should be happening in about another month. Maybe two.

As you can clearly see via the photo documentation, there is nothing green and jungle-like, currently, in the Lucy Park backwoods. It looks a bit desolate.

Today whilst walking the backwoods I was assaulted by two giant poodles. They were cute, but way too enthusiastic.

Seems a bit weird to feel the need, today, to turn on my motorized motion device's air-conditioning function, what with it being only a few days ago I was shivering with the temperature feeling below zero, and all my heating devices, the vehicle's and my abode's heating device, struggling to warm up the air.

I do not recollect year's previous feeling so relieved to feel the worst of winter is now over.

Feeling such must be a function of being semi-elderly....

Final February Monday Has Wichita Falls Almost Scorching

It seems like only yesterday that I was being chilled to a temperature below zero. Actually, it was more like four days ago when I got that chilled.

And, now, today, the final Monday of the 2025 version of February, Wichita Falls is getting heated to near 80 degrees today, as measured by the Fahrenheit temperature measuring method.

Methinks I shall enjoy another bout, today, of communing with nature at one of my nature communing locations.

I have not yet decided when one.

Sikes Lake, Lucy Park, Wichita Bluff Nature Area, Mount Wichita, or Lake Wichita Dam.

So many choices.

All of the choices pretty much flat, except for the Wichita Bluffs, which do provide some elevation changes.

I just remembered, Mount Wichita also provides elevation gain. But I have not availed myself of that mountain climbing option in recent times.

Erosion rendered the paths to the summit of Mount Wichita to be a bit treacherous for one with tripping tendencies, such as myself...

Final February Sunday Sunny Warm Sikes Lake Nature Communing

What you are looking at here is the final Sunday of February, noon view of Sikes Lake.

Sikes Lake was my nature communing location today, along with throngs of other nature communers, enjoying the return of warm air, a blue sky, and no wind, rendering Sikes Lake into mirror-like calm.

35 degrees above freezing, as measured by the Fahrenheit method. 

35 degrees above freezing is 67 degrees, which felt relatively balmy after shivering near zero and below only a couple days ago.

Shorts and a short-sleeved t-shirt were all the outwear needed today. 

Looking at the long-range weather forecast, well into March, again showing no more days where the temperature dips below freezing.

But, we have been lulled into relief previously by the long-range forecast, as recently as a couple weeks ago, showing no more freezing days.

And then that un-predicted Polar Vortex descended from the far north, chilling most of continental America.

So, I won't be too shocked if such happens again, before we get to the point where this year's revolve around the Sun gets to its reliably heating location.

I read this morning my old home zone of Western Washington is getting drenched with an Atmospheric River, the first major drenching of the year.

When I lived in Washington, what is now called an Atmospheric River, was known as a Pineapple Express.

I like the Pineapple Express name better than Atmospheric River...

Final February Saturday Hiking Lucy Park Backwoods

On this final Saturday of the second month of 2025, also known as February 22, it was to Lucy Park I ventured after being sort of ice bound for a couple days, with the temperature being way too cold to make it pleasant to remain long outdoors.

Way too cold, as in well below zero when the wind chill factor was factored into the real 7 degrees above zero, as measured via the Fahrenheit temperature measuring method.

Tomorrow, the final Sunday of the second month of 2025 we are currently scheduled to get heated to a temperature way above freezing, nearing 80 degrees.

This Texas-style temperature whipsawing gets a bit tiresome, but, even so, I am looking forward to getting whipsawed back to being back in shorts and t-shirt, needing no gloves, when enjoying the outer world.

In the above photo documentation, we are looking south whilst in the Lucy Park backwoods zone, currently not in jungle mode.

But, green should return as the dominant color in a month, or two.

I am not remembering how soon after the arrival of Spring that green returns...

Wichita Falls Wednesday Morning 15 Degrees Below Zero

Wichita Falls, Tuesday afternoon, that Tuesday morning's icy sleet turned into snowflakes falling for a couple hours. But, not in an amount copious enough to coat the ground with a white covering.

As Tuesday progressed, hour by hour the temperature dropped, til being well below freezing by midnight's turn into Wednesday.

And now, Wednesday morning, an hour or two after the sun's arrival, the temperature is 6 degrees, with the wind making those 6 degrees really feel like 15 degrees below zero.

My interior space's heating device is managing to negate the outer world cold. For now. No sign indicating the Texas electrical grid is under stress. So far.

I don't know if I will be risking making my way into the slippery, cold outer world today.

Not much traffic, out there, in the outer world, currently...

Ancient Photo Documentation Of Uncle Mooch Being Moochie

Yesterday I blogged about the Forgotten Uncle Mooch Historical Record. 

That generated me being asked if I had any photo documentation photo documenting Uncle Mooch in the time frame in which he reminded his nephews and nieces of Disney's Moochie character.

Eventually I found multiple photos of Uncle Mooch looking like Disney's Moochie character.

Including the photo you see above.

I do not know where, exactly, we all are in the photo, other than it being, likely, somewhere in Western Washington, or maybe a roadside stop, somewhere on Stevens Pass.

I do know that that is my little brother, Jake, on the left, then me, with what looks like Dad's hand on my head, perhaps to keep me from falling into the Wenatchee River. And that is Uncle Mooch, in Moochie mode, on the right.

Continuing on, a couple more photos of Uncle Mooch in Disney's Moochie mode.

That would be my Mom, with Uncle Mooch, and a bust of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Such indicates the photo was taken near Grand Coulee Dam, in Eastern Washington.

Grand Coulee Dam was a New Deal, revive the economy from the Great Depression, FDR project, which is why the reservoir formed by Grand Coulee Dam is known as Lake Roosevelt.

Continuing on, we visit Uncle Mooch, in Lynden, in Western Washington, a mile or two south of the border with Canada.

That would be Uncle Mooch, on the left, in full Moochie mode, next to his brother, Uncle Ivan, barely seeing Grandma Slotemaker-Jones, between Ivan and Uncle Mel. That would be my Mom holding baby sister, Nancy, back when she was a cute little thing, winning baby beauty contests, well, one, sponsored by the Skagit Valley Herald. I can not tell who is behind Nancy. Is it me? I don't know. But, I do know that is my Dad, sipping coffee, on the right.

Well, that concludes our look at Uncle Mooch, from long ago...

Feeling Dangerously Cold In Wichita Falls

The above is the Tuesday morning warning from the National Weather Service, a federal service not yet gutted by the ongoing Trump nuttiness. 

With the sun having arrived to begin its daily heating duty, that heating is currently chilled to only one degree above freezing, with each of the following hours colder than the hour previous, eventually getting way below freezing by the time the sun takes its daily rest from its heating duty.

And with that incoming deep freeze there is predicted to be some icy precipitation. 

Following is how the National Weather Service is predicting the next couple days in North Texas...

It will get really cold. The overnight low in Wichita Falls Tuesday night will drop to 7 degrees. The high on Wednesday will be just 24. The overnight low on Wednesday will be 5 degrees. Temperatures won’t rise above freezing until Friday afternoon. In a game of meteorological whiplash, it will be 64 on Sunday.

The wind will blow really hard: It’ll blow from the north with gusts up to 30 mph Tuesday and Wednesday. That means wind chills by the evening commute on Tuesday will be 1 degree and -10 degrees for the Tuesday morning commute. It will never feel warmer than 4 degrees on Wednesday.

It will get nasty — but not really. Rain is forecast to start Tuesday morning and turn into freezing rain and a little snow in the afternoon. On the bright side, little accumulation is expected.

The Forgotten Uncle Mooch Historical Record

Way back, long ago, in the previous century, a day came when me and my siblings were introduced to the entity who our favorite uncle intended to marry.

Our soon to be new aunt did not know, prior to meeting her soon to be nephews and nieces that us kids had a nickname for our favorite uncle.

Nicknamed after our favorite Disney movie character, an actor named Kevin Corcoran who became quite popular playing the character nicknamed "Moochie" in multiple Disney films and TV shows.

The character nicknamed "Moochie" reminded me and my siblings of our favorite uncle, and so, he became known, to us, as Uncle Mooch.

Well.

Uncle Mooch's bride to be took umbrage at hearing her beloved referred to as Uncle Mooch. 

I recollect getting chased around Burlington's Maiben Park by our soon to be Aunt Jane, who was determined to re-educate her soon to be nephews and nieces regarding what she determined to be the proper name for Uncle Mooch.

Now, it must be added, that in addition to nicknaming our favorite uncle as Uncle Mooch, due to the similarity to the Disney character, Uncle Mooch was also known, to us kids, for his habit of sneaking a bite of something tasty off our plates, such as French fries, and similar things.

As recently as August of 2017 that mooching aspect of Uncle Mooch happened in a restaurant at Birch Bay, with Aunt Jane and Uncle Mooch in a restaurant, sitting near me, with Uncle Mooch next to my nephew, David. Uncle Mooch mooched a clam and a French fry off David's plate.

Upon Uncle Mooch purloining such from David's plate I said to my sister Michele, (who was born well after we'd nicknamed our favorite uncle as Uncle Mooch)....

"And now you see one of the reasons we call him Uncle Mooch!"
 
The above info about Kevin Corcoran, aka Moochie, came from Wikipedia, with the following part of the article about this Disney character...

Corcoran appeared in a Mouseketeer outfit with the name Moochie across his chest just once. In Disneyland: The Fourth Anniversary Show (1957), "Mouseketeer" Moochie repeatedly badgers Walt Disney for information about Zorro.

Continuing his fictional Moochie roles, Corcoran played Montgomery "Moochie" Daniels in the 1959 Disney film The Shaggy Dog. He also starred as Moochie Morgan in Moochie of the Little League (1959) and Moochie of Pop Warner Football (1960), both for the Disney anthology series. Character actor Russ Conway played his father.

In each iteration, Moochie likes to hang out with the older "guys" (big brother Wilby in The Shaggy Dog, the title characters in Spin and Marty), and hates being treated like the little kid he is. His determination to emulate elder peers despite adult warnings (swimming, helping Wilby, even switch-hitting) frequently gets him in trouble, but Moochie's bravado always returns soon afterward. Film writer Donald Liebenson has called Corcoran's character "part All-American boy and part hellion."

I guess that also sort of describes Uncle Mooch, part All-American boy and part hellion....

Spencer Jack, Hank Frank, David, Theo, Cade & Ruby's Upcoming New Cousin & Sister

Incoming happy news from Arizona, this second Sunday of February.

In the photo above, that would be my niece-in-law, Carrisa, holding my great or grand nephew (not sure of these relative terms) Cade, with Cade's proud papa, my nephew, Christopher, on the right, with all looking at that cake on the table.

With the "Birthday" cake telling us "It's a Girl!".

We learned, on Christmas, that Cade was going to be having a sibling, arriving, if I remember correctly, in August.

And now, we learn Cade's incoming sibling is going to be a sister.

Which will render Niece Ruby no longer being the only girl offspring of any of my siblings, or my sibling's offsprings.

In other words, my nephews, Spencer Jack, Hank Frank, David, Theo and Cade, and niece, Ruby, will be seeing a new girl cousin this coming Summer!

Freezing Deep To 5 Degrees In Wichita Falls In Two Days

Day after day, the upcoming predicted Deep Freeze appears to be being predicted to be Freezing Deeper, as those frigid days draw closer.

The latest has the day after tomorrow, the day known as Tuesday, getting down to a low of only 5 degrees, as measured by the Fahrenheit method.

5 degrees is getting perilously close to the temperature which knocked out the Texas power grid during a February earlier this decade.

This time, if the Texas power grid collapses, I am heading north, across the Red River, to Oklahoma, calling ahead to the Kiowa Casino Hotel, hoping to book a room. And, if that fails, continuing north til I find room at an Inn, of some sort.

That rain, on Tuesday, predicted to turn to ice, may make driving a bit hazardous.

I'll take it real slow...