Gateway Park's Failing Boardwalks & Fort Woof

As you can in the picture of the jogger running up the wooden stairs, after last night's rainy thunderstorm, we have had a return to blue sky and pleasant temperatures.

The jogger is running up stairs that are part of an elaborate boardwalk that brings you down to the Trinity River from a bluff in Fort Worth's Gateway Park.

I decided to do something radically different today. Hence hiking at Gateway Park rather than one of my regular locations. I was hoping to find the Trinity in making rapids mode. But all the heavy rain did was make the river muddy.

Gateway Park is just a couple miles from my abode, closer than Tandy Hills Park. The I-30 Freeway separates Tandy Hills Park and Gateway Park, with Tandy on the south side, which makes Gateway on the north side of both the freeway and the river.

Gateway Park is the location of one of Fort Worth's proudest achievements, that being Fort Woof, home to what something called Dog Fancy magazine ranked as the #1 Dog Park in America. I don't remember if we had a city-wide celebration for being #1 or not.

In Gateway Park there are two elaborate boardwalks, one of which you see in the pictures. Both have been allowed to fall on hard times. Floods have wreaked havoc, burying the last few switchbacks in sand and dirt, now overgrown with foliage. It's sad, after going to the bother and expense of building the things, that they have been left so neglected. Eventually deterioration will likely necessitate the total removal of these boardwalks. That would be a shame.

But. Fort Worth is not really all that big on preserving things. Look at poor Heritage Park. Fort Worth hasn't managed to un-eyesore that sad monument to civic neglect, even with it representing where Fort Worth began. And its heritage.

Fort Worth also does not do a very good job with keeping the Fort Worth Stockyards looking good. Even though the Stockyards are on the National Historical Area Registry. And yet many buildings in that location have sat, ever since I moved to Texas, as boarded up eyesores.

When I saw the Gateway Park Boardwalks, for the first time, the boards must have been fairly new. There was no deterioration at that time. I saw them after a heavy rain had the Trinity running high. It made the boardwalk look like it ran right into the water. Which made it a scary looking boardwalk.

Gateway Park has added a Disc Golf Course since I was last there. A mountain bike trail has supposedly been built, but the one mountain bike trail like spot I've seen does not look promising. With no one riding it. I think the Gateway Park bike trail may have been abandoned. There are miles of paved hiking trails through the park with wooden bridges across shallow ravines.

Gateway Park is worth a visit if you've never been there. Fort Woof on weekends can be amusing. Very busy. There are entries to the park easily found by exiting I-30 at Beach Street. Or from Randoll Mill Road.

Sweetwater Sucks & Other Dumb Comments

I find amusement in reading a TV Forum called Survivor Sucks. Part of the amusement comes from being appalled at how people can get so worked up, so angry. At each other and about people on TV. And so inarticulate, to the point that, at times, they come across as so seriously deficient I don't understand how they can manage to navigate a computer, let alone the Internet.

The worst of the forums, for sheer mean-spirited idiocy, are the ones for shows like American Idol or Survivor. They really draw in the bottom feeders. And then I go to the Survivor Sucks forum for LOST and I feel like I've entered some high level discussion by a bunch of college professors analyzing a work of art.

Now, there is a slight corollary between Survivor Sucks comments and comments I get to videos I put on YouTube. To the YouTube videos, like the one for the State Fair of Texas and the 40th JFK Assassination Anniversary I get LOST-like, thoughtful, insightful comments. To the videos I made of of my visit to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup and videos I've made of the building of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium and Chesapeake Energy Natural Gas Drilling I get American Idol Survivors Sucks dumb/angry type comments. Though there have also been quite a few thoughtful LOST-like comments regarding the Dallas Cowboy Stadium and Chesapeake Energy's dirty deeds.

So, with that all as preface, yesterday I got a comment to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup YouTube video, from a Canadian calling him/herself diflorio007.

diflorio007 said, "see my point has been made...you taxas rednecks...you would think the US would have smart people....but just goes to show how stuped they are....and you guys make fun of the middle east......stop sleeping with your mothers and cousins...."

So, this Canadian, diflorio007, is concluding all of us Americans are "stuped" because some people in "taxas" have an annual roundup of rattlesnakes that they turn into a big festival. The Canadian goes on to suggest we Americans make fun of the Middle East. And that we are all the result of inbreeding.

I wonder how many baby seals this Canadian clubs to death every year? Baby seals seem way more harmless and cuter than rattlesnakes.

How many Canadians have died 'making fun' of the Middle East so that a country or two in that region might enjoy the benefits of freedom and democracy?

I can't remember, what was the name of that most recent Canadian to win a Nobel Prize? How many Canadian Nobel Prize winners have their been? I think, maybe one Canadian has won the Nobel Peace Prize. How many Americans have won the Peace Prize?

Okay, I'll tell you, only one Canadian has ever one the Nobel Peace Prize in that peace-loving, world-leading country, that being Lester Pearson, for his role in trying to end the 1956 Suez Conflict.

Meanwhile 21 Americans or American Organizations have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Teddy Roosevelt, Elihu Root, Woodrow Wilson, Charles Gates Dawes, Frank B. Kellogg, Jane Addams, Cordell Hull, John Raliegh Mott, American Friends Service Committee, Ralph Bunche, George C. Marshall, Linus Pauling, Martin Luther King, Jr., Norman E. Borlaug, Henry Kissinger, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Elie Wiesel, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Jody Williams, Jimmy Carter and Al Gore.

I wish Canada would breed more American style "stuped" people, so that Canada might contribute more to the world than the Canadians currently do. Maybe if Canada bred some more American style "stuped" people Canada might contribute more to the development of technology, science, medicine and the arts and win more of those illusive Nobel Prizes that us Americans win way too high a percentage of, compared to Canada, even when one factors in the population difference.

Anyway, I love the "stuped" comments I get. Especially from Canadians.

Monday Night Storm Blows Into Fort Worth Getting Me Out Of Bed

I was peacefully in bed, reading a new book, almost ready to fall asleep, when WeatherBug went off with its annoying chirping sound that I thought I had disabled. But, apparently had not.

I knew we were in storm mode. When I fast forwarded through tonight's Dancing With The Stars, after being over-stimulated by 24, I saw a weather warning crawl across the screen over and over again warning of impending doom in the form of powerful Thunderstorms capable of producing baseball size hail.

Usually when a Big Storm like this happens Pete Delkus would be excitedly interrupting the regular programming and the screen crawl warnings to tell us over and over again of the impending doom.

But, not tonight. Because tonight on ABC their most popular show was running. Which raises an interesting ethical question. If the locale TV Station normally feels they need to interrupt the programming that their viewer has chosen to watch to go with pointless live weather updates, why did tonight having the storm happen during ABC's most popular show keep Pete Delkus from imposing his weather fetish on us?

This bizarre practice of interrupting programming for dumb reasons is fresh on my mind due to Hell's Kitchen being ruined on Thursday by multiple interruptions that made the show impossible to watch.

The warning crawl seemed to work just fine for ABC tonight. They did their civic duty, or what they see as their civic duty, and did not ruin the programming they try so hard to get us to watch. The local stations should always use a crawl rather than break in with live info from the local Ted Baxters.

Now, below is tonight's chirping warning from the National Weather Service that got me out of bed....

Bulletin - Eas Activation Requested Severe Thunderstorm Warning National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 1009 PM CDT Mon Mar 30 2009

The National Weather Service In Fort Worth Has Issued A

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning For, Southern Denton County In North Central Texas, Northern Tarrant County In North Central Texas, Southeastern Wise County In North Central Texas,

* Until 1115 PM CDT

* At 1009 PM CDT, National Weather Service Meteorologists Detected A Severe Thunderstorm Capable Of Producing Baseball Size Hail, And Damaging Winds In Excess Of 60 Mph. This Storm Was Located Near Pelican Bay, And Moving East At 30 Mph.

* The Severe Thunderstorm Will Be Near, Pecan Acres And Lakeside By 1015 PM Eagle Mountain, Lake Worth And White Settlement By 1020 PM Sansom Park, River Oaks And Westworth By 1025 PM Haslet And Saginaw By 1030 PM

Golfball To Baseball Hail Was Reported In Springtown With This Storm.

Another Severe Storm Between Boyd And Rhome, In Wise County, Was Capable Of Producing Golfball Hail. This Storm Was Also Moving East At 30 Mph, And Will Impact Southern Portions Of Denton County.

Now, I'm gonna try and go back to bed. After turning off WeatherBug. Oh great. I think I hear tornado sirens in the distance.

Texas Bluebonnets & Wifebeaters at Tandy Hills Park

It is another windy, gray day today in Texas. I needed to escape this chair and computer screen, so I went to the Tandy Hills around noon and saw my first Tandy Hills bluebonnet of the year, up close and very personal.

Bluebonnets are very photogenic. The one you see here was up by the Fort Worth Needle, that being a really tall communications tower. This was the only spot I saw bluebonnets today inside the Tandy Hills Park. I saw a lot of bluebonnets along side the roads on the way to Tandy Hills.

Bluebonnets are the State Flower of Texas and are very strongly protected by strict Texas law. You can look, you can take pictures, you can see if they smell good, but if you pick a bluebonnet there is a chance you may do a stint in Huntsville.

Imprisoned for picking a bluebonnet? And yet some wonder how America manages to imprison 756 inmates per 100,000 Americans, at a rate nearly 5 times the world's average.

Speaking of crimes and jail time. For months now there has been a white wifebeater t-shirt hanging from a bush. Today it was blowing in the wind like some sort of ghostly apparition. Why would someone take off their wifebeater and leave it behind at this location in the Tandy Hills? Or did it blow in from some domestic dispute in some distant location? It's a puzzlement.

The first new Tandy Hills wildflower of today's hike appeared even before I exited my vehicle, in the open prairie zone viewable from View Street. I don't know what the name of this wildflower is, but it looked like an orange Indian Paintbrush that had been dyed pink. I'm pretty sure no one went to the bother of painting a field of Indian Paintbrush a new color.

It's less than a month til the 4th Annual Fort Worth Prairie Fest, Saturday, April 25, 2009, 10 AM - 8 PM.

A New Mouse From An Empty Texas Target

I've been having trouble with my mouse. By mouse I mean my computer mouse, not my pet mouse, Moose. Moose is fine.

But my computer mouse had developed an annoying habit of not doing what it should when I clicked. This seemed to be getting increasingly more chronic and was beginning to cause problems that caused errors and accidents.

So, this morning I'd had my fill of my misbehaving mouse. I have 2 easy mouse choices within a short distance, those being a Wal-Mart Supercenter and a Target.

I chose Target. It's easier to return things to Target if the need arises. It was 10 in the morning when I went to Target. There were very few customers, very few cars in the lot. I looked across the freeway to the Wal-Mart and there were a lot of cars in the parking lot. Target has a lot of workers wandering around. I was asked 3 times if I was finding what I was looking for.

I need a T-shirt that says, "NO, I NEED NO HELP. I NATURALLY LOOK PERPETUALLY LOST."

I don't understand how Target stays in business. It is always so quiet. I've never been in a busy Target. The Super Targets seem even more ghostownish. The first Super Target I visited was in Logan, Utah. I couldn't believe how huge it was. With checkouts all across the front of the store. Now that I've seen many Super Targets, I've never seen on where more than a few of the checkouts are open.

This morning when I went to buy my new mouse there was only one checkout open. Across the street at the Super Wal-Mart there would be about 20 checkouts open, along with the self checkouts. Target has no self checkouts.

When my mom and dad were here I took them to the Montgomery Plaza Super Target in Fort Worth. I forget why my mom wanted a Target. Even though my mom has trouble seeing she said the Fort Worth Super Target was bigger than their Phoenix area ones. Mom said, "I guess what they say is true. Everything is bigger in Texas." But, mom said the Texas Target was just as un-busy as their Phoenix Targets. So, the number of customers wasn't bigger in Texas.

Is Target some sort of tax write off for some bigger corporation? Is that how it keeps going? It's puzzled me for years.

Anyway, that's my day so far, that and I went swimming this morning. It's windy now, but I think I'll go do my doctor prescribed excessive activity thing. Since it is Monday, I think that means I'll be seeing the Tandy Hills in an hour or two.

Tootsie Tonasket's Triumphs & Tribulations

It has been a tough couple months for Tootsie Tonasket. On February 19 Tootsie's husband, Goofbert, a 50 year old man smitten with a girl half his age, filed for divorce from Tootsie.

I first came to know Tootsie Tonasket years ago. She'd emailed me, thinking I had something to do with the Branch-Davidians and that fiasco outside Waco.

At first I thought Tootsie was pretty much a kooky-bananas nutcase. It took me awhile to figure her out. Finally I understood that this was a very nice, good, smart person, who has had a lot of bad things happen to her that have wreaked havoc with her self-esteem and confidence. And yet she continues on.

In the picture above you are looking at Tootsie's 5th birthday party. It took place in a small house in Pensacola, Florida. Tootsie is in the middle, on the left is big sister, Payne. Sitting on Tootsie's lap is Tootsie's baby sister, Denise.

Now here's the part where you may need your hankies. Soon after the above picture was taken, Tootsie's life was torn apart.

Tootsie's dad had abandoned his family. Tootsie's mom had taken up with a guy Tootsie called The Hillbilly. I'm not real clear as to the sequence of events, but soon after Tootsie's 5th birthday her mom took Tootsie and sister, Payne, and left The Hillbilly. Leaving Tootsie's baby sister, Denise, behind.

Tootsie's mom told Tootsie and her sister that she could only take care of two kids. Somehow Tootsie grew up thinking Denise was The Hillybilly's daughter. A short time ago Tootsie was to learn differently. Denise is not her half-sister. They share the same father.

Tootsie and her mom and sister ended up in the Chicago area. Tootsie's mom re-married. To a nice guy, this time, who Tootsie remembers fondly.

Tootsie never forgot about the little sister she lost. A few months ago Tootsie contacted a website that deals with missing or lost persons. That website put Tootsie in touch with a group called, I think, The Angels.

The Angels asked Tootsie for all the info she had about her missing sister. Within a short time they located her! Living just a short distance from one of The Angels and just a short distance north of Pensacola, the place where Tootsie last saw her baby sister.

The Angels gave Tootsie a phone number. Tootsie bravely called her baby sister. Denise answered. And instantly understood who was calling. Denise told Tootsie she had been trying to find her lost family for years.

Since then Tootsie and Denise have talked hours on the phone. Denise is hoping to come north to visit Tootsie. Yesterday was Tootsie's 56th birthday. Her long lost sister sent Tootsie $50.

I don't know when they are scheduled for Oprah. Or Dr. Phil. Maybe that's where they should have their reunion. That seems to be the modern way to do these type things.

Watch This: The Carter Avenue Story

Fresh incoming from Don Young.

One of the Tough Texas Women who have had enough of the roughshod way some things are done here in Texas has made a video showing the plight of those who's lives and homes and peace of mind have been sacrificed so Chesapeake Energy can run a pipeline through their yards.

A 24 inch natural gas pipeline carrying non-odorized pressurized gas.

The Tough Texas Woman's name is Brook. The video she made is a great example of citizen activism in our modern era. Everyone has the tools of mass communication nowadays.

Brook's video is long. She first shows you the Carter Avenue neighborhood. And then she moves on to interviewing several people who live on Carter Avenue, including the well-known Jerry Horton. After the interviews Brook shows some examples of natural gas explosions in recent times, here in Texas.

The video opens in Windows Media Player by clicking the first link in the message from Don Young below....

Neighborhood activist and my and compatriot in the gas drilling wars, Brooke, has put together an excellent short film you need to watch. The subject of, Carter Avenue Story, is the proposed installation of a natural gas pipeline (gathering line, actually) in a Fort Worth, Texas neighborhood.

Known as the Carter Avenue pipeline, it would be the first such large diameter line allowed to run through a densely populated neighborhood. If approved by the Fort Worth City Council, the 16" - 24" diameter pipe will carry un-odorized natural gas and cut through the yards of a four-block long street of low income residents.

This is also an important test case for the many other expected pipelines that Barnett Shale drilling companies have planned. This story will be repeated wherever gas drilling occurs in the USA.

Brooke's short film consists of interviews with several Carter Avenue residents who were intimidated into signing agreements with, Texas Midstream (a Chesapeake company), under threat of Eminent Domain.

Brooke, who is not a professional, conceived of the idea, filmed and edited the video in just a few days with the goal of screening it for Texas state legislators and others. She is another of those unheralded, Texas Women who are doing it.

Please take a few minutes to educate yourself on this important issue by watching this important and heartfelt film.

You can contact Brooke at her website, Meadowbrook Today.

Dog Terror at River Legacy Park

My health adviser, Dr. L.C., told me I am WAY too active. She may be right.

This morning I tried to go swimming, it'd gotten down to freezing overnight, so the water was a bit colder than optimal. I lasted about 5 minutes before retreating to the hot tub.

Around 1 I headed to River Legacy Park to pedal the mountain bike trail. It's dried out from our recent deluge. And gotten a lot greener thanks to that deluge, as you can see in the picture.

There were a lot of people in the park, including a lot of people on the mountain bike trail. I saw no wildlife and no wildflowers.

But, I did have an incident with a savage beast. I was in the zone of the trail called The Prairie Loop. I pedaled past a group of walkers. They had a dog. As I pedaled on I heard the people yelling. And then I realized their dog was chasing me. I went in to hyper-fast mode. The dog was gaining. It was a brutal looking black pit-bullish monster. I knew I couldn't keep control of the bike going at the speed I was pedaling. So, I hit the brakes and hollered "GET" real loud. The vicious dog turned tail and ran. I was relieved.

The Dallas Bad Cop Robert Powell Ryan Moats Scandal

I had not seen the video of the Dallas Bad Cop Incident til this morning. Watching and listening to it is a lot more shocking and disgusting than reading about it.

I doubt there is anyone out there who has not heard this story since it's turned into a nationwide embarrassment, but I'll re-cap.

NFL footballer, Ryan Moats, in the wee hours, when traffic was light, was rushing his wife and other relatives to a Plano hospital. They had gotten a call telling them that Moat's mother-in-law was in her final moments of a long cancer battle.

A short distance from the hospital Moats stopped at a red light. Then seeing there was no traffic he proceeded on. The common sense thing to do.

But a Dallas cop, Robert Powell, was lurking in the shadows and gave chase, turning on his lights and siren. Powell chased Moats to the Emergency Room parking lot. Moat's wife, Tamishia, got out of the car to run into the hospital, but was stopped by Powell. And that's when the police abuse began.

I've not read it anywhere else, but to my ears the Dallas Cop sounded drunk. His rambling threats sounded like a drunk. The cop's insolent attitude sounded drunk. If the cop was drunk that would seem to explain his irrational, rather stupid behavior.

Robert Powell issued an apology on Friday. He is on paid leave. After watching the video I think he should be fired.

And now another NFL player, Zach Thomas, has come forward to accuse Robert Powell of a similar abuse on July 27, 2008. His wife, Maritza Thomas was pulled over by Powell for doing an illegal U-turn. Powell issued 5 tickets, handcuffed Maritza, put her in the back of his police cruiser and stuck her in a Dallas jail cell for 3 hours. Maritza's mother, Teresa Lozano, visiting Dallas for the first time, from Mexico, and speaking very little English, was left stranded, riding the tow truck to where Maritza's car was impounded.

4 of Powell's 5 tickets were thrown out. Maritza accepted deferred adjudication for the U-turn charge.

At the time of the incident the Thomases decided not to file a complaint against Powell. Now they realize they should have and plan to do so now.

Like I already said, that bad Dallas cop needs to be fired now.

Landslide Clyde for Fort Worth Mayor

Windy Texas Hellaciousness with Snow

This has been one hellacious Saturday with way too much self-imposed hellaciousness.

First off it is very cold. This morning when I went swimming it was 36. Small pieces of white-colored frozen water drifted to earth. There weren't many of these 'flakes' but I'm fairly certain it was snow.

It is almost April in Texas and I was hit by a snowflake this morning. Don't talk to me about Global Warming.

Saturday is one of my go take a hike days. More often or not at the Tandy Hills. But we've had rain, not enough time to dry out the hills. So, I decided walking the paved trail at River Legacy Park might be interesting. Starting from the park entrance off Collins Street on the north side of the Trinity River.

I wanted to see how the Huffines Project to Forever Alter River Legacy Park was going. I'd not seen it in a couple months. Nothing much seems to have been done. And the trail is still closed past the 6 mile mark due to pipeline construction. How can a private business disrupt a public park for such a long period? One would think they could quickly pipe the part where the trail is, re-pave it and be done with it.

I am not used to walking on pavement. Today I walked almost 6 miles on hard pavement. By mile 3 my feet were killing me. Same thing happens if I go to something like the State Fair of Texas. Feet exhaustion. I can hike to the top of a mountain without a problem. But put me on hard pavement and nothing good comes of it.

And then there was the wind. At times today it was blowing so hard that I had to lean into it in order to move. That was kind of fun. But made the walking way more work. It was so windy that there were whitecaps on the waves on Lake Huffines. I saw no surfers.

I also so no wildlife except for a few fellow humans. I did see some wildflowers, but taking a picture was not possible due to the wind moving the flowers way too fast.

The prediction for tonight is that by morning we will be freezing here. I don't see swimming in my immediate future. But I do the next day when the temperatures are supposed to return to the 70s.

I Pledge Allegiance to the State Flag of Texas and to the Republic for which it Stands

That's the World's Biggest State Flag of Texas. It gets hauled out by the Alpha Rho chapter of Alpha Phi Omega at the University of Texas at Austin for football games and pep rallies and other events requiring the World's Biggest State Flag of Texas.

In Texas public schools each day begins with reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and the Texas Pledge of Allegiance. Followed by a minute of silence.

Every day.

The Pledge of Allegiance to the State Flag of Texas is a short pledge...

"Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."

I know some of you Yankees reading this are thinking I'm making this up. I'm not.

A guy named David Croft has kids going to Texas public schools, right here in the D/FW Metroplex, in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district.

God was added to the Texas pledge in 2007. Some here in the Buckle of the Bible Belt objected to this, one of the objectors being David Croft.

David Croft got himself a lawyer, Dean Cook, and brought the State of Texas to court. On Thursday Judge Ed Kinkeade of U.S. District Court upheld God in the Texas pledge, saying, "A voluntary recitation of the Texas Pledge of Allegiance simply does not coerce students in the same way a school sponsored prayer might."

The Judge also said the U.S. Pledge has God in it and that 4 other states have similar pledges. What other states have a state pledge, I can't help but wonder?

Croft and his attorney, Cook, are considering appealing the decision, with the Attorney Cook saying, "The insertion of the language 'under God' shows that the Legislature did not have a secular purpose. It would be just as inappropriate if they inserted the language 'this is a state under no God' or a 'state under Vishna.' It doesn't maintain the proper neutrality between the state and religion."

In a separate hearing Croft has also tried to get the moment of silence stopped, to no avail.

Cook is considering taking the moment of silence case to the Supreme Court after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his arguments a few weeks ago.

Tandoor Indian Restaurant & Arlington's Chinatown

I had to be in Arlington by the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium at 10 this morning. This seems to be becoming a habit. We have not yet returned to dry, blue skies. So, instead of the usual Arlington related mountain bike ride at River Legacy Park, this Friday I went to the Hong Kong Market in Arlington's Chinatown.

I got me a real nice wok at the Hong Kong Market. And lots of stuff to cook in it. But by the time I was done with what drew me to Arlington I was hungry. When I leave the stadium area I head west on Randoll Mill Road. I had intended to drive Randoll Mill to Fielder Road and then get on the freeway.

But at the intersection of Randoll Mill and Fielder there is this place called Fielder North Plaza. And at that plaza there is Tandoor Indian Restaurant. I've read rave reviews of this place, but had never eaten there. Til today.

At lunch Tandoor has a buffet. I've been to a lot of Indian buffets. Tandoor's is the best as far as my memory goes. Tandoor has a good website in addition to good food.

Bobcat Attacks in Arizona & Texas

I had my first bobcat encounter soon after there were reports of cougar/panther sightings here in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone. My first bobcat encounter was on the mountain bike trail at River Legacy Park. I braked to a halt. The bobcat was in tall grass at the side of the trail. It kept popping its head up as if it was waiting to pounce on me.

I reversed course and high-tailed it out of there, going the wrong way on the one-way trail. I found a park ranger person and told her of my dangerous encounter. She laughed and told me the bobcats were harmless.

So, after that, with my follow-up bobcat encounters, I had no concern that I was in danger. On one of my bobcat encounters I was rollerblading and the bobcat was an old lady one. She just slowly walked ahead of me while I snapped pictures. That's the old lady bobcat in the picture.

My most recent bobcat encounter was also the weirdest. I pedaled on to the north end of the River Legacy trail's bridge over the Trinity River. At the south end I saw a bobcat walking on to the bridge. I kept pedaling. He kept walking. We met in the middle with me saying, "howdy kitty."

So, I was quite surprised to learn this morning that bobcats do attack humans. As in a bobcat attacked 3 people in Cottonwood, Arizona. The first attack occurred after a woman thought she'd hit the bobcat with her car. She stopped, got out and was attacked and scratched.

After that the bobcat headed towards a Pizza Hut where it menaced a woman as she left with her pizza.

After the pizza encounter the bobcat went inside the Chapparal Bar and commenced to attack, causing people to stand on bar stools and tables to get away from the marauding bobcat. The bobcat bit two men in the bar.

By the time the police arrived the bobcat was in the bar's parking lot. The police shot and killed it. Rabies test results are not yet available. I'm thinking this might be a Hitchcockian The Birds type phenomenon, with bobcats going crazy randomly.

I won't be so relaxed during my next bobcat encounter.

Rural Texas Women Are Getting It Done

This week's FW Weekly's feature article features Sharon Wilson. Sharon Wilson is also known as 'Texas Sharon." You may have run into "Texas Sharon" on this very blog.

"Texas Sharon" has been working hard battling natural gas drillers who have wreaked havoc where she once believed was paradise.

In addition to "Texas Sharon" other rural Texas women fighting similar fights are mentioned. Like Kathy Chruscielski in Parker County. She became an activist when she came to realize no one was looking out the protection of water supply aquifers.

In Bexar County, Terri Hall has led successful battles against a tollway and eminent domain land grabs being planned near her home north of San Antonio.

Too bad Arlington had no Terri Hall in town when Jerry Jones in cahoots with the City of Arlington did themselves some land grabbing.

You can read the entire FW Weekly article about these Activist Texas Women, but read it fast. I don't think FW Weekly archives their Feature articles.

O'Reilly Auto Parts & Oakland Lake Park

Today started off foggy and drizzling. It hasn't much improved as the day has drizzled on. About noon I went to Oakland Lake Park, hoping a good brisk walk would help stave off any return of SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder). I believe my efforts have been successful. So far.

It was so foggy at noon that the beautiful skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth was not visible.

The walk around Oakland Lake was uneventful. I did not see the ugly mutant combo duck/turkey bird known as a Texas Lulu Bird today. That concerns me.

After walking I headed to O'Reilly's Auto Parts to pick up auto parts that had been re-ordered on Monday.

Re-ordered you ask? Well, on the previous Monday I had ordered that same parts. I was told it would be in the store by the next day at 11;30am. Well, I did not make it to that store til a week later.

The part could not be found. So, they re-ordered it. I was again told it would be in the store the next day by 11;30am.

So, today, before actually going to the store, I called to make sure the parts were there. After a lot of searching I was told that parts that are ordered in are sent back after 48 hours and my parts had left the store that morning.

Huh? Why was I not told this?

So, I asked if I could re-order the parts again, this time making sure I was in the store to buy them within that 48 hour time frame. She told me she'd see if she could get them back in the store. I waited and waited and waited and then after about 10 minutes I hung up.

Why would a store not be real clear about something like this? You have 48 hours to pick up your parts and then they leave the store. And why would they do that? Doesn't that add to their costs to be moving stuff around like that? I could see, maybe, if the parts had sat, un-bought, for 2 weeks, but 2 days?

Anyway, I need to find a different auto parts store. O'Reilly's is the closest, but those Irish are so difficult sometimes.

Only Child Syndrome Caused Suleman Octuplets

Sometimes it seems 50% of those coming to my blog come looking for Big Butts, Dallas Cowboy Stadium info and for help about how to deal with an Only Child Syndrome bully brat.

Apparently, the reason I get so many OCS sufferers coming here looking for relief from an Only Child is due to currently if you Google "Only Child Syndrome" this blog is in the #1 spot.

There is a lot of Only Child Syndrome info out there. I don't know why this blog would be considered to be the #1 source of info about that dire affliction.

Currently I think some of the Only Child Syndrome interest may be due to controversial octuplet mom, Nadya Suleman's, mom, Angela Suleman telling US Weekly magazine that she strongly believes her daughter's status as an only child played a role.

Makes sense to me.

Among the plethora of Only Child Syndrome info out there I found an Urban Dictionary that defined the affliction....

1. Only Child Syndrome

A terrible disease that typically effects only-children, but can occasionally strike people with siblings. It may also effect children whose parents divorce.

Symptoms include: playing mind games with members of the opposite sex, a cripling desire for instant gratification, the inability to compromise or share, and a total disregard for anyone's thoughts or feelings but their own.

Example 1: Man, that girl is such a bitch- she wouldn't even spare a square! She has the worst case of only child syndrome I've ever seen!

Example 2: My boss has the worst case of only child syndrome ever! Every time I do something good he finds a way to slam me down just so he can feel better about himself.

2. Only Child Syndrome

Only children sometimes exhibit characteristics resembling women suffering PMS. This can occasionally lead to flashes of intense anger when they don't get their way or if they perceive someone insults them even the slightest bit. Also, when there is dissent in the friendship ranks, which they are a part of, they lash out and try to make the other friends seem more culpable than they are. They have an overwhelming feeling that the world is against them and they tend to ruminate a lot as well. When you factor girls into the picture, with an only child, it is never a pretty sight.

Garzon: (on cell): Yo man, you wanna go play ball today?
Dre: Nah man, I got work today sorry.
Garzon: God Damnit, no-one ever wants to do anything in this town, I hate everyone. *click*

Later that night, Garzon ruminates for hours on how Dre is such a dick.

Garzon has exhibited traits that relate back to his "only child syndrome."

3. Only Child Syndrome

The self-centered attitude and actions that a large percentage of people with no siblings make their calling card.

Lars: "Why does he think everyone needs to worship the ground he walks on?"
Marv: "Dude it's just only child syndrome."

Well, there you go. Two months into the Obama Administration and I don't believe I've heard a word uttered regarding what we are going to do with this serious Only Child Syndrome problem that causes so much grief all over America. And the World.

Sadly, though none of Nadya Suleman's dozens of kids is an only child, they are all victims of one, according to their grandma, so even though they aren't Only Children, they all suffer from Only Child Syndrome.

Squirrely Shirley in a Texas Fog

My pet squirrel, Shirley, is having herself a real fine time this morning, munching on all the new green growth sprouting in my jungle. Shirley spends a lot of her day looking in my patio window. She's a very busy squirrel.

Yesterday's wet, loud storm left us with 99% humidity this morning. Which meant my walk to the pool this morning was through refreshing atomized droplets of water floating in the air. Also known as fog. Really heavy fog. Rolling off the Pacific on a cold winter day type fog.

But I'm nowhere near the Pacific. I'm deep in the heart of Texas, nowhere near a big body of water. And yet it is foggy. And cold. 55 degrees at 10am. Brrrr.

It's so cold this morning that I made split pea soup with a lot of ham. That may warm me up. I hope.

The Texas Clouds are Booming & Pete Delkus is Twittering

That was what the sky looked like today around noon, up at Sprouts Farmers Market in Southlake. By the time I left Sprouts thunder was booming. As I headed south I was in a downpour, but I got ahead of the rain, barely, by the time I got back here.

The clouds today are the strangest thing I've seen above me in Texas since I saw a Space Shuttle streak across the night sky.

The clouds and rain caught up me with soon after I got back here. About an hour later I was consuming lunch when lightning started up, with several hits directly above me. It has been booming ever since.

So, I turn on the TV and see that all the local TV stations are in Heavy Duty Weather Drama mode. The most dramatic of the local Weather Drama Queens is this guy on WFAA, that's the ABC affiliate, named Pete Delkus. He gets way too earnest about these storms. It's one of my few pet peeves. I figure if you are watching TV, you are safely out of harm's way.

If a tornado cell has formed then I figure it is a legit thing to tell people if they are in that cell's location, to seek a safe place. But what they do instead is if there is a storm brewing, or moving, the Weather Drama Queens will interrupt regular programming to repeat what you've been reading crawling across the bottom of the screen over and over again.

That crawl will run and run. And then stop, replaced with a Weather Warning in an upper corner of the screen. Then there'll be a beep or a buzz and the crawls starts up again. And then they break in, first with an annoying announcement that they are breaking in, which takes up time. If the announcement is so damn important why not get right to it?

So, this afternoon Pete Delkus is pointing out the various storms and the direction they are heading and at which speed. Then he points to Tarrant County and says it is drizzling slightly there with the thunderstorms yet to arrive. I hear this as I see bright flashes, hear loud booms and watch a lot of falling water. And I am in Tarrant County.

Such is the high quality of our weather reporting.

Oh, another thing. At the end of Pete Delkus' Weather Warning Report he said he'll be twittering throughout the storm, so you can keep updated on the ongoing storm by going to Pete's TV Station, WFAA, Twitter page. You'll have to join Twitter first before you get to read Pete's weather tweetering. For me, I think I'll just get my weather info by looking out the window.

Pete Delkus is in Wikipedia. You can read all about him.

The Last Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal Court Case

I've gotten some rather idiotic comments regarding what I call the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal. One recently said something like, "How can it be a scandal that those homes were destroyed? The owners had to agree to sell their homes or Jerry Jones wouldn't have been able to buy them."

Now, I've longed learned that once a person let's it be known that they are an idiot, there is no point in trying to alleviate them of some of their idiocy. There would be no point to explaining what the concept of eminent domain is. Or what abusing the concept of eminent domain means. Or why its abuse is a scandal.

Anyway, yesterday the last of the holdouts in the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Land Acquisition Scandal has settled, with Arlington's City Council agreeing to pay $325,000 for Paul Jordan's 3 properties, after a long court battle over the properties condemnation by eminent domain.

Not happy with the black eye the eminent domain abuse has given Arlington, Mayor Robert Cluck won't go along with Jerry Jones' attempt to get the city to abuse eminent domain again so as to acquire land for parking lots.

Another reason why this particular use of eminent domain is of the abuse/scandal nature is people's homes were bulldozed prior to the owner's getting their day in court. Paul Jordan was ordered off his property, was told how much he would be paid, he objected, brought the city to court. But the bulldozing of his property went ahead, in the rush to build this stadium.

Originally the city had figured it'd cost about $40 million to take people's property. It ended up costing twice that amount, due to more people fighting the condemnations in court than the city figured on.

Paul Jordan still feels the sting of the scandal, made evident when he talks about his old neighborhood and the new stadium that hovers above it like a misplaced giant UFO. He said his old neighborhood reminded him of a Norman Rockwell painting, with a sense of community, where he knew everyone on a first name basis.

Paul Jordan may wax nostalgic about his lost home, but he can also verbalize anger over the scandalous stadium, complaining that "We are paying more taxes than the Cowboys will ever pay. That's such a lop-sided, one-sided, bad deal for anybody but Jerry Jones."

The City of Arlington owns the stadium, so it will generate no property tax revenue on the land that formerly did generate property tax revenue.

The picture at the top was the last house standing, Evelyn Wray's house. The city offered her $351,000 for her property. She fought back. And got a lot more money. Her property, 4 acres and a house, which was on Randoll Mill Road, across from the Wal-Mart Supercenter, was obviously worth more than the city offered after condemning her property to build a sports facility. The courts agreed. Evelyn Wray eventually settled for $2.75 million.

You can read Evelyn Wray's story and a lot more about the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal, with photos of all that was condemned and destroyed. While the owners tried to fight to protect their right to feel safe, secure and happy in their own homes, by going here.

Yvonne's Big Butt

Like I said in the previous blogging, I was fixin' to blog about Yvonne's Big Butt when I got distracted by the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium. I'd been looking at my FeedJit stats to see how many of the most recent 50 visitors to my blog had come looking for the World's Biggest Butt.

Every day there are dozens upon dozens of people from around the world looking for the World's Biggest Butt. I have my camera with me all the time due to my promise to get a picture the next time I see one like the Big Butt that I originally blogged about that causes all these people to come to my blog.

Among the most recent 50 blog visitors only one came looking for the World's Biggest Butt. Okay, I looked again, in the last couple minutes a couple people have arrived looking for the World's Biggest Butt. The Biggest Butt searchers often come in clusters. Same with those seeking help in dealing with one of mankind's most vexing vexations, that being dealing with Only Child Syndrome.

I saw one yesterday, a really Big One (Big Butt I mean, not a Big Only Child). At Wal-Mart, again. It was a cashier. I could not believe that lady could stand there all day checking out stuff with that huge butt cantilevered out so far behind her. It seems like that'd give a person a back ache, always having to lean forward so your butt doesn't cause you to topple backwards.

But, once more couthness stopped me from whipping out my camera.

Yvonne, however did not practice similar restraint, so she sent me an email, telling me that she keeps hearing about those big butts, but I've yet to show any. So, she decided to send me one. Yvonne claims, quite emphatically, that it is NOT her in the photo.

I believe her.

Another Guy Sees a Dallas Cowboy UFO Stadium

I was fixin' to blog about Yvonne's Big Butt and wanted to see how many people had come to my blog in the last couple hours looking for the World's Biggest Butt, when I saw that instead of looking for Big Butts people are coming to my blog looking for info about the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

When a lot of people read what I think about that new stadium, particularly when they watch my video of the eminent domain destruction of homes and apartments I get really ignorant comments that are so bad they're funny.

So, I looked at the FeedJit stats to see if I could figure out why the sudden jump in the number of people looking for Cowboy Stadium info. All I could find was a forum where a guy shared his opinion of the new stadium after seeing it in person. And he said "one guy told me to check out this website." With the link going to my blog.

I have said a time or two that it isn't gonna be pretty when the stadium opens and the national press describes it. The guy below sort of confirms that. He zeroed in on the same things I've said. That being that it looks like a huge UFO plopped down in a poor American neighborhood. The juxaposition of that ultra-modern structure with rundown houses, apartments and retail is real tacky. And, unlike the dumbclucks who comment over and over again how this stadium is going to be an economic miracle bringing new restaurants, motels and other business, despite nothing like that happening where the old Dallas Cowboy Stadium sat in Irving, the fact is, so far, the new stadium has not caused any new business to be spawned in the area, near as I can tell.

Here's part of what Floaty44 wrote....

Was helping a buddy of mine move back home from Mississippi to Boise-and got a chance to see the Cowboys new stadium a few days ago...and had to laugh out loud- First of all-It looks like a UFO

Second- I question the stability of the stadium. Those new 1/4 mile trusses come to a single point on the end- with no support.They are just sitting on embedded concrete with one single steel bar connecting it all....and that's it.

I really would have my personal safety in mind when it came to playing under that new video screen that's gonna weight some 3 million + lbs

Third...Jerry has actually built the new stadium right next to a cheap Walmart. Yeah-I know Walmart has taken over the world since driving 2400+ miles in 4 days-But come on Jerry-That was the best place you could come up with?

If you watch the DallasCowboys offical new stadium fly by videos- you get the impression it's gonna be in an open space....with beautiful trees.....plenty of parking.

Which is nothing of the sort. It's gonna be surrounded by cheap convenince stores.

Talked to quite a few people about the stadium..and got really mixed reviews.

Some people, like myself, don't understand why they had to cram it right next to Six Flags theme park and Walmart.

Others seem to think it's OK

But I never got the impression people were "wowed" by it.

One guy told me to check out this website....

2009 Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival

In less than a month downtown Fort Worth gets really busy with the Main Street Arts Festival, starting on Thursday, April 16, ending Sunday, April 19.

The Main Street Arts Festival is the one and only thing I've been to in Fort Worth that is better than any similar thing I've been to anywhere else.

Well, there is the Fort Worth Stockyards. They are definitely the best Stockyards I've ever seen.

But the Main Street Arts Festival, it is something about which the Star-Telegram could actually use its making towns far and wide "green with envy" verbiage and have it actually be possibly true for once.

The Main Street Arts Festival is not some flea market on steroids. Actual artists come from all over America to display their work here. Some of it is very expensive. As in thousands of dollars type expensive. The Festival is sort of like going to an outdoor museum. With music stages and food.

From the Official Main Street Arts Festival website...

BREAKING NEWS: Headliner entertainment announced! MAIN ST. now ranked #3 Fine Arts festival in the U.S.! The MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival hosts tens of thousands of people annually during the four-day visual arts, entertainment and culture event. MAIN ST. showcases a nationally recognized fine art and fine craft juried art fair, savory food, live concerts, performance artists and street performers on the streets of downtown Fort Worth. The net result: fun!

There are only a couple vexing things about the Main Street Arts Festival. With the loss of the huge Tandy Subway parking lots, it is not as easy as it used to be to find parking in downtown Fort Worth.

The other vexing thing is this festival uses the coupon method for buying food and drinks. You wait in a line to buy coupons at 50 cents each. Then you wait in another line to buy something. This was the first event I'd ever been to where the use of American currency was not allowed and had to be exchanged for another currency, that being coupons. The State Fair of Texas uses the coupon method, too.

A lifelong Texan explained the reason for the coupon method. Apparently it is difficult to find Texans willing to work at these food purveyor jobs who are able to make change. So, coupons simplify the process. I suppose coupons also make it more difficult to steal. Although the State Fair of Texas had a coupon stealing scandal a couple years ago.

Anyway, if you haven't been to it before, and you live in the D/FW zone, you really should experience the Main Street Arts Festival. Unless you have a strong aversion to big crowds. I'm planning on going this year. I met a lady from Austin at the Fremont Sunday Market last summer, during my period of indentured servitude, who is an artist at the Main Street Arts Festival. I told her I'd see her there this year. I always do what I say I'm going to do. Usually.

Pantego Bi-Centennial Park

I had to go to my bank today, that being Washington Mutual, aka WaMu aka now swallowed up by Chase Bank. The closest WaMu is about 4 miles north, but I didn't want to go in that direction. The next closest WaMu is about 5 miles east. I wanted to go in that direction.

So, I did.

But on the way I got distracted and found myself on a different road than I had intended. This had me taking a left onto a side street to get me where I wanted to be. I had not gone this way before.

The street went by an interesting looking park. I decided to make my deposit and then come back and check out the park.

It is called Pantego Bi-Centennial Park. I assume it opened in 1976. But it looked way newer than that. All over the park there are little statues like you see in the pictures. There are paved trails and bridges across a flood control channel. Or maybe it was a creek lined with cement.

There is a playground for kids and a covered exercise workout area for bigger kids and grownups. The workout area had several stations with directions on what you were supposed to do. It looked like way too much bother to me. So, I just admired the effort and continued walking. That is the covered workout area under the green roof in the background of the picture on the left.

It is getting harder and harder to avoid Texas Wildflowers. They are getting closer to being everywhere. The pink ones the name of which, I think, has primrose as part of it, is one of the earliest to show up and the longest to last. Pink seems like such an un-Texas color. It's a Red State, not a Pink State.

When I was leaving the Pantego Park I didn't think there was enough of a draw to bring me back. Maybe if I was looking for a real nice covered picnic table on a hot day. But, when I exited the parking lot I saw the park continued, along the flood control channel/lined creek, with a trail snaking along into the distance. It looked like it might be a roller blading possibility.

But, that will need to wait for awhile. We are heading into some stormy weather. It's likely going to be very wet for a few days.

Flying Half Mast in Arlington's Veterans Park

Why were the flags flying at half mast today in Arlington's Veterans Park? No one at the park knew. I thought the U.S. flag could be flown at half mast only at the orders of the President?

As you can see it is a windy, cloudy day here in Texas. We are building to a BIG Storm, which is supposed to hit by tomorrow morning.

Eat What You Want Pay What You Want At Potager

An interesting new restaurant called Potager has opened in Arlington near the University of Texas at 315 S. Mesquite. I mention that address because the article about this place in this morning's Dallas Morning News neglected to mention where this place is located.

What makes this restaurant interesting is not what is on the menu, though the menu does sound good, what makes it interesting is how you pay for what is on the menu.

I'll copy a blurb from Potager's MySpace page which will tell you about how you pay for what is on the menu....

BECAUSE FOOD IS SO PRECIOUS, we don't want you to waste any. We're different from other restaurants where food waste runs rampant and food portions are ridiculous. At Potager, we would like you to ask for only as much food as you know you can eat--you are more than welcome to come back for more--but please, don't waste it. As a result, we have no set price for our meals.

THAT'S RIGHT, we trust people. You ask for how much you want; we ask that you pay what you feel is a fair price for it, keeping in mind that that plenty of love, talent and great ingredients have gone into the preparation of your food each and every day. We want everyone to be able to afford a wholesome and delicious meal, reconnecting with food in a way made almost obsolete in this era of fast food restaurants and cheaply made take-out.

Currently this pricing method does not seem like it's being a very good business model. According to the article in the Morning News it is currently costing Potager's about $8 per customer, while the customer's are paying about $7 each.

Shopping For Info About The Shoppe

Anonymous does a lot of commenting on my blog. I think Anonymous is a Greek name, but I'm not sure of that. I also get comments from Stenotroph-omonas. That name sounds Greek to me, too.

This morning Anonymous commented about a blogging I wrote last year about the State Fair of Texas. In that blogging I mentioned the Western Washington State Fair, which is pretty much the State Fair of Washington, also known as The Puyallup (pronounced pew-al-up, the Puyallup are a Pacific Northwest Indian Tribe).

When I mentioned The Puyallup I also mentioned a band that I always made a point of making sure I heard, due to the band being very entertaining. The band's name was/is The Shoppe. They are/were from Dallas.

Anonymous's comment was about The Shoppe, commenting, "Hi, I agree with you about The Shoppe at the Puyallup. They were always fun to watch. They haven't been around for a few years. Do you know where they are?"

Well, I don't know where they are. The last time I went to The Puyallup was some time in the 1990s. I don't remember if I saw The Shopped that time or not.

When I Googled "Dallas band The Shoppe" all I got was an E-Bay auction of a The Shoppe LP album. For those of you reading this who are under 30, an LP album is what music used to be put on prior to CDs. LP's were these big vinyl circles, usually black, that had grooves in which a needle vibrated, turning the grooves into music. Yes, it was a very primitive method for listening to music.

So, does anyone in my current D/FW zone know what became of The Shoppe? Did they ever play at the State Fair of Texas? The Shoppe is/was better than anything I've heard at the State Fair of Texas. It wasn't just the music. They also did very good banter.

Sunday at River Legacy Park

It's Sunday, so I went to River Legacy Park to pedal the mountain bike trail.

I seem to be a creature of habit with little derivation.

Swimming at 8 this morning. Another tiresome habit.

At River Legacy, today, unlike the last time I was there, I saw some wildlife. A lot of humans, hiking and biking, including Blonde Bobbi. Sunday at River Legacy seems to be one of Blonde Bobbi's bad habits too.

I had 2 snake encounters today. One was quite big. The other likely had only recently hatched. Neither were of the venomous sort. But the big one moved real fast. It is unsettling to see a snake move real fast. I don't understand how they can get so much speed out of that slithering motion.

I tried to slither across my Tacoma sister's floor once, so as not to set off the motion detectors. It took me forever to slither across the floor, and then by the time I got to the door, it had taken me so long, I forgot about the alarm and opened the door to get the paper. All sorts of mayhem quickly ensued. I probably should have been embarrassed about all that mayhem, but it all seemed amusing to me. Although, I did think my sister demanding DNA proof that we are actually related to be a bit rude.

It is almost 80 here today, so, when I got back here, a jump in the pool in my biking shorts seemed to make sense. There are good reasons why the approved attire for swimming is either skinny dipping or a swimming suit. Using my biking shorts as a swimming suit brought up all sorts of issues we need not discuss. Suffice to say, I will not make that mistake again.

We are heading into several days in a row of possible severe storms. This happens every Spring in Texas. I suspect I may hear my first tornado siren of the year this week.

In the meantime I'm trying to write the story of the Travails of Tootsie Tonasket. But it is convoluted and very confusing, thus taxing my ability to make sense of it. So, the story stays in draft mode. For now.

$25,000 Reward for Information Leading to the Arrest...

A few days ago I mentioned seeing a couple billboards that were unusual, or seemed unusual to me, that I see when I drive to the Tandy Hills. One is the Dr. Kim Lap Band Billboard that I already mentioned. The other is the one you see above.

This "$25,000 Reward" billboard has been up for quite a long time. I assume that must indicate no arrest has been made. I don't know the details of this murder, or remember anything about. There are a lot of murders in the news when you live in a metro area of around 6 million people.

I'll see if I can find anything out about this murder....

Okay, now that I've read about it, my memory is refreshed. This case has shown up on "America's Most Wanted." Early in the evening of December 9, 2007, 68 year old Marianne Wilkinson's doorbell rang. She opened the door and was shot 3 or 4 times. Neighbors heard the shots.

Marianne's family said she had no enemies and that there was nobody who would want her dead. The random nature of the murder shocked the community and had people afraid that a murderer was at large, randomly ringing doorbells and shooting people.

And then a neighbor of Marianne's came forward saying she believed that she was the intended victim. The neighbor had gone through a very acrimonious divorce due to a lot of money being involved. The neighbor lived in a house very similar to Marianne's, with a very similar address in the same housing community.

Police came to the conclusion this was a murder for hire that had gone badly awry.

Months passed and a handgun was found that proved to be the murder weapon. But tracing registration records showed the gun belonging to people deceased. Police also got shell casings, along with the gun. That lead them from Texas to England, where a forensic scientist named Dr. John Bond had developed a method for removing fingerprints from metal surfaces, even surfaces that had been wiped clean.

So, police now have fingerprints. Now they are looking for the right fingers. If you can help the police find the right fingers you could be $25,000 richer. I know that's nothing like an AIG executive bonus, but it'd still buy a few groceries in these troubled times.

Tandy Hills: Visual & Verbal Poetry From Don Young

Prairie Notes: March 21, 2009
Vernal Equinox

Field report-

I was so busy yesterday, preparing for the 4th annual Fort Worth Prairie Fest, that I forgot to look up when the center of the Sun crossed the equator in the celestial sphere at 8:44 am CDT. The vernal equinox has come and gone. Dang! I hate it when that happens.

The winds of mid-March whistle through the TV towers above Tandy Hills like the ghosts of Indians past. The trees are adorned with kites and plastic bags. A pair of Screech Owls have arrived, testing the mettle of scurrying field mice. Tiny-legged Ground Skinks are on the move again, "swimming" like quicksilver through the mysterious world underfoot.

A Cooper's Hawk, sliced overhead yesterday, reminding me of who rules the air around here.

Learn more about the birds of Tandy Hills in Tom Steven's excellent, Tandy Hills-Stratford Parks Ornithological Assessment.

LOST in the Tandy Hills Dharma Initiative

I was at the Tandy Hills Natural Area today. I saw 3 separate, very large areas covered with what I now know to be Texas Wild Irises, thanks to the horticulture input of Twister and Shirley.

I was surprised to find no Texas Bluebonnets doing their blue thing on the Tandy Hills today, because I saw a patch of them blooming along the freeway, I assumed they'd be up and running on the Tandy Hills.

I did see another Wildflower that has now made its Spring appearance. I've no idea what it is, but it is a reddish colored thing sort of shaped like a horn.

I suspect that by my next scheduled Tandy Hills visit, on Monday, the hills will be alive with the sound of color. And birds.

I've mentioned before that sometimes when I'm wandering around the Tandy Hills the TV show LOST comes to mind. I got around to watching 2 episodes of LOST last night, so it was fresh in my memory.

Today I came upon 3 underground stations like the one in the picture, indicating that before the current Earth Loving Tribe took over the Island of Hills, "Others" had punched some holes in the ground here. I did not try to open the hatch to see if it was inhabited. I suspect whatever "Dharma-like Initiative" put this hatch in this location, has long abandoned the area, unable to abide by it being taken over by Natural People wanting a Natural Area.

I wonder if the patches of Texas Wild Irises date from when "The Others" controlled the Tandy Hills? One more thing they left behind. Like their hatches.

First Texas Bluebonnet of the Year

This morning's Dallas Morning News had a picture of the first Bluebonnets blooming on the first day of Spring.

At noon, on my way to Tandy Hills Park, to hunt for wildflowers. I saw my first Bluebonnets of the year. They were blooming along side Interstate 30. Currently they are looking a bit puny, compared to this same location last year. I suspect it will grow way bluer in this spot in the coming weeks.

In the foreground of the picture (you'll have to click the pic to see the bluebonnets) is another Texas Wildflower staple, the name of which escapes me right now, maybe something with primrose as it's last name. You see a lot of this particular wildflower. In fact they were my introduction to Texas Wildflowers, way back in the Spring of 1998, when I drove into Texas via Amarillo and began seeing these fragile looking flowers lining the side of the road.

Now that Spring has officially arrived with the first Texas Bluebonnets I can relax and eagerly anticipate the first 100 degree day of the year. And the first Tornado Warning Sirens of the year.

Sam Rayburn Turnpike & Other Texas Freeway Honorariums

Lately I've noticed an awful lot of ink being devoted to the naming of a toll road here in the D/FW Metroplex. The toll road being named is a 21 mile section of State Highway 121. It is proposed that this section of highway be named after Sam Rayburn. Mr. Sam was a legendary Speaker of the House from Bonham, Texas. He and Lyndon Johnson, working together, were a formidable pair of legislators.

I don't know why it has come to be, but, as Wikipedia put it...

"For those new to the Metroplex, the area's elaborate highway system can be a bit confusing. The D/FW area has long had a tradition of naming numbered highways."

Some of the freeway and highway naming seems really goofy to me. I know other areas of America also name their freeways, like in the Los Angeles zone I-5 is the Golden State Freeway. They also have the Hollywood Freeway, Ventura Freeway and a lot more. The only freeway named after a person in the LA zone, that I know of, is I believe there may be a section of freeway named after Richard Nixon.

The Seattle zone does no freeway renaming. Up there they just stick with I-5, I-405, I-90, I-520, you get the drift.

Here in the Metroplex the same road can go by various names. Like right where I live on one side of I-820 the road is called John T. White Road, cross over the freeway and it becomes Bridge Street. A couple miles to the east of me Green Oaks Boulevard turns into Dottie Lynn Parkway for no discernible reason.

Here in the D/FW Metroplex we have the LBJ Freeway (I-635), the George Bush Turnpike and the Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway (I-20 in Arlington).

Those are our Presidential Freeways. We also have a section of U.S. Highway 287 in Fort Worth renamed as Martin Luther King, Jr. Freeway.

I-30 from the Tarrant County line on east to the Dallas Mixmaster is called Tom Landry Freeway. Landry coached the Dallas Cowboys at some point in time and is apparently highly regarded. The Tom Landry Freeway signs have a strange hat as its symbol.

I have no idea who the other people are who have freeways named after them. We have the East R. L. Thornton Freeway and the South R. L. Thornton Freeway.

And then there is the Marvin D. Love Freeway, which is U. S. Highway 67.

U.S. Highway 175 is known as C.F. Hawn Freeway.

Spur 366 is known as the Woodall Rogers Freeway.

Texas State Highway 360 is Angus Wynne Freeway. I think he may be the guy who started Six Flags.

Texas State Highway 114 is known as the John Carpenter Freeway. The movie maker? I have no idea.

Interstate 45 in known as the Julius Schepps Freeway. I don't believe it is called that all the way to Houston.

Texas State Highway Loop 12 has a lot of names. Depending on where you are on the loop it is known as Walton Walker Boulevard, Northwest Highway, Ledbetter Drive, Military Parkway and Kiest Boulevard.

We also have parts of freeways named after other sports figures besides Tom Landry. Golfer Byron Nelson, car racer Dale Earnhardt and baseballer Nolan Ryan all have freeway signs with their names on them.

Anyway, like I said, I don't know what caused the bizarre practice to be so, well, frequently practiced. What I do know is I would like someone to explain Randoll Mill Road to me. No matter where I drive in this huge Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex I seem to run into Randoll Mill Road meandering about.

Naked Texas Miscellaneous Wildflowers

I'm in the mood to do some salubrious stream of consciousness typing. but I am an absolute blank as to a subject I want to salubriously stream about.

I really like that salubrious word.

I had to be in Arlington today, so I pedaled 2 times around the mountain bike trail at River Legacy Park. I saw no wildlife and no wildflowers.

Those are wildflowers at River Legacy in the picture, but that picture was taken last year. Or the year before. The view you see in that picture is currently totally altered due to the huge Huffines construction project.

When I got done biking I had to change out of my biking shorts into non-biking shorts. Usually I do this inside my vehicle, but that is not easy and involves some serious yoga-like moves to get the job done.

Last week, when I was at River Legacy, I saw a guy changing his clothes outside his vehicle, with his open door blocking anyone from seeing him. So, I figured I could do the same thing by being on the west side of my vehicle, where I could clearly see the only two paths by which a person could catch me with my drawers down.

So, I go to my "changing room," scan the trails for any humans, see none, pull off my biking shorts and quickly pull on my non-biking shorts. When the non-biking shorts were about halfway into position I looked up to see a guy with a dog. Where in the world did they come from? The guy with the dog did not look my way and I acted like I hadn't noticed them.

After the being caught with my pants down incident I went to my next stop, that being right by the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium. Every time I see that thing I'm amazed by it. It is so HUGE. And looks so weirdly out of place, like a futuristic flying saucer has plopped down on some random American location.

When I saw the stadium today I thought of its price tag. Currently $1.1 billion and rising. I'm really bad at math, but I think a trillion is a thousand billion. I think I've read that all the various stimulus and bailout bucks add up to 3 or 4 trillion dollars. $4 trillion would amount to 4,000 new Dallas Cowboy Stadiums. If my math is right.

4,000 Dallas Cowboy Stadiums could likely be enough space to turn into enough condos to house everyone who has lost their home due to foreclosure and have enough space left over to give condos to those who's homes were stolen to get the land to build the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

I've got a story to tell about Tootsie Tonasket, but telling that story will require concentration. Concentration requires me to be in the right mood. Right now all I can concentrate on is it sounds fun to go swimming again and lay on a lounge chair for awhile.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Defends Itself

This morning one of my one or two longtime readers, LC, sent me an email pointing me to a column from what I believe was last Sunday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Those same one or two longtime readers may remember I've complained about this newspaper before. Usually my complaints were regarding the paper's tendency towards groundless Chamber of Commerce boosterism that often seemed embarrassingly ridiculous to me.

One of my other issues with the Star-Telegram was over mistakes I'd spot in articles, most frequently by one of their reporters named Anne Tinsley. I read the now dead Seattle P-I for a long long time. It covered an area I'd lived in all my life. I do not recollect ever reading something in the P-I that I knew to be wrong. Yet here in Fort Worth, an area I've not lived in all that long, I spotted numerous errors in articles in the Star-Telegram.

One that springs to mind was regarding a new section of paved trail that had opened in Arlington's River Legacy Park. First off there was the part of the article that bragged that somehow Fort Worth's paved trails had inspired Arlington's infinitely superior trails. But the galling part was the writer had key facts wrong. The most important error being that the article said the new section of trail ran all the way to 360.

Two days after reading that I was on that very trail, at its end. There was a guy standing there, looking perplexed. He asked me how do you get to 360? I asked him if he got the idea it did from the Star-Telegram. He had. He had told friends, heading south on 360, to pick him up at Trinity Boulevard, because he wanted to jog a new trail. That didn't exist.

And now this column about the Star-Telegram not going away. The columnist, J.R. Labbe was inspired to come to the defense of the Star-Telegram due to the paper being on a list of doomed newspapers.

Here's a choice bit...

Now hear this, you East Coast magazine writers, TV news readers and North Texas radio listeners: The Star-Telegram is not fixin’ to disappear.

On the contrary, the news of our demise, as outlined in last week’s Time magazine and echoed in local TV and radio reports, was greatly exaggerated.

If you’ve lived in the Metroplex more than 20 minutes, then you know that the only time Fort Worth shares billing with Dallas is when people use the official name of the airport. Only outsiders, Nielsen ratings and lazy magazine writers think "Dallas-Fort Worth" is one big town.

Now, I've lived here for awhile now. It is like one big town. The locals call it the Metroplex. With 2 really big towns. One being Dallas, with its Dallas Morning News, to which I am now a subscriber, and which is like the Big City newspapers I've always known, and the other big town being Fort Worth, with its Star-Telegram, to which I no longer subscribe and which is more like a little town's paper than a Big City paper.

Another choice bit....

No, a newcomer can’t replace the century of institutional knowledge that resides within the walls of the Star-Telegram.

It can’t develop overnight a stable of some of the most knowledgeable members of the community on a broad range of issues, people who have excellent writing and presentation skills, who directly connect their newspaper daily with the community they serve. Skilled and trained journalists who have regular access to the elected, the elite, the educated and the electorate.

Century of institutional knowledge? Within its walls? As I understand it the Star-Telegram is trying to sell those walls. Skilled journalists connecting their newspaper with the community they serve? I know a lot of people who feel ill-served by this service.

And then this other choice bit...

The Star-Telegram remains committed to providing Tarrant County residents the most comprehensive local news and commentary they can find — and we’ve got the largest news-gathering team of any media outlet in Fort Worth working on it every day.

Shoot, folks can get national and international news from lots of places. But no other media company knows — or cares — about Fort Worth and Tarrant County like we do.

I know of people in Haltom City who would love it if the Star-Telegram would focus some of their vast news-gathering team and show some of that caring for people trying to get something done about the deadly flooding on Fossil Creek. How about an editorial opining that maybe we should divert some money to fixing a problem that has actually killed people before possibly wasting money on a possible boondoggle known as the Trinity River Vision?

Or how about focusing some light on Mayor Moncrief's conflicts of interest in the way Fort Worth's actual responsible newspaper of record, FW Weekly, does?

The Star-Telegram's Publisher, Gary Wortel, told Labbe that the paper is a very profitable company. I'm sure Labbe, crack journalist that she is, must have asked Wortel why, if the paper is so profitable, have so many people been laid off, why has the paper shrunk so much, why have so many columnists been cut from the editorial pages? Or is it temporarily in the black due to all those cutbacks?

If you are tired of the ever shrinking Star-Telegram go to the Dallas Morning News and subscribe. You'll get a Big City newspaper that covers all of the Metroplex and seems to do a good accurate job of it. They even cover Fort Worth with absolutely none of that weird snooty inferiority complex tone that permeates way too often when an article in the Star-Telegram references Dallas.

Go here if you want to read the entire column by Ms. Labbe.

Oakland Lake Park's Mutant Texas Lulu Bird & Wildflowers

We're having another warm pre-spring day in Texas. Even though spring hasn't sprung yet Spring Break has, with Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast reporting her home port of Port Aransas is currently flooded with inebriated college kids.

Meanwhile, I went on a sober walk at Oakland Lake Park around noon. Previously I've mentioned seeing an odd mutant bird in this location that appears to be the result of an unnatural mating between a turkey and a duck, resulting in one very homely, chubby bird that seems to be shunned by the other birds. I've decided it is a Texas Lulu Bird.

I'd not seen the Lulu Bird for a long time. I figured it'd either died of loneliness or had been run off by the other ducks. But, today I saw the Lulu Bird again. It is still alone. While the ducks frolicked on the water, the Lulu Bird sat on the ground in the hollowed out part of the tree you see in the picture above.

The Lulu Bird did not move as I got closer and closer taking its picture. Maybe it was sitting on eggs. But what bird would have mated with the Lulu Bird?

I've yet to see an appearance this year of the Sacred State Flower of Texas, that being the bluebonnet. I must be remembering wrong, I thought they popped out by now, previous years.

Today at Oakland Lake Park I did see a couple new wildflowers had popped out. One was round, fuzzy and white. The other was a 5 petaled purple thing.

I don't recollect ever seeing so many people at Oakland Lake Park as I did today. It wasn't just kids out of school due to that Spring Break thing, it was a large number of walking grown-ups, others playing tennis, others soccer. And a lot of picnickers. I tell you, when the conditions are absolutely perfect Texans will enjoy their outdoors. There seems to be about a 15 degree window when this occurs.

I've learned that if you persist you can enjoy Texas outdoors all year long. You can even swim all year, which I did this morning for a half hour.

The World Naked Bike Ride Putting an End to Cars

A few days ago I read the Swiss are being bedeviled by way too many people going hiking in the Alps, au naturel. That means naked. Except for sunscreen and hiking boots. The Europeans have always been a bit more liberal about this type thing than some of us Americans.

Last week Yvonne sent me an email pointing me towards an article about The World Naked Bike Ride. It began March 7 in Nimbin, Australia. The purpose of The World Naked Bike Ride is for thousands of bike riders to toss off their clothes and hop on a bike in the hope that this will get us all to stop and think about all the negative effects cars, and the pollution they create, have on the planet.

Oh, yeah, I am sure that is what I would be thinking if I saw thousands of people riding naked on their bikes. I'd turn to the person next to me and say something like, "You know all these naked people on bikes is making me think we should get rid of all the cars and the pollution they cause."

The World Naked Bike Ride pedals through Australia and then on to South America. And then heads north. Towards us.

Most of the northern hemisphere naked bike rides will take place on June 13, although some locations may vary that date. I don't know when Fort Worth's Naked Bike Ride Day is. I'm sure Fort Worth's Mayor Moncrief will be participating. He's a big advocate of alternative energy sources.

I do know it is getting HOT enough that it is almost the time of the year to emulate Switzerland and start in with those Naked Tandy Hills Hikes again.

I'm sure Seattle will be part of The World Naked Bike Ride because Seattle is mentioned in the article about The Naked Bike Ride in the FAQ section explaining why this is perfectly legal to do. Seattle has been having Naked Bike Rides for years, with the most famous one being the Fremont Solstice Naked Bike Ride.

Gar the Texan was planning on doing the Fremont ride til he somehow got images stuck in his head of the Fremont Behemoth, known as Lord Voldemort, riding naked and forever scarring his fragile psyche or maybe giving him a case of the non-stop vapors.

You don't have to ride a bike to participate in The Naked World Bike Ride. Any alternative-powered transportation is allowed. You can skateboard, rollerblade, get on your unicycle, even your rickshaw. Rickshaws have been used in previous Naked Bike Rides. There is no mention of riding your horse, but I can't imagine why that would be wrong. Maybe I'll ride my pet longhorn, Larry.

Now, I've got to go to River Legacy Park to practice Naked Bike Riding with Yvonne. June 13 will be here before we know it and we'll want to have an even tan by that day.

Fort Worth Stockyards Ironhorse Trail

Last week I got an email from Alan Small of the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History looking for possible info about anyone who might be able to share some aspect of Fort Worth's history in a different way than the museum.

I replied to Mr. Small and he then got back to me, inviting me to be a guest of the museum and further elaborating on his goals for his Fort Worth history program.

That got me remembering a very unpublicized trail at the south end of the Fort Worth Stockards called the Iron Horse Trail. It was built a few years ago with absolutely no attention paid. Or so it seemed to me. It's a pretty good walk through the history of Fort Worth.

You can go to my Eyes on Texas website for more detail and more photos of the Iron Horse Trail. Or just read the text from the website below. Or not.

The Iron Horse Trail leads from the south parking lots of Fort Worth's Stockyards to trails along the Trinity River. The Iron Horse Trail begins as a walking tour through the History of Forth Worth, told via large plaques attached to huge boulders, landscaped with cactus and other natural plants.

A Spanish Explorer named Moscoso was the first European presence in the area of a three-branched river named Trinity.

General Edwin H. Tarrant, the namesake of Tarrant County, fought in the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812 and in the 1841 Battle of Village Creek in current day Arlington. General Tarrant is buried in Pioneer Rest Cemetery on a bluff overlooking the location of these memorials.

General Williams Jenkins Worth had a fort named after him. He helped rebuild the Alamo and died in San Antonio without ever making it to Fort Worth. General Worth is buried near Times Square in New York City under a 51 foot tall monument. The tallest tombstone in the country. Very fitting for a Texan. But in New York?

Fort Worth defended the new settlers from the sometimes hostile Indians, mainly Comanche's, a very powerful tribe with very good leaders.

Indian campfires could be seen by the early settlers dotting the horizon at night.

In the 1870's the Indians were still quite feisty, defending what they thought was their territory against those who they thought were invaders.

Texas has along history of tough justice. Before lethal injections hanging was the method of choice.

A battle in which whiskey played a role helped determine who won the competition between Fort Worth and Birdville as to which would be the dominant city in Tarrant County. You probably have not heard of Birdville so you can probably guess which city won.

After the Civil War demand for beef exploded, altering the history of Fort Worth forever.

In the 1870s a Fort Worth visionary named B.B. Paddock imagined a system of rail lines to serve the growing beef market. When he drew this on a map someone remarked that it looked like a Tarantula, a name which has stuck to this day. The Tarantula Train still goes from the Stockyards to Grapevine twice a day.

By the 1870s Fort Worth was a major starting point for travelers heading into the western frontier. You could board the world's longest stage line. A 1500 mile journey to Yuma.

Hell's Half Acre was Fort Worth's 'Entertainment District', long before the arrival of a Cultural District. Butch and Sundance spent time here, enough time that the heart of downtown Fort Worth is called Sundance Square.

By the turn of the century the Stockyards zone began its first steps towards becoming the entertaining tourist attraction it is today. The first Stock Show took place in 1896. In 1902 the Livestock Exchange Building opened. And the world's first indoor rodeo took place in the new Cowtown Coliseum.

Fort Worth has come a long ways from its frontier past. But unlike many places, you can still see the past in Fort Worth, much is preserved, much is as it was.

Yellow Pseudo Roses of Texas and Safe Fishing at Oakland Lake Park

My sad case of SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) caused by last week's non-stop gray, cold, wet weather has totally gone away, cured by several days of blue sky and today's return to borderline, open the windows or turn on the A/C, HOT.

Sadly, but not the SAD type of sad, we've not had enough of the HOT stuff for my pool water to turn pleasant. In other words I was in it for a very short time this morning before I sought refuge and warmth in the hot tub.

I went walking at Oakland Lake Park today to enjoy the pre-Spring, Spring-like weather. I came across a beautiful field of yellow Texas wildflowers. Previously, kind observers of my confusions have informed me, (after seeing and photographing this same wildflower at the Tandy Hills and previously blogging about that wildflower sighting), that this particular Texas Wildflower is called a Dandelion.

Apparently the Dandelion is not exclusively a Texas Wildflower.

In modern French the Dandelion is named pissenlit, which means "urinate in bed", apparently referring to its diuretic properties. Likewise, "pissabeds" is an English folk-name for this plant, as is piscialletto in Italian and the Spanish meacamas. In various north-eastern Italian dialects the flower is known as pisacan ("dog pisses"), referring to how common they are found at the side of pavements, while in many other northern Italian dialects it is known as soffione ("blowing") referring to the blowing the seeds from the stalk. The same is true for German, where Pusteblume ("blowing flower") is a popular designation. Likewise, in Polish it is called "dmuchawiec", deriving from dmuchać ("to blow"). Whilst in its flowering form the Poles know it as Mlecz, a word derived from "milk", due to the plant's milky sap.

The other thing I saw interesting at Oakland Lake Park today was an older gentleman fly fishing. I don't know if he was having any luck, but he was doing a lot of casting.

The Texas Department of State Health Services warning sign about fish caught in the lake has been changed to sound less dire. Previously it said, "WARNING: The Possession of Fish from this Lake is Prohibited Due to Contamination. Punishable by up to $2,000. Fine."

Now the fine warning has been dropped, as well as the prohibition of fish, with the warning signs now saying, "A Fish Consumption Advisory Exists for the Water Body or Adjacent Areas."

The no swimming or boating signs were no longer there too, I just realized. Not that I would want to go swimming in Oakland Lake. Too many turtles. The turtles and all the ducks and geese, seeming to live without dying on the lake, has long seemed a bit odd, what with that previous warning about the dire nature of the fish in the lake.

Dead in the Pacific Northwest

After suffering for quite some time in a moribund coma state, the Hearst Corporation has decided to pull the plug on the Seattle Post - Intelligencer, with the time of death to be this coming Thursday.

The P-I will continue with a version of its current online newspaper. There are a lot of newspapers in trouble across America. The P-I is likely the first of the majors to go down in this current newspaper crisis.

I've been addicted to reading a morning newspaper for as long as I can remember. When I lived in Washington it was the P-I. When I return for a visit, I read the P-I. Though this past summer that option was not available. I was stuck with the Tacoma Tribune and the Sunday New York Times. It takes about a week to read the Sunday New York Times.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram continues to decline and cut back. How much longer can it last?

I think I've mentioned before that I think newspaper reading should be part of the school curriculum. An hour a day in a class devoted to reading and discussing that day's paper. Kids growing up in a house that does not get a daily newspaper, do not develop the habit of reading one and keeping up on what's going on in their world.

I've met way too many people who are way too ignorant due to the lack of a habit of keeping informed. People like this are then easy prey to very stupid stuff.

Like I know this person who got all upset over the Israelis finally having enough of incoming rockets from Gaza. This person thought this was terrible what Israel was doing to protect itself. I looked at her with wonderment, then mentioned The Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War.

Huh? Totally perplexed was she. So, I brought up the Yom Kippur War article in Wikipedia. This person was alive during the time of the Yom Kippur War. But had no memory of it, due to not reading about. And now she gets her news off TV and the Internet. With no background understanding of any of the things she reads about or the history that preceded it.

She glanced at a bit of the article about the Yom Kippur War, then she got mad. She thought I was trying to make her feel stupid. Due to pointing her towards information that might lighten her of some of her ignorance. But, it's been my experience, sadly, that way too many people would rather wallow in their ignorance and get mad, than try and learn something.

And now Seattle and the Pacific Northwest is slightly less blessed, due to the loss of the P-I. I won't be going to the funeral. I'll grieve in private.

William Howard Taft: Biggest Presidential Butt

This blogging would seem to combine all my favorite subjects, those being the search for the biggest butts in the world, its companion subject, that being obesity. And history. I guess this blogging would also have to have something to do with Texas if it truly combined all my favorite subjects.

I have no idea if our 27th President, William Howard Taft, ever visited Texas. But I do know he had the biggest butt of any of our Presidents.

Taft was also the heaviest of our Presidents. He was a fairly tall guy, 6' 2". Who weighed in at around 325 pounds. That number could go up at times.

William Howard Taft was our first president to take up the golf habit. And he did not start the habit until he became president. Taft did not like being president. He was not very good at it. So, he often escaped the White House to go golfing, which worried a lot of people that he was not taking his job seriously. During the signing of one of his administration's few important achievements, that being the signing of the General Arbitration Treaty with Great Britain, Taft escaped the signing when the weather suddenly improved, to go golfing.

Taft was known for falling asleep at any time. It was one of Taft's aide's jobs to nudge Taft awake if he saw him falling asleep. Taft fell asleep at meetings, funerals and even while actively campaigning, passing out in an open car during a motorcade in New York City, to the amusement of the throngs of onlookers.

When Taft was the Governor of the Philippines he sent a telegram to Secretary of War Elihu Root saying, "Took long horseback ride today. Feeling fine." Root wired back, "How's the horse?"

Taft went to visit the Russian Czar. He was getting out of his carriage when his pants split open. He then slowly backed away from the Czar so as not to expose his ample backside.

Taft was so fat, in the gut zone, that he could not tie his own shoes. A valet had to perform that task for him.

President Taft got stuck so many times in the White House bathtub, with aides having to get him unstuck, that Taft had a new tub installed. It was 7 feet long, weighed a ton and was big enough to hold 4 regular sized men.

I don't know if the Taft Tub is still in the White House. I do know Taft lost his bid to be re-elected. Taft got the lowest percentage of the vote, at 23%, of any President trying to get re-elected. Teddy Roosevelt, who had picked Taft as his successor, got more votes than the President, as did the winner of that election, Woodrow Wilson.

In 1921 the next Republican President, he being Warren G. Harding, appointed Taft to be a Justice on the Supreme Court. A job Taft liked much better than being President.

Lap Band: Weight Loss For Life...

In some parts of America billboards are not allowed. That is not the case in Texas. I see 2 billboards that catch my eye between where I am right now and Tandy Hills Park.

Today I took a picture of one of them.

Dr. Kim has been a Lap Band Expert since 2002. That doesn't seem like a long time to me. Dr. Kim has a nice website where you can learn all about him, watch videos and learn all you might want to know about bariatric surgery.

I think the Lap Band procedure is the one where your stomach is squeezed by the band, making it way smaller, so you can't eat as much pie, as you pre-surgery could, without feeling very stuffed. I guess I could spend more than 2 seconds at Dr. Kim's website if I wanted to know for sure what the Lap Band procedure is.

What I do know for sure I don't know why anyone would want to have such a thing done to their stomach. Just stop eating so much. Okay, I know that's easy to say, might be hard to do. But I've seen hugely obese people up close and have observed their behavior and feeding patterns. All the hugely obese people I've known have been very self-indulgent with very little self-discipline.

They just can't say no to that second box of cookies or that second quart of ice cream. Or that stray donut or two that passes within their reach. It would be a sad, hard thing to live with, being trapped in a jail cell of your own making.

I wonder how much the Lap Band procedure costs? It probably pays for itself due to the Obese Person's reduced Feeding Costs. Feeding an Obese Person is extremely expensive. I don't know how buffets afford to have them as customers.

Another Wildflower Blooms in the Tandy Hills

We've had a few days of peace since last week's deluge muddied things in my zone of Texas. I thought maybe it'd dried up enough that the Tandy Hills might be hikeable.

It was, for the most part.

A new wildflower had sprouted since my last visit. Another purple one. Something about it didn't look like a native Texas Wildflower somehow.

The creeks in the Tandy Hills were all running water, nice and clear water. Some of which was running over Tandy Falls, almost enough to make a mini-Niagara type roar.

It is nice to be able to be outside again and not get wet and cold. My sad case of SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) has almost completely vanished.

The Sun Has Returned To Texas, But Not To Napoleon

That's my computer room view, this Sunday afternoon coming up on 4.

After what has seemed like weeks of gloom and doom in the form of gray sky, cold air. And rain. The gray is gone, the sky is clear and we hit 65 today.

I see swimming in my future, in the morning, as my SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) symptoms begin to slowly evaporate.

With temperatures in the 70s my favorite trails should dry out fairly quickly. We got none of that catastrophic type flooding, this bad weather bout, that can close parks and trails for long periods.

During lunch I watched Napoleon's disastrous invasion of the Russian Empire that ended quite badly with his troops freezing in the horrendous Winter of 1812, made extra cold, we know now, due to several volcanoes spewing enough ash to block enough sun to cause global cooling.

So, I guess it could be a lot worse and I probably should count my blessings and whine less about a couple gray days and a little rain blotting the usually clear Texas sky.

Going to Church at Overeaters Anonymous

I was on my way to church, I mean Wal-Mart, to get a ham, this latest gray day in Texas, when I came upon a sign for a group I should probably join before I balloon up to Macy's Parade Float size.

Speaking of Big People, Wal-Mart sure is the go-to joint if you want to see that sort of thing.

I did not previously mention it, but last week outside Sprouts Farmers Market I saw a butt on a woman that was even more astonishing than the one I mentioned seeing at Wal-Mart a couple months ago.

I know I promised I get photo documentation the next time I saw such a thing, and while I had my camera with me, there was no opportunity to surreptitiously snap a picture without being real uncouth. Sprouts is not the sort of place were Big-Butted people shop. I suspect this lady was coming out of one of the other businesses next to Sprouts. But likely not the Spa.

The thing that made the Sprouts Big Butt so noteworthy was it was attached to a very good-looking blonde lady who was very well-proportioned, except for a butt that looked as if 2 enormous balloons had been stuffed into her extremely stretched pants. I watched her climb up into her Ford pickup. I could see her Big Butt had her head hitting the roof. She wasn't very tall, so that was interesting.

As long as you've got me on the subject of Big Butts again, once more, this morning when looking at my FeedJit stats I saw there was an amazing number of people from all over the world coming to my blog by searching for the World's Biggest Butt. And once more the Big Butt searchers seemed to search in clusters.

Why is there such a world-wide interest in seeing the World's Biggest Butt? It's a conundrum I regularly ponder, particularly if I don't have anything better to think about, which right now should be lunch, which is going to be macaroni and cheese, fish sticks and broccoli salad. I'm trying to put on enough weight so I can join Overeaters Anonymous.

Trinity River Vision to Turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South

That is a view of False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia. That's in Canada. False Creek is where Vancouver's Expo 86 took place, leaving a renovated old industrial zone in its wake that has become a very successful part of a very successful, beautiful city.

Why in the world is False Creek on my mind? Well, there was a letter to the editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, this morning, about the Trinity River Vision, that referenced the project's design being modeled after a similar project in Vancouver.

Well, the first time I read about Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision in the Star-Telegram, that first article actually said that the Trinity River Vision would transform Fort Worth into being the "Vancouver of the South." I am not making this up.

I'd already grown fed up with the Star-Telegram's tendency to hype something ridiculously, but this was a new low, this was worse than when the Star-Telegram claimed over and over and over and over again that an extremely lame, extremely little, now long failed, "market" was modeled after Seattle's Pike Place, and public markets in Europe. And would be the first public market in Texas.

It was called the Santa Fe Rail Market. Not only did it bear no resemblance to Pike Place, not only was it not the first public market in Texas, it wasn't even the first public market in Fort Worth! And even more bizarre, there is a public market in Dallas, the Dallas Farmers Market, that anyone visiting from the Northwest always remarks does remind them of Pike Place! But with much easier parking.

When I first read that the Trinity River Vision was going to turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South I thought to myself has no one from that paper been to Vancouver? Just like I thought has no one from the Star-Telegram been to Pike Place? The only thing I can think of that False Creek and the Trinity River Vision have in common is they both involve water.

Anyway, below is the letter to the editor about the Trinity River Vision from this morning's Star-Telegram.

More details on the TRV, please

City leaders say there is no money to renovate our existing but neglected Heritage Park, touted for its grand view of the historic confluence of the West and Clear forks of our Trinity River. At the same time they eagerly continue to support a nonexistent vision.

The Trinity River Vision proposes to destroy the natural confluence of the Trinity to develop commercial property in its place where canals, bridges and a lake will require massive earth moving by the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent flooding just below the bluff where the Tarrant County Courthouse stands.

Descriptions have been vague, but recently a brochure produced for TRV explained that the canals and bridges are modeled after a project designed in Vancouver, B.C., a part of the hemisphere that has almost nothing in common with Fort Worth in the way of climate, culture and water supply.

The TRV brochure reports two trips by TRV advisors to Vancouver to visit the football field-sized model of the Trinity River Vision Central City project. The bypass channel and flood gates of the model demonstrate protection of more than 2,400 acres of neighborhoods possibly subject to flooding in uptown Fort Worth as a result of the channel and associated levees.

J.D. Granger, executive director of the TRV Authority and son of U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, was quoted in part as saying, “We’ve been able to make minor modifications in the design that will save us millions in erosion maintenance costs.”

Let us please learn more about projected maintenance costs and possible flooding. In times threatening depression and drought, when our president asks us to eliminate earmarks, we must know the facts to act wisely and responsibly.

How much taxpayer money is being spent to fund the Trinity River Vision, and how many millions do we guess it will take to finish and maintain it? Residents of Fort Worth deserve a full and open accounting.

— Betty W. Fay, Fort Worth

After Days Of Deluge The Texas Rain Has Stopped

Today is Saturday. It is Day 4. Or is it 5? Of gray sky and cold. This morning the rain finally stopped.

Making it possible to venture outside without getting too wet. So, I put on several layers and pulled my worn out gray stocking cap over my ears and set out into the bracing cold.

Village Creek Historical Natural Area or Natural Historic Area, I never remember the name right, seemed like the place to go. If the creek had not flooded enough to close the park I figured it would be moving a lot of water.

But, to my surprise, the creek had not even gotten high enough to flood over the bridges. Another surprise, surprising because I think I come to this park fairly frequently, but it could easily be a month since I've been there, regardless of how long it's been since I've been there, it has been long enough for Arlington to build a new viewing platform, replacing the old one that had been destroyed by brutal Mother Nature. The new platform looks built to last awhile.

It was while on the old platform that I saw one of the most disturbing things I've seen since I've been in Texas. I was pedaling my bike. I saw a couple guys on the platform intensely looking at something in the water. So, I stopped to ask what they were looking at. They pointed to a large herd of Water Moccasins swimming amongst the turtles.

That may have been my first Texas snake sighting. As the years of my exile in Texas have grown in number, along with my visits to this park, I've seen Copperheads, Rattlesnakes and my one and only Garfish. The Garfish is by far the most disturbing thing I've seen in Texas.

As you can see in the first picture above, it is starting to get green here. The green along the trail in Village Creek Park today reminded me of being in a Washington Rain Forest, the combo of the fresh green and everything being wet.

I had one moment of an optimistic feeling that blue skies may one day return when the clouds opened up for a second or two, letting me have a brief glance at what the sky in Texas used to look like.

I've blogged about Village Creek before. It's a fascinating story that's part of American and Texan History.

Non-Stop Rain, Flooding, Tomato Soup & Baseballs In Texas

Three days in a row of gray skies with over 24 hours of non-stop rain. And it's cold. Just a few degrees colder and this rain would be snow.

The view in the picture is heading east on Pioneer Parkway, around noon, on the way to Fry's Electronics to get a little digital recording device to use to catch a culprit.

The recorder can record hundreds of hours of talking. It's such a little thing. But who can listen to hundreds of hours of talking just to catch a culprit?

After Fry's my Mexican Restaurant plan was aborted due to time restraints. That and being so close to Sweet Tomatoes. Before getting to Sweet Tomatoes I remarked that it seemed ironic that Tomato Soup was never one of their soups of the day. Well, today it was. Best Tomato Soup I've ever had.

After Fry's I dropped a culprit off for an appointment and then went to the Wal-Mart Supercenter across the street, that street being Randoll Mill, across from the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium. I was only in Wal-Mart for a few minutes. The walk in and out was very wet and cold.

Leaving Wal-Mart I saw an interesting view of the new stadium with the Wal-Mart in the foreground. This particular Wal-Mart has giant baseballs adorning the outside of the building and on the walls along the parking lot. The baseballs are due to the fact that the place where the Texas Rangers play baseball is a short distance away. But not nearly as close as where the Dallas Cowboys will soon try and play football.

So, when are some footballs going to be replacing the baseballs on the Wal-Mart? There was a big sign at the Wal-Mart entry today saying some Dallas Cowboy football player I've never heard of was going to be there for a couple hours in a couple weeks.

After Wal-Mart I went to Barnes and Noble. There I overheard a pair of distinguished looking gentle ladies discussing how all the bridge and road construction on I-30 has been hard on business. They seemed quite concerned. The mood in Barnes and Noble always seems a bit funereal to me, particularly this one, particularly today.

With all this rain I worry that one of my favorite Tarrant County rabble rouser politicial sorts will be looking at her backyard nervously, with it being recently restored to its pre-flood damage glory, and with way too much rain falling. And with nothing having been done to fix the problem that caused the killer floods the last time we got way too much rain here.

While nothing has been done to fix that real problem, we are moving ahead with fixing a non-problem by building an un-needed river diversion channel, a little lake and some canals in a lofty project called the "Trinity River Vision." I think it got some earmark bucks in the budget that just passed. But no earmark money to fix the Haltom City flood problem. That has actually killed someone. And done a lot of damage.

Tandy Hills 4th Annual Prairie Fest: April 25

In a little over a month the wildflowers should be doing their colorful thing, hopefully under blue skies and moderate temperatures, while the 4th Annual Prairie Fest takes place on April 25 at the Tandy Hills.

I went to last year's Prairie Fest. It was a much bigger deal than I expected. With very good music, very good food. And beer.

This is the Greenest Festival in Texas, with solar panels producing electricity. (if the sun cooperates)

There is no admission fee to the Prairie Fest. That means it's free. You will need to pay for food and beer. Dancing is also free.

If you are interested in being a sponsor or an exhibitor or vendor go to the Tandy Hills website and you'll find the information you seek, including more information about this year's Prairie Fest.

Below is a YouTube video I made from my visit to last year's Prairie Fest.

Another Cold Gray Winter Day In Texas

That is the dismal view out of my computer room window, this morning, coming up on 10.

Today's predicted high is 38. Today's predicted low is 38. I don't recollect ever seeing the predicted high and low being the same before.

No wonder I've fallen into the worst bout of SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) since last summer in frigid Tacoma.

This bout of SAD is so BAD that I've not been outside in over 24 hours, except to pick the paper up off my front porch.

About 10 last night the power was knocked out for about 10 minutes for no obvious reason. It wasn't windy, there was no lightning striking.

Blue sky is scheduled to return by Sunday.

In the meantime I'm going to make myself go to Arlington, to go to Fry's Electronics to get a digital recording device and go somewhere for Mexican food for lunch. Mexican food is a good antidote for SAD. Especially if the salsa is HOT.

A Flood Of Fresh Texas Organic Eggs

I tell you, things are being strange here this wintry day in Texas. I'd barely finished blogging about organic cigarettes, vodka and apples when there was a knock on my door.

It was neighbor Lou. I don't believe I've mentioned neighbor Lou before. Lou has chickens. Of the egg laying sort.

That bout of warm weather, we had going, that had me back in the swimming pool and color starting to sprout out, has come to a rude, abrupt end.

But the warm weather stimulated Lou's hens to go into an egg-laying frenzy. Make that an Organic Egg Laying frenzy. So, now I have 4 dozen Organic Eggs in addition to my Organic Red Delicious Apples.

All the shades of brown of those 48 eggs is a pretty nice color scheme. Have I mentioned before that brown is known as my signature color? I learned this long ago when a nurse I called the Fat Lady said to me "brown is your signature color." And so it is.

Smoking Organic Cigarettes & Apples In Texas

I was at Sprouts Farmers Market yesterday for my weekly stocking up on fresh stuff. Among the fresh stuff I stocked up on was apples. Fuji Apples from Washington were $.69 a pound. So were Organic Red Delicious Apples from Washington.

So, I got some Organic Red Delicious Apples. But the non-organic Fujis seem more delicious than the Delicious. To me Red Delicious apples are best when they are barely off the tree. Which is not an option in Texas.

I don't recollect ever purposely buying something organic before. It's long seemed like just one more marketing gimmick.

And then this afternoon I was reading this week's FW Weekly and saw the ad you see here. For Organic Cigarettes. The song "Isn't It Ironic" comes to mind.

The cigarette brand is "Natural American Spirit." Made with 100% Organic Tobacco, the only cigarette made with 100% Organic Tobacco.

So, if you are trying to live a healthier lifestyle you might want to switch to organic cigarettes. I know I'm thinking of making it my first step to a healthier lifestyle. To help you get started living better and healthier you can go to the Natural American Spirit website and find your way to free samples. You'll have to verify your age first. It's a very sophisticated age verification method.

Due to weather related issues I have not been out of the house to do something healthy, all day. That very rarely happens. I think I'll go to the liquor store to see if I can find some Organic Vodka to go along with my Organic Cigarettes and Organic Red Delicious Apples.

Fort Worth Convention Center Omni Hotel Balcony

If I remember right, I've mentioned previously that I think there is one very odd part of the new Fort Worth Convention Center Omni Hotel that makes the building look very weird, that being the huge balconies that are cantilevered out from the high rise part of the structure, looking, from a distance, like scaffolding.

Previously I speculated that these open balconies were a disaster waiting to happen, just like the whirlpooling Water Gardens that the hotel looks down on were a disaster waiting to happen. Something or someone is going to fall off one of those balconies sometime.

Anyway, I was driving by the convention center last Saturday, driving down Lancaster Avenue to check out the new lighting feature I'd read about. When I got by the new hotel I looked up and saw humans on one of the balconies for the first time.

So, I pulled over and took a picture. At the time it seemed like the thing to do. But then I forgot about it til today.

Yet One More Execution In Texas

We've exterminated another Convicted Killer in Texas.

Last night's administering of the Lethal Needle to Luis Salazar makes it two nights in a row the Huntsville Death Chamber has done its job, extending Texas' lead in the National Execution Sweepstakes en route to maintaining its position as the #1 Executing State in America.

Last night's execution was reported in a small blurb on page 4 of the A section in this morning's Dallas Morning News, next to a full page Dillard's ad. Dillard's is known, by some, as Killard's, due to a reputation for shooting and killing suspected shoplifters. That reputation may be dying down because it has been a while since a Dillard's security guard has shot and killed anyone.

Luis Salazar got the Lethal Needle for stabbing to death a San Antonio mother of three, who's oldest kid was wounded in the attack as he tried to defend his mom.

Salazar said, to his own mom, brothers and sisters and his children, prior to being killed, that "I'm going to miss them and take them with me in my heart."

Last night's was the 12th Texas Execution of 2009 in what the Dallas Morning News proudly calls "the nation's busiest capital punishment state."

Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal: Part VII

Sometimes reading what people think is really depressing. Depressing because when you read what some people think, you are reading what they wrote to express what they thought. And from reading what they thought, well, their thinking, as written, is, well, sad. Sad and stupid.

I like to believe, but I think I'm probably naive, that there are fewer really stupid people out there than there really are.

And then I read comments to my blog. Most of the comments are from people who are obviously well informed, smart, sophisticated, understand nuance and the concept of difference of opinion.

And then I get comments to something like the YouTube video I made of the eminent domain abuses that were done in Arlington to build a private business a football stadium. The comments are like a sad window into some very undeveloped, ignorant minds. Why is it the less someone knows the more sure they are of what they know? While smart people always seem to leave a window open to the fact that maybe there is some bit of information that might shed a different light.

So, the comments. This morning I got one from someone calling him/herself (I'm gender confused because he/she used "titty" in the name) "theonetitty."

Here is the comment...

"this guy must have lived in one of the homes destroyed to build it. its not really a scandal cause nothing illegal happened? Jerry Jones bought the land, and built on it. all the people and businesses that were there would have had to agree and sell their property for him to build it. who ever made this is kinda dumb. sorry."

Let's just ignore the shooting fish in a barrel part of the irony of someone saying someone else is dumb when that person can make so many errors in one short paragraph.

First off. Jerry Jones did not buy the land via negotiating with the property owners. The land was condemned by using the concept of eminent domain, where the government can condemn property for the public good and decide what you will be paid for your property after forcing you to negotiate. You can't just say NO, I don't want to sell. Usually this is used to build highways, hospitals, schools, airports. Using eminent domain to disrupt the lives of thousands of citizens to build a sports stadium is not the norm where eminent domain is non-scandalously used.

Second off. All the people who were victimized by this abuse of eminent domain did not agree with the hurried condemnation of their property. They fought it in court. Dozens of those cases are still in court.

Third off. How can anyone be so clueless as to think that absolutely everyone upon who's property this stadium was built agreed to sell their property so Jones could build a stadium?

Fourth off. The stink from this scandal has been so strong that when Jerry Jones tried to get Arlington to abuse eminent domain again, so that he could take some more houses, so he could build a parking lot, Arlington and Mayor Cluck said no, that they would be party to no more eminent domain abuse. With the city of Arlington refusing to help Jones steal houses he has had to go about it the old-fashioned way, by offering deals to homeowners to get them out of their houses. Several are saying NO. Which is what would have been said by many who's land was taken to build the stadium. Which might have been for the greater good. Forcing Jones to look elsewhere to build his stadium.

Somewhere like Dallas, perhaps, that's seems a logical location for a Dallas Cowboy stadium, at Fair Park, maybe, instead of in a lackluster Arlington neighborhood surrounded by a lot of industrial blight.

Trust me, when this stadium opens, the national press is not gonna be pretty. Like I've said before, the stadium looks like a giant thing from outer space that's been plopped down in a poor American neighborhood.

The one thing "theonetitty" said that sounded like it might be sort of true is "who ever made this is kinda dumb. sorry." Obviously I'm kinda dumb. But it was sort of rude to be so blunt about it. Below is the "dumb" video that riled up "theonetitty."

Fort Worth Martinez Man Gets The Lethal Texas Needle

I mentioned yesterday that Tarrant County, that being where Fort Worth is, was scheduled to have its 4th Convicted Killer of the year killed last night.

Well, the execution happened on schedule.

The Dallas Morning News reported the latest Texas Execution on page 6 of the A section, as you can see in the picture, in a little blurb at the lower left, next to a big Macy's ad.

Before he was killed, James Edward Martinez told his mom and sister, who were there to watch him get killed, that he loved them.

Martinez then told the assembled execution watchers the "I hope y'all can move on after this."

Doers of evil deeds are always wanting their victims to move on. Or so I've noticed.

Alma's Mating Rattlesnakes & The Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup

My nerves were already on edge due to last night's long thunderstorm that had several direct hits setting off alarms and shaking this place like a mild earthquake.

And then this morning Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, sent me a picture of what appears to be a pair of rattlesnakes being friendly with each other.

Lately, due to the warm weather, snakes have been appearing on the trails I bike. This puts me in overreaction mode where I'll think for a second that a tree root crossing the trail is a snake. This causes an adrenalin overload.

On another rattlesnake related note. Tomorrow in Sweetwater the annual Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup starts. It runs through Sunday. If you haven't had Rattlesnake & Fries for awhile, this would be your chance.

America's Team: Fighting Over The Dallas Cowboys

Yesterday I mentioned I'm reading a book, Twentynine Palms, by Deanne Stillman and that I was surprised, as I often am when reading any random book, at how Texas finds itself somehow in the narrative.

In this particular book it was the Dallas Cowboys who suddenly were part of the plotline.

A running theme in Twentynine Palms is spousal abuse, husbands getting drunk and beating their wives.

I'll copy below the part of the story where the Cowboys provoked bad behavior off the field...

"The really serious trouble began during football season. The Cowboys were playing the Raiders. Like a lot of Texans, Max was a hard-core Cowboys fan, really believed that they were "America's team'; as the Cowboys went, so went the country. He exploded ecstatically with every completed pass, every down, died with every fumble, every bad call. Debie was a hard-core Raiders fan, like a lot of Northern Californians, like a lot of non-Texans, who did not identify with their own teams, who had a boss and didn't like him, who preferred the scrappy street-fighter image of the team with the pirate logo and the slogan "pursuit of excellence."

Max had polished off a couple of six-packs. The Raiders' infamous George Blanda faked a pass to his receiver, then lateraled to a guard, who outran two line-backers and a safety, completing the run for the winning touchdown. Debie jumped up and told Max to settle on a bet they had made. But Max was seething, as often happened when he drank too much, and he lunged at Debie. Debie grabbed one of his size-thirteen boots and threw it at him; he dodged and it hit a door, making a deep hole in the thin wood used for base housing. Max came after Debie again. She ran into the bathroom and locked the door. He ran after her, kicked the door down, lunged at her, and hauled her out...."

The beatings worsened, some Dallas Cowboy related, some not. Within a short time Debie took her kids and escaped. Max moved back to Texas. Where he has had plenty of reasons to continue to be aggravated by the hapless Dallas Cowboys.

Another Tarrant County Texas Killer Gets The Lethal Needle Tonight

I live in Tarrant County. In the town of Fort Worth. In Texas. In 2008 Texas only executed 2 Convicted Killers from my county.

It is only March, yet tonight Texas is on track to give the Lethal Needle to the 4th Tarrant County Convicted Killer in 2009. With another Tarrant County Convicted Killer scheduled for the Lethal Needle in June.

Tonight's planned execution is that of Convicted Killer, James Martinez. He killed his ex-girl friend, Sandra Walton and a friend, Michael Humphreys.

To give you an idea of how run of the mill executions are in Texas, tonight Michael Humphrey's dad, Brad, will witness the killing of his son's killer.

But.

This will not be Brad Humphrey's first execution witness trip. In 2001 Brad Humphrey watch Jeffrey Tucker die for the 1988 shooting of Brad's dad, Wilton Humphrey.

The majority of American states have not executed anyone in 2009. Which would mean the majority of American counties have not had a killer from their county executed this year. While here in Texas, by the time today ends, my county, Tarrant, will have had its 4th convicted killer of the year executed.

Also on this day, in 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. He got 99 years and died in prison in 1998.

Also on this day, in 2004, Lee Boyd Malvo, known as the D.C. sniper, was sentenced to life in prison for his killing spree that left 10 people dead and terrorized our nation's capital.

The news of tonight's impending execution was on the first page of the second section of this morning's Dallas Morning News. We'll see where the story of the execution gets buried in tomorrow's paper.

Hotter N' Hell 100 In Wichita Falls

I was pleased to learn, this morning, that Gar the Texan has taken me up on my challenge that he get his scrawny self in good enough shape that he can be in Wichita Falls on Saturday, August 29 for the annual Hotter N' Hell Hundred.

Last year almost 12,000 people braved the HOT Texas August sun to ride their bikes for 100 miles in the Wichita Falls zone.

Wichita Falls is named for a little waterfall that long ago disappeared in a flood. So, so as not to confuse visitors, Wichita Falls built a fake falls that looks quite real. In a Disneyland sort of way.

Reading Gar the Texans' Blog this morning I was disheartened to read that his training program has not gotten off to a good start, with a case of the vapors popping out even before he got on his bike.

Despite my always optimistic nature, I fear boondoggle ahead as Gar the Texan continues to try and muster the energy to go outside without having a vapor attack. That boy was in much better shape before his more recent marriage. Why? I do not know.

Below is a YouTube video of me trying to catch up with Gar the Texan in Palo Duro Canyon. He was able to pedal fast back then, prior to his marital duties apparently keeping him in a state of exhaustion and the vapors.

Fresh Texas Tandy Hills Color & Mom

It took awhile to find some new color in the outdoor zones of Texas today. I don't think this tree was blooming when I was at the Tandy Hills last Thursday, but it was today.

I got an email yesterday that my mom directed my dad to send, asking why I've not gotten gas lately. My one longtime reader may remember me mentioning that when I get gas I call my mom and tell her how much it cost.

So, even though I didn't get gas, I called my mom today while hiking around the Tandy Hills.

It has not been a blue sky day in Texas. But it is warm. Swimming was very pleasant this morning.

I'm reading a book called Twentynine Palms. Twentynine Palms is a town in the Mojave Desert in California. It's a true crime book. Rather well written with a very high level of detail and historic background of the characters involved.

I like reading books where the area being described is somewhere I've been. I have never been to Twentynine Palms, but I have seen many of the places described, like Barstow and Victorville and the Mojave.

It surprises me how often I'll be peacefully reading along when there will be some Texas reference. In this Twentynine Palms book the Texas reference is a Dallas Cowboys reference. Short version, the Dallas Cowboys cause fits of wifebeating. I'll blog the details of that tomorrow. It seems like way too much bother right now.

My Fort Worth History Expertise

It looks like I'm all about Public Service Announcements today.

A few days ago I got an email from Alan Small of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History asking for my possible help in locating resources to help with a program he is running. He is looking for experts on the history and culture of Fort Worth and Tarrant County.

Now, I don't think I'd be the go to guy for anyone wanting information about Fort Worth's culture. Although I did make a webpage about Fort Worth's "Cultural District."

I wonder why there is not sufficient history about the history of Fort Worth in the Fort Worth History Museum to help the students deepen their understanding of local history?

I'll copy the message from Alan Small below. If anyone can help him, make a comment and I'll forward the message. Or you could just email Mr. Small directly.

Hello my name is Alan Small with the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History's Community Studios program. We have high school students in our program who are working on a project involving the history and culture of Fort Worth. I am looking for experts on the history and/or culture of Fort Worth and Tarrant County who would like to speak to our kids, as well as locations where our students could visit to deepen their understanding of local history. Do you know of any such resources? Thank you for your time.

Alan Small

The Cowtown Great America Cleanup

If you've been astonished by the amazing amounts of litter you see as you travel around Texas and have wished there was something, anything, you could possibly do to clean up some of it, besides not adding to the mess yourself, well you have an opportunity on Saturday, March 28 to make a dent in Fort Worth's pile of litter.

Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. and the Downtown Public Improvement District have organized the Cowtown Great American Cleanup.

So, on the last Saturday of this month at 8 am, get yourself to the grassy area at Purcey and West Bluff Street. Volunteers are being asked to register. Why? I don't know. But the first 3,000 to volunteer get a free t-shirt and work gloves out of the deal. And you get a free lunch. I'll do just about anything to get a free lunch.

To participate:

1. Pick a cleanup location
2. Recruit volunteers. Any size group is welcome.
3. Register your group online as soon as possible. All registrations are due by 5 pm. March 13.
4. Encourage all volunteers to fill out the waiver form - available on the registration site - and turn them in as soon as possible. Free cleanup supplies only will be issued with completed waivers for all participants in a group.
5. Pick up your supplies (which will include free trash bags, T-shirts and gloves) between noon and 6 p.m. March 26 or 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. March 27 at the Public Health Center, 1800 University Drive. Cleanup supplies are distributed to the first 3,000 registered participants.
6. Plan on attending the celebration for cleanup volunteers, scheduled from noon to 2 pm. on March 28 in Trinity Park. Entertainment and food provided.

Information about trash drop-off sites and other important information will be included in your cleanup packet.

A White Flower Sprouts At River Legacy Park

I would say that this blog will now have a daily new found Texas Wildflower as we move into Texas Wildflower season, but this morning's Sunday Dallas Morning News brought me the sad news that due to the continuing drought and last Fall's lack of significant rainfall, the Texas Wildflowers are likely going to be quite puny this year.

But, today at River Legacy Park, while I pedaled the mountain bike trail I came upon some white wildflowers that were not blooming when I pedaled there on Friday.

Blonde Bobbi, who I met and mentioned on Friday, was also back on the mountain bike trail today, hiking, not biking. This did not come as too big a surprise due to Blonde Bobbi mentioning that she'd be back on Sunday.

The mountain bike trail at River Legacy seems to have gotten quite popular, both with bikers and hikers. When I first discovered River Legacy Park I was surprised by how few people were out and about. Then I learned that Texans are a lot more sedentary than the people I was used to being around, that being Washingtonians in Washington. But that was then, now, almost 10 years later, I see a lot more Texans out and about, being aerobic and doing their part to get Texas off those lists of most obese states.

I saw no wildlife at River Legacy today, no squirrels, no armadillos, no bobcats, no snakes, no wild boars. Nothing. Well, there was that white flower.

I did have some slight annoyance at a pair of bikers. They came out of "Fun Town" and intersected with the trail I was on. They were ahead of me. The one I was right behind asked if I wanted by. I said, "uh, you guys look like you'll be way faster than me. " I mean, they looked to be in their 20s. I am not in my 20s. I may look like I'm in my 20s if the light is just right and the person looking at me has bad eyesight. But I'm not in my 20s.

Anyway, the two really young guys let me go ahead of them, despite my protests. I felt obligated to bike fast. I've been in this position before. Well, one of them kept right behind me, like I was being his pace car. The first guy I passed, soon dropped out of sight. I finally lost the guy who was chasing me after about 2 miles. This made the bike riding way more exercise than I was looking for.

By the time I got back here I was still overheated, so that made a jump in the pool sound like a good idea for the second time today. And then I did some of that laying on a lounge chair soaking up the healthy Vitamin A, or is it D, rays coming down from the clear blue sky.

We are heading into stormy weather the next several days. I suspect today was my last pool lounging day for awhile.

Sansom Park Hiking & Druids

Today I had to be in the White Settlement zone of Fort Worth, not the town of White Settlement, but the street, where Angelo's Barbecue is located.

So, since I was in the neighborhood, sort of, I thought today would a good day to return to Sansom Park and do some hiking on the steepest, toughest trails in the D/FW Metroplex.

I don't know who made these trails. Or how they made them. What I do know is this system of trails is Moab-worthy. As in the Slick Rock Trail scared me in Moab, but I biked it. The Sansom Trail scares me in Fort Worth, and I won't bike it. Well, maybe I would bike part of it, but there were a couple places where I could not hike down, no way could I bike it. Yet I saw tire tracks. Texans are tough. They will willingly go where few men will.

Sansom Park sits atop a hill overlooking Lake Worth and Lake Worth Dam. During a flood the view here is pretty spectacular, with water pouring over the dam like a mini-Niagara. You can hike down to the base of the dam where there are trail options in a couple directions. Most of these trails are not for the faint of heart or weak of knees.

I saw a wildflower blooming today that I've not yet seen whilst hiking the Tandy Hills, that being the blue flower you see above.

Most of the Sansom Park Trails are very rocky, with a few being packed dirt. I don't know if this is limestone, or what it is. I do know it can be challenging. I don't know what went on in the past in this area. There are what appear to be long abandoned roads where people seem to have created elaborate rusty iron sculptures.

There are so many miles of trails going in so many directions, if it weren't for orienting landmarks one could get, well, disoriented. One of the landmarks is a rock formation that sits atop a hill, like a Druid/Stonehenge monument. It would likely be de-stoned if some of the more earnest local Bible Belters got wind of the pagan imagery guiding bikers and hikers out of their confusion.

I was drawn to climb up to the Druid Monument and take some pictures. From there the view is good of Lake Worth and the dam. It looks to me like it would be a good idea to turn the Druid Stonehenge Monument into some sort of picnic pavilion. There is already a very nice, huge, fireplace. Who knows what sort of rituals have taken place in that fireplace?

It has been a good Saturday in Fort Worth. I went swimming real early. The water was perfect. White Settlement and Sansom Park were perfect. On the way back here I saw humans on a scary balcony. I'll blog about that later. And then when I did get back here, I went swimming again. It's still winter, but it is summer in Texas. And tomorrow we spring forward. I don't like Daylight Savings Time.

Good Government: Fort Worth Style

The Mayor of Fort Worth is an oil man named Mike Moncrief. Fort Worth sits on top of this stuff called Barnett Shale. Barnett Shale can be turned into natural gas. There are several natural gas drillers drilling holes in Fort Worth. It is very controversial. But some people make a lot of money from the hole poking, so all is good.

The Mayor of Fort Worth owns an interest in several of the natural gas drillers. Yet, unlike in other jurisdictions in the democracy known as America, in Fort Worth an elected official is allowed to influence issues in which he might have what is known as a vested interest. In other words, in Fort Worth you can stand to profit from voting a certain way, thus possibly skewing the principle known as fairness, and no one calls foul.

Well, no one who matters calls foul. I'm a Yankee and my opinion does not count.

Currently the most notorious of the natural gas drillers, an enterprise called Chesapeake Energy, owned by the corrupt thief, Aubrey McClendon, who stole the Sonics from Seattle and moved them to Oklahoma City, wants to poke 7 more holes in Fort Worth ground so they can extract natural gas from a resting ground known as the Greenwood Cemetery.

The neighborhood surrounding Greenwood Cemetery is split on the drilling issue. So, there was a well attended city council meeting this past Tuesday to discuss and allow citizen input regarding Chesapeake's request for a waiver so they can go to work under a cemetery.

There were 2 letters to the editor in this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram, that being the paper I no longer pay for, but glance at online, mostly to make sure I don't miss anything in Fort Worth that is causing waves of green envy outbreaks in the rest of the nation.

The first letter was title "Good Government." The second letter was titled "Bad Government." I suspect a paid shill working for Fort Worth's Ruling Junta wrote the Good Government letter.

Below are the 2 letters....

Good Government

I took great pride in seeing democracy in action Tuesday night at the City Council. Our mayor and council, but especially Mayor Mike Moncrief, were magnificent.

They spent almost three hours discussing granting a waiver for a permit for Chesapeake Energy to drill seven gas wells in the area of Greenwood Cemetery and Rockwood Park. The wells would be in the Greenwood Cemetery area and would benefit the cemetery, the Crestwood neighborhood and Rockwood Park.

The council ultimately approved drilling with certain stipulations, but how they reached that conclusion was most impressive.

This action had been approved by the Parks and Community Services Advisory Board and addressed twice before by the council. Every council member had toured the site.

Tuesday, the council sat through almost two hours of resident comments along with a presentation by Chesapeake Energy.

Every resident who wanted to speak was allowed to speak.

Prior to the presentations, Moncrief explained the “house rules” that everyone had to be respectful and not make personal attacks.

Three times he cautioned speakers that they were about to cross that line. Moncrief was definitely in control, respectful of everyone, kept it moving and injected lots of humor.

One person said he lived close enough to Rockwood Park Drive that he could spit on it from his house. Moncrief jokingly asked him just how far he could spit.

The council, especially Councilman Carter Burdette, spent a tremendous amount of time and effort evaluating alternatives and trying to determine the best course of action. We should all be proud of our mayor and council for such outstanding service to our city.

— Glen Estes, Fort Worth

Bad Government

As a longtime resident of Fort Worth, I regret to admit that I have never attended a City Council meeting until Tuesday night and I must say that I was very disappointed.

One item on the agenda was regarding gas drilling in residential neighborhoods and there were many people in attendance. They were cautioned to be respectful of everyone — a very valid request.

I did not realize that this request meant that one could not voice any criticism of any kind, however. Mayor Mike Moncrief corrected those who used a “negative” verb with regard to the gas drillers and then silenced the first person who made a comment that indicated the city was giving the gas-drilling entities free water and that he would like some free water.

We live in America and still have First Amendment rights, but I guess that doesn’t apply to Fort Worth City Council meetings. Could it be the mayor realizes that many of us who live here feel as if the city has sold out to the gas-drilling companies, especially Chesapeake, and is afraid to hear from us?

The mayor and council members were elected to uphold the laws and oversee the good of city residents, not protect the interests of any one corporation or industry.

(By the way, I support drilling in the Barnett Shale, but I want the needs of the community considered first and foremost.)

Moncrief should recognize that the right to free speech is not his to revoke.

— Cheryl Andrews, Fort Worth

Is anyone but me on the Clyde Picht bandwagon? For the enlightenment of you non-Fort Worthers, fascinated as you are by the most fascinating city in America, Clyde Picht is running against Mayor Mike in an election that will quickly be upon us. Clyde Picht is given a ghost's chance in Hell of winning. In Fort Worth you have to have the support of the Ruling Junta and the Good Old Boy Network to become mayor. Most of the people who might benefit from having someone like Clyde Picht be their mayor, don't vote. The majority not voting is what keeps the Ruling Junta in power. It's a pretty sweet system. And it pays pretty well, too.

River Legacy Reptile Encounter & Dallas Cowboy Stadium Name

I had my first encounter of the new year with a large reptile this morning at River Legacy Park. I had to be in Arlington, again, at 10am, so a morning bike ride seemed to be the thing to do.

I saw no Wild Boars today, but I did get startled, coming around a turn, by a large mammal. On the second time around I stopped to talk to the large mammal. She was Blonde. I asked if she'd seen a Boar. She had. A solo one and it was big. She'd only been walking at River Legacy Park for a couple months and she's seen a Big Boar.

I've been biking at River Legacy for years and only learned of the Herd of Boars last week, followed, within days, by seeing the Herd in motion. I asked if the Blonde, Bobbi, had seen a Bobcat. That seemed a logical question after learning her name was Bobbi. Blonde Bobbi said she'd not seen a Bobcat, but she was prepared. She showed me her can of pepper spray. I told her she was safe from the Bobcats, but the pepper spray was a good defensive plan against other predators in the park.

I'm guessing you can guess that my large reptile encounter was with a Turtle. He/She was a cute one in really good shape. Sometimes you see Turtles that look like they've had a rough life. This is the time of year when Turtles and Armadillos wander where they should not be wandering, looking for love in all the wrong places, often ending up as roadkill. Which in these troubled times could provide a struggling family's protein needs for the week.

On initial encounter, today's Turtle retreated into its shell, but quickly got over its shyness and posed politely for closeups.

I did the mountain bike trail loop 3 times. That is over 15 miles. The pool had warmed up a lot by this morning, so I comfortably swam for about a half an hour. No need to warm up in the hot tub. The water will be even warmer tomorrow morning, because we are in the 80s again. So, between the swimming and the biking and talking to Turtles, I've had me a day.

Anyway, like I said, I had to be in Arlington again, once more by the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium. No one has wanted to fork over the bucks to name the thing. Some have suggested temporarily naming it Salvation Army Stadium, due to Jerry Jones' longtime philanthropic endeavors helping the Salvation Army. I forgot how this scheme benefited the Salvation Army monetarily.

When I saw the new stadium today I was coming at it from the west on side streets. It looks so weird how it so hugely looms over all these little old houses, like something from outer space touching down in a poor American neighborhood. When I came to Collins Street I pulled into a CiCis Pizza parking lot to snap the picture you see here.

Having just had that reptile encounter at River Legacy, I looked at the stadium today and realized what it is that I've never been quite able to identify that it looks like.

Today it was obvious. The building looks like a turtle. I think it should be named Turtle Stadium. That's real catchy.

After driving by Turtle Stadium it was on to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch. Today's most memorable item was an unusual salad of spinach leaves, mint, strawberry, banana, peach, other fruits and a lemony dressing. I didn't think I'd like it, but I went back for seconds.

Illuminating Luminarias in Fort Worth

A few days ago I verbalized my curiousity about a long gone restaurant at the end of Ben Avenue on the western edge of the Tandy Hills, high on a hill, facing downtown Fort Worth.

I eventually learned that the original restaurant was a Mexican place called Luminarias.

I have been unable to find a photo of the original restaurant. But I have found a photo of the view from the restaurant in its Fort Worth Cattle Drive iteration. At least that is what the claim is, but to me the view does not look to be from a high enough perch.

In addition to the photo, I came upon an interesting discussion about the long gone restaurant. I'll copy some excerpts of that discussion....

A guy calling himself "mattaken" asked about a restaurant he remembered from when he was a little kid that his parents told him was a steak house that was expensive.

To which someone calling himself "seurto" replied:
You'll probably get a lot of replies on that question. I believe the last incarnation was The Fort Worth Cattle Co. which was, obviously, a steakhouse. I believe originally it was called Luminaras and had a few changes in between. Considered one of the best views of downtown you had to get to it off Lancaster. It was a cool place and I believe the story goes that the original owners tried to buy out a pig farmer whose land was connected, but he wouldn't sell, so supposedly there was some "ambience" that came with it.

To which "Phil Phillips" said:
Yes, I remember the pig farm. Also, smelled it every time we came into and left downtown in the 60s. The pig farm was between the hotel and the Twin drive-in and was gone by the time the restaurant opened. The restaurant had a great bar on the back with large windows and the downtown view. I was there last in the mid 80s. The lack of access is what killed it.

Which had "chellomy" saying:
I don't remember the pig farm but I do remember both the smell and that the sewage treatment plant back then was in present-day Gateway Park between Beach and Oakland. I always assumed the odor came from down there.

Which had "mattaken" thanking the above for their replies, saying:
It's funny to hear about the pig farm. In this day and age it's hard to imagine something like that being so close to downtown. Does anyone remember how long ago the building was demolished? It looks like the parking lot/foundations are still there.

Then "FWFF'r" answered:
I don't know when it was demo'd. I remember it best when it was a fairly hot night spot called Calamity's.

"John Cirillo" like me, is wanting a photo:
Just to clarify further, the last incarnation was called Fort Worth Cattle Drive Restaurant. The old Cyberrodeo website from 1996, which is still floating around in Google's cache somewhere, listed it as "Steaks, seafood. Elegant." It's funny, there are several restaurant sites on the web that still list this restaurant. Be the first to review it. Does anyone have a photo of this place in any incarnation? It was one of those places I always passed but never thought to snap a shot of.

And then we hear from someone, "Papaw" who ate there:
I don't have pics but had several good meals there. The view was really neat and the food was very good. I had a hell of a time finding the place the first time.

"Buck" then tells us the restaurant was owned by the same company as Baby Doe's in Dallas. Baby Doe's was also difficult get to, was also on a bluff, very visible from the freeway, also with a very good view of downtown and also is out of business.

Then "lonzer" chimes in confirming again the Calamity's incarnation (originally mentioned to me by the Old Man with the Cane, walking in the Tandy Hills):
I do remember it being called Calamity's when it first opened but it went through several different name changes after that. I don't know what it was by the time I moved to Austin but I remember it as Calamity's.

"Mother Earths" mother worked there:
My mother worked there as a cashier when it was called Luminaries. I ate there once or twice and the main thing I remember was that the windows all faced west, giving a great view of downtown. However, the sun was blinding in the afternoon and evening which made me not want to return even though the food was good, in my opinion. I hope whatever is built there next has a little more thought behind the design. I am pushing for an ecovillage to be built on the site.

And "wren" mentions being there during a storm:
Once when my husband and I ate there a huge storm blew up. There was a lot of rain and lightning. I don't remember what I ate, but the storm was awesome to witness. I'll never forget the sight of lightning bolts flashing through the sky and lighting up the skyline. It was a beautiful sight!

"Birdland in Hand" is another person who had trouble getting there:
Location, Location, Location--but hard to locate?!? I remember going there for a special family get-together in the early 70's; in its first incarnation, Luminarias. It was frustrating--so visible from I30 but so puzzling to get to. I remember mom & dad got lost, but, fairly soon got there. (And the view was great!) I think some owners may have invested eventually in a billboard telling people on 30 the route to the restaurant. I suspect that was not enough without a convenient exit and straightforward route; thus all the restaurants failed.

"redhead" also had trouble finding it and provides some interesting details:
We lived in Arlington in the mid-80's and had to go to DTFW for something late one afternoon. We had always talked about eating at Calamity's, and decided just to do it...had a hell of a time finding it, and when we did, there was a fairly long wait. I remember that behind the building, there were paths to multiple fire-pits. So we waited outside with our own private fire-pit, drinking adult beverages until we were called to a table...nice memories...Oh yeah, we had gone to court to get married.

The above all came from a discussion in the online Fort Worth Forum. Now, someone, somewhere must have a photo of Luminarias.

Going To New York, Texas For Some ZipLine Adventures

Last summer I blogged about a fun sounding new adventure out in the East Texas zone called NY TX ZipLine Adventures.

Sky-High Thrills-Texas Style!

Well, when I was up in Tacoma last summer. (I think I've previously mentioned being up there) It was really really cold for an entire month. I was quite miserable.

Anyway, while I was in Tacoma I heard from Connie of ZipLine, thanking me for mentioning them in my blog, telling me that they'd had several visitors come their way, from my blog, after being directed to their website.

Well, I got back to Texas on August 20. I remember that date clearly due to feeling so relieved. But, due to so many things going on all around me, I forgot about ZipLining.

Until today. I once more heard from Connie of ZipLine, reminding me that there are Two Free Zip Tours waiting for me and that I would be glad I came and zipped with them in New York.

So. Who wants to go ZipLining with me? Any volunteers?

Tandy Hills Flowers & the First Snakes of 2009

When I got back here a bit ago I checked email before I checked blogging and there was an email from Michael Moore. I'm pretty sure this is not the Michael Moore of movie-making fame. Mr. Moore emailed to thank me for mentioning the Tandy Hills frequently, saying he appreciated my efforts to make people aware of its beauty and accessibility.

I don't know if it's irony or coincidence, but I was on my way to blogging about today at the Tandy Hills when I read Mr. Moore's email.

When last I blogged about the Tandy Hills I mentioned an exotic yellow flower that had sprung up, pre-spring. Today a tree had bloomed with white blossoms. That's one of the blossoms in in the picture above. It looks like the blossom of a fruit tree, like a cherry tree, but I don't think I've ever seen any fruit in a tree in the Tandy Hills.

Regarding the beautiful, bright, exotic yellow flower that is blooming now on the Tandy Hills, a kind soul informed me that this wildflower is called a dandelion. What an exotic name for an exotic flower. Exotic and edible.

As for the first snakes of 2009. I have never seen a snake while hiking the Tandy Hills. But this afternoon I had to be in Arlington at 2. That was concluded faster than I'd anticipated, so I decided to pedal the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails, hoping to maybe get a picture of the Wild Boar Herd.

I saw no Boars today at River Legacy, but I did see 2 snakes. They were very little. I've no idea what brand of snake they were, but neither rattled and both looked perfectly safe, due to being so little.

Another Killer Bites The Dust In Texas

In what I think was the 2nd Texas Execution this week, yesterday we gave the Lethal Needle to a 38 year old man who, in 1991, shot and killed a 63 year old Houston man named James Adams during a bungled burglary.

The latest execution was reported in the Dallas Morning News on page 4 of the A section in a column of little blurbs under the heading "BRIEFS".

Every time I read of one of these executions I think "and OJ went free". Well, free until he finally did something that got him put behind bars, that being his own botched burglary, that fortunately did not include someone getting murdered.

Sirhan Sirhan, who murdered Bobby Kennedy, is alive in a prison somewhere, I assume in California. Sirhan killed Kennedy and wounded 5 others in the process. It was a political assassination affecting a presidential election. And he still lives.

While I'm not totally against capital punishment, I am not a fan of the way it is so arbitrarily executed. In Texas we seem way too cavalier, and sometimes careless, about who gets the Lethal Needle. We have had innocent people put to death here, exonerated post-humously via DNA evidence. Or improved analysis tools.

As in a couple years ago a man who was executed for setting his house on fire, killing his family, was found to be innocent after Texas killed him. Can you imagine losing your family in a fire, then being falsely accused of setting the fire, then sitting for years on Death Row, waiting for Texas to murder you? And then doing so? Who got the Lethal Needle for that murder?

I think this state should really start erring on the side of caution, rather than err on the side of killing innocent people. And when the Great State of Texas does decide it needs to kill someone, the news of that killing should be on the front page of every newspaper in the state.

Like it is in the other states that execute people.

Horoscopes & Northwest Nuttiness

Unlike Nancy Reagan and Gar the Texan I really don't put a whole lotta stock in Horoscopes, beyond some slight entertainment value. And, unlike those two, I certainly don't arrange my existence around how the stars are aligned.

But, every once in awhile the daily Horoscope for my sign, that being Leo, can be spooky. Then again, just by chance, if you read enough random things, something is going to resonate with ones own reality.

So, my Horoscope for today is, "New information shows who was telling the truth and who was not. Get your informants to keep talking and the entire story comes out."

Okay, for several weeks now I've been getting emails and comments, to this blog, regarding "things" in Tacoma and Seattle. I have not been publishing the comments and haven't known what to make of what these "informants" are telling me. As in, am I reading truth, or not? Nor have I been able to figure out the motivation for ferreting this information to me. Some of the time I think I'm being manipulated by someone using me to get at some one who's ire we share in common. But I'm thinking that's assigning a way too Machiavellian cleverness that just isn't warranted by the nature of the instigating aggravation.

Trouble is, I really have no direct contact with anyone in Tacoma who might shed some light. So, the easiest thing for me is to be both intrigued and to basically ignore the incoming information. Maybe I should quit ignoring and print it all and see if a pot somewhere starts to boil, or fizzles.

It's a perplexing conundrum. Maybe tomorrow's Horoscope will point me in the right direction...

Boars, Boots and Barbed Wire: The LaSalle County Wild Hog Cook-Off & Fair in Cotulla, Texas

Yesterday I blogged about seeing Wild Boars at River Legacy Park. This morning "Fort Worth Guy" sent me a comment telling me about a Wild Hog event in Texas. And that the Wild Boars do make good eating.

I think the event that "Fort Worth Guy" is talking about must be the LaSalle County Wild Hog Cook-Off & Fair, down in Cotulla, Texas. Cotulla is on Interstate 35, about 80 miles south of San Antonio.

It is a short notice, but the Hog Cook-Off takes place very soon, as in the 2nd weekend of this very month, that being March. The same weekend as the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup. And just like the Rattlesnake Roundup, the Hog Cook-Off Fair starts Thursday, March 12 and runs through Sunday, March 15th.

The Rattlesnake Roundup is a closer drive for me than the Hog Cook-Off. But, eating pig sounds far more doable than eating snake, so the Wild Hog Cook-Off would be worth the extra miles to me.

According to the Wild Hog Cook-Off website, the cooking gets real wild, with Hog Cookers from near and far matching hog cooking wits with their own special recipes, including showing off their hog cooking showmanship and presentation skills.

There are also cowboys showing off their presentation skills in one of the wildest rodeos in South Texas. The cowboys do their cowboy thing with both wild hogs and cattle.

Looking at the Wild Hog Cook-Off website it appears there is a lot to see and do at this event, including a carnival. One of my favorite things about Texas is how well done small town events like this are, as in, if you have never gone to one, you really should.

The 2009 Wild Hog Cook-Off & Fair theme is so totally Texas...."Boars, Boots and Barbed Wire."

Texas Wild Boars & Texas Wild Boors

A few days ago I'm sure you remember me mentioning mountain biking at River Legacy Park and coming upon a guy who, among a lot of other things, told me that he'd seen a herd, or whatever their grouping name is, of Wild Boars.

I knew there were Wild Boars at the Fort Worth Nature Preserve. I've been biking at River Legacy for years. I've seen plenty of Bobcats, Armadillos, Squirrels and Snakes. But no Wild Boars.

So, today, my very first time back at River Legacy, I'm at the first new section, where I avoid the "Steep Climbs" option and opt out for the "Bypass." I was hearing noises rustling the ground cover, like a lot of really big squirrels. You often hear squirrels.

I stopped pedaling and what do I see? A big group of Wild Boars. They were on the move. I think they heard me coming. I was not quick enough to get a picture, so I Googled for "Texas Wild Boars" and found the picture you see above. I saw no baby boars in the group I saw today, but they looked just like the ones in the picture.

They did not look cute like the Pigs I've seen on a farm. These look sort of like ugly no-neck monsters that moved funny. They reminded me of someone I used to know.

I was curious about the Wild Boars so I Googled for info. Apparently Wild Boars wander all over Texas. While farmers see them as crop damaging Pigs, others see them as all natural free ranging pork. The Texas Wild Boars are thought to be a hybrid mix of Russian Red Boars and Domestic Pigs. Supposedly chefs all over the country are seeking out Wild Boar due to lean, natural, exotic meats being popular with foodies.

Texas Wild Boars are caught and shot all over the state. Some say that the unique environment of Texas brings a unique taste to the pork with the meat being fuller flavored with a sweet nutty taste.

Who knows what garbage those Wild Boars might be eating in Texas, is what I thought. Who knows what causes the "exotic" flavor.

And now on to the Texas "Boor" part of today. So, after seeing the Wild Boars I pedalled on. A couple miles later someone was coming up fast behind me. I let him by. It was the guy I'd never seen before last week, who had told me about the Wild Boars I'd never seen before.

As he passed by he started talking to me and kept talking as I pedalled behind him. I slowed down to let him drone on into the distance. About a quarter mile later he was stopped on the trail, admiring a bit of trail work, which is where I'd seen him the first time. At that time he'd told me all about 2 trail vandals. On and on he went. Today he started in telling me the same stuff, as he very slowly pedalled ahead of me. Unlike the first encounter I provided no feedback. Finally he must have realized I was not listening to him or he realized this was the guy he'd told the same stuff to, a couple days prior.

The trail guy popped a wheelie and sped off at a high speed. When I came to the trailhead I saw he was busy yapping away at some fresh listener. So, that's my tale of Texas Boars and Boors for the day.

World's Biggest Butt: Part III---The Hunt In Texas

Sometime ago I was at my nearby Wal-Mart Super Center. As I took a turn onto a different aisle I found myself looking at the biggest butt I'd ever seen. It was astonishing.

So, I blogged about it. I've mentioned before that I'm amazed at how many people from all over the world are looking for information and pictures of the World's Biggest Butt. Every single day.

Look at my FeedJit stats and you'll see what I mean. Sometimes the number is real high, as if there is a meeting of the Big Butts Fan Club and they are all Googling "world's biggest butt" at the same time.

And for some reason my blog is about #3 on the list.

I have developed a new habit of always having my camera with me. I'm having about a 95% rate of not forgetting it. If I come across that astoundingly big butt at Wal-Mart again, I want to be able to photo-document it for all those world-wide who are looking to see such a phenomenon.

I think I've mentioned before that I find the obesity epidemic to be troubling and perplexing. I don't think enough resources are put into finding out why people do this to themselves. Someone commented on one of my bloggings that it is as if the person has put himself into a jail cell made of their own body.

I like that jail cells analogy. So many overstuffed fat cells that your own body imprisons you. It's like being permanently tethered to 300 pounds, or more, of ball and chain.

One thing I have made note of, and found, well, disgusting, is if you are (un)fortunate enough to spend enough time with an obese person to observe their feeding habits, it quickly becomes clear how they end up being heavier each day than the day before.

It is like there are no brakes on the food shoveling. I've seen an obese person order tartar sauce to dip french fries in, and then lick the tartar sauce container dry. When you watch an obese person, during their feeding period, it's clear one of the problems is caused by how they speed up the amount of food they shove in their mouth. It's like feeding a wood chipper, complete with noisy sounds. The mouth is busy chomping, while the hands are getting ready the next deposit into the food disposal.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to Wal-Mart today, both to buy a couple things. And to do some Big Butt Photo Hunting.

LOST & The Tandy Hills

I guess today is going to be an all about Tandy Hills day on my blog. It started of with news of a new Brush Bash next Saturday, followed by wondering what the story was behind the long gone Fort Worth Cattle Drive Restaurant that was located at the western edge of the Tandy Hills. And then to be informed that the Fort Worth Cattle Drive Restaurant started out as Luminaria, a Mexican Restaurant.

So, continuing on with today being all about the Tandy Hills.

LOST is a TV show on ABC, a lot of which is set on a tropical island with a lot of mysterious confounding stuff. Like underground stations, pipelines, abandoned vehicles and strange industrial looking installations. And there are also some normal looking houses straight out of suburbia on the island in LOST.

So, what does the Tandy Hills have in common with LOST? Besides also having some normal looking houses in the area. Well, the Tandy Hills is also sort of lost in time. It's a wild, natural area. Where unnatural things have gone on in its past. Like you'll be walking along and you'll come to a large metal grate in the ground. There are a lot of those.

On LOST there are monsters that you hear, but don't ever see. When walking in the Tandy Hills, at certain locations, you are greeted by very loud barking noises, but you never see where they are coming from.

On LOST there are rusted out vehicles that used to run on roads the jungle long ago reclaimed. While walking the Tandy Hills you come upon long abandoned vehicles that drove on primitive roads being reclaimed by Mother Nature. Today I came upon a long abandoned pickup. I've no idea how it came to be in that location. It's like the monster on LOST had thrown it there.

As the people lost on LOST slowly explored the island they learned they were not its first visitors. They'd discover things, like power lines going to an underwater station and other things that indicated men had been there before. Or were still there. When you walk around the Tandy Hills you see a lot of signs that it has not always been a natural area, like the aforementioned roads and big pipes.

On LOST the island has a lot of beautiful vegetation. So does the Tandy Hills. In a month or so it will get downright colorful. It's already being a bit colorful. While I've not been able to locate a Trout Lily, today I saw a very exotic yellow flower that was extremely delicate and put off an interesting scent. That's the yellow flower found at the Tandy Hills today, at the top.

On LOST there are abandoned industrial looking buildings, making humming noises. You come upon the same type thing when walking around the Tandy Hills. On LOST it was the Dharma Initiative that built all the humming industrial looking buildings. I don't know what initiative built the humming industrial looking buildings that you see when you walk around on the Tandy Hills.

The Fort Worth Cattle Drive Restaurant

On my first visit to Fort Worth, a hot August back in the 1980s, I stayed at what was then a Ramada Inn west of the Beach Street exit from I-30.

Just east of that location, in what I now know as the Tandy Hills, there was a restaurant on top of a hill, facing west towards downtown Fort Worth.

When I moved to Fort Worth that restaurant was closed and with its rundown appearance it appeared to have been closed for a long time.

I figured that that restaurant pre-dated the building of the Interstate, with the new road blocking easy access to the restaurant. I also speculated that the restaurant might have dated back to the Prohibition era, with its high location giving a view in all directions, so that a Speakeasy could hide the booze when the cops came raiding.

A few weeks ago I was hiking the Tandy Hills and came upon an Old Man with a Cane. I asked him about the restaurant. He said he'd been to it a couple times, back in the 1970s. He thought the name was Calamity Jane's.

So, I Googled for a Calamity Jane's restaurant in Fort Worth. No info. Then I tried "old restaurant hill I-3o fort worth" or something like that. This brought up a restaurant on Ben Avenue called Fort Worth Cattle Drive Restaurant. Clicking on the first of the dozens of results I knew I had the right one, due to the map.

That's the Google Earth satellite view of the restaurant's location in the picture above. The restaurant was to the left of the parking lot at the end of the road.

Now, here's where it gets weird. There are dozens of restaurant listing type websites which list Fort Worth Cattle Drive Restaurant as if it where still in existence, with most of them wanting me to write the first review of this long dead restaurant. And to post a photo of the restaurant.

The only actual info I found about the Fort Worth Cattle Drive Restaurant is that it was built in the 1970s and though it was highly visible to drivers on I-30, people had trouble figuring out how to get to it. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

This restaurant died well before the Internet became the monster it is today. Why would so many websites list this dead restaurant as still being and alive?

And what's the real story about it. Was the Fort Worth Cattle Drive Restaurant really born in the 1970s? Or did it pre-date the Interstate and the Internet? The Old Man with the Cane thought it'd been there a long time due to its old wild west style. But then he also thought it was named Calamity Jane's, so who knows how reliable his memory is.

Ironically, years before I discovered how great the Tandy Hills was for hiking, I found my way to Ben Avenue to check out the site of the then demolished restaurant. The foundation was still in place, so you could figure out the layout. It had a water feature that you walked across via a bridge to enter the place. The Old Man with the Cane told me the restaurant had a large outdoor patio.

If the restaurant were still alive today that large outdoor patio would be looking at a nice view in the distance and a not so great view close-up, because it would be looking down on Chesapeake Energy's notorious Samuels Avenue Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling Site.

So, do any of my one or two readers know anything about the Fort Worth Cattle Drive Restaurant?

Tandy Hills Brush Bash: Phase 2

Those of you who Bashed Brush a couple Saturdays ago and those of you who are Brush Basher Wannabes, you have another chance to help restore the Tandy Hills Natural Area to its natural state this coming Saturday. This will be your last opportunity to Bash Brush this season.

As in Saturday, March 7. From 9am til 3pm. The Brush Bashers will congregate at the un-natural playground area at 3400 View Street.

The Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area, which is now officially a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation, will be providing morning tea/coffee/pastries and water.

To comfortably Bash Brush you'll want to bring gloves, work clothes, sensible shoes, hat, sunscreen (assuming it's not cloudy) and a picnic lunch.

So, join the army of volunteers and have a fun Saturday celebrating another historic day on Fort Worth's best prairie.

Need more info or want to confirm you'll be Bashing Brush? Call Don Young at 817.731.2787.

The Depressing First Day of March In Texas

It's the first day of March. I only a bit ago realized this. February only had 28 days this year. I wrote 71 posts on this blog in February. The novelty of blog spewing wears a tad thin. Perhaps I'm experiencing Seasonally Affected Disorder (SAD) due to this frigid weather.

That is the bright, chilly view from my computer room window this Sunday afternoon coming up on 5. It froze last night. It is only 53 right now. I didn't feel like doing anything aerobic in Arctic temperatures today, and so I didn't. Except, I did do the pool this morning, but I don't think it was aerobic.

I've been getting some very bizarro communications from the Tacoma zone that I don't quite know what to do with. On the one hand, if I think what I'm dealing with is mental illness, which I pretty much do, then I should tread lightly. If on the other hand, if what I'm dealing with is more of a pathological malignancy, then maybe I should go the route I enjoy most, that being using words as a tool. Or just ignore it, for the most part, which has been the path I've taken so far.

It saddens me how twisted people can get themselves, so much self-inflicted. I think I'm being more saddened than usual due to that weather affected SAD problem I mentioned previously.

Speaking of sad. Yesterday, on the way back here from hiking in the Tandy Hills, I saw this guy, looked to be in his late 20s, early 30s, on a bike, pulling a trailer like thing on which was packed big bundles of stuff covered with plastic. I figured it was all that he owned, homeless, trying desperately to get somewhere.

The day before that I was waiting in a parking lot in Arlington, by the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium, when I saw this youngish kid, late teenager, early 20s, walking with an odd gait across an open field. He saw me, came towards me, I thought oh oh.

When the kid got within earshot he said something like "pardon me sir, me and my little brother are starving, do you....". I cut him off, told him I only had a credit card, no cash. That was a lie. I'd just seen a couple bucks in the cubby hole. The kid's face had the look of a meth-head, a look I'd seen only once before, up in that notorious town I've mentioned before, that being Tacoma.

When I cut the kid off he said something like, "Thank you sir, God bless you." Now that sort of made me feel guilty. Maybe the kid was one of the unfortunate thousands left homeless when Jerry Jones took their homes in the worst case of eminent domain abuse in American history so that he could build a $billion plus stadium to play football in a few times a year.

It does seem a bit sad and maybe ironic, that in Arlington, in the shadow of that humongous new stadium, there is a young kid, begging for money, because he and his little brother are possibly hungry.

At what point in the Great Depression 1.0 did "Brother, can you spare a dime?" and apples being sold for a nickel become symbols of the misery? We're not getting near that point in the Great Depression 2.0, are we? I hope not. But I'm not all that hopeful.