Police Brutality Disrupts Dallas Cowboy Football Game

 I thought this outrageous incident of police brutality was amusing, in addition to being outrageous...

Won't Make It To Mount Baker Ski Season Open Whilst in Texas

I saw that which you see here, this morning, via the online version of the Seattle Times. I had a multi-reaction. One was, well, this is yet one more thing I see in news from my old Washington home zone which I would never, could never, see in a Texas newspaper about a similar scene in Texas.

I think the Ruidoso zone of New Mexico is the closest location from my current location, where I would find a ski area. Maybe Colorado is closer, but, I suspect, without checking a map, that New Mexico's ski areas are closer.

Seeing mention made of Mount Baker, and ski season, also triggered that usually dormant homesick feeling. I used to look out my living room windows and see Mount Baker in the distance.

That actually is not Mount Baker you see in the photo. It is called the Mount Baker ski area, but Mount Shuksan is the mountain you are near whilst skiing the Mount Baker ski area. The actual Mount Baker volcano is a short distance to the south, or to the right, in the photo.

I do not remember when last I was at the Mount Baker ski area. It may have been the time, in the 1990s, when nephews Christopher and Jeremy took me hiking up Tabletop Mountain, a hiking venue south of the Mount Baker ski area, north of Mount Baker.

I brought my cross country skis with me to Texas. I recollect only skiing on them once, in Texas. A time when sufficient snow accumulated enabling skiing on the slopes in Arlington's Veterans Park. Doing such drew some attention from kids who had never seen skis skiing in person before.

I stored my cross country skis in an outdoor storage closet, which was not air-conditioned. At some point I discovered that the extreme heat of summer had caused the skis to delaminate, rendering them worthless.

Almost every winter since I have been in Wichita Falls there has been a short period with sufficient snow on the ground which would have made cross country skiing the Circle Trail a fun thing to do. Particularly the Circle Trail in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area section, which has some good up and down grades.

I wonder if ever again I will slide on skis, roll on roller blades, or pedal a bike? I suspect, of those three, pedaling a bike is the most likely...

Cloudy Sunday Stroll at Lake Wichita Park Without Kayaking

It was to Lake Wichita Park, and what would have been the shadow of Mount Wichita, had this 3rd Sunday of November not been totally overcast with clouds preparing to drip some rain.

The rain deluges earlier this month have raised the Lake Wichita water level, rendering the new kayak launching dock in total float mode for the first time which I have eye witnessed.

Though overcast, the sun was still able to provide enough warming rays to bring the temperature into the 60s, making for an extremely pleasant Sunday stroll.

Seeing that kayak launch today had me trying to remember what became of my inflatable kayak. I do not recollect it malfunctioning, and thus getting tossed. I do not remember the kayak making the move to Wichita Falls.

If Lake Wichita developed into regularly having enough water in it to float a boat, it might be fun to get a kayak again.

Ides of November Shadow of the Lucy Park Thin Man

On this 15th Ides of November Day of 2024, it was to Lucy Park the Shadow of the Thin Man ventured today, in shorts and t-shirt, due to the temporary return of summer-like weather.

I was pleased to find that the Lucy Park backwoods jungle has mostly dried up from last week's series of drenching deluges.

Lucy Park was having itself a lot of action today, with multiples enjoying various forms of recreation, with the majority being disc golfers. A sport about which I fail to see the attraction.

Temperatures dipping below freezing are on the weather menu, scheduled to arrive before the arrival of Thanksgiving.

I am in no mood to get super cold. I hope to get through winter with no ice storms, no snow, no sub-zero temperatures, no nothing slippery and cold.

I have adopted the age-appropriate weather attitude of an elderly person...

Fall Is Starting To Show Up At Sikes Lake

Almost halfway through November, today, whilst walking around Sikes Lake I saw the first sign, this Fall season, of leaves losing their green color, transitioning to yellow, on their way to orange, before turning brown and falling to the ground.

The first freeze of the current cooler time of the year is scheduled to happen later this month, a few days before Thanksgiving.

I do not previously remember it being this late in the year without switching the interior climate control to heat mode.

Though the climate control system is still in air conditioning mode, the A/C has not needed to do its cooling task for quite few days.

Seeing Ma Joad, Flubbo the Gut & Madame McNutty Took Me to WinCo

This Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day is totally baffling to me.

Is it part of a stage production of The Grapes of Wrath? I have never seen a stage production of The Grapes of Wrath.

Is that Ma Joad in the center? Did I alter the image of Ma Joad with the head of either the entity I refer to as Flubbo the Gut or the entity I refer to as Madame McNutty? 

The Ma Joad likeness sort of looks like both of those entities, frumpy, elderly and plump.

Changing the subject from Ma Joad to Wichita Falls.

Via the Texoma Homepage today I learned WinCo is going ahead with opening a store in in Wichita Falls. Construction to begin in December, completion by summer or early fall. WinCo has agreed to pay for a boulevard upgrade, an agreement which hastened approval of the project.

A WinCo in this town is going to change many people's grocery shopping habits. As in, for me, it will put an end to buying groceries at Walmart. WinCo makes the best bagels I have ever been blessed to consume, among many other good things.

The new WinCo will be a short distance from ALDI. 

Veteran's Day Sikes Lake Walk Around Wichita Falls Waterfall

On this Veteran's Day, second Monday of November of 2024, it was to Sikes Lake I ventured for a walk around the lake, stopping at one of Wichita Falls' falls, falling a little water over the Sikes Lake Dam, for the first time in a long time. 

A dam which was fall-free for a long time due to the long drought, which somewhat abated last week from a few days of deluges.

The moat surrounding my abode has evaporated enough to allow my usual access to my motorized means of motion.

But, more rain is scheduled in a few days.

I suspect we are in for several months of excessive dripping, hopefully without that dripping arriving frozen.

I am in no mood to deal with an ice storm, sub-zero temperatures, or snow, or any combo of such.

Sunday In Lucy Park Flooded With Nuts

It was back to Lucy Park I ventured on this second Sunday of the next to last month of 2024, to join throngs of other nature communers enjoying the return to a clear blue sky after several days of deluges and thunderstorms.

The Wichita River was running slightly higher than it was the previous visit, a couple days ago. The added water was causing the river to flow faster. 

That parental unit and kid you see at the north end of the Lucy Park Suspension Bridge was venturing onto the bridge quite tenuously. So, I opted not to walk further out on the bridge, due to knowing doing so would cause the bridge to move, likely unsettling the already nervous kid.

There was other evidence in the park of the recent bout of deluges.

The flooded area you see here is near the Lucy Park Log Cabin and swimming pool parking lot.

The leaves in the trees are still green, and still stuck to the limbs. 

There is one item falling from some of the trees, other than leaves.

Pecans.

One sees a lot of pecan pickers scouring the ground under pecan trees, looking for the highly valued nuts.

Such seems like way too much bother to me.

Stormy Rainstorm Thunder Booming Friday In Wichita Falls

You are looking out my kitchen window, through a wall of rain, copiously coating the outer world with a thick layer of wet.

And surrounding my abode with a moat requiring a careful crossing to get to my motorized means of motion, to drive to Walmart to dodge roof leaks and get some endorphins via aerobic stimulation whilst enjoying the Walmart anthropological displays.

Rain has been falling, off and on, with varying intensity, since before midnight, last night. Along with some loud thunder booms.

So far, no tornado or hail action.

The dire change of weather at my location the past week bodes ill for the coming winter. It is already seeming like winter.

I do find the sound of raindrops dripping fast to be relaxing, though a bit loud, at times, like right now.

I Could Not Approve Of Wichita Falls Minimum Wage Initiative

I saw that which you see here, this morning, via the online version of the Seattle Times. Everett is a city at the north end of the Seattle-Tacoma-Everett Metropolitan Area.

On ballots in Washington, in addition to political positions, there are multiple initiatives, propositions, referendums and bond issues.

In Washington a citizen can take the initiative to get enough signatures to put an initiative on the ballot, be it on the city, county or state level.

From the first time I voted, in Texas, til the most recent time voting in Texas, it has been quite noticeable there are way fewer things to vote on, in Texas, than I was used to in Washington.

California and Oregon are the same as Washington. Multiple measures to vote on. Why such a difference between the west coast and my location in the South? I have no idea why there is such a difference. 

The west coast states seem to be a much more participatory democracy than Texas is. Does it have something to do with the west coast population being much better educated? 

Anyway, such differences are perplexing...