Texas Train Troubles, Strange Fruit, Wal-Mart & Obesity

That's an annoying very slow train that slowed my return home after walking around Oakland Lake and going to the Beach Street Wal-Mart. Which would make this the Beach Street railroad crossing.

A lot of trains run through this D/FW Metroplex zone. This one had people, myself included, u-turning to an alternative route. A lot of cities and towns have over or under passes to deal with trains, with little towns and rural areas being the only places where a train crossing can stop traffic. In Arlington there is not a single crossing that is not blocked when a train runs through town. Since this has always been the norm, people here think this is just the way the world works.

Wal-Mart was a zoo today. People are such sheep. 4th of July. There was a line of 3 at the shortest self-checkout. The girl ahead of me had only two items, cat food cans, and a humongous rumpus (can't use the "B" word). When she went to pay she was 2 pennies short. She asked me if I had 2 pennies. I did not. She asked others. They did not. I was getting out my debit card to pay the 2 pennies when a nice lady gave the big rumped girl 2 pennies.

Speaking of big rumps. Today whilst walking around Oakland Lake Park, at 96 degrees, and feeling fine due to a chilling breeze, a new obesity theory occured to me. The most obese person I have ever personally known is about 5 foot 4 and, I would guess, about 600 pounds. Unlike most obese persons, this one was not sedentary. She actually was quite active. Going up and down stairs, walking, doing all sorts of physical activity.

A 600 pound person who is active is constantly doing heavy duty exercise. I can't imagine walking around Oakland Lake carrying 400 pounds in weights. I could not do it. But some obese people do. They develop an incredible musculature to haul all that heft. So, under all that blubber there is a very strong person.

I don't think you could be obese in a hot climate, like it is here, if you lived without benefit of modern conveniences, like air-conditioning. Your body's metabolism would rebel in the heat, stifling your appetite, wanting to burn off the overheating layer of fat. Just like a body's metabolism would try to get a skinny person to put on more fat in a cold climate.

So, if my theory is correct, back before A/C, I'm guessing Mississippi was not the fattest state in the nation. Nor was Texas as fat as it is now. I'm guessing New York, Washington, Colorado and Alaska were way fatter than the states of the south. It is air-conditioning that has made people fat. In this climate in Texas most of the fat people do not go outside, their bodies do not know they live in a HOT climate, so their metabolism allows them to lard on the lard.

This Obesity Theory of mine could be tested by moving 10 morbidly obese people to this climate, keeping their indoor thermostats no cooler than 82 and having them outdoors for at least 2 hours, daily, in the HEAT. I'm guessing the pounds would melt away.

That sure is what happened to me. If I remember right I was about 200 pounds overweight when I moved here. I'm 178 now. It melted off effortlessly.

I did see 2 interesting things at Oakland Lake Park today. One was this weird looking fruit like thing growing in a tree. What is it? Anyone know? The other was very ironic. Just as I was musing about obese people, and HEAT, a large, but not obese, woman came jogging, slowly towards me. I was impressed. I would not jog in 96 degrees. Walk fast, yes, jog no.

So, that's been my day before the 4th of July in Texas, swimming after the sun came up, weird fruit at Oakland Lake Park. an overly busy Wal-Mart, train troubles and an Obesity Treatment.