Please Don't Let Your Kids Play With The Crabs In Arlington Texas

No. Those are not the catfish in my fishtank I call a pool.

Speaking of which, the temperatures the past 24 hours never got under 50, so this morning swimming was not the bracing glacial experience it'd been for a few days.

I had to be in Arlington today. On the way to my destination I drove by Johnson Creek and the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium. I thought Johnson Creek might be in flood mode due to last night's rainy thunderstorm.

On my way to Arlington I saw that Village Creek is in flood mode, causing the closure of Village Creek Natural Historic Area. But, Johnson Creek did not appear to be running any extra water. I was hoping to see what happened when flooding water hit the cement fins you see in the picture.

Since I was in the neighborhood I went to Cho Saigon Market in Arlington's Chinatown. I love going there. I'm almost always the tallest person in the store. I feel like a giant when I'm in there.

Today when I was seeing dozens of Vietnamese people it occurred to me that had there not been a Vietnam War. And had America not sort of lost that war, I would not be shopping in a Vietnamese grocery store in Arlington, Texas. All those Vietnamese immigrants have been a real good thing for America.

I had not paid much attention to the Cho Saigon Market's live seafood selection til today. The picture of the catfish in the tank shows only a few of the dozens of catfish swimming in the tanks. A Vietnamese man was very excitedly trying to point out which of the live catfish he wanted for his own.

The crabs that the sign references are smallish blue crabs. Another tank held what the sign said were Alaska Dungeness Crabs. I didn't know there were Dungeness Crabs in Alaska. I've caught and cooked Dungeness Crab. It's one of my favorite seafoods. But, somehow the idea of driving home, in Texas, with a live crab in the vehicle did not appeal to me. Dungeness Crab can get very fiesty. They are like giant hard-shelled spiders on steroids that taste good.

I had a slight wait in the checkout line, which moves very fast and is very high tech. Due to the wait I was able to check out what the persons in front and behind was buying. The most interesting thing in front of me was a big chunk of squid. It was frozen. The guy behind me had pork intestines. I saw them when I checked out the butcher area. And wondered what one did with pork intestines. He also had a bag of clams that looked like steamers. And 2 Dungeness Crab. The crab were not moving. So, there must be a they will cook it for you option, like there is with the fish.

So, that's been my exciting, cloudy, wet Friday in Texas, so far.