Veterans Park Wildflower Hunting With Turtles, Nerds, Fires & Human Rights Abuses

Today has been overcast with off and on rain. The rain was off long enough to let me walk, dry, around Veterans Park in Arlington, looking for Wildflowers and listening to excruciatingly loud noise coming from the Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling Operation across the street, right up against an apartment complex.

I've not heard from the Nice Lady who lives in those apartments, or her daughter, regarding the ongoing Disturbing of their Peace Nightmare. The racket being generated today was way louder than when my neighboring Chesapeake Energy operation was underway.

This one at Veterans Park makes high pitched squeaking noises with accompanying ultra loud bangs. How is this allowed so close to the apartments? What happened to the 800 foot distance rules? Is this just more corruption in the Eminent Domain Abuse Capital of the World? Where the rights of citizens are run over in an outrageous roughshod manner that would, well, outrage people in the civilized parts of America.

I took video of the Driller Operation using my digital camera. But, it did not do justice to the noise. You do hear birds loud and clear, though. I think the birds were panicking due to the loud screechy noise.

Meanwhile, the Veterans Park Pond Turtles were above water and sitting on their log, watching the fountain. Usually turtles are very easily spooked, but these guys seemed sedated, likely due to the noise of the fountain, combined with the screeching noise across the street, rendering them oblivious to me.

The Society for Creative Anachronism Nerds were out in force today, battling over Veterans Park turf. Several picnics were in full operation, complete with burning wood, cooking meat products that smelled real good.

And I found some new Wildflowers coloring up Veterans Park, awaiting being identified by resident Botanist, Miss Sarah R.

This reddish one was my favorite I saw today. Big stalks of bright red.

These were in the Stay off of Wildflowers Area, so I assume they were Wildflowers. I took no pictures of flowers in the Texas Xeriscape show garden area, because I thought that would be cheating in regards to stumping Miss Sarah R. in her Wildflower identifying, by mixing in a non-Wildflower flower.

I'd not seen a multi-petal yellow Wildflowers like the above one before, not that I recollect.

I am almost 100% certain the pink guy in the upper left has Primrose in its name. Primrose appeared to be playing Big Brother to all the little Lavender/White colored Wildflowers. Lurking to the middle left was a deep Red/Purple Wildflower, that was not yet at full bloom stage.

After hiking around a muddy Veterans Park it was off to ALDI Food Market to get, well, food.

It is now 5. I think I'll go swimming in the rain. Hopefully lightning strike free.