Sharing Fort Worth's Tandy Hills Trails With Big Lizards

I did not make it on to the Tandy Hills til the late afternoon today. The wind has been in intermittent gust mode all day, again, today. I guess, even though it is warm, the Wind Chill Factor is still in play.

So, at 85 degrees, with winds in the 20-30 mph range, I don't know what the real temperature feels like. I do know, from first hand, eye witness evidence that the Wind Chill Factor was cold enough to cause cold-blooded reptiles to be a bit sluggish, like the Tandy Gator you see in the picture.

He, or she, seemed more interested in staying on the warm rocks than concerned with me getting down on the ground beside him/her to take pictures. As you can see the Tandy Gator was a very willing subject.

I do not know why I have no aversion to the lizard brand of reptile, while the snake brand of reptile unsettles me. I have never seen a snake slithering on the Tandy Hills. Lizards and snakes have the same reptilian head, yet that head looks cute, to me, on a lizard. That same type reptilian head, on someone like Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief, does not look cute to me. It's quite a conundrum.

I was not long into hiking today, enjoying the jungle-like foliage along the new Tandy Highway, when I came to one of the Sanitary Sewer Manholes sporting an orange Dunce Cap.

Then I heard a voice ahead shout something like, "the video is stuck." This told me the Fort Worth Water Boys were back playing with their pipeline again. I wondered if they had now crossed Tandy Falls, with dire results for the Falls.

I decided to try and avoid a White Truck encounter, due to my well-earned neurosis regarding Confrontations with White Trucks, and come at Tandy Falls from the north, where I could approach in stealth mode.

A half hour later I was where I could see if the Tandy Falls had been destroyed. I was glad to see, so far, the Falls are fine. Dried up, but fine. The Water Boys were working on the manhole due south of Tandy Falls.

About a half hour later I was again walking down Tandy Highway, heading north, when I heard the rumble of the huge Water Truck. I quickly reversed direction to head up a trail off the highway, to get a vantage point to take a picture of the passing truck.

As you can see, the Water Truck is as big as a plus-sized RV. The jungle shakes as it rumbles by.

I have grown accustomed to sharing the Tandy Hills with heavy equipment. I like some of the results. It is pleasant now, when the trucks are gone, to walk the Tandy Highway, as it is heavily wooded, shady and cooler than the more exposed zones.

Today I noticed that someone has been pruning branches along the various trails. There was one section where I was pleased this had been done. I've been tempted to bring a pruner with me a time or two, but I never remember.

I'll likely have Giant Lizard nightmares tonight. So, I'm thinking I should go for an early evening swim to calm my frazzled nerves.