Tacoma Mountain Biking With Nephew Theo

On this final day of the 2017 version of May, what we see here is my nephew Theo mountain biking on the rugged trails of Tacoma.

If my calculations are correct Theo is currently *four years old.

*UPDATE: Theo's Aunt Jackie informs me that Theo is now six years old.

I had barely learned to walk by the time I was four.

I do not remember when I got my first bike, but I know it was a few years past four.

When I was four we lived in Mount Vernon, across the street from what is now Skagit Valley College, under construction at that point in time.

Being four in Mount Vernon would seem to indicate I learned to ride a bike after we moved a couple miles north, to Burlington.

My most vivid memory of riding a bike in Burlington was my little brother (Spencer Jack's grandpa) and me pushing our bikes to the summit of Burlington Hill and then coasting down at high speed with the high speed descent halted by a duo spectacular bike wreck in loose gravel which left us a bit bloodied.

Apparently now I have two nephews to go mountain biking with. Theo and Joey.

Below you get to watch full action video of Theo mountain biking. Theo's brother, David, and sister Ruby, make cameo appearances....

Lake Wichita Memorial Day With Big Brother & Long-Nosed Gars

 Last week I read 1984, you know, that dystonian novel by George Orwell that sort of missed its future foretelling mark when 1984 became the actual year, with 1984 not being quite as bleak in reality as Orwell foresaw it being.

And then over three decades after 1984 George Orwell's book was back being a book store best seller, along with borrowing waiting lists in libraries across America, and other parts of the world where the literate found themselves appalled to find the American president to be an Orwellian nightmare of doublespeak, doublethink and totally doubleplusungood.

The last couple days I have been having myself some computer aggravation. Every time I think I have solved the problem I find I am erroneous.

Feeling I had reached some sort of computer plateau I decided to take a break and join the throngs of Memorial Day memorializers at Lake Wichita for some sun time whilst enjoying the cooling breeze blowing from the lake.

I was not long at Lake Wichita, atop Lake Wichita Dam, when I saw that which you see above, which is the reason I mentioned 1984, because when I saw that which you see above I thought to myself it looked like what a 2017 version of 1984's Big Brother might look like.

Soon after seeing the Lake  Wichita Big Brother I saw the bucolic scene you see below.

These fisher people are fishing near the ruins of the Lake Wichita Pavilion.  All which remains of the pavilion, which succumbed  to fire in the 1950s,  are the wood pilings you see the fishing pole pointing towards.

As you can see there are also non-fisher people wandering about under the watchful eye of the Lake Wichita Big Brother.

Another view of the Lake Wichita floating dock. That dock looks nice and stable today, but if one visits it on a windy day, when whitecaps wave across the lake, the ride on this floating dock can be sea sickness inducing. The last time I was on this dock when it was in rocking mode it reminded me of being on the Port Townsend/Keystone Ferry ferrying from the Olympic Peninsula to Whidbey Island during a stormy tidal change, with the ferry rocking so much walking was extremely difficult.

As you can see fishing and walking was not the only activity at Lake Wichita this Memorial Day. The people you see here are on the Circle Trail  on top of Lake Wichita Dam, heading north away from the Lake Wichita Big Brother.

Okay, I have mentioned the Lake Wichita Big Brother a couple times. Now let's see what it is this Big Brother is looking out from.

A fishy sign. Can you find Big Brother?

This Fish of Lake Wichita sign identifies all the fish which live, or try to, in this lake.

I have never seen anyone swimming in Lake Wichita. I know in the past, long ago, swimming in this lake was a popular summer thing to do. A streetcar system delivered  people to the lake. Long ago Lake Wichita was a popular resort-like destination, with multiple attractions in addition to fishing and swimming.

There is an ongoing attempt to revive Lake Wichita and restore it to some semblance of its former glory.

Methinks this effort should be accelerated.

I have seen the Lake Wichita Revitalization plans. If those plans come to fruition it will be a real good thing.  I do not understand why there is not a more vigorous effort to bring about this lake's revitalization. I've heard other towns in America fund such developments by having its citizens approve of some sort of funding  mechanism, rather than rely on car washes and selling memorial bricks to raise money.

If Lake Wichita does get revitalized and swimming again becomes doable I sort of would like to know a couple of those Fish of Lake Wichita are no longer in the lake. Like the long-nosed gars. Or the channel catfish. The other Fish of Lake Wichita look harmless.

I have never liked fish with whiskers. Or long sharp pointy noses...

North Texas 100 Degrees HOT First Time In 2017

The outer world has heated up to the century mark for the first time this year at my location on the planet.

With about an hour to go to get hotter, before the sun does its daily retreat, we may still hit the predicted high of 101, or higher.

My air conditioner turned itself on several hours before noon today. At that point in time I had not been outside and so did not know a heat wave had arrived.

Meanwhile up north, well, up northwest, at my old home location of Western Washington, the locals are sweltering with a heat wave of their own type.

Temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s.

The Washington hot hell on earth has sent throngs of Washingtonians, by the thousands, west to the Pacific coast beaches, such as Ocean Shores,

I learned of the Washington heat wave earlier today via Sampson and Deliah's Facebook report about joining the thousands trying to get cool via being near the Pacific Ocean in the Ocean Shores zone.

This is not a picture of Ocean Shores you are looking at below.

An hour before noon I ventured out into the heat, to the Circle Trail, for a period of short duration. What you are looking at above is what a 100 degree day looks like in the North Texas burg of Wichita Falls, looking east across Holliday Creek Canyon.

There is no ocean a short drive distant to escape to to beat the heat at my current location. There are a couple lakes. None of which has an ocean type beach. Or big waves. Or whales and seals. Or clams to dig.

I have seen seagulls though...

Dallas Settles Legal Pipeline Fight With Imaginary Bogeyman Monty Bennett

Shocking news, shocking I tell you, today in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Dallas settles legal fight with Monty Bennett over East Texas pipeline

Didn't Dallas get the memo that Monty Bennett is a notorious evil bogeyman hotel magnate who owns downtown Fort Worth's Hilton and Ashton  hotels?

For years the Dallas partner in water acquisition, Fort Worth's Tarrant Regional Water District, has fought the imaginary Dallas bogeyman who the TRWD scared voters with shameless propaganda spewed claiming Monty Bennett was wanting to steal Fort Worth's water.

When what Monty Bennett was actually doing was trying to convince the TRWD and its Dallas water partner, not to install a pipeline across his East Texas ranch.

God forbid someone in Texas is protective of their property and uses whatever resources are at their disposal to do so.

The Dallas City Council approved settling their fight with Monty Bennett, with one Dallas Councilwoman, Sandy Greyson objecting, opinionizing "it’s just infuriating that if you are rich enough, you can hold the city hostage for years and then get what you want. There’s something really wrong with that.”

Imagine that. If one has the resources one can fight, successfully, to prevent someone from impacting their property.

Usually this is a hopeless battle in the eminent  domain abuse capital of the world.

We have blogged about Tarrant County's chronic eminent domain abuse dozens of times.

Such as in a blogging from a couple months ago about The Fort Worth Way With RICO Racketeering in which we heard from one of Fort Worth's victims of eminent domain abuse, with that instance of abuse executed by what is now known as America's Biggest Boondoggle, which took this victim's business in ordter to dig a ditch and a bridge over the ditch, neither of which has been dug or built, long after this victim's property was bulldozed.

Bulldozed before the victim, unlike Monty Bennett, had had his day in a legitimate court system of the sort which does not exist in the eminent domain abuse capital of the world. Hence the taking and destruction of property before a legal settlement had been reached.

So, I don't understand how or why Dallas Councilwoman Greyson finds it infuriating that someone has the legal resources to protect his property from something he did not want to see happen to his property.

To do so, such as Monty Bennett did, is pretty much what used to be known as the American Way, where the courts protected citizen's property from seizure unless a clear case could be made that such a seizure was in the public's interest, with no alternative to the seizure, such as re-routing a pipeline.

To take a person's property, with that person having no legal recourse, other than trying to fight the seizure in a Kangaroo Court, well, that is how the Soviet Union used to operate.

Operating like the Soviet Union used to operate is not the American Way.

Sadly though, operating like the Soviet Union used to operate is, in many ways, is the Fort Worth Way...

Throw Back Thursday All The Way To Newborn Baby Spencer Jack

Today is Thursday. The final day of this sort in the May month of 2017.

It being Thursday, this particular day has also become known as Throwback Thursday, known as such for reasons, and by whose instigation, I do not know.

Is this Throwback Thursday thing a Facebook invention? It is on Facebook I first saw and continue to see Throwback Thursday photos.

This Throwback Thursday thing came to mind this particular Thursday when I was scrolling through photos and came upon the photo you see here.

I believe that is Spencer Jack I am holding, or appearing to hold. This would seem to indicate this photo is about ten years old.

Holding a baby when the baby is in newborn mode has always made me nervous. Such a tiny, delicate little bundle of joy.

Being the eldest of four siblings, I do not remember siblings number one and two whilst they were in newborn infant mode. I do clearly remember siblings three and four in newborn infant mode.

Sibling three is my little sister, Jackie, now the mother of Christopher and Jeremy. I do not remember Christopher in newborn infant mode. I do remember Jeremy in that mode because I was in the building when he was born and was sent out to buy bottles of celebratory champagne to lubricate the party which ensued in the fun hospital in which Jeremy was born in Everett, Washington.

Sibling four is my extra little sister, Michele, now the mother of David, and the twins, Theo and Ruby. I was not present for the birth of any of these three, nor did I see any of them in infant newborn mode.

I do not remember where I was when Spencer Jack's dad was born. Spencer Jack's dad is my sibling number two's eldest son, Jason. I think I met Jason soon after he was born, but not whilst he was in the hospital. However, I do remember driving from Bellingham to United General Hospital, located between Burlington and Sedro-Woolley, to see newborn nephew, Joey, for the first time. I do not remember if I got to hold Joey whilst he was in the hospital.

 I wonder when next I will be blessed with holding a newborn bundle of joy, if ever? I am almost 100% certain such a thing will not be happening on this particular last Thursday of May....

Dallas/Fort Worth Traffic Nightmare Drive By The Infamous House Of Horrors

Today was the day of my almost regular monthly return to the Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington Metro Mess.

Until today this monthly return habit had not seen any traffic woe that was too woeful.

All went well on the way into D/FW this morning. Traffic was stalled on I-35 south, but that did not impact my movement due to quickly exiting I-35 south after its juncture with 287 and that juncture  having a convenient exit only lane which leads to Western Center Boulevard, and no traffic problems.

Eventually I made my way to Hurst where I was scheduled to drop of an item, then continue south to Arlington. In Arlington I went to Chinatown, to Saigon Cho Market, then headed back north, stopping at the world's only Walmart which also serves as a shrine to football  and baseball, with multiple footballs and  baseballs stuck all over the Walmart structures.

This particular Walmart  is due north of the gigantic monument to futuristic spaceships, also known as the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, or AT & T Stadium, because that phone company paid a chunk of money to tackily stick its name on the stadium which the people of Arlington largely paid for, in more ways than one.

This Walmart is due west of the place where the Texas Rangers play baseball. I do not remember what that Ballpark is currently called. The name seems to change frequently. When I first saw this Ballpark and attended part of a baseball game there, watching the Seattle Mariners get beat by the Rangers, the Ballpark was called the Ballpark in Arlington. This seemed, to me, to be a good name. But that name did not stick.

The former Ballpark in Arlington is about to be replaced by a shiny new ballpark.  I hope this shiny new ballpark does not take its design aesthetic from the nearby football stadium.

Eventually I headed back north, to pick up something I'd left in Hurst, then headed to East Fort Worth to visit a bank, then to Haltom City to visit a building under construction. After a short stop at Winco in North Richland Hills it was time to aim my steering wheel back towards Wichita Falls.

And that is when the traffic woes took over. My usual problem free route is to go west on Western Center Boulevard, then take a right on the I-35 north frontage road, then soon painlessly enter 287 and sail free and easy back northwest to Wichita Falls.

But, today the entry to 287 was not working. This soon had me in a long line trying to take a left on to Tarrant Parkway, to head west to 287. Except that traffic was moving turtle slow due to the dud of a roundabout about a mile distant, where Harmon Road intersects with the entry to 287.

I escaped that nightmare by driving through a mall's parking lot, eventually getting to Harmon Road. I knew Harmon Road. When I moved to Texas it was to a little ranch on what was then Hicks Road, now named Bonds Ranch Road. Harmon Road intersects with Bonds Ranch Road.

Which would have worked great except for the fact that hundreds upon hundreds of vehicles were trying  to go the same route, trying to escape the previous traffic jam.

When I finally turned on to Bonds Ranch Road I saw the traffic was backed up all the way to 287. I was now in an area I was familiar with, so I knew the backroads. But, the backroad that I needed to take took me by that aforementioned little ranch I originally lived at when I moved to Texas. A location I long ago vowed to never return to, a place which those who experienced it now refer to as the House of Horrors.

So, I took a right right by the east pasture of the House of Horrors, eventually made my way to Avon-Haslet Road and then to 287 for a traffic jam free remainder of the drive home.

Before my next visit to D/FW I must figure out an alternative to that which I experienced today...

Does Something In The Water Stupify Too Many Fort Worth Voters?

Way back last year, on October 18, I blogged about what was supposedly the biggest election fraud investigation in Texas history.

One of the instances of alleged election fraud was the allegedly fraudulent re-election of TRWD Board Directors, Jim Lane and Marty Leonard, beneficiaries of a statistically impossible number of absentee ballots.

Jim Lane and Marty Leonard are what are known as insiders, part of the Fort Worth Political Machine which runs Fort Worth in what is known as the Fort Worth Way.

Fort Worth's Political Machine is not well known, unlike other town's political machines, such as the Chicago Political Machine, the corrupt shenanigans of which sort of ebbs and flows. I do not know if currently a Daley family member is in charge of the Chicago Machine.

One of the all time most famous political machines was known as Tammany Hall. Tammany Hall, in its heyday, controlled New York, both the city and the state.

Another famous political machine was the one run by Huey Long in Louisiana.

I do not know who is the head of the Fort Worth Political Machine.

Is it Kay Granger?

Fort Worth's Political Machine is a rather low rent version of the genre, so Kay Granger being its Godmother would seem likely. One piece of evidence pointing to Kay Granger as the Fort Worth Machine's Godmother is when Betsy Price was asked why she was running to be Fort Worth's Mayor, Betsy infamously replied, "Because Kay asked me to..."

Another piece of evidence pointing to Kay Granger being the Fort Worth Political Machine's boss is she was able to finagle getting her son, J.D., the job of running a Fort Worth public works project for which he had zero qualifications.

J.D. was given that job with the quid pro quo being J.D.'s mom would then finagle federal money to funnel to J.D.'s public works project, known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, which, after many many years of J.D.'s inept mis-management, has evolved into being known as America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Currently stuck for well over a year trying to figure out how to build three simple bridges over dry land to connect Fort Worth's  mainland to an imaginary island.

The Fort Worth Political Machine came to mind today when I noticed a blog comment I had not noticed previously, and on which I had not hit the publish button til today. This comment was from someone with the odd lower case name of moncorpl....

moncorp1 has left a new comment on your post "Evidence Corrupt Tarrant County Political Machine Steals Elections":

Kelleher was no saint either. She was in the hip pocket of Marty Bennett of Dallas. 

Mary Kelleher is the former TRWD Board Director who beat the Fort Worth Political Machine, to become a TRWD Board Director two TRWD Board elections ago.

Mary Kelleher getting elected was a threatening anomaly the Fort Worth Political Machine could not let happen again, allowing some upstart to beat the Fort Worth Political Machine's chosen candidates.

And so, in the TRWD Board Election two years after Mary Kelleher's upset win, the Fort Worth Political Machine went into overdrive, spending a ridiculous amount of money spewing out a ridiculous volume of propaganda misinformation attacking the non Fort Worth Machine candidates, Craig Bickley and Miki Von Luckner, accusing the pair of upstarts of being  tools of an evil Dallas bogeyman who the Fort Worth Political Machine propagandized was trying to take control of Fort Worth's water.

Yes, I realize you reading this in other parts of America are thinking to yourself are Fort Worth voters actually this stupid that they would fall for such a ridiculous imaginary bogeyman ploy.

Well, the sad truth is they are that easily duped. That and not enough voters vote.

Or are allowed to vote in the TRWD Board Elections.

And the Fort Worth Political Machine will to go to absurdly extreme measures, in addition to propaganda lies, to insure their desired outcome, hence the biggest Election Fraud Investigation in Texas history, triggered by that aforementioned statistically impossible number of absentee ballots which re-elected Jim Lane and Marty Leonard.

Because Fort Worth is run by a corrupt Political Machine, in the ensuing two plus years since their bogus re-election there have been no demands that Jim Lane and Marty Leonard resign from their ill gotten TRWD board seats.

Because that is not the Fort Worth Way. That and until an intervening out of town political force intervenes, the Fort Worth Political Machine is in full corrupt control.

Back to that comment from moncorpl. Such a comment is indicative of the insidiousness of the Fort Worth Political Machine's manipulation of easily duped sheep. Moncorpl apparently bought into the propaganda that Mary Kelleher was a bad person, somehow under the control of that imaginary Dallas bogeyman out to steal Fort Worth's water, Monty Bennett.

Yes, moncorpl, it's Monty, not Marty. One would have thought the reams of propaganda spewed by the Fort Worth Political Machine would have correctly implanted Monty into moncorpl's memory.

In the most recent TRWD Board Election the Fort Worth Political Machine did not dare to use the same tactic which re-elected Jim Lane and Marty Leonard. In this most recent TRWD Board Election we saw a HUGE drop in the number of absentee ballots, yet there was still an inexplicable anomaly.

Moncorpl fell for the propaganda that Mary Kelleher was in Monty Bennett's hip pocket.

Mary Kelleher's campaign received, from Bennett, what amounted to a small pittance, compared to the thousands of dollars the Fort Worth Political Machine received from Dallas donors to pay for the propaganda which led to Mary Kelleher's defeat and the election of the Fort Worth Political Machine's candidates, Jack Stevens, James Hill and Leah King, giving the Fort Worth Machine total control of the TRWD Board.

I am always an optimist. I think the days of the Fort Worth Political Machine's corruption are near their end, that the Fort Worth Way will soon be going the way of Tammany Hall and Huey Long.

I am always an optimist. But I am also frequently disappointed....

Sunday Fresh Air Wichita Falls Caribbean Bedrock Walk With Flintstones

On this mighty fine next to last Sunday of May I decided to imbibe in enjoying the freshly cleaned atmosphere which is hovering about at my location on the planet.

In the past couple days that aforementioned atmosphere  has been washed and blown clean of airborne pollutants, such as pollen.

With multiple strikes of lightning providing further cleanup via shocking the air with multiple zaps of negative ions.

To benefit from those negative ions I opted to head north to the Caribbean on my neighborhood Circle Trail. At the point where I took the above picture we are looking north across bedrock at a Flintstone car following a Weeks Park course on the east side of Holliday Creek.

I ambled along the Circle Trail til I got to Haiti, then headed west on Haiti til I got to Barbados, then headed back south to my abode.

I am now feeling fully benefited by the extreme dose of negative ions and super clean air.

I do not miss the air I used to breathe in what local savant, Don Young, years ago, nicknamed Dirty Town. I no longer suffer the allergy woes I suffered whilst breathing that dirty air in Dirty Town.

I am currently scheduled to return to the D/FW zone on Wednesday. Part of that return will be a short time in East Dirty Town, a short time I hope to make sure is short enough so as not to activate those currently dormant  allergies....

Saturday At Dry Lake Wichita Falls Not Catching Crappie Catfish

Rain in copious amounts fell on my location  the past couple days, in amounts so copious at times I was pretty much surrounded by a moat.

I figured what with all that copious rain Lake Wichita would be in full pool mode with water spilling over the Lake Wichita Dam spillway in amounts so copious that a virtual Niagara-like roaring falls would be seen and heard today.

I figured wrong.

The lake needs to raise another foot, or so, before it even gets close to trickling over the dam.

Copious amounts of rain apparently selectively downpoured during the recent storms, with some areas apparently avoiding getting drenched, hence the dry Lake Wichita Dam falls.

I sure like that copious word.

What with the respite from lightning strikes, and some areas getting way too wet, a lot of people were at Lake Wichita Dam on this fine Saturday in May, enjoying the near perfect temperature, and the outer world  being dry.

The  Lake Wichita floating fishing dock had a lot of fishermen and fisherwomen fishing today. Along with more fishers fishing from the shore.

It has been awhile since I have climbed  to the summit of Mount Wichita, that volcano looking mound you see on the opposite side of the lake. I did not see any mountain climbers climbing the mountain today. Usually from today's vantage point I do see mountain climbers. I suspect that those aforementioned copious amounts of rain must have targeted the area's only mountain, rendering it too muddy for climbing.

A closer look at the fishing line casters.  I have frequently seen people fishing at this location. I have never seen anyone catch a fish.

I have never been a fan of fishing. I have long been a fan of eating fish. But not the type fish which call Lake Wichita home. Fish like catfish. And crappie. Who would want to eat a fish called crappie?

Relative Arizona Check From Spencer Jack's Dad

Yesterday I mentioned my Favorite Nephew Jason took a Look At A Snowy Mountain On Way To Check Aging Arizona Relatives.

Today I got a report on Jason's aging Arizona relatives check...

Photo after your dad's daily morning physical therapy session. Not photographed, by choice, is your mother, who arrived via middle sister taxi. The taxi driver is also not pictured, as she is the photographer.

We left shortly after noon when your dad's pot roast lunch arrived, and your mother insisted he eat the food while it was hot.

I most likely will check back in again tomorrow to see the pair.

I have been informed that your younger sister is arriving this afternoon.

Overall, your Pa seems to be where he needs to be, and appears to be in excellent care.

_________________

A few minutes ago I blogged about a Call From Rabbi Linda. In that blogging I did not mention the first thing Rabbi Linda asked me about, before asking about today's storm, was to ask how my dad was doing. I told Rabbi Linda I'd received a photo documented  report from Jason, which I might get around to blogging about later.

Later is, apparently, now.

Call From Rabbi Linda Calmed Today's Texas Storm For A Few Minutes

Sometime near the noon time frame my phone rang with an incoming call from my favorite Rabbi, Miss Linda Ann.

Soon upon establishing our phone connection Rabbi Linda asked if the storm was being real bad.

How could Rabbi Linda know I am being pummeled by lightning strikes and balls of hail, I thought to myself, and then asked Rabbi Linda if our storm was on the news.

No, was the reply from Rabbi Linda, I read about it on your blog.

Oh.

I'd forgotten I'd made mention of today's hellacious storm this morning regarding Wichita Falls Rocking & Rolling With Icy Striking Lightning Booms.

When Rabbi Linda called today's storm was at its worst, up to that point. Bolts of lightning bolting near and far, left and right. Loud booms. Off and on downpours.

And then during the course of talking to my favorite Rabbi the storm seemed to abate, significantly ratcheting down, almost calm, but with the sky still dark and threatening.

But, I was not soon off the phone with Rabbi Linda when the storm amped up again with the return of lightning bolts and the heaviest downpour, so far, in this storm.

Coming up on the late afternoon part of the day the rain ceased, at least for awhile.  I decided to try and make my way through the flood to see if Holliday Creek was in raging torrent mode.

I sort of expected to hear the roaring of rapids. But when Holliday Creek came into view I could see it was moving more water than the norm, but nowhere near being in Colorado River rampaging through Grand Canyon mode.

In the photo above you are looking north at a menacing sky hovering above the aforementioned, less sedate than normal, Holliday Creek.

To the west I am currently seeing a dark wall of clouds. I suspect that wall will be bringing the next storm wave. So far, I have heard no tornado sirens...

Wichita Falls Rock & Roll With Icy Striking Lightning Booms

What you are looking at here is the stormy Friday May morning view north via one of my living room windows.

Yesterday, by the time the sun exited, Mother Nature started up with one of her light shows, along loud sound effects and water and ice displays.

She calmed down a bit after a few hours, and remained calm until the sun decided to return this morning.

And now lightning bolts are striking in any direction I look. One just flashed and momentarily blinded me, followed by an earthquake-like shaking roll of thunder.

The wind is whistling, pounding rain against the windows, along with what sounds like occasional small pellets of hail.

So far I have heard no tornado sirens.

I suspect I will not be venturing outside today, unless, maybe, via a quick dash to a vehicular interior under cover of an umbrella....

Look At A Snowy Mountain On Way To Check Aging Arizona Relatives

You are looking out a window here at something I do not see out of any of the windows I look out of at my current location.

The closest such thing to my current location is Mount Wichita, about 3 miles to my southwest.

So, what is this fluffy mound of white we are looking at here?

The text accompanying the photo is explanatory...

Attached photos taken this evening of a snowy Mount Rainier and Glen Canyon Dam with Lake Powell in the distance. I am currently in the Phoenix zone for a couple nights. Tomorrow's plans may include a welfare check on aging relatives who reside in Arizona year round.

The emailed photos are from Spencer Jack's dad, my favorite nephew, Jason.

The last time I saw Mount Rainier out of a window was way back in 2008, on July 20 and August 20 of that year, coming and going from the Puget Sound zone. Since my last look at Mount Rainier was in summer, it was not quite as white as Jason's view from yesterday.

If I remember right the last time I saw Lake Powell was in October of 1997. The last time I saw Glen Canyon Dam and the section of Lake Powell we see in Jason's photo was back in October of 1994, which was the first time I Houseboated on Lake Powell, from much further east, launching from Bullfrog Basin, floating as far west as Rainbow Bridge, before careening down the Moki Dugway on the way to the San Juan Inn in Mexican Hat and Monument Valley.

The aging Arizona relatives who live in Arizona year round, on whom Jason may do a welfare check, would be Spencer Jack's grandpa, who is also Jason's dad, and my brother, plus Spencer Jack's great grandma and grandpa, who also are Jason's grandma and grandpa and my mom and dad.

I assume Jason conveniently flew south from Bellingham International Airport. This airport has full sized commercial jets operated by entities such as Alaskan Airlines flying out of town. Bellingham is about 30 miles north of Mount Vernon.

Bellingham is a smaller town than the Texas town I currently live in. Bellingham is way closer to Vancouver, B.C. and Seattle, Washington than Wichita Falls is to Dallas/Fort Worth, Oklahoma City or Amarilla.

But, Wichita Falls does not have an International Airport with full sized commercial jets operated by entities like Alaskan Airlines. Not even Texas-based Southwest Airlines operates out of this town.

This town's lack of a real airport perplexes me. When I moved here such a primitive possibility did not occur to me. American Airlines is the only commercial airline way out of this town. And that is via an American Airlines off shoot called American Eagle, which flies you to D/FW International Airport, where you then get on an American Airlines plane to get to where you want to go.

I am eagerly awaiting Jason's report on the welfare check on his aging relatives...

Midnight Thunderstorm Followed By Texas Flintstones This Morning

Last night, at some point around the midnight time frame, bright flashes of light began to disturb my peaceful slumber.

Thinking the bright flashes of light might be an un-predicted thunderstorm I removed the earplugs which I use to block any annoying noises and soon heard booms of thunder rolling in from the distance.

Ironically I do not like unwanted annoying noises, yet I find the sounds of a storm to be soothing.

Soon I was soothed by thunder booming quite close to home, along with rain pounding my windows, with hail in the mix. And then the wind arrived.

I anticipated hearing the tornado sirens, but that sound did not join the cacophony.

I do not know how long last night's storm lasted. I must have passed out during the storm, hence not knowing how long it lasted. By morning a totally blue sky had arrived and the only reminder of last night's storm was puddles of water. That and my patio furniture was still wet when I sat outside to enjoy my morning coffee libation.

About 12 hours after the arrival of last night's storm I left my abode to inspect the damage and to see if Holliday Creek had been turned into a raging torrent.

Upon Holliday Creek coming into view I quickly saw the water was not moving in raging torrent mode. Looking to the east side of the Holliday Creek Gorge I saw that which you see above.

What looked to be vehicles of the Flintstone sort motoring on the expanse of green grass which extends for what seems to be miles on the side of Holliday Creek opposite the Wichita Falls Circle Trail. The Flintstone cars motor for a short distance and then the Fred and Barneys driving the Flintstone cars stop, get out of their cars, swing a stick, and then start driving again. It seems to be a primitive stone age type behavior to my modern era eyes.

Last night's wicked storm was not predicted. However severe storms are on the prediction menu for the next several days.  More often than not the predicted storms do not seem to arrive as predicted at my current location.

I suspect that will not be the case this time, so I am prepared to batten down the hatches on a moment's, or a  tornado siren's, notice....                    

Anonymous TRWD Voting Revelations Outside Fort Worth's Narrow Confines

A few days ago I mentioned being surprised to learn that I was among the few allowed to vote in a TRWD Board of Directors Election because I was a Stakeholding TRWD Founder.

I learned this via a Facebook posting where multiple people verbalized their puzzlement regarding being a Tarrant County voter, yet not allowed to vote in a Tarrant Regional Water District Board of Directors Election.

I blogged about this puzzlement which then had someone with the extremely common name of Anonymous making a perplexing comment....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Apparently I Got To Vote Because I Am A Stakeholding TRWD Founder":

You write--; "It seems outrageous, and wrong, to me, that all the Texans affected by the TRWD are not included in who votes for the TRWD. Such as people who live in Haltom City..."

Here's a link to the most recent election for members to the TRWD board of directors. It lists 130 election precincts with early voting at 51 of them as well as voting by mail. On page 21 it lists polling location #32 in >>Haltom City.<< Other polling places far outside the confines of FW (Keller, Mansfield, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Euless, Watauga....even Westlake (Alliance Airport area).

Can you explain why these polling places exist if the people there are denied the right to vote? What am I missing? 

__________________

The link to which Anonymous refers goes to a long Full Legal Notice of Election PDF, signed off by ex-TRWD President, Vic W. Henderson and TRWD Secretary, Martha V. Leonard.

I had no idea that elected TRWD Board Director, Marty Leonard, was also a TRWD Secretary. No wonder she finagled with Jim Lane to secure thousands of bogus absentee ballots to ensure she kept her secretary job.

As for the question from Anonymous. I am assuming that this document Anon ymous cited is listing all the voting precincts in Tarrant County, as in all the voting precincts. I could not make it through all 21 pages but I did look closely at page 21, to which Anonymous referred. That page appears to be listing Early Voting locations for Tarrant County.

It has been a rather large big issue that the voters of Haltom City do not get to vote on who sits on the TRWD Board, with Haltom City voters annoyed at this exclusion because their town has seen dire consequences resulting from inept TRWD mismanagement of deadly Haltom City flood control issues.

Let's ask a question of two of Haltom City's most vocal critics of the TRWD's shenanigans, Elsie Hotpepper and Layla Caraway. Why did you ladies not know that all along you could have been voting in the TRWD Board Elections, even though you are registered to vote in Haltom City?

Let's ask former TRWD Board Director, Mary Kelleher, if she knew she could have done some campaigning for votes in Haltom City, Keller, Mansfield, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Euless, Watauga....and even the Westlake (Alliance Airport area)?

What Stalled World's First Bridges Built Over Dry Land Connecting To An Imaginary Island?

I saw that which you see here in the Sunday Seattle Times online, and it seemed to fit the category of things I read in west coast online news sources which I would not be expecting to read in a Texas news source about a similar thing in Texas.

Or, in this case, Fort Worth and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The Seattle Times article titled World’s first light rail on a floating bridge: For I-90, Sound Transit had to invent ‘a brilliant solution’ is something one would likely not read in the Star-Telegram about something happening in Fort Worth for a variety of reasons.

Has Fort Worth ever been the world's first at anything? Or invented a brilliant solution for anything? Or built a big bridge over a deep body of water?

I guess the Fort Worth Star-Telegram could have an article with a somewhat similar headline to the Seattle Times headline, something like this...

World's first bridges built over dry land connecting to an imaginary island: Stalled because Fort Worth can't invent 'a simple solution'.

How can one part of America manage to build multiple massively big floating bridges over deep water, in a time span of less than four years, whilst another part of America (Fort Worth) can't manage to build three simple little bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island?

With a four year project timeline.

That is no longer in existence because the project has been stalled for over a year.

Stalled for over a year. With no explanation as to what the problem is. And no local newspaper able to task journalists with the job of investigating what is causing a relatively simple pseudo public works project to become known as America's Biggest  Boondoggle?

Those floating bridges you see above connect to an actual island.

Mercer Island.

Site of some of the world's most expensive real estate. Fort Worth's bridges were being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, which is currently an industrial wasteland, not an island.

Read the article about engineers figuring out how to build the world's first light rail over a floating bridge. Make note of the open transparency. Ask yourself why you never read an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about the stalled bridges which has any semblance of the detail you read in this article in the Seattle Times.

I'll copy a few paragraphs from the Seattle Times World’s first light rail on a floating bridge: For I-90, Sound Transit had to invent ‘a brilliant solution’ article to illustrate what I am talking about...

Sound Transit will soon try something unprecedented — building and operating train tracks on a floating bridge.

The work begins June 3 in the center express lanes of Interstate 90, after carpools, buses and Mercer Island motorists are kicked out to make room for light-rail contractors. Passenger service between Seattle, Bellevue and Overlake is scheduled to begin in 2023.

The technical challenges are daunting.

Engineers have to ensure the bridge will remain buoyant when a pair of 300-ton trains pass each other, and that the high-voltage current that powers the trains won’t stray into the bridge’s pontoons and corrode its steel rebar. They spent $53 million just to design the section across Lake Washington.

The most difficult task is adapting the rails to the movements of the bridge.

___________________

Okay, Fort Worth Star-Telegram readers, in the above few paragraphs you have read more detailed facts about a bridge being built than you have ever read in the Star-Telegram about those three simple little bridges which have been stalled, with no explanation as to why, for over a year.

Pitiful. just pitiful....

Mother's Day Visit With Wichita Falls Mothers In Prairie Dog Town

A long time had passed since I'd last visited my neighborhood Prairie Dog Town.

And, so, what with it being Mother's Day, and what with Prairie Dog Town having a lot of mothers in residence, I decided to pay them a visit today.

I did not arrive at Prairie Dog Town empty handed. I had a bag full of flour tortillas, corn tortillas and whole wheat bread.

Upon arrival I quickly saw that Prairie Dog Town has expanded since my last visit, with many new burrows sprouted at locations quite a distance from the walled city which makes up Prairie Dog Town proper.

As I pulled into a parking space multiple Prairie Dogs scurried for home from their sunning location on the pavement. I was not quick enough with my camera to photo document the Prairie Dogs on the road.  But I did manage to do some photo documenting of the Prairie Dogs inside Dog Town.

Above you are looking at a couple Prairie Dog babies.  They came out of their home hole when they heard their relatives making their "there's food"  squeal.

Eventually I was able to toss some bread product to a pair of the babies. Their mom was not evident. Unless she was one of the Prairie Dogs who did not fear getting close to me in order to get vittles.

Below we see one of the potential Prairie Dog Mother candidates, securing a chunk of flour tortilla with her left paw. Maybe she is contemplating taking the chunk to her babies.

No. She decided to have it all to herself.

Has anyone ever domesticated one of these cute critters?

The little Prairie Dog feller below seems to be quite devout, praying before he partakes of a chunk of whole wheat bread.

I do not understand why Wichita Falls does not make a big deal out of its Prairie Dog Town. Such as promoting it as the Biggest Prairie Dog Town in the World (in an urban setting) or some such thing.

Make the wall around Prairie Dog Town more attractive. Not a Donald Trump type wall paid for by the Mexicans, but a real wall serving a real purpose. And somehow wall off the Prairie Dog Town suburbs which have sprung up on the town's outskirts.

There is not even signage pointing people to Prairie Dog Town. One has to know Prairie Dog Town is located in Kiwanis Park, on the north side of Southwest Parkway, with the entry a short distance west of McDonalds and the Post Office, to know where to go to visit the Wichita Falls Prairie Dogs.

I think the next time I visit Prairie Dog Town I'm bringing brownies. I'm thinking those little critters will really like brownies...

Happy Mother's Day To All My Favorite Mothers

That would be my mom you are looking at here, holding her first born baby boy, which would be me. I am pretty much 100% certain this photo was taken in Eugene, Oregon, since that is where I was born and in the photo it does not appear I am big enough to be doing much traveling.

I hope all my favorite moms will be having themselves a mighty fine Mother's Day today.

Such as my #1 Mom, currently in  Arizona, who I will be calling later today.

And, also in Arizona, my favorite sister, Jackie, mother of my favorite nephews, Christopher and Jeremy.

And all my favorite moms in Washington, such as Aunts Arlene and Alice. My favorite ex-sister-in-law, Cindy, who also happens to be Spencer Jack's grandma and the mother of my favorite nephews, Jason and Joey.

And then there is Jenny, the mother of Spencer Jack.

And my other favorite sister, Michele, along with Kristin, the mothers of my favorite nephews, David and Theo and my one and only favorite niece, Ruby.

I almost forgot the Washington mothers of Macie, Chris and Sheila.

In Texas the only mother I can think of (other than Kay Granger) is Alma, mother of Viggo. Happy Mother's Day, Alma, hope you and Viggo have yourselves a good day....

UPDATE: I am shocked and appalled that when I was thinking of Texas mothers whose mothering I have been privileged  to witness that I forgot that regular Mother of the Year candidate, Miss Martha. Sorry Martha. Happy Mother's Day!

Feeling Safe From Ransomware Wanna Cry Surrounded By Pillars Of Holliday

Today for my regularly scheduled salubrious Saturday outdoor excursion I opted to walk to my favorite neighborhood art space, which always puts me in a good mood, which you see documented here in a rare selfie photo documenting me being in a rare good mood.

I call this art installation the Pillars of Holliday, what with Holliday Creek being that water you see reflecting behind me and multiple Pillars.

The Pillars of Holliday are located under the Southwest Parkway bridge over Holliday Creek.

A short distance north, maybe half a mile, on the campus of Midwestern State University, visible as one drives by on Taft Boulevard, one sees the Pillars of Hercules art installation.

I prefer the Pillars of Holliday to the Pillars of Hercules for several reasons.

Such as there are only four Pillars of Hercules, while Holliday has way more Pillars, both behind me and in front of me, from the vantage point of the above photo.

The Pillars of Holliday are shaded,  whilst the Pillars of Hercules are out in the open, with no shady protection.

The Pillars of Holliday are more easily accessed than the Pillars of Hercules, what with the Circle Trail running under the bridge, between the Pillars, with a comfortable swinging bench upon which one can sit and admire the Pillars of Holliday.

Today I had a good reason to put myself in a good mood by surrounding myself with art due to the stress I have had getting my new computer to cooperate in updating itself to protect it from the nefarious Ransomware Wanna Cry attack.

I am almost 100% certain I am now somewhat safe from having my computer held for ransom. I probably should not be tempting fate by making such a claim...

Can You Solve The Green Mystery Of The TRWD Election Bar Graph?

Yesterday, after I mentioned that I had learned that Apparently I Got To Vote Because I Am A Stakeholding TRWD Founder, Elsie Hotpepper sent me the chart you see above, charting the results of the most recent Tarrant Regional Water District Board of Directors Election.

The chart charts the results of the election with each of the five bars in the graph representing one of the five candidates, starting with Leah King at the top, followed by Andra Beatty, Mary Kelleher, Jack Stevens, with James Hill at the bottom.

The bars show the vote breakdown, with the Absentee Vote being green, the Early Voting being brown and the Election Day Vote being purple.

Do you notice anything unusual?

Charts like this can be a revealing way to reveal data.

Have you noticed anything unusual yet?

Okay, I will give you a hint.

In the previous TRWD Board Election, the one where Marty Leonard and Jim Lane beat Craig Bickley and Miki Von Luckner, the results triggered the biggest election fraud investigation in Texas history.

With that investigation triggered by the way out of the norm number of absentee ballots cast for Marty Leonard and  Jim Lane. Somewhere around 10,000 absentee ballots. Receiving 10,000 votes used to be enough votes to give a candidate the win in a TRWD Board Election.

Do you notice anything unusual with those bars in the graph yet?

Well, let me just point it out to you, if you've not already noticed the suspicious oddity.

Leah King, Jack Stevens and James Hill were the candidates favored by the TRWD insiders, just like Marty Leonard and Jim Lane were the candidates favored with "extra help" the previous TRWD Board Election.

And now, two years later, in this most recent TRWD Board Election, once again the number of Absentee ballots cast for the favored candidates raises a red flag of suspicion.

First off, in the fraudulent previous TRWD Board Election around 10,000 absentee ballots were cast for the winners. In this most recent TRWD Board Election that number shrunk to a little over 2.000.

So, clearly this time the TRWD favored candidates did not benefit from fraudulent absentee ballots.

Or did they?

Look at the bar graph again. The green part of the bar graphs. The Absentee Ballot totals for Leah King, Jack Stevens and James Hill are virtually identical. How did that happen? Their vote totals for Early Voting and Election Day Voting are not virtually identical, but the Absentee Ballot totals are virtually the same for all three.

Once again, not confident of winning legitimately, were shenanigans in play to pad the vote total for the favored TRWD candidates?

Maybe there is some perfectly understandable explanation for what you see demonstrated in green above. But, I suspect Occam's Razor is the most logical explanation, as in the simplest, most obvious explanation is the answer.

As in this most recent TRWD Board of Directors Election once again had its results skewed by fraud...

Apparently I Got To Vote Because I Am A Stakeholding TRWD Founder

I saw that which you see here a day or two ago on Facebook. The following paragraph of explanatory text explains that which you see here...

Newcomers Leah McCloe King (green) and James Hill (red) dominated TRWD - Tarrant Regional Water District election. Incumbent Mary Kelleher (aqua) carried only Ryan Place and Handley.

Yes, this map shows you who won each precinct in the recent TRWD Board Election.

The results this time are very similar to the results of the previous TRWD Board Election. In that previous election the map was dominated by Jim Lane and Marty Leonard, whose domination was brought courtesy of what is believed to be the biggest election fraud ballot theft in Texas election history, with a statistically impossible high number of absentee ballots giving Lane and Leonard the win.

Of course, since that election  took place in what is now known as Crookedtown, Lane and Leonard were allowed to keep their ill gotten seats.

In the most recent TRWD Board Election the results map is dominated by Leah King and James Hill, whose domination was bought courtesy of hundreds of thousands of dollars, many of which came from Dallas, with that flood of money funding an unscrupulous campaign of lies and misinformation attacking Mary Kelleher and Andra Beatty.

This TRWD Board Election Map posting on Facebook generated an extremely interesting, extremely bizarre, short discussion which I shall share in its entirety, with the names of the posters not altered....

Marla Senter Morris: Some of us aren't allowed to vote!! Did you know north Fort Worth folks who live in the city don't get to vote on the water board?

Bud Kennedy: Only the stakeholders of the district -- the taxpayers who founded, established and funded it -- get to vote. Not new parts of town. That is how it should be.

Pam Humphrey: Really?

Thomas Torlincasi: But the new parts of town ....such as the Alliance Corridor mean millions of dollars in valuation changes for corporate or big money interests.....why aren't people in the water shed stakeholders?

Marla Senter Morris: Doesn't our water come from there? Do we pay taxes to the water district?

Bud Kennedy: No. Those outside the district are customers. Those inside the district are taxpayers, investors and stakeholders.

Thomas Torlincasi: Anyone impacted by the water district has a stake in its decisions. They're stakeholders by association.

Bud Kennedy: If I dine in your restaurant, I don't own the restaurant.

_______________

Oh, I see, according to the TRWD expert, Bud Kennedy, only the taxpayers who founded, established and funded the TRWD get to vote in a TRWD Board Election.

Well.  prior to escaping Fort Worth I voted in multiple TRWD Board Elections. I had no idea I was able to do so because I was a TRWD stakeholder who founded, established and funded the TRWD.

Lifelong Texans who have owned property for decades in the TRWD water shed are not allowed to vote in a TRWD election, whilst I, a Yankee newcomer, who has never owned property in Texas, was allowed to vote in TRWD Board Elections.

Yeah, that really makes a lot of sense.

I have no idea what point this Bud Kennedy person thinks he is making when he says he does not own the restaurants he dines in.

Thomas Torlincasi seems to make an excellent point when he suggests it is logical that those who are impacted by the TRWD should be able to vote in TRWD Board Elections.

Then again, the TRWD has quite a storied history of running amok without resorting to asking voters for permission to spend millions of dollars.

Like when the TRWD foisted on the public what was originally known as the Trinity River Vision, with no public vote on a public works project which has been so ill-managed it has evolved into the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, more commonly known as America's Biggest Boondoggle, with embarrassments like three simple little bridges being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, with the construction stalled for over a year.

With no explanation for the stalled construction.

And, apparently, those few who are allowed to vote on the TRWD's shenanigans, have no problem with the TRWD's inept money wasting management, which in addition to America's Biggest Boondoggle, also includes wasting a lot of money on bogus lawsuits, such as suing to try and take water from Oklahoma.

It seems outrageous, and wrong, to me, that all the Texans affected by the TRWD are not included in who votes for the TRWD.

Such as people who live in Haltom City. Apparently the people of that town are not TRWD "stakeholders" even though the town is impacted by the TRWD's water management.

Haltom City is plagued by flash flooding exacerbated by the TRWD's inept flood plain management.

The Haltom City flash flooding has been deadly.

And caused a lot of property damage, including one locally famous incident where North Texans watched TV coverage, day after day, as a Haltom City home teetered on the brink of toppling into Big Fossil Creek.

Another Haltom City flash flood drowned Ally Collins when Whites Branch Creek rampaged through Ally's home, and many others.

The Haltom City flash flooding problem triggered political activism in some Haltom City citizens, who soon found themselves appalled at the cavalier attitude of the public officials who were supposed to be concerned about issues, like out of control development developing without adequate mitigation of the increased water velocity due to the increased acreage covered by manmade obstacles to adequate, flood slowing, drainage.

Discovering the cavalier attitude of these public officials soon brought the realization of how absurd the TRWD's Trinity River Vision project is. A project projected to spend millions of dollars on unneeded flood control in an area where there has been no flooding for well over a half a century, because federal money was spent way back then to build levees which have kept the Trinity River under control ever since, as it flows through central Fort Worth.

And then there were the flooding issues in east Fort Worth,  east of the area where those levees had been built over a half century ago. This new flooding was also caused by poorly designed development and gas drillers wreaking havoc with the landscape, with no one holding them accountable for the resulting damage.

Mary Kelleher was one of those affected by this "new" flooding and decided to see if she could do something about making the TRWD  more responsible to the actual needs of the people the TRWD is supposed to serve.

Mary Kelleher was elected to the TRWD Board with the biggest vote total in TRWD history.

Mary Kelleher then spent four years trying to get the TRWD to act like a responsible public agency, with some success, along with a lot of maddening frustration.

But, good people, like Mary Kelleher, and the victims in Haltom City, find they are up against a corrupt machine, willing to steal elections, willing to spend incredible amounts of money to attack the character of those trying to shine a light on all the obvious corruption and mismanagement.

Basically, I think one can only conclude that fighting the Fort Worth Machine, the Good Ol' Boy Network, the 7th Street Gang, the Fort Worth Way, whatever you want to call it, is futile, until changes are made.

And one of those obvious changes is to expand who is allowed to vote for TRWD Board Members.

For anyone to say that voting for the TRWD is for "Only the stakeholders of the district -- the taxpayers who founded, established and funded it. Not new parts of town."

And that "That is how it should be" is clearly not only ridiculous, to suggest such is embarrassingly ridiculous, wrongheadedly embarrassingly ridiculous. And, well, just plain stupid....

A Stormy Look At Wichita Falls Circle Trail Water Fountain Space Needles

No, that is not the Wichita Falls Space Needle you are looking at here, with a rotating restaurant and observation deck at its top.

What you are looking at here is one of the many water fountains installed along the Wichita Falls Circle Trail, delivering the drinking pleasure needs of parched Circle Trailers.

This particular Circle Trail water fountain is located a couple hundred feet from my abode. Consequently I have never had the need to avail this particular water fountain of its drink delivery service.

However, I have availed myself of the water delivery service of other fountains along the Circle Trail.

As you can see, via the look at the sky above the Circle Trail Space Needle Water Fountain, clouds have invaded the usual blue space.

Thunderstorms, with hail, heavy rain and possible tornadoes are on the menu today for what is known as the Texoma zone of Texas and Oklahoma.

Currently the outer world is hot, humid and windy, with no lightning flashes, thunder booms, downpours or tornado sirens.

I have yet to turn on my air conditioning this year. Today's muggy humidity is tempting me to switch the A/C on. But, the ceiling fans  and open windows seem to be providing sufficient cooling.

For now...

Wichita Falls Caribbean Black Panther Warning Signs

Yesterday I think I mentioned that I had adopted a Black Panther baby who I named Blackie.

After learning about my adopted Black Panther baby someone with the fairly common name of Anonymous suggested that Blackie should visit Planned Parenthood lest I find myself with a herd of little Blackies.

I am almost 100% certain that Blackie is not going to become an unmarried Baby Mama. Planned Parenthood does its job. Well, at least it did before damage done by the Mango Menace.

It had been many days since I have taken a tour of my Caribbean neighborhood, so today I opted to do so.

I was very pleased whilst walking the alley between Tobago and Barbados to see one of my neighbors has installed a sign indicating people should be on the lookout for Blackie making an alley crossing.

But, Blackie is a Black Panther, not an Alley Cat...

Adopting A Wichita Falls Black Panther Baby

Many weeks ago I saw that a small black panther had moved to a secure location under the stairwell of the stairs which lead to the entry to my abode.

After weeks of seeing the small black panther act very skittish when ever she saw me, quickly retreating to her safe place, I decided that, obviously, all black lives matter, and so I took to calling the small black panther, Blackie, and then installed a bowl of water and panther food on the deck outside my patio door.

Blackie now arrives for breakfast every morning soon after the sun comes up for the day. Blackie particularly seems to enjoy her bowl of water. I suspect sourcing water was difficult for Blackie before her current constant supply showed up.

The resident crow, dove and sparrow population also seems to be enjoying Blackie's panther food.

Other than Miss Puerto Rico's cats I have not had much feline contact since way late in the last century. That feline was named Hortense. Hortense moved to Texas about two months before I did. Hortense flew down south. I used ground transport.

Within a year of moving to Texas Hortense had a stroke and died. Hortense was over 21 years old when she meowed her last meow. Hortense is buried in a horse corral in the hamlet of Haslet, located in far north Fort Worth.

Hortense was a house cat. I doubt Blackie will somehow turn into a house panther. But you never know. Blackie is darn cute. not as cute as Hortense was, but darn cute....

Congrats Mary Kelleher For Four Years Of Being An Honest Fort Worth Public Servant

Always a class act, Mary Kelleher graciously thanks those who have supported her efforts these past four years for endeavoring to shine a bright light on shady darkness.

What you see here is a partial screen cap of Mary's message to her FB friends on Facebook.

One of those FB friends thanked Mary for making a difference in Crookedtown.

I had not heard Fort Worth referred to as Crookedtown before. The name fits.

I have read no suggestions that the results of this latest TRWD Board Election are fraudulent, which was quickly the case the previous TRWD Board Election, which saw Craig Bickley and Miki Von Luckner defeated by incumbents Jim Lane and Marty Leonard, whose vote totals broke TRWD election records, with a ridiculous number of absentee ballots.

With that ridiculous number of absentee ballots triggering the biggest election fraud investigation in Texas history.

While so far there have been no allegations of election fraud with this most recent TRWD Board Election, there have been plenty of allegations that Crookedtown's favored trio of candidates, picked by the Fort Worth insiders, were helped by a HUGE amount of money, much of which was donated by Dallas donors.

And, with all that money, Crookedtown's candidates paid for an unseemly smear campaign of mailers besmirching the character of Mary Kelleher and Andra Beatty.

With Fort Worth lacking a real newspaper of record, engaging in anything remotely resembling investigative journalism, the smear tactics by Crookedtown's candidates were not reported.

Fort Worth's sad excuse for a newspaper actually participated in the Crookedtown candidate's smear tactics by publishing an editorial hit piece supposedly written by word challenged retiring TRWD president Vic Henderson, attacking Mary Kelleher, with the hit piece full of distortions, smears and lies.

The Star-Telegram, not subscribing to a doctrine of fairness, refused to publish a reply to the Vic Henderson hit piece.

And now, just as I was typing the above sentence I got a text message telling me that in yesterday's election the TRWD's favored trio received approximately 6,000 fewer mail-in absentee ballot votes than the previous TRWD Board Election, where thousands of ill gotten absentee ballots were used to fraudulently re-elect Jim Lane and Marty Leonard.

Why has there been no demand from anyone insisting Jim Lane  and Marty Leonard resign from their fraudulently obtained TRWD Board positions?

It's all perplexing, and just one more thing which makes Crookedtown so pitiful in so many ways, and so crooked...