Is Fort Worth The Biggest City In The World?

 

A few days ago in a blog post about Fort Worth Almost Being The Fastest Growing Big City In America mention was made of the fact that Fort Worth is unique among big cities in that the town has multiple wide open spaces within the town's borders, along with wide open spaces to expand to, unlike towns hemmed in by geography in the form of mountains or bodies of water, or surrounded by suburbs.

Last night, on Facebook, I saw a post from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy, he being the closest that newspaper has to an actual journalist, in which Mr. Kennedy wrote "We're #12: Fort Worth officially passes Jacksonville to become America's 12th largest city at 927,720 people..."

Some of Fort Worth's population growth comes from annexing territory previously not incorporated into a town. Doing this has seemed a bit bizarre, to me, at times. Such as annexing a narrow strip of territory all the way to D/FW International Airport.

I think the annexation actually includes part of the airport property.

Which renders it sort of ironic when landing at D/FW with the pilot welcoming those onboard to Dallas, whilst landing, sort of, in Fort Worth.

Fort Worth has a puny downtown, lacking things like department stores. I think there may now be a small grocery store of some sort downtown. There are few restaurants, and on the busiest shopping day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving, downtown Fort Worth is a ghost town. We have made mention of this ghost town fact a number of times in various venues including Having Fun Looking For Black Friday Shoppers Today In Downtown Fort Worth.

Via the comments to Mr. Kennedy's Facebook post I learned I was not alone in realizing that Fort Worth's population size is a bit misleading when thinking the number of people in a town somehow relates to that town's, well, being an actual big city with an actual big downtown.

Two of those comments...

Michael Doran: While technically true, the area within the Fort Worth city limits is so huge -- 355 square miles -- that I'm doubtful that it makes for a fair ranking by population. I would argue that anyone from Fort Worth who visits Seattle (84 mi²), Denver (155 mi²), Boston (90 mi²), or San Francisco (47 mi²) would say that those cities sure *seem* bigger than Fort Worth.

Paul Allen: Those cities are more urban, vs a sprawling city like Fort Worth. I don't think that should change the rankings though. Just came back from Seattle and you are right, it "feels" like a much bigger city because everything is stacked up. You hardly see anything under 5-6 floors inside the city. Many more skyscrapers and high-rise apartments, real, mostly functioning public transit gets people around. It feels like a city. Fort Worth feels more like a big suburb with a few tall buildings in the city center.

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I did not realize the size of Fort Worth was so huge.

355 square miles!

San Francisco is only 47 square miles. With Seattle slightly bigger at 84 square miles. Denver, at 155 square miles, is like Fort Worth, with wide open space to expand to. I have been to all those towns Mr. Doran mentioned, expect for Boston, and his opinion matches mine, in that San Francisco, Seattle and Denver sure do seem way bigger than Fort Worth. 

And Mr. Allen's observation that Fort Worth feels more like a big suburb with a few tall buildings in the city center, than an actual big city, seems accurate.

At 355 square miles in size, is Fort Worth the biggest city in the world? Likely not or we would have heard such bragged about, over and over again...

UPDATE: After hitting the publish button on this blog post I went to Twitter and what was the first thing I saw?

This...

Apparently we are in full on brag mode regarding Fort Worth's new population status. But, note the image included in this Twitter post. Photo documentation showing how puny downtown Fort Worth is.

Does not look like the downtown of a town with almost a million population, sprawled over 355 square miles...

Taking Linda Lou On MSU Bike Ride With Mustangs

I went on a long bike ride this final Sunday morning of the 2021 version of May.

About halfway through the bike ride I stopped at the location you see above to drink some water and to see why my phone had made its incoming text noise.

With the phone out of its bike storage location I decided to use it to take a photo. 

A time or two Linda Lou has asked me what the university I live near is like. Like as in how, asked I, a time or two.

To which Linda Lou asked is it big? Old? Lots of buildings? Brick?

I recollect answering yes to all Linda Lou's university questions. And added that the campus is flat, like most of Texas, not hilly like Western State University in my old home zone in Washington.

The horse known as a Mustang is the Midwestern State University mascot.

Hence the four Mustangs you see galloping through a pond. The first represents the Freshman class, carefully entering the pond, the second Mustang is a Sophomore, splashing right behind the Junior Mustang. the rear end of which is all you can see, whilst the Senior Mustang is leaping out of the pond, almost knocking us over.

The building behind the Mustangs is the newest on the MSU campus. That new building sort of illustrates, for Linda Lou, what MSU looks like, due to the fact that this new building cleverly incorporates all the various architectural styles one finds on the MSU campus, with that window wall you see behind the Mustangs being the one modern element which matches nothing else on campus. 

If I find myself feeling unusually energetic, on some day in the future, maybe I'll wander around the MSU campus photo documenting the various architectural styles, and how they are represented in the new building, known as Centennial Hall.

In the meantime tomorrow is Memorial Day. I won't be putting flowers on any nearby graves. I know no one in any nearby graves...

Fort Worth Almost Fastest Growing Big City In America

No, this is not one of our patented posts about something we see in west coast news sources we would never expect to see in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about something to do with Fort Worth. Or Texas.

Quite the contrary, this particular instance makes mention of both Fort Worth and Texas.

It was in this Friday morning's Seattle Times this Surprise! Seattle was the fastest-growing big U.S. city in 2020 article was found.

I would think multiple other big U.S. cities would be growing faster than Seattle, population-wise. Seattle is totally hemmed in, geographically, in every direction. Unlike other towns, like Fort Worth, with wide open spaces on which to build, or annex to the city, to make the town bigger geographically.

Where do all these new arrivals to Seattle find to live? I know one answer is tents set up alongside I-5, and other homeless encampments. Are the homeless Seattle newcomers counted in the census?

Three paragraphs from the Seattle Times article...

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that between July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020, Seattle had a net gain of about 16,400 residents, hitting a total population of 769,700. That pencils out to a growth rate of 2.2% last year.

And that means that among the 50 biggest U.S. cities, Seattle is — are you sitting down? — No. 1 for growth in 2020.

What about all those Sunbelt cities that everyone has been flocking to during the pandemic? Sure, they’re growing fast, but they were behind Seattle. Fort Worth, Texas, ranks No. 2, followed by Mesa, Arizona; Austin; and Tampa.

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Well, there you go, Seattle is growing the fastest in the U.S., with Fort Worth growing the second fastest, and Austin, which is also in Texas, growing fourth fastest.

I am not too familiar with Austin. Is the capitol of Texas like Fort Worth? With wide open space to expand to? Or is it hemmed in, like Seattle? I have been to Mesa, Arizona. That town is like Fort Worth, with wide open space to expand to. I know zero about Tampa, other than the town is in Florida.

I saw no mention made this morning in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about Fort Worth being the second fastest growing town in America. Usually such news would have the Star-Telegram crowing that this news was making towns far and wide green with envy, with calls for a city wide celebration.

The self deprecating first two paragraphs in today's Seattle Times article are of the sort one would never read in the Star-Telegram, what with its tendency to ridiculous hyperbole over something not worthy of being hyperbolized.

Those first two Seattle Times paragraphs...

Throughout the pandemic, we’ve been reading stories about people fleeing big cities for the suburbs, smaller towns, and rural areas. And, of course, here in Seattle, a lot of folks have talked about our city dying.

Well, it turns out, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of Seattle’s death are an exaggeration. Not only did Seattle keep growing in 2020, but it grew by a healthy amount.

Skagit Valley's Linda Lou Bainbridge Island Green Housing With Scotch Broom

The Skagit Valley's itinerant Linda Lou has currently wandered to an island south of the Skagit Valley, temporarily residing in a Green House on that island.

Green House in the Green New Deal sense of the Green word. As in this Green House is a high tech energy efficient resource saving domicile, with Siri controlling the house at Linda Lou's command.

The island Linda Lou is Green Housing on is called Bainbridge Island. Linda Lou has been enjoying driving around Bainbridge Island, yesterday seeing the colorful scene you see above. A hill covered with yellow Scotch Broom. Scotch Broom is a northwest bane of those who suffer allergies.

This is a real island, surrounded by the actual deep swift moving tidal waters of Puget Sound.

I make mention of this being a real island for the benefit of those few who read this blog who are denizens of Fort Worth, a town which calls a large chunk of Fort Worth land an island, even though that land chunk is not surrounded by water. But may one day be sort of surrounded by water if a cement lined ditch is ever dug, with Trinity River water diverted into the ditch, creating, in the minds of those with no clue what an island is, an imaginary island. 

An imaginary island already named. Panther Island.

More than once I have heard from those living elsewhere, such as areas of modern America, like the west coast, that I am making this up, that there is no way a town can collectively be this dumb.

Well, I am not making this up. It's even worse than the short version. Ever since 2014 Fort Worth has been trying to build three simple little bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to that imaginary island. Built in the hope that one day that cement lined ditch will get dug and filled with water.

Back to Linda Lou and Bainbridge Island.

Bainbridge Island is accessed by ferry from Seattle. Or via Highway 305's Agate Pass Bridge connection at the north end of the island, connecting Bainbridge Island to the Kitsap Peninsula of the Olympic Peninsula. That highway 305 bridge to Bainbridge Island was built over actual deep swift moving water, not the built over dry land Fort Worth method.

And the Agate Pass Bridge, built over actual deep swift moving water was built in one year. 1950. The bridge is 1,229 feet long, with the longest span 300 feet long, with the bridge deck 75 feet above the high water mark.

Let's take a look at Bainbridge Island's Agate Pass Bridge...

Again I aim at those in Fort Worth who have recently witnessed the partial completion of one of their town's three bridges being built over dry land, touted as being somehow so special they were gonna be iconic signature bridges, recognized the world over as being in Fort Worth. Most who have seen the new Fort Worth bridge have commented regarding how ordinary it looks, like a freeway overpass.

An odd looking freeway overpass, passing over nothing...

Access Denied: But I Don't Need Permission To Access The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

If I had a paranoid nature, that which you see above might have me thinking the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was offput by the time or two, well multiple dozens of times I have made mention of something erroneous I read in a Star-Telegram article, and has somehow managed to deny me access to Fort Worth's sad excuse for a newspaper of record.

That which you see screen capped above started happening yesterday, telling me I do not have permission to access the Star-Telegram on "this" server.

I don't know what is meant by "this" server. Is that my server being referenced? Or the Star-Telegram's server?

What I do know is that it was easy to get past the lack of permission to access the Star-Telegram on whatever server is the issue...

Bike Riding With The Fishing Lady Of Sikes Lake

The weather has been a bit inclement of late, so I have not been getting my regular dose of endorphins via aerobic activity. 

The 4th Monday of the 2021 version of May is also a bit inclement, with a threatening sky, and predictions of downpours and thunder.

Feeling stir crazy, today I decided to brave the elements to go on a bike ride.

I ended up having myself a mighty fine time rolling my wheels north on the Circle Trail, then through the Wichita Falls version of Beverly Hills, passing through the virtually empty Midwestern State University campus before crossing Midwestern Boulevard to ride around scenic Sikes Lake, where I saw the above lady sitting in a field of pink evening primroses, with a flock of geese, casting a line into the lake.

I do not know why the lady was fishing so far back from the lake edge. I could have asked, maybe, but it would seem rude to interrupt her peaceful nature communing.

Below you get the full, uncropped view of the lady fishing in Sikes Lake.

The above view also gives you a good look at that inclement weather I made mention of.

Due to the smooth look of the lake one would think such indicated no wind was blowing. I do not know why the lake was looking so smooth, because there was a strong wind blowing.

One more day of inclement weather is forecast, with a return to blue sky on Wednesday. 

Big Bad Booboo On Publishing Blog Comments

 Awhile back Google overhauled their Blogger application with which I do the blogging thing. The changes took some getting used to.

One of the changes I had not noticed was the item you can see via the above screen cap. On the left you see a column. There are two items in that column that are orange. The one we are interested in is the second orange item.

Comments

Previously if I clicked "Comments" a sub-menu would open showing the options of "Published", "Awaiting Moderation" and "Spam".

Previously if I clicked "Comments" I would see those sub-menu options, with the "Awaiting Moderation" option telling me the number of comments waiting to be moderated.

So, a couple days ago I clicked "Comments" and saw there was no longer those aforementioned sub-menu options. It took me way too long to figure out I now had to click in another location to see those sub-menu options, only to find myself mortified to see there were dozens of comments awaiting being moderated.

Some of those commenters repeated their comments when they did not see them published. And then followed that with comments asking what does one have to do to make a comment on the Durango blog.

I have now hit the publish button on those comments that had been waiting to be moderated. Well, almost all of them. There were a couple which were examples of why one moderates such things.

Another thing Google did, which helped cause me this mortification, is previously comments were sent by Google to the primary email tab in Gmail. I have now learned Google sends comments to the social email tab.

I had wondered a time or two why comments seemed to have dried up, but did not spend much time wondering about it. I figured I had just grown boring and non-controversial, so no one felt compelled to give me a piece of their mind.

Looking at the stats Google includes in the Blogger Dashboard, I was surprised to see that during the long long time this blog has existed there have been slightly over 7,500 comments.

I would not have guessed the number to be so high. 

Though I do remember a time or two or three when something would cause a comment frenzy.

Such as the time sinkholes near Wink, out in West Texas, caused a comment frenzy of dozens, coming in so fast I lost control of it. As soon as I would publish a comment, two more would come in, all arguing about sink holes, if I remember right.

It may have been more complicated than simply being about sinkholes...

I've Been COVID Vaccinated So Free To Roam The Country

 A little over 24 hours ago I got shot with the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine.

If I remember right this was the first time this century I have been shot.

Methinks needle technology has improved since the last time I got stuck with a needle. Because I barely felt the needle go into my arm yesterday.

It was so pain-free I did not realize I had been shot, so about 30 seconds after I thought I felt a little tingle I asked the shot administrator when are you gonna shoot me? 

The shot administrator then said the needle has been in your arm for a half a minute.

I've had zero after effect. No pain at the injection site. Nothing.

This morning I went to both ALDI and across the street from ALDI, to Walmart.

ALDI has added a new sign at the store's entry since I was last at that location a couple days ago. No longer is there a sign saying all who enter must be masked. Now a sign says if you have been vaccinated ALDI is not requiring you to wear a mask.

And then on to Walmart I was surprised to see all the masks required signs have been removed. Most Walmart employees were still masked, but I saw several without.

I wore my mask into both ALDI and Walmart.

It will take me awhile to shake the feeling that I don't want to be mask-less lest people think I'm an idiot Republican right wing nut job Trumper.

The majority of people in both ALDI and Walmart were wearing masks today.

I suspect the number of maskers will be steadily dropping as time marches forward. And soon I will feel free to roam about the country.

Unless something bad happens...

Looking At Panzerschwein In Texas With Nephew Jason

This morning Spencer Jack's paternal parental unit sent the above to my phone.

My Favorite Nephew Jason is as fluent in Deutsch as I am, so I don't think he was sending me this so that I could explain what panzerschwein in English.

Even people who are not fluent in German might easily figure out, sort of, what panzerschwein is.

Panzers were scary German tanks in WWII.

Armored tanks.

Schwein is what many called German in WWII.

Pigs.

So, panzerschwein are armored pigs.

Now, what animal might a German settlers experiencing the wilds of frontier Texas think looked like an armored pig?

If you answered "armadillo" methinks you are likely correct.

I do not remember ever seeing a single armadillo at my current location. When I lived further south, in the D/FW zone, I frequently saw armadillos. Sometimes with baby armadillos, which are extremely cute.

Let me see if I can find a photo of one of my encounters with baby armadillos...

I remember this encounter like it was yesterday, but it was well over a decade ago. At River Legacy Park in Arlington.

I got down low on the paved trail to take the picture. The baby armadillos sensed something was there, they do not see too well when young. The four began moving towards me. I backed off. Their mother did not seem at all concerned.

I wonder if those early German settlers in Texas tried to make bacon out of what they thought were armored pigs?

No Third Kind Close Encounter In Wichita Falls

This morning I was driving a senior citizen to various locations to pick up various prescriptions when at one point, when stopped at a red light, I looked up to see what looked to be a flying saucer landing.

This was not a close encounter of the third kind, because I saw no life forms exiting the flying saucer.

This is looking southwest at the intersection between the Seymour Highway and Brook Avenue, with Arby's directly left, out the driver's side window.

The lower part of the flying saucer landing appeared to be a cloth material, waving in the wind, which you can not see, because this is a photograph, not a video. You also can not see the rain falling, but you can make out a drop or two on the windshield.

There is little interesting, structure wise, in this town. Thus finding this flying saucer/UFO like structure to be interesting, structure wise.

It takes little to be interesting these limiting COVID days. But, such appears to rapidly be getting better.

Tomorrow I get the Johnson & Johnson COVID shot in the arm. And once that vaccination is confirmed I am driving to D/FW to the first time in well over a year.

There is a bridge there I want to drive over...

TRWD Board Violates Texas Open Meetings Law Again

Yesterday Elsie Hotpepper emailed me a link to an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram titled Did Tarrant water district directors violate open meetings law when they discussed manager?

This is a long article containing a lot of what seem like obfuscations trying to deny the obvious fact that Texas law regarding open meetings had been violated.

This is not the first time the TRWD Board has been accused of this type thing. Plotting shenanigans behind closed doors with the public and press shut out.

This current instance involves discussing the hiring of a manager to replace the controversial current TRWD general manager, Jim Oliver. 

The controversy stems from doing this before the newly elected TRWD Board member, Mary Kelleher, once again is sworn in as a board member.

The current TRWD board president, who Mary Kelleher defeated in the recent election, Jack Stevens, wants to make the selection of the new general manager before Mary comes on board.

Mary Kelleher tends to asks questions, which make those who like their shenanigans not to be questioned, a bit uncomfortable.

Now those living in parts of America where something like a water board is of no consequence, well, such is not the case in Fort Worth and Tarrant County.

Where water is gold.

Basically the situation is a 21st century version of the early 20th century California Water Wars.

For example, this line from the Wikipedia article about the California Water Wars could be applied to the Tarrant Region Water District (TRWD) Board...

The water rights were acquired through political fighting and, as described by one author, "chicanery, subterfuge ... and a strategy of lies".
 
In the California Water Wars it was the chicanery, subterfuge and lies involved in taking water from the Owens Valley which sparked the war. 

In the TRWD Water Wars it is the chicanery, subterfuge and lies involved in things like building a reservoir east of Dallas, in cooperation with Dallas, along with a pipeline, all costing a lot of money. We are talking a lot of money in the billions type of a lot of money. The deal struck with Dallas regarding this reservoir and pipeline and who gets the water and how and when they get it, is the core of that particular controversy.

And then there is the TRWD's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, which has been limping along for most of this century, spending money with little to show for the spending. And what one can see are things like unfinished little freeway overpass type bridges, being built over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, with that imaginary island made possible only if a cement lined ditch is ever dug under those little bridges, with Trinity River water diverted into the ditch.

A less expensive example of  TRWD TRV chicanery is an item such as the "work of art", at an almost million dollar cost, installed years ago at the center of a roundabout, installed years before that roundabout become functional. Why was money spent on this "work of art" which some have described as an homage to an aluminum trash can, and others as a giant cheese grater? Did the artist have a friend on the TRWD or TRV board who was helping this artist by directing this art project to its almost million dollar beneficiary? Why was there no design competition? Or some sort of open call for ideas of what to install at the center of that roundabout? And why was it installed years before the roundabout was serving its roundabout function?

Another example of this type TRWD chicanery was when the TRWD finagled to buy the property on which Lagrave Field was located. Board member, Jim Lane, railroaded this one, to help his financially beleaguered friend who owned the property. If I remember right something like $21 million was paid by the TRWD for this chunk of land. And then part of that chunk was turned into the world's first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century.

Chicanery, subterfuge and a strategy of lies, yes, that sort of sums of the modus operandi of the TRWD over the years I have watched it in action.

I suspect soon Mary Kelleher will be getting answers to those questions she was blocked from getting her first time around on the TRWD Board.

Maybe we will learn why J.D. Granger has not been fired. And how that homage to an aluminum trash can came to be. And how much has been spent on junkets and other nonsense by J.D. Granger and his merry band of grifting river floaters...

Did Thousands Celebrate Fort Worth's New Bridge With A Walk Across?

Saw that which you see above, on Facebook, yesterday. An aerial view, looking north, across San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, in 1937, on a day in May when people walked across the new bridge whilst planes flew overhead.

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most iconic signature structures in the world. You see a photo of that bridge and you know what and where it is. Like seeing the Statue of Liberty, or the Eiffel Tower.

It took less than four years to build the Golden Gate Bridge, back in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. The bridge was built over deep, fast moving saltwater, with widely varying tidal levels. 

Meanwhile in Fort Worth, Texas.

Way back in October of 2014 Fort Worth had a TNT exploding ceremony to mark the start of construction of three simple little bridges, over dry land, intended to one day connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, when water is added under the bridges via a cement lined ditch.

Those three simple little bridges were touted as destined to become iconic signature bridges, recognized world-wide as being in Fort Worth.

The first of the three bridges to be somewhat completed opened to some traffic in March of 2021.

Almost 7 years after that TNT explosion marked the start of construction.

I do not know if San Francisco had a TNT exploding ceremony, or a ceremony of any sort, to mark the start of construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I also do not know if Fort Worth had a celebratory day with its new bridge, where people could walk across the short new bridge, whilst airplanes flew overhead. 

I suspect not.

Fort Worth Congresswoman Kay Granger's son, J.D., was given the job of being the Executive Director of what eventually became known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

The builders of these bridges.

J.D. was given this job to help motivate his mother to secure federal funds for the project, because Fort Worth was too poor, and did not know how to finance public works projects in the way towns do who wear their Big City Pants.

J.D.'s salary eventually went over $200 K a year, plus lots of perks, such as junkets to other towns. 

Eventually, a few years after it became obvious that Fort Worth had become home to America's Biggest Boondoggle, J.D. was removed as Executive Director of the TRV, with an experienced project manager hired to replace him.

J.D. was given a new title, and no pay cut.

A sane town would long ago have demanded J.D. be fired. Particularly after it became widely known he was engaging in an extra-marital affair with a Trinity River Vision subordinate, creating what is known as a hostile work environment.

A sane town would also long ago have replaced J.D.'s mother with a Representative in Congress who actually represented the people they were supposed to represent.

But, that ain't Fort Worth.

An amusing irony of those three pitiful little bridges being touted as one day being iconic signature structures representing Fort Worth to the world, is that that likely is going to be a reality.

Those three bridges will symbolize a town which has trouble getting much done. From installing sidewalks along streets, to installing modern facilities in the town's parks, allowing the removal of the ubiquitous embarrassing outhouses.

Symbolizing a poorly thought out public works project the public never voted for, claiming to be a vitally needed flood control scheme, where there has been no flooding for well over half a century due to flood control measures already in place which the rest of America already paid for.

The un-needed flood control scheme masked a poorly thought out economic development scheme, which was designed to enrich those who owned property in the area which has become America's Biggest Boondoggle, property owners such as the Granger Grifter Gang. And others.

Am I erroneous? Was there a celebration with the opening of the first of Fort Worth's pitiful little freeway overpass-like bridges? With the public walking across the new bridges.

If so I saw no photos of such, and would appreciate seeing one if such exists...

All Sikes Lake Goslings On Display Today With Pink Evening Primroses

On this 3rd Saturday of the 2021 version of May I rolled my bike north on the Circle Trail for a few miles, with a windy assist from the south speeding me along effortlessly. Eventually I tired of the easy sailing, so I exited the Circle Trail to head west to Sikes Lake. 

Whilst in the outer world today the temperature was nearing 80, with that aforementioned wind blowing in clouds which later today are scheduled to produce booming thunder and possible big balls of hail.

My past couple rides around Sikes Lake I have not seen that big throng of goslings I have previously made mention of. I have no clue where they go when they are not seen. It is not like there are a lot of places to hide dozens of geese.

Yesterday's bike ride I came up on a mom and dad goose pair with four goslings. There were waddling on the parking lot of Vernon College, which is located at the northwest end of Sikes Lake. I would have taken a photo of those geese at that odd location, but at that point in time I was focused on my malfunctioning music playing device.

Today I saw all the geese previously seen.

The big flock of dozens of goslings, and their full grown guardians, were first seen exiting the lake. Doing such appeared to be a struggle for some of the goslings. I crossed the bridge and got myself south of the flock to take the photo you see above, where you can see some of the goslings in the field of pink evening primroses.

A short distance, as in about 50 feet, to the east of the flock of gosling frolicking in the primroses, I came upon what appeared to be the goose family I saw yesterday at Vernon College.

Minus one gosling.

I have been told it is treacherous sailing for the goslings when they are paddling on the lake. There are big fish in Sikes Lake.

Catfish and bass.

I have seen those monsters jump out of the lake to catch a fly. Apparently those big fish will also quickly swallow a little gosling floating on by. Such would likely happen so quickly mom and dad goose would have no clue what happened to one of their babies.

Mother Nature can be a harsh mama at times...

The Serious Texas Hoodoo Cairn Controversy

Long ago, in the first decade of this century, I regularly hiked the Tandy Hills in Fort Worth.

At some point during that first decade there was a news story out of Utah about a scout master leading his troop of Boy Scouts in toppling over a Hoodoo in Kodachrome State Park. That state park is located right by Bryce Canyon National Park, at a much lower elevation, and features similar rock formations.

Around the time the scout master got in trouble in Utah an artfully stacked pile of rocks appeared next to one of the Tandy Hills trails. I remember seeing this and thinking it to be a remarkable feat of rock balancing. I took a photo and blogged about it, speculating on what created this remarkable feat of rock balancing. And with Utah Hoodoos fresh on my mind, I jokingly speculated about this, wondering something along the line "Was this a natural formation I had not noted before? A Texas version of a Utah Hoodoo".

Upon returning the next day I found the Tandy Hills Hoodoo had been toppled, just like that Utah Hoodoo. And then over and over and over and over again, new Hoodoos would appear on the Tandy Hills, always to be knocked down again.

So, yesterday I made mention of having been erroneous regarding the correct name of the Wichita Bluff Nature Area. This prompted an amusing comment from someone named Cowtown Crude...

Cowtown Crude has left a new comment on your post "Learned To Remove S Biking Wichita Bluff Nature Area With Thunder Cracked Window":

"...that I have been erroneously adding an 's' to Bluff.".

You also incorrectly refer to cairns as hoodoos.

Cairns - a mound of rough stones built as a memorial or landmark, typically on a hilltop or skyline. Man-made

Hoodoos - shafts of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins. Naturally occurring.

A recent episode of Jeopardy! included a clue with cairns as the answer.

_____________________

I knew those piles of rocks were not really Hoodoos, and that such piles were often manmade trail markers known as Cairns. But, I think I will stick with wrongly calling these remarkable feats of rock balancing Hoodoos.

Scroll down past the below Cairns and you will see my all time favorite photo, and some Washington Cairns

At some point in time during the 1990s, my nephews Christopher and Jeremy took me to the Mount Baker Ski Area on a warm September day.

That is my Favorite Nephew Jeremy on the left, which would make that my Favorite Nephew Christopher on the right. If you regularly read this blog, a few days ago you saw a photo of Jeremy and Christopher kissing their mother during Christopher's wedding weekend in Cabo San Lucas.

Jeremy and Christopher are sitting on top of Tabletop Mountain. Behind them is Mount Shuksan. The Mount Baker volcano is in the direction Christopher is looking.

And behind Jeremy and Christopher, between the nephews and Mount Shuksan, you can see a row of Cairns. I am just about 100% at the point in time I saw these I did not refer to them as Hoodoos. I don't think I knew of Hoodoos then. I don't remember if I knew they were known as Cairns at that point in time.

Looking at that photo of JR and CJ it causes me that homesick feeling. I was looking forward to seeing such scenery this summer. I doubt the hike up Tabletop would have happened. That would be fun though. It's an easy hike with a long series of switchbacks taking you to the top.

I do not plan on visiting the Wichita Bluff Nature Area Hoodoo Cairns today. But, my current plans may change as the hours of the day roll on by...

Learned To Remove S Biking Wichita Bluff Nature Area With Thunder Cracked Window

This morning I drove my bike to the east parking lot access to the Circle Trail on Loop 11. I had planned to roll my bike's wheels east on the Circle Trail to see what the current state of progress is of the construction of the link to the Circle Trail in Lucy Park.

But, the trail in that direction was blocked today by jackhammering on the trail near the parking lot.

So, instead of east I headed west to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area, where I realized today, upon seeing the entry sign, that I have been erroneously adding an 's' to Bluff.

Apparently this is only one Wichita Bluff.

I think I turned the Bluff plural because there is more than one instance of the trail going up and down on what I assumed were separate bluffs.

Anyway, I had myself a mighty fine time doing some speeding bike riding. And I managed to have on the right amount of clothing. With the temperature in the high 50s, and a wind blowing from the north, sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt kept me from getting too chilly.

Blue sky is scheduled to return tomorrow.

Yesterday's thunderstorm did damage.

Damage to my abode. 

A strike of lightning and the simultaneous clap of thunder felt like an earthquake, vibrating the floor and walls. And cracking the glass in one of my kitchen windows.

It has been over 20 years since I have experienced a real earthquake. I never felt any of the fracking quakes with plagued the D/FW area when the Barnett Shale earth poking was going on.

Wichita Bluffs Nature Area Wildflowers

This is the time of year when Texas is at its most scenic. Well, more accurately, this is the only time of year when the Texas landscape is naturally scenic.

As you can see, the Wichita Bluffs Nature Area is alive with a little color, and a lush jungle of green. 

Til today it had been awhile since I went hiking on the Wichita Bluffs. I do not remember last spring, or the spring before that, the Wichita Bluffs being this green, with so many wildflowers.

Conditions this year must be optimum for wildflowers to bloom. Even so, I have only seen the State Wildflower of Texas where people have planted it in their landscaping at their house. I've not seen a single bluebonnet blooming naturally anywhere on the landscape at my location in North Texas.

The last time I visited the Wichita Bluffs, the area where Hoodoos arise, the area had no Hoodoos. Today there was the Hoodoo you see above. There were no wildflowers blooming by the Hoodoo.

I think the orange wildflower you see above is known as an Indian Paintbrush. I could easily be wrong about that. I have no idea what the purplish/blue wildflower's name is.

As you can see, via the photo at the top, it is cloudy here today. A slight drizzle drizzled whilst I was hiking.

Yesterday the outer world heated to nearly 90. Today a big chill has cooled the outer world down into the 50s. Thunderstorms are on the weather menu for later today...

Happy Mothers' Day...

I don't know if this is my Favorite Nephew David, or my Favorite Nephew Theo who is correcting his teacher's erroneous correction in the above New Yorker illustration....

You Know You Are From Washington When You Have A Favorite Brand Of Cannabis Mayonnaise

On Facebook this morning I saw a Heinz or Hunts version of mayonnaise which contained cannabis. This later  disappeared from Facebook when I went to find the pot mayonnaise image for blogging purposes.

I thought I would make mention of this and ask anyone who might know, who lives in one of the free American states, like Washington, Oregon, Colorado,  Arizona, Alaska, and others I am not remembering right now, if such a product is now sold in grocery stores.

I Googled looking for the image of the Heinz or Hunts green colored product, to no avail. But, I found others.

Also Googled to learn there are now 16 states which have pretty much decriminalized the use of marijuana. Along with Washington, D.C.

When Washington the state legalized the sale of recreational marijuana products, one of my nephews sent me a package which contained mint chocolates infused with cannabis.

I am fairly sure sending such to one of the backward, repressive states is likely breaking some sort of law.

It is so strange how states can be so different. One state, with the population highly educated, with good schools, resulting in a progressive liberal population, while another state, with the population not so well educated, with the schools not having a good reputation, resulting in a repressive, conservative population.

I remember shortly before moving to Texas, being at a festival in Fremont, in Seattle.

Fremont declared its independence from the U.S. decades ago, claiming then to be the Free Republic of Fremont. I may have the name wrong.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Fremont acquired some communist era artifacts, like statues. All in good fun, but of the sort which would have ignorant right wing nut jobs ranting in other parts of America.

Like where I am now.

Anyway, I was at this festival in Fremont, it may have been the Summer Solstice Festival, the one which begins with the big naked bike ride, which I have never seen. So, Wanda and I are wandering around and we see this guy hawking hash brownies for $1. There was a policeman about 10 feet from the hash brownies guy, who had a steady stream of customers, which soon included me and Wanda.

Well, that was one tasty brownie and it made for a much more interesting Fremont Festival experience.

Point being, well before the product was legalized, a permissive tolerance policy was pretty much in play in Washington.

And then I moved to Texas, where the concept of a permissive tolerance policy has just way too many syllables for most Texans to understand.

Speaking of Washington, also on Facebook I saw a semi-amusing item credited to comedian Jeff Foxworthy, who, apparently, now lives somewhere in Washington and who has lived there long enough to make the following observations about living in Washington...

1. If someone in a Lowes/Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Washington.

2. If you've worn shorts, flip-flops and a warm-jacket at the same time, you live in Washington.

3. If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Washington.

4. If you measure distance in hours, you live in Washington.

5. If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Washington.

6. If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Washington. (That is “if” you have “AC”)

7. If you can drive through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Eastern Washington. If you live in Western Washington and can’t drive through 2” of snow and are in a ditch or have stalled out in the middle of the road, you are now pissing off all those who migrated from Eastern Washington to Western Washington, who now regret their choice. 

8. If you get your kid's Halloween costumes to fit over 2 layers of clothes or under a raincoat, you live in Washington.

9. If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with leaves, mud or ice, you live in Washington.

10. If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Washington.

11. If you feel guilty throwing bottles, cans or paper in the trash, you live in Washington.

12. If you know more than 10 ways to order coffee, you live in Washington.

13. If you know more people who own boats than have air conditioning, you live in Washington.

14. If you stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal, you live in Washington.

15. If you consider that if it has no snow on it (with the exception of the recently erupted), it’s not a ‘real’ mountain, then you live in Washington.

16. If you can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Tullys, you live in Washington.

17. If you know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon, you live in Washington.

18. If you know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Snoqualamie, (he misspelled Snoqualmie) Wenatchee , Spokane , Umpqua, Yakima and Willamette, (the Willamette is a river in Oregon. When my mom and dad moved from Washington to Eugene, where I was born, they were giggled at due to mis-pronouncing the name of the river which runs through Eugene as Willa-meetee), you live in Washington.

19. If you consider swimming an indoor sport, you live in Washington.

20. If you can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Thai food, you live in Washington.

21. If you go camping with a tarp, scotch guarded cloths and waterproof matches on you, you live in Washington.

22. If you have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain, you live in Washington.

23. If you think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists, you definitely live in Washington.

24. If you buy new sunglasses every single year because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time, then you live in Washington.

25. If you actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your Washington friends, you live or have lived in Washington.

___________________

Now I am off to Amazon to see if I can order some Cannabis Mayonnaise. One would think if such is available it would be on Amazon, what with Amazon being headquartered in Seattle...

Bike Riding With Dozens Of Goslings In Sikes Lake

Rolled my bike to Sikes Lake this second Saturday of the 2021 version of May. A couple days ago I was at this location and saw a few dozen goslings being herded across the paved trail, heading to the lake. Walkers and bikers stopped to watch and not interrupt the passage. 

The guardian geese get quite aggressive with their protecting the babies duty. You get a warning hiss noise with a tongue stuck out and wagging. I have not pressed the issue far enough to see what happens if one presses forward toward the hissing tongue.

I have been goosed by a goose before. I believe that is the correct term indicating being bitten by an angry goose. It is painful. It happened to me in a raspberry patch in Washington when I was a pre-teenager. 

The temperature was in the mid 80s whilst biking. The wind blew strong from the south. So strong it made for slow going in the lowest gear when heading home via the Circle Trail.

I saw a lot of golfers golfing on the golf course east side of Holliday Creek. How does one golf when the wind is blowing 30 miles per hour, with gusts?

In Cabo San Lucas With Latest Addition To Extended Jones Family

That is my Favorite Nephew Christopher you see above, with his newly wed wife, my Favorite Niece-in-Law Carissa.

Christopher and Carissa are in the Weston branch of the Jones Family, located in Arizona.

The nuptials took place May 1 at a location in Cabo San Lucas called the Garza Blanca Resort.

As you can see, via the photo documentation above, attendees to the wedding were required to be attired in earth tones. 

Via additional photo documentation it appears Christopher's younger brother, my Favorite Nephew Jeremy, was his usual rebel self and did not follow the earth tone edict.

Then again, I may be wrong, and blue is an earth tone. 

That is Jeremy, in blue, and his older brother, Christopher, in earth tones, kissing their mother, my Little Sister Jackie, who is also known as my Favorite Jackie Sister.

I know the name of Jackie's earth tone is Champagne. I know this because Jackie told me such. 

This is the first time I was not able to attend the wedding of one of my nephews. This was the first nephew wedding which did not take place in the United States.

I just remembered, I also did not attend my Favorite Nephew Joey's wedding. But that one does not count because I was not invited, because Joey and Monique eloped. At least that is what I was told. Joey and Monique got married in Montana, which is in the United States, and so attending those nuptials would not have required a passport.

That and the Joey/Monique nuptials took place prior to the COVID nightmare.

COVID made flying to Cabo a more difficult wedding to attend, in addition to needing a passport.

I can not help but wonder which nephew wedding is up next. Jason 2.0? Jeremy? David? Theo?

If Vegas were taking odds I would bet on Theo's being the next nephew wedding to take place, hopefully somewhere in the United States, well after COVID has faded into history....

Way Back To 1989 With Jason & Joey

Yesterday on Facebook I saw a photo posted by my Favorite Ex-Sister-in-Law, Cindy. 

Cindy is Spencer Jack and Hank Frank's Grandma. 

Which would make Grandma Cindy Jason and Joey's maternal parental unit.

The photo was of the group sort, a collection of baseballers assembled for some sort of baseball thing at Lake Padden in Bellingham.

Bellingham is the last semi-big town one drives through on I-5 before reaching the border with Canada.

Lake Padden Park is of the sort I really do not see much of in Texas. As in a city park which is HUGE, with multiple amenities. Miles of trails, some quite challenging. Excellent swimming. Multiple playfields for various sports. Amenities like modern restrooms and water running out of a faucet. This park can get a bit overwhelmed on a HOT summer day. When I lived in Washington I frequented Lake Padden frequently.

And this is not even Bellingham's only big park. Whatcom Falls Park is a scenic wonderland the likes of which do not exist at my current location. Again, miles of trails, a swimming hole like something out of a a movie.

Think Blue Lagoon without palm trees.

But containing a forest of big old growth evergreen trees...

Anyway, back to Jason & Joey. The photo above, cropped from a larger photo, was taken in 1989. That is Jason on the left, making that Jason's little brother, Joey, on the right.

Cindy remarked, in a comment on this post, that this year, the 1989 young version of Jason turns 42.

Turns 42, with a kid, Spencer Jack, older than Jason was in 1989.

The rapid passage of time really is not for the faint hearted...

Way Back Machine To 2014 TRWD Mary Kelleher Censure Scandal Protest

Last night my phone chirped with a text message from an inquiring mind inquiring if I could find photos of the time the TRWD (Tarrant Region Water District) Board made a spectacle of itself censuring Mary Kelleher. This resulted in a near riot of protesters inside and outside the TRWD's palatial headquarters on the Trinity River.

To find the requested protest photos I went to this blog you are reading right now and entered "Mary Kelleher Protest" into the search tool.

This brought up multiple posts on the subject, with the latest one being from July 4, 2014, titled Mary Kelleher Has Had Enough Of The TRWD's Jim Oliver's Attempts To Bully, Intimidate And Harass Public Officials. You see part of that blog post screen capped at the top.

Jim Oliver was the Executive Dictator of the TRWD during Mary Kelleher's first term on the TRWD Board. As the title says, Jim Oliver acted like a bully, one with what is known as typical of Little Man Syndrome. Men with Little Man Syndrome are intimated by a woman like Mary Kelleher.

Jim Oliver will not be a problem for Mary Kelleher this time around serving on the TRWD Board.

The blog post with the protest photos was from the day Mary Kelleher was censured, April 29, 2014.

You can go to the A Packed Meeting Room With Protesters Outside Greets TRWD Board Mary Kelleher Censure Hearing post (screen capped above) and see an additional photo of this protest.

I was surprised to see this took place way back in 2014. It seems so recent, as in not way back seven years ago.

I do not remember why I did not go to this protest. I recollect there was a good reason at the time, but I forget what it was.

This time around I suspect if Mary Kelleher chooses to talk to the press about some frustration she is having over trying to obtain some TRWD documents she will not be censured by the other members of the TRWD Board...

Isn't Fort Worth One Of The 15 Most Beautiful Cities In America?

Of late I have found myself watching a lot of YouTube. Watching not via a browser on my computer, but via ROKU streaming on my TV. 

Last night among the YouTube videos I watched was one titled "15 Most Beautiful Cities in America."

Such lists are always subjective, what with there being no data criteria which might make such a list some sort of scientific certainty.

This particular list of 15 seems particularly goofy. Watch the video and listen closely to the narrator's description of St. Augustine, Florida, for an example of goofy.

I have been to many of these 15 cities, including #12, Bozeman, Montana. I have passed through that town a number of times. I remember nothing about it, other than one time stopping at a Burger King to clean off all the bugs which had hit my windshield to a degree which had greatly diminished visibility.

There are three west coast cities on this list of 15. I have been to all the cities on the west coast. This video has one of those west coast cities as being the #1 Most Beautiful. You will have to watch the video below to see which town is #1.

I will just say I was surprised San Francisco was not one of those 3 west coast cities on the list. I will also just say that in my subjective opinion the two most beautiful cities on the west coast are San Francisco and Seattle. 

I would add the north of Seattle version of Vancouver, but, even though that town is on the west coast, it is not in America.

There is one Texas town on this list of 15.

No, it isn't Fort Worth.

I wonder what Fort Worth natives think who seldom leave their town, even to go to Dallas, let alone leave Texas, who are subjected to the local propaganda about Fort Worth from dubious sources, like the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which will report to its readers that some ordinary thing in Fort Worth is making towns far and wide green with envy.

Do those Fort Worth natives who read the propaganda about their town find it perplexing that their town is never on a list of this Most Beautiful Cities sort?

Well, there was that time, early this century, when a Washington, D.C. lobbying group had Fort Worth on a list of 10 most livable cities, due to something to do with the urban village concept. Fort Worth had a city wide celebration to celebrate this amazing accolade. I am not making that up. It is true.

A few months after Fort Worth made towns far and wide green with envy due to being on this list I had reason to have lunch with the Deputy Mayor of Tacoma. Tacoma was also on this list of 10 most livable cities. Tacoma has clearly defined urban villages, so awarding this award to Tacoma I could understand. I have never understood where Fort Worth's urban villages are. 

Anyway, I asked the Tacoma Deputy Mayor if Tacoma had a city wide celebration after winning this prestigious award. He laughed and said no, we did not, we sent a thank you letter and that was the end of it. I then told him Fort Worth had a city wide celebration. You must be making that up, he said in reply. Nope, that really happened. How embarrassing the Deputy Mayor said in reply.

Yup, said I, Fort Worth has a way of embarrassing itself like that.

This was well before the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle and the Fort Worth Cabela's is gonna be the top tourist attraction in Texas embarrassments.

Til moving to Texas and being exposed to Fort Worth, I did not know a town could be green with envy about something.

Watch the video to see which Texas town is the Most Beautiful. I would have picked Austin or San Antonio.

Water Roaring Over Lake Wichita Falls

With a strong wind blowing from the north today seemed a good day to roll south on the Circle Trail.

Having a windy assist makes for a speedy bike ride, til the part of the ride comes to head the other direction, into the wind.

Last week's rain had Holliday Creek running more water by my abode than I remember seeing after any previous rainstorms. It's been several day and there is still a lot of water making its way to the Wichita River and spilling over Lake Wichita Falls.

As you can see via the above photo documentation, my bike's handlebars are aimed at the current biggest loudest actual waterfall in Wichita Falls.

And just as is the case with the intermittently off and on fake falls which Wichita Falls is not named after, this current Lake Wichita Falls waterfall will soon dry up to return to its regular state of being a water-free dam spillway.

I have never eye witnessed Niagara Falls. The biggest waterfall I have ever experienced is Snoqualmie Falls, in Washington, a short distance east of Seattle. If you were, or are, a Twin Peaks fan, you have seen Snoqualmie Falls.

When Western Washington gets a lot of rain, and especially in winter if a Pineapple Express blows in with warm temperatures causing the Cascade snowpack to melt, well, serious flooding then happens to the Western Washington rivers, including the Snoqualmie River. 

And when that happens Snoqualmie Falls becomes an awesome thing to witness. Even though the Snoqualmie Falls viewing lookout is a long distance from the waterfall you can feel the ground shaking from the force of the falls. A mist makes it hard to see the falls from the lookout when it is in flood mode.

I just remembered Nooksack Falls. Another spectacular Washington waterfall. You sort of see that one from above, but can climb down the side of it. This is a bit scary. More than once someone has fallen over Nooksack Falls to their demise. 

Oh, just remembered I have also seen the waterfalls in Yosemite National Park, in the spring, when the snowmelt makes for high water and the waterfalls in Yosemite at their most spectacular. But, none reached the ground shaking power of Snoqualmie Falls when flooding.

I don't know what has got me on waterfalls today. Oh, yeah, because I saw Lake Wichita Falls in somewhat rare dribble mode...

Mary Kelleher Wins Back TRWD Board Seat

Above you are looking at Mary Kelleher, on the right. On the left is the D/FW legend known, by some, as Elsie Hotpepper.

It seems like a long time ago I was hiking in Fort Worth's Gateway Park when the infamous Elsie Hotpepper called me whilst she was being in thrilled and happy mode, due to having met with someone with serious Fort Worth flood issues who had agreed to run for a seat on the Tarrant Region Water District Board.

That someone was Mary Kelleher.

In that water board election Mary Kelleher won in a landslide, with what, at that point in time, was the most votes any water board candidate had ever received.

What followed was a tumultuous four years as Mary Kelleher tried to bring to light that which the TRWD had kept hidden in the dark, for years.

Mary Kelleher was frequently blocked in multiple ways. Denied an entry key to TRWD headquarters. Not allowed in the 'secret room' where the longtime board members met. Denied requested information.

Eventually Mary Kelleher was censured by the TRWD Board. A ridiculous attempt to shut her up which resulted in a big throng of protesters bringing shame to those who tried to intimidate Mary Kelleher into going along with the shenanigans she had vowed to put to a stop.

Things like the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, which had, even then, way back years ago, become an obviously idiotic, ineptly managed, slow motion boondoggle doing damage to the heart of Fort Worth.

Damage such as three simple little bridges being built over dry land, ever since 2014, causing traffic disruption, ruining businesses, stealing property by abusing the perfectly legal, if properly used, concept of eminent domain.

The Trinity River Vision was sold as a vitally needed flood control/economic development scheme.

Where there had been no flooding for well over half a century. With the economic benefit going to those who owned property in the area of the scheme.

And yet this vitally needed flood control scheme is actually so vitally un-needed that the project has limped along the length of this new century, with nothing done regarding the imaginary flood control problem.

While Mary Kelleher's east Fort Worth neighborhood regularly floods, due to Fort Worth's criminally inept urban planning. 

When Mary Kelleher ran for re-election, she lost, in what seemed to be an actual obvious fraudulent election. With that obviousness leading to a investigation by the state which resulted in a few low level perpetrators being held to account, but with the actual fraud perpetrators left untouched.

And now, another four years later. Or is it eight? Time flies so fast. Mary Kelleher is back on the TRWD Board. 

The next four years should be interesting for Fort Worth.

The times they are a'changing...

Meet The Newest Member Of The Extended Jones Family: Nyjah Kaiholo Scott Mande

What you see here is the latest addition to the extended Jones Family, with his big brother, Izaiah.

The latest extended Jones Family addition is named Nyjah Kaiholo Scott Mande. 

Born on March 12, 2021 in the state of Hawaii.

On the island of Maui.

Currently at home in the Maui town called Haiku.

I do not know how to pronounce the newborn's first two names. But I do know how to pronounce his third name.

Scott.

Scott is my eldest cousin, and the grandfather of the newborn. Scott is the eldest of my dad's big sister's two kids, the matriarch of the extended Jones Family, Aunt Arlene.

In addition to Scott Mande being cousin Scott's first grandkid, he is also Aunt Arlene's first great grandchild.

The last time I saw the new Scott's mama, Olivia, was way back on July 27, 2002, at the fairgrounds in Lynden, Washington, where I was attending the biggest family reunion in Jones Family history.

Some people prefer the Dutch spelling of Jones, which has a lot more letters, and is difficult for some to pronounce, with that Dutch spelling being Slotemaker.

And now for some more cuteness overload.

That would be the new Scott's other big brother, Izaak, holding him.

There are currently plans afoot to fly to Hawaii if this COVID nightmare ever abates sufficiently to make doing so a pleasant experience. I'm sure if that happens we will make it to Maui and meet the new Scott, his brothers, and mom and pop.

That and drive the Hana Highway to its end...