Shady Lucy Park With Geese Mass Murder Protestors AT MSU

The temperature in the outer world was cold enough this morning to motivate me to drive to Lucy Park for some shady high speed walking. On the way to Lucy Park, on Taft Boulevard, on the Midwestern State University campus, I saw the lady you see above, protesting the mass murder of 343 Sikes Lake geese.

On the way back from Lucy Park I slowed up when I came upon the protesting lady, hoping to take a picture, and read what the sign said.

"HONK FOR The GEESE Who CAN'T"

I added the much needed apostrophe to CANT.

I recognized this lady. I have made mention of her, previously, as recently as a week ago in More Details About The Mass Murder Of Sikes Lake Geese.

When I saw the Goose Extermination Protestor on the way to Lucy Park she was protesting solo. When I saw her on the way back from Lucy Park she had been joined by another protestor. A bearded man holding a sign. I did not get a photo of him, nor do I remember what his sign precisely said, but I do remember the phrase, "GEESE MURDER" was part of it.

Now, on to shady Lucy Park.

The Lucy Park suspension bridge over the Wichita River was looking hot today. The temperature when I arrived at Lucy Park was 93, with a strong wind blowing, but the humidity supposedly making those 93 degrees really feel like 99.

I did not overheat.

But, by the end of the walking I was no longer wearing a shirt.

As you can see, the Lucy Park trees provide a nice cover of shade. The temperature is pleasantly cooler under the shade.

Lucy Park is the only one of my various walking locations which provides a lot of shade.

Tomorrow a cold front arrives, with the temperature scheduled not to go over 100, instead only heating into the 90s.

I am hoping Tuesday is another semi-cool day, so I can comfortably go to the 4th of July parade in downtown Wichita Falls. This parade was cancelled a couple years due to COVID. It is a fun parade....

Remembering Archer City, Deception Pass & Skinny-Dipping With Cybil Shepherd

I had not, of late, made note of the daily Microsoft OneDrive memories which show up in my email.

Today I learned the reason I had not, of late, made note of the daily Microsoft OneDrive memories, was because those memory emails have been going into the Promotions folder, which I tend to ignore, instead of the Primary folder, which is the folder where the email I pay attention to goes.

Today's OneDrive memories from today are of Archer City, here in Texas, and Deception Pass, in my old home zone of Washington.

It may have been in June that I drove from my old former location, in Fort Worth, to Archer City, during the period of time I was making my Eyes on Texas website.

It was a long drive from Fort Worth. From my current Wichita Falls location Archer City is about 20 miles to the south.

Archer City was where The Last Picture Show was filmed. The Last Picture Show was based on a book with the same title, by Larry McMurtry.

Archer City was Larry McMurtry's hometown. Eventually he opened a Booked Up bookstore in Archer City which became a destination tourist attraction.

I made the Archer City webpage in Black and White because The Last Picture Show was a rare, at that point in time, black and white movie.

There is a scene in The Last Picture Show which takes place at a pool party, an indoor pool party.

This scene was filmed in a Wichita Falls house which is in the area slightly to the north of my location, which I refer to as the Wichita Falls Beverly Hills.

I have never learned which of the Wichita Falls Beverly Hills mansions is the one in which Cybil Shepherd did her famous skinny-dipping scene.

As for this June memory of Deception Pass. I have zero recollection of being in Washington, in June, since I moved to Texas. So, a June memory of Deception Pass would have to be from some point in time in the previous century...

Most Of Texas Hotter Today Than 99% OF The Planet

Saw that which you see here, this morning, on Facebook. Apparently, most of Texas, along with an area of northeast Africa, and a large area of the Middle East, are scheduled to be HOTTER than 99% of the Earth planet today.

Are we actually HOTTER today, here in Texas, than the Valley of the Sun in Arizona? And Death Valley in California?

My heat pump air conditioning system is keeping the temperature a relatively cool 78 degrees in my interior space. I drove to ALDI and Walmart yesterday around 5 with the temperature a sizzling 111. 

Walmart will be my air conditioned endorphin inducing via walking fast venue today...
 

107 Deadly Degrees Roasting My Texas Location

107 degrees is the predicted high today at my North Texas location. The humidity remains high, but a strong wind will be blowing today, making those 107 degrees really feel like a relatively chilly 106 degrees.

I won't be going on a walk in the outer world today. At my advanced elderly age doing such risks a heat stroke.

So far that predicted strong wind has yet to blow a single gust...

The Ongoing Spread Of Deadly Texas Heat

Saw that which you see here a couple minutes ago on the online version of CNN. 

Apparently deadly Texas heat is spreading and is going to get hotter.

Three paragraphs from the CNN article...

Parts of Texas have been roasting for more than two weeks and flirting with the state’s record high temperature, and now, temperatures could get even hotter and expand to other areas across the South.

“Many areas outside south and south-central Texas (will) experience their most significant heat of the season thus far,” the Weather Prediction Center said on Friday.

More than 90 record high temperatures could be broken this week from Texas to Missouri to Florida, with the majority of those occurring Wednesday through Friday.

____________________

I no longer have hot and cold running water. I have hot and lukewarm running water.

I did my endorphin acquiring aerobic stimulation today in the air-conditioned comfort of Walmart.

If the Texas grid collapses, like it did during a deep freeze a couple winters ago, I am escaping to the north, to Oklahoma...

More Details About The Mass Murder Of Sikes Lake Geese

 A couple days ago I blogged about the Mass Execution Of Sikes Lake Geese By MSU & Texas Wildlife Services.

At time I knew only a few details about the Goose Executions. I now know a lot more.

From one local news source I learned many locals are not okay with the goose mass murders...

Rumors of the removal of the geese from Sikes Lake began circulating on social media prior to Monday, June 19, leading to overwhelming backlash from many community members.

Many residents of Wichita Falls continue to express outrage and sadness over the decision to remove and euthanize almost all of the geese at Sikes Lake, and our newsroom continues to field questions from viewers and outraged comments on social media.

_______________________

334 geese were killed.

The flock of geese was concentrated using something called "funnel nets" directing the birds into a trailer. Carbon dioxide was then pumped into the trailer, killing the geese.

I do not know what was done with the 334 dead geese. I also do not know when this mass execution took place, as in what time of the day. There are always people at Sikes Lake during the day. How is it not photos have shown up of this happening?

Since the original story about this appeared in the Wichita Falls Times Record News, with that article saying the reason for killing all thoses geese was due to the damage they were doing to the MSU campus. This was said without explaining what that damage was.

Subsequent articles in other local news sources have elaborated on what the geese were doing that was so damaging. Such as grazing on lake side vegetation which supposedly destroyed ground cover, leading to erosion and siltation.

I have walked around Sikes Lakes many times over the years and have seen zero evidence of ground cover destruction.

Also, it is claimed that goose poop contains a high level of salmonella, which presented a danger to kids who came in contact with it.

It is also now claimed that a lake with a high population of birds can cause a botulism outbreak.

The plan to keep the Sikes Lake goose population under control seems a tad bizarre. Apparently something called an "egg-addling" program is going to be implemented.

To addle an egg means you cover a fertilized egg with vegetable oil. This cuts off the oxygen supply to the goose waiting to hatch. The mama goose then continues to sit on the egg, which will never hatch. As long as the mama goose is sitting on some eggs, she won't lay any new eggs.

This really makes little sense to me. How long does the poor mama goose sit on those eggs, waiting for them to hatch? And how are the egg nests found? I have never seen a nesting goose at Sikes Lake. I have seen dozens upon dozens of newly hatched goslings, but never a nest.

That photo at the top I took months ago. Two ladies were creating a goose frenzy, feeding the goose flock birdseed. I talked to the two ladies. They daily delivered birdseed to the Sikes Lake geese. The geese recognized the lady's vehicle upon arrival causing the flock to flock towards the vehicle. 

The lady in the photo, surrounded by geese, told me she had rescued an injured goose a couple days prior. Had taken the goose to a veterinarian, who was fixing the injured bird. The lady was getting the goose later that day to return it to the lake.

I suspect those two birdseed feeding ladies are among the many upset about the execution of 334 Sikes Lake geese...

Texas Today Starts A Prolonged And Extreme Heat Wave

Apparently my location on the planet is under a Heat Advisory from June 24, which is today, the final Saturday of June, til August 7.

That is a lot of way too HOT days.

Today the Heat Index will have 104 degrees feeling like 107 degrees.

107 degrees will have me not feeling like being outside.

I do not recollect previously seeing a warning like the one in today's weather forecast, "Hotter with plenty of sunshine, breezy this afternoon; start of a prolonged and extreme heat wave."

Yeah, a heat wave lasting from today til August 7 seems legit to describe as a prolonged and extreme heat wave.

We are being asked to try and cut back on electricity use.

I hope the Texas grid does not melt down...

Friday Severe Thunderstorm Watch In Wichita Falls

In yoga mode, listening to the radio, minutes ago the Emergency Warning noise interrupted with a Severe Thunderstorm warning, with strong wind, half dollar size hail, tornado potential, flash flooding. The warning advised those in the affected area to get to a ground level location, away from windows.

I stopped with the yoga and woke up my computer to see the Severe Thunderstorm Watch warning you see above.

So far, just a little rain, distant thunder booms, dark clouds, little wind.

I am one level above ground level, currently, and near a window...

Happy Nephew David 8th Grade Graduation Day

Incoming email last night with the above photo and a video, with the only text saying "8th Grade Graduation Today".

The who is it from part of the email said "Slotemaker". This caused me to wonder is this about Spencer Jack graduating 8th grade. Then I remembered that Spencer Jack was already in high school. 

Clicking on the photo still left me a bit confused. Then I watched the video, to see and hear an announcer announce "David Slotemaker".

I cropped the photo for a closer look at my Favorite Nephew David. Here is the original, uncropped...

I have zero memory of my own 8th grade graduation. I only barely remember high school graduation. 

I assume David's brother and sister, Theo and Ruby, attended this event, but I have no photo evidence of this...

Mass Execution Of Sikes Lake Geese By MSU & Texas Wildlife Services

 On Sunday I walked around Sikes Lake, afterwards blogging Breezy Balmy Sikes Lake Father's Day Walk With Ducks in which I made mention of the fact that I'd never seen so few geese at this location. As in I only saw four geese that day.

This morning, via the Wichita Falls Times Record News I learned why I saw so few geese on Sunday.

A mass execution extermination euthanizing of the Sikes Lake goose population.

Here are four explanatory paragraphs from the article in the Times Record News...

MSU Texas confirmed Tuesday that the majority of Canada geese have been removed from Sikes Lake in an effort to better maintain the lake and curb overpopulation concerns. MSU contracted with the United States Department of Agriculture - Texas Wildlife Services to complete the removal. Relocation was not a viable option because Canadian geese typically return to their previous home after being relocated. Because of this, TWS euthanized the geese. 

In a statement, MSU marketing and public information director Julie Gaynor said the university explored options and settled on working with the USDA.

“Over the past year, Midwestern State University has been exploring how best to manage the overpopulation of Canada Geese in and around Sikes Lake. The overpopulation of geese has created extensive damage across the campus.

One of the largest concerns Gaynor said the removal addressed was worries about overpopulation and the diseases that can spread among wildlife populations when that happens. Gaynor said there are about 50 Sikes Lake geese remaining.

_____________________

About 50 geese remain? All but four must have gone into hiding due to witnessing the capture of most of their relatives.

The geese created extensive damage across the campus? Like what? The only visible damage, if you can call it that, was way too much goose poop on the paved trail around the lake.

It would have been interesting to eye witness the capture of all those geese. How was this accomplished one cannot help but wonder? The geese waddled quickly when a human got too close. Or took flight. The goose flock spent a lot of their time floating on the lake. How were those floating geese arrested?

I likely will never know the answer to these probing questions...

Another Scorching HOT Texas Pre-Summer Day In June

 Another scorcher, as you can see via the screenshot from my phone.

During the time frame I am usually outside engaging in some aerobic activity the temperature is 93, with the lack of wind and humidity making those 93 degrees feel like 104.

The air conditioner in my interior space is keeping me cool at 77 degrees.

When I was a Washingtonian 77 degrees seemed HOT to me, not cool. And temperatures in the 80s seemed Super HOT.

I remember way back in 2006 flying out of Texas in late July, with the Texas temperature being well above 100. I landed in Seattle with the temperature in the 70s. It felt so cold.

Summer arrives tomorrow...

Blisteringly HOT Juneteenth In Texas

I think I will be limiting my outdoor exposure on this next to last Monday of June.

Also known as Juneteenth.

103 degrees today, with the humidity making it really feel like 107 degrees. 

Not a strong enough wind to make for a chilling wind chill factor to make those 103 feel cooler.

Methinks this coming summer is going to be way too HOT...

Breezy Balmy Sikes Lake Father's Day Walk With Ducks

On this balmy next to last Sunday of June, also known as Father's Day, it was to Sikes Lake I ventured for a breezy walk around the lake.

The temperature in the 80s, an hour before noon. I do not know what the wind chill made those 80 degrees feel like, other than quite pleasant.

As you can see a clear blue sky has returned to my Texas location. However, in the middle of the night, last night, rain poured down for about a half an hour, along with multiple, close by, loud, lightning strikes.

I only saw four geese today at Sikes Lake. I have never seen so few geese in this location. The geese population norm is dozens upon dozens of geese.

Whatever chased off the Sikes Lake geese did not scare off the Sikes Lake ducks. Such as the large duck flock you see resting under the shade of a tree.

The weather menu has us scheduled to be above 100 degrees starting tomorrow. I likely will be curtailing my outdoor activities...

Sunny Saturday At Lucy Park With Jungle Sunflowers

It was back to Lucy Park I ventured on the third Saturday of June. With the temperature in the low 80s, with a strong wind blowing, conditions were excellent for a mighty pleasant communing with nature in the Lucy Park backwoods jungle.

That sunny flower you see here is known as a sunflower. Growing in the wild. A wild sunflower.

We had a little storm action, two early evenings ago. A little rain, some hail and a few thunder booms. But not enough precipitation precipitated to turn the Lucy Park backwoods jungle trail into a muddy mess. 

Currently the Lucy Park backwoods jungle trail is as dry as a desert.

Storm action is on the weather menu for later today. Rain, thunderstorms, hail, along with conditions that can create a tornado...

In Leavenworth Tumwater Twisting On Washington's First Alpine Coaster

 A year ago, this month, my nephew, Jason and his eldest, Spencer Jack, visited Leavenworth where they learned of a new addition to the Leavenworth landscape, under construction.

I blogged about this in Leavenworth Adventure Park Tumwater Twister.

Well, the Leavenworth Adventure Park is now open. And it looks fun. The above is a screen cap from a Seattle TV news story about Washington's First Alpine Coaster.

For some reason this Google Blogger app is not working in its usual way of allowing the embedding of a video. You can click Washington's First Alpine Coaster and that will take you directly to the YouTube video that I can not embed.

Leavenworth is my favorite of Washington's themed tourist towns. Leavenworth is Bavarian themed.

This came about way back in the 1960s when Leavenworth became a dying town due to a slowdown of the logging industry. So, the town decided something major had to be done, or the town would become a ghost town. 

It was decided to turn Leavenworth into an Alpine Bavarian themed town. The main street was converted to a new Bavarian look. Soon that look spread all over town. And Leavenworth became a boom town, a HUGE tourist attraction, year round. 

You can go to the Leavenworth Adventure Park website for a good look at this new Leavenworth attraction.

Leavenworth is a year round attraction. In summer it can be quite crowded.

I recollect being in Leavenworth in winter and having a mighty fine time cross country skiing trails in the town's park alongside the Wenatchee River.

I have not been to Leavenworth in over 20 years. The last time was in August of 2001. At that point in time Leavenworth was the staging area for fire fighters fighting big wildfires in the Cascade Mountains. I recollect the air was quite smoky.

The Texas town I am currently sitting in, Wichita Falls, should look into building an Alpine Coaster on Mount Wichita.

But, I do not think this town could possibly pull off becoming Bavarian themed. The lack of real mountains would be problematic.

When I was first in Texas, before the new century arrived, we learned of a nearby Texas town that sold itself as a German themed town, due to the fact most of the town's residents were of German descent.

I do not know why we thought Muenster might be a Leavenworth caliber tourist town, but that is what we thought. We were barely past the Muenster city limits sign when we realized Muenster was not anything like Leavenworth. 

When next I am in Washington maybe I'll make it to Leavenworth. I am surprised Jason and Spencer Jack have not yet made it there to ride the Tumwater Twister...

High Humidity Wednesday Lucy Park Jungle Walk

With the temperature in the mid 80s, on this second Wednesday of June, it was to Lucy Park I once again ventured to commune with nature whilst acquiring endorphins via aerobic stimulation.

Due to predicted precipitation not precipitating, thus no muddy conditions, I walked the Lucy Park backwoods jungle today, keeping a close lookout for snakes in the grass.

The only reptile I saw was a cute lizard, looking like a mini-alligator.

We are heading into a period where the day after day after day temperature prediction is above 100.

Eventually those 100 degree days dry the moisture from the air, in other words, way less humidity, thus way less miserable to be outside in the HEAT.

Chilly Walk With The Sikes Lake Coyote

Early this morning of the second Tuesday of June I found myself driving north, heading towards Oklahoma, having a long talk with my favorite sister Jackie during part of the drive. 

I was back in my home zone by 10 this morning. Which had me at Sikes Lake an hour later for a salubrious walk around the lake.

A chilly salubrious walk around the lake. Only 68 degrees, with no wind blowing. Total cloud cover, with rain and thunderstorms on the weather menu.

So far, just a little drippage.

That coyote statue you see above was back guarding Priddy Pavilion, a sort of scare crow wannabe keeping the geese out of the Pavilion area, where soon once a week music concerts will be happening.

The above look at Sikes Lake looks like a dead of winter view, not a nearing the end of spring view. The lake looks frozen over, with no wind making ripples and waves.

There were more people than the norm enjoying walking and running around Sikes Lake, due, I suppose, to the break from the HOT humidity. 

The HOT humidity is scheduled to return tomorrow, with the first 100 degree day of the year predicted to arrive on Thursday.

Chilly Wind Takes Me Back To Lucy Park

The past several days the outer world has been so HOT and humid that I did not feel like venturing out in the elements for some much needed endorphin acquisition via aerobic stimulation.

But, today, on this second Monday of June, the outer world was way cooler than it has been of late. Only 76 when I made my way to Lucy Park, which is what you are seeing in the accompanying photo documentation, looking across the Lucy Park suspension bridge at a pair of bridge crossers midway across the Wichita River.

Those 76 degrees felt mighty chilly due to the strong wind blowing. That strong wind blowing is supposedly blowing in a thunderstorm, with torrential rain, large hail and tornado conditions, due to arrive around 3 this afternoon.

Currently we are an hour ahead of three o'clock, and the outer world is not looking too stormy. Cloudy, but not looking like anything dire is eminent...

Do You Live In One Of America's Miserable States?

I have been finding myself amused a time or two or three by lists I find on the Edge Browser opening page. Items like each state's boomtown. Or each state's best Mexican restaurant. Or ranking states from least scenic to most scenic.

The list we are looking at here purports to rank the states from most miserably unhappy to happiest.

Before getting to the list the explanatory text is as follows...

If You’re Happy and You Know It

There are plenty of factors that play into overall happiness, and the past few years have been a challenge for some. COVID-19 impacted travel, businesses, and incidentally, happiness. But how are things looking now? WalletHub conducted a study to evaluate happiness in each state, comparing them among three primary dimensions: emotional and physical well-being, community and environment, and work environment. The dimensions were further broken down into 31 different metrics and graded on a 100-point scale. Cheapism compiled the results, ranked from the least happy to the happiest, and included explanations of why each state is so unhappy or happy. 

The link to The Most Miserable States in America might not work, due to it possibly being unique to my computer.

Of the Most Miserable Unhappy States all but New Mexico are southern states.

Coming in at #50, West Virginia is the most miserably unhappy state.

Of the unhappy miserable southern states, the state I am currently in, Texas, is the least miserable.

That photo of oil getting pump is the image that illustrated Texas. Here is the text which explains why Texas is so miserably unhappy...

#36 Texas is the second-largest state both in terms of land mass and population. It’s also one of the more unhappy states. Texas ranks at the very bottom for community and environment and also ranks low for work environment. Workers in the state work longer hours than average, and Texas is also one of the most unsafe places to live.

The state I lived in before moving to Texas, Washington, apparently is less miserable and way happier than Texas

#22 Washington is known for a lot of things: lush green landscapes, incredible hiking trails, fresh seafood, and apparently, happiness. Washington is the 22nd happiest state with high sports participation and high income growth levels acting as key players in that score.

Marijuana is legal in Washington, which I'm sure helps add to the happiness. Along with how easy it is to get yourself fresh fruit, like picking blackberries, which grow wild and free in Washington.

Now, what is the happiest, least miserable state in the United States? 

Well, that is sort of an easy one to guess. 

Hawaii is #1.

Texas Tarantula Mating Season Invasion

I saw that which you see there, this morning, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, informing me of a new thing to keep an eye out for when out and about outside in Texas. 

My previous years in Texas I do not recollect ever reading about tarantulas being out by the thousands.

I have only seen one tarantula since I have been in Texas. Years ago, in South Dallas, in Cedar Hills State Park.

According to the Star-Telegram, during summer, thousands of tarantulas, of the male tarantula sort, go on a massive migration in search of an unattached female to mate with and make oodles of baby tarantulas.

Female tarantulas live way longer than the males, even as old as 25 years. The female can lay between 100 to 1,000 eggs in a web, where the babies are born, taking up to 60 days to hatch.

Two slightly disturbing paragraphs from the Star-Telegram article...

ARE TEXAS TARANTULAS DANGEROUS?

“One of the most spectacular spider events in Texas occurs for a few weeks each summer when male tarantulas actively wander apparently seeking females,” says the TAMU field guide. “This phenomenon is not well understood and may be related to migration more than mating.” 

Seeing the spider in Texas during the summer may be alarming because of its large size and hairiness. While tarantula bites are painful because they have sharp fangs, they are not harmful to humans and the venom injected is not dangerous. Tarantulas also defend themselves through urticating hairs on the abdomen, which can cause eye or skin irritation.

_______________________

I do not like the idea of thousands of tarantula males wandering the land looking for a girlfriend. I did not know that tarantulas can bite. I thought they were harmless. 

Well, I think I am safe from marauding tarantulas at my current Texas location. I rarely ever even see regular sized spiders here...

Cooling Tuesday Breeze With Flies & Snakes At Lake Wichita Dam

 

Today's weather forecast is once again rain and thunderstorms. The current condition, sporting a mostly clear blue sky, makes such seem a tad unlikely.

On this first Tuesday of June it was to the Lake Wichita Dam I ventured for some nature communing with no shade from trees, but with a nice cooling breeze blowing in from across the lake.

In the above photo documentation we are on the Lake Wichita Boardwalk, looking northwest across the lake, with Mount Wichita being that little pimple you see slightly rising above the horizon.

It does not look like the water level of Lake Wichita has gained any depth from the downpour two night's ago.

When I looked down on the murky lake water from the end of the Boardwalk I saw something in the water I'd never seen before in Lake Wichita.

A snake.

Was it a Water Moccasin? I don't know. I was not successful at getting a photo of the water slitherer.

I think it has been well over a year since any water has spilled over Lake Wichita dam's spillway. 

In the above view we are at the end of the boardwalk, looking at the lake side view of the dam's spillway. It has been so long since water has reached the dam's spillway that green foliage has sprouted up.

The floating fishing dock is no longer floating. It is resting on the lake bed.

When I walked out on the dock I was attacked by a nasty swarm of small flies. This was unpleasant. I hightailed it out of there, back to the top of the dam, which was fly-free...

Sikes Lake Water Falling After Last Night's Wet Thunderstorm

Yesterday I lamented that day after day after day the weather forecast's prediction of rain and thunderstorms never happens, not a drip, not a boom.

And then last night, around 3 in the morning, rain began dripping in copious amounts, so copious that the downpour created a roaring sound effect. 

About a half hour into the downpour there was a super bright white flash, and instaneous explosive, concussive boom, followed soon thereafter by another super bright white flash, and instaneous explosive concussive boom.

By dawn's early light no evidence was found that the close encounters with lightning strikes did any damage.

By dawn's early light it was quickly seen the last night's downpour had created a deep moat at my usual abode exit location. This neccessitated taking a detour to get to my vehicle do drive to Sikes Lake to walk with the geese and goslings.

As you can see via the photo documention, today water is roaring over the Sikes Lake dam's spillway.

The forecast for today's daylight hours is again for rain and thunderstorms. Once again that does not seem to be happening, what with a mostly clear blue sky.

I hear the tornado sirens going off right now. This test of the tornado warning system happens every Monday at noon.

Hot Humid First June Sunday In Lucy Park

On this balmy, hot, humid first Sunday of June it was back to Lucy Park I trekked to join the throngs of fellow sun worshippers.

Day after day after day rain and thunderstorms are in the weather forecast. But, the weather predictor's predictions have not been delivering.

The above photo documentation of the Lucy Park shade shows a clear blue sky peeking through the leaves, no rain or thunder threatening clouds.

Lucy Park has had some more musical instruments added to the line of musical instruments that showed up a year, or two, ago.

The new musical instruments make a variety of noises, including the ladybug looking musical instrument which made a percussive drum-like sound when struck...

Talking About Monkey Girl Takes Us To Bobo, Fifi & Ivan The Gorilla

A couple days ago one of my old, longtime friends, and I, were talking about something and the subject of her cute daughter came up. The cute daughter was nicknamed Monkey Girl due to more than one person remarking that "she's as cute as a monkey".

Well, that aforementioned old, longtime friend sometimes took umbrage to her daughter being known as Monkey Girl.

The latest iteration of umbrage somehow morphed into the subject of Bobo the Gorilla.

Bobo was the most famous Washingtonian for many years. And Seattle's top tourist attraction til other attractions came along. I remember the highlight of a visit to Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo was seeing Bobo, and later, after Bobo got married, his wife, Fifi.

Bobo first came to fame in the early 1950s, he was adopted as an infant by a family in Anacortes. Anacortes is a town in Skagit County, on Fidalgo Island. Eventually Bobo grew too big to be living in a house.

So, Woodland Park Zoo became Bobo's new home. His adopted humans visited Bobo frequently, and he was always real happy to see them.

You can read a comprehensive Bobo the Gorilla article in Wikipedia.

Bobo and Fifi were not Washington's only famous gorillas. Ivan the Gorilla was both famous and eventually infamous.

Ivan the Gorilla lived in a small enclosure inside Tacoma's B & I Circus store. Ivan eventually became a cause celebre. Wikipedia also has a comprehensive article about Ivan the Gorilla.

Bobo died before Woodland Park Zoo was rebuilt, with a new natural large gorilla habitat. Bobo and Fifi never successfully mated. I do not know if Fifi remarried after Bobo died.

 

Nature Communing In Lucy Park With Giant Orange Wildflowers

Already we are at day two of June. With Summer arriving in 20 days. On this balmy warm humid Friday it was back to Lucy Park I ventured to commune with nature in a natural sauna bath.

I do not know what those orange wildflowers you see above are known as. They look sort of like oranges.

I could not park at my regular Lucy Park parking spot today, due to it being full of all sorts of vehicles, including a fire truck.

The above view is south of that aforementioned full parking lot. That is the Lucy Park log cabin you see on the right. The log cabin was open today, with a lot of youngsters inside.

And more youngsters outside checking out a collection of booths which were imparting information of various sorts. This is some sort of city run day camp for kids.

Today it was only in the mid 70s, with a nice breeze blowing. And it still seemed HOT. I do not think I am ready for what is coming, day after day after day over 100 degrees....

Deception Pass Ship Sailing Not Something Seen In Texas

No. That which you see here is not an artist's rendering of what it might one day look like seeing a ship sail under one of Fort Worth's pitiful little bridges which took seven years to build, and which are now waiting for a cement lined ditch to deliver Trinity River water under them.

What you are looking at here is what is known as the Deception Pass bridge, which would make that Deception Pass that the ship is sailing on.

The Deception Pass bridge was built in less than one year, almost a century ago, during the Great Depression.

Built over actual water. Deep fast moving water.

My abode in Mount Vernon in Washington was a short distance from Deception Pass. There is nothing remotely like Deception Pass a short distance from my current Texas abode...