Merry Christmas From Hank Frank, Cade & Cambri

 Christmas cards arrived yesterday, from two of my nephews, with the card including photos.

On the left that is my nephew, Christopher, the bearded one, with wife, Carissa. On Christopher's right that is Christopher and Carrisa's first born, Cade, currently two years old. Between Christopher and Carrisa is the latest addition to my extended family, baby girl, Cambri.

Which would make that a closeup of Cambri and Cade in the middle photo.

Christopher, Carissa, Cade and Cambri currently reside in Chandler, Arizona.

In the photo on the right, that is my nephew Joey, next to wife, Monique, standing behind their first born, Hank Frank. 

I talked to Hank Frank's grandma a couple days ago, a call during which I learned Hank Frank is now 7 years old and is doing incredibly well in school.

Hank Frank and his parental units live in Washington, in their home on the Skagit Flats, which recently escaped being flooded, whilst Hank Frank was vacationing with his mom and dad in Maui.

I assume Hank Frank is still in Maui.

From his grandma I learned Hank Frank already knows how to read and write. And is a math whiz.  Asking questions well above his age grade. Such as asking his grandma what the state fish of Hawaii is.

Apparently, Hank Frank has a hobby of remembering thinks like that.

On Santa's Lap With Theo & Ruby

That which you see above is one of my all-time favorite photos. 

My Niece Ruby and Nephew Theo not being too happy to be sitting on Santa's lap.

Whilst big brother, Nephew David looks amused.

Ruby, Theo and David look quite young in this photo.

In a couple days Ruby and Theo turn 15 years old.

Meanwhile, David is now 17 years old.

I do not know if Ruby and Theo still get unhappy when they sit on Santa's lap...

A Silver Lining From My Little Brother On The Skagit Flats

From my little brother, this morning, his current view from his location on the Skagit Flats. With the accompanying text saying, "Behind every storm is a silver lining."

The Skagit flooding turned out not to be the horrific disaster predicted.

When I asked my brother if he was back in his Skagit Flats house he replied that "I never left."

I thought an evacuation order had been given to those living on the Skagit Flats.

And yesterday morning, upon waking my computer I was shocked to see a screaming headline saying the entire town of Burlington had been ordered to evacuate due to a flash flooding Gages Slough. And that the National Guard was facilitating the evacuation.

Well.

Turns out my old hometown of Burlington did not evacuate. Gages Slough only flooded part of Rio Vista Avenue. And did not flood nearby Lucille Umbarger Elementary, where I did my grade schooling. 

When I first read the Gages Slough flash flood news it made no sense to me that this could cause the entire town to need to be evacuated.

Most of the town is at a higher elevation than Gages Slough. No way, I thought, water from that Slough could manage to reach the house I grew up in, a couple blocks north of the Slough.

Another Atmospheric River is predicted to soon hit Washington, well before the current flood waters have receded. And the mountains are currently getting record breaking snow. Sometimes Western Washington floods are caused by a rapid rise in temperature causing a rapid melting of snow.

I fear we may be just in Part 1 of Washington's weather disaster...

Flooding Gages Slough Has National Guard Evacuating My Old Burlington Hometown

Moments ago I woke up my computer and quickly found myself shocked seeing that which I screencapped above.

The National Guard is going door to door in my old hometown of Burlington, advising residents to evacuate because Gages Slough is flooding.

The home I grew up in is about three blocks north of Gages Slough. The grade school I grade school in, Lucille Umbarger Elementary is a couple blocks south of Gages Slough.

As I began typing this post text messages arrived from my brother and Linda Lou, telling me about the Burlington evacuation. Brother Jake says he is high and dry. I assume he is being high and dry at nephew Jason's house, which is in the Mount Vernon neighborhood known as Hillcrest, well above the Skagit River.

Linda Lou is also high and dry at her abode in the Hillcrest neighborhood.

I have yet to learn if the Skagit breeched the downtown Mount Vernon floodwall.

Marked Safe From The Washington Floods

Well, this morning, on Facebook, I saw something I've never seen before. A Crisis Response Facebook posting where Facebook Friends in the area affected by the record-breaking Washington floods can mark themselves as safe, or not in the affected area. 

The Skagit River crested in Mount Vernon, sometime after midnight. I have not yet been able to learn if the flood crested over the floodwall, flooding downtown Mount Vernon.

The majority of my life was lived in Western Washington. During that time I experienced many floods. But, nothing like this one. Schools closed, stores closed, massive evacuations.

I talked to Linda Lou, yesterday. I asked what the rain was like, which is being called an Atmospheric River, that produced this massive flooding.

Linda Lou told me the rain was heavier than any she has ever experienced. That she drove from Mount Vernon to Burlington, in the downpour, with traffic moving about 5 miles per hour.

In a couple hours I will try to reach my little brother, hoping to find out that the flooding of the Skagit Flats did not reach his abode, or nephew Joey's, next door to brother Jake.

Brother Jake Evacuation Order Ahead Of Historic Skagit Flood

Above screencap from the Seattle Times. Evacuation orders have gone out, via phone text messages to those in the flood plains of the Washington rivers. 

And, apparently, the flood is expected to top Mount Vernon's floodwall, which could result in disaster for downtown Mount Vernon, which lies well below river level when the Skagit River run high, but, til now, has never run high enough to top flood prevention measures, which, before the floodwall, consisted of a wall of sandbags.

When I woke up my phone this morning I saw I had a text message from my little brother, Jake.

Jake's text message included the above image, along with the following message...

"Just got an evacuation notice on my phone for Conway and Mount Vernon area."

When I read the message I assumed the image was the evacuation notice. When I got the image off the phone I realized it was a photo my little brother took from KOMO News, on his TV.

I can stream KOMO, KING and KIRO on my TV. Methinks I shall be doing a lot of that the next couple days.

Daylight Visit To MSU's Fantasy Of Lights While My Old Washington Home Floods

With the temperature well above freezing it was to MSU (Midwestern State University) I ventured on this second Wednesday of the 2025 version of December.

Only 15 days til Christmas.

As you can see, via the photo documentation, blue is the dominant color in the sky, currently.

This year's installation of MSU's Fantasy of Lights began arriving before Halloween. Each year since I have been here the Fantasy is mostly the same, but always with a few tweaks, here and there.

Last I looked, rain is not in the current forecast, at my location, well into the future.

Let's go check the current forecast. Well, there now is precipitation predicted, in 14 days, on Christmas Eve, in the form of rain, but possibly snow.

Meanwhile up in my old Washington home zone, the Pacific Northwest has been hit with two atmospheric rivers, dropping record breaking amounts of water.

I heard from my little brother Jake this morning, after I texted him, asking him if it's as bad as the news is making it sound. Little brother told me they've been told to be prepared to evacuate on Friday. So, he is packed up and ready to flee to higher ground.

Brother Jake's home is on Beaver Marsh Road, on the Skagit Flats, next door to his youngest son, my Favorite Nephew Joey, father of Hank Frank.

Joey's big brother, Jason, has been escaping the Washington rain by having an extended stay in Hawaii. But, Jason is coming home early, because of the predicted bad flooding.

The Skagit River is the big river flowing through the Skagit Valley. There also is the Samish River. And other creek type water flows, which also flood.

The current flooding is predicted to likely be record breaking.

The last real bad flooding in the Skagit Valley was back in the 1990s. At that point in time, I stayed up well past midnight, joining hundreds filling sandbags building a sandbag wall to protect downtown Mount Vernon.

The crest was predicted to happen around 11 that morning. I joined the throngs downtown watching the river rise. Just as the river was about to go over the sandbag wall, the level suddenly dropped. Everyone was stunned, flabbergasted, did not know what happened.

Within a short time sirens were blaring, helicopters were in the air, and at some point we learned the Fir Island dike had breached, downstream a few miles, near the mouth of the Skagit River, flooding Fir Island, doing a lot of damage, but sparing downtown Mount Vernon from getting flooded for the first time.

And then in this century Mount Vernon rebuilt its waterfront, adding a Dutch designed flood wall which could be erected quickly by just a couple workers.

I think the current flood may be the first time the Mount Vernon Skagit flood wall will hopefully keep downtown Mount Vernon un-flooded.

Making Linda Lou's Turkey Tetrazzini Without Linda Lou's Help

What you are seeing here is a 9 x 13 casserole dish filled with something called Turkey Tetrazzini.

A few days ago Washington's Linda Lou called me and during the course of the call made mention of the great success she had turning leftover turkey into Turkey Tetrazzini.

Linda Lou told me the various ingredients which turned into Turkey Tetrazzini and said she'd send me the recipe.

Well, I found myself with a large supply of leftover turkey, but no incoming recipe from Linda Lou.

So, I Googled and found a Tetrazzini recipe with ingredients which matched much of what Linda Lou mentioned.

And so, lunch this first Sunday of the 2025 version of December will feature as its star attraction, Turkey Tetrazzini.

I have a kitchen history with Linda Lou which goes back decades, all the way back to early grade school.

In high school Linda Lou put on Fondue Parties to which one coveted an invitation.

My most recent kitchen history with Linda Lou took place in October of 2018, in my mom's kitchen in Sun Lakes, Arizona.

At that kitchen point in time Linda Lou and I made Beef Stroganoff. It was a mostly seamless operation with the only moment of contention debating the proper way to prepare fresh mushrooms.

I suspect at some point in time in the future I will find myself visiting Washington and having some kitchen time in Linda Lou's Mount Vernon kitchen...

Fogged In December In North Texas

The morning view from my bedroom window on this first Saturday, also known as Day 6 of the 2025 version of December dawned super foggy at my North Texas location.

Such seems so odd when so distant from a large body of water, like an ocean.

This is the foggiest I ever remember it being at my current location.

I remember one October, back in the previous century, at my old Washington location, the entire month was fogged in.

My Washington location was just a few miles east of the body of water known as Puget Sound, which is directly connected to the Pacific Ocean.

I have zero clue what produced this morning's dense fog. There was a little drizzle yesterday, before noon, but not much.

I think I likely will do my nature communing indoors today. Likely at Walmart...

Re-Visiting Wichita Falls World's Littlest Skyscraper

Saw this this morning on Facebook. The World's Littlest Skyscraper.

It's downtown Wichita Falls most famous tourist attraction. There is even a Wikipedia article about it, which you can read by clicking that link in the previous paragraph.

The informational text which accompanied the photo on Facebook...

The Newby–McMahon Building built in 1919 is commonly referred to as the world's littlest skyscraper standing at 40ft / 12m located in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The building has survived tornadoes, a fire, and decades of neglect. The building has never met the criteria for the definition of a skyscraper nor even that of a high-rise. Regardless, but it is certified a national registered historic landmark by the United States Department of the Interior.

I drive by the World's Littlest Skyscraper whenever I visit the downtown Wichita Falls Public Library. And have seen it up close a couple times, reading the historic landmark plaque.

I do not know if any of the downtown Wichita Falls building are tall enough to be considered skyscrapers. Maybe just tall enough to be considered high rises. 

One of the downtown Wichita Falls tall buildings is known as Big Blue, due to the blue cladding that covers its outer walls. I thought Big Blue was real tacky looking the first time I saw it, and every time since then. Removing the blue cladding would be a big improvement...

Microsoft OneDrive Remembering Mount Baker & The Skagit Flats

A Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day, that I do remember, and which could have happened on this day in early December.

But, I think it was more likely in October, with the year being 2005.

That big pile of white hovering in the background is one of Washington's five volcanoes.

Mount Baker.

The foreground is what is known as the Skagit Flats. We are heading north on Interstate 5, a few miles south of Mount Vernon. The birds you see are swans. Flocks of swans migrate yearly through the Skagit Flats.

In my house in Mount Vernon, the one I lived in before moving to Texas, I could look out my living room and kitchen windows and see Mount Baker.

Looking out my current abode's various windows, I see nothing scenic in the distance, or close, no matter what direction I look...