A Fun Day At The Prairie Fest With Granny Grassroots, My Daughter Layla & Rahr's Brewery Product

As of about 6:30 it seems like Mother Nature has once again spared the Fort Worth Tandy Hills Prairie Fest from a weather disaster.

It was hot. It was humid. It was windy. But no afternoon t-storm arrived.

However, it does appear, as of 6:30, some weather action may be on its way.

This was the biggest Prairie Fest yet. I was very entertained, sitting in the TRIP booth, watching the passing humanity and trying to find Cathy Hirt.

Dozens of people were sporting Cathy Hirt I.D. tags. So, I'd politely inquire if that name tag wearer was Cathy Hirt. None were.

One or two people seemed to know who Durango Jones was, but other than that it was an afternoon of total anonymity for me.

I met a Texas Livewire who calls herself Granny Grassroots. That is Granny G with the black TRIP t-shirt in the picture. Granny Grassroots was with us in the TRIP booth for much of the afternoon.

Texas breeds some great characters. Granny Grassroots would be one.

Granny Grassroots has a website.

One of my favorite moments of the day came when some guy asked if I was Miss Layla Caraway's dad. I said I was and from that point on we had ourselves a few minutes of amusing entertainment.

Earlier in the day another dialogue had me either married to or marrying Ms. Caraway. Something about divorces was said. It was way too much dialogue coming at me way too fast to remember it all.

And then there were the Elsie Hotpepper inquiries. Why is there so much interest in Elsie Hotpepper? It is very perplexing.

Yes.

Elsie Hotpepper was at the Prairie Fest. I said hello as Elsie passed by on her way to the Rahr's Brewery Exhibit.

Can you find Elsie Hotpepper in the picture?

Speaking of Rahr's Brewery. At some point in the afternoon a pair of guys showed up slurping on Rahr's Brewery product. I said something to one of the guys that caused him to spill his Rahr's Brewery product. This then somehow led to him giving me and Ms. Caraway coupons for some Rahr's Brewery product.

All in all, I had myself my funnest time yet at the Prairie Fest.

Til the end.

When the White Knight and Robin showed up for the dismantling part of the day. That turned in to a bit of a boondoggle. A boondoggle that I still managed to somehow find somewhat amusing and entertaining.

Come the 2012 Prairie Fest, I am going to take a much more active role in any part I am part of. No more black t-shirts is all I can say about that. And no duct tape. Or leaky pens. Or shortage of printed material.

I just got a call from Elsie Hotpepper, asking if I want to go saloon hopping. No. I am tired. I am in for the night.

Today's Prairie Fest Opens At 10 With Strong T-Storms Scheduled For This Afternoon

Looking out my number one viewing portal on the world you can sort of see that the next to last Saturday of April has dawned fairly calm with a fairly clear sky. The current calm bodes well for the final setting up for today's Prairie Fest on the Tandy Hills.

The Prairie Fest opens at 10.

I am scheduled to do some booth sitting starting at 2.

Mother Nature is currently scheduled to deliver a strong afternoon t-storm.

Lately none of Mother Nature's scheduled t-storms have arrived on schedule.

For the sake of the Prairie Fest let's hope Mother Nature holds off on today's scheduled t-storm.

Having a pessimistic, gloomy nature, such as I possess, I have a strong feeling I am going to get drenched this afternoon while getting a heavy duty workout dodging lightning bolts.

There seems to be a nervous element to the loud bird tweeting I'm hearing come in through my open window. There is being no melody to the tweeting, just random noise bursts that are sort of annoying. It's like the birds are shouting at each other.

I guess I'll go out there and swim with the birds now.

I Did Not Break My Back Lifting Hay Bales At The Prairie Fest Preparation Today

I did something this morning that had my shoulder blades sending shooting pains to my built-in pain detector. This made me a bit wary regarding the idea of helping put the Prairie Fest together, something I'd been drafted to do.

So, I decided to park on the top of Mount Tandy and hope that hiking to the Prairie Fest Grounds would cause endorphins to abate the pain.

By the time I reached the Prairie Fest Grounds the pain had abated.

Upon arrival I reported to General Young. The Prairie Fest set-up is run like a military operation. Such precision, such organizational finesse. I was given my uniform and ordered to report to Captain Jan.

Captain Jan ordered me to report to a squad assembling umbrella stands and tent frames.

As you can see in the picture at the top, it was being a bit stormy. Very windy.

You might think, looking at the picture, that some phallic symbols had been erected for the Prairie Fest, with the theme of the festival maybe being the Fertile Prairie, or something like that.

Well, you would be wrong. Those are the unopened umbrellas we were tasked with sticking in to heavy umbrella stands, not phallic symbols.

Eventually a load of hay bales arrived. My squad was tasked with removing the hay bales and laying 3 by each umbrella stand. Either I have gotten hugely stronger since the last time I lifted a hay bale, or these were extremely light hay bales.

In the picture with the sticks stuck in the ground, you are looking at an art installation in progress.

I was a little surprised when I came off the Tandy Hills, to the Prairie Fest zone, to find painters already out on the prairie painting. I thought they did that when the festival was underway.

Betty Jo Bouvier was flying in from Seattle to go to the Prairie Fest, but now claims she was unable to book a flight. I'm very disappointed.

Using a different camera setting than the setting that made it appear that the Prairie Fest was peppered with phallic symbols, in the 2nd picture, of the same scene, you can clearly see the unopened umbrellas, the hay bales, the tent frames and one of the work squads busy working.

I suppose I could have used the second photo of the unopened umbrellas in the first place and not had this phallic symbol confusion.

But, I found that first picture to be amusing and so I amused myself by using it.

List Of Who Will Be At The 2011 Prairie Fest On The Tandy Hills Including Me

On the left you are looking at a list of the exhibitors, vendors and organizations who will be at the 2011 Prairie Fest on Saturday.

I will be manning one of the booths beginning at 2 in the afternoon, til closing.

This morning I got an offer, that seemed difficult to refuse, to come help set up the Prairie Fest on Friday. I'll try hard to be there.

Even if you click the image to make it bigger you still likely will be unable to read the list of who will be at the Prairie Fest.

So, I'll convert the list into readable form...

At the Prairie Fest you will find 3L Photography, Aguilar, Miguel, Amnesty International, Andralynn Creative Designs, Arendt, Erin, Arizona Sunset, Arlington Conservation Council, Artspace, Plein Air Art, Aunt Anita’s Books, Backwoods (Share w/ Patagonia), Baz, Carlos, Beloved’s Mercantile, Benson, Brenda, Birdlink Sanctuary, Inc., Black Cat Collective, Boy Scout Troop 12, C.S. Kettle Korn and More, Camsquarters, Carter BloodCare, Celtic Photography, Chadra Mezza & Grill, Champion Windows, City of FW Master Composters/Keep FW Beautiful, City of Fort Worth Water Department, City of Fort Worth/Bike Fort Worth, City of Fort Worth-Neighborhood Education (recycling), CM Artisans, LLC, Connemara Conservancy, Cross Timbers Master Naturalist, Danette’s Urban Oasis, Daylight Rangers, Degenkolb, Nancy; Photographer, Don’s Dawgs, Don't Forget to Feed Me, DownWinders at Risk, Earth Naturals Pet Food, Edible Dallas & Fort Worth, Edita Drago Accessories, Exeltech (solar-power), Family PetCare, Fazi, Jane, Creative Memories Consultant, Feed Your Head, Ferrier Custom Homes, Fire Face Painting, Food For Life, Forget-me-Not Originals, Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge, Fort Worth Vegetarian Society, FOTHNA Head-Quarters, FOTHNA Merchandise Booth, Freestyle Craft, Friends of the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge, Inc., Frilly Pepper (Kelli Holmes), Go Frog Wireless, Greater Fort Worth Wellness Community, Green Mountain Energy, Greener Good, Historic Fort Worth, Joy Forever, Keep FW Beautiful (City of FW Water/ Master Composters), Kelly Willems Designs, Lake Worth Alliance, Le Gourd on Blue, Log Cabin Village, Longoria's BBQ, Loving Hut Vegan Cuisine, Madd Hatter's Balloons, Mama Lou's (soaps), Marshall Grain, Mary the Caterpillar & Friends, Meadowbrook United Methodist Church, Mercy for Animals, Mind Full, Mindful Mushroom, Mukta's Jewelry, Murals, Mosaics & More, Mykolyna, National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum, Native Plant Society of Texas-North Central Chapter, Native Prairies Association share/Connemara, Nature's Guide, NCTCA (North Central Texas Communities Alliance), Neesee’s Sunroom Jewelry, Etc., New Belgium Brewing, NORML, Dallas & Fort Worth, North Texas Peace Learning Center, North Texas Renewable Energy Group, North Texas Renewable Energy, Inc., Not Just Canvas, Papa Richter's Roach Ridder, Paper Jewelry by Ina Crowe, Patagonia (Share w/Backwoods), Peaceful Vocations (Tarrant County Green Party), Pettigrews, Pottery Conceptions, Prairie Keepers, Proforma Green Marketing, Pure Energy management, Purple Kat Creative, Rahr & Son's Brewing Co., Redenta's Garden, Riverside Kennel, Rocking D Creations, Rockin ' Rhinestones, SBDC, Scentsy Wickless Candles, Shemtov, Shining Dawn Design, Sierra Club, Greater Fort Worth, Silver Threads & Golden Needles, Sims Art, Solidarity Peddlers, Somebody Special calls me..., Sophy Sam, Sustaita Studio, Tarrant County Green Party (Peaceful Vocations), Texas Bluebird Society, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project, Texas Olive Ranch, Texas Wesleyan University, threeRdesigns, Times Ten Cellars (Wine), Toyota of Fort Worth, Tribe Feathers, Trinity Bicycles, TRIP/Trinity River Improvement Partnership, Trishcat Soaps, Tutor Doctor, Unity Church of Fort Worth, West Meadowbrook Neighborhood Assoc., Whole Foods Market, Inc., Wildseed art studio, Wind Dancer Kites, Wood Art by Sandi & Don, Wyldewood Cellars and Yeleda.

The Dawn Of The Third Sunday Of April In Texas With A Blue Sky & One Week To Go Til Easter

I dawned about the same time the sun did this 3rd Sunday of April.

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell, when I went outside to fetch my swimming suit, you can see it is yet one more clear blue sky morning in North Texas.

Except, I think there may be some smoke in the air. I can't get my eyes to quit watering. It is being very annoying.

On Friday there were big wildfires to the north, up by the Red River border with Oklahoma, and to the west of my location, in the Lake Possum Kingdom area, where dozens of homes were burned.

You mix in what the thousands of Barnett Shale Natural Gas drilling sites spew into the air that we breathe, with all these wildfires, with all the other air pollution that is allowed to be spewed in these parts, it is a wonder I am not more of a respiratory mess.

I believe today is what is known as Palm Sunday. My Sunday School days are so far behind me I don't remember what today is known as Palm Sunday. Except for Palm Sunday being a week before Easter Sunday.

Easter being next Sunday, has the 2011 Prairie Fest doing its festing on the day before Easter. I wonder if an Easter Egg Hunt is planned? An Easter Egg Hunt with the eggs hidden on the trails of the Tandy Hills might be a fun thing. Twelve and under, with a parental unit having to accompany their kid. This might make for an amusing spectacle.

It is a relatively chilly 52 degrees out there. I think I'll go swimming anyway.

Hiking Through The Tandy Jungle Thinking About Queens Crossing Snake Infested Creeks

The Tandy Hills called around noon, wanting someone to walk on them. And so I did.

In the picture we are in the lushly vegetated jungle foliage zone of the Tandy Hills, accessed north of the currently dry Tandy Falls.

The green light filtering through the Tandy jungle reminds me of summer in one of the Olympic Rain Forests. With no moss. Or elk.

A week from now the 2011 Prairie Fest will be having the Tandy Hills at its most populated.

The Queen of Wink is currently in the Metroplex. I do not know if she is staying til next Saturday to do the Prairie Fest. This morning, at 11, she was running a 3.2 mile course filled with obstacles, like mud pits and snake infested creeks. To me this seemed like a royally strange thing to drive 400 miles to do.

I need to eat lunch now and then go feed a cat.

Hiking The Tandy Hills With New Wildflowers Thinking About Steamy Pools & Elsie Hotpepper Laughing Til She Cries

With 11 days to go til the 2011 Prairie Fest the Tandy Hills is starting to become a bit more colorful.

Better a late bloomer than a no bloomer.

This year I must try to be at the Prairie Fest when my favorite Fort Worth band, Triggerfish, is playing.

My noon inspection of the Tandy Hills found the trails dried out, for the most part. The rain seems to have caused some new blooms to sprout for the first time this year, like the yellow and orange wildflower you see in the picture.

Changing the subject to my other regular subject, that being my morning swim.

Well, this morning's swim was odd. The air was heated to 50. The water in the pool was at a temperature level of a heat differential significant enough to cause vapor to rise from the water, like what happens when the air is freezing. This seemed strange to me.

Changing the subject again to one of my other regular subjects, Miss Puerto Rico. Tomorrow she returns to her home island, which means I begin cat sitting duty.

Cat sitting duty is a boring subject, so let's change the subject to another of my regular subjects, Elsie Hotpepper.

This morning Elsie sent me an email that said....

I don't know if it's as funny to you since you don't text but you have to check out the site damnyouautocorrect.com. It made me laugh til I cried. It happens to all of us...

Do people really do that? Laugh til they cry? I don't think I've ever laughed til I cried. But I really don't do all that much laughing or crying. Maybe if I laughed more I'd cry more. I am emotionally stilted.

My therapist, Dr. L.C., is working on my emotional stiltedness. We are not making much progress.

I think I'll go for an afternoon swim in the steamy pool and see if I can force myself to laugh til I cry.

54 Days Until The 2011 Prairie Fest On The Tandy Hills

It is 54 days until the 2011 Prairie Fest takes place on the Tandy Hills, also known as the "Best place to stand in North Texas," with the Prairie Fest known as Fort Worth's "Best Outdoor Cultural Event."

The Prairie Fest is a one day event. Mother Nature has been good to the Prairie Fest during a time of the year known for wild weather, like tornadoes and hail, in North Texas. The only bad Mother Nature behavior I have seen at a Prairie Fest has been wind gusts causing some trouble.

The Prairie Fest needs volunteers. Find out how you can help via Don Young's Prairie Fest message below...

Prairie Fest is a big 'ol sprawling event that's getting bigger (and better) every year. The thing is really a small city of 4,000+ people that we create for a single, ten hour event, one day a year, at the mercy of Mother Nature. Why would anyone do such nutty thing? We do it for one reason: 

-To bring awareness to Tandy Hills Natural Area in order to protect and restore it for you and your family for now and forever.  

We rely heavily on people like you to create and manage this small city on that one day. Will you spare a few hours on April 23rd to help out?  >>> EZ sign-up HERE.

"Ask not what Prairie Fest can do for you. Ask what you can do for Prairie Fest."