A Hot First Sunday Of Summer Tandy Hills Hike With A Collapsed Bamboo Tepee

In the picture you are standing atop Mount Tandy, looking west at the 4 soaring skyscrapers that dominate the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

My swimming pool is out of commission due to an electrical problem which has the filtering pump not filtering. And so a heavy dose of chemicals had to poured into the water, lest the water turn an unfortunate shade of slimy green.

I have seen how quickly this can happen when we are at the HOT time of the year, when the pool water at my previous abode turned slimy green when the filtering pump went awry.

An electrician arrives tomorrow to try and figure out what caused the short circuit that shut down everything electrical associated with the pool.

With no pool, the Tandy Hills was rendered my source of endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation today.

Three days in to Summer and we have yet to have a 100 degree day at my location in Texas, but the Tandy Hills were plenty warm today, though more than a dozen degrees shy of 100.

Today I was shocked to walk in to the Bamboo Tepee Grove to find that the Bamboo Tepee has collapsed to the ground.

The mystery of why someone hauled about a dozen bamboo poles to the heart of the Tandy Hills and then constructed a Bamboo Tepee has never been solved.

The Bamboo Tepee stood for several years, seemingly impervious to the elements, surviving wind, rain, hail, snow and extreme heat and cold.

No 4th Of July Firecrackers Cracking In Texas While I Drink Beet Juice Lemonade

It is almost 4 in the afternoon of the 4th of July in Texas. I have yet to hear the crack of a single firecracker or any other noisemaker.

Those of you reading this in Washington, particularly those reading this in the Skagit Valley, know why I find this 4th of July quiet so strange.

Before moving to Texas and experiencing the reality of Texas, had you asked me what I thought the 4th of July would be like in Texas I would have guessed that the noise level would be greatly louder than Washington.

Instead it is very, very quiet.

The Tandy Hills Bamboo Tepee is still standing. It has been months since this mysterious piece of Guerrilla Art appeared deep inside the Tandy Hills.

Why did someone go to the effort of hauling 14 long bamboo poles, over difficult, rocky trails, up and down hills, to this particular location? And then build a Bamboo Tepee?

I may not be hearing any firecrackers cracking, but I sure am hearing a lot of cicadas cracking.

Speaking of wildlife. I have not seen a single lizard on the Tandy Hills this year. Last year I saw many lizards, including one very big one. Where are the lizards?

Wink has no 4th of July celebration of the city organized sort. But, apparently a group skinny dipping 4th of July party is planned for one of the Wink Sinkholes. I learned this from the Queen of Wink who was thinking of dipping in the Wink Sink today.

I had a tasty 4th of July lunch today. Pizza, pulled BBQ pork, beet onion salad and beet juice lemonade.

You are what you eat...