Improving Posture With Multiple Beto's Before Cruz Yard Sign Dog Chase

This morning I opted to roll north on the Circle Trail. At the north end of Hamilton Park I came upon another of those new half mile Circle Trail markers.

Each with its own inspirational message.

At the MILE 7.5 marker mark we learn...

"More than Cardio".

and...

"Cycling can help improve posture and coordination".

I know I feel more coordinated after a bike ride. I do not know if I make note of any posture improvement.

On a previous posting about the Circle Trail half mile markers Betty Jo Bouvier opined "I think these 'helpful' signs would annoy me more than help me...and I don't have a dog"

Betty Jo's comment related directly to the half mile marker which advised that walking ones dog helps with the dog's digestion.

I think I can understand Miss Bouvier's aversion to the messages on these signs. They do seem borderline Orwellian. Big Brother spewing pithy slogans to the minions advising them regarding what might be beneficial to them.

Even though I think I may understand Betty Jo's aversion I don't share in it, too much. I find the signs slightly amusing. And a good reason to stop for a water break when I see a new one of the half mile markers.

My mine excitement of the day was seeing seven new BETO yards signs on the route I rolled today. For a total of 11 BETO signs on that route, as opposed to two Creepy CRUZ yard signs.

At the location of one of the two Creepy Cruz yard signs two large dogs took off after me, barking viciously and nipping at my heels as my feet spun the pedals at high speed. The dog chase lasted about a block.

Today's Creepy Cruz vicious dog attack marks the first time I have had myself any sort of dog incident in Wichita Falls whilst riding my bike.

I do not like getting chased by dogs whilst riding my bike....

Betty Jo Bouvier's Sedro-Woolley Big Brown Bear Brouhaha

Last night in my email inbox there was an email from the Wild Woman of Woolley, Betty Jo Bouvier.

Among the things Betty Jo mentioned in the email was the fact that a Big Brown Bear had moved in to town, with that town being Sedro Woolley in my old home zone of the Skagit Valley.

The Big Brown Bear had taken up residence in a tree a couple blocks from Betty Jo's house.

Now, you reading this in Texas, particularly in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone, likely think this is probably not all that unusual, particularly if you are aware that the Cascade mountains are a bear habitat, with lots of bears living there.

However, though Sedro Woolley is somewhat close to the mountains, it is located in the river zone of the Skagit Valley, as in the Skagit River flows by the town.

For a Big Brown Bear to get a couple blocks from Betty Jo Bouvier the bear would have had to cross multiple roads, gotten around multiple fenced off farms and residences. Plus Betty Jo pretty much lives in the center of town. Was the bear not seen by anyone as it walked the streets of Sedro Woolley before climbing up a tree?

All my years living in the Skagit Valley I do not recollect a bear showing up in any of the Skagit Valley towns. I do recollect, decades ago, a big moose creating a sensation by wandering around the valley. I recollect seeing that moose whilst driving on Interstate 5.

To be clear, that was me driving on Interstate 5, not the moose.

Years ago, I think the year was 1996, I floated the Lady of the Lake from Chelan to Stehekin in North Cascades National Park. Soon upon checking in at the National Park Lodge we saw a small brown bear climbing a nearby tree. That was to be the first of dozens of bear sightings.

Soon thereafter we were riding our bikes through an abandoned apple orchard to find a herd of bears having themselves a mighty fine time gorging on delicious apples.

On our last day in Stehekin a small brown bear, it may have been the one we saw upon arrival, was having fun playing on the second floor of the lodge. A crowd gathered, rangers showed up. The rangers captured the bear and mortified the crowd by informing us the bear had to be destroyed due to the fact that it had lost its fear of humans. This news did not go over well with the crowd.

I made three webpages of that visit to Stehekin, on one of those pages you can see a photo of the soon to be executed bear.

As for Betty Jo's Big Brown Bear.

Another email from Betty Jo arrived this morning. That email included the picture you see above of the Woolley Big Brown Bear, plus the news that in attempt to get the bear out of the tree it had been shot with a tranquilizer, which caused the bear to fall out of the tree, rendered dead from the fall.

What did the shooters think was going to happen? Shooting a bear in a tree with a tranquilizer? Did they think the tranquilizer would just calm the bear down with the bear calmly climbing out of the tree?

Bigger question is what would cause a Big Brown Bear to leave the safety of the mountains? Is this the start of a trend?

A Cool Saturday Morning Swim With Betty Jo Bouvier Celebrating Her Birthday In Seattle

I did not realize  the temperature was scheduled to get to one degree above freezing this last Saturday morning of October 2012.

I did realize the air had done some serious chilling when at some point during the night I found myself seeking extra warmth under blankets in my slumber chamber.

Knowing that the water in the pool would be significantly warmer than 33 degrees I went swimming this morning. The water was cooler than yesterday but not yet cool enough to trigger the shiver reaction.

Unless the temperature gets well above 50 today I will not be getting in the pool tomorrow morning. I see we are currently scheduled to reach a high of 60 today, with the low tonight being 36. Even if the temperature does reach 60 the water in the pool will be cooler tomorrow morning than it was this morning.

Today is Betty Jo Bouvier's birthday. Happy birthday Betty Jo.

I shan't say how old Betty Jo is today, as that would be impolite. Suffice to say that today is a significant anniversary of the day Betty Jo turned 39.

Betty Jo is celebrating her birthday by spending the weekend in Seattle where multiple surprises have been planned for her. I hope one of the surprises is a ride on the Seattle Great Wheel so I can get another first hand account.

Betty Jo Bouvier Is Being Eaten Alive By Sedro-Woolley Mosquito Bugs

I saw on Facebook that Betty Jo Bouvier is suffering from severe mosquito attacks.

Betty Jo Bouvier lives in Sedro-Woolley, Washington.

Before Woolley was added to Sedro, Sedro was a solo town.

Around 1885 Mortimer Cook moved his family from Santa Barbara, California to a new home and store that was waiting for them in Washington's Skagit Valley. Soon, Cook let it be known he was going to name his new town "Bug," due to the swarms of mosquitoes.

However, Cook's wife, and other local wives, the Betty Jo Bouviers of their day, protested the idea of naming their new town "Bug." So, Cook decided to name his new town after a type of tree that grew in the Skagit Valley,  using the Spanish word for cedar, which is cedro, and then making the name a little different by changing the 'c' to 's'.

A few years later, in 1889, a railroad builder named Phillip A. Woolley moved to the Sedro zone and built Skagit River Timber & Shingle, starting a company town, named after himself. A couple other towns developed in the Sedro zone. And then, on December 19, 1898 the towns all merged together and became Sedro-Woolley.

I do not know why, more than a century later, the town, which should have been named Bug, still does not have its mosquito population under control.

I think I have mentioned previously that when I lived in the Skagit Valley of Washington not a summer went by where I did not get multiple mosquito bites.

I have no clue why, in bug-infested Texas, I have not once been mosquito bitten, in all my years of exile in this hot humid zone where Texans have succumbed to the mosquito delivered West Nile Virus.

Maybe it is the copious amounts of raw garlic I consume in Texas which thwarts the skeeter bites. I did not consume copious amounts of raw garlic when I lived in Washington. Betty Jo Bouvier may want to amp up her raw garlic consumption to see if that thwarts the swarms of mosquitoes laying waste to her delicate epidermal layer.

It's worth a try.

Virtually Going To A Happy Birthday Lunch With Betty Jo Bouvier, Honey Lulu, Carlotta Camano & Peggy Sue Today

Happy Birthday Girl Betty Jo Bouvier

That is Betty Jo Bouvier on the left and her daughter, Carey, on the right, in the picture, lost somewhere in the Sonoma Valley in California, on their Segways.

This morning Betty Jo invited me to the birthday lunch celebrating her, at least, 39th birthday. Also to be at Betty Jo's birthday lunch were Honey Lulu, Carlotta Camano and Peggy Sue.

I told Betty Jo if I was unable to make it to please say howdy for me to the girls.

Betty Jo's birthday lunch had me thinking about the Pacific Northwest today, well, more specifically, the Puget Sound zone of Washington.

It has been 3 years since I have been back to Washington. This is the longest I have gone without returning to Washington since I moved to Texas. I have pretty much recovered from the well documented trauma I suffered during my month long stay in Washington from July 20 til August 20 of 2008. The traumatizers were brought to justice, which is as it should be in a perfect world where scoundrels eventually pay a price for their scoundrelizing.

Speaking even more about the Pacific Northwest, today I realized it is over a quarter century since Vancouver's Expo '86 closed.

So, I blogged about this shocking reality this morning on my Washington blog in a blogging appropriately titled "It Is Over A Quarter Of A Century Since Vancouver's Expo '86 Closed".

If Betty Jo Bouvier turned 39 this week, that would mean she was only 14 when Expo "86 closed. I well remember when Betty Jo was 14. I do not remember going to Expo "86 with Betty Jo when she was 14.

Big Clouds Over Fort Worth & The Tandy Hills Make Me Forget About Big Ed's Annoying Website

It was only 86 when I left my abode to head west to the Tandy Hills. Three hours later it is 10 degrees hotter, at 96, with a Real Feel Heat Index of 102.

As you can see, in the picture, looking west, from the Tandy Hills, at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, today we have some sunblocking going on in the form of big white clouds.

I had myself an annoying morning of frustrating annoyance. Mostly all self-inflicted. The Tandy Hills Sanatorium restored my peaceful balance.

My morning annoyance was caused by Big Ed's website. For awhile now Big Ed had been asking me to update his website and get rid of stuff no longer relevant, like Chambers of Commerce, Balloon Festivals, Toastmasters and some strange thing called StuGurCo.

Big Ed's website was an antique, made in 2001, using the now never-used framed method. I figured I'd just take the main frame page and turn it into the index page. That took all of 2 minutes. And then the fun began. When I uploaded the new index page and went to test it, it would not load. Instead it overheated my computer, hanging it up.

Eventually I got back control of the computer. Two hours later I realized code for the framed page remained, so I took all of a minute to make a new page, and pasted in the sparse info that is on Big Ed's website's now bare homepage.

And now this afternoon I found out Betty Jo Bouvier is sending Honey Lulu here so I can put her in bootcamp of hiking the Tandy Hills and swimming. That should be very interesting.....

Hiking The Mostly Dried Out Tandy Hills Today With Betty Jo Bouvier While Crossing Washed Out Bridges

It's been awhile since I talked to Betty Jo Bouvier. I can't remember the last time she went hiking with me in a natural area. Likely somewhere in the North Cascades.

I called Betty Jo on my way to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area, hoping Betty Jo might help restore my sanity, in case the Sanatorium Area failed me in that regard.

Betty Jo and I talked about all sorts of things, including the idea of going to Hawaii to see Honey Lulu, but never once discussed the weather, which, incidentally, here in my zone of Texas, is back being in the 70s. So, my windows are open.

When I got off the phone with Betty Jo I began my descent down Mount Tandy. When I got to the Tandy Highway I was not too shocked to see that the first temporary bridge across Sewer Spill Creek had washed away.

The Fort Worth water guys had not bothered to put a culvert pipe under their Sewer Spill Creek bridge.

However, the FW water guys did put a culvert pipe under the bridge they built over the creek that crosses Tandy Highway, further south, that is more prone to having water run through it.

But, the pipe is about 10 inches in diameter. It did not take a hydraulic engineer to know that that little pipe was worthless the first time it got hit with a lot of rain. That deluge occurred on Monday, washing out both temporary bridges and moving the culvert pipe of the bridge that had culvert pipe, about 10 feet downstream.

Are the FW water guys finished with their repair project? Or are more scarce city funds going to be used to once more construct these high tech bridges?

I think I will go swimming again and worry about washed out bridges while I work on my suntan.

Hot Tandy Hills Hiking In Fort Worth With My Mom & Dad Gone Missing In Arizona

I remembered my camera today when I went hiking on the Tandy Hills. My co-hiker also remembered her camera, hence the picture of me hiking.

You can sort of tell from the picture that it is a warm day on the hills.

I think with all the hill hiking I do and all the swimming I do that I am eventually going to get myself in good shape and eventually lose all my unsightly weight gain.

I think I may go for an afternoon swim. It is 80 something out there right now, with a clear blue sky, which should make for some good sun lounging.

I called my mom and dad on Wednesday when I got gas in Hurst. My one longtime reader may remember I call my mom and dad whenever I get gas. They were not home when I called. Usually my mom then calls me back later in the day.

I'd forgotten about the Wednesday gas call when I got gas again today and called my mom and dad and again got the answering machine.

I guess I shall call my sister who lives in Chandler to find out what's up with my mom and dad. My mom and dad live in Sun Lake. About 8 miles, I think, from my sister's house. Chandler and Sun Lake are Phoenix suburbs.

I will likely hear from Betty Jo Bouvier now, harping about me going to Arizona to see my mom and dad.

In the meantime I'm going to go swimming and lay on a lounge chair for awhile.

It Is Hot In Fort Worth With A Tandy Bottle Hanging Mystery & Texas Girls Packing Heat

Why is someone hanging bottles from branches along the trails of the Tandy Hills?

A couple days ago it was the Mystery of the Tandy Bamboo Teepee. And now the Tandy Bottle Hanging Mystery.

A week ago I was having trouble getting warm, suffering through blizzards with sub-zero wind chills.

A week later I'm getting too HOT hiking which forced shirt removal.

And this morning I had my first real swim of the new year. I was in the water for over a half hour. It felt good. I think it was the loss of swimming that caused my gain of weight.

The pool will be even warmer tomorrow with today's degrees being in the 80s for the first time of the new year. I think that's true.

My current temperature reading is 82, with the Heat Index making it feel like 83. I think I like the Heat Index better than the Wind Chill.

I have not turned on the A/C. But I do have my ceiling fan spinning above me.

Denise finally checked her gmail, so we can quit worrying about not hearing from Denise. Now Denise must complete her undercover assignment.

I learned yesterday that a person I frequently mention on this blog, but who I won't mention right now, by name, got her license yesterday. License to pack heat. Now armed with a six-shooter. Which is why I don't want to raise her ire by saying who it is who is now armed and dangerous.

I will say it is not the Wild Woman of Woolley, Betty Jo Bouvier. Betty Jo is well over 2 thousand miles away, so really can do no harm to me with bullets. Same with Carlotta Del Rio. Carlotta is closer than Betty Jo, but not close enough to be dangerous.

I just heard from Carlotta Del Rio. Telling me how beautiful Washington is being today, with Mount Baker making an appearance, after being shrouded in clouds for awhile.

I can't remember the last time I saw a mountain.

A Case Of The Monday Morning Texas Blues And A Missing Sedro-Woolley Gas Pump

I was up way before the sun, this day after the Super Bowl, first Monday of the second month of 2011.

But, I was not in the mood to blog about anything.

I'm suffering a big, bad case of BLAH.

As you can via the view through the bars of my prison cell patio my case of BLAH is not due to a lack of blue sky.

I think I may be feeling BLAH due to having too much pizza during the Super Bowl.

I managed to watch almost all of the Super Bowl, except for a blogging break after the halftime show.

Til I read about the stadium malfunctions, this morning, I was thinking after a week of woes the actual event went off well. I'll blog about the stadium malfunctions in a subsequent blogging.

A couple days ago Betty Jo Bouvier, she being the Wild Woman of Woolley, suffered the same fate as I did when someone stole my bike from my van. Only in Betty Jo's case it was not a stolen bike from her van, but a stolen antique Chevron Gas Pump from her yard.

Betty Jo asked me to blog about the heist of the Gas Pump on my Washington Blog in case anyone in the Washington zone has seen a Gas Pump show up recently. And so I blogged about "The Case of the Missing Sedro-Woolley Gas Pump."

HOT Saturday Tandy Hills Hiking With The Queen Of Wink & Elsie Hotpepper Saloon Hopping While Betty Jo Bouvier Ponders Stripping For The Super Bowl

Due to the nature of my hiking attire worn today whilst hiking the hills of the Tandy Hills Natural Area you might guess it is warm in North Texas this last Saturday of the first month of 2011.

You would be guessing right. It is currently a balmy 76 degrees.

Until my phone holding arm started to go numb the Queen of Wink went hiking with me today.

The Queen of Wink has hiked on the Tandy Hills with me previously. The first time she got a bad case of the vapors and required hiking assistance.

I tell you, the details of what goes on in the Queen of Wink's Realm would give a prime-time TV Soap Opera plenty of material. Or just film the Queen of Wink 24 hours a day and you'd have yourselves something fit for Bravo TV.

The Real Housewife of Wink.

Separate from the Wink Soap Opera material the Queen of Wink may be heading for a visit to New York City due to her widespread reputation as a Sinkhole Expert.

I thought we long ago established Gar the Texan as the Go To Expert Guy for anything to do with sinkholes. I may be remembering wrong.

Before I took off from here to do some hill hiking I called Elsie Hotpepper to see if she wanted to enjoy the great outdoors with me.

She didn't.

But, Elsie asked me if I wanted to go saloon hopping with her tonight. I am not a very big fan of saloon hopping, so I politely declined.

Maybe a little saloon hopping with the Hotpepper would be good for what ails me. I don't know. What I do know, for sure, is the last time I went saloon hopping with Elsie Hotpepper it took me about a week to feel as if I was totally recovered.

And then there is Betty Jo Bouvier. I know she is known as the Wild Woman of Woolley, but, even so, her most recent question surprised me. Betty Jo asked me if it was true that the D/FW area is in need of 10,000 extra strippers for the Super Bowl. I asked if the reason she wanted to know this was she was thinking of flying in to earn some quick, easy money. To which Betty Jo replied, "It may be quick, but not easy."

I had no idea Betty Jo Bouvier did stripping as a sideline. I knew she was a Zumba dancer, though, which I guess must somehow lead to an interest in being a stripper.

I think maybe I need to close my windows. It feels like HOT air is blowing in here....

Today's Brief Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man Thinking About Elsie Hotpepper, Betty Jo Bouvier & The Queen Of Wink Being Wild Women Tomorrow

As you can see by the length of the Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man, I was semi-late to the Tandy Hills today. When I headed to the hills there was barely a hint of sun. When I started hiking the hills, no sun.

And then, for one brief moment the sun made one brief appearance. I whipped out my camera and was able to snap off one picture of the Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man before the sun went away for the day.

I got an email from the Other Tandy Hills Thin Man, Don Young, today, with additional info about tomorrow's Tandy Hills Manly Men/Wild Women Hike, starting at 10 am from Tandy Hills Park on View Street. I will copy and paste the pertinent new info from DY, regarding tomorrow, in the following paragraph...

"Post-hike lunch for those inclined at the 8.0 Bar & Restaurant in Sundance Square. They have a moderately priced menu for all ages and tastes. Meet in the Octopus Room. Dutch treat. Come as you are. I guarantee you'll have an appetite."

I do not know if Elsie Hotpepper is bringing her particular brand of Wild Woman to the Tandy Hills tomorrow. Near as I can tell Elsie is currently, for some unfathomable reason, being a bit reluctant about any form of exhibitionism, including exhibiting her hiking skills in hill mode.

I am fairly certain that the Queen of Wink and Princess Annie will not be attending the 2nd Annual Manly Men/Wild Women Hike. Near as I can tell the Queen is undergoing some sort of existential crises in her West Texas realm that is manifesting itself in a lot of Facebook introspection and navel gazing.

I heard from Betty Jo Bouvier, this morning, she being the well known Wild Woman of Woolley, that she may be being a Tandy Hills Wild Woman tomorrow.

I can say this for certain. If Betty Jo Bouvier is on the Tandy Hills tomorrow, for the Manly Men/Wild Women Hike, I can 100% certain guarantee I will be there as well, previous plans be damned.

Late On The Tandy Hills Thinking About Zumba Dancing With Elsie Hotpepper

In the picture you are looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, late this afternoon, from the top of Mount Tandy.

This is the first time I've taken a picture of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth since the loss of its 3 mile long Streetcar relegated Fort Worth to continue to linger beneath Top Tier City status.

Meanwhile Dallas got the federal public transit money that Fort Worth rejected. Which seems really unfair because Dallas is already a Top Tier City.

I was relieved when I arrived at the top of Mount Tandy today to find no randy Fort Worth cops engaged in any sort of illicit dalliance. Unlike yesterday.

The Randy Tandy Dalliance is what I've chosen to choose as the explanation for the two cop cars parked on top of Mount Tandy, and then scurrying like cockroaches in bright light upon my arrival, yesterday.

A mid-day doctor's visit is what had me late on the Tandy Hills today. Being late was a good thing. The temperature was in the 60s. Yesterday I wore shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt. Today the t-shirt was short sleeved. Perfect conditions. I hiked a long long time.

Elsie Hotpepper was perplexing me today with her detailed verbalization about being an exhibitionist. I don't know if this has anything to do with saloon hopping. Or what.

Carlotta Del Rio, she being one of The Real Housewives of Camano Island, tried to get me to be in San Antonio today. I had to tell her, no, I am stuck in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex at the present moment.

Carlotta and Betty Jo Bouvier have been intriguing me about the idea of doing the Zumba thing. When I found out today that Shakira's hips not lying is a popular part of Zumba, it enhanced the appeal.

I wonder if Elsie Hotpepper would be willing to Zumba instead of saloon hopping?

No Shadow Of The Thin Man On The Tandy Hills Today While Recovering From Betty Jo Bouvier Stomping On My Foot

There was no Shadow of the Thin Man on the Tandy Hills today, due to there being no bright sun present, due to a grayish vapor of unknown origin covering the sky.

This morning I read one of the saddest things I've read in awhile. That being Gar the Texan's tale of the cruise from which he just returned.

It reads like a romance novel, not that I have ever read a romance novel, but it's what I except one to be like.

Gar the Texan's romance novel is the story of a lonely boy, sailing solo, staring into glass after glass of adult libations, singing karaoke, trying to get into crew parties with attempts to buy a crew uniform and finally having an emotional breakdown with an old lady who had also lost her spouse and was sailing solo.

All while on a quest to learn where Macedonia is.

Now, let us leave Gar the Texan and return to the Tandy Hills. It was cold on the hills today, requiring 2 layers of long sleeved shirts, plus a windbreaker with a hoodie, which I needed to use to block the cold wind.

I have been having a sore foot woe for several weeks now. I don't know what I did to cause this woe. The right foot is the biggest pain.

In last night's nightmare, which I mentioned earlier today, the nightmare where I found myself driving in Afghanistan with Betty Jo Bouvier in heavy duty harping nag mode. Well, what I did not mention was that when we got to Kabul and got out of the car, Betty Jo stomped on my right foot real hard, paining me deeply.

It was very strange how my real life pain became part of the nightmare, with Betty Jo making it worse.

Today on the Tandy Hills that right foot was hurting the worst ever. And then after about a half mile the pain abated like it always does.

Tonight I intend to keep the dangerous Betty Jo Bouvier out of my nightmares, if I can.

Sleepwalking In Texas While Driving In Afghanistan With Betty Jo Bouvier

We are looking out at the morning of the 3rd Friday of the last month of 2010. Only 14 days to go til the end of this current holiday season's excessive joy.

I had a rough night of nightmares last night. The nightmares had way too much action going on.

I think there may have been some sleepwalking involved.

Because one of my pillows was outside this morning, sitting on a table on the patio. I did not know this til I looked out the window to take the picture you see here and saw the pillow.

I do remember one of my nightmares.

Betty Jo Bouvier, the Wild Woman of Woolley, and I were on The Amazing Race. The task was to drive ourselves from Kandahar, Afghanistan to Kabul. We were provided with AK-47s in case we ran into any Taliban. It was a nervewracking drive to Kabul, with Betty Jo complaining all the way, blaming me for getting her stuck on this ridiculous race.

I woke up exhausted.

I have no idea what I am doing today, except for being absolutely certain there will be no driving in Afghanistan.

Tuesday Morning With Broccoli Soup & Water Missing From My Pool & Another Texas Earthquake

Looking out the window the Tuesday morning of November 9 I can see about half the water is missing from my pool.

So, there will be no pool for this fool this morning. Which is a sad sad thing due to the temperature having risen to a level sufficient to make the thrill of the chill tolerable. As in it is 55 out there right now.

I learned quite some time ago, now, that if the temperature averages during a 24 hour period at 50 degrees, or above, frostbite does not set it.

Betty Jo Bouvier asked me this morning if I got something she sent me. I have not. I can not help but wonder what Betty Jo has sent me. I hope it isn't a flu virus.

Broccoli Soup is on the menu for lunch today. Before that I will need to get in some salubrious aerobic activity to overcompensate for my pool being unavailable.

I forgot to explain that the reason water is missing from the pool is because it is being drained so repairs can be made to some tile grout which cracked soon after it was grouted last summer. It takes a long time to drain the pool. And a long time to fill it.

What a waste of water in these parched parts.

Sunday night we had yet one more earthquake here in mostly shake-free North Texas. Once again it was Cleburne that got shook.

Back in summer of 2009 Cleburne had 8 Richter Scale Measurable Tremors. Sunday's quake was a 2.5 shaker. You feel a quake that small if you are near the epicenter, but not if you are a few miles distant from it.

Cleburne is about 40 miles southwest of my location. So, I felt no earthquake on Sunday. I did feel the earth move last night. But I think that may have been caused by a big truck passing.

Tandy Hills Blue Flag Epidemic While Betty Jo Bouvier Worries About Stocking Caps

I think I may be over-compensating over losing my bike by overdoing hiking. Or this may be being caused by the near perfect conditions making it such a pleasant way to aerobicize. Or, maybe my endorphin addiction has grown worse.

I saw no new empty cans of Four Loko on the Tandy Hills today. Or anyone passed out from drinking Four Loko.

I did see some new blue plastic flags stuck in the ground on the Tandy Hills today. The new blue plastic flags were stuck in the ground near the trail in the area I call Lost Sunglasses Ridge, due to this being the location of where I lost my sunglasses on Easter and found them a month later, hiding in plain sight.

To me the blue plastic flags do not seem like a very natural thing to sticking in the ground of something with natural in its name, as in Tandy Hills Natural Area.

I'm sure the purpose of the blue and yellow plastic flags will become clear at some point in time and it will seem perfectly natural that they are stuck in the ground of the Natural Area.

Switching to a slightly different subject, with that subject being my swimming habits. This morning Betty Jo Bouvier made the rudest comment, commenting about my swimming attire. Specifically, Betty Jo questioned the sartorial appropriateness of wearing a stocking cap whilst swimming.

It is totally physiologically logical to wear a stocking cap over ones head when one is immersed in cold water. By slowing the escape of  body heat from the skull zone, the period of time it takes to chill the body core is also slowed, thus elongating the period of time one can spend in the cold water without feeling cool.

In her defense, Betty Jo Bouvier lives in a semi-tropical zone and thus has never experienced the benefits of wearing a stocking cap when confronting cold temperatures.

UPDATE: The blue flags are being put on the Tandy Hills by TWU students studying the Compass Plant. Leave the blue (and yellow) flags alone.

UPDATE 2: DurangObese blogged about a subject related to wearing a stocking cap to keep warm while swimming..

In Texas Looking At Photos Of The Woolley Wedding Of The Year

I was all prepared to attend the Woolley Wedding of the Year, but an invitation never arrived. I was so disappointed, because, like I think I said before, there are very few things I enjoy more than going to a wedding.

Especially if potential weather drama is involved.

And there was plenty of weather drama, apparently, in Western Washington, yesterday, with the first rain in awhile causing the roads to be slick and generate a lot of accidents.

I have not received any news as to how the weather treated yesterday's Woolley Wedding of the Year. But the new mother-in-law, Betty Jo Bouvier, did send me photos of the event to which I was not invited.

That is the bride, Elizabeth on the left, next to groom, Adam, and I believe that is the backside of Betty Jo we are seeing on the right. The photos had no captions so I can only guess about these things.

Heavy Drinking While Hiking Heavy Thinking About Escaping Texas

I did not feel like overheating today. So, with the temperature being 91.3, with a Heat Index of 94, and not a lot of wind, I opted out of hiking the Tandy Hills and opted, instead, for the shady trails at Village Creek Natural Historic Area.

In the picture it looks like I'm talking on the phone. But what I am actually doing is imbibing in my drinking problem of consuming copious amounts of water, all day long and into the night.

I don't know how many gallons I'm drinking daily.

The only animal I saw today, while walking in Village Creek Natural Historic Area, was one squirrel. I saw a few dead cicadas. I heard birds, but saw none.

Formerly, Village Creek Natural Historic Area was the site of my most snake sightings. And my one and only gar fish encounter. Numerous armadillos. One bobcat. And an elderly lady in a mu mu who claimed to have had a cougar encounter.

Does it not look peaceful, cool and serene under the canopy of the Village Creek trees? The tweeting of unseen birds can be a bit unsettling and spooky. This was a killing zone. Who knows what, and how many, tortured spirits lurk about in the trees.

Betty Jo Bouvier, the Wild Woman of Woolley, told me today that I need to have some fun and get out of my routine. That it would be good for me.

Betty Jo is sort of right. It has been 2 years since I have been out of Texas. Two years. This is the longest I have gone without a Texas break.

I can't even remember the last time I was outside the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex zone. Maybe it was the last time I left Texas, 2 years ago.

I don't know what has gone wrong with me. I seem to stay within about a 20 mile radius, with some unseen force field stopping me from going further.

Maybe I am escaping during sleepwalking episodes. I have made note, of late, of unexplained miles being added to my odometer.

I'll have to ask my therapist, Dr. L.C., what she thinks about my routine issues. I suspect she'll just tell me to go do some saloon hopping with Elsie Hotpepper.

The Return Of The Texas Moon With Incoming Rain & Lovebirds

The sun somehow got up before I did, this last Thursday of July. When I made it out to my lit up balcony I was pleased to see that some of the light was being provided by the long missing moon.

I have my windows open, again, this morning. It is only 73 degrees cold right now at about 7 in the morning.

I am skipping my morning swim today for a variety of reasons.

Betty Jo Bouvier is thinking about blogging, but is reluctant due to the erroneous notion she does not have anything to blog about. Betty Jo is known as the Wild Woman of Woolley. She frequently has accidents involving explosive fires. She tours California wineries on a Segway, is currently in wedding planning mode, obsessively shops for shoes and yet somehow thinks she does not have anything to blog about.

My lovebirds, Albert and Alice are out on their branch, cooing. I think they are being happy because the cicadas are not making any noise. That and the birdseed I left them on the table on my patio. The Queen of Wink gave me a Texas-themed birdhouse last year. Maybe I should set it on the table for Albert and Alice to take up residence.

The National Weather Service amped up our chance of rain to 60% for today. Yesterday we had a 30% chance of getting wet. About 4, yesterday afternoon, the temperature did suddenly drop about 15 degrees and a few drops of water did fall. But not enough to get anything wet. At least in my location.