Ducky Linda Lou Sikes Lake Gazebo Call

Yesterday I was riding my bike through my Caribbean neighborhood, heading west on Haiti, when my phone made its incoming call noise. I did not stop rolling to see who was calling, since that is inconvenient when rolling, and when I do try to do that I usually do not make it to the phone in time to answer it.

Soon thereafter I left the Caribbean behind and arrived at Sikes Lake. A short distance later I stopped at one of the Sikes Lake gazebos and got my phone out of the phone holder which holds it whilst I am rolling.

The call was from Linda Lou.

Linda Lou is fun to talk to, so I sat at the gazebo and returned Linda Lou's call.

Whilst I was talking to Linda Lou at one point she asked what was that quacking noise she was hearing. Ducks I replied. I am surrounded by ducks.

I told Linda Lou I would take a picture of the ducks when I got off the phone and send it to her. I remembered to take the photo, but forgot about it til this morning when I decided I would just send Linda Lou a duck photo via this means.

It was only a flock of four ducks who were serenading me with their quacking. Only two of the ducks, the ones you see above, under the gazebo table, cooperated in having their picture taken.

During the course of a day a lot of people show up at this location on Sikes Lake bringing food to the flock of ducks and geese. The geese out number the ducks by a large margin. I think the four ducks who quacked at me and Linda Lou were hoping for a handout, as that gazebo is a popular lunching spot with the lunchers tossing tidbits to the birds.

At one point a little boy showed up who instantly got my flock of four duck's attention, with the ducks waddling after the little boy for a few minutes, before giving up on that kid giving them anything to eat, so they returned to me and the gazebo and Linda Lou.

This is the type thing which passes for being an exciting thrill in my current pandemic infested world.

I realized yesterday that it has been a year since I last trekked the few miles to the southeast that takes me to the Dallas/Fort Worth zone. I have had no reason to go there, and now what with the DFW Metroplex turning into a COVID-19 hotspot it seems even less appealing than it usually does to go there.

But, I would sure like to have myself a chile relleno at Esperanza's in Fort Worth. I have had a hankering for that for months now...

Looking Northwest At A Flat Hill Thinking About Seeing Trump & Hillary With A Chile Relleno & Cancer

This last Wednesday of 2016's version of February, from my perch about twenty feet above ground level, looking northwest over the Woodhaven Hills, feeling pensive.

I don't remember how I verbalized it, but in some form my New Years Resolution for 2016 was to end my exile in Texas and return to the Pacific Northwest.

Looking at the Woodhaven Hills is a good representative of the lack of scenic scenery at my current location on the planet. To call the slight rises to the west of my location "hills" seems to be some sort of insult to all the actual hills that elevate other locations on the planet.

Two months in to 2016 and I have made zero progress towards actualizing my New Years Resolution.

The other thing that has me feeling morose is all the people I know who are at various stages of battling cancer. One just started the fight, one is at the terminal end of the fight, two are in the middle of the fight.

I learned this morning via esteemed Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist and connoisseur of good food, Bud Kennedy, that Donald Trump will be holding one of his Nuremberg Rally type events around noon on Friday at the Fort Worth Convention Center. I am thinking that this might be amusing to attend.

It is hard to believe it was so long ago, but around this time, eight years ago, I went to the Fort Worth Stockyards for My Date With Hillary. I successfully got past the gauntlet of security, due to security not realizing the old stockyard pens, and the boardwalk above them, gave direct access to the front of the line of the thousands waiting the see Mrs. Clinton.

That was a memorable day. I think that was the last time I had myself a chile relleno at Esperanza's. I will miss chile rellenos at Esperanza's when I move back to Washington. But, apparently not too much, if it has been eight years since I have enjoyed that delicacy.....

With A Moderate Ozone Level I Hiked The Tandy Hills With Potentially Noxious Yellow Weeds

Tandy Hills Mutant Scotch Broom

With the ozone level up one stage from 'good' to 'moderate' I risked breathing in moderately adequate air whilst doing some endorphin inducing aerobically stimulating Tandy Hills hill hiking today.

Clouds did some sun blocking, but high humidity still turned the hill hiking into a salubrious steam bath that felt really good.

The Tandy Hills are currently sprouting large patches of yellow flowers on skinny stems that look like a mutant variation of the notorious noxious west coast weed that goes by the name of Scotch Broom.

A lot of people are allergic to Scotch Broom. I did not seem to have any sort of immediate allergic reaction to the Tandy Hills mutant Scotch Broom.

A week ago today I was in total allergic misery, with Friday night, a week ago, being the night I was a sleepless Zombie. What a difference a week makes.

Last Saturday I got myself a dozen Poblano Peppers at Town Talk. Yesterday I wondered if there was such a thing as Poblano Pepper soup. So I Googled "Poblano Pepper Soup Recipe" and found that there are a lot of recipes for making soup with this particular pepper.

So, this morning I made Poblano Pepper Soup. It turned out to be really tasty.

If one looks at a recipe for making a Chile Relleno it is a Poblano Pepper that is the main ingredient. But, when I roast and use a Poblano Pepper it tastes nothing like a Relleno. When I roast a Hatch Chile, then I totally get the Relleno taste.

This Poblano/Relleno conundrum is very perplexing.

84 Years Old Walking With The Indian Ghosts Who Haunt The Village Creek Natural Historical Area

That is the shaded Village Creek Natural Historical trail you are looking at in the picture.

It was to this location, to walk with my favorite Indian Ghosts, that I drove today to do my daily walking.

I am currently experiencing a respite from the allergic woes I've been experiencing the past couple days. Currently the National Weather Service has issued an Air Quality Alert for this part of the planet. Those who are sensitive to bad air are advised to be careful where they do their breathing.

The pollen level is supposedly extremely high today.

I am hoping whatever it was that caused me to go into allergic meltdown has gone away.

The allergy woes have caused me all sorts of aggravation. Yesterday I seemed to be suffering from some sort of allergy caused dementia.

For instance, yesterday I told someone I was 35 when JFK was assassinated. This would make me only 84 years old. The person I told that I was 35, when JFK last visited Dallas, was under the delusion that I was 29. Thus reading that I was 84 caused her to spew the tea she was drinking all over her keyboard.

I feel real bad every time I cause someone to spew anything on their keyboard.

This morning I learned that 6 months ago I was sent incorrect drawings to add to a website upgrade. I've been asked to insert corrected drawings ASAP. If I was still in allergy suffering mode I don't think I could do anything ASAP that required any attention to detail.

The lunch bell just rang. Chile Rellenos.

Looking For A Steam Bath On The Tandy Hills After Making Chile Rellenos And Learning Gar The Texan Made It Though His Latest Surgery

In the picture you are on top of Mount Tandy, at noon, on the last Tuesday of August of 2012, looking west across the wagon trail that leads to beautiful downtown Fort Worth, the stunning skyline of which you can see in the distance.

I was hoping for a good feeling steam bath today, courtesy of the humidity. But, the temperature being in the semi-chilly 80s did not make for a good steam bath.

Changing the subject from a steam bath to steaming chiles.

Yesterday I think I mentioned that I was roasting Hatch chiles that  I got from ALDI. The directions had you roasting the chiles, then putting them in a sealed container of some sort, so that the steam from the hot chiles would allow the skins to peel off easily.

I had no idea one had to peel a chile, or how that worked, or why it was needed to be done.

Well, it worked real well, the skins of the chiles pulled right off, leaving a chile that tasted like the chile one gets in a Chile Relleno, which is my favorite item of the Mexican food sort.

So, today I made a Chile Relleno casserole from the roasted and peeled Hatch chiles. Usually I don't think anything I cook tastes all that good, but, I have to say, this Chile Relleno casserole I made today may be the best Chile Relleno I've ever had.

Changing the subject from Chile Relleno to something else that needs to be roasted before peeling.

We've been worried sick about Gar the Texan. He went under the knife on Friday. Something to do with his hips needing to be replaced. No one had heard from Gar the Texan, post-surgery. Phone calls go to voice mail, email unanswered, no blogging, nothing on Facebook.

Well, Gar the Texan resurfaced today. The surgery went fine except for some inept nurses butchering his fingers when they found out he is diabetic.

I think Gar the Texan may be what motivates me to overdo the exercise thing. I see what's happened to that boy as some sort of cautionary tale, making me think I want to do all I can do to prevent that sort of decrepitude from happening to me when I get that old.

Having ones hips replaced sounds real dire. I remember when my grandma had her hips replaced. I think she was quite a bit older than Gar the Texan's current age. But, she was way more active than Gar the Texan.

And not a diabetic.

Climbing The Fort Worth Space Needle Atop Mount Tandy & Valentines Day Lunch With Elsie Hotpepper

You are looking at the Fort Worth Space Needle, high atop Mount Tandy on the east side of the Tandy Hills Natural Area, today, about an hour before noon.

When I drove up to the Mount Tandy summit I saw a lot of pickup trucks and men scurrying around the Space Needle.

A thin cable was running from about half way up the tower to a winch on the back of one of the pickups.

I wondered how that thin cable got half way up the tower. I watched for awhile to try and figure out what was being done.

Whatever those guys were doing it had several guys yelling back and forth in a storm of colorful cussing, the likes of which I'd not heard since the last time I talked to Elsie Hotpepper.

I gave up after about 5 minutes and took off hiking. The trails were a bit muddy in places. I prefer trails not to be muddy.

An hour or so later I was back under the Fort Worth Space Needle.

I've got to say, looking up at that thing makes me dizzy. I'm a bit of an acrophobe, even when I'm on the ground.

But, what I now saw, really made me dizzy, well, queasy.

Two guys, more than half way up the tower.

In the photo at the top, you can see where these guys were on the tower, by finding the black spots halfway up the tower. That would be them.

As I drove away I had no clue what these guys were risking life and limb to do. Whatever it was, it sure had them being a bit hot tempered.

Speaking of being a bit hot tempered. My Valentines Day lunch at Esperanza's, with Elsie Hotpepper, was fun. Absolutely no colorful cussing.

When Elsie got back to work she emailed asking how lunch was. I replied that I am out of practice for eating that much. To which Elsie replied, "Me too. And I am sleepy!!"

It's all those tortilla chips. And rice. And beans. That is way too much carbo-loading when you aren't used to it.

The Esperanza's Chile Cheese Relleno was really good today. I'd not had a Chile Cheese Relleno since way back in September of last year when I met the Scrabble Queen of Washington and her husband, JR, at Mercado Juarez for lunch.

When I lived in Washington my favorite Chile Cheese Relleno came from the restaurant closest to where I lived. Los Arcos. So named because it was in a building that shared space with an Arcos gas station. It was at this restaurant I learned to like pico de gallo and cilantro. Later the restaurant expanded to be a night club, with the owner soon indicted for some bad behavior, with Los Arcos being no more.

I Am Sure I Will Be Having Myself A Happy Texas Valentines Day Today With A Chile Relleno

Looking out my viewing portal, this second Monday of the second month of 2011, I can see that Valentines Day in my zone of Texas is looking to be a very nice day.

Blue sky and already 13 degrees above freezing, heading to somewhere in the 70s.

I was very relieved, this morning, to learn that Betty Jo Bouvier made it back home, to find she had not been burglarized while escaping the drippy, gray Western Washington Winter, for the less drippy, less gray Eastern Washington Winter in Leavenworth.

I am going out for lunch with my Valentine today at my favorite Mexican restaurant.

Esperanza's.

In the Fort Worth Stockyards zone.

Esperanza's is owned and operated by the Joe T. Garcia family. Chile Relleno is my favorite Mexican food. It is via a Chile Relleno I judge how much I like a Mexican restaurant. Joe T. Garcia's and Esperanza's are my favorite Chile Relleno locations.

Wikipedia's info about my favorite Mexican food...

The chile relleno, literally "stuffed chile," is a dish of Mexican cuisine that originated in the city of Puebla. It consists of a roasted fresh poblano pepper (a mild chili pepper named after the city of Puebla), sometimes substituted with non-traditional Hatch green chile, Anaheim, pasilla or even jalapeño chili pepper. It is stuffed with melted cheese, such as queso Chihuahua or queso Oaxaca (traditionally), or picadillo meat made of diced pork, raisins and nuts, seasoned with canella; covered in an egg batter or simply corn masa flour and fried. Although it is often served in a tomato sauce, the sauces can vary. There are versions in Mexico using rehydrated dry chiles such as anchos or pasillas.

The sun has now completely lit up the outdoors. So, it is time to go swimming now. Talk to you later.