Cool Monday With Complex Wichita Bluff Nature Area Hoodoo Cairn

Yesterday, the day known as Sunday, I drove to Lake Wichita Park to do some high speed walking.

Upon arrival, in the shadow of Mount Wichita, I was surprised at how much the lake has shrunk, exposing a wide beach.

When I started seeing photo worthy scenes I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone. And it was not there. I forgot the phone at home. So, no photos.

But, today, the day after Sunday, known as Monday, I did remember my phone when I drove to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area to do some high speed hilly hiking.

And so, with that phone in hand, I was able to photo document the Hoodoo Cairn you see above. This may be the most complex feat of Hoodoo engineering I have come across in all the years I have been photo documenting Hoodoos.

Make note of the balance beam in the middle, teetering above a flat rock base. And above that two small rocks acting as bracing.

In all my years of seeing these type constructions I have never seen one in the process of being constructed.

The outer world temperature got down to 58 last night. It was 80 and windy by the time I got to the bluffs at around 45 minutes before noon.

The air-conditioner has not cycled on yet today. This is the first time in a long time that that has happened.

A harbinger of cooler days to come.

It is going to be so nice to be back in long pants again...

Hiking With The Wichita Bluff Hoodoos, Grasshoppers & Sunflowers

Today I returned to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area to go on a long hike. All the way from the western parking lot to the eastern parking lot and back. A roundtrip of around five miles. It has been awhile since I hiked this long a distance.

I don't know how well I would do these days, going on a real hike on a real mountain with a real elevation gain and a distance of 10 miles, or more.

I forgot to mention, as you can see above, the Wichita Bluff Nature Area Hoodoo Cairn has risen to an unprecedented height. Today the Hoodoo Cairn was being buffeted by a strong steady wind. With gusts.

Just to the right of the Hoodoo Cairn, behind that green bush tree, there was the splash of yellow you see below.

Are these sunflowers? They look like sunflowers. Whatever they are they were swaying in the wind, so much so I was surprised the photos I took were not all blurry.

Grasshoppers were out in force today. They can be a bit annoying. Multiple times today one hopped right at my face...

Big Rock Hoodoo Appearance On Sikes Lake Shore

Today when I stopped my bike at my regular watering spot on Sikes Lake I was just a little surprised to see that someone had constructed a hoodoo from the big rocks lining the lake.

Some prefer to refer to these manmade hoodoos as cairns.

As you can see via the waveless lake the air was being pretty much dead calm for today's bike ride. With the temperature 93 and the humidity making it feel like 100.

I do not overheat whilst biking when it is HOT. Unless I stop in a shade-free spot. Then I quickly turn into a HOT sweaty mess.

Today was the second incident-less bike ride on the new bike. No seat woes, nor gear shift woes, no speedometer woes, no anything woes. So, since the previous bike ride was incident free, today I rode the new bike to musical accompaniment for the first time. 

Have I made mention of the fact the new bike is foldable? You pull a lever and you can then fold the bike in half, making for easy transport. I thought this type feature might come in handy for my long planned roadtrip to Washington, where I hope to go mountain biking with David, Theo & Ruby.

But, on my own bike this time.

What with the latest COVID status I begin to wonder if that long planned roadtrip to Washington is ever gonna happen...

Wichita Bluff Hoodoos Rise & Fall With Dirty Blonde Medusa

 

With nary a whiff of wind blowing and with the temperature not nearly freezing, I decided this first day of the 2021 version of February would be a good day to commune with nature in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area.

I arrived at the western parking lot of the WBNA a few minutes after Rush Limbaugh began polluting the airwaves with his peculiar brand of ignorant conspiratorial idiocy. 

I was only a couple minutes into walking, barely under the entry sign which marks the start of the west end of the Wichita Bluff Nature Area, when an extremely weird thing came into view. A female with a head which looked like it was covered by a giant yellow bush.

As the yellow bush grew closer it began to look like a Medusa snake head of long blonde dreadlocked curls. Googling "Medusa" came up with the following, which is sort of close to what I saw...

As the Wichita Bluff Medusa got even closer I saw that she was barefoot, and dirty, as if she'd been wading in the Wichita River. I howdy-ed her as I passed quickly by. I got no response. She acted furtive, like a caged squirrel.

At about the half mile mark I came to the regular zone where Hoodoos are erected. That is what you see photo documented at the top. 

Continuing on I walked for a couple miles before turning around.

When I came to the Hoodoo location, on my return to the parking lot, I saw, to my shock and surprise, that the Hoodoos had been destroyed in the short time since I saw them fully erect.

After I turned around at the end of today's nature walk I met only one person on the way back to my vehicle.

That same Dirty Blonde Medusa.

Had she ventured off the paved trail in her bare feet and destroyed the Hoodoos? Why would anyone engage in such insane madness.

When I passed the Dirty Blonde Medusa the second time I re-howdy-ed her and again received no response. A couple hundred feet later I looked back and saw she had stopped walking and was looking in my direction. When she saw I had turned to look at her she shouted something incomprehensible. I don't think it was English.

So, that has been my exciting first day of February, so far...

Hoodoo Musings On Wichita Bluff Nature Area

Found a near record breaking Hoodoo teetering unnaturally precarious in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area this morning. 

I have yet to come upon a human constructing a Hoodoo.

Maybe they are natural formations formed by a strong wind, of which there has been plenty of late. 

I have been enjoying an increase in my walking miles the past couple months. The COVID-19 related activity reduction seems to have caused some weight gaining, hitting an all time high of 221 today. I had not weighed myself for a few weeks.

I am almost 100% certain the weight gain is all muscle.

With most of that muscle gain happening in my mid-section, hence currently being able to comfortably slide into only two of my dozens of shorts and pants.

To help cope with this expansive issue I bought myself some new shorts which have elastic waistbands easily able to cope with my extra muscular mid-section.

Does anyone make pants with elastic waistbands? Other than sweatpants?

A Muddy New Year's Eve Tandy Hills Hoodoo Hike

It has been such a long time since I've taken a picture of the sort you see here that my one blog reader has likely forgotten where and what this is that you are looking at here.

Well, this is a Hoodoo located at Hoodoo Central at the north end of the View Street trail on the Tandy Hills in beautiful Fort Worth, Texas.

Til today it had been over a month since I'd done any hill hiking. I believe the last time was on Thanksgiving. On that day there were no Hoodoos seen.

Today there were a surprising number of people trying to hike the Tandy Hills.

Trying?

Yes, trying, and then bailing. The trails have not dried out from our recent Goliath Storm unpleasantness. Much muddiness, with some trails completely submerged. I did a lot of cross country, trail-free, hiking to get around the wet zones.

Is the Manly Men Wild Women Annual New Years Day Hike still on for tomorrow? I don't see how that would work out well. Maybe I am wrong about the MMWW Hike date and it's a week from tomorrow, when the hills may be a bit more dried out.

Til today it seems like it's been a long time since my eyes feasted on the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, known far and wide, well, locally, by a few, as the Best Downtown in America.

Nothing seems to have changed with the Fort Worth skyline since I last saw it.

The view you see above is looking west from a location close to the aforementioned Hoodoo. I saw something from this location I'd  not seen before.

Gateway Park is on the north side of the I-30 freeway, with the Tandy Hills Natural Area on the south side of the freeway.

With the foliage greatly diminished, for the first time ever from this vantage point, I saw a section of the Gateway Park paved trail. It looked to be new trail, maybe a section which did not exist before, where paved trail damaged long ago by the Hurricane Hermine flood is being upgraded by America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Well, the lunch gong just sounded. I must excessively fortify myself nutritionally so as to have plenty of energy for tonight's New Year's Eve Festivities....

Finding A New Giant Tandy Hills Hoodoo Before Finding Town Talk

I was back on the Tandy Hills today for the first time in what seems a long time. This may be the first time I have gone hill hiking this year.

I was not alone on the hills today. I saw four different groups of various sizes, some with dogs, communing with nature on this perfect weather day, which will be the last such day, for awhile, if the weather predictors are correct with their prediction of incoming cold and possible snow.

I saw multiple Hoodoos today, more Hoodoos than I've seen any time previous on the Tandy Hills.

The Hoodoo at Hoodoo Central at the north end of the View Street trail was a short stubby Hoodoo today. After taking a picture of the stubby Hoodoo I continued with my hiking, on the new trail that was built late last year.

Where the new trail junctions with the View Street trail I found the Hoodoo you see above. The picture does not do justice in picturing how big this Hoodoo is.

I do not know if Hoodoo Purists will consider this new Hoodoo an authentic Hoodoo, due to the fact that it is a sort of hybrid Hoodoo, not make solely of rocks. I guess this is what one might call a mixed media Hoodoo. In addition to rocks a brick or two is part of the structure. And an old rusted Texas license plate is integrated into the Hoodoo in the mid-section.

After having myself a mighty fine time acquiring some much needed endorphins I headed to Town Talk for the first time in a couple weeks.

Today the Town Talk treasure hunting yielded 5 pounds of Italian sausage, a bag of giant carrots, 3 cases of yogurt, tortillas, tomatoes, flame-broiled burgers and other stuff I am not remembering right now.

I hear a beeper beeping, indicating it is time to remove that which has been cooked in the oven, which means it is lunchtime....

Balmy Tandy Hill Hiking Finding A Mythical Monster Hoodoo Or Possible Snowman

Today was my first time back on the Tandy Hills since the last Friday of last month. I don't know why it's been weeks since I've done any high speed hill hiking.

Maybe the lack of hill hiking is temperature related, with today's balmy 70s making it sound like it'd make for a mighty fine time to be enjoying the great outdoors, or what passes for the great outdoors at this location on the planet.

Today the Hoodoo at Tandy Hills Hoodoo Central at the north end of the View Street trail was a mere stub of its usual self.

But the Hoodoo at the Midway point on Mount Tandy was standing tall  and a bit bloated today.

When I first saw this Hoodoo I thought the Hoodoo builder was going for a Snowman Hoodoo. Then as I looked at it some more, particularly at the face, and the BIG round foundation, it started to look like a Fubboo Hoodoo.

But, a Fubboo is a mythical monster which haunts the Pacific Northwest, and is totally unknown in the Southwest, and Texas, so I think the uncanny resemblance is just a fateful coincidence.

I just got the oddest blog comment from someone named Anonymous.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Driving Over The Tacoma Narrows Suspension Bridges Looking For Fort Worth's Three Bridges Over Nothing": 

I don't want to get pithy, but that ain't your video. Enjoyed it though! 

That ain't my video? Whose video is it? I am fairly certain I am driving the car in the video. I sort of recognize my voice speaking. I remember driving along holding the camcorder. I remember making the video and uploading it  to YouTube. How is it not my video?

Why are Anonymous people so weird?

Fort Worth's Tandy Hills JFK 51st Assassination Anniversary Memorial Hoodoo

The Tandy Hills JFK Memorial Hoodoo

It has been weeks since I was on the Tandy Hills.

With copious amounts of rain predicted to be drenching North Texas, starting today, I figured today might be my last mud-free opportunity, for awhile, to do some hill hiking.

A couple days ago Olive the Prairie Dog and her favorite hiking partner, the Godfather of the Tandy Hills, Don Young, emailed me asking if I knew anything about the crane atop Mount Tandy, aka Broadcast Hill. Since it had been weeks since I'd been on the hills I knew nothing about any crane.

Today Mount Tandy was totally crane free, near as I could tell.

Today, when I got to Hoodoo Central at the north end of the View Street trail, for the first time in a long time there was no Hoodoo. Just a Hoo, with no Doo. In other words, just one big rock with no rocks balanced on top of it.

I was resigned to having myself a mighty fine, but Hoodoo free hike, and then, whilst hiking up the south face of Mount Tandy I came upon a still standing Hoodoo at a location where I've found a Hoodoo previously.

I took a picture or two facing north, which were extremely dark. So I re-positioned myself to aim west to take some more pictures, hoping for a little more brightness.

While slightly less dark, which pleased me, what really caught my eye was the fact that the Hoodoo, as my camera saw it, looked like a Hoodoo Memorial Homage to JFK.

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Hoodoo on Fort Worth's Tandy Hills, just in time for the 51st Anniversary of JFK's last speech, which took place in downtown Fort Worth, followed by a fateful trip to Dealey Plaza in Dallas and a moment in time which altered the history of America and the World.

Today I Found A Fallen Hoodoo In The Tandy Hills Natural Sauna Steam Bath

There really are few things sadder than a fallen Hoodoo, shattered and scattered about, a ruin of its former vertical self.

Til today it had been over a week since I last did some fast hill hiking.

Though the temperature was in the relatively chilly mid 80s, compared to last week's over 100 record breaker, the humidity still managed to turn the Tandy Hills into a virtual sauna steam bath.

A very salubrious sauna steam bath.

Last week after I finished my Tandy Hills hill hiking I was told that a bobcat had been following me at the start of the hiking, unbeknownst to me.

Today when I neared the currently dry Tandy Falls I heard some creature crashing through the jungle.

Bobcats are stealthy, they don't draw attention to themselves by noisily crashing through the jungle. I stood still for a couple minutes hoping to see what was making the noise, but never did. And so I continued on.

Earlier today Elsie Hotpepper directed me to some good blogging fodder. Post hiking, back at my computer, I found more good blogging fodder. Blogging fodder of the scandal in Fort Worth sort.

I must ponder a bit before I blog about these scandalous subjects...

The First Sunday Of August With A New Hoodoo At A New Location On Fort Worth's Tandy Hills

On this first Sunday of August I was back on the Tandy Hills for some natural sauna time in Fort Worth's best natural area.

Today's hiking route took me from the summit of Mount Tandy, north over the Tandy Escarpment above currently dry Tandy Falls, then over the fallen log obstruction to head west up the hill to the location of the Tandy Hills Hoodoo Central Zone at the north end of the View Street trail.

In the picture you are not looking at today's Hoodoo at Hoodoo Central. That Hoodoo had been totally Humpty Dumptied. I was heading back up Mount Tandy, on the trail on the south side of Mount Tandy, when ahead of me I saw a Hoodoo where I'd not seen a Hoodoo before. I took a picture then turned the camera to video mode, which I YouTubed and is watchable below.

When I was last on the Tandy Hills, last Monday, when I made the turn to the parking zone on top of Mount Tandy I found my way blocked by that which you see below.

Last Monday I could not figure out what this contraption was doing. Today I was very surprised to make the turn towards the parking to find the contraption still doing whatever it is doing.

On a Sunday.

When I exited my vehicle one of the guys waved at me, so I decided to walk over to the contraption to ask what they are doing. The guy nicely explained it to me, but all I got out of the explanation was they are replacing the cables which keep the Tandy Tower vertical. And that it takes a long, long time to do so.

And below is the aforementioned video of the exciting discovery of a new Tandy Hills Hoodoo....

The First Sunday Of July With A Big New Hoodoo On The Tandy Hills

The first Sunday of July's Tandy Hills Hoodoo may be the best Hoodoo erection yet erected on the Tandy Hills.

It certainly is one of the most precarious looking Hoodoos. And one of the tallest.

Today I switched my camera to video mode and aimed it at the Hoodoo. I just got notified by YouTube that the Hoodoo video is ready for the publish button to be hit. I will do so and copy the embed code below.

But first I must share something from Stenotrophomonas.

Stenotrophomonas and I were discussing the history of the Tandy Hills. Stenotrophomonas said that dirt bikers used to dirt bike on the Tandy Hills. I asked if that is where the trails came from. Stenotrophomonas then sent me an interesting article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram archives from Thursday, February 18, 1999....

On foot in the park - Police enforcing new signs banning bicycles, vehicles in Tandy Hills 

The signs are now explicit: "Foot traffic only. No Bikes, Horses or Motorized Vehicles."

But even with the new signs and barricades that went up Friday at Tandy Hills Park, police ticketed two people over the weekend when individuals moved aside barriers to drive inside. 

Police will continue to patrol the east Fort Worth park closely until they feel the public understands that bicycles and vehicles are prohibited in the park, said Clint Hall, Fort Worth park and community service officer.

For years, Tandy Hills , a remnant prairie where wildflowers bloom profusely each spring, has served as an occasional playground for four-wheel-drive vehicles that have illegally left eroding ruts. 

But the bike paths were a surprise. 

Attention was drawn to the park more than a month ago when neighbors discovered someone had illegally cut almost three miles of bicycling paths through the nature preserve with a weed trimmer. 

"I can't believe we did not know this was happening until a month ago," said Gay Perry, who heads the West Meadowbrook Neighborhood Association. 

Although only one individual is thought to have done the cutting, word spread quickly on the Internet that good biking trails could be found at Tandy Hills . 

Some of the bicyclists who said they did not know riding there was illegal criticized the city for not posting appropriate signs, city officials said. 

Wayne Clark, who supervises Tandy Hills and the Fort Worth Nature Center, said the city must share some of the responsibility because of the lack of signs. 

Until the signs were posted, police issued only warnings when they caught bicyclists in the park. 

Ten signs have been erected at the front of the park and at several side and back locations where vehicles and bicyclists are known to enter. In addition, the wooden barricades will remain until something more permanent is set up. 

Next week, the Texas Department of Transportation is expected to erect posts and cables across one entrance along Interstate 30. 

"We are trying to get people to listen and know there was a problem out there," said Nel Konkle, field operations supervisor for east Fort Worth parks. "I think the numbers have decreased a little, but they are still out there - the really brave ones."

Hall said he hopes the continued police presence will help. 

Citations issued are for a Class C misdemeanor with fines of up to $500. 

_______________________________________________

Someone made three miles of trail on the Tandy Hills using a weed trimmer? I have been all over the Tandy Hills and can not imagine where someone could trim weeds to make three miles of bike trails.

Anyway, below is the aforementioned video of the latest Tandy Hills Hoodoo. It was suggested yesterday that Jame Earl Jones narrate my videos. James Earl Jones was not available, so you're stuck with me.....

A New Tandy Hills Hoodoo With Prickly Pears & People Conferencing About The State Of The Prairie

Today I was pleased to see a four piece new Hoodoo has risen at Hoodoo Central at the north end of the View Street trail in the Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Once again the weather predictors have predicted potential thunderstorms for my vicinity. So far the sky does not look too menacing, as you can see by that which is hovering above the new Hoodoo.

Yesterday's predicted thunderstorms never materialized at my location, though the sky did look menacing a time or two.

The temperature was in the low 80s when I did my hill hiking today. Not too hot but I got HOT.

Today on Facebook someone suggested if one combined the color of ones underwear with the name of that which one had just eaten that this would be the name of your band.  As in rock type band, I assume.

I was Commando Banana.

I was also Commando Banana on the Tandy Hills today, trying to keep cool in minimalist attire which consisted solely of shoes and seriously ripped cargo shorts. And yet I got HOT. How is it I manage to do hill hiking when the temperature hits triple digits I was wondering to myself today.

Perhaps I have layered on some adipose tissue of which I am unaware, or in denial about, which is providing un-needed insulation and thus causing me to get too HOT.

At one point today whilst doing my hill hiking I glanced off to the south and saw the scene you see below.

This group is assembled at the Tandy Hills amphitheater which consists of 8 benches. Or is it 9? I suspect this group is the State of the Prairie Conference people I mentioned earlier today. I did not get close enough to ascertain for certain that this was the Prairie People having their conference.

Conferences make me nervous, and so I keep my distance.

A short time after seeing the collective of people in possible conference mode I came upon that which you see below.

A collective of Prickly Pear Cactus in conference mode. Prickly Pear Cactus make a delicate yellow flower as part of their Prickly Pear making process.

Seeing Prickly Pear Cactus in bloom mode reminded me I am about out of Prickly Pear Syrup.

No. I don't harvest Prickly Pears from the Tandy Hills and then render the Pears into Syrup. I get my Prickly Pear Syrup from Town Talk.

I suspect I may be rolling my bike's wheels on the Gateway Park mountain bike trails tomorrow prior to going to Town Town and possibly remembering to hunt for Prickly Pear Syrup.....

The Bluest Skies You'll Ever See Are In Fort Worth Along With Towering Hoodoos & Flash Floods From Water Pipe Breaks

I was back on the Tandy Hills today for my semi-regularly scheduled Saturday inspection of the Tandy Hills Hoodoo.

As you can see the Hoodoo at Hoodoo Central has grown since you last saw it a couple days ago.

Today would have been a perfect Prairie Fest day, unlike last Saturday's windblown Prairie Fest. The air is being pretty much dead calm today. So, no wind chill happening, which had those 80 something degrees feeling like 80 something degrees.

I grew up hearing that the bluest skies you'll ever see are in Seattle.

And the hills the greenest green.

Well, the hills may be greener in Seattle than my current location, but I really don't think the Seattle sky is bluer than that which is hovering over Fort Worth today, as you can clearly see in the picture of the Hoodoo piercing that bright, blue sky.

After getting my prescription dose of endorphins, attained by doing some high speed hill hiking, Town Talk was the next stop on my schedule.

On the way to Town Talk I came upon one of the strangest things I've seen in awhile. A flood of water was deluging down Scott Avenue, taking a right on to Beach Street, flooding down the freeway entry and north across the freeway overpass, then flooding over the Beach Street bridge over the Trinity River.

What a mess.

How come there are so many burst water pipes in this part of the world? I don't ever remember experiencing such a thing at my old location on the west coast. That being a location where major earthquakes can do some serious ground jiggling.

That was a lot of water being lost today, which really is no big deal, I guess, what with this location on the planet having such a surplus when it comes to water.

Eventually I made it past the flood to find that Town Talk was also flooded. With people.

I found nothing too remarkable today at Town Talk unless one considers cheddar cheese from England which has bits of apricot embedded in the cheese to be remarkable....

The Tandy Hills Hoodoo Has Risen From The Ashes Of The Prairie Fest

We can now all breathe a big sigh of relief. The main Hoodoo at Tandy Hills Hoodoo Central has been resurrected, after being bulldozed by the Tandy Hills Prairie Fest last Saturday.

I suspect last Saturday dozens, maybe hundreds,  likely not thousands of Prairie Fest goers were disappointed to find the Tandy Hills Hoodoo rendered into a pile of meaningless rocks.

Today's new Hoodoo is quite an engineering balancing act. Note how top heavy the Hoodoo is, with no supporting bracing.

My pool has been out of commission for two mornings, so I have not had any hydrotherapy. So, doing some fast hill hiking on the Tandy Hills today made me feel mighty fine.

My pool is now back in commission so I will be good to go with a bout of hydrotherapy tomorrow morning.

Or later today.

Soon after I crawled over the fallen tree that blocks the trail near Tandy Falls a large reptilian type critter scurried off the trail, into the brush. It scurried so fast I could not tell if it was a lizard or a snake. With the temperature being in the low 70s it did not seem right that a cold blooded critter would be scurrying. Maybe it was some other brand of critter with my snake aversion causing me to mis-identify that which I saw scurrying.

And then post seeing the new Hoodoo I came up the act of vandalism you see below.

For a couple months, near where the Tandy Hills Amphitheater benches sit, the sign warning people to leave the wildlife alone has been yanked out of the ground, laying besides the hole from whence it came.

Now someone has taken that fallen sign and tossed  it down the trail.

It seems to me that tossing that sign, with its heavy cement base, would take a bit of effort. I don't understand what would motivate going to that effort.

Vandals perplex me. And don't get me started on Hoodoo vandals....

On The Tandy Hills With A Fallen Hoodoo And A Wardrobe Malfunction

Today was my first time back on the Tandy Hills since my right knee recovered from a middle of the night nightmare incident.

It felt good to be back doing some high speed hill hiking.

I don't remember when I was last on the Tandy Hills, but I think we have had two precipitation incidents since my last visit. Those two precipitation incidents seem to have greatly amped up the production of vegetation, including wildflowers.

I was a bit crestfallen to reach Tandy Hills Hoodoo Central to find the Tandy Hills Signature Hoodoo laying in pieces.

Today is Thursday. The 2014 Prairie Fest is Saturday. Will there be a Hoodoo Resurrection between now and then?

The other known Hoodoos that I visited today were still intact.

Before I reached the Fallen Hoodoo I turned on my camera to take a picture of the incredibly dense air pollution that was hovering across the horizon, greatly limiting visibility. What is making this mess? Dust? Wildfires?

Anyway, when I turned on my camera I saw the battery about to go dead red light flashing. I took a picture and turned off the camera. When I got to the fallen Hoodoo I reached for the camera, figuring it'd likely be good for a snap or two. Then I remembered my picture taking phone was in another pocket.

Well.

I have no problem with the viewing screen of my camera, but the phone camera, in the bright sun, I could see nothing. So, I just aimed and touched the take a picture button and hoped for the best. Of the three attempts the above was the best.

The worst thing that happened today on the Tandy Hills happened when I squatted down to take the above picture.

My cargo shorts tore apart.

I really need to lose some weight. Or get industrial strength cargo shorts....

April Fool's Day Bluebonnets & Hoodoos Sprouting On The Tandy Hills While I Wait For An Amazon Adapter

I mentioned previously that I'd spotted bluebonnets blooming on Sunday on the Tandy Hills, but that I got distracted by the Hoodoo proliferation and forgot to take a picture of the first bluebonnets of the year that have appeared before me.

Today I was back on the Tandy Hills, and even though I was once again distracted by Hoodoo proliferation, today I did not forget to take a bluebonnet picture.

Isn't that shade of bluebonnet blue a wonder to behold?

What with today being the first day of April, also known as April Fool's Day, Mother Nature appears to have decided April 1 is a good day to start coloring up the Tandy Hills, in anticipation of the 2014 Prairie Fest the last Saturday of the month, as in April 26.

In other words I saw other wildflowers blooming today, in addition to the bluebonnets.

I came upon three new Hoodoos today, including the one you see below.

The Hoodoo above has sprouted on the trail which leads from Tandy Falls to Hoodoo Central at the end of the trail which leads to the Tandy Hills from View Street.

How many new Hoodoos will have sprouted by the time the Prairie Fest arrives? I'm thinking a  Hoodoo Building Contest might be a good idea. Some sort of grand prize for whoever manages to erect the tallest Hoodoo by some certain time.

Then again, a Hoodoo Building Contest might not be such a good idea, causing a lot of rock re-locations might upset the delicate Tandy Hills geological balance.

This morning I had the longest swim so far in 2014. It felt quite salubrious. Combined with an hour of fast hill hiking I think I may be getting my daily exercise requirement met. That and about a month ago I learned of this thing called doing a Plank. A month later and you could use my abdominal zone as a primitive washboard.

On Saturday I bought an a/c adapter from Amazon, paid extra  for expedited shipping. I got an email on Monday telling me the adapter had been shipped. Today I logged in to track the shipment to learn the adapter is being delivered by the USPS. And is expected to be delivered by Friday, by 8pm.

That is expedited shipping?

On Friday I got a Christmas card, delivered to my mail box by the USPS, postmarked December 19, 2013.

I am not optimistic about this incoming adapter from Amazon...

Finding New Hoodoos On The Tandy Hills While Hearing From Betty Jo Bouvier About The Oso Landslide

I think other than on a Prairie Fest day today I saw more people on the Tandy Hills than I ever recollect seeing before.

Among those people was a pair of twin young ladies lamenting that they wish they'd arrived earlier, due to thinking it was too HOT at that point in time. I told them I was not HOT and suggested that they might be cooler if they copied me and also went topless. They said they would consider my suggestion.

Barely 70 degrees is not too HOT at this location on the planet.

A pair of guys said they were feeling sort of lost. I told them not to worry, they'd find their way back to civilization.

And then there was the mom and dad and young daughter combo I came upon in the main Tandy Hills Hoodoo zone.

The mom and daughter of the trio was having fun constructing the new Hoodoo you see above in the foreground.

That is the latest iteration of the original Tandy Hills Hoodoo you see behind the new Hoodoo, at the end of the trail at the crest of the hill.

Continuing on, on one of the trails which heads uphill from the Tandy Bamboo Tepee Grove, another new Hoodoo has sprouted. That would be the other new Hoodoo below.

I wonder how many Hoodoos now stand on the Tandy Hills? I suspect I have not discovered all of them.

Changing the subject from a potential rock slide to an actual rock slide.

I heard from Washingtonian Betty Jo Bouvier this morning. Betty Jo is one of the Wild Women Of Woolley, which indicates Betty Jo lives in the Skagit Valley in the town of Sedro Woolley. Sedro Woolley is close to the town I grew up in, Burlington, and close to the town I lived in before I moved to Texas, Mount Vernon, which also makes Sedro Woolley close to the Oso Landslide disaster.

Betty Jo mentioned the Oso Landslide disaster in a way both personal and interesting. I will copy, in part, what Betty Jo had to say.......

"I am sure you read about the huge slide in Oso. That is beyond horrible. Did you happen to read about the little girl spear heading a cause to support the families and workers??? She is my former neighbor, a 10 year old girl. The whole family is behind the cause. They have 5 kids and home school. They were all down at Walmart yesterday collecting donations and $$. I brought them all hot cocoa. When I went to buy it at Starbucks, the lady started to ring it up (over $30) and then she said,..."it is on me."  How nice!!! (that is after she knew I was taking it to the people at Walmart)..."

Betty Jo Bouvier, one of the kindest, sweetest, funniest people I have ever known.

A New Tandy Hills Hoodoo With A Crow Mad At A Bobcat & Pesky Flies

Well. The Tandy Hills Hoodoo has under gone yet one more remodelling, taking on a different shape than the shape I saw last Friday.

A new shape and it appears a new Hoodoo is sprouting to the north of the main Hoodoo.

After I photo documented the new Hoodoo I found myself suddenly confronted by a very upset crow, making extremely loud crow cawing noises.

A few seconds later I saw what had the crow so upset.

A bobcat suddenly leapt out from the trail which leads to the Hoodoo from the west.

The bobcat saw me and did a quick u-turn, running back from whence it came. I followed, hoping to take a picture, but the bobcat was long gone.

I think today was the first time I've had a bobcat encounter on the Tandy Hills. I may be forgetting one.

I had other wildlife encounters today on the Tandy Hills, with those wildlife encounters being extremely annoying.

I do not recollect ever being bugged by bugs on the Tandy Hills.

Til today.

It was being like a mild version of a late summer high country hike in the North Cascades, where biting deer flies can make hiking miserable, unless one douses oneself in bug spray.

I don't know if it was biting flies which I found myself repeatedly swatting. I do know they looked like a small version of a deer fly. And I don't believe I suffered any bites.

I don't remember if I've mentioned it before, but my location in North Texas is way less buggy than my old location in Western Washington. I don't believe I have had a single mosquito bite since I have been in Texas. I never went a summer in Washington without a mosquito bite. My last mosquito bite occurred  the last time I was in Washington, in Tacoma, summer of 2008.

If this fly infestation continues to be a pest on the Tandy Hills I think I may be cutting back on my hill hiking.

On The Tandy Hills With A Growing Hoodoo Plus Mysterious X's

I could not determine, for certain, if today's Tandy Hills Hoodoo was the same Hoodoo I saw on Wednesday, or a newly rebuilt Hoodoo.

I could tell, for certain, that additional rocks had been added at the base of the Hoodoo, perhaps for future Hoodoo construction when the current Hoodoo collapses.

I wonder if whoever it is who is doing the Hoodoo is going to do a Hoodoo construction demonstration at the Prairie Fest  next month? I suspect this would draw a crowd watching the precarious balancing act that results in a Tandy Hills Hoodoo.

The Tandy Hills Hoodoo was not the only work of art or mystery or combo of both I came upon today whilst doing my high speed hill hiking, photo documented below.

The weather is near perfect for hiking today. I  doubt I will be doing any hill hiking tomorrow, what with the current weather menu having thunder booming in some time after midnight, along with rain.

I saw one other hiker today. A young German brunette in very short shorts. I am fairly certain this young German brunette was not one of Gar the Texan's ex-wives. For one thing, this young German spoke fairly easy to understand English.

Below is one of the new art installations I came upon today on the Tandy Hills. A re-imagining of the Tandy Bamboo Tepee, laying on the ground in the Bamboo Tepee Grove.

The mystery of how these sticks of bamboo came to reside in the heart of the Tandy Hills has never been solved.

I came upon a big white X marking a spot in three locations today.

The first big white X I came upon, you see above, on the Tandy Escarpment above Tandy Falls. The other two big white X's were at other locations along the Tandy Highway. And then I came upon the inexplicable white marking below, also on the Tandy Highway..

Is the above supposed to represent a pair of eyes? Or another part of the human anatomy which comes in pairs? In addition to the big white X's, and whatever that is above, big dots of white were also marking spots along the trails.

Yet one more Tandy Hills mystery.

And then we have the scene below.

Once a year a  group of prairie aficionados get together and spend a day doing what they call 'bashing brush' on the Tandy Hills. Above you see the result of this year's brush bashing.

An area of the hills is selected and then de-nuded of anything that is not native to a Texas prairie as it existed pre-human  interference.

Or maybe it is pre-Texan human interference.

I doubt the pre-Texan Indian population introduced a lot of non-native vegetation to the pristine prairie they called home before they got their eviction notices from the incoming Texans....