Playing Soccer Baseball With Fort Worth Kids At Oakland Park With Baby Ducks

Fosduck Only Child Duck

Since rain fell once again, last night, I figured the Tandy Hills would be too muddy for enjoyable hill hiking.

So, it was back to Oakland (Lake) Park to walk around Fosdick Lake.

All the rain has greatly reduced the layer of green, slimy, algae vegetation that had been choking Fosdick Lake of late.

The Fosducks seem happier with a less green lake. I heard a lot of exuberant quacking today, from the ducks and from a big flock of kids.

The kids were playing some sort of hybrid baseball/soccer game that looked fun. The bases were orange traffic cones. The ball looked like a volley ball.

Instead of hitting the ball with a stick, the person at home base kicked the ball. After the ball was kicked much mayhem and screaming ensued. I've not seen kids having so much fun since I played Ladder Golf with Spencer Jack in my sister's backyard in Arizona, back in March.

Stormy weather, with possible thunderstorms, seems to be the weather theme for today.

The sky looked a bit menacing above the Fosdick Water Tank UFO that hovers over Oakland (Lake) Park.

I am now back in air-conditioned comfort.

The sky seems to be going from bright to dark on some sort of regular cycle. I am expecting some weather drama at some point this afternoon.

Perplexed By Memorial Day BBQs At Fort Worth Parks With No Running Water

Fosdick Flower Blooming Bright
On Memorial Day

I went to Oakland (Lake) Park to walk around Fosdick Lake today for my memorable Memorial Day aerobicizing.

There were a lot of people in Oakland Park today memorializing Memorial Day with picnicking barbecues.

So far today I have not memorialized Memorial Day with a picnic or a barbecue.

I did have some memorable meatloaf for lunch.

The Oakland Park Pavilion was packed today. With multiple barbecues spewing tasty smelling smoke.

The Oakland Park Pavilion has no running water. The restroom facility is an outhouse.

Have I mentioned before that I find it bizarre that in Texas it is considered perfectly okay to have picnic facilities in parks with absolutely no running water?

Or modern restroom facilities.

I can not think of a single park, with picnic tables, I have been to, anywhere in any west coast state, that does not have restroom facilities of the non-outhouse variety. And does not have running water in the form of a faucet.

Are the health codes for such things more stringent in other states?

Walking Around Fosdkck Lake Thinking About Relative Issues & My Youngest Aunt

In the picture you are looking at Fosdick Lake in Oakland (Lake) Park, through a heavily vegetated area.

Speaking of heavily vegetated areas, the layer of slimy looking green vegetation that has covered a large area of Fosdick Lake in recent weeks, appears to have shrunk.

It was not very hot when I went on a walk. Somewhere in the 80s.

Prior to going walking I was up in Hurst this morning. On the way back from Hurst I talked to my Arizona sister. We've have had a couple relative issues come up in the past 48 hours that has me feeling a bit melancholy.

I last saw my youngest aunt, she being my mom's little sister, back on August 11, 2001, one month before the infamous 9/11 date. My youngest aunt was at my sister's in Kent for my mom and dad's 50th Anniversary. August 11 is not my mom and dad's anniversary. The actual date is August 6. Hiroshima Day. August 11 is the birthday of my mom and dad's eldest son, which is how I remember what date it was I last saw my youngest aunt.

My youngest aunt was a marathon runner, but eventually stopped running when arthritis arrived. My youngest aunt was always a blond and always reminded me of Doris Day.

I was very surprised to get a call from my mom the night before last telling me that my youngest aunt is ailing bad, she'd had cancer and now Alzheimer's and is not expected to live much longer.

Then yesterday my youngest sister and I were exchanging emails in which the health of another relative was talked about. About 7 I was on Facebook and got a message from someone in Washington telling me that that relative had died the night before. I then called mom and dad to tell them.

I tell you, you have to live for today, not hold grudges and be sure to realize every time you see someone may be the last time you see them. Then act accordingly. I had a great time with my youngest aunt the last time I saw her. Our senses of humor are similar.

I remember my youngest aunt asking me why in the world I moved to Texas. I then asked my youngest aunt why in the world she moved to Alaska.

Buffer from relatives was her answer.

Which is where I learned that phrase.

Fort Worth's Polluted Fosdick Lake Got Me Thinking About A Pig War & Cod Fishing In The San Juan Islands

The Ick was in full force in Fosdick Lake today. The layer of slimy looking green vegetation has grown thicker and more widespread since my last visit to Oakland (Lake) Park.

Today I saw many turtles on logs, diving into the slime when I got too close. So, the turtles are doing okay with the Ick in Fosdick. Or so it seems.

And I saw one guy fishing.

Casting a hook through that layer of thick green gunk to try and catch a fish that you are advised not to eat, seems real odd to me.

I've never been much of a fan of fishing, except for enjoying, a time or two or three, jigging for cod out in the San Juan Islands.

The San Juan Islands are in Washington, an archipelago of 172 islands, six of which are big enough to be inhabited and accessed by Washington State Ferry boats.

The San Juan Islands is where one of America's least deadly wars took place.

The Pig War.

A pig was the only fatality in the Pig War.

The modern day San Juan Islands are known more for being a big tourist attraction than the location of a war. The San Juan Islands are in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, thus getting way less rain than a place like Seattle gets.

I am almost 100% certain that the San Juan Islands were not the result of a public works project run by a corrupt congresswoman's unqualified son. I don't think nepotism is legal in Washington.

Hometown By Handlebar Solves A Fort Worth Mystery While I Walk Around Fosdick Lake In Oakland Park

Durango Texas Fosdick Lake Photo

Last night I got an email from one of my favorite Southern Belles, Miss Connie, asking me if I'd seen what she was showing me in the email, that being the latest posting in the Hometown by Handlebar blog, with the referenced blog post titled Pocket Lakes.

Miss Connie mentioned that she did not remember how she came to find this particular blog, thinking it was either via me, or Facebook.

I told Miss Connie that I also did not remember how I came upon the Hometown by Handlebar blog.

Now here is where this turns disturbing. It was only a week ago, Friday, on May 4, that I blogged about the Hometown by Handlebar blog, after someone named Anonymous had commented on a previous blog post, with that comment containing the link to the Hometown by Handlebar blog.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Making A Prairie Note Of Tandy Hills Prickly Pear Cactus": 

Excellent Fort Worth history website:http://hometownbyhandlebar.com/ Good photography too.

How do I manage to be so senile that I did not remember something from only a week ago? Very disturbing.

When I first mentioned the Hometown by Handlebar blog I agreed with Anonymous's assessment that this blog had good photography. And writing. Much better than mine on both counts.

Hometown by Handlebar Fosdick Lake Photo

The superior photography was confirmed today when I took a photo of the same scene that was at the top of the afore-mentioned Pocket Lakes post.

The Pocket Lakes post solved a mystery that has bum puzzled me for quite some time.

From Hometown by Handlebar...

Fosdick Lake in Oakland Park was named for Edwin E. Fosdick (buried in Greenwood; see inset), who in 1909 bought the land to build a country club. But his seventy-five-member Inverness Club failed. The city took over the property in 1927. The CCC or WPA may have built the stone shelter house.

The signage at the Fosdic Lake location calls the park Oakland Lake Park. Other signage mentions Fosdic Lake. Note the quote from Hometown by Handlebar spells Fosdic with a 'k' on the end. Apparently this is the proper spelling, since that is how the namesake's name is spelled on his tombstone in Greenwood Cemetery, as seen via the above referenced inset.

Methinks Fort Worth needs to fix the park signage, by removing lake from the name. And add the 'k' to Fosdick.

From this day forth, when I go to where I walked today, I will say I walked around Fosdick Lake in Oakland Park.