Killer Whale Orcas Enjoying Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

Amusing photo on Facebook, this Sunday morning of the 7th day of the 2024 version of April.

The photo was posted by KOMO #SoNorthwest Photography's Facebook page.

KOMO is the call letters for Seattle's channel 4 ABC network TV station.

The attempt at humor here, with the text, "Seems the Skagit valley had some heavy rain..." is suggesting that so much rain fell that Orcas, also known as Killer Whales, made it to the tulips.

Those who have never seen the Skagit Valley tulips, this photo is what it actually looks like, other than the Orca. You can see the Mount Baker volcano hovering above the Cascade mountain foothills.

It is not too far fetched to think an Orca might make its way to the Skagit Valley, via leaving Puget Sound, by entering the Skagit River. Orcas like salmon. The Skagit River is host to a lot of salmon. 

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival has an excellent website. This festival is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, to take place annually in Washington. And is the biggest tulip festival to take place in America.

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival runs from April 1 to April 30. In other words, the entire month of April.

There are tulip events and attractions all over the valley. The traffic jams are horrendous. A bird's eye view of the tulip fields can be had by driving to the summit of Mount Vernon's Little Mountain.

I Did Not See A New Baby Orca Today In Puget Sound

I saw that which you see here, this morning, via the online version of the Seattle Times.

This falls into the category of things I see in a west coast news source about something I would never expect to see in a news source at my current Texas location about something like this being spotted anywhere near my current Texas location.

In nearby bodies of water, called lakes, I might see something unsettling, like a plus-sized catfish. Or a scary looking garfish.

But no orcas, also known as killer whales, which is sort of a slanderous thing to call the relatively peaceful orcas. 

If you live in the Puget Sound zone long enough, you likely will at some point encounter a pod of orcas.

I have had that experience twice. With the best one being with my mom and dad, somewhere between Anacortes and the San Juan Island called Orcas.

We were fishing for salmon, when suddenly a pod of orcas was close by. A pod of about 20, give or take an orca or two. Mom was instantly freaked out. Didn't matter that I told her they were harmless, despite their killer whale nickname.

Soon the orca pod had us surrounded. They sort of came to a stop. There were two baby orcas. One of the full-sized orcas came right up the boat, looking at us, us looking at him. Or her. The orca looked like it was smiling. Saying hello.

And then just as suddenly as they appeared, the orca pod was gone.

This orca encounter happened years before one was always armed with a camera, ready to take photos, or video, and send that which you saw out to the world.

Did not even have an old-fashioned film camera with us onboard...

Theo Kayaking With Harstine Island Orcas

Incoming 4th of July email from sister Michele and the Tacoma Trio, David, Theo and Ruby, at Harstine Island. The email included three instances of photo documentation. The explanatory text in the email...

On Saturday, we heard Orcas were headed toward Harstine. Theo convinced me to grab kayaks. We paddled out a ways and watched them across Pickering Passage. They were a bit south of us and all the way across toward the other shore. A few boats were close to them and then one came from the south way too fast and close and the whales, maybe 3 or 4, went under. We watched and waited for them to surface and then the biggest one did - right behind Theo and me!!! He saw it but I was too scared to move. It was so loud, and we got wet from the spray. I was shaking so bad thinking the others would also surface but none did. Later, another kayaker approached me on the beach and shared a photo he took off the video he had. He had his phone videoing the whole time, just waiting for them to come up. And a friend on shore shared the final pic, also from a video.

That would be Theo in the kayak in the top photo,

And the above would be the Orca surfacing a short distance from sister Michele and Theo.

The above is from the video shot from the Harstine Island shore.

I think it is rather rare for an Orca pod to be in the far south end of Puget Sound.

Though Orcas are also known as Killer Whales, there really are not any instances I have ever heard of where a killer whale manages to kill a human.

But, it is scary to find oneself in the midst of an Orca Pod. Such happened to me many years ago, whilst fishing with mom and dad near Cattle Point by San Juan Island. As we trolled for salmon suddenly Orcas appeared. At least a dozen, with a couple Orca calves.

The Orca pod surrounded us. Dad hit the brakes on the boat. The Orcas acted like they were checking us out. One got real close, maybe ten feet from the boat, looking like he was smiling at us. Mom reacted much like Michele, totally scared, with me and dad telling mom over and over again that they are harmless, they won't sink the boat.

I think of that Orca encounter every once in awhile. It happened decades before the norm became to always have a photo taking device on one's person. I do not remember ever taking an old-fashioned type camera along on one of the many fishing trips. I now wish I had.

If that Orca encounter with mom and dad happened now, I would be snapping multiple photos and video which likely would go viral once I put it on YouTube, with people finding mom amusing with her hysterical reaction to being surrounded by Orcas...

Orca Killer Whales Currently In No Peril In Fort Worth's Trinity River

I saw that which you see here this Veterans Day morning in the online version of the Seattle Times.

No, this is not yet one more instance of something I see in west coast news sources which I would never expect to see in a Texas news source, such as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

I just thought it interesting because this was different type news than that which I read about something in my local location.

And that the image was cool.

But, then again, now that you are causing me to think about it, reading about Orcas in peril in Texas waters is definitely not something one would expect to be reading in the Star-Telegram.

Now that you are continuing to cause me to think about it, this actually is the type news article I read in west coast news sources which I do not read in a Texas news source such as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

As in the article brings up a troubling local issue, that being the current state of Puget Sound not being a healthy habitat for residents who have lived there well before the arrival of European invaders, that being the long suffering Puget Sound Orca pods.

When is the last time, if ever, you have read an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about the Trinity River not being a healthy habitat? Let alone an article suggesting maybe it was not wise to encourage people to get wet in the regularly e.coli contaminated river viia America's Biggest Boondoggle's ridiculous Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats?

This morning I found myself tagged multiple times on Facebook in posts related to various aspects of Fort Worth ineptitude, not reported in the Star-Telegram. As in the flooding issues in East Fort Worth not being addressed. As in those flooding issues being caused by inept urban planning not requiring flood mitigation infrastructure in new housing developments.

While millions of bucks have been wasted, and are proposed to continue being wasted, on imaginary flood control issues in the area being messed up by America's Biggest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

An area where there has been no flooding for well over half a century, due to levees long ago installed which have kept the Trinity River under control as it flows past downtown Fort Worth.

Levees which America's Biggest Boondoggle proposes removing, replaced by a cement lined ditch which will supposedly safely flow flood water to holding ponds and thousands of flood restraining Magic Trees...

Point Of No Point Sand Castle Building With Theo & Ruby Without David Or Orcas

Yesterday afternoon my favorite Theo nephew asked his mom to send me some photos.

When I saw the photo you see here I was able to figure out why Theo wanted me to see what he was doing.

Building a sand castle.

Last summer Theo and I and my favorite Ruby niece had a mighty fine time building sand castles and sand forts in the sand at Birch Bay, up northwest, in Washington, a few miles south of the border with Canada.

Looking at the photos I could not tell where the sand construction was taking place.

And so I inquired.

I was then told that Theo wanted me to guess the location.

My guesses which followed ruled out Birch Bay, due to the sand not looking right. I then ruled out a Pacific coast beach because the little waves did not look right. I thought maybe it was a beach by Fort Worden, on the far northeast side of the Olympic Peninsula. My final guess was some location on Hood Canal, perhaps a Hood Canal beach near the Clancy and Fancy estate.

I was wrong on all guesses.

Eventually Theo let me know he was doing his sandy work at Point No Point. The name sounded familiar to me, but I required Google to fine tune my memory.

Googling brought up a lot of Point No Point information, including two Wikipedia articles, one about the Point No Point Light, and another about Point No Point.

I think that must be the Point No Point Light, known as a lighthouse, in the distance behind shovel waving Ruby.

In part Wikipedia had this to say about Point No Point Light...

Point No Point Light is an operational aid to navigation on the northeastern tip of the Kitsap Peninsula on the west side of Puget Sound, at Point No Point where Admiralty Inlet joins Puget Sound, near the small community of Hansville, Kitsap County, in the U.S. state of Washington. Point No Point Light is considered the oldest lighthouse on Puget Sound and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In case you are wondering this is how Wikipedia explains the Point No Point landmark name...

Point No Point is an outcropping of land on the northeast point of the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington, the United States. It was the location of the signing of the Point No Point Treaty and is the site of the Point No Point Light.

It appears Ruby was the project engineer for the sand castle building project, directing Theo and mama Kristin.

There was no photo evidence provided documenting Ruby doing the actual sand castle building.

And where was Theo and Ruby's favorite David brother?

My guess is David has been watching the news and has developed a totally irrational fear of getting anywhere near Puget Sound. All the news stories of late about the Puget Sound Orcas, also known as Killer Whales, would be the type thing to make David nervous.

Last summer David totally freaked out over one Dungeness crab in Birch Bay, requiring he be air lifted, well, carried, back to shore.

Orcas used to be known as Killer Whales. A totally inaccurate name. Orcas are harmless to humans. It is humans who the Orcas might accurately call Killer People. But, the humans have long been trying to rectify the harm done to Orcas.

To limited success.

I think I have mentioned before my one and only up close encounter with a pod of Puget Sound Orcas. I was fishing with mom and dad, out near Lopez Island in the San Juan Islands. Suddenly a pod of Orcas appeared, heading towards us. At least 20.

Mom got a bit panicky. Dad stopped the boat. This was before the current era of always having photo documenting equipment on ones person.

Soon the pod of Orcas was all around us. Some slowed to take a close look. Right up to the boat. There were one or two baby Orcas in the group. There was something about the way the Orcas were looking at us that seemed friendly and totally non threatening.

Even mom totally calmed down.

And then it was over, as we watched the pod swim away from us.

Orcas are not the only whales which visit Puget Sound. They are just the most well known.

Soon before I moved to Texas I was out at the Rosario Beach part of Deception State Park. We were walking along the beach and suddenly an enormous whale showed up, slowly going along the edge of the steep beach, feeding on who knows what. This was a whale much bigger than the biggest Orca.

I do not not know how David would react to seeing a giant whale up close to shore. But, I suspect his reaction would be amusing...

UPDATE: After reading the concern about the missing David he arranged to have the following photo sent confirming that he was also with his brother and sister at Point No Point. But David opted out of sand castle building for driftwood collecting.

Spencer Jack Gambles With Tulalip Orcas

Incoming this morning via email from Spencer Jack and his dad, my Favorite Nephew Jason.

Two photos along with this message...

FUD-

Spencer Jack took me on an after school adventure to Marysville.

We spotted 3 Orcas and countless tribal gaming machines.

Thought you'd enjoy the photos.

FUD-

Marysville is a town about 35 miles south of Spencer Jack's home abode of Mount Vernon. Prior to moving to Arizona, Marysville was the home zone of my Favorite Nephews Christopher and Jeremy, better known as CJ and JR.

The Tulalip Resort Casino is one of Washington's biggest casino complexes.

The Tulalip's are also host to one of the biggest fireworks selling complexes in Washington, and the world. This explosive Tulalip operation is called Boom City Fireworks.

There are a couple tribal casinos close to my current Texas abode, about 15 miles north, across the Red River, in Oklahoma.

The Kiowa Red River Casino, and the Comanche Red River Hotel Casino.

Since I have been at my current Wichita Falls location I have not ventured across the Red River into Oklahoma Indian Territory to visit the Kiowa and Comanche tribe's casinos.

Since I have not visited either of my nearby casinos I do not know if either have any Orca Pods frolicking for casino goers. But, I suspect not.

It is likely the closest Orcas to be found at this part of the planet are to the south a few hundred miles, in San Antonio, at Sea World.

In the short message about visiting the Tulalip Orcas and gaming machines no mention was made of whether or not there was any slot machine playing.

The summer prior to me moving to Texas Spencer Jack's dad and uncle, my Favorite Nephew Joey, took me to Las Vegas, where they made me their surrogate gambler, directing me at Keno and Video Poker.

I suspect Spencer Jack is continuing the family tradition of surreptitious gambling, using his dad as a surrogate...

No Orcas Seen In Fort Worth's Muddy Trinity River Vision

I guess this would fall into the category of things I see via west coast news sources which I would not expect to see in a Texas news source about something in Texas.

But, what I really thought was that this was a cool picture.

And, yes, of course one would never expect to see an Orca killer whale cruising in Fort Worth's Trinity River.

An alligator, yes, killer whale, no.

I saw this photo yesterday on Facebook, via, I think, Seattle's KOMO TV.

Some commenters commented that this did not look like a recent photo, due to the paucity of tall buildings.

Those commenters are used to seeing the usual view of the Space Needle, from atop Queen  Anne Hill, looking south, with the Space Needle appearing to loom large over the Seattle skyline, with Mount Rainier appearing to hover high further in the background.

The view above is from Elliott Bay, looking east at the Space Needle and the Cascade Mountain foothills in the distance.

The reality is, despite confusing photos indicating otherwise, the Space Needle is shorter than many of the buildings which make up the Seattle skyline, but way taller  than any of the buildings which make up the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

Fort  Worth should build itself some sort of signature tower, their own version of that tower in Dallas, the one in San Antonio, that more famous one in Seattle and that even more famous one in Paris.

This might finally give Fort Worth something which might cause people in other locales in the world to  recognize as being located in Fort Worth, something the city currently lacks.

Well, there is that Fort Worth Stockyards sign...

Orcas Not Yet Seen In Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle

No, that is not an artist's rendering of the latest imaginary addition to the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, adding a pod of Orcas to the newly designated "Houseboat District" of America's Biggest Boondoggle, which can't even manage to build a simple little bridge over dry land.

I was going through my library of photos last  night and came upon this picture I took earlier this century on a trip back to my old home zone of Washington.

The pod of Orcas you see here are part of the entry to the Tulalip Resort Casino complex. The Tulalip Resort Casino complex is in Marysville, a town north of Seattle, about 40 miles south of my place of residence prior to moving to Texas, that being the town of Mount Vernon.

Texas evicted most Indians and their tribes way back in the 1800s. So, Texas only has a couple Indian reservations with small casinos.

When I was a young lad going to Nevada was a novel experience, to Reno or Las Vegas, or any other town in Nevada, due to the legalized gambling, with slot machines ubiquitous, not just in casinos.

And then the native tribes of the west coast won legal battle after legal battle establishing their right to operate casinos. Eventually this rendered going to Nevada not nearly the unique experience it once was.

My old home county of Skagit has two big casino complexes. The Skagit Casino Resort is the location of one of my all time favorite buffets, of which I  partook frequently when I lived in the valley. The other casino complex in Skagit County is the Swinomish Casino & Lodge, which is the location of my all time favorite seafood buffet.

Today if I wanted to partake of a buffet in a casino I could drive about 20 miles north, crossing the Red  River into Oklahoma, to go to the Morning Star Buffet in the Kiowa Red River Casino.

The buffet may be good at the Kiowa Red River Casino, but I have not partaken, I know from personal experience  the buffet at Oklahoma's WinStar World Casino Resort is real tasty, with the best coffee I have had in all my years in the South.

I am about 100% certain I will not be going to a casino today.  I am also about 100% certain I will not be seeing any Orca pods today playing in Lake Wichita, or any other Texas location.

Well, maybe Sea World in San Antonio. Or have the captive Orcas been freed?

Expecting No Fort Worth Orca Baby Boom Anytime Soon

I saw that which you see here this morning in the Seattle Times online.

This particular instance of something I see in a west coast online news source, which I would not expect to see in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, does not quite fit the usual theme where I see something happening on the west coast, or elsewhere, that is of the sort of thing that could be happening in Fort Worth if the town were a bit more, well, lively and progressive.

But, there is absolutely nothing Fort Worth could possibly do to see the town hosting an Orca pod with baby Orcas.

Just like a west coast town, like Seattle, is not likely to have an alligator show up at popular inner tubing venues, while, in Fort Worth, such does happen.

I think I have mentioned before an encounter with an Orca pod.

Way back in the last century.

Way back then it was more common to call these gentle animals Killer Whales than Orcas.

My mom and dad and I were out in the San Juan Islands, if I remember right, fishing off Orcas Island, appropriately, either gigging for cod or trolling for salmon. I don't remember which. I do remember it was a beautiful day, clear blue sky, late in the afternoon, Mount Baker hovering to the east, Mount Rainier visible way to the south.

Suddenly we started seeing large black forms gliding through the water, some sort of arching out of the water. As the black forms got closer we realized it was a pod of Killer Whales. My mom got a big nervous, dad killed the engine. We sat there as the big 'fish' got closer and closer. Suddenly we were surrounded as the pod passed on both sides of the boat.

At one point one of the Orcas sort of seemed to stop to look us over, almost looking like he was smiling at us, sort of like how a dolphin does. Amongst the pod was a baby Orca.

This incident pre-dated the era of never being without an image recording device. This incident remains the number one thing I have experienced of which I regret I was not able to photograph. Let alone take video.

I wonder what is up with the Puget Sound Orca pods having so many babies? Is the warmer water causing the whales to be more frisky? Or are the Orca pods just doing well due to the water being cleaner and the humans being nice to them, no longer terrorizing them with threat of capture and exile to Sea World?

It has been decades since the threat of capture and exile to Sea World was ended. I suspect the Orca pods now have a sense that they have become Wildlife Superstars of the Great Pacific Northwest. And thus happily adding to the size of their families, I mean, pods.

Orcas are extremely intelligent mammals. Probably smarter than some humans I know. I know for 100% certainty there are no Orca racists, or Orca racist collaborators. I wish I could say the same about the humans with whom I come in contact.....

No Danger Of Orca Encounters While Rockin' The Trinity River In Fort Worth

No, what you are looking at here is not some sort of artist's rendering of what the Trinity River Central City Uptown Gator Island Vision Boondoggle's lake, mountain and flying fish may look like upon completion on a date far in the future.

No, every thing you see here is natural, except for those Blue Angel jets.

Natural.

Not the product of a pseudo public works project gone sideways and awry.

I saw what you see above on Facebook, via Kathy Schaefer Bressler, with a caption of "Only in Seattle".

Which would make that mountain the one known in Washington as The Mountain, but also known as Mount Rainier.

That big flying fish is what is known as an Orca.

Formerly known as a Killer Whale.

Calling this beautiful mammal a Killer Whale became politically incorrect way back in the 1960s, when it became widely realized that these fellow mammals were not killers of a danger to humans sort.

However, the salmon world might still refer to the Orca population as Killer Whales.

During that revolutionary decade of the 1960s, I think the guy's name was Ted Griffin, if I remember correctly, he made the majority of the people of Washington aware of the Orca pods for the first time, due to the bizarre fact that this man had hunts, in order to trap Orcas, to sell them to aquariums and places like Sea World.

Which is why the world knows the names Namu and Shamu.

Trapped Killer Whales were kept penned in Elliott Bay, in Seattle, awaiting extradition to the location of whoever purchased one of these mammals who should never have been for sale.

As you might imagine, this did  not go over well in the Pacific Northwest, ahead of the times even then, environmental protection issues wise, just as the Pacific Northwest is ahead of the times, in multiple ways, in 2015.

It was made illegal to hunt Orcas. And the Orca pods were protected in multiple ways. Such as the various pods being tracked, with a record kept of the number in the pod and baby Orcas being added. Or Orcas gone missing.

In all my years in the Puget Sound zone I had only one Orca pod encounter.

I was with my mom and dad, somewhere in the San Juan Islands. We were jigging for cod.

Suddenly, in the distance, an Orca jumped out of the water, such as you see above. Then another. Then many others. They were coming towards us. We were not moving. Soon there were dozens of Orcas around us. Some were small, some big.

I remember we did not feel any sense of being in danger. More a feeling of being in awe. Some of the Orcas slowed as they neared our boat, almost as if stopping to say hello.

Orcas are sort of like dolphins, in that up close they look as if they are smiling at you.

This Orca encounter pre-dated the modern era of always having event recording devices on ones person, in the form of a digital camera, phone or video camera. We had no camera on board. Not even of the antique using film sort.

So, that wonderful once in a lifetime experience of being surrounded by an Orca pod is recorded only in my memory, a location where I can still enjoy seeing it, but can not share, visually....

In Alaska Rosie The Rat Dog Finds Humpbacks, Orcas, Otters & New Words

An Otter On Ice In The Gulf Of Alaska

The latest update of Rosie the Rat Dog's Alaska! Blog has the best scenery yet.

In a blogging inexplicably titled Tails, Fins and Eyes you take a boat ride out into the Gulf of Alaska where you'll see giant glaciers, humpback whales, sea lions, orcas and otters, among other things.

The nicknames of the humans who Rosie the Rat Dog looks after are Otter and Penguin, hence the Internet handle of otterpengu.

I've never had explained to me the reason for the Otter/Penguin nicknames, but I can guess that it might have something to do with a resemblance to those cute critters.

I am enjoying the written commentary on the Alaska! Blog. It is written in a very purple prose style, like what a pioneer woman might write whilst crossing America on the Oregon Trail back in the 1860s.

I particularly enjoy the imaginative spelling and new word inventions. I think my favorite new word may be "fastination."

I am not certain, but I think "fastination" means being fascinated by scenery one sees when traveling at a high rate of speed.  I may be wrong about this.

Saving Orca Killer Whales, Babies & Dish, Texas

I think I've mentioned that I read my old hometown newspaper, the Skagit Valley Herald, aka Go Skagit, online in the morning. I think I've also made mention of Washington Casinos previously.

This morning one of the headlines that caught my eye was "New Baby Orca Spotted in Puget Sound." There was an ad that the text wrapped around at the top of the story.

When I clicked on the link I was hoping to see a picture of the Baby Orca. When the page opened I instantly saw an Orca and just as instantly knew it was the Orca that swims in front of the Tulalip Resort Casino.

If I remember right there are 4 Killer Whale Pods in Puget Sound. The pods are tracked and the individual Orcas are assigned a number. The new baby was born into the L Pod. It's number is L-133. L-133 is the 4th Puget Sound Baby Orca spotted this year.

There are currently only 86 Orcas in Puget Sound, including the newborn.

L-133's mom is believed to be a 14 year old named Calypso. I don't know why Calypso gets a name instead of a number. L-133 would be Calypso's first baby. The baby daddy is unknown. First born Orcas do not have a good survival rate. Most die before their first birthday. A mom offloads a lot of toxic chemicals to her first born, both while in the womb and via milk.

A friend of mine, up in Washington, lives on Puget Sound, well, in a house facing Puget Sound, in Port Orchard. She was recently enjoying the view when an Orca Pod swam by. She was too caught up in enjoying the spectacle to run and get a camera.

My only encounter with an Orca Pod was also camera-free. I was out in the San Juan Islands in the northern part of Puget Sound, with my mom and dad. Suddenly Orcas came into view. We were dead in the water, fishing for cod. The Orcas were being very playful. There were 2 babies. The Orcas did not seem to care at all that we were there. They were on all sides of us. A couple of the Killer Whales got as close as 10 feet. It was like they wanted a closer look.

My Orca encounter occured a long long time ago, but I remember it vividly, as if it happened yesterday.

To landlubbing Texans, who would have no reason to know, Killer Whales do not have such a lethal name due to being a danger to humans. I believe the Killer Whale name came about due to how lethal Orcas are to the fish they like to eat, like salmon.

It is hard to believe now, but back in the 1960s the Killer Whales were a bit mysterious, not frequently seen. It was not known, for sure, how many were in Puget Sound. Then this guy, I forget his name now, started trapping Killer Whales and selling them to places like Sea World. You've probably heard of Namu and Shamu. They were kidnapped from Puget Sound.

It did not take long for the Washington public to put a stop to Orca hunting. There was a lot of outrage. It was from that point on that a lot better understanding of the Puget Sound's Orcas came to be. They have been listed as endangered since 2005. It has been a crime for quite some time now to do absolutely anything harmful to an Orca.

I wish Texas had more of an ethic where the public gets mad and makes clear that something has to stop. Like the environmental crimes that have occurred and continue to occur in and around Dish, Texas. The out of control, basically unregulated Barnett Shale gas drillers, using eminent domain to ruin Dish native's lives and livelihoods. Killing farm animals and trees. Polluting the air with noise and chemicals.

Is the State of Texas concerned about the welfare of the citizens of Dish? Is the Denton County government concerned? Do the people of Texas and Denton County care, other than those who live in Dish?

I can tell you with almost 100% certainity that if something as outragous as what is happening in Dish was happening in Washington. There would be demands coming from all sorts of directions to put a stop to it. There would be large protests. There would likely be sabatoge. There would be lawsuits. The media would turn a bright light on the evil wrong-doing. Wrong would be made right.

I've been here for 11 years now and I'm still no closer to understanding why Dish type deals happen in Texas with so little consequence and no one thrown in jail.

Texas Hot 4th Of July Hiking With No Fireworks Or Orcas

The red, white and blue of the stars and stripes were providing the best color on the prairie this afternoon at the Tandy Hills Natural Area. That's the flag waving in the slight breeze on its pole high atop Mount Tandy.

I slept in to the unprecedented hour of 7 this morning. This had me in the pool way later than usual. Which pushed breakfast off til 10, which pushed going hiking off til 1, giving the air plenty of time to get HOT, which it did.

It was 98 when I left here to go hiking. By the time I got back here I jumped in the pool. I didn't care that I was in my hiking cargo shorts. I wanted to get wet from something other than being drenched in sweat. This morning when I went swimming the pool was warmer than the air. By this afternoon that condition had reversed, which was a good thing.

It is the 4th of July. I have not heard a single firecracker. Texas is such a repressive state. Due to running their Indians out of the state, or killing them off, Texas has only 2, very small, Indian Reservations. In my old state of Washington we liked our Indians and made them our friends. The Indians help Washingtonians participate in the 4th of July by providing fireworks supply areas, with names like Boom Town. Boom Town is huge. It is run by the Tulalip Tribe. The Tulalip also have what may be the best casino in Washington. I liked the big Orca out front with the giant Indian getting ready to spear a salmon. Just a sec, I'll see if I can find a picture I took of the Orca.

That picture took way too long to find. The Tulalip Casino is, for want of a better word, cool. You've got that splashing Orca, the Tulalip Indian spearing giant salmon, a lot of water, sound effects, and when you walk into the casino there are waterfalls on either side of you. Inside the casino the effect is that you are underwater, in an aquarium. I've been told the buffet is really good. The slightly nearby Swinomish Casino, just a few miles from my Washington abode, had the best seafood buffet. Oysters just like mom makes them.

In my old neighborhood, known as Thunderbird, in the town known as Mount Vernon, all the streets are named after tribes. I lived on Pawnee Lane. Pawnee connected to Apache. (Go here for a virtual visit to where I used to live, where you'll see my cat Hortense reading the morning paper with me and the deepest snow in all my years of living up north) In the valley in which I lived, Skagit, there are several tribes, the Skagit, the Samish and the Swinomish. The Skagit Valley tribes have nice reservations. Two of the tribes have built casinos in the valley. The little valley I lived in has 2 huge casino complexes. There are none of those anywhere in Texas.

The Washington casinos are not like those goofy ones up in Oklahoma where it's like a pretend casino, the Washington casinos are just like what you find in Nevada, minus topless girls and strip shows. And free drinks.

Anyway, the tribes in Washington make a lot of money selling fireworks. Tonight my old neighborhood will become like a war zone. It was fun to watch and would go on for hours. One group would launch a display, then another would try and out do them. The area where my house sat was heavily wooded with huge fir trees. I was ready with a hose should a firework go awry. I had several land on my roof, which was flat. No fires ever started though.

So, what was I saying, oh yeah, in Washington, by now, I would have been hearing firecrackers going off for days. With today almost non-stop, with all hell breaking loose once it got dark.

When I moved to Texas, the first location was in far north Fort Worth, with the mailbox in Fort Worth and the house in Haslet. We all anticipated a very wild 4th. We were in Texas, for gawdsakes, everyone packs heat here, they're big on their cowboy, wild west past. So, as the sun began to set, we sat outside waiting for something to happen. There were a few random noises, but we were all in WTH? mode. Now I live deeper into the urban zone. I suspect I will not hear a single firecracker tonight.

What happened here that has these people so stifled? Was there some sort of silent coup that took away some basic freedoms that the rest of America enjoys? It perplexes me. It would likely really perplex a lifelong Texan if he/she were to find him/herself in my old neighborhood tonight.