An Ozone Alert Has Me Touring Fort Worth's Industrial Wastelands

Today I was not of a mood to drive to any of my regular locations to engage in my regular daily walking or biking or hiking activity in order to have myself some endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

One reason I was not of a mood to drive anywhere is because I got myself plenty of aerobic stimulation, via swimming, this morning. Another reason is the area I am located in is currently being blessed with an Ozone Alert, with members of sensitive groups being advised to avoid exposure.

Since I am very sensitive, though not in a sensitive group, I decided it best to limit contact with outdoor ozone infested air, because my eyes were sort of burning earlier this morning. After being outside swimming, I had to resort to eye drops to abate the burning.

Rather than drive anywhere I decided to walk across the street to Albertson's to get a bag of carrots. This is not a long walk, thus limited exposure to Ozone.

Walking to Albertson's I pass the industrial wasteland you see above. With multiple warnings regarding the dangers posed by this industrial wasteland. This particular industrial wasteland is one of my two nearby neighborhood Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale Natural Gas Extraction Sites.

Of my two neighborhood Chesapeake sites only the Albertson's one is clearly visible in all its industrial wasteland glory. The other Chesapeake site is further from the road and somewhat blocked by a brick wall.

As I walked past this industrial wasteland I wondered to myself whether Fort Worth is the biggest city in the world to have so many pockets of industrial wasteland, such as the above, within its borders.

I suspect it is a fact that Fort Worth is the biggest city in the world to have so many pockets of industrial wasteland.

Fort Worth seems to have an industrial wasteland surplus.

The area from the north side of downtown to south of the Fort Worth Stockyards, is largely industrial wasteland. This particular Fort Worth industrial wasteland is what the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle was touted as fixing, prior to the Boondoggle morphing into an Entertainment Production entity creating the world's only urban waterfront music venue with inner tube happy hour floats and 4th of July parties.

My favorite Fort Worth industrial wasteland is the area I call The Ruins of the Stockyards. This industrial wasteland is so scenic it has been used as a set for TV shows in need of something that looks like a third world prison....

The Ozone In The Air That I Breathe Has Gone From Bad To Good So I Went Walking

The Air Quality Alert that has been alerting the part of the planet on which I reside ceased doing its alerting this morning.

The air has gone from bad to good. Well, the ozone problem part of the air has gone from bad to good. The pollen problem remains extreme.

I don't know if my allergic woes are ozone or pollen related or a combo of both, but with the ozone problem no longer being bad, I decided to risk breathing outdoor air via walking around Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

I was a bit clogged up on the drive to Fosdick Lake. By the time I was done walking I was no longer clogged up. Now that I am back in air-conditioned comfort, clogging has returned. Maybe I'm allergic to air-conditioning.

As you can see in the picture above, a herd of Fosdick turtles was enjoying the respite from bad air by having a sunning session on their favorite log. Usually the Fosdick turtles are spooked as soon as they hear my camera make its chirping noise. But not today. The Fosdick turtles posed cooperatively.

Steve A pointed me to a Air North Texas website where I learned all sorts of things about ozone and North Texas Air. On the website you can sign up for email alerts which will alert me when the air that I breathe goes bad. So far I have not been alerted.