A Happy Birthday Call To My Dad While Dodging Pecans, Villy Valentin & Gar The Texan's Social Awkwardness

In the picture you are looking at the currently leafless renowned giant pecan tree that has some sort of state of Texas heritage status. This particular pecan tree is in Quanah Parker Park, a very short distance from my abode.

I took the picture of the Quanah Parker Park pecan tree and then called my dad to do the Happy Birthday thing.

On my phone, mom and dad's land line's I.D. is AZMAPA.

I expected PA to answer when I called AZMAPA, but MA answered, apparently screening my dad's Happy Birthday calls.

So, I had to relay my Happy Birthday wishes, to my dad, through my mom.

I got gas this morning, up in Hurst, so, since my mom answered, I felt obligated to tell my mom I got gas and how much it cost. $2.86. That is the cheapest gas has been in awhile in my zone.

Three of my mom and dad's grandchildren, David, Theo and Ruby, left Arizona a couple days before their grandpa's birthday. I asked how the visit with the grandkids went. I think my mom said it went fine. I'm not really remembering exactly what was said. I think I may have been dodging a falling pecan.

Changing the subject to something totally different.

Who is Villy Valentin? And why am I getting email telling me Villy has added me to a circle and has invited me to join Google+. What is a circle? What is Google+? I suppose I could Google Google+ and find out.

Changing the subject from one circle to another circle.

Long suffering Gar the Texan is stuck in a vicious circle of self-recrimination, the likes of which I feel totally inadequate to respond to, when it comes to saying anything even remotely helpful.

Apparently Gar the Texan's latest Gal Pal jumped all over his case due to getting fed up with his almost non-stop judgementalizing and over use of cliches while constantly talking about himself.

The Gal Pal getting on his case set off a bad case of Gar the Texan having one of his socially awkward episodes. I do not know the details, but I suspect he likely said things that were totally inappropriate whilst trying, desperately, to say something appropriate, and the effort just spun out of control.

On the plus side, Gar the Texan's latest Gal Pal speaks English, so the moments that spin out of control are not as frequent, or as scary, as it was with any of the Germanic Gal Pals that preceded  this current English speaking GP.

I've actually only witnessed, personally, maybe a dozen instances of Gar the Texan being socially awkward, with the worst example taking place in a Chili's bar. And then there was the bizarre argument about a river running through Shreveport.

I just remembered another incident, the memory of a painfully awkward, socially inept episode flooding back.

Gar the Texan smoking cigarettes in the now defunct Gators, trying to get a Southern Belle to say "Sugar Honey" over and over again, laughing hysterically every time she said the magic phrase. I was very uncomfortable and left soon thereafter....

In Quanah Parker Park Gazing Up At A Giant Pecan Tree

I was up early and in the cool pool when the sun began arriving this morning to do its daily illumination and heating duties.

I am liking the cooler pool water. Very refreshing.

When the time of the day arrived for my scheduled daily salubrious endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation I found myself running late for a date, so I opted to go for a brisk walk with the pecan trees that tower over Quanah Parker Park.

That is the biggest of the Quanah Parker Park pecan trees you are standing under in the picture.

This is the pecan tree that is some sort of specially designated historical heritage tree.

I do not know if Quanah Parker ever parked himself under this tree, or not. There must be some reason this particular park is named after the most famous Comanche chief.

Walking Under The Quanah Parker Park Pecan Pondering Breaking Bad Mad Men & Rolling Eyes

The Leafless Quanah Parker Park Pecan

It seems like just a few days ago I took a picture of the Quanah Parker Park Historically Heritaged Pecan Tree in all its full leaf glory.

And now, just a short time later, a little bit of freezing has pretty much de-nuded the Parker Pecan of its leaves.

Judging by the number of cars in the Quanah Parker Park Parking lot today one might come to the conclusion that all the Quanah Parker Park improvements are drawing in more people.

I had multiple human encounters today on the Quanah Parker Park Paved Trail. The norm is zero human encounters.

Even though it was somewhere in the mid 40s, when I went walking, I overheated in just a t-shirt and long pants. Now, late on Saturday afternoon, coming up on 5, it is 3 degrees shy of 60 in the outer world at my location.

Speaking of the temperature, just minutes ago I learned from a prince of a person calling himself Anonymous that my weather reports cause this particular Anonymous person's eyes to roll. I am impressed, impressed I tell you, that the power of the words that make up my weather reports are such that they can cause someone's eyes to roll.

This is what Anonymous said.......

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "On Top Chef Texas This Week We Learned That Tim Love Owns Fort Worth & Loves Tequila": 

You watch terrible tv (really, ever heard of Breaking Bad or Mad Men), the weather reports are eye rolling and could skip all the family/friends stuff....BUT when you turn your attention to other topics like J.D or the Love Shack--scathingly funny. May you survive the holidays to amuse me further. 

I have no idea how Anonymous knows what all I watch on TV. I don't care for Breaking Bad or Mad Men. I won't watch anything on AMC. I also thought The Sopranos was totally overhyped back when it repeatedly won Emmy awards for HBO.

As for me being scathingly funny. I find my weather reports to be scathingly funny. And my family/friends stuff to be intensely fascinating. The J.D./Trinity River Vision Boondoggle stuff I just find really sort of sad. And like shooting fish in a barrel.

It is not just people in Texas who read my Texas weather reports. People shivering up north read my weather reports of it being yet one more sunny Saturday in Texas, heated to almost 60, in the middle of December.

Changing the subject from my favorite one to Town Talk.

Town Talk was super busy today. I suppose due to it being the last Saturday it will be open before Christmas. I'm assuming Town Talk is closed next Saturday, what with it being Christmas Eve.

I had an incident in Town Talk today involving broccoli, the details of which we need not discuss, lest I cause some inadvertent eye rolling.

The State Tree Of Texas Is A Heritage Pecan In Fort Worth's Quanah Parker Park

Heritage Pecan Tree in
Quanah Parker Park

I am no Audubon when it comes to knowing the identity of trees. I can tell a Douglas Fir from a Cedar from a Pine tree. But, if a tree is huge and deciduous my tendency is to assume it is a big Oak tree.

For years I've made note of some humongous trees in Quanah Parker Park. Because these trees are HUGE and have leaves that fall off in the Fall, I assumed they where big Oak trees.

I assumed wrong.

Within the past month, or so, many informational type signs have been added alongside the paved trail in Quanah Parker Park.

I read a Quanah Parker Park informational sign yesterday that I'd not read before.

Via that informational sign I learned that the big tree I thought was a HUGE Oak tree was actually a HUGE Pecan tree.

In part the informational sign said...

Shade & Food For Man & Animals

The Pecan tree was declared the state tree of Texas in 1919. This Pecan tree (the one in the picture) was designated a Heritage Tree in April 2009 by the City of Fort Worth Forestry Section. Favored by people for its flavorful nuts, cool summer shade and long life span, it is also good for animals. Many animals eat the nuts, including deer, turkey and Fox Squirrels.

Yesterday when I learned this tree was sprouting pecans I thought back to when I used to roller blade in Quanah Parker Park, with there being times of the year when I'd avoid blading on the trail that goes by that particular big tree, due to all the hard objects littering the pavement, creating a road hazard for blade wheels.

It never crossed my mind that I was avoiding edible nuts.

Village Creek Natural Historic Area Tree Limbs Crash While Flowers Bloom Spiting The Great North Texas Drought

A Natural Pecan Tree Loses A Limb

It is being another clear blue sky HOT day in North Texas, currently heated, according to the Weather Underground, to 100 degrees.

It was not that HOT when I left air-conditioned comfort and headed to Village Creek Historic Natural Area around noon to walk under the shade of giant oak trees.

We have had no high winds blowing through North Texas since the last time I walked under the Village Creek giant oak trees. And yet, since I last walked among them, several have lost limbs.

I suspect the Great Texas Drought of 2011 is causing trees to lose limbs. It's tragic.

Village Creek is no longer flowing. Pools of water remain. I don't know what's happened to the fish and water snakes. The turtles seem to be adjusting, though a bit extra skittish.

The Drought Clematis

The Village Creek Bayou is now totally dried up with large swatches of brown vegetation. And yet, somehow, since I was last in that location, flowers are blooming.

The flowers are growing from vines growing beside the dried up bayou. I'm not much of a flower identifier, but these looked like clematis. I tried to grow clematis a time or two on my Washington rooftop garden. Never successfully.

Obviously, whatever this flower and vine is, it is very resistant to the Great North Texas Drought.