The 2015 Manly Men & Wild Women Tandy Hills Hike Is Upon Us New Years Day

Yesterday, on Facebook, I saw that which you see here, that being a poster advertising the 2015, New Years Day Manly Men & Wild Women Hike on the Tandy Hills.

I do not do math well, and can not use my fingers to count right now because they are engaged in typing, but, since the first Manly Men & Wild Women Tandy Hills Hike took place on New Years Day of 2010 I think this upcoming Manly Men & Wild Women Tandy Hills Hike will be the 6th Annual Manly Men & Wild Women Tandy Hills Hike.

On Saturday, January 2, 2010, I blogged about that first Manly Men & Wild Women Tandy Hills Hike in a blogging titled Tandy Hills Hiking With Wild Women, Manly Men, The Queen Of Wink & Princess Annie.

How can it be, this upcoming New Years Day, that it has been five years since the Queen of Wink & Princess Annie journeyed all the way from their Kingdom in West Texas to do some hill hiking?

Time tends to fade memories, but my memory of that day, almost five years ago, is that the Queen of Wink, Annie and me could not keep up with the rigorous pace set by all the Manly Men & Wild Women. Eventually we found ourselves left behind, no Manly Men or Wild Women to be seen.

And so we made our way to my primitive form of mechanized locomotion and drove away from the Tandy Hills, eventually ending up in Arlington at a Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant, where we vowed to get ourselves in shape and come back to a future Manly Men & Wild Women Tandy Hills Hike where we would not be left behind in the dust.....

Not Rolling Over A Mallard Cove Cactus Patch While Texting About West Texas Roughnecks With The Queen Of Wink

Today I decided to use my motorized vehicular transport device to take my non-motorized transport device to Mallard Cove Park to roll my two in-line wheels for a few miles.

In the picture, as you can see, my handlebars have screeched to a halt before running into a huge cactus patch.

My handlebars, well, actually it is the brakes and the wheels which do the screeching, screeched to a halt multiple times today, pretty much every time I came to a sit down shade opportunity.

Multiple times my phone made its incoming text message noise, hence the use of the sit down shade opportunities, in order to get my phone out of its safe keeping container, that being the black bag you see attached to the handlebars.

The multiple text messages were from the Queen of Wink regarding a Gar the Texan-like West Texas Neanderthal who had been engaging in a one-sided sinkhole-like Facebook debate over the history of fracking.

I say one-sided debate because I think it was only the West Texas Neanderthal who was in the debate, with the Queen of Wink and me having realized we were not qualified to engage in this debate, due to the fact that we are not beer swilling, tobacco chewing, gun toting, rough neck workers in the oil drilling industry.

Anyway, this brief respite from the HEAT is being mighty fine. Only 71 degrees this morning when I went swimming. This made the pool seem disturbingly as if it was a heated pool. Currently, coming up on the middle of the afternoon, the air outside is only 88 degrees. This cool state is scheduled to disappear tomorrow, with incoming humidity delivered by potentially heavy rain. And thunder booms.

Protesting With Princess Annie Of Wink Taking A Drink Before Heading To Mississippi

In the picture you are looking at Princess Annie of Wink. I believe this picture was taken soon before, or after, Princess Annie had her 8th grade graduation ceremony.

I am fairly certain that is not an adult beverage Princess Annie is holding.

But, who knows? There ain't a lot of law west of the Pecos. Or so I have heard.

I last saw Princess Annie, in person, over four years ago, if my memory is serving me somewhat reliably. At that point in time Princess Annie was still a little girl.

Way back in the winter of 2010, Princess Annie, and her mother, the Queen of Wink, drove all the way to Fort Worth, from Wink, so as to join the protest at the Tarrant County Courthouse protesting what Chesapeake Energy was planning to do to Carter Avenue.

After the protest we packed Judge Sprinkle's courtroom.

Four years later there have been a lot of changes in the Barnett Shale. Chesapeake Energy has gone from being a shadow government of the city of Fort Worth to being sued by Fort Worth, and others, due to Chesapeake's shady dealings.

Carter Avenue was saved, Judge Sprinkle was retired, Aubrey McClendon was booted from Chesapeake, in disgrace, and no one has heard from Steve Doeung in years.

On that protest day, four years ago, after we were done protesting, Annie, her mom and I went to the Fort Worth Stockyards, for BBQ and so I could watch the Queen of Wink and Princess Annie get themselves totally bum puzzled trying to figure their way out of the Cowtown Maze.

Now it is June of 2014 and Princess Annie is scheduled to leave Texas for a few weeks of Mississippi time. Then, near the end of June, the Queen of Wink will venture to Tyler, Texas to fetch Princess Annie, then head back to Wink, with a possible stop in Fort Worth on the way.

If the time and logistics can be worked out....

The Queen Of Wink Is Now A Durango Roadtripping Guest Blogger With Taos Tales

Today the Queen of Wink is the Guest Blogger on my Durango Roadtripping blog in a blogging titled The Queen of Wink Roadtripping to Taos New Mexico.

The Queen of Wink solo roadtripped herself to Taos this past weekend to have herself a three day adventure.

That adventure included getting tossed into the Rio Grande whilst river rafting, drinking copious amounts of coffee, drinking less copious amounts of liquid refreshments at the one year anniversary of the Mesa Taos Brewery, catching wild salmon for dinner in downtown Taos, being awakened by bear splashing in the Rio Grande, experiencing vertigo whilst walking across the Rio Grande Gorge, meeting numerous Taos natives at the Taos Pueblo, along with other stuff you will have to read for yourself in the Queen of Wink's blogging about her visit to Taos.

My one and only time in Taos I also stayed three days. However, it seems the Queen of Wink crammed more into one day in Taos than I did in three.

The Queen of Wink is barely 25 years old, hence her ability to be so active without collapsing in exhaustion, including staying up til 2am in downtown Taos, while I am 22 years older and get tired just thinking about staying up til 2am.

Exhausted Doing the Hokey Pokey With Fosdick Lake's Sitting Ducks

Fosdick Lake Fosduck Convention

In the picture you are looking at a large convention of sitting ducks convening on the northeastern shore of Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park in Fort Worth, Texas, on this last Saturday of the 2nd month of 2013.

Saturday began with the air temperature being below freezing. This made the cool pool feel much warmer than the air when I did a quick, pre-hot tub, dip, early this morning.

I got up later than my norm, this morning. I was a bit exhausted from an unexpected bout, Friday night, of doing the Hokey Pokey with the Queen of Wink.

Exhausted from an unexpected bout of doing the Hokey Pokey and also from being asked to dance, with the request verbalized in a shockingly profane manner.

Changing the subject back to the Fosdick Lake Fosducks.

Usually the Fosducks put up quite a quacking fuss when I get close. Today, while there was some quacking, there was also a strange tweety noise I'd not heard coming from ducks before. I thought ducks could only quack, so I was surprised to learn there is more than quacking to their vocabulary.

After walking around Fosdick Lake, since it is Saturday, I went to Town Talk, where I got myself an awful lot of avocados. I suspect I will be making a humongous batch of guacamole later today, if I don't find myself sidetracked doing the Hokey Pokey again.

Walking With My Mom Along Village Creek While Gar The Texan Suggests The Queen Of Wink & I Are Ignorant

Before noon I took off for Pantego. My route there takes me by one of my favorite parks.

In the picture you are looking at the dam/bridge across Village Creek in the Village Creek Natural Historic Area in Arlington.

On both sides of the dam/bridge are Wildflower Areas which no longer have wildflowers blooming.

I thought due to last night's rain that Village Creek might be in flood mode with the park closed. I thought wrong. Village Creek was not running at all high.

As you can see we are being a bit overcast today in North Texas. And relatively cold. It is only 87 degrees right now at 3:14.

I called my mom and dad whilst walking today. Mom answered. Usually I call my mom when I get gas. I got gas yesterday and did not call. I felt sort of guilty about that, hence the non-gas related call today. My mom was in a chatty mood today, walking with me almost the entire Village Creek walk.

I am not sure, mostly due to the difficult to understand verbiage, rendered so, I think, by the fractured logic that is being attempted to be verbalized, or blogalized, but I think that Gar the Texan suggested, on his blog, that the Queen of Wink and I are ignorant.

I was appalled.

This may have been yet one more of the boy's alcohol fueled rantings. I could not tell for sure.

The Queen of Wink and I had consulted previously on how to handle it when Gar the Texan has an episode, with the decision being to simply ignore it. In this case, to ignore Gar the Texan suggesting the Queen of Wink and I are ignorant.

Gar the Texan does not read my blog, so this still counts as ignoring his remarks about our ignorance. If Gar the Texan did read what I have to say about his suggesting that the Queen of Wink and I are ignorant, he would likely fall back on his standard defense.

That being that we are not only ignorant, we also have reading comprehension problems.

Giant Wildflower Found On The Tandy Hills With The Queen Of Wink Found Safe Via New Orleans While Traffic Stops On I-30

I am fairly certain this thing I found blowing in the wind on the Tandy Hills today is not some sort of giant mutant wildflower.

It is currently 94. It was one degree below 90 when I hiked the hills today. Very humid. And windy.

The attempts to find the missing Queen of Wink amped up this morning, with the search reaching as far as New Orleans.

By around 2 this afternoon the New Orleans connection bore fruit with the Queen of Wink letting me know she has not been the victim of a crazed serial killer.

The Queen of Wink says her phone did not log my call, or she would have called me back. But, I left a voice mail message. And then we still have the mystery of what caused the Queen of Wink to disappear from Facebook.

I would suspect that someone has hacked the Queen of Wink's Internet accounts, except for the fact that the writing style is totally in the Queen of Wink style. And, as we recently learned from CatsPaw/CowsHoof, writing style is as strong an identifier as fingerprints.

As I drove to the Tandy Hills I saw the westbound lanes of Interstate 30 were in total traffic jam mode. This had drivers trying to get off the freeway, to the frontage road, driving over grass and into the waiting embrace of a multitude of Fort Worth cops.

I do not know why, when there is a traffic jam like this, those ubiquitous electronic freeway signs that usually say "click it or ticket it's the law" are not spewing a message like "I-30 westbound lanes closed ahead, seek alternative route."

Because there are plenty of ways to get around this and easily continue west. The traffic was jammed almost all the way back to the 820/30 mixmaster. A warning sign could have easily directed traffic on to 820, then 121 to continue west.

Coming out of Town Talk today and heading east on Randol Mill Road I was appalled to see about a mile of vehicles backed up, waiting to turn on to Beach Street. These would have been drivers who scurried off the freeway at Oakland Avenue, where I saw the cops in full ticket mode, trying to continue west via the next road that does so to the north, no knowing how backed up that road can get.

So, I guess when I head to downtown Fort Worth around 5, to do me some Trinity River Happy Hour Inner Tubing, I will take 121 to downtown, not 30.

Are there restroom facilities on shore for the Rockin' the River event, I can't help but wonder? With 600 people floating while drinking a lot of beer, well, you get the picture.

I can now see where this Happy Hour Inner Tube floating is going to be adding some fresh pollution to the already polluted river.

There Is No Knife In My Back This Morning Stopping Me From Today's Trinity River Happy Hour Inner Tube Float Boondoggle

Looking skyward through the bars of my patio prison cell it appears the 9th day of June is going to be yet one more clear blue sky HOT day in Texas.

I am happy to be starting the 9th day of June without the knife in my back that was sticking me with pain the past couple days.

June is already almost a third gone, once more vexing me with the feeling that time is accelerating.

Today I am very excited to be going on the first Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Trinity River Happy Hour Inner Tube Float, along with 600 other floaters.

I was confused as to where the inner tubing was taking place after it was moved from Trinity Park, due to restrictions on liquor consumption, to something called Panther Pavilion.

Gail Galtex, aka GG, alleviated me of my Panther Pavilion confusion. Apparently the inner tubing is going to take place at the (destined to be destroyed by the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle) confluence of the West and Clear forks of the Trinity River.

The Queen of Wink remains missing.

I think I will go swimming now, not in the Trinity River, which is nearby and apparently swimmable, but in a swimming pool with clear water and no alligator gar or water moccasins.

Swimming Took The Knife Out Of My Scapula So Now I Can Head West Of The Pecos To Search For The Missing Queen Of Wink

I am pleased to report that the knife that has been stuck in my scapula, for the last day, has been removed.

I'd scheduled an appointment for this afternoon with my therapist, Dr. L.C., to see if she could remove the knife.

I have canceled that appointment.

I think a long walk down the Tandy Highway, followed by some HOT hill hiking was the final cure for the knife in my scapula, with going swimming this morning starting the cure.

Changing the subject from the knife in my back.

Gar the Texan is more concerned about the missing Queen of Wink than I am. Gar the Texan is also from Wink, but never town royalty.

In the days of the Wild West in Texas, the Pecos River demarcated the line between civilization and the frontier. When you crossed the Pecos River and continued west you were in lawless territory.

A common phrase in West Texas, back in the days of the Wild West, was to "Pecos" someone, which meant to kill someone and then dump the body in the Pecos River.

I don't know how close Wink is to the Pecos River.

If the Queen of Wink does not show up by Friday the current plan is to take off Saturday morning in the Gar-Mobile and head west to the lawless territory of West Texas to try and find the missing Queen of Wink.

I took my antique camcorder down to the pool with me this morning to document my return to water.

This camcorder was bought in 2002, which truly does make it an antique in electronics years.

I thought I remembered being able to extract better photos from the video.

Maybe I've got some setting set wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. For awhile I did not realize I had the focus settings set to manual, rather than automatic. It took me awhile to figure out that was causing the image to not be sharp.

I just realized I don't think I checked the settings this morning. To the camcorder I must go now. I'll be right back....

The camcorder settings are/were correct.

I can use my non-antique new digital camera to take video. However, that involves sticking the camera on a tripod and getting the clips into Windows Movie Maker, which is not as simple as it is with the camcorder.

I got a Facebook message a few minutes ago from one of my Tacoma Informants informing me she needs to call me. Emergency. What fresh hell is this going to be? Maybe she has some information about the missing Queen of Wink.

Going Swimming Again With A Knife In My Back Without The Missing Queen Of Wink

Up early looking through the bars of my patio prison cell on the 8th morning of June at a swimming pool which is again back usable.

I am hoping that swimming this morning helps alleviate the knife in my back pain that continues to ache me.

I had some relief yesterday from the knife in my back after getting some endorphin treatment on the Tandy Hills. But, as the endorphins wore off, the knife in my back returned.

Something that has not returned is the Queen of Wink. I mentioned yesterday that she'd disappeared from Facebook. I called the Queen of Wink around noon. Left a message. No call back. The Queen of Wink is/was quite a Facebook devotee. For her Facebook account to suddenly disappear does not seem right.

The Queen of Wink had become involved with a guy who calls himself Bogart. Bogart does not look like Humphrey Bogart. Unless Humphrey were playing a role that called for him to look like a Hell's Angel. Bogart's Facebook page still exists. But, virtually everything has been removed from it. Adding to the mystery.

Switching subjects.

The smoke from the Arizona wildfires has not reached my location. But it is very smoggy here. I think it stings my eyes and makes me sneeze.

I remember the one and only time I experienced smog so bad it burned my eyes was years ago in Los Angeles. The air in Los Angeles has greatly improved from the way it was a couple decades ago.

A couple decades ago you could not see the mountains to the east when you were in Los Angeles. I did not even realize Los Angeles had a visible mountain range to the east til I was in LA during a low smog winter during a Christmas visit to Disneyland.

I am fairly certain if the smog that currently coats the Dallas/Fort Worth area, lifted, that a mountain range would not be revealed.

It is time to go swimming now.

High Pressure Chemicals & A Missing Queen Of Wink Worrying Me The 7th Day Of June

Looking out at the pool early this 7th morning of June the water appears to be crystal clear. One would think this would mean my swimming pool is back swimmable.

One would be wrong to think that.

The pump is still not working right, that water has been extremely shocked. Shocking a pool is pool-speak meaning the water has been dosed with chemicals. The chemicals flash off over time.

I think the chemicals somehow prevent algae from growing, but I'm not sure. The fact that til those chemicals flash off the water is dangerous seems worrisome to me. But, I've had 12 years to get used to it, so it doesn't worry me all that much anymore. It's just one more thing I wonder about and then accept.

I had my bedroom window open all night. I don't know if that was a good idea. This morning I shut the windows and am running the A/C. This morning I learned we have been being heated 6 to 10 degrees above normal for the past 10 days. A humongous high pressure ridge sits over Texas creating summer type furnace conditions.

On a totally non-weather related subject. Overnight the Queen of Wink has disappeared from Facebook. Princess Annie of Wink is still on Facebook. Shelby the Dog of Wink is still on Facebook. But the Queen of Wink is gone.

I will call the Queen of Wink later today and try to solve this troubling mystery.

Walking Among Giant Yellow Flowers Today In Arlington's Veterans Park Thinking About Bad Girls Like Mother Nature & The Queen Of Wink

The hills were alive with a lot of color today. I'm not talking about the Tandy Hills. For all I know those hills are alive today with a lot of color, but not according to any eye witness account from my eyes.

The hills I saw alive, with a lot of color today, were the hills, well, glorified mounds, of Veterans Park in Arlington.

I was being a bit stir crazy this morning, a blogging and webpage making maniac. It is exhausting for me to spend more than a few hours of heavy duty thinking without a break.

I took off from here to go to Village Creek Natural Historic Area to talk to the Indian Spirits. But, that park was closed today, due to Village Creek being in water overload mode. So, I continued on another couple miles to Veterans Park.

There were some really big flowers being real colorful in Veterans Park today. I think I already said that.

My chronic typo problem continues to worsen. This morning the Queen of Wink humiliated me with a really bad one.

I typed "actua" when I meant to type "actual." The word "actua" totally changed the meaning of what I was saying, changing it from something like "Gar the Texan and I are going to an actual Hooters," to something like "Gar the Texan and I are joining a Canadian Charitable Organization in order to get some charitable attention from Hooters."

I really don't like it when hyper-intelligent people, like the Queen of Wink, use their intellectual advantage over me to make me feel even stupider than I already do. Like I said, it is humiliating. I can barely stand to log in to Facebook anymore, due to seeing that the Queen of Wink has scored yet one more Scrabble Bingo, while I can't even spell actual.

I did not walk for a very long distance today. I was not liking the humidity. I think the humidity was making my right knee hurt. Maybe I have arthritis that is acting up, due to what Elsie Hotpepper told me this afternoon, that being that we may be having a historically bad storm hitting North Texas in a few hours.

The maladies of getting ever more elderly really do get vexing after awhile. Reduced cerebral function manifesting itself in chronic typos. Failing body parts. Weakening vision. We won't talk about the other things that are in semi-fail mode.

I heard on the radio on my way to Veterans Park that I should have an Emergency Kit ready for an incoming emergency. I don't have an Emergency Kit ready. I do have flashlights strategically placed. I have a lantern I can find in the dark by using one of the strategically placed flashlights. I have a gas-powered cooking unit I can use to heat coffee and other essentials. I have water stored in several locations. I do not have much of a food supply. But, two grocery stores are within easy walking distance and could likely easily be looted if I get too hungry.

I am ready, Mother Nature. Hit me with your best shot.

I take that back. I just realized I sounded like George W. Bush telling the Iraqi insurgents to "Bring it on." I take it back, Mother Nature, I am not ready, please don't hit me with your best shot. Don't bring it on.

Early Sunday Morning After A Bad Night Of Insomnia Wondering How Close The Giant West Texas Wildfire Is To The Queen Of Wink's Realm

Stepping outside on this second Sunday of April and looking up at the sky it does not appear that the expected cloud cover has yet arrived.

We are already one third of the way through April. Time seems to be accelerating along with the price of gas.

I had myself another really bad insomnia bout last night. I think this was mostly due to being unable to find a happy medium between too hot and too cold.

So far I have not smelled the acrid odor of a wildfire. The wildfire currently burning out in West Texas is enormous. I do not know if it is burning in the Queen of Wink's realm in West Texas.

Checking the hourly forecast, for my zone, I see the predicted Thunderstorm is scheduled to arrive around 3 this afternoon.

If it rains hard today, the noon time frame may be my last chance to do some Tandy Hills hiking til dryness returns.

I see a morning swim, a mid-day hike, fish and chips and a Thunderstorm in my future for the 10th day of April. I don't think I will be going for an afternoon swim in the Thunderstorm.

Up Early The 3rd Wednesday Of March Not Being Upset With The Queen Of Wink Along With Wishing Someone Would Help The Paradise Center

As you can sort of tell, looking down on my aquamarine cement pond, I am up well before the sun on this 4th Wednesday of March of 2011.

It is 64 degrees out there, currently. I have my windows open and the ceiling fan spinning.

The Queen of Wink sent me a message, last night, with the first line saying she hoped she'd not upset me in any way. I have no recollection of the Queen of Wink upsetting me in any way, so I will need to remember to reply to this message and tell the Queen of Wink that she has not upset me in anyway.

Then again, the Queen of Wink also said she is back reading my blog after taking a sabbatical due to a variety of others things requiring her focus. So, since the Queen of Wink is back reading my blog again, she will read that she has not upset me in any way and so I really do not need to convey that in a reply to her message.

The Paradise Center Scandal continues to grow ever more scandalous. Yesterday I was sent some emails which shed some light on the scandal, so I blogged them.

The Paradise Center has only days to find a new home so that they can move their possessions that the MHMR bullycrats, led by their heartless CEO, Jim McDermott, put in a storage POD.

Is there no one in Fort Worth with a property on a bus line who can help the Paradise Center re-locate?

If only Fort Worth were a town that had some Christian churches with practicing Christians, there might be someone willing to do some good.

Maybe there is a Muslim mosque in Fort Worth that might help and be an object lesson for area Christians as to how to act Christian.

I think I'll go swimming now and not think about Fort Worth's shortcomings for awhile.

HOT Saturday Tandy Hills Hiking With The Queen Of Wink & Elsie Hotpepper Saloon Hopping While Betty Jo Bouvier Ponders Stripping For The Super Bowl

Due to the nature of my hiking attire worn today whilst hiking the hills of the Tandy Hills Natural Area you might guess it is warm in North Texas this last Saturday of the first month of 2011.

You would be guessing right. It is currently a balmy 76 degrees.

Until my phone holding arm started to go numb the Queen of Wink went hiking with me today.

The Queen of Wink has hiked on the Tandy Hills with me previously. The first time she got a bad case of the vapors and required hiking assistance.

I tell you, the details of what goes on in the Queen of Wink's Realm would give a prime-time TV Soap Opera plenty of material. Or just film the Queen of Wink 24 hours a day and you'd have yourselves something fit for Bravo TV.

The Real Housewife of Wink.

Separate from the Wink Soap Opera material the Queen of Wink may be heading for a visit to New York City due to her widespread reputation as a Sinkhole Expert.

I thought we long ago established Gar the Texan as the Go To Expert Guy for anything to do with sinkholes. I may be remembering wrong.

Before I took off from here to do some hill hiking I called Elsie Hotpepper to see if she wanted to enjoy the great outdoors with me.

She didn't.

But, Elsie asked me if I wanted to go saloon hopping with her tonight. I am not a very big fan of saloon hopping, so I politely declined.

Maybe a little saloon hopping with the Hotpepper would be good for what ails me. I don't know. What I do know, for sure, is the last time I went saloon hopping with Elsie Hotpepper it took me about a week to feel as if I was totally recovered.

And then there is Betty Jo Bouvier. I know she is known as the Wild Woman of Woolley, but, even so, her most recent question surprised me. Betty Jo asked me if it was true that the D/FW area is in need of 10,000 extra strippers for the Super Bowl. I asked if the reason she wanted to know this was she was thinking of flying in to earn some quick, easy money. To which Betty Jo replied, "It may be quick, but not easy."

I had no idea Betty Jo Bouvier did stripping as a sideline. I knew she was a Zumba dancer, though, which I guess must somehow lead to an interest in being a stripper.

I think maybe I need to close my windows. It feels like HOT air is blowing in here....

Martin Luther King Day With Blue Sky At Village Creek Thinking About An Unstoppable Woman, A Hotpepper & A Grammar Challenged Queen

You are looking at an impoundment of part of Village Creek, at least I think it is part of Village Creek, although the main branch of the creek is to the left of the water in the picture. This impoundment may have something to do with the system that puts water in to the cool canals of Interlochen.

But. What is really important about this picture is something else that is shows.

Can you see it?

Blue sky has returned to my zone of North Texas.

And it is almost 60 degrees.

I really was starting to suffer my first bout of SAD of this winter. If I remember correctly I had several bouts of Seasonally Affected Disorder last winter.

I never was a SAD sufferer when I lived in Western Washington. A place with way more SAD type days than North Texas has. I guess I had developed a tolerance for drippy, gray days when I was a Washingtonian and Texas has caused me to lose my immunity.

Texas has caused me to lose so many things.

I heard from my favorite Unstoppable Woman today. The Unstoppable Woman is just about my favorite person I ever worked with to make a website. So many people do not communicate well. The Unstoppable Woman knew exactly what she wanted and was able to explain exactly what she wanted. It made it all so easy.

My other favorite Unstoppable Woman, Elsie Hotpepper, well, it goes without saying you really can not stop the Hotpepper. Even if you are foolish enough to try. Anyway, Elsie is safely back from her long weekend of tropical island saloon hopping.

And then there is the Queen of Wink. Near as I can tell her Wink Realm is growing evermore chaotic. I am not even certain that the Queen is still the Queen and has not been replaced by a King, who is now keeping the former Queen prisoner in the Wink Tower.

I got the oddest message from the Queen of Wink this morning, going on about her grammar errors, which the Queen called grammatical errors, as she complained, out of nowhere, about me being a Grammar Bully. I don't even know what a Grammar Bully is, let alone how to be one. And then, in her message complaining about me being a Grammar Bully, the Queen made at least one rather bad grammar error. I'd point it out, but I don't want to be a bully.

So, there you go, my exciting Martin Luther King Day. So far.

Village Creek Bayou Egrets & The Queen Of Wink's Adult Diapers

Egrets. I've seen a few. But then again, too few to mention.

I think I saw an Egret in the Village Creek Bayou today. Big white bird with a long neck. I think that's an Egret. I am fairly certain it is not a swan.

When I approached the Village Creek Bayou today a flock of geese startled me after I had apparently startled them, sending the nervous birds quickly into flight mode.

Looking at the refection of the Egret in the Village Creek Bayou you might think that smooth mirror-like surface was ice.

It was cold enough to be ice, but it was still liquid.

It would be my guess that the slough of chemicals that are likely in the stew of the Village Creek Bayou likely lower the temperature required to freeze that water, just like the water in my vehicle's radiator, which I remembered to add anti-freeze to today, because tonight we are currently scheduled to be chilled down in to the teens.

This morning I received a somewhat disturbing message from Elsie Hotpepper saying she is so distraught over our current dire weather situation, here in North Texas, that the Hotpepper is plotting to go somewhere warm where she can hibernate. I believe a beach was mentioned.

Last night I got multiple messages from the Queen of Wink. It was very confusing. Something about inviting myself and Gar the Texan to Wink, not scamming the Queen on the Internet and my possible need for adult diapers.

I understood most of what the Queen of Wink was saying, except for being able to follow her train of thought that somehow ended up thinking of adult diapers.

I tell you, there are many signs that something is amiss out in the Realm of Wink. An investigative team may need to investigate.

Today's Brief Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man Thinking About Elsie Hotpepper, Betty Jo Bouvier & The Queen Of Wink Being Wild Women Tomorrow

As you can see by the length of the Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man, I was semi-late to the Tandy Hills today. When I headed to the hills there was barely a hint of sun. When I started hiking the hills, no sun.

And then, for one brief moment the sun made one brief appearance. I whipped out my camera and was able to snap off one picture of the Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man before the sun went away for the day.

I got an email from the Other Tandy Hills Thin Man, Don Young, today, with additional info about tomorrow's Tandy Hills Manly Men/Wild Women Hike, starting at 10 am from Tandy Hills Park on View Street. I will copy and paste the pertinent new info from DY, regarding tomorrow, in the following paragraph...

"Post-hike lunch for those inclined at the 8.0 Bar & Restaurant in Sundance Square. They have a moderately priced menu for all ages and tastes. Meet in the Octopus Room. Dutch treat. Come as you are. I guarantee you'll have an appetite."

I do not know if Elsie Hotpepper is bringing her particular brand of Wild Woman to the Tandy Hills tomorrow. Near as I can tell Elsie is currently, for some unfathomable reason, being a bit reluctant about any form of exhibitionism, including exhibiting her hiking skills in hill mode.

I am fairly certain that the Queen of Wink and Princess Annie will not be attending the 2nd Annual Manly Men/Wild Women Hike. Near as I can tell the Queen is undergoing some sort of existential crises in her West Texas realm that is manifesting itself in a lot of Facebook introspection and navel gazing.

I heard from Betty Jo Bouvier, this morning, she being the well known Wild Woman of Woolley, that she may be being a Tandy Hills Wild Woman tomorrow.

I can say this for certain. If Betty Jo Bouvier is on the Tandy Hills tomorrow, for the Manly Men/Wild Women Hike, I can 100% certain guarantee I will be there as well, previous plans be damned.

The Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Fat Man On The 2nd Day Of The New Year

I hauled my bloated carcass to the Tandy Hills today, parked on top of Mount Tandy. I was optimistic that the hills had dried out and were no longer muddy.

As is way too often the case, my optimism had no basis in reality.

Too much mud was quickly adding too many inches to my height.

I don't know what the deal was with the sun and the shadow today, but it appears I have gained a lot of weight since I last saw the formerly thin shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man.

Once I realized I'd picked up some mud, I decided to continue on, since the damage was already done. I had a fairly brisk hike. During most of it I was talking to Tootsie Tonasket, who had gotten me on the phone on the way to the Hills. Tootsie invited me over for Key Lime Pie.

And after that, Aunt Alice invited me over for ham cooked in ginger ale. I don't know if that sounds good, or not.

I realized, whilst navigating the mud, that today is exactly one year since the Tandy Hills Manly Men & Wild Women Hike. An event where about 100 hikers were strung out for miles on the Tandy Hills.

The Queen of Wink and Princess Annie drove all the way from their realm in West Texas in order to hike the Manly Men/Wild Women Hike. However, the hiking soon proved too strenuous for the Queen, when she developed a serious case of the vapors.

To recover from the vapors I drove to Arlington, to Sweet Tomatoes, where we found food. If I remember right, I then drove back to the Tandy Hills with the Queen of Wink and Princess Annie driving off into the sunset. Almost never to be seen again.

A year goes by so fast. And yet so much happens and changes during the course of a year. I'm looking forward to 2012. It's only about 364 days away.

The Return Of The Shadow Of The Tandy Thin Man Minus The Salvation Of The Queen Of Wink

Mother Nature removed yesterday's cloud cover, bringing back the blue sky of Texas, which allowed for the return of the Shadow of the Tandy Thin Man today.

Hiking the Tandy Hills was not a windy, chilly fun time, today, unlike yesterday's Thanksgiving Day, cold, blowing, hard hike.

Last night's first freeze of the year appears to have knocked the leaves out of a lot of trees. Maybe the trees were already naked of leaves yesterday and I did not notice. But, I don't think so.

The freeze has made the remaining leaves all the same color, for the most part, sort of a very burned reddish brown.

I heard from the Queen of Wink this morning. My one longtime reader may remember me mentioning that the Queen of Wink called me a couple weeks ago to tell me she was coming here for Thanksgiving.

Anticipating the Queen's arrival, I then proceeded to prepare complex Thanksgiving plans to have a Turkey Day Buffet, totally Royal Worthy.

So, imagine my shock to get an email, this morning, from the Queen of Wink, telling me, the day after I expected her at my Turkey Day Buffet, that she had enlisted in the Salvation Army on T-Day, and that, and I quote, "Looks like I didn't make it to Fort Worth, huh? Maybe for the Christmas break."

Yes, I can see myself going through the Living Hell of preparing a Royal Feast. Again. On Christmas. Only to find out the day after Christmas that the Queen has again enlisted in the Salvation Army.

Well, at least Elsie Hotpepper showed up, as expected, at my Turkey Day Buffet. And, WOW, can that skinny girl eat. Methinks she has some sort of freakish high metabolism.

Speaking of Elsie Hotpepper, I've not heard from her since she left the Turkey Day Buffet. I know she did not leave here to go saloon hopping, because I do not think any saloons were open on Thanksgiving. Maybe Elsie is busy doing some Black Friday mall hopping.

I gave in to the chill this morning and turned on my furnace for the first time since last winter.