Homesick For Washington Mountains, Flats & Swans

Saw this, this Saturday afternoon, on the second day of December 2023. The Facebook page is titled Life in Northwest Washington.

The caption says, "I think this pretty much sums up Skagit Valley farmland".

Photos like this always seem to make me a bit homesick.

That is the Mount Baker volcano hovering above the Skagit Valley.

I think those are trumpeter swans in the foreground. A lot of those big birds arrive in the valley this time of year.

The location where those birds are roosting looks to be in what are known as the Skagit Flats. I think my Favorite Nephews, Jason and Joey, and Grand Nephew Hank Frank's orchard and houses are to the right of the view here.

Jason does not live in the house he bought next door to Joey's. Jason lives in Mount Vernon, up that slight hill you see in the lower middle of the photo.

Hank Frank's Grandpa Jake is currently living in the house Jason bought next to Joey's. Hank Frank drives his electric tractor over to Grandpa Jake's every morning to watch cartoons. A mini-road was made for Hank Frank's transit purposes.

It is the flood plain of the Skagit River which is known as the Skagit Flats.

Most of Western Washington is not flat.

Where I currently live, in North Texas, the landscape is pretty much flat. But, I've never heard it referred to as the Texas Flats. Or the Red River Flats. Or the Wichita Flats.

Which seems odd, since it is really super flat for miles and miles in any direction...

Dam Memories Of The Upper Skagit Valley

 

This blog post goes into the category of things seen on venues, like Facebook, which make me homesick for my old home zone of Washington.

What you see above is known as the Upper Skagit Valley.

Eventually the Skagit Valley flattens out into a wide fertile plain, known as the Skagit Flats. It is on the Skagit Flats, in Burlington, I spent my formative years.

As the Facebook poster posts, there are three dams on the Skagit River.

Ross Dam, Diablo Dam and Gorge Dam.

Of the three, the only one easy to see is Diablo Dam. You can drive across Diablo Dam. The switchbacks to get to the dam, and then its crossing, is a fun adventure. I think, if I remember right, the last time I did this was a long time ago, with Betty Jo Bouvier, in my now antique 65 Ford Mustang.

The Skagit River dam shown above is Gorge Dam. I do not recollect if I have ever seen this dam. If you watched the Warren Beatty movie, Parallax View, this was the dam which released a lot of water, almost drowning Shirley MacLaine's little brother.

What is now known as the North Cross State Highway is to the left of the view you see above. This is the highway which crosses through North Cascades National Park on its way to Eastern Washington.

The only time I have seen Ross Dam in person was on an 8th grade field trip. We got off the trip bus in Newhalem, had lunch and toured the Seattle City Light facility, including the building which housed the turbines which made electricity from the water flowing from Gorge Dam.

After lunch in Newhalem we took a funicular up a steep incline to a road. I recollect this seemed scary, treacherous, and a lot of fun. As long as I lived in Washington this was a free touristy thing provided by Seattle City Light. I do not know if such is still the case.

From the top of the funicular we walked as a group to the lake behind Diablo Dam, where we boarded a boat which took us to Ross Dam, for a tour.

This was decades ago, I shudder to count the years. But, I remember it as if it were yesterday.

Sometimes it is a curse to be blessed with a razor sharp memory.

Other times I feel quite blessed, remembering things I find others have forgotten...

Linda Lou Leads Me Back To Skagit Valley Black and Blue Berry Picking

A day or two ago I blogged about Linda Lou's Skagit Valley Land Of Plenty Enticements Working, in which I made mention of the recent spate of enticements attempting to lure me out of the paradise known as Texas.

Linda Lou's recent enticements included a cookbook which used the variety of fresh ingredients one can easily find to harvest in the Skagit Valley.

Including blueberries.

The mention of blueberries got me remembering some blueberry picking I did shortly before moving to Texas.

Wild blueberries.

Picked at an extremely scenic location known as Schrieber's Meadow, which is the location of a trailhead to an extremely popular hike to the south side of the Mount Baker volcano.

Since living in the Skagit Valley was my reality for decades, I never really appreciated, til moving to Texas, how unique it was to be living in a location where driving a few miles to the east I could be up in the mountains picking wild blueberries, or drive a few miles to the west and I could be catching dungeness crab or digging clams.

The photo above was taken with my now long gone first digital camera. That Casio camera cost way more than any camera I have bought since. And took the worst photos. Though, ironically, it also took some of my all time favorite photos. Such as the one you see above of that sprite on my left shoulder picking blueberries in Schrieber's Meadow..

That Casio camera also took the above photo on the occasion of that same blueberry picking expedition. That would be the aforementioned Mount Baker volcano you see looming above the trees. If I remember right it was with Spencer Jack's Uncle Joey I last hiked from Schrieber's Meadow to the glacier moraine known as the Railroad Grade, to part way up Mount Baker.

Just a second, I shall see if I can find the webpage I made of that hike with Joey. Yes, found it, called it Joey in Danger on Mount Baker. Apparently part of my popular Nephews in Danger series from late in the last century.

Yesterday, when I remembered the picking of blueberries at Schrieber's Meadow, I looked for the photos on this computer. I thought I had transferred all my photos to this new computer. I thought wrong.

So, I fired up the old computer and found the folder with thousands of photos I had not realized I had not transferred, including the one above.

That would be me resting on a rock slab at what is known as the location of the Hidden Lakes Loukout. That being an old fire lookout, now maintained by a Skagit Valley mountaineering group as a sort of cabin refuge to be used whilst doing some extreme hiking.

The Hidden Lakes trail and the lookout are located on the western edge of North Cascades National Park, located in the eastern edge of Skagit County.

See what I mean about not appreciating living so close to such scenic wonders all my life, til moving to a part of America which is a bit less scenic?

Another thing regarding Linda Lou reminding me of the plethora of fruity abundance available in the Skagit Valley.

Blackberries.

Yesterday at ALDI I was appalled to see blackberries being touted as one of this week's bargains. $1.99 for a little container of what looked like maybe 20 blackberries. I saw one person put two of the blackberry containers in her cart.

Blackberries grow wild all over Western Washington. Easily found, easily picked. For free. I can't imagine what store bought blackberries would be like, edibility wise. Probably about as close to tasting like an actual blackberry as those awful cardboard texture Driscoll strawberries from California taste compared to a fresh picked Skagit Valley strawberry.

The last time I went blackberry picking was in August of 2017, with David, Theo and Ruby. I blogged about this in Swan Creek Blackberry Mountain Biking With David, Theo & Ruby.

Those were some mighty fine tasting blackberries. At the time there was some talk of turning those blackberries into some sort of cobbler. But, that cobbler never materialized during my visit. We were extremely busy.

Blackberries grow near my current Texas location. I have not seen any growing. But I know blackberries grow here because last June I went to Blackberry Day at the Wichita Falls Farmers Market where I had myself some mighty fine blackberry cobbler. I blogged about this in Wichita Falls Farmers Market Blackberry Day Cobbler Bliss.

I saw yesterday, via the animated billboard by ALDI, that this coming June 1 is once again Blackberry Day at the Wichta Falls Farmers Market. I suspect I shall be there, that day, having myself some tasty blackberry cobbler, likely not followed by any scenic mountain hiking...

Linda Lou's Skagit Valley Land Of Plenty Enticements Are Working

Returning from this morning's bike ride I opened my mailbox to find incoming from Washington, from Linda Lou in the Skagit Valley of Washington, to be more specific.

The package contained a book and a card.

The note in the card said...

Read your blog thoughts pondering possibly relocating from your current third world location. Well...just to entice you a bit am sending this Skagit Valley Fare cookbook of recipes from the Skagit Valley. With the Valley's plethora of produce you could be creating good cooking to your heart's content---Linda Lou

I have been getting multiple moving enticements of late. Above you see the cookbook from Linda Lou, sitting on top of the card which contained the above note, sitting on top of a Washington calendar someone else sent me to make me homesick.

The enticements are working.

Below is the forlorn view I saw this morning whilst stopping for a water break on the eastern edge of Sikes Lake.

We are looking west, above, at the incoming storm clouds predicted to eventually produce thunderstorms and possibly tornadoes later today.

The Skagit Valley Fare cookbook Linda Lou sent me has more than recipes among its pages. There are a couple pages of Skagit History Notes. Plus a couple pages of INTRODUCTION to the LAND OF PLENTY.

I read the INTRODUCTION to the LAND OF PLENTY verbiage and it struck me how little of what was being described about the Skagit Valley could describe anything in my current Texas location. Or even more so, my previous Texas location.

What with talking about an actual river, and real islands, and natural water features where one can catch seafood without being warned not to eat it. What a contrast with my former Fort Worth location with its imaginary island connected to the imaginary mainland by imaginary bridges which apparently no one is competent enough to build, over dry land. And with the town's "water feature" being based on what really is nothing more than a seriously polluted dirty ditch.

Anyway, I've copied a few paragraphs from the INTRODUCTION to the LAND OF PLENTY which will give you a good idea of what made me think what I was thinking about the contrast between these two locations with which I am familiar, and what it is about the Skagit Valley which is so enticing to return to...

The Skagit Valley of Northwestern Washington state spills like a great cornucopia from the foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range westward to the waters of Puget Sound. Meandering through these lowlands, the Skagit River and her tributaries continually enrich the Valley's sandy alluvial soil. In the distance snow-capped Mount Baker stands sentinel above this fertile farmland - some of the richest in the world.

Also known as the Skagit Flats, this area grows a wide variety and volume of crops for national and international markets, producing much of the world's green pea and vegetable seed crops, as well as significant numbers of daffodil and tulip bulbs. Many of those flowering bulbs are exported to Holland where they are then imported back into the United States.

Each April, the valley brightens further as the vast tulip fields blossom, drawing thousands of visitors to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival to wander among and photograph the brilliant blooms. The giant palette glows with shades of light pink to the deepest purple, and waxy whites contrasting with Christmas reds. Occasionally a field of mixed tulips appears like some outrageous expanse of confetti fallen from the sky.

The Skagit Valley ends at the shores of Puget Sound, but Skagit County extends to several islands of the San Juan Archipelago: Fidalgo and Samish Islands connected to the Flats by bridge; Guemes served by a ferry; and Cyprus by boat or air. These shores and islands inspire poets and painters with their shifting moods and colors, and their waters provide seafood for the gourmet cook. Though not as plentiful as in the recent past, salmon and crab, mussels, oysters, clams and scallops, as well as various kinds of cod fish, are still available on the fresh market.

It is no wonder the Native Americans who lived here were peaceful and contented with their way of life. They enjoyed a mild marine climate, quiet coves and beaches, expanses of forest where mushrooms and other edible plants could be gathered, plentiful wild game, and seafood more abundant than we can ever imagine today.

UPDATE: After hitting the publish button on this blogging I looked at the cover of the Skagit Valley Fare cookbook and realized I should show the entire book cover, what with its illustration of the Skagit Valley, and tulips...

Linda Lou Takes Me To Skagit Valley Swans & Mount Baker

I saw the scenic scene you see here this morning on Facebook, via a posting from Miss Linda Lou.

Last month I found myself on the summit of an Arizona mountain with Linda Lou called South Mountain. South Mountain is not quite as scenic as the mountain you see above, which is a volcano, called Mount Baker.

Mount Baker has a perpetual snow cap, much of it in the form of what is known as a glacier. During a hot summer much of what is white on Mount Baker melts away. Which renders hiking high on Mount Baker easily doable.

I've hiked to that notch you see to the right of the summit multiple times. This hike begins in what is known as Schrieber's Meadow. The first time I hiked this hike was when I was a teenager, with the trail guide being ardent lifelong hiker, Maxine. My most recent hike up Mount Baker was with my great nephew Hank's, papa, Joey.

Just a sec, I shall see if I can find a link to photos of Joey hiking on Mount Baker. Found it.

Years ago, from my abode in Mount Vernon, Washington, on a clear day I could look out my kitchen window and see the Mount Baker volcano. Sometimes I could even see the steam venting from Mount Baker's crater vent.

South Mountain rises from the Valley of the Sun. Mount Baker rises above the Valley of the Skagit. I doubt South Mountain has ever been snow capped. I am absolutely certain there are no glaciers on South Mountain.

Those big white birds you see in the foreground, above, are Trumpeter Swans. They are big birds. I do not remember when they arrive in the Skagit Valley. Or whether the Skagit Valley flats is a way station on their journey south for the winter, or if the Skagit Valley is their southern escape from the cold north of Canada.

I remember years ago, way back in the previous century, when Spencer Jack and Henry's grandpa, my little brother Jake, was located at a house he built on a large plot of land east of Burlington Hill in the Skagit Valley. A huge flock of Trumpeter Swan's would congregate on Jake's land, consuming whatever there was to consume.

When startled the Swan's would take off, all at once, making a loud thump thump thump noise as they quickly gained altitude. One had to be on the lookout, as the big birds flew overhead, for emergency evacuation of what their digestive systems had digested, dropping what amounted to being non-explosive bombs which one did not want to land on one's head.

Recently I have been pondering the idea of relocating back to Modern America, where the politics are blue, where most of the people are well educated, and not overly inflated. Where most grown ups do not still follow their old high school's football games. Where berries grow free for the picking, where seafood is plentiful, also free for the picking, I mean, catching. Where...well, this type list could go on and on and on.

So, I will shut up now....

Skagit Valley Homesick With Zachary Jack

I saw that which you see above a few minutes ago, this Sunday August afternoon in Texas, and quickly found myself feeling a bit homesick.

The photo is from Andy Porter Photography. The photo was posted on Skagit Breaks Facebook page.

The Skagit Breaks caption above the photo tells you that you are looking at "Clear Lake under clearer skies". I suspect the use of the "clearer" word was made because of late the skies of the Skagit Valley and most of the west coast have been smoky, due to massive wildfires.

Near as I can tell this photo was taken from atop a monolith known as Big Rock. Big Rock is located about a mile to the east of my old abode in Mount Vernon.

I used to regularly hike to the summit of Big Rock. A hike the likes of which I have never experienced in Texas.

Nor have I ever seen a view in Texas the likes of that which one sees from atop Big Rock.

Due to such a view being impossible in Texas due to the fact there are no volcanoes in Texas.

That is the Mount Baker volcano one sees in the background, hovering above the Cascade foothills and the Skagit Valley.

There are five active volcanoes in Washington.

If I remember right the last time I hiked up Mount Baker was with Spencer Jack's Uncle Joey, also known as my Favorite Joey Nephew.

Joey lives in Clear Lake, the little town named after the lake by which the town sits, in the above photo. Also living with Joey in Clear Lake is his newlywed wife, Monique.

Joey and Monique are currently scheduled to be having a baby boy arrive in late September, or early October. I last talked to Joey when his grandma and I called him the last time I was in Arizona, which was last month.

Today whilst I was riding my bike for a short while I amused myself trying to think of a good name for Joey and Monique's baby boy. It is hard to top Spencer Jack as a cool name.

But, I think I thought of one.

Zachary Jack.

Just say that name.

Zachary Jack.

Zack Jack for short.

Or just Zack.

Or ZJ....

Orca Leaping Under Volcano Causes 2016 New Year's Resolution

Early in the last month of last year I blogged about the Orca Baby Boom underway in Puget Sound in my old home zone of Washington.

Since then one or two more Baby Orcas have been spotted in two of the South Sound Orca Pods.

Yesterday, or maybe it was the day before yesterday, in my old home zone newspaper, the Skagit Valley Herald, I saw that which you see here.

An Orca leaping out of the water, under a big mountain.

The Skagit Valley is at the north end of Puget Sound. The nearest big mountain, in the Skagit Valley, visible from Puget Sound, is the Mount Baker volcano. From the Skagit Valley, when you are out in the flats, on a clear day, and look south, you can see Mount Rainier way in the distance.

So, here is what bothered me about seeing this picture of a big mountain. I could not tell, instantly, if it was Mount Baker or Mount Rainier I was looking at.

Since this was in the Skagit Valley Herald my assumption was that it was Mount Baker. But, it looks like Mount Rainier.

This confusion on my part has led me to the conclusion that I have been way too many years removed from my old home zone.

My New Year's Resolutions usually don't get resolved, unless they involve losing weight,  getting plenty of exercise and eating nutritionally, so I don't know how well this will go.

But, my New Year's Resolution for 2016 is to end my Texas Exile and move back to Washington.

Or Arizona.

This thing that started up today in Texas is just too much. Now the redneck goobers can go around like cowboys in the Old West, openly carrying pistols in holsters.

Plus

Moving back to Washington will make it easier to seek refuge in a sane country if the American Idiocracy actually elects either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. I have no faith that the American Idiocracy will not prevail. The American Idiocracy elected George W. Bush.

Twice.

And the world has still not recovered from America being led by a high functioning moron.

Oh, my other New Year's Resolution for 2016 is to speak my mind, to stop being so diplomatic and tactful, but instead just bluntly saying what I really think. This is new territory for me, thus it makes me a bit nervous that I might commit some horrific egregious faux pas.

When I moved to Texas I still had a house in Washington. A house was waiting for me when I got to Texas. I sold my house in Washington in 2002. It was a nice house. Nicer than the house I moved to in Texas. Except for the fact that the Texas house had a swimming pool. My Washington house did not have a pool. But the next door neighbor's did.

My current location in Texas has a pool, but this abode has become increasingly unpleasant for a variety of reasons.

I have an option or two or three, up in Washington, as temporary locations awaiting a more permanent location.

If I am going to actualize my 2016 New Year's Resolution I must not procrastinate in setting plans in motion.....

Starry Starry Skagit Night Has Me Lamenting Not Seeing A Texas Milky Way

I saw that which you see here, this morning, on the Skagit Breaking News website.

I saw the photo and thought, oh no, is Fort Worth's renowned photographer propagandist up in my old home zone of the Skagit Valley engaging in his patented brand of hyper-realistic digital photo manipulation.

Then I read the caption below the photo to learn the photo was taken by a guy named Andy Porter, with the view being from the Samish Overlook, looking at the Skagit Valley, with the Milky Way in full glow mode above.

I have not seen the Milky Way in all its milky glory since I have been in Texas. At times, at my current location, I can see quite a few stars twinkling at night, but never the Milky Way.

The most milky I have ever seen the Milky Way was whilst houseboating on Lake Powell in Utah. The night sky was lit up with stars to a level I did not realize, til then, was a possible earthbound view of the space above.

I have not been to the Big Bend Country zone of Texas, where Marfa has magical lights and I assume the sky at night shines big and bright, even though it is not in the heart of Texas, more to the west of Texas.

Anyway, I wonder what Fort Worth's renowned photographer propagandist would do with scenery which requires no lipstick to make a pig look pretty? Scenery such as what one sees in much of Utah, or my old home zone, or many locations in Texas, like the Guadalupe River, or Big Bend National Park or Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Which leads me to wonder, are the headwaters of the Guadalupe River in the Guadalupe Mountains?

Sven's Skagit Strawberry Patch Is Not In Poteet Texas

Dirty Ol' Sven Holding A Box Of
Skagit Valley Strawberries

In the picture you are looking at a box of strawberries.

You are also looking at the first husband of a young lady who taught me not to step on thyme when I was in high school.

The strawberry holder is known by various names. In strawberry mode he goes by Sven Burwash. By another name, Sven is the author of a major best seller titled Vis Major.

Being a best selling author is what Sven does to make a living. Growing strawberries is what Sven does for fun.

I can not remember the last time I had a real strawberry.

The last time I was in Washington was well past strawberry season.

A Driscoll strawberry from California is not a real strawberry. It looks like a strawberry, it sort of tastes like a strawberry, but if you've had a real strawberry, a Driscoll strawberry is a pale imitation.

Texas grows strawberries, down by Poteet. Poteet has a real big festival to celebrate its strawberry harvest. I have not had a Poteet strawberry. Poteet does not grow enough strawberries to export this far north. Poteet is south of San Antonio.

I'm guessing a Poteet strawberry, to me, would not taste like a real strawberry, but that prejudice may be unfair, due to being appalled by the peaches touted as being so good at the Parker County Peach Festival in Weatherford.

During my first time sampling peach products at the Parker County Peach Festival I told myself maybe they had a bad year. A few year's later I was back. Still not good peaches.

I remember wondering what one of those Parker County people would think if they were in Yakima or Wenatchee and came upon a Peach Orchard and tasted one of those peaches? Would they scream out "Dang, is that what a peach is supposed to taste like?"

Back to Sven and his strawberries.

The past few days Sven has been advertising his strawberries on Facebook with the following...

Get the kids, grandkids, stray kids....come on up to Ole and Sven's Strawberry Patch and take Sven's Strawberry CHALLENGE! Can you or one of your group get as dirty as ol' Sven here after picking just ONE flat of juicy berries?

UFF-DA-MY!

Remember, at Ole and Svens' U-pick/We-pick;
You only pay for the ones we see
The ones in your tummy leave for free
Yah Sure Ya-betcha......

Sven got several comments to his Facebook strawberry posting, including the following one from my nephew, Spencer Jack's dad, which elicited a warning from Sven ...

Jason Jones: Will for sure keep up the annual tradition...of picking the berries for free after dark...

Sven Burwash: Just don't step in one of our lutefisk booby-traps...

Those pesky Skagit Valley strawberry growers and their notorious lutefisk booby traps.

May Day 3 Dawns Pondering Why Federal Grant Money So Easily Flows To Fort Worth

May Day 3 has dawned with just one tiny wisp of a cloud visible from my secondary viewing portal on the outer world.

Currently, at my location, the aforementioned outer world is heated to 68 degrees, headed to a predicted high today of 82.

Changing the subject from my current location to my old home zone of the Skagit Valley of Washington.

This morning I read an article in the Skagit Valley Herald that once again had me wondering why things are so different between my old location and my current one.

Construction began yesterday on a new road that will make it easier to get from Interstate 5 to where I used to live in East Mount Vernon.

Quoting from the article...

Of the $13 million cost, $3.5 million was allocated by local leaders through the Skagit Council of Governments, who borrowed ahead on future revenues to pay for this road upgrade.

Unlike an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about something like the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle or Fort Worth's soon to open $3 million pedestrian bridge across the Trinity River, there is no mention of federal grant money. Or earmarks.

Maybe my old home zone didn't get the memo that you can beg the rest of the country for money to pay for public works projects.

Another difference is this new road in the Skagit Valley is a much needed improvement that will greatly help traffic flow, unlike an un-needed flood diversion channel added to an un-needed public works project so that getting federal money would be more easily facilitated.

It is time to go swimming now before it gets any hotter.

Using Face Recognition Software With Honey Lulu To Identify Strangers In Washington

I was looking at the picture you are looking at, which was taken some time yesterday, at a ranch in the Skagit Valley of Washington, when I flipped open my phone for the first time today and saw several missed calls.

One of the calls was from Honey Lulu, last night at 8:35.

I was staring at the picture trying to figure out who these strangers were, thinking I'd call Honey Lulu back as soon as I blogged about Fort Worth's swimming pool woes, when the phone lit up with an incoming call from Honey Lulu.

Both Honey Lulu and I had the aforementioned picture on our screen. We then tried to figure out who these people were. We think we correctly identified all but one or two or three.

In another 20 years correctly identifying all but one or two or three will likely be more difficult than it was today.

A Sunny Morning On The Second Day Of Summer Thinking Of The Skagit Valley On Saturday

As you can clearly seeing, looking out one of my viewing portals on the world, the 2nd day of summer has seen the return of blue sky in my zone of North Texas. Along with the blue sky, cool temperatures have also returned.

It is only 71 degrees at 7 this morning.

I must take off from here in an hour or two if I am to make it to the Skagit Valley in Washington by Saturday afternoon, via motor transport.

Events are taking place in the Skagit Valley on Saturday which I am expected to attend.

I have a tendency not to do what is expected.

Like right now, I think I'll go swimming. That is rather unexpected.

The Saturday Return Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man Pondering Fort Worth Bridges & Flood Diversion Channels

Today marked the 8th day in a row I overly aerobicized myself on the Tandy Hills. I think I may finally be getting myself in to shape and am gradually beginning to lose that unsightly weight gain that has been so seriously vexing me.

There was some cloud action in the sky in the noon time frame, hence a slightly less distinct shadow, than when the light of the sun falls to earth unfiltered by vaporized water.

Today I did not take the trail that would have taken me past the homeless camp I discovered last night. But I did sneak a peak to see if the residents were "home." The camp appeared to be vacant.

I heard from Elsie Hotpepper this morning. She claims no memory of last night's saloon hopping. I told Elsie there will be absolutely no saloon hopping tonight. I will be enjoying myself a nice relaxing pot of Kava tea.

I had myself some good hunting luck at Town Talk today. Real good red peppers, 5 for a $1. And 2 pound containers of cherry tomatoes for a buck. Also got a bag of whole wheat hamburger buns. And something called Rinded Red Leicester cheese.

The Rinded Red Leicester cheese is nice and sharp. It went well with the fish tacos I made for lunch.

I think it is all the cheese I get from Town Talk that is responsible for my unsightly weight gain, which had the consequence of motivating me to start my DurangObestity Blog to deal with my over eating issues.

Yesterday on my Durango Washington Blog I blogged about a town in the valley I used to live in, that being the Skagit Valley and the town being La Conner. A few decades back La Conner was a tired, rundown, poor fishing village. Now it is one of Washington's most popular tourist towns, with one of Washington's iconic images,  that being La Conner's Rainbow Bridge over the Swinomish Channel.

The Swinomish Channel is a man enhanced waterway that connects Skagit Bay with Padilla Bay.

La Conner has a population of 670.

Yesterday when I was looking at La Conner it reminded me of Fort Worth. La Conner is situated on a prominent water feature. Fort Worth is in the midst of spending $1 billion so it can have a water feature. I don't remember how much La Conner's Rainbow Bridge cost. I know no one ever talked about it being a signature bridge, like what Fort Worth was going to build to cross its new, unneeded flood diversion channel, but which lost their "signature" status when they could no longer be afforded after J.D. Granger spent too much money on junkets, parties, inner tube happy hours and the world's premiere wake boarding lake.

Float planes land on the Swinomish Channel. I don't know if float planes will be landing on Fort Worth's unneeded flood diversion channel.

If Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle  manages to transform Fort Worth as impressively as La Conner was able to transform itself, well that will be a mighty impressive transformation.

But, let's be realistic, do you really think there is even the remotest ice cube's chance in hell that any of Fort Worth's now non-signature bridges over that un-needed flood diversion channel are going to look even remotely as cool as little La Conner's Rainbow Bridge across its very needed channel?

Facebook Is All Messed Up This Morning While I Visited Washington's Scrabble Queen

The Temporary Scrabble Queen of Hawaii is back on the mainland, resuming her Scrabble Queen of Washington duties.

I think she beat me 3 times in the past week. Just when I start doing better at coming up with words, the Scrabble Queen amps it up and starts inventing words I've never heard of, worth a lot of points.

I virtually visited the Scrabble Queen when she was on Kauai, via Google Earth. If you've not installed Google Earth on your computer, you really should. It's free. Just Google it.

With the barest of hints I've tried to use Google Earth to visit the Scrabble Queen in her home port in the Skagit Valley. I only found one candidate the seemed to meet the criteria. Except I could see no obvious horse pasture.

I was going to send this photo via a Facebook message, to the Scrabble Queen. But Facebook is all messed up this morning.

It appears Facebook got the message that its users were not pleased with the changes that showed up recently, and is reverting to its previous format. I don't use Facebook all that much, but enough that I found the changes pointless and confusing.

Another Queen has gone missing this morning, that being the Queen of Wink. Yesterday she told me, when she got home from school, at around 4:30, she was going to send me some important information and instructions as to how I could help with a project of hers.

I have received no Royal Decrees. I am very perplexed.

The Sun Is Up And Lighting Up A Very White North Texas While Snow Continues To Fall

Dawn has now broken in North Texas, with the sun trying to light up the place. Snow continues to blanket the ground.

The current view from my patio door window is now quite white. The flashing camera makes the snowflakes look like twinkling stars.

When I lived in Washington, in the Banana Belt Skagit Valley, where it rarely snowed, I developed an extreme fondness for the rare snow days. Mostly, I suspect, because, if enough snow fell, school might get canceled. That always seemed like a Christmas present.

Sadly, the best snowstorm of my school in Washington years occurred during Christmas vacation. If I remember right, that snowstorm occurred when I was a Junior in high school. That snow storm is the only one I ever remember hitting the Skagit Valley that resulted in snowdrifts.

40 miles north of the Skagit Valley, in Lynden, where my grandma's lived, that area of Washington is in a completely different climate zone from the Skagit Valley. Cold Arctic air comes down the Fraser River Valley and heads out to sea, blocked, usually, from hitting the Skagit Valley, due to a conveniently placed mountain range, but that cold air hits Lynden and Whatcom County, bringing a lot of snow, as in several feet, at times, and heavy winds that cause big snowdrifts, drifts so tall they reach the roofs of barns.

North Texas has no mountains, nothing to cause weather systems to affect one area differently than another, as far as I know. So, I suspect all of North Texas is being quite bright white today. I've not heard, yet, if schools are closing.

I may drag out my cross country skis today, if the white stuff keeps accumulating. Currently, at almost 8am, we are still below freezing and the snow keeps falling.

Tons Of Litter Dam Up The Trinity River In Fort Worth

A couple days ago I drove the Beach Street Bridge across the Trinity River and looked to the east, towards Gateway Park and the dam that serves as a pedestrian bridge to see an astonishing amount of litter trapped by the dam.

That "IT'S TIME TO TEAM UP TO CLEAN UP" sign, asking people on the trail to "Join us on Sept. 19," overlooks the aforementioned astonishing amount of floating litter. I've no idea how a mess like this can get cleaned up. I suppose using the usual method used here we'll just wait for the next flood to hopefully flush it downstream, maybe all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

I saw a lot of people biking the Trinity Trail today. This reminded me I need to get my bike fixed. I also saw several people fishing. I don't know what one does with fish one catches in this river.

Earlier today I read an article titled "New girl's take on Skagit County" in my old hometown online paper, by a girl new to the valley and the paper.

Her editors told her to go explore the valley and then write about her impressions. At one point she saw a lot of people on a sandbar on the Skagit River. Looking at it through her Kansas girl's eyes, she thought they were swimming.

Upon further investigation she was to learn that a lot of people spend a lot of time on the river. Fishing. The salmon runs have been strong this year. Salmon are healthy to eat. There are no warning signs on the Skagit River advising you not to eat the fish. There is also very very very little litter.

The Kansas girl also made note of being impressed by mountains and blackberries growing along the roads. I meant the blackberries grow along the roads, not the mountains. Then again, in places, the mountains do pretty much grow along the roads. If I ever move back I will never take all that free fresh fruit for granted ever again.

As soon as I parked, to walk down to the Trinity River litter, I saw something else that interested me. A couple months ago one of my Fort Worth blogging partners heard there was something fishy going on near the Beach Street Bridge. By the time I got there I saw nothing fishy.

But today I did. See something fishy, I mean. It's material for another blogging. To be written as soon as I hit the publish button on this one.

Sakuma Market Stand and Fruits & Vegetables In Texas

Every once in a while I'll see something that causes me to greatly miss the fertile Skagit Valley, that being the place I called home for a lot of years. Where I live now, in north Texas, it is not much of an agricultural zone.

When I was up in the Skagit Valley, last summer, we dropped in on a farmers market that had opened since I moved. There are a lot of farmers in the Skagit Valley. Among the biggest are the Sakuma Brothers. I had a Sakuma sister in my class in high school. She whacked me regularly with her clarinet, though these days she denies this, but, I have the scars to prove it.

The farmers market we dropped in on was the Sakuma Market Stand. How is it that the Skagit Valley, with a population just a bit over 100,000 has so many fruit and vegetable stands, while this Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, I'm living in, with a population in the 6 million zone, has so few farmers market, fruit and vegetable stands type places?

I know strawberries, tomatoes, peaches and apples can grow here. There is a U-Pick strawberry field here that I know of, on Bowen Street in Arlington. Out in east Texas they grow blueberries.

The Sakuma brothers are 1 of only 2 farmers in America to grow tea leaves. At the Sakuma Market Stand, in addition to all sorts of fruits and vegetables, you can also get fresh baked pies, Sakuma jams, shortcake, berry milkshakes, made with freshly made French Vanilla Ice Cream and all sorts of other things.

On their 100s of acres the Sakuma Brothers grow raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, boysenberries, logan berries, marionberries, apples, sweet onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, green beans, cauliflower, garlic, lettuce, potatoes, broccoli, squash, pumpkins and the aforementioned tea.

Click here to visit the Sakuma Market Stand and the Skagit Valley. It might give you an idea why I get a bit homesick at times.

Home Zone Phone

I had very helpful, pleasant phone time with one of my favorite bright lights, from my old home zone, this morning.

It's a mind clearing thing to talk to someone who has observed the same phenomena, as I have, to find you both perceive the phenomena in the same way. This leads me to believe that others who have observed the same phenomena have likely come to similar conclusions.

People up in my old home zone are trying to dig out from the worst winter storm in a long long time. The old home zoner I talked to this morning is snowbound until the big thaw comes. The big thaw may start up there today. That's when it gets nasty.

I remember losing my downspouts during a big thaw. They came down with a huge crash. Awhile later, as the thaw progressed, there was an explosive noise followed by the sound of water. A pipe that I did not realize was frozen, with the freeze causing the pipe to crack, began spewing water at high velocity when it thawed.

This was inside the house, in the basement, but outside the heated part of the house, sort of an exercise room, storage room combo. It was fairly easy to get the water shut off and the pipe isolated. After the disaster passed, I put in a shut off valve in the ceiling so the water to those pipes could be cut off during a freeze.

By the way, that's a small part of the Skagit Valley in the photo. One of the most beautiful spots on the planet. If you've never seen it, make plans. But not in the winter. Aim for spring so you can see all the flowers, like tulips, in bloom.

Six Killed in Skagit County Shootings

I check my old local papers online each morning. One being the Seattle P-I, the other being the Skagit Valley Herald. This morning I was startled to see a headline in the P-I saying "Deputy, 5 others die in shooting rampage, Suspect in custody; victims at multiple locations north of Mount Vernon."

Mount Vernon was the town I moved from when my exile in Texas began. I was back in Mount Vernon last month and blogged about it. I don't recollect there being a murder spree like this in the Mount Vernon/Skagit Valley zone before.

The only victim's identified by this morning are the Skagit County Deputy Sheriff, Anne Jackson. Another policeman, a state trooper, Troy Giddings, was shot in the arm and drove himself to the hospital.

The shooter's name is Issac Zamora. He began shooting people near Alger in northern Skagit County. One body was found near the dead Deputy Sheriff. Two construction workers were killed.

Zamora drove down Interstate 5 towards Mount Vernon, shooting at people as he drove. One of those driving on I-5 was among the 6 killed.

Interstate 5 was shut down as police chased Zamora. Zamora exited I-5 at Kincaid Street and drove to the Skagit County Sheriff's Office building where he turned himself in.

Zamora was on a police watch list and was known to have mental stability issues.

Read the Seattle P-I article here.

Seeing Spencer Jack

That last time I was up in Washington was April of 2006. I had a primary reason to be here at that time, with the secondary reason being to attend the wedding of my oldest nephew, Jason to a sweet, funny, good-natured, likable, pretty young lady named Jenny.

About a year and a half later Spencer Jack was born, making my brother and my favorite ex-sister-in-law, grandparents. And my mom and dad great-grandparents.

My mom and dad were unable to attend the wedding. They have not met Spencer Jack. Nor have I.

Spencer Jack is so named because someone told my impressionable nephew that you can not go wrong naming your oldest kid after your richest relative. So, Spencer was given the same name as my ex-wife's last name. It's very confusing.

Tomorrow Spencer Jack's Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa will see him for the first time. It will also be the first time Spencer Jack gets to meet his favorite Great Uncle. That's me.

We will be meeting Spencer Jack up in the Skagit Valley at a place called Bay View State Park. Spencer Jack's dad will be real busy tomorrow due to his Jason's Grub restaurant being in Anacortes and it being the weekend of the Anacortes Arts & Crafts Festival.

We currently do not know who is bringing Spencer Jack out to Bay View. It may be his Uncle Joey. Or my ex-sister-in-law. Or someone else. It'd be nice if Spencer's mom could bring him out if his dad was not available.

So where is Spencer Jack's mother in this picture? Well, I'm glad you asked. In a turn of events none of us saw coming, my nephew is in the process of being divorced from the adorably sweet, kind, good-hearted, nice girl he married.

I hope my nephew will someday be as friendly with his ex-wife as I am with mine. I've not seen my ex since the aforementioned wedding. She'll be there tomorrow. It's hard to get divorced in my family. They just don't let you go. I wonder if this has anything to do with why I moved to Texas?