Hiking With The Wichita Bluff Hoodoos, Grasshoppers & Sunflowers

Today I returned to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area to go on a long hike. All the way from the western parking lot to the eastern parking lot and back. A roundtrip of around five miles. It has been awhile since I hiked this long a distance.

I don't know how well I would do these days, going on a real hike on a real mountain with a real elevation gain and a distance of 10 miles, or more.

I forgot to mention, as you can see above, the Wichita Bluff Nature Area Hoodoo Cairn has risen to an unprecedented height. Today the Hoodoo Cairn was being buffeted by a strong steady wind. With gusts.

Just to the right of the Hoodoo Cairn, behind that green bush tree, there was the splash of yellow you see below.

Are these sunflowers? They look like sunflowers. Whatever they are they were swaying in the wind, so much so I was surprised the photos I took were not all blurry.

Grasshoppers were out in force today. They can be a bit annoying. Multiple times today one hopped right at my face...

Saturday Hiking Wichita Bluff Nature Area Jungle With Sunflowers

 

The view you see above, on this 3rd Saturday of the 2020 version of September, is from a high point on the Circle Trail as it circles through the Wichita Bluff Nature Area. Which would make that ribbon of rust, you see meandering through the jungle, the Wichita River.

Currently at my location the outer world is being cooled cooler than I cool my interior space with the air conditioning. Actually, at 66 degrees, that is 12 degrees cooler outside than my air conditioner setting.

A couple of my neighbors have already installed Halloween decorations. I wouldn't think there will be much trick or treating this year, what with the Trump Pandemic still making people sick. 

I do not remember previous late summers in North Texas, with only a couple days before the Autumnal Equinox, also known as fall, with the foliage being so green, and so lushly jungle-like.

Such as what you see below.

A forest of what appear to be sunflowers. Or maybe giant daisies. I wonder when one harvests sunflower seeds. I think it may be easier simply to buy sunflower seeds already harvested and packaged.

A Sunflower Blooms In Texas On A Sunny September Day With Tootsie Tonasket

I was aerobic exercise free for days in a row, til today. Part of the problem was weather related.

Another part was I was obsessed with changing code on pretty much every web page of my durangotexas.com domain, plus altering many of the webpages, changing them all to white, like this blog, no borders, the look of all matching my Eyes on Texas website, getting rid of a lot of color.

When I started spewing out webpages, on which to add Google ads, I made up some about Washington. I don't know what I was thinking regarding the color, I think, maybe I was going for a Washington foggy dawn. I thought it'd be more bother to fix than it was. I am happy with it now.

I went swimming this morning. The water is getting colder. Today there was a slight adjustment time getting used to the temperature that had me thinking how was it that I managed to be getting in the water all last winter?

The Tandy Hills Natural Hiking Area was all dried out from the rain of yesterday, or was it the day before? I saw a flock of sunflowers, I think that is what they are, looking sunny on this sunny day.

While I hiked I talked to Tootsie Tonasket. She is always quite funny describing the hell she is living. I tell you she should write plotlines for soap operas. Tootsie is one of my assistants when it comes to Internet related dilemmas. So, as I walked I talked Tootsie through checking on something for me on her remote computer. Tootsie, if you are reading this, it worked. Thanks.

Tootsie Tonasket is one of those insecure sorts who sort of lacks confidence. But she is quite bright and writes quite well. And she talks without ever saying 'uh' or 'um.' I do not like listening to uhers or ummers. Why is the spell check not flagging uhers or ummers? Those can not possibly be words.

I learned today that the Queen of Wink's cute little daughter, Annie, was inspired by the Tandy Hills prairie being preserved here in Fort Worth, so she took what amounts to being a small fortune in little girl dollars and spent $1,200 buying up empty lots in the Wink zone of West Texas for around $25 per lot.

At $25 per lot, I think I'm gonna move to Wink and pitch a tent. I need a new place to live. Wink seems like it'd be a nice town. I wonder if they have both a Costco and a Sam's Club?