Welcome To 2023's Start Of Winter In Texas

That which you see above showed up in my email this morning, from the Friends of the Tandy Hills.

A Winter Solstice Greeting.

Hiking the Tandy Hills, year-round, is one of the few things I regularly did in the Dallas/Fort Worth area that I miss.

The only hill hiking available at my current location is hiking to the summit of Mount Wichita, which is a big pile of dried-up mud, dredged years ago from Sikes Lake.

Another thing I miss from D/FW, that is not available at my current location, is Asian grocery stores. Arlington has several of those, which I frequented frequently, able always to get any ingredient I wanted or needed.

The inability of getting needed ingredients came up yesterday when I saw a recipe for something called Singapore Noodles. The photo of the Singapore Noodles made Singapore Noodles look really tasty. However, the recipe had several items I can not get here, starting with the noodles needed.

I have not been to D/FW since prior to COVID. Maybe I should go on a long drive and get me some special Asian noodles, among other things...

Sensuous Prairie Note Of Fort Worth's Mountain Range

That which you see above showed up in my email inbox this morning, March 1, 2019, part of the monthly Prairie Notes. This issue being Prairie Notes #147, titled "The Sensuous Prairie".

You can view the entire March Prairie Notes on the Tandy Hills official website by clicking on The Sensuous Prairie.

Looking at the Sensuous Prairie you will see a plethora of photos documenting the best scenic location in all of Fort Worth.

Seems like eons ago I was a regular hiker on the Tandy Hills, with those hills being my primary location to attain aerobically induced endorphins.

I do not do complex math calculations with any degree of reliable accuracy, but, near as I can count it has been at least three years since I have set foot on any one of the Tandy Hills hills.

I can't really say I miss hiking the Tandy Hills, unless I think about it, and then I do sort of miss it. Just like I miss hiking a Cascade Mountain trail if I think about, which I usually don't.

If I remember correctly I have sort of hiked Cascade Mountain type hills since I've hiked the Tandy Hills, that is if hiking and biking the hills of Tacoma counts, which it should, since the hills of Tacoma are more hilly than the Tandy Hills of Fort Worth, which are rather puny hills if you want to be truthful about it.

But, as we all know, Fort Worth is prone to exaggerating, which is a more polite way of saying untruthful.

Calling something a square before there was any semblance of such. Or a public market when such bore little resemblance to an actual public market. Or referring to an industrial wasteland as an island, when no sane person would ever refer to it as such. Or promoting a sporting goods store as becoming the #1 Texas tourist attraction, when anyone with even minimal functioning mental capacity knew was ridiculous. Or propagandizing that Fort Worth is one of America's economic powerhouses.

One can go on and on listing instances of Fort Worth exaggerations.

So, referring to a collection of knobby knolls as hills is extremely minor exaggerating when one considers the Fort Worth norm for exaggerating, which if the pattern were accurately followed the Tandy Hills would be known as the Tandy Mountain Range...

Try To Find Me Tomorrow When Manly Men & Wild Women Hike Tandy Hills

• The Following Message is the Official 2016 Manly Man & Wild Women Announcement from the MM & WW Hike Organizers....

It's a new year and a new you. Time once again to test your mettle by participating in the... 7th Annual Manly Men Wild Women Hike the Hills There's nothing complicated about it. Just show up at Tandy Hills Natural Area, the coolest green space in the inner city, and enjoy the great out-of-doors. Our goal is to hike border-to border-to-border-to-border, tracing the steel cable that defines the 160 acre boundary. Your rewards include but are not restricted to:

1. You will lose at least 2 pounds. (They don't call it Tandy HILLS for nothing!)
2. See sections of the park known only to a few hawks and a couple of scrawny coyotes.
3. Celebrate the 56th anniversary of the coolest park in Fort Worth.
4. It won't kill you but will make you stronger (for the upcoming Brush Bash*)
5. Work up a good appetite for lunch

Who: Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area

What: Manly Men & Wild Women Hike. All ages welcome. Leashed dogs welcome. (No wimps, please.)

When: January 1, 2017 10:00 am (allow 1-1.5 hours for hike)

Where: Tandy Hills Natural Area, 3400 View Street

Why: For the fun and glory of it.

Bring: Water, snack, camera, hiking boots, hat.

RSVP: > > > to Don Young ASAP.

____________________

Amazing how time flies by so fast. Seems like only yesterday I hiked the first Manly Men & Wild Women hike. And now tomorrow the 7th iteration of such takes place.

I blogged about that first Manly Man & Wild Women Hike way back when it took place on January 2, 2010 in a blogging titled Tandy Hills Hiking With Wild Women, Manly Men, The Queen Of Wink & Princess Annie.

Way back in 2010 the Queen of Wink still occupied her royal throne, with Queen in waiting, Princess Annie, still installed the Wink palace.

At some point in time, post 2010, a palace coup removed the Queen from her Wink throne. Princess Annie then abdicated and fled the palace, seeking temporary refuge with a former King of Wink.

Recent reports indicate the former Princess has returned to the former palace. No further details are known.....

Stars & Stories Tonight On The Tandy Hills With Cocoa

Saturday, November 12, 2016 at dark-thirty (5:30 pm)

PrairieSky / StarParty 

featuring members of the
Fort Worth Astronomical Society and their telescopes 

PLUS mythological stories of the constellations by

Twice Upon a Time Storytellers

Weather should be cool and, hopefully, clear

Free hot cocoa while supplies last

Brought to you FREE by Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area

Come on in!
_________________________

It has been awhile since I have been on the Tandy Hills on a Saturday, or any day. I can not imagine what would keep me from being on the Tandy Hills tonight for a  Prairie Sky Star Party.

But I must admit, my imagination is very limited.....

Tandy Hills Prairie Sky Star Party In Sick City

I miss little about Sick City. Mostly I am relieved to no longer breathe the polluted atmosphere which hovers over Fort Worth, in more ways than one.

This morning incoming from Don Young put me in mind of the one thing I do miss about Sick City.

The Tandy Hills.

I like this Prairie Sky Star Party concept. I think if I were still in the neighborhood this would be one Tandy Hills event I could see myself attending.

Details from the Don of the Tandy Hills, Don Young....

Fort Worth Astronomical Society's Moving to Tandy Hills Natural Area Monthly Star Party

WHO:
Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area is hosting the Fort Worth Astronomical Society

WHAT:
Tandy Hills Prairie Sky/Star Party: Astronomy - Community Engagement

After many years at the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History, the well-attended, monthly public star parties presented by the Fort Worth Astronomical Society (FWAS) have moved to Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Established in 1949, FWAS is one of the first adult amateur astronomy clubs formed in the country and one of the largest with more than 200 active members. Members will have several telescopes set up at Tandy Hills for viewing the night sky.

Free & open to the public. All ages welcome.

WHEN:
Second Saturday of every month beginning, July 9th, dark-thirty

WHERE:
Tandy Hills Natural Area, 3400 View Street, Fort Worth, TX 76103

On The Tandy Hills Post BioBlitzkreig With Fort Worth Nuts Creeps & Reprobates

This last Tuesday of April of 2016 I was back on the Tandy Hills for what may be my last visit to Fort Worth's best natural area for awhile.

As you can see, the hills are alive with the spectacle of color, mostly green, with an eye pleasing spattering of wildflowers in a variety of colors.

A cloud covered the sky today, a strong wind blew, the air felt hot and humid, requiring minimal outer wear to facilitate a satisfactory comfort level.

For about a week, ending this past Saturday, the Tandy Hills have been teeming with an Army of BioBlitzers.

Today, in multiple locations, I came across the aftermath of the Tandy Hills being BioBlitzed.

Much of last week's BioBlitzing took place in post deluge conditions which rendered much of the Tandy Hills' trails wet and muddy. The BioBlitzkreig left its mark on the trails, an example of that is what you see above.

I am fairly certain that eventually the Tandy Hills Natural Area will revert back to it natural pre-BioBlitzkrieg state, with the rutted trails smoothed over by the passage of time and more rain. That may happen as soon as today.

A time or two over the years I have come upon a scene on the Tandy Hills which I assume is a homeless person's temporary residence. Some of these temporary residences have been quite elaborate campsite set ups. Others are more primitive, such as that which you see below.

A red blanket, with two candles in glass jars setting on the outer edges of the blanket. In the upper middle of the picture is a black backpack. The backpack appeared to be empty, but I did not pick it up for a close up forensic examination.

I had no clue as to what to make of that which you see below, found next to a trail, deep into the heart of the Tandy Hills.

Did someone haul this large chunk of sheet metal deep into the heart of the Tandy Hills? Or did someone find this somewhere off trail and hauled it a short distance to its current location? This is located very close to the Bamboo Tepee which was a Tandy Hills mystery for years, never solved, now long gone, with just slight remnants of bamboo remaining.

What is F W N C & R?

I am guessing F W is Fort Worth. Is N C & R, Nuts, Creeps & Reprobates? Making this chunk of sheet metal a production of the Fort Worth Nuts Creeps and Reprobates organization? I do not know who is currently the leader of the Fort Worth Nuts Creeps and Reprobates....

Happy Bearthday From The Tandy HIlls BioBlitz

A Happy Earth Day message from Don Young and the Tandy Hills....

Talk about Cosmic Convergence! 

On this day in 1960, the land now known as Tandy Hills Natural Area was purchased by the City of Fort Worth. That was exactly ten years to the day before Earth Day was founded in 1970. 

And on THIS day, today, the Tandy Hills BioBlitz is born. Starting at 6am and running until 6pm Saturday, Tandy Hills is truly a living laboratory. Stop by and see science and nature in action.

Read more about the Amazing convergence here:

Happy 54th bEarthday Tandy Hills

36 Hours Of BioBlitz Action At The Best Place To Stand In North Texas

I have been asked more than once by more than one person if there is going to be a Prairie Fest this year on the Tandy Hills. This morning in my incoming email I think I may have received an answer to that Prairie Fest question in a press release about the upcoming Earth Day weekend BioBlitz on the Tandy Hills.....

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 13, 2016

Contact: Don Young, President

Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area

info@tandyhills.org / 817-731-2787

36 Hours of Science in Action

at the “Best Place to Stand in North Texas”

WHO:
Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area is the Host-Sponsor. Co-Sponsors are: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (Conservation License Plate Program), Texas Wesleyan University, Teaming with Wildlife: True to Texas, Texas Nature Trackers and Fort Worth Park & Recreation Department

WHAT:
Tandy Hills BioBlitz: Technology - Biology - Conservation - Community Engagement With help from nearly 40 of top scientists in Texas, the Tandy Hills BioBlitz will document all living species at the park over a continuous 36 hour time period. Specifically, scientists and naturalists will lead and supervise this photo documentation and data collection blitz. The results form a permanent and valuable snapshot of biological life at Tandy Hills. Community members and volunteers are invited to observe science in action and participate by making their own contributions via iNaturalist while exploring the urban prairie. A mini-festival (Saturday ONLY) will offer other activities including, wildflower walks, wild food hikes, solar telescope viewing and kite flying. Food & beverage available. Free & open to the public.

WHEN:
Friday, April 22, 2016 (Earth Day) 6:00 a.m. until, Saturday, April 23, 2016, 6:00 p.m. Saturday is public day with activities running from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

WHERE:
Tandy Hills Natural Area, 3400 View Street, Fort Worth, TX 76103

WHY:
BioBlitz data gathering is important to Tandy Hill’s conservation mission for two reasons. It motivates and engages community participation AND the resulting data serves as a permanent scientific record for current and future management of Tandy's natural resources. In other words, to "keep it like it was" we need to "know what it is."

Tandy Hills Mascot Olive The Prairie Dog Is Still Missing

Someone named Anonymous made a comment on a blogging from earlier today, asking about Olive the Missing Prairie Dog....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "March Swimming Plotting Moving North Before Texas HOT Summer arrives": 

Any updates on Olive The Prairie Dog? 

I told Anonymous that I would post the latest info I had regarding the Mascot of the Tandy Hills, Olive the Prairie Dog, being missing. Which is what I posted above. This was from the Friends of the Tandy Hills Natural Area March Prairie Notes.

The text above the photo of Olive says....

Olive the Prairie Dog, beloved mascot of Friends of Tandy Hills and all-around incredible being, has been missing since February 15. She has a chip and tags with phone numbers. If you see her please let us know. 

The text below the photo of Olive says....

Olive the Prairie Dog knows Tandy Hills better than anyone.

A Muddy New Year's Eve Tandy Hills Hoodoo Hike

It has been such a long time since I've taken a picture of the sort you see here that my one blog reader has likely forgotten where and what this is that you are looking at here.

Well, this is a Hoodoo located at Hoodoo Central at the north end of the View Street trail on the Tandy Hills in beautiful Fort Worth, Texas.

Til today it had been over a month since I'd done any hill hiking. I believe the last time was on Thanksgiving. On that day there were no Hoodoos seen.

Today there were a surprising number of people trying to hike the Tandy Hills.

Trying?

Yes, trying, and then bailing. The trails have not dried out from our recent Goliath Storm unpleasantness. Much muddiness, with some trails completely submerged. I did a lot of cross country, trail-free, hiking to get around the wet zones.

Is the Manly Men Wild Women Annual New Years Day Hike still on for tomorrow? I don't see how that would work out well. Maybe I am wrong about the MMWW Hike date and it's a week from tomorrow, when the hills may be a bit more dried out.

Til today it seems like it's been a long time since my eyes feasted on the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, known far and wide, well, locally, by a few, as the Best Downtown in America.

Nothing seems to have changed with the Fort Worth skyline since I last saw it.

The view you see above is looking west from a location close to the aforementioned Hoodoo. I saw something from this location I'd  not seen before.

Gateway Park is on the north side of the I-30 freeway, with the Tandy Hills Natural Area on the south side of the freeway.

With the foliage greatly diminished, for the first time ever from this vantage point, I saw a section of the Gateway Park paved trail. It looked to be new trail, maybe a section which did not exist before, where paved trail damaged long ago by the Hurricane Hermine flood is being upgraded by America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Well, the lunch gong just sounded. I must excessively fortify myself nutritionally so as to have plenty of energy for tonight's New Year's Eve Festivities....

Hot Texas Day After Christmas Swim Put Me In Smile Mode

This morning when I woke up my temperature monitoring device I was surprised to see that device telling me the outer world was being heated to 74 degrees. I confirmed this information via my phone's temperature monitoring device.

74 degrees meant the 48 hour average was well over 50 degrees, thus rendering the pool as swim worthy as a Western Washington lake in summer.

Thus I had myself a mighty fine time in the pool this morning. On the day after Christmas. This is unprecedented.

Yesterday I took a quick dip in the pool so as to take a Santa photo. When Elsie Hotpepper saw that photo she commented that if I had been smiling in that photo she would have had it printed and framed. People telling me to smile really irritate me. Because, if I felt like smiling I would probably do so.

Anyway, today I did not have my Santa cap on in the pool. But, I did my best effort to smile for Elsie Hotpepper. I suspect she is not going to be printing and framing this photo.

If I remember right, and I sometimes do, Thanksgiving morning was the last time I had myself a long bout in the pool. That was followed by jogging and later hiking on the Tandy Hills.

This morning, post-swim, I did go jogging. That went well. But, I have no inclination to go do some Tandy Hills hill hiking.

Both hiking the Tandy Hills and going to Town Talk have faded from my regular activity list. With the Tandy Hills it has been mostly weather related reasons that have not had me hill hiking. With Town Talk the place had become not the enjoyable treasure hunt it was when I first discovered it.

And all my favorite checkers seemed to have disappeared, replaced with newbies who don't already know the answer to the debit or credit question.

That and I got burned by two cases of what I thought were coconut yogurt, but turned out to be inedible pseudo yogurt made from coconut milk.

Yuck.

A Happy Thanksgiving Pre Turkey Taco Tandy Hills Hike

Hope you all are having yourselves a mighty fine Thanksgiving.

The last 48 hours the temperature average has been just slightly below 70, so I was able to have a nice long swim this morning in the not too cool pool. I do not remember the pool being so easily doable this far into fall in previous years.

Makes me a fan, sort of, of Global Warming.

Turkey tacos are my take on the traditional Thanksgiving feeding today.

I'd not been on the Tandy Hills for well over a month. Not since something slashed a tire whilst parked on the summit of Mount Tandy.

As you can see via the view of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth we are being a bit stormy at this location on the planet. Only a few drops dripped whilst I was doing the hill hiking. Now that I am back under cover rain has begun dripping in greater volume.

I saw some colorful tree leaves today, likely being more colorful since the freeze of a few days back.

Also coloring up the Tandy Hills today were hundreds of yellow flags.

I assume the hundreds of yellow flags are part of some complex science project. That or it is some madman's abstract art installation.

It is time to work on those turkey tacos now.....

Saturday Tandy Hill Hiking Thinking About Real Cascade Hiking Litter & Flat Tires

Today is Saturday. My go to Saturday hiking location is usually the Tandy Hills, weather permitting.

Today the weather was very permitting, so it was to the Tandy Hills I ventured for some salubrious high speed hill hiking.

No, that is not a picture of me laying down on one of the Tandy Hills you are looking at here.

The picture you are looking at here was taken  some time late in the previous century. I am taking a rest atop the peak upon which the Hidden Lake lookout looks out on the North Cascades. That patch of blue is Hidden Lake. We are looking east at what is part of what is known as the Sea of Peaks. When you hike high enough in the North Cascades, you see the ridge of peaks extending north and south, as far as the eye can see, looking like big crashing ocean waves. Hence Sea of Peaks.

To go mountain hiking in the North Cascades I drove a few miles east from my home in Mount Vernon. To go hill hiking in Texas I drive a few miles west from my home in East Fort Worth. Somehow the scenery I see when I hike the Tandy Hills does not quite reach the spectacular scenery level seen when hiking the North Cascades.

In the above photo we are looking west up a semi-steep trail which leads to the new Tandy Hills Outdoor Classroom. I do not know what it was about today that got me thinking how pitiful my current hiking venues are, compared to what I now think of as my Glory Days of Hiking in the Cascades, Olympic and Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Maybe it was seeing the un-scenic scene below what got me thinking about how pitiful my current hiking venues are.

This pile of litter was located at the original Tandy Hills Outdoor Classroom. Why would someone haul all this junk to this location and leave it there? Prior to seeing this mess I came upon an abandoned raincoat and what looked like a DVR.

There was no Town Talk visit today. Even if I had planned to go to Town Talk, a post-hike trouble would have thwarted a Town Talk visit.

At the end of today's hike, when my vehicle came into view on the summit of Mount Tandy I instantly saw something was wrong, due to the vehicle tilting.

Flat tire.

Another flat tire.

Earlier in the week it was the left front tire. Today it was the right front tire.

I had not yet replaced the spare that I used to get out of the previous flat tire mess. Today required some ingenuity to alleviate the flat dilemma. An hour later I was on my way to the tire doctor where something called a plug fixed the problem.

Previous to the past seven days I believe my last flat tire incident occurred in October of 1994, in Death Valley, about 5 miles from Stovepipe Wells.

How could I go over 20 years without a flat tire and now have two flat tires within one week?

The tire doctor said today's flat was caused by driving over something very sharp which sliced the tire, which is why it was rendered flat within an hour, and not fixable with a plug or patch. I have been driving to the summit of Mount Tandy for years, without a flat tire. I won't be returning to that location, due to me thinking it has become a flat hazard.

I have to say, flat tires do seem to turn into a bit of an adventure. The Death Valley flat tire was particularly adventurous....

In A Tandy Hills Outdoor Classroom With Rush Limbaugh's Ranting Echo

I hurt my right foot changing a tire yesterday. Yes, I realize you are wondering how one could manage to hurt ones foot whilst changing a tire. Well, it's none of your business, so I'm not going to explain my most recent case of mechanical ineptitude.

I figured some high speed rocky hill hiking would have a salubrious effect on my aches and pains. I figured right.

In the picture the view is looking north, I think, across some of the seats in the newest Tandy Hills Outdoor Classroom.

I sat for a bit in the Outdoor Classrom and pondered. On the drive to the summit of Mount Tandy I listened to Rush Limbaugh make a bigger fool of himself than he usually does, ranting nonsense about last night's Bernie and Hillary Show. Rush Limbaugh lives somewhere in Wonderland, with Alice, a land where up is down, right is wrong, stupid is smart, yes is no, crazy is sane. Well, you get the drift.

I have met Rush Limbaugh types in person over the years. Invariably, like Limbaugh, their formal education ended with high school, If they got that far. And while in high school their grades were average, at best. Solid C students.

Solid C students, who as adults blather nonsense because they just don't know any better because they just never learned any better.

Anyway, as I hiked today, armed with my snake whacking stick, I was startled by what sounded like it had to be a large animal crashing through the brush.

It was.

A very large animal.

A human in the form of a lady all attired in naturist garb with a clipboard, like Jane Hathaway going butterfly hunting. (Jane Hathaway was Mr. Drysdale's secretary on The Beverly Hillbillies). I chatted with Ms. Hathaway. She invited me to some sort of Orienting Event on Saturday. I politely declined the invitation, which seems to be what I do with most invitations.

No one has invited me to lunch today, so I think I will invite myself to go cook something right now....

My Favorite Nephew Joey Did Not Hike The Tandy Hills With Me Today

The drought is causing a lot of wilting of the Tandy Hills foliage, that or maybe it is just that wilting Fall time of year.

There are still wildflowers blooming, like this delicate orchid-like five petal beauty you see here.

No. My Favorite Nephew Joey did not go hill hiking with me today.

Joey's grandma asked me if I am going to see Joey whilst he is in town. I do not have an answer to that question.

When Joey and I were exchanging text messages yesterday no mention was made of any free time. Joey is here to work on a sound dimension project of some sort.

Joey said he might take an hour and go see Dealey Plaza today or tomorrow. I assume that means Joey has a vehicle. What Joey does not have is the knowledge of what a challenge it is to find a place to park in downtown Dallas. That, and finding Dealey Plaza. I remember my first attempt, May 8, 1998, was aborted. I found the JFK Memorial, near Dealey Plaza, but not the plaza. Now that I know where Dealey Plaza is it seems hard to understand that I ever had a problem  finding it.

Changing the subject back to the Tandy Hills.

Last week I looked up the hill from the trail I was on and saw what you see below.

Today I decided to take a closer look. It's an odd collection of items. The big thing in the middle appeared to be a sleeping bag. The white thing on the right appeared to be a laundry basket. It looked like the basket was used to carry stuff, some of which was still in the basket. Everything looked like useless junk, not stuff of the sort one might have in an emergency homeless person situation. One of the items was a Christmas tree ornament. A pair of Levi jeans lay crumpled on the sleeping bag.

Anyway, I had myself a mighty fine time hill hiking today. Cool temperatures and I had a couple rare human encounters. Usually I have the hills all to myself.....

First Day Of October Chilly Tandy Hills Hiking Followed By Rain

Today I had myself the coolest high speed hill hiking in a long long time.

74 degrees when I reached the summit of Mount Tandy.

75 degrees when I returned to the summit of Mount Tandy an hour later, with big plops of rain starting to drop.

Those ploppers dropped all the way to ALDI in the first good rain I've seen since I don't remember when.

Windshield wipers slapping time to the mindless ranting of Rush Limbaugh, til I couldn't take the nonsense anymore, so I switched to some soothing golden oldies rock and roll.

As you can maybe tell by the giant dandelion looking yellow flowers above, the wind was gusting a bit before the rain began. These giant dandelion looking wildflowers were sprouting by the rock crypt which showed up a couple years ago. Near as I can tell no one has ever turned over the rock to see what is in the crypt.

I have to get up real early tomorrow to provide chauffeur service for someone needing delivery to a clinic for a surgical procedure. I should be able  to make it back here in time for my regularly scheduled, pre-dawn swim.

The pool was a bit cool this morning. October is when it begins to become a bit more challenging to go swimming in an unheated pool. The new month sure has started off starkly different to most all of September. Cool, cloudy, rain, wind. But now, mid-afternoon, the sun has returned and the temperature has risen to a still sort of chilly 82.

Have I ever mentioned I am not much of a fan of riddles? Well, I have now....

On The Tandy Hills Perplexed By Lonesome Shoes And The Rapidly Rising Gas Price

Back on the Tandy Hills on this next to last day of September. A few days ago I had myself a slight tripping incident which impacted my left knee. For some reason hiking hills at high speed makes the knee feel all better.

Likely the feel all better thing is caused by the tranquilizing endorphin effect induced by heavy duty aerobicizing.

Now, what is the deal with the shoes, you are asking yourself?

Well, these shoes were sitting beside the trail on the north side of the Tandy Falls Escarpment, above currently dry Tandy Falls. This location is about as far as one gets from civilization on the Tandy Hills, unless one considers the freeway civilized.

In other words, I would not want to walk barefoot from this location back to my vehicular transport.

Speaking of vehicular transport. What's up with the price of gas overnight shooting up 20 cents a gallon, or more. I drove by two QTs today that I drove by yesterday. At that point in time both were $1.95. Today both were $2.19. The Circle K on the way to the Tandy Hills yesterday was $1.96. Today it was $2.18. Yesterday the Shell across the street from the Circle K was one penny more than the Circle K. Today the Shell is still a penny more than the Circle K.

How does this happen, overnight? Did something bad happen about which I am unaware? Did the Iran nuclear deal collapse? Did NASA's revelation that Mars is wet send up the price of oil? Is the price jump caused by Shell ceasing with Arctic drilling?

The Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man Fast Hiking On The Last Sunday Of September

The Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man was back doing some high speed hill hiking on this last Sunday of September.

Temperature in low 80s,  breeze blowing. Very pleasant.

I snapped five Shadow of the Thin Man photos. Each of them has that dark area that looks like the Thin Man is holding a blanket, with each iteration being slightly different. No clue what caused this.

Today I noticed that some sections of the new trails are getting a bit overgrown. I don't think the new trails are seeing as many boots on the ground as they should be seeing.

As I was doing the hill hiking I was pondering that Trinity River Vision Update that I blogged about earlier today.

I was talking about The Boondoggle's UPDATE to another person not native to Texas and Fort Worth and that person opined that The Boondoggle's quarterly UPDATES seem like a very small town type thing to do.

The Boondoggle has been boondoggling along this entire century, with very little so show for the effort. So, to make it appear that they are getting something done they send out these "UPDATES" detailing the progress of the construction of a roundabout and a piece of "art" already installed in the roundabout.

Now, that roundabout and that art installation might be a big deal in a real small town. But it seems a rather pathetic thing to be UPDATING the people about in a city of over 800,000. And how many times do we need to hear about all those "events" taking place at the imaginary pavilion on the imaginary island?

Anyway, I am in a bad mood. Just learned of the death of a young man, only 33 or 34. Aunt Alice's, also known as Tootsie Tonasket's, son, Wade.

On A Tandy Hill Gazing Enviously At Downtown Fort Worth

In the picture you are standing with me on one of the Tandy Hills, looking west at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, about which, we learned yesterday, the entire nation of America is envious.

We have yet to learn why the entire nation of America is envious of downtown Fort Worth.

Are other towns in America envious because their downtowns do not have a boarded up, cyclone fence surrounded park at the heart of their downtown, celebrating their town's heritage?

Are other towns in America envious of Fort Worth's downtown because their towns have a lot of noisy construction going on, with way too many shoppers shopping in way too many stores, while downtown Fort Worth is so peaceful, with few stores and zero construction.

Well, zero construction unless one expands what one considers downtown Fort Worth to include where America's Biggest  Boondoggle is building three simple little bridges in a slow motion four year construction timeline.

Anyway, I had myself a mighty fine time doing some high speed hill hiking today, with a good breeze blowing air that was chilled to the mid 80s.

The Tired Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man Looking For Little Caesar's And A Greek Pizza

That is the Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man you are looking at here, with his walking and snake whacking stick in upright position.

This morning whilst in the pool, well before dawn, I swam in the darkness and thought to myself I really do not get enough exercise.

Hence today's return to the Tandy Hills. My last time trying to hike the hills was on Saturday. That attempt was aborted due to rain.

I had myself a bad bout of insomnia last night. I never nodded off til well past midnight and then woke up over and over again due to scary nightmares, with the same nightmare starting up again every time I fell back asleep.

Basically the short version is today I am an exhausted, yawning mess.

Yawning is a rarity for me. It is sort of embarrassing. During one of today's yawning bouts I fear I troubled the person I was talking to, due to an assumption being made that I was bored. And so yawning. I think I had explained to this person that I was sleep deprived, but I'm too tired to remember.

Anyway, the hill hiking went well. By the time I hiked back to the summit of Mount Tandy I was feeling rejuvenated.

Pizza is baking in the oven.

A couple weeks ago, at Town Talk, I found myself some oversized whole wheat pitas. I then discovered the pitas make excellent pizza crusts.

Pizza is so easy to make I don't know why anyone would go the bother of having Domino's deliver one of their bad pizzas. Or Papa John's.

Now if Little Caesar's delivered and if the Little Caesar's in Texas had the Greek Pizza like the Little Caesar's had in Washington, well I would find myself having a pizza delivered, every once in awhile. How come the Little Caesar's Texas pizza menu is so, well, bland?

Anyway, the pizza bell just rang. I'm both hungry and very sleepy.....