Today I Looked For Brush To Bash At Tomorrow's 6th Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash

Yesterday the outer world at my location was chilled to sub-freezing. Today, on this last day of the first month of 2014, the outer world at my location is being heated to almost 40 degrees above freezing.

And so I thought it a good idea to toss the long johns and put on my hiking shorts to go have myself a mighty fine time inducing endorphins with some fast hill hiking.

In the picture you are looking at a fallen tree which has been obstructing the trail which leads from Tandy Falls, west, to the location of the former Tandy Hills Hoodoo, for months now.

Tomorrow, Saturday, February 1, 2014, the 6th Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash takes place from 9 am til 2 pm. You can find the Brush Bashers via View Street. If you want to Brush Bash among the things you might want to bring are gloves, sturdy shoes, a sun-blocking hat, water, lunch, tarps and a small wagon or wheel barrow. There will be coffee and tea available to keep you caffeinated.

I do not know if the above trail blocking log is scheduled to be bashed. I suspect not.

Continuing on with today's hill hiking.

At one point I was hiking down a hill when I heard loud noises coming from the direction of a creek bed. The noises were too loud to be a foraging bird or squirrel.  As I got closer to the creek bed the noises grew louder. I readied my whacking stick and prepared to defend myself against a possible mountain lion, bobcat or rabid road runner.

And then a pair of humans popped out on the trail. A young lady and an older gentleman. Dad and daughter? Grand-dad and Grand-daughter? I didn't ask. I just howdy-ed them and continued on my way.

Don Young's SUPER Bash Report

 

In the picture you are looking at part of the army of Brush Bashers who Bashed Brush the day before the Super Bowl, that being the 1st Saturday of the 2nd month of 2013.

Below is Don Young's amusing account of this year's successful Brush Bash....

There was no power blackout and no delay of game at the, one-day-a-year Brush Bash at Tandy Hills Natural Area on February 2, 2013. But like that other big game last weekend ours game was one for the record book.

About 25 dedicated FOTHNA volunteers backed up by 50 workers from the Sheriff's Dept. took to the field sending more than 236 cubic yards of invasive, prairie-choking, woody plant material to the compost pile. We basically stiff-armed a bunch of privet into oblivion making a touchdown in the process.

City of Fort Worth PACS staff led by playmakers, Bobby Muriel and Billy Roden, went on the offensive, spending several days cutting the brush and treating the stumps at selected locations within the park. Michelle Villafranca and Suzanne Tuttle of the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge double-teamed to help oversee the project that follows a key provision of the Master Plan playbook for Tandy Hills. 

The new panoramic view from the Outdoor Classroom benches is like having seats to the Super Bowl on the 50 yard line minus the crowd.

Debora Young and Anne Aldefer were the key FOTHNA staffers huddled on the sideline making sure everything went according to plan and players enjoyed good field position until the play clock ran down. Longtime FOTHNA staffers, Phil Hennen and Myra Waldrop kept the brush moving downfield.

Game Balls went to every single worker who showed up. They were in the red zone most of the day insuring that 2013 was another championship season. Special Teams award goes to Scoutmaster Martin Grunow and the Scouts who helped remove an ancient pile of roofing shingles.

For those who failed to show or were on injured reserve, you will not be penalized BUT you missed a good one. There is no off-season for privet which is perpetually guilty of encroachment. We expect your participation next season. The Hall of Fame awaits you.

Check out post-game photos from FOTHNA super-volunteer, Scott Ausburn, here....

Tandy Hills Brush Bash 3 Is A Successful Wrap

I can not remember the last time I worked as hard as I worked on Saturday.

This afternoon I got Don Young's report with all the specific stats about Saturday's Tandy Hills Brush Bash.....

The Third Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash is a wrap. On a beautiful clear, blue-sky day, a dedicated army of volunteers wrangled a mountain of brush up the steep Tandy Hills to the waiting trucks that hauled it away for composting. City of FW Parks & Community Services Department staffers led by, Michelle Villafranca and Dale Taylor, had cut the brush the previous week and assisted in the Bash.

The Tandy Hills Brush Bash Army came from all over the Metroplex. There were Boy Scouts, Master Naturalists, neighborhood folks, high school kids, moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, a few PhD.'s and CEO's from all walks of life and all dedicated to getting the job done. And we did.

Wide open prairie vistas have been restored. The landscape looks measurably different and the prairie is much healthier thanks to our hard work. Here's the stats:

60+ volunteers

40+ community service workers

10+ dogs

36 large truck-fulls of brush

24 dozen donuts*

5 gallons of coffee, tea and hot chocolate*

1,000's of megabytes of digital photos which can be viewed on the Tandy Hills Facebook page, flicker and on our website.

Thanks to all who participated. For everyone else, pictures can't tell the story adequately. Don't wait until Prairie Fest. Come on out to Tandy Hills today and enjoy the new views.

Don Young

* Many thanks to Green Mountain Energy for providing coffee and donuts.

The Dawn Of The 4th Saturday Of 2011 In Cold Texas

Does it look cold looking out my viewing portal to the great outdoors this 4th Saturday of 2011?

It is only 4 degrees below freezing right now. Does this mean we are in a warming trend? I hope so.

Since the picture from my viewing portal was taken the sun has continued its illumination duty to a level where I can now clearly see the sky over my zone of North Texas is currently cloud free and a very nice shade of blue.

In a couple hours the Tandy Hills Brush Bash will be under way. I have a complication this morning that renders it impossible for me to bash brush. I may be able to do some afternoon brush bashing though.

I am not certain, as one can never be certain what Elsie Hotpepper is going to do, but I think the Hotpepper may be bashing brush today. Something to do with the lure of free donuts. I may have misrepresented the donuts as Krispy Kremes.

I skipped swimming yesterday. I never skip anything two days in a row.

Talk to you later.

Saturday January 22 Is The First Tandy Hills Brush Bash Of 2011

Tomorrow Mother Nature will be providing some extreme air conditioning to the Tandy Hills to help facilitate a lot of brush bashing without causing the brush bashers to overheat on the 3rd Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash.

Below is the latest Brush Bash Memo from the #1 Brush Basher, Don Young....

Greetings, Prairie Keepers, Nature Mystics and Grass Huggers-

Grab you gloves and jump into your boots. Saturday is our big day of the year to fulfill our stated mission at the Tandy Hills prairie, in situ. The weather forecast calls for blue sky and chilly temps, perfect conditions for brush-bashing. Wear layers. You'll shed them quickly. 

Green Mountain Energy is providing coffee and donuts for the volunteers. Hot tea and cocoa will also be available. Green Mountain will also donate $20. to Friends of Tandy Hills NA for every new account they sign up at Brush Bash. The only energy cleaner than Green Mountain is the kind you will burn bashing brush.

> > > BTW: You are welcome to take home any wood that has been cut. There is Ash, Mesquite, Hackberry and Eastern Red Cedar cut and ready for you. Bring your garden carts, wheel barrows and wagons. 

See you Saturday morning!

DY

The 3rd Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash

It seems like the Manly Men and Wild Women have barely been cleared from the Tandy Hills. And now it is time to clear some brush, according to the following message from the Tandy Hills Brushmaster, Don Young...

The annual Brush Bash gets to the core of what Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area is all about. Removing invasive and unwanted woody plant species is a cornerstone of the Master Plan for restoring Tandy Hills. The Master Plan was prepared for the City of Fort Worth in July 2008 to address community concerns about the preservation of this one-of-a-kind green space. The end result will be a more natural prairie ecosystem full of wildflowers and native grasses. One that is not overrun and shaded out by trees and shrubs.

That's where FOTHNA comes in. We ask you to help us help the City which benefits all. Here's how it works.

City crews have been busy the past two weeks cutting unwanted trees and other woody species. That material is now on the ground. Volunteers drag the material to designated locations where City crews load it into trucks and haul away to be composted.

We need you. Please see details below and make a commitment to help us care for our beautiful prairie.

DY

WHO:
Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area. That means YOU!

WHAT:
3rd Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash

WHEN:
Saturday, January 22, 2011
9 am - Noon
1 pm - 3 pm
Work one or both shifts
(rain date is February 5.)

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

BRING:
Gloves, work clothes, sturdy shoes, hat, sunscreen, picnic lunch

CONTACT - RSVP:
Don Young
donyoungglass@earthlink.net
817-731-2787

Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area

P.O. Box 470041
Fort Worth, TX 76147
817-731-2787
http://www.tandyhills.org

A New Road Ruts Up Fort Worth's Tandy Hills With Sewer Seepage Making A Green Belt

I parked by the tower on top of Mount Tandy today. As I drove in a lady was exiting with her dog. After I parked and disembarked I saw a group of 4 exiting the park. This, thus was the biggest crowd I've seen at this location. I tell you, hiking the Tandy Hills is getting super popular.

As is, apparently, driving on the Tandy Hills. The road ruts you see in the picture run along side the main trail that runs into the Tandy Hills off View Street.

I thought maybe a Fort Worth Parks crew had been busy rutting up the place so that they could haul out the bags of trash collected by the Tandy Hills Trash & Brush Bashers a couple months ago.

I had previously made note of the deteriorating condition of the black trash bags. Black plastic and the sun do not get along well together.

By the time I got to where the new road ended I could see the black trash bags were still sitting on the ground.

The Tandy Trash Bags look like they are melting. A truly astonishing amount of trash was found littering up the hills and stuck in bags. It'd be a real shame to see all that hard work wasted.

I saw something a bit odd today that has sprung up quickly with the un-springing of Spring.

The picture does not do it justice, but what you are looking at is a lush, thick, section of tall, deeply green, grass. Currently, by far, the greenest spot on the Tandy Hills. See the flat object in the picture? That is a lid that says "Sanitary Sewer" on it.

Last Fall I was in this exact spot after a heavy rainstorm. Material was oozing out of the Sanitary Sewer lid. It appears that whatever oozed out did an excellent job of fertilizing this little area.

As you walk about the Tandy Hills you come across evidence of its pre-natural days before it became the Tandy Hills Natural Area. I didn't realize the sewer pipes that run under the park were still being used, til I saw the oozing.

So, that's been some of my Texas rut today, finding ruts on the Tandy Hills. That and I heard from one of those scorned Texas women I mentioned earlier. I think it may have been Kay Granger, calling herself Anonymous.

New Temporary Buildings Arrive At The Tandy Hills For Tomorrow's Brush Bash

BRUSH BASH UPDATE FROM DON YOUNG:
Unless there is heavy rain the Brush Bash will go as planned. Please arrive between 9 and 10 am. We plan to start work at 10. Lunch break at Noon. Thanks again for supporting Tandy Hills Natural Area.

No, that is not a picture of my latest Outhouse discovery in my popular "Outhouses of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex Series."

I believe these are temporary Outhouses brought in for a special event, which to my mind is the proper use for such things, in contrast with Jerry Jones' mind which thinks surrounding the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium with specially made Dallas Cowboy Outhouses is a good idea.

The special event I believe this pair of Outhouses have been installed for is tomorrow's Tandy Hills Brush Bash.

It is supposed to start being stormy here in North Texas sometime tonight and all day tomorrow. I don't know if the source of the incoming rain is the same storm that is hitting California and today my mom and dad in Phoenix.

I'm sure it will end up being dry tomorrow. I think Mother Nature looks fondly on the Tandy Hills and those who are trying to restore the hills to their old style prairie glory.

Fort Worth's Tandy Hills Brush Bash Next Saturday With Grand Opening Of Don's Dawgs

The last time I hiked the Tandy Hills, before rain muddied up the place, I saw that a lot of brush had been cut and was laying on the ground, waiting, I assumed, for the upcoming Tandy Hills Brush Bash.

Yesterday I got email from Don Young that confirmed that the cut brush was for the upcoming BRUSH-BASH, which takes place next Saturday.

The most surprising news about the BRUSH-BASH was that a Snack Bar called Don's Dawgs will be making lunch available to those who get hungry and did not bring a sack lunch. And credit cards will be accepted at Don's Dawgs.

Message & Don's Dawg's Menu below...

The City of Fort Worth Parks and Community Services Department has been cutting invasive brush and trees at Tandy Hills Natural Area this week.

Your help is needed carrying the cut material and debris out of the park.

Join your fellow Friends of Tandy Hills to help restore and protect this beautiful 160-acre prairie remnant.

Date: Saturday, January 23, 2010

Time: 10 am – 3 pm

Place: Tandy Hills Natural Area
3400 View Street
Fort Worth

What to Bring: Work gloves, water and a can-do spirit.

Lunch: > > > Bring your own or purchase, on-site, from Don’s Dawgs. (see menu below)

More Information: Contact Don Young at
donyoungglass@earthlink.net or 817-731-2787

See you on the prairie this Saturday.

DY

Don's Dawgs Menu for Brush Bash 2010

Hot Dogs - $3.00
Veggie Dogs - $3.00
Hot Links - $4.00
Nacho's - $3.00
Chili - $3.50

Above items include your choice of toppings. Chili, Cheese, Sauerkraut, Jalapeños, or Chopped Onions.

Assorted Chips - $1.00

Assorted Soft Drinks and Water - $1.00

Hot Chocolate - $1.50
Hot Spiced Cider - $1.50

We will accept Cash/Visa/MC/Discover

Tandy Hills Brush Bash: Phase 2

Those of you who Bashed Brush a couple Saturdays ago and those of you who are Brush Basher Wannabes, you have another chance to help restore the Tandy Hills Natural Area to its natural state this coming Saturday. This will be your last opportunity to Bash Brush this season.

As in Saturday, March 7. From 9am til 3pm. The Brush Bashers will congregate at the un-natural playground area at 3400 View Street.

The Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area, which is now officially a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation, will be providing morning tea/coffee/pastries and water.

To comfortably Bash Brush you'll want to bring gloves, work clothes, sensible shoes, hat, sunscreen (assuming it's not cloudy) and a picnic lunch.

So, join the army of volunteers and have a fun Saturday celebrating another historic day on Fort Worth's best prairie.

Need more info or want to confirm you'll be Bashing Brush? Call Don Young at 817.731.2787.