Water Flowing Tandy Hills Mystery With A Lingering Bamboo Teepee & Cascade Fresh Yogurt Potato Salad

I had myself the best hiking time in many a month today on the very breezy Tandy Hills.

Saturday when I blogged about the Mysteries of the Tandy Hills I forgot the biggest mystery, that being the Bamboo Teepee you see in the picture, still standing after many a moon.

Speaking of teepee, my spell checker is flagging teepee as being misspelled. However, the first time I had this happen I looked up teepee to learn there are 3 accepted spellings for this particular Native American dwelling.

Teepee, tepee and tipi. The version with 4 e's seems to be reflect how the word is pronounced, so that's the version I use.

Today, water was flowing through the pipe culvert that carries Tandy Creek under the Tandy Highway, except when it rains hard and overwhelms the pipe culverts's water carrying capacity.

Now, what is very strange and may be yet one more Tandy Hills Mystery is this. On Saturday, less than 24 hours after Friday's rain, no water was flowing through the Tandy Creek pipe culvert across the Tandy Highway. And now today, Monday, 3 days after last Friday's rain, water is flowing through the pipe culvert that was dry on Saturday.

Very perplexing.

Changing the subject from water leaks and teepees to yogurt.

On Saturday, at Town Talk, I got a humongous 4 pound container of fat free yogurt for only 99 cents. Usually, with fat free yogurt or sour cream, stuff you really don't want to be eating is added to take the place of butterfat. 

This yogurt comes from Seattle. From a company called Cascade Fresh. The only ingredients in Cascade Fresh Fat Free Yogurt are nonfat milk, pectin and active cultures, as in 8 active probiotic cultures, L. Acidophilus, B. Thermophilus, L. Rhamnosus, B. Bifidum, L. Casei, B. Longum, L. Bulgaricus and B. Ifantis.

I made potato salad this morning, using yogurt instead of mayonnaise. Add some garlic wine vinegar and dill pickle juice and you really don't miss the mayo. Unless you want those extra fat calories for your hip widening, gut growing project.

I'm off to the library now. I need a book.

A Mysterious Bamboo Teepee Grows In The Heart Of The Tandy Hills & Denise The Indian Needs To Check Her Gmail

I've happened upon a strange thing.

Or two.

Over the years of hiking on the Tandy Hills.

But, today was the strangest yet.

I was rather enjoying the late afternoon hiking. Perfect temperature. Wind blowing.

I went down one of the steeper hills, crossed a creek, took the option to the right that required going under some low hanging branches.

Popped out from under the low hanging branches to a small clearing to find myself startled by the structure you see above.

A teepee framework made of bamboo.

There is no bamboo growing on the Tandy Hills that I have ever seen.

This location was about as close to the center of the Tandy Hills Natural Area as you can be. Meaning, as long a distance from a road as you could find.

Yet, someone hauled in multiple bamboo poles, with the leaves still attached. There is a pile of bamboo leaves laying on the ground around the perimeter of the teepee frame.

I'm guessing I am going to be asked exactly where this bamboo teepee frame is located.

Take the main View Street trail to the Tandy Hills. Take the first right from that trail. Continue east on that trail, down the steep hill, across the creek. When you get across the creek take the trail to the right. The bamboo teepee frame is just on the other side of the line of trees.

Is this teepee the first of many? An Indian Village in the making? A new Fort Worth Homeless People Shanty Town?

And on a totally different subject, Denise, check your Gmail. I have a question for you.