Cupid Valentine's Day Card From That Special Someone

Tootsie Tonasket, also known as Aunt Alice, sent me the sweet Valentine's Day card you see above.

Tootsie Aunt Alice enjoys the annual Cupid outing, getting in costume and shooting love arrows at the unsuspecting.

Happy Valentine's Day to one and all...

Sisterly Happy Valentine's Day From Puget Sound's Harstine Island

Incoming this Valentine's Day afternoon from my favorite sister-in-law, Kristin.  That incoming being the photo you see above of my two baby sisters, Michele on the left, Jackie on the right.

Earlier today I requested island photo documentation when I learned from Jackie that she was in Tacoma and was soon departing with David, Theo and Ruby, along with Michele and Kristin, to go to the Tacoma Trio's cabin on Harstine Island.

I thought that photo documentation would likely be of the Tacoma Trio doing some fun thing, not expecting to get to see something like my young little sisters beaming happy in the semi-warm Washington sun.

Those reading this in Fort Worth, those are real islands you see in the background, I think. Or that may be the Washington mainland. But, as you can clearly see, a real island is surrounded by a large body of water.

Naturally occurring water.

Not a chunk of industrial wasteland with a cement lined ditch cut through it, pretending to be an island.

One gets to Harstine Island via a bridge connecting the mainland to the island. That bridge was built over actual water. Saltwater of the tidal changing sort.

Fort Worth has been stuck for years trying to build three simple little bridges, over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, that being that aforementioned industrial wasteland.

A short Wikipedia/Google blurb one sees when one Googles "Harstine Island"....

Harstine Island is an island in Mason County, Washington, United States. The US Census recognizes it as an unincorporated community. The island is located west of Case Inlet in southern Puget Sound, 9.94194 miles north of Olympia. It has a land area of 30.0153354 square miles, and had a population of 1,002 as of the 2000 census.

Can you imagine a day way in the distant future when someone might Google "Panther Island" and read...

Panther Island is an imaginary island in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. The US Census recognizes it as a poorly developed industrial wasteland. The imaginary island is located north of downtown Fort Worth, about 30 miles west of Dallas. It has a land area of a few square miles, and had a population of 1,002 as of the 2040 census, along with a large herd of feral cats.

Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day. I had the best lunch in recent memory today to celebrate this sacred holiday...

Valentine's Day Olympia Snow Report Not From Elsie Hotpepper

Early this Thursday afternoon, as I was enjoying my lunch time Valentine's Day concoction of baked deconstructed turkey pot pie, using whole wheat spaghetti noodles rather than pie crust, with all the usual pot pie stuff mixed in, my phone made its semi-regular incoming text message noise.

I figured it was Elsie Hotpepper replying to my most recent pithy text message about Elsie's potential Trump boy relationship, which I had sent seconds before, between bites of that aforementioned deconstructed turkey pot pie.

But, it was not Elsie Hotpepper.

The fresh incoming text message, with two attached photos, was from one of David, Theo and Ruby's maternal parental units, sent from Olympia.

Well, I am assuming such, since the photos were of Olympia, with the only text in the message being "Snolympia" in the first message with "So Much Snow" being the text in the second message.

I knew the snow has been busy melting the last 24 hours, or so. Apparently the melting has progressed enough that my little sister was able to make it to Olympia to do her investigating of complaints of judicial and prosecutorial abuse complaints.

Why does Texas not have such an office investigating these type complaints? I have eye witnessed two Tarrant County judges who definitely should not be judging anything or anyone. One a Tea Party ignoramus, the other seemingly senile.

I digress.

I do not know if Olympia was covered with the most snow of any of the Puget Sound towns during the recent bout of too much snow.

Olympia is at the far south end of Puget Sound, close to mountains of the Rainier sort, and others.

While the Puget Sound zone melts, at my location in North Texas, we are no where near melting, as in currently the temperature is more than 40 degrees above freezing, possibly hitting 80 or more today.

With this return to the outdoors being semi-balmy, I was able to actually enjoy riding my bike for the first time in days without the need for multiple layers of outer wear, including two layers of gloves.

I gave my mom a pre-Valentine's Day call last night.

During that call I learned Spencer Jack's cousin, Henry, has flown to Montana, while Henry's dad,  Spencer Jack's uncle Joey, has floated somewhere on a boat so as to catch some salmon.

The weirdest thing I learned from talking to mom was that Spencer Jack's grandpa's sister's new RV is falling apart. My sources previously told me that now falling apart RV cost about a quarter million $ when bought a couple years ago. Mom says the residents are living in the RV, at the repair shop, whilst attempts are made to stop it from continuing to fall apart.

I told Spencer Jack's dad about the new RV which is falling apart, requiring hospitalization, which had Spencer Jack's dad speculating that perhaps grandma misunderstood, and that it was the RV residents who were falling apart and needing special care.

Spencer Jack's dad's supposition almost makes more sense. How does a new RV fall apart? I know nothing about such things...

Happy Valentine's Day Hike To The Summit Of Arizona's Camelback Mountain

No, that is not Mount Wichita you are looking at here, though the resemblance is uncanny.

Currently, on this Valentine's Day of 2017, Mount Wichita is shrouded in clouds with those clouds dripping on the mountain and its surrounding area.

That would be Camelback Mountain we are looking at here, not Mount Wichita. Mount Wichita is in Texas.

Camelback Mountain is located two states to the west, in Arizona, in what is known as the Valley of the Sun, which is the location of towns such as Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler  and Sun Lakes.

A few minutes ago my phone made  its incoming text message noise. Soon upon checking on the source of that noise I saw a message with a photo.

The message was "Valentine's morning  hike to the top of Camelback. Heading south  to Sun Lakes later today."

You can see who sent this message from Camelback below, but before we get to that let's take a closer look at the south side of Camelback Mountain.

It was my Favorite Nephews, Chris and Jeremy, whose mom, my Favorite Sister, Jackie, took me on a tour of Camelback Mountain during my most recent visit to Arizona. The homes built on to the side of Camelback are impressive. I really liked the one above which looked like a fortified castle with a cactus making what looked like an obscene gesture in the foreground.

Prior to touring Camelback, Jackie and I had hiked up the former Squaw Peak, now known as Piestewa Peak. This was a brutal hike in blazing sun, with the trail shared with dozens of tourists from all over America, in town to watch baseball players play some training games.

No, what we are looking at here is not the well designed trail to the summit of Camelback Mountain. I believe that summit trail is accessed from the north side of the mountain. What we are looking at here is on the south side, with that stairway leading to yet one more impressive home built into the side of the mountain.

And now we get to the mountaineer who sent the below photo this Valentine's morning from high atop Camelback Mountain.

That would be Spencer Jack's Favorite Dad, my Favorite Nephew, Jason, currently in the Scottsdale zone to see his dad and to surprise his Grandma, in the aforementioned town of Sun Lakes, with appropriate Valentine's Day surprises. I assume such would be a box of chocolates and maybe some sort of fragrant flower.

Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day from the summit of  Camelback Mountain....

Happy Dysfunctional Valentine's Day From Texas

I saw that which you see on the left on Facebook a couple minutes ago, courtesy of Tootsie Tonasket, aka Aunt Alice.

It amused me.

I thought the "U SOUND LIKE UR MOTHER" and the "OK 4 YOUR AGE" hearts were the most amusing.

I was listening to the radio this morning, The Bert Show on 102.9 FM. One of the male members of The Bert Show has been whining about Valentine's Day all week, opining it is not a real holiday, but instead a Hallmark manufactured holiday in which he chooses not to participate.

So, the other members of The Bert Show's cast sort of ganged up on the anti-Valentine's Day guy, including bringing Bert's kid into the ongoing psy-oping of the anti-Valentine's Day guy.

The anti-Valentine's Day guy's argument against Valentine's Day was that he showed his love muffin how much he loved her all year long, that making a special fuss on a manufactured holiday was just unseemly and unnecessary.

I am paraphrasing. It's not like I was taking notes.

Anyway, the only part of the anti-Valentine's Day guy's argument which seemed a bit bogus to me was the claim that it was a holiday manufactured by Hallmark.

Maybe the anti-Valentine's Day guy was just using Hallmark as a catchall for the entire give a gift on a special occasion industry.

I remember, decades ago, in grade school, on Valentine's Day, everyone would make a big envelope by stapling two pieces of construction paper together. Classmates would then stick Valentines into the big envelopes.

If my memory is serving me correctly it seems like we made the Valentine cards ourselves from more of that aforementioned construction paper. I don't remember buying any sort of Valentine card of the Hallmark sort. I don't think I would have willingly spent any of my very meager allowance on such a thing.

And now, decades later, I still do not willingly spend any of my very meager allowance on Valentine's Day cards....

Having Myself A Happy Valentine's Day In Texas

Super romantic type boy that I be, today is my favorite holiday of the year, Valentine's Day.

Each year, as soon as January ends, I start counting down the days til February 14.

Last night I got a pre-Valentine's Day surprise from Honey Bunny #1 in the form of hot out of the oven dark chocolate fudge brownies.

Normally I am not much of a chocolate fan, particularly when the chocolate is hot, but, if the hot chocolate product is paired with peppermint ice cream, like it was last night, well, you can pretty much get me to do anything, at least til the happy glow wears off.

It was way back late in the last century that I learned that pairing a chocolate product with peppermint ice cream is a good thing. The chocolate product at that taste bud pleasing point in time was chocolate cheesecake.

The origin of Valentine's Day is a curious tale.

Apparently a long ago Christian saint named Valentius was thrown in jail by the Romans for performing wedding ceremonies for soldiers who were not allowed to get married. While in prison Saint Valentius somehow cured the illness of the daughter of one of his jailers. Even so the nasty Romans proceeded with their planned execution of Saint Valentius. According to the enduring legend, prior to getting put to death, Valentius sent a farewell note to the girl he'd cured, signing the note, "from your Valentine."

Thus spawning a modern day world wide multi-billion dollar Valentine's Day greeting card and gift industry.

At some point in time Saint Valentius became Saint Valentine, with Saint Valentine's Day being an official feast day of the Anglicans.

By the 15th century, of the Middle Ages, Valentine's Day had morphed into a holiday where love bunnies declared their affection with things like flowers, candies, brownies and greeting cards, which came to be known as "Valentines."

I am not sure, yet, if any Honey Bunny is going to be cooking me a heart shaped Texas steak today. I can only hope....

Happy Valentine's Day From An Insomniac With Bad Cursive Skills

I am up well before the sun on this 2nd Tuesday of the 2nd month of 2012, also known as Valentine's Day.

It is a very dark view from my primary viewing portal on the outer world this morning.

My computer based weather advisor has issued a Dense Fog Advisory. There does appear to be some fog, but I would not, currently, call it dense.

Last night I had myself a bad bout of insomnia. Real bad. This is not good. I need to be firing on all cylinders today so I can finish an annoying website making project that suddenly became difficult yesterday afternoon.

During one of the brief periods when I did fall asleep last night my phone woke me up with a spam text message.

Changing the subject from my litany of woes to something else.

I was surprised this morning to read in my old hometown newspaper that teaching cursive writing is no longer part of the Washington State Curriculum of Common Core State Standards.

Apparently learning cursive writing is yet one more casualty of the computer age.

I am left handed and have never had very good handwriting. I so seldom hand write anything anymore, that when I do, it is borderline illegible, no matter how hard I try to write nice.

So, if you get a Valentine's Day card in the mail from me today and you can not read what I wrote, you now know why.

Valentine's Day Fight & Sweet Tomatoes.

What a Valentine's Day it has been. A cold Valentine's Day. With little sun.

On my way to Sweet Tomatoes for my annual Valentine's Day lunch I went to Veterans Park in Arlington to walk in the cold, dank air for awhile. I like the backwoods part of Veterans Park. That's what you're looking at in the picture on the left.

I'd not been this way in awhile. There is a log bridge across a gully that I've crossed many a time. But a chunk had decayed away, leaving the bridge crossing a bit adventurous for my acrophobic tendencies. But not too adventurous. I made it across.

There was way too much going on in Veterans Park today. A small army of disc golfers was preparing for a disc golf tournament. Once that started, hiking would be treacherous with way too many discs flying in the air. The disc throwers have the right of way over walkers in Veterans Park.

I've read of problems with gangs fighting in parks. And other places. But, I've never seen such a thing.

But, today at Veterans Park there was a raging battle, the likes of which I've only seen once before. At Scarborough Faire. It was brutal. I watched from a distance, then got closer. I was afraid my picture taking might cause the fighting gangs to turn their battling on me.

After exhausting Veterans Park it was on to Sweet Tomatoes. The traffic was appalling. Long long long lines behind each stop light. I had not listened to the radio or tv all day. I wondered if there'd been an announcement that the Great Depression 2.0 was over and we were back in boom times, so the masses were out in a shopping frenzy.

I still have not had a radio or tv on, so I don't know, yet, if the Great Depression 2.0 is still in motion, or not.

I did get great news from Don Young upon my return home. The City of Fort Worth is finally doing the right thing and beginning the process of restoring the Tandy Hills Natural Area to its, well, natural state, thus finally making it true to its name. I hope.

Happy Valentine's Day From Fort Worth

It's a cold, dreary, gray Valentine's Day here in the far eastern environs of Fort Worth, Texas. This latest cold snap is currently chilling me in the 30s at 10am. Heading to a high in the high 50s. Brrrr.

My exciting Valentine's Day's highlight should, I hope, be lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. No, I will not be dining with the Valentine's Sweetheart in the photo. She looks like she'd be more of a Zorro's All You Can Eat Buffet type of gal, the sort who rarely lets salad, or any vegetable, for that matter, pass her sweet lips en route to her ample thighs.

Speaking of Big Gals, Tootsie Tonasket reports that she has lost over 40 pounds on what she is calling the "Divorce Diet." She is now down under 140, which makes her one of only three adult females, of my acquaintance, with a confirmed weight less than mine.

Speaking of eating healthy stuff. Right now I'm eating a Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit. This may be the best Texas thing I've come across. The Ruby Reds are so sweet, they need no sugar or honey. And there are very few seeds. Best grapefruit ever. And being red makes them perfect for Valentine's Day.