Wichita Falls Sikes Lake Primrose Duck & Litter Exhibit

Bike riding today eventually took me to Sikes Lake where I saw that which you see here.

I must say, that which you see here has been a rare sight to see in Wichita Falls.

I refer not to the ducks or the pink primroses.

I refer to the litter collection washed up against the concrete structure which crosses Sikes Lake, the purpose of which I do not know.

A litter collection of this sort was a frequent sight in my former Fort Worth location, particularly when the Trinity River was in flood mode.

Heavy rain flushes litter into the creek and storm drains which send water to Sikes Lake. I have seen one extreme littering example of this, with so much litter it made the local news. I recollect getting interviewed about the subject by a TV news lady. She stopped me whilst I was on my bike, asked what I thought about the litter, to which I told her that it was cleaned up almost as soon as it arrived.

I did not understand why she was asking me this, so I pointed out the fact that I was seeing no litter.

Apparently that TV news station had received calls complaining about the flood of litter. I recollect telling the TV news lady that I had been impressed with how litter-free Wichita Falls is compared to my previous Texas location, and that I had no clue as to the reason for the difference.

Maybe the litter difference between the two towns is caused by the same phenomenon which causes Fort Worth to have so many streets without sidewalks, parks without running or modern restrooms, but plenty of outhouses and which serves as host to America's Biggest Boondoggle, which has sort of become litter on a grand scale...

Finding Something On Mount Wichita Not Seen Previously In Wichita Falls

A couple weeks ago I blogged about my Fruitless Friday Wichita Falls Search For Litter, documenting my futile fruitless attempt to find litter littering like I saw so frequently at my previous Texas location.

Well.

Today, on the summit of Mount Wichita, I saw that which you see here.

Litter.

This was not the only litter. I always saw. Several beer cans, fast food wrappers and other usual litter suspects.

Why would anyone drop litter on one of the most scenic locations in Wichita Falls?

I suspect out of towners are the culprits. Maybe Fort Worth litter buggers in town getting ready to ride their bikes in the HOTTER than HELL 100.

Next time I climb to the summit of Mount Wichita I will do so with a garbage bag stuffed in a pocket.

On a non-litter note, whilst on the summit of Mount Wichita today something happened which had not happened before. Two text messages. One from Miss Linda, one from Elsie Hotpepper.

One of the messages was a woeful litany. You have a 50/50 chance of guessing from whom the litany of woe came....

Fruitless Friday Wichita Falls Search For Litter

Walking to my means of motorized vehicular transport today, en route to Sikes Lake, I looked across the street at what you see here and thought to myself something that had not occurred to me, previously, when looking at this scene. That being that this is something one would seldom see in my old home zone of Fort Worth.

A covered bus stop, with a bench to sit on, and a garbage receptacle in which to deposit litter.

Last Saturday on the way to the Watermelon Festival in downtown Wichita Falls one of my passengers verbalized something along the line that there sure is little litter littering this town.

I have made note of that fact a time or two myself. While in Fort Worth I was regularly astonished at the volume of litter littering the landscape. And floating in the Trinity River.

Why such a difference between two Texas towns? Are Wichita Fallers a more tidy breed of Texan than the people of Fort Worth?

I decided litter was going to be my theme of the day, and that whilst walking around Sikes Lake I was going to look for litter, on the ground and in the lake.

Well, what I quickly made note of during my Sikes Lake search for litter was another thing I'd not made note of previously. That being that there are a lot of litter receptacles ready to receive litter around Sikes Lake.

About every 200 feet there is a bench, with a litter receptacle adjacent to the bench.

Above, looking past the horse of many colors, you see a jogger about to run by one of the aforementioned  benches with its adjacent litter receptacle. Please note that you can see no litter on the ground.

Continuing on, a couple benches later we come to this bench, perched at an angle to the lake, looking east. Again, no litter visible anywhere.

Around Sikes Lake there are several gazebo type picnic structures, such as you see above, with a drinking fountain. And a litter receptacle. Looking through the gazebo you can see another of the gazebos on the other side of the lake.

A look at yet one more bench and its litter receptacle companion, looking northwest, by the shade of an evergreen tree of some variety unknown to me. And, again, no litter to be seen no matter where one looks.

So, why such a contrast between two Texas towns? Litter free Wichita Falls with modern parks with modern facilities and amenities like multiple benches contrasted with filthy Fort Worth with its embarrassing, astonishing, disgusting amount of litter, with few modern parks with modern amenities.

Do the people of Fort Worth, for the most part, not visit other towns, even neighboring towns, and see how far behind the modern world Fort Worth is in way too many ways?

Oh, one more thing. In Wichita Falls I have not come across any sort of anti-litter campaign. Apparently because there is no need for such a campaign.

While in Fort Worth the town's goofy government comes up with dumb stuff like Adopt a Drain, and, I don't know if this is still happening, but a city program encouraging Fort Worthers to pick up ten pieces of litter on Tuesdays.

I don't know if one person could find ten pieces of litter in Wichita Falls, even if one had all week, not just a Tuesday....

Witnessing The Miracle Of A Litter Free Flooding Trinity River Under A Bumbershoot

On the way to Town Talk I decided to park at Quanah Parker Park and take my Bumbershoot on a short walk in the rain.

The last time I saw a flooding Trinity River from this location, years ago, the river had an amazing amount of litter, in a wide range of color and size, flowing by.

During this current flood event I have seen the Trinity River in several locations and have not seen much litter flowing by.

Does this indicate the chronic Texas littler problem has improved? Or has all the rain already flushed most of the litter to the Gulf of Mexico?

I just realized I do not know where the Trinity River enters the Gulf. I suspect  the beaches in that area, wherever it is, would make for some interesting beachcombing.

Today's Town Talk treasure hunting went well.

Organic Fuji Apples from a town in Washington called Wenatchee, Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit, Carrots, Cinnamon Rolls, 5 pounds of Gorgonzola and a gallon of Organic Milk, plus other stuff I am not remembering right now.

An Unexpected Flat Had Me Ghost Walking With Litter Before Getting My Mysterious Reward

On the left you are looking at the latest litter log jam on Arlington's Village Creek, at the southern dam bridge crossing in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

I knew there had been flash flood warnings a couple days ago. But at my location in the Dallas suburb of Fort Worth I did not see rain fall in amounts copious enough to flash flood.

I am always impressed that a fresh flash flood is able to find a fresh supply of wood and litter in the short distance between Lake Arlington and the litter log jam.

I had intended to roll my wheels today at River Legacy Park. But that plan went all asunder on me. Early this morning, after my regularly scheduled swim, I fixed my bike's flat rear tire. After fixing the flat I re-inserted the bike into the motorized transport device I use to haul the bike to its various rolling locations.

A few hours later I exited my abode to head to the aforementioned motorized transport device where I discovered the rear tire had gone flat again. Apparently I had not located all the punctures.

So, I aborted the wheel rolling plan and instead had myself a mighty fine time walking with the Village Creek Indian Ghosts, after which I headed to Walmart to use up an AT&T Reward Card that AT&T inexplicably mailed me.

Reward for what? I have no idea.

Finding Fungus With Arlington's Village Creek Indian Ghosts While Walking Across The Dam Bridge With Litter

No, that is not a piece of Chihuly glass art you are looking at on the left.

What that is is a piece of Mother Nature art you are looking at, sprouting from a log in Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

I assume this is a fungus of some sort feeding on the fallen log.

I like the color of this fungus. I want a t-shirt this color.

With the temperature barely above 60, or barely below 70, and with gusts of wind blowing, thus creating that dreaded wind chill effect, I feared I might soon be shivering when I went walking with the Indian Ghosts.

That fear turned out to be totally unfounded. While I did not get HOT, I also did not get cold and ended up having myself a mighty fine time enjoying the fall like temporary respite from summer.

I heard via the radio, on the drive to Arlington, that we should be returning to the 100 degree zone in a couple days, along with high humidity.

In the meantime, walk with me across the Village Creek Dam Bridge.........

Walking With Arlington's Indian Ghosts Perplexed By Litter Mudslides & Kissing A Leggy Ex-Waitress

Today I had myself a mighty fine time taking a Sunday walk with the Indian ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Soon after the Sunday sun arrived, lighting through a cloudy sky, I had a long hot tub hydrotherapy session combined with a long bout in the not too cool pool.

Decades ago I knew a nurse who was known as The Fat Lady. The Fat Lady had a thing about hugging trees. I remember being in Olympic National Park with The Fat Lady with her hugging the biggest tree in the world of some particular type. Was it cedar? I don't remember. I do remember the Fat Lady would only hug a very small part of that particular tree's circumference. The tree hugging sent The Fat Lady into some sort of religious like reverie that was sort of creepy to be an eye witness to.

So, today, with The Fat Lady in mind, I came upon the tree you see above. I think it is an oak. I gave the oak a hug.

I'd like to say I felt the spirit of an Indian ghost pass through me as I hugged the oak. But, I felt nothing.

Spencer Jack's dad, my favorite nephew, Jason, emailed me this morning regarding the massive mudslide that slid down in my old home state of Washington, destroying several homes and killing several people.

More on mudslides below, but first I have to point out the "mudslide" I came upon today in the Village Creek Not So Natural Historical Area. That to which I refer you can see below.

How can a little rain wash this much debris into Village Creek? I am almost 100% certain that Village Creek flows out of the Lake Arlington reservoir. A short distance away. How can this much litter  accumulate in such a short distance?

Continuing with the mudslide subject.

In the same batch of email as the one from Jason regarding the Washington mudslide there was a blog comment from someone named Bulletholes mentioning a Texas mudslide.....

Bulletholes has left a new comment on your post "Illuminating Luminarias in Fort Worth": 

I started working there as a busboy in May of 1975, the day after I graduated High School. I ended up Head Chef a few years later.

Every time the millionaire owner would fly in from California I would tease him that he out to know better than to build a California restaurant on the side of a Texas hill. And he'd laugh at me. Then two years later, I came in one morning after it had been raining for days, got my cup of coffee, went over to the window to look at downtown before starting work (which I did every day) and I got to the window, looked down and the patios were covered up in a mudslde and half the hill was gone.

I just had to laugh.

Somewhere, there is a leggy ex-waitress with a branding iron in the shape of a heart I pulled off the wall. If you see her say hello, kiss her once for me.

The restaurant to which Bulletholes refers used to exist on the west side of the Tandy Hills, at the north end of Ben Street. The first time I was in Fort Worth was in August of 1980. At that point in time I stayed at what was then a Ramada Inn on the north side of I-30 and Beach Street, a short distance from the aforementioned restaurant. I remember seeing that restaurant back then and thinking it looked to be an interesting location. By the time I moved to Texas the restaurant had become an abandoned ruin, but was still standing. Then at some point in time, after that, the remains were razed to the ground, leaving only the cement foundation.

As for kissing a leggy ex-waitress. The only leggy ex-waitress I can think of is Elsie Hotpepper. But, Elsie is unbranded.

Speaking of Elsie Hotpepper, and who isn't? Today whilst walking with the Indian ghosts Elsie Hotpepper texted me with the cryptic message "No Comment?"

I had no idea what "No Comment?" meant so I texted back, verbalizing my perplexation. This turned into multiple textings back and forth. Each time the text noise happened I'd have to sit down at a picnic table or bench in order to text back a reply.

My needing to sit down in order to text a message had me wondering how and why there has been a problem with people texting whilst driving. I don't see how it would be possible to fumble out a message on a phone whilst driving.

At my location I have seen none of the rain that was predicted to be falling this weekend. Nor have I heard a single clap of the predicted thunder. The only part of the weather prediction that has come true is the temperature has been dialed back down to the chilly zone.

I am looking forward to that time of the year when the temperature is reliably, predictably, HOT....

The Last Day Of 2013 Taking A Village Creek Indian Ghost Litter Walk

My waking hours on this last day of 2013 began before the sun arrived.

Soon after the sun arrived I left my artificially heated abode to venture into the freezing outer world to have myself some salubrious hydrotherapy via hot tub immersion.

Though I was tempted, after I started getting too hot in the hot tub, I resisted the temptation to take a quick cooling dip in the way too cool pool.

Post hot tub, on my way to ALDI and Walmart to take possession of my New Year's Eve Party materials I decided to have myself a short walk with the Indian ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

It was a good walk. The last time I walked with the Indian ghosts I did not cross the dam bridge that leads to the Village Creek Blue Bayou, because I wanted to walk to Interlochen to get myself  a Christmas decoration photograph.

That Interlochen walking day I did get told about the appalling litter jam that had piled up behind the south Village Creek dam bridge.

That litter jam was still piled up today, more than a week after the deluge downpour that caused it. I'd not seen the litter jammed up quite this bad at this location after any of the previous floods that have flashed through this location.

How do so many empty bottles of various sizes manage to get into this creek? I believe Village Creek flows from Lake Arlington, a short distance away. How does this much litter get going with the flow over such a short distance?

Very perplexing.

And now it is time for lunch....

Hiking On The Tandy Hills In One Of The Greatest Cities In The World

In the photo you are looking west from the summit of Mount Tandy, from whence a wagon trail heads towards the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, a town some of the locals believe is known planet-wide as one of the Greatest Cities in the World.

More on the Greatest Cities in the World delusion in a subsequent blogging.

Today's hiking conditions were just about perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. And not windy.

With local kids on Spring Break I would have thought there would be some kids doing some hill hiking today. But I saw none.

I heard on the radio whilst driving to the Tandy Hills that traffic was a bit congested in the area around the Fort Worth Zoo due to Wednesday being half price admission day at the zoo, which always draws a big crowd to the zoo during Spring Break.

I've only been to the Fort Worth Zoo once, a long long time ago. There were areas of the Fort Worth Zoo that I liked. And other parts that I did not like. Like the aquarium. Is that aquarium still operating? It smelled bad and looked sort of rundown. Not the type thing you expect to see in the zoo of one of the Greatest Cities in the World.

Speaking of things you don't expect to see. Today I came upon a pile of litter at an unlikely location on the Tandy Hills.

That is the pile of litter I am talking about, above. This pile of litter is located just a short distance south of Tandy Falls. Where did it come from and who left it at this location? The two metal chunks of litter looked like they'd be heavy and cumbersome to carry.

Green is beginning to re-appear on that which has been brown for months. It being March wildflowers should soon be blooming. To my eyes, the best Texas ever looks is when the wildflowers are blooming.

Picking Quanah Parker Park Pecans With A Big Pile Of Litter

Quanah Parker Park Pecans

The Big Chill is being a bit of an adjustment.

Today when I left my abode to head to Quanah Parker Park to pick pecans off the ground I was wearing long pants for the first time since I flew to Phoenix in March.

That is around 8 months of being in short pants. We have a very long short pants season in North Texas.

I made the mistake of combining long pants with a short sleeved t-shirt. I should have worn something with long sleeves.

50 degrees is half of  100 degrees. I am really bad at math, but I am almost 100% certain I made that calculation correctly. It was not all that long ago we were being naturally heated to 100 degrees or more. And now, a short time later, Mother Nature has provided us a natural refrigerator.

I filled myself a plastic bag with pecans today. That is a couple of the pecans I picked up you are looking at in the picture above. What do I do with these pecans now that I've got a bag full of them? I have no idea. But, I think, maybe, roasting them in the oven is what needs to happen. I shall later Google for the answer.

Right at this precise point in time I'm not in the mood for any more oven roasting, because I just broiled 8 poblano peppers that I got at Town Talk today.

Speaking of Town Talk. Today was the busiest I have ever seen Town Talk. Inside the store there were no bad traffic jams. But, outside the store, there were bad traffic jams, with more vehicles than parking spaces.

Changing the subject from Town Talk back to Quanah Parker Park.

The Quanah Parker Park Garbage Dump

I was appalled to see what some litter bug on steroids has dumped in a ravine on the north side of the entry road, with the ravine leading to the Trinity River, a short distance away.

Someone had to be rather brazen to dump all this junk, risking someone driving in or out of the park, at any second, catching them in the criminal act.

I don't know why this type disposal method is used so much in Texas. Recently a lesser dumping of junk occurred next to the road that leads to the top of Mount Tandy.

One thing I do know. Where I lived in Washington, that being the Skagit Valley, I knew where I could haul junk to. I think it was called a Transfer Station, but I'm not sure of that. Time has reduced my ability to remember some things.

Where I live in Texas I have not the slightest idea where I would haul junk if I needed to get rid of it. Perhaps this is why, in desperation, slobby people do bad deeds, like throw away their garbage in a Fort Worth public park.

Going On A Litter Free Walk With Blue & Max In Tacoma's Point Defiance Park

I hit the publish button on the previous blogging, then when I checked the blog to make sure it blogged correctly I saw that Blue & Max, Tacoma's most well known blogging poodles, had blogged again.

I swiped one of Blue & Max's pictures.

The picture shows multiple elements of why I'd like to move back to Washington.

First off, in the picture I see two nephews and one niece. That is nephew David in the yellow shirt on the far left, mom Kristin holding niece, Ruby, whilst sitting on a piece of driftwood. Sister Jackie, visiting from Arizona, in the middle, in a blue shirt, with Ruby's twin, my nephew Theo, in the red shirt on the right.

The two closest to you in the picture are Blue & Max.

In addition to nephews and a niece, what else am I seeing that makes me want to move back to Washington?

Do you see any litter in the picture?

I get so disgusted, at times, with what a littered up mess Texas is, with so many Texans mocking their "Don't Mess With Texas" slogan.

How can so many people be such slobs, creating so much litter?

It is so perplexing.

I don't know what time of day this picture was taken. My last time at this location was in the early evening, with 100s of people picnicking, in the water, playing. This is in Tacoma's Point Defiance Park, one of the biggest urban parks in America.

Tacoma charges no fee to enter Point Defiance Park.

Most big cities, which have learned to wear their big city pants, do not charge entry fees to their basic amenities, like city parks.

The only park in Fort Worth that is even remotely as diverse, and big, as Point Defiance, is the Fort Worth Nature Preserve & Refuge.

Very few people visit this Fort Worth park.

An entry fee is charged.

Point Defiance Park has miles of really good hiking trails. Trails in deep woods with really tall trees, with those trees being green all year long, hence calling them evergreens.

With Washington being known as the Evergreen State.

Which it really isn't.

Evergreen.

A drought can make the west side of the Cascades somewhat brown, while the east side of the Cascades is mostly always brown, with a lot of irrigated green oasis.

From the location of this picture, if the sky conditions were cooperating, we would be seeing Mount Rainier.

I miss mountains.

To the left, that water you see is what is known as saltwater. Part of Puget Sound. Even though this water is in a big city, it is crystal clear, as in you can look deep into the water. Anyone looked deep into a Fort Worth lake lately? Or the Trinity River?

To get to the location of this picture Blue & Max would have parked by Anthony's Homeport. A seafood restaurant. I miss good seafood and good seafood restaurants.

Just a short distance from Anthony's Homeport is the Vashon Island Ferry dock. I miss hopping a ferry. Where I lived in Washington I could drive a short distance and hop the Anacortes ferry out to the San Juan Islands, and enjoy the island's Mediterranean climate, protected from rain by the Olympic Mountain's rain shadow.

I miss varied geography and varied climate areas within short distances.

I miss fresh fruit and vegetables. I can't remember the last time I had fresh corn on the cob. Or a strawberry that tasted like a strawberry. In Washington blackberries are free for the picking. Blackberries are my favorite of all the berries that grow in Washington.

I think if I moved back to Washington I might be able to restore my health to its former healthy vigor, with the healthy regimen of fresh seafood, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit and fresh air, with no fracking allowed.

Below is a video I made in July of 2008, from a walk with Blue & Max, at the same location as today's picture. In the video you'll see the aforementioned Mount Rainier, see the Vashon Ferry, hear me talk about Anthony's Homeport, as we try and find a parking spot and you will see a lot of people at the location of the above picture. And, in the video, you will also see no litter....

Walking Around Fosdick Lake With The Don't Litter Signs Littering The Park

Don't Litter This Sign

Today by the time of my mid-day constitutional the temperature had not yet reached 90. And a good wind was blowing. So, with it being semi-chilly I decided to go for a walk around Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

There is some shade whilst walking around Fosdick Lake, but nothing that rises to the shade level of the Village Creek Natural Historical Area .

I think it was the last time I walked around Fosdick Lake that I made mention of the dozens of litter barrels that litter the park, with signs pasted on the litter barrels saying "Don't Litter - Put it in the Can! Keep Fort Worth Beautiful."

Well,  a lot of the "Don't Litter" signs have peeled off the litter barrels and are now littering up the park. Like on the Fish Consumption Advisory warning sign you see above.

I think anti-litter signs blowing around and littering is what may be an example of irony.

I'm not sure though, I am a very bad judge of irony.

I have not seen much litter in the litter barrels that litter up Oakland Lake Park. Not that I've looked in many of them. Many of the litter barrels littering up Oakland Lake Park are near the playground areas and the picnic tables.

Please Empty This Can

There is one lone litter barrel on the east end of Fosdick Dam, not near any picnic tables or playgrounds. That particular lone litter barrel is full of litter, so full it is spilling out and over the dam.

I think a lone litter barrel overfilled with litter in a park littered with "Don't Litter" signs may also be an example of irony. Again, I am not sure.

What was also ironic, to me, was the fact that this over filled litter barrel was missing its "Don't Litter" sign. Apparently people don't like to put litter in barrels with a sign advising them to do so. But, they'll go out of their way to fill, to the point of being overfilled, a litter barrel with no Don't Litter sign.

I suspect by the next time I walk around Fosdick Lake the Fosdick Dam litter barrel will be empty.

Breaking The Most Days Over 100 Record In Dallas/Fort Worth While Picking Up Tandy Hills Litter

Dry Tandy Hills Creek Litter-Filled Bed

When I left air-conditioned comfort today, around noon, the outer world was heated to 95 degrees.

With a predicted incoming cooling trend I thought this might be my last day to be able to enjoy the salubrious effects of the HOT Tandy Hills Natural Area Sanatorium in 2011.

A strong wind blew across the prairie today. I called the wind Mariah. Mariah created a good Wind Chill Factor that prevented the sauna/steambath factor from kicking in.

Today was my first day on the Tandy Hills since learning of this coming Saturday's Tandy Hills Litter Stomp & Creek Bed Exploration.

In anticipation of Saturday I thought I'd inspect some Tandy Creek Bed today to see if I could find any litter in need of stomping.


I did not have to look very hard. The picture above is the littered view looking west at the creek bed of the recently flooded Tandy Creek that runs under the Tandy Highway, when it is not flooding. This particular litter is located a few feet south of the biggest piece of Tandy Hills litter, other than the old rusting car and truck hulks, that being the Giant Tandy Tire.

The current forecast high for Saturday is 91. Is the Tandy Hills Litter Stomp a "Shirt/Shoes Required Or No Service" type of enterprise?

Speaking of the HEAT, and who isn't? On my way back from the Tandy Hills, listening to the radio, I learned that the official temperature monitoring station at D/FW Airport had confirmed that the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex had hit 100 again, breaking the record for number of days of 100 or more, set in 1980.

It is now almost 4 in the afternoon, with the D/FW temperature measuring station reporting 106 degrees of current HEAT. A record for this 13th day of September.

I must go pick up some litter now.

Tandy Hills Litter Stomp & Creek Bed Exploration

Stratford Park Picnic Table Location

I did not make it to the Tandy Hills Natural Area and Giant Tire Sanctuary today.

But I did get an email from Don Young inviting me.

And you.

To the Tandy Hills this coming Saturday of September 17.

This is one of those invitation type things that I do not know why anyone would pass up due to the fact that not only do you get a T-shirt for participating, you also get a Certification of Appreciation, presented, I assume by the Wizard of Tandy Hills.

Below, as best as I can re-create it, is the invitation inviting you to the Tandy Hills this coming Saturday....

Howdy Friends and Neighbors,

Have you ever been hiking at Tandy Hills Natural Area/Stratford Park and noticed all the trash in the creek bed? You probably said to yourself: "Yuck!"

And, if you did, we have an opportunity for you...

JOIN US for 
**** The 1st Neighborhood FALL LITTER  STOMP ****

Saturday September 17th, 9am to 12noon

We have an amazing opportunity RIGHT NOW  because the drought has dried up the creek. That means, we can walk the creek beds (neat!) and clean up the cups, cans and crud that will (when we eventually get rain) be washed all along the creek's path through THNA and into the Trinity River.

WHEN & WHERE:
Meet at Stratford Park picnic table at 9:00 AM this coming Saturday, September 17. 2288 Chelsea Road @ 4000 Meadowbrook Drive. Park on Chelsea Rd.  (Stratford Park is on the eastern border of Tandy Hills)

WHAT:
Spend the morning adventuring and making a difference.
It will be fun, and you'll see bits of the Natural Area that you have possibly never seen before.

BRING:
The City of Fort Worth is providing Bags, Gloves, and a couple of "Little Grabbers".
If you have Gloves or Grabbers, you may want to bring them along.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?
A tee-shirt!
A Certificate of appreciation (woo!)
And a sense of accomplishment on your next visit to Tandy Hills/Stratford Park.

RSVP & ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contact: Jen Schultes
jenschultes@gmail.com

Don Young

Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area
P.O. Box 4700412288
Fort Worth, TX 76147
817-731-2787

"Keep it like it was."

Chesapeake Energy Wants To Poke Another Hole In My Neighborhood

For several weeks I've been wondering what was going on on the old, long abandoned Super Wal-Mart parking lot I drive by almost every day.

It looked like a construction site was being prepared.

I was hoping for a Sprouts Farmers Market or an ALDI.

Yesterday I drove by the "construction" site and learned what is actually going on.

Chesapeake Energy wants to poke a hole in the ground in this location, making a lot of noise and generating a lot of dust. As you can see, in the background of the picture of the Chesapeake public hearing notification sign, this proposed drilling site is adjacent to an apartment complex.

Walking behind the Chesapeake Energy sign you can see that the proposed drilling location is across the street from some retail businesses. Like Albertsons and the Chinese Super Bowl Buffet.

Chesapeake Energy has not begun the drilling process and yet it is already trashing up the neighborhood. The chain link fence around the proposed drilling site juts out onto the sidewalk, creating walking hazards.

The chain link fence acts as a net, catching litter, stopping it from blowing into oblivion. Or the Trinity River.

I was told by the person who runs the affected apartment complex that one of its residents is collecting signatures on a petition asking that the permit be denied. I told the person who runs the affected apartment complex that I did not think anything could stop Chesapeake Energy from poking a hole anywhere it wanted to poke in Fort Worth.

Because that is just not the Fort Worth Way.

Thousands Of Grackles Are Massing In Anticipation Of The Upcoming Super Bowl

In the picture you are seeing just a few of the Grackles that have taken up residence at my neighborhood Wal-Mart Supercenter and Sam's Club.

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of the birds, all over the buildings, on vehicles. And standing all over the parking lot.

The Grackles have been hanging out in this location for weeks now. They seem to be getting very comfortable with their surroundings and are not as easily startled as they were a few weeks ago.

If you've ever watched The Birds, the whole scene is very Hitchcockian.

I read this morning. Or was it yesterday? That an attempt is being made to move the Grackles from their various locations, due to some people thinking this is yet one more local embarrassment in need of being hidden from the upcoming Super Bowl.

This particular Grackle infested Wal-Mart is just a few miles to the west of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium where the Super Bowl will take place. You can see the Cowboy Stadium from this location.

Across the street from the Cowboy Stadium is one of the nicest Wal-Marts I've ever seen. With the Grackles being such Wal-Mart fans I wonder if they have taken over that Wal-Mart yet? Or, are they waiting for the Super Bowl to make their move? They seem to be very smart birds. Smart birds are not Jerry Jones fans.

Maybe the Grackles are planning to fly into the stadium, en masse, through the open end zone doors. That would be poetic.

Efforts to move the Grackles have proven to be fairly futile in the past. Methinks the locals should embrace their Grackle Colonies and turn them into yet one more tourist attraction for the visiting football fans.

I'm having a bad reaction to the efforts to spruce up this place because of the Super Bowl.

I have known a slob or two who only cleans up their clutter on the rare occasions that company is expected.

That is how this local Super Bowl cleanup strikes me.

Really embarrassing.

A sloppy place picking up its clutter because company is arriving in town.

Shouldn't the litter be picked up all the time?

And I think I've already mentioned that there is no way to control where the Super Bowl visitors might be driving.

Rather than take I-30 into Fort Worth or Dallas, they might choose Division or Lancaster.

Division goes through some real eye-popping scenery in Dallas, while Fort Worth tops Dallas with Lancaster, Berry and Rosedale.

What if a visitor gets lost in the Fort Worth Stockyards zone and meanders around the neighborhood to the west? That won't leave a good impression.

Speaking of the Stockyards. Is the New Isis Theater being spruced up for the Super Bowl? It has been boarded up since I first laid eyes on it over 11 years ago. It is in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District. I've been told a number of times that the New Isis is in the process of being restored.

But, unless it has been fixed up, without me knowing about it, the New Isis is still an Old Eyesore, that would be really easy to at least make look better from the outside.

Switching the subject back to the Texas Grackle Invasion. The Wikipedia article about these birds was amusing. And has a Texas connection.

From Wikipedia.....

Unlike many birds, the grackle benefits from the expansion of human populations due to its resourceful and opportunistic nature. The common grackle population has greatly increased in the Austin, Texas, area in recent years and is regarded as nuisance by some, due to aggressive behavior. Common grackles are considered a serious threat to crops by some, and notoriously difficult to exterminate and usually require the use of hawks or similar large birds of prey.

With just a few word changes the above paragraph could be an accurate description of Chesapeake Energy and its fellow gas drillers.

The Return Of The Short Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man Thinking About Litter Chain Gangs

I was on the Tandy Hills shortly after noon today. The sun was fully exposed with no clouds impeding its brightness.

Which made for a very bright, very short shadow.

I saw some of the results of Saturday's Brush Bash today. Along the main trail from View Street the view to the west is now much more viewable.

On the way to the Tandy Hills I saw a highway crew on Interstate 30 picking up bags of litter.

Yesterday I mentioned seeing what I thought to be a Litter Chain Gang picking up litter on the other side of the freeway from where I saw litter being removed today.

I got a few comments and emails about the subject. The Envy of the Entire Universe thought these litter pickers might have been something called Super Clean 2011 Volunteers, cleaning up for the Super Bowl.

More than one person was of the opinion this was being done for the Super Bowl.

Trouble with that theory is the Super Bowl takes place about 2 weeks from now. That is plenty of time to freshly coat the sides of the freeway with litter. Texans are astonishingly adept at littering.

I am also fairly certain that those guys in green, that I saw on Sunday, were not part of any volunteer group. First off the bus that transported them to the location was the same type prison bus I've seen transport Litter Gangs to pick up litter along the Trinity River's banks.

And, yesterday there was more than one man acting like a guard, watching the Litter Gang slowly pick up litter.

Anonymous, if that is her or his real name, told me that inmates are used to pick up litter in Washington. I've never seen this happen. But, I do know one convicted Washington felon who would greatly benefit, exercise-wise, if she were made to spend weekends picking up litter.

On a totally different subject, yesterday, or the day before, Betty Jo Bouvier mentioned a goofy thing regarding her town of Sedro Woolley, that being that a Washington radio station was having a contest called "Are You Smarter Than Sedro Woolley?"

Naturally, some Sedro Woollians are taking umbrage. Meanwhile down in Portland, that's the biggest town in Oregon, Some Portlanders are taking a little umbrage at a TV show called Portlandia on some obscure cable channel called the Independent Film Channel.

You can read more about being smarter than Sedro Woolley and Portlandia on my Washington Blog, and watch an amusing video of Portlandia.

How come no one makes a funny comedy TV show using Fort Worth for material? It would seem this town would be a gold mine of comic material. Trinity River Vision, Moron Mayor Mike Moncrief, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Lancaster Avenue, the Stockyards, Shanty Towns, thousands of natural gas wells, the Stock Show, Sundance Square, TCU.

And all the other marvelous wonders that make Fort Worth the Envy of the Nation....

Looking At The Litter In Two Flooding Rivers With One In Texas & One In Washington

Above you are looking at a railroad bridge across the flooding Skagit River, from the Mount Vernon south side of the river, a couple miles from my Washington abode. This picture was taken yesterday.

A log jam has built up against the bridge that has caused some concerns. Bridges in Washington have often been badly damaged by log jams.

The Skagit River is a bigger river than the Trinity River, which is my current neighborhood river. The rivers styles of flooding are quite different. Note how clean the Skagit River water looks. Do you see any litter besides those vexing logs?

I have been looking at a lot of pictures of the current flood event on the rivers of Western Washington. I have not seen any litter floating in the flooded rivers. Not in any pictures or video. I am sure there is some litter floating in the current flood, there would have to be.

But not in the astonishingly copious amounts I have witnessed in the Trinity River.

Above is a picture of the Trinity River during its most recent flood. The picture was taken from the south side of the river, at Quanah Parker Park, about the same distance from my current abode as the first picture, above, was from my Washington abode.

Do you notice any differences? To my eyes the Skagit River appears to be clear, clean water, while the Trinity River looks to be rather dirty, with litter floating in it.

I have boated on the Skagit River, long floats on my rubber raft. I've eaten fish caught in the Skagit River. I have inner tubed the Skagit River. These are things I can not say I have done in the Trinity River. Though inner tubing in the Trinity has become a bit of a fad among life-risking daredevils.

Below is a video of the most recent flood event of the Trinity River. In the video you will see a lot of litter float by. Ironically, this flood occurred a short time after the more dire flood that was caused by the remnants of Hurricane Hermine. One would have thought the supply of Texas litter would have been a bit in short supply for a flood following so quickly after the biggest flood I've seen since I've been in Texas, but one would have been wrong, the supply of litter had been re-stocked, totally ready for the next flood event.

Texans seem to pride themselves on being World Class Litterers. We  like World Class stuff here. Soon we will have the World's Premiere Wake Boarding facility. Where people can come from all over the world to enjoy the fragrant waters of the Trinity River....

In Fort Worth Looking At The Incredibly Shrinking Trinity River & Its Litter

You are looking at the former Trinity Falls, now Dry Trinity Falls, standing on the Trinity Trail near the bridge that leads from Gateway Park. There were 10 or more guys fishing from the location of the now dry falls today. It seems just a few weeks ago Hurricane Hermine dumped so much water in North Texas that the Trinity River was flooding higher than I'd seen since I've been in Texas, delivering litter where litter had seldom been delivered. And a lot of water.

Above are some of the fishing guys, with their lines in the water where the Trinity River discharges from  the other side. I can't imagine there being fish in this location.

Above we are looking north across the Trinity River Dam Bridge, where just a few days ago the water was quite a bit higher and I showed you a scary looking whirlpool that was sucking water under the dam bridge. The whirlpool is still swirling, though not as constant and not as big. You can see the dock, used by boaters to launch their boats, is sitting high and dry and boat-free, on the north side of the dam bridge.

In the above picture we are above the whirlpool, above where the Trinity flows under the dam. Those are not some of J.D. Granger's lost inner tubes at the base of the dam. Those are tires. There were several of them. And a rusty bed spring.

Above is the best picture I managed to get of the whirlpool. I watched a few pieces of floating litter get flushed down the whirlpool. I should have thought to take video. That would have captured the strange sucking noise.

Above is another view from the top of the dam bridge of the newly shrunken Trinity River, looking west at the Beach Street Bridge and downtown Fort Worth. The riverbank sort of looks like the tide is out.

Speaking of litter, there is still quite a lot of debris piled up around the exit from Gateway Park on to the Trinity Trail. About half the mountain of litter, that was piled up soon after the flood receded, has been removed.

Above is a look at the reduced Litter Mountain. I would think it was shrinking due to decomposition, except for the fact I could tell some mechanical device had been scraping away at it. You can see the fumes coming from the mountain of litter.

So, that was my exciting adventure at noon today. Escaping for a very short time to take a very short bike ride to take a few pictures of a very shrunken river. And some litter remnants.

Riding Into The Sunset Past Mountains Of Litter In Fort Worth

As you can read on the sign. It is time to team up to clean up the Trinity River, with a Trash Bash, September 18. I don't know if that clean up will be in time for the latest massive J.D. Granger inspired inner tube float down the Trinity.

I liked my sunset bike ride so much last night, I decided to go on another sunset bike ride tonight, starting from Gateway Park, with the duo purpose of checking up on how the humongous pile of littler is holding up that I showed you a few days ago.

I thought I might have the Gateway Park parking lot to myself. As I often am, I was wrong. A lot of cars were pulling in to the park. There were rugby games, softball games and other ball games going on. Before I unloaded my bike I saw other bikers returning from rides.

After pumping some air into my front tire, I was on my way. As I passed Fort Woof I saw dozens upon dozens of canines. A few of them chased me the length of the fence. Very frustrating for them that they could not get to me.

Soon after getting chased by the dogs I crossed the bridge out of Gateway Park to the Trinity Trails.


As you can see, the water has receded, the big pipe no longer under the flood waters of the Trinity and the floating litter and debris is now resting peacefully on the ground. The smell was not very pleasant in this location.

As you can see, Trinity Falls is back falling. As you can also see, due to the sun setting, depending on which way I'm aiming my camera I get a different lighting scenario.


On Thursday there was a several feet high pile of litter at this location, right next to the pedestrian bridge. As you can see, it is gone. Where it went to is interesting.


The litter was moved to make temporary, I hope, Mount Trinity. I wonder why the effort was made to clean the litter from one spot, only to move it 50 feet away to another spot and pile it higher? I hope it does not spontaneously combust.

A week ago tomorrow I would be drowning if I were at the location I am in the picture, on top of the Trinity Falls Dam/Bridge. But Trinity Falls is now peacefully falling underneath the Dam/Bridge where it properly belongs. A large pile of litter did not quite make it over the barrier during the flood and remains stuck, as you can see.

In the picture I am under the Riverside Street Bridge, looking west as the sun sets over the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth. I pedaled another couple miles before deciding it was time to turn around. The roundtrip ended up being a little over 10 miles.

Now we are back at the parking lot we started from. Looking at one of the ubiquitous outhouses that grace, well, more accurately, disgrace many of Fort Worth's parks.

Gateway Park's various ballfields are very well done. The baseball/softball fields have an actual restroom facility. But the rugby fields and soccer fields, that were built to replace the fields lost to the takeover, by Chesapeake Energy, of ballfields at the north end of Oakland Boulevard, do not have modern facilities. Or running water. Just a half dozen, or more outhouses.

A food vendor was selling something to eat at the entry to the rugby field. I thought modern American cities did not allow such things without proper sanitation facilities.

I saw something tonight that bothered me a lot more than Fort Worth's lack of proper amenities in its parks. But, I do not want to talk about it right now. Maybe in the morning.