Saturday Roller Blading Around Wichita Falls Sikes Lake

Years ago, after a bloody crash in Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area, I gave up roller blading.

That bloody crash was bad. Half the skin off half the left side of my buttocks region was scraped off by sudden contact with cement.

After that bloody crash, I eventually got myself back vertical, slowly making my way back to my vehicular transport.

Dripping blood as I slowly rolled along.

I recollect hobbling into Walmart seeking bandage material, where I discovered a liquid bandage product.

The liquid bandage product worked, stopping the bleeding. Healing soon followed. Within a couple months the bruising subsided and my buttocks region was restored to its pre-crash pristine state.

But, I swore off roller blading. Did not want to go through that type trauma again.

Til this week.

I re-installed my roller blades and had myself a mighty fine time rolling the paved trail around Sikes Lake at Midwestern State University.

Roller blading came back to me like an easily recovered lost memory. That sort of surprised me. I guess it is like riding a bike. Once one masters that skill it stays with one forever.....

I Am Happy To Be A Rollerblading Fort Worth Blogger Making Reference To Incumbent Cockroaches

After lunch I woke up my computer to learn, via blog comments and emails, that I have become a "rollerblading Fort Worth blogger who makes references to cockroaches."

It is in an article in The Dallas Observer titled A Tarrant County Water Fight Descends into the Slop with the Help of a Dallas Hotel Magnate that I have been identified as being a rollerblading Fort Worth blogger.

I do still have rollerblades. I think.

My rollerblades may have been stolen back in October of 2010 when my bike was stolen. I do not recollect checking to make sure the rollerblades had not gone missing.

I gave up rollerblading at some point in time between 2006 and 2008, if I remember right.

I had a horrific fall that left me banged up on one arm, with my left buttock badly bloodied and bruised. Recovery was complete, with no scarring. Thank you for your concern.

Why am I not the mountain biking Fort Worth blogger? Or the hiking Fort Worth blogger? Or the cranky Fort Worth blogger? I still engage in those activities.

Bi-Pedaling The River Legacy Park Mountain Bike Trail The Last Sunday Of August

I decided to take an unusually long roadtrip this fine last Sunday of August and drive 9 miles to River Legacy Park in Arlington.

It was slightly over 100 degrees when I left air-conditioned comfort around noon. It is almost 108 now, 3 hours later.

I had not been to River Legacy Park for almost 10 months. Not since 4 days before my mountain bike was stolen in a brazen act of personal, to me, terrorism.

After my bike was stolen I quickly rationalized this was maybe a good thing, due to the fact that on that last bike ride at River Legacy Park I had what is currently my last bike wreck.

It was a minor bike wreck, but I think it wrenched my right foot, creating a malady that still slightly maladizes me, 10 months later.

The older one gets the harder it is to recover from injuries. My worst bike wreck, ever, occurred on the DORBA Trail at Cedar Hills State Park. On a steep downhill the front brake cable broke. This caused an instant burst of speed that had me crashing. There was some blood and gore and a miserable walk back to the trailhead that followed that wreck.

On August 11, 2004 I survived my ex-wife talking me into rollerblading while she rode her bike in a park and through her neighborhood in Kent, Washington. In the park I found myself blading down the steepest hill I'd ever bladed on. It was a scary miracle that I did not crash.

One week after this near death experience I was back in Texas, roller blading on the paved trail at Village Creek Natural Historic Area, when a snake caused me to mis-focus my attention, which had me crashing. The skin was ripped off the left side of my butt, leaving a big, bloody mess and later a huge black bruise.

I swore off roller blading after that fall, for a long time, and only bladed a few more times before deciding it was not worth the risk of having to recover from another catastrophic fall.

Today, walking the River Legacy Park mountain bike trail it did make me feel a bit nostalgic for the good ol' days when I had fun in that location. The trail looked a bit treacherous in places, due to being broken up, due to the drought, but other than that, the trails are in great shape.

A lot of well done signage has been added to the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails, helping let bikers and hikers know the correct direction to go on the one-way trails.

It was so peaceful today in the heavily wooded, shaded zones of the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails. Very quiet, except for the rustling of leaves. I saw no herds of wild boars, no snakes, no armadillos, not even a squirrel.

One thing I did make note of today is the fact that if I were hiking up in Washingtion today, up on any random Cascade Mountain trail, I would be covered with bug spray and still spend a lot of energy swatting at biting flies of various types. In Texas, today, I interfaced with absolutely zero flying, biting insects.

Til I got to Wal-Mart....

Roller Blading Babies & A Texas Roller Blading Baby

I love a watching herds of roller blading babies. This puts it in my mind to maybe to roller blading today, rather than hiking, most likely at the Tandy Hills. I usually do not go roller blading when the temperature is in the 100 zone, because I have had some overheating incidents on roller blades that were not pleasant. So, I've relegated those wheels to late fall, winter and early spring, for the most part.

But, with my bike disabled and me continuing to forget to get it fixed, I currently have only one wheel, well actually, 8 wheel motion option, that being the roller blades. It might be doable at Village Creek Natural Historic Area, due to all the shade from all the big oak trees.

We'll see. It's a perplexing dilemna.

Broken Spoke Causes Quanah Parker Blading

Yesterday I figured out that the wobbling of my rear bike tire was caused by 2 broken spokes. I probably should have tried to figured out what was causing the wobbling earlier, because, apparently, continuing to ride on a wobbling tire likely does some serious damage to the rim that may not be fixable by simply replacing the broken spokes.

I don't know how many wobbly rides I've gone on. At least once on the River Legacy Mountain Bike Trail. One wobbly ride on the River Legacy Paved Trail. And at least 3 wobbly rides at Village Creek Natural Historic Area.

I finally grew concerned enough to look closer at the wobbly wheel when, when last ridden, the wobbliness seemed to be causing a sort of instability, similar to when a tire goes flat.

This rim has had spokes replaced before, and the wheel rim trued, at Bicycles, Inc. It was somewhat wobbly after that, so I was used to some measure of wobbliness. And then it got worse. And I continued to ignore it. I don't think it was trued correctly the last time.

Looking it up on the Internet I found a bike repair website with how-to videos. The how to replace the spoke video made it seem like the easiest thing in the world. For the rear wheel you have to remove the gear cassette. Again, easiest thing in the world.

That's easy for them to say, hard for me to do. It's like me telling someone, who has never made one, go ahead, making a website is the easiest thing to do, which it is, for me, due to having made one or two before.

The truing the wheel video admitted this was a bit more difficult. I knew I was out of my league at the remove the gear cassette part.

So, I've been up since a bit past 4 this morning. By the time the sun finally got up I hit the pool. Around noon I felt the need to be on wheels of the non-motorized sort. All I had available to me was my roller blades. I have not been on them in months. So, I motored down to Quanah Parker Park, that's the park closest to where I live, about 2 miles from here, put on my blades and bladed.

It took me about a mile to remember why this is not a favorite hot weather activity of mine. On a bike the rush of the air is cooling. Hiking there's a lot of shade and not as much exertion as it takes to roller blade. In other words I got a bit overheated. Several years ago I roller bladed to the end of the River Legacy Park Paved Trail, about 12 miles round trip. By the time I got to the end I was badly overheated. You see a lot of people overheating on that trail. It was a rough return that time. I've not been back on blades there since that incident.

As you can see in the picture above, it may be HOT, but it's nice and green. Which one would think would be cooling. But it's not. And it was very windy. Also not a big help with the cooling. So, I need to find new wheels, I don't think I'm going to be doing a lot of roller blading as the temperatures get ever hotter.

January 30 Roller Blading at Quanah Parker Park

Today is a perfect example of how I've come to be slightly addicted to at least one aspect of Texas.

And that aspect is the weather.

Two days ago we were covered with a sheet of ice and the temperature, when the sun came up, was 20.

That was Wednesday.

Today is Friday. I did still see some ice in a couple places, today. But today our temperature, here in Fort Worth, got to 65. I doubt any ice lasts til the sun goes down in a few minutes.

So, today I was able to go roller blading at Quanah Parker Park in shorts and t-shirt. And I overheated. Not to the remove the shirt point. But, close.

I took video of blading today, held the camera at eye level. YouTube is processing it right now. When I saw the video I saw I need to clean the lens. I've not done that before. If you watch the video below, you'll likely also notice I need to clean the lens.

I need a new video camcorder I've decided. The one I've got is sort of antique. I think I bought it back in 2004.

Okay, YouTube is having a hiccup and keeps saying the video I uploaded is "No Longer Available For Viewing." This seems to happen a lot anymore with YouTube. It sort of makes one want to find an alternative to YouTube.

The YouTube video below still is not working on my computer, but I've been told it works on other people's computers. I've no idea why. I'm deleting my "Temporary Internet Files."

Roller Blading At Bob Jones Park

Bob Jones Park was fresh on my mind due to having driven Mom & Dad there on Wednesday. The paved trails at Bob Jones Park make for some good rollerblading. So, that's where I went.

I also wanted to go to Sprouts Farmers Market, so I had 2 reasons to be in the south Lake Grapevine zone.

The picture of me blading, with a castle in the background, does not do justice to the castle. I'm not as tall as the castle. It's really big, even though it looks like a dollhouse in the picture.

In the second picture, as I roller blade into the distance, I shrink and the castle gets way bigger.

I was slightly overdressed for blading. It was around 60 with no wind. It is 65 now at 4 in the afternoon.

No one has heard a report from my Mom & Dad today. I just talked to my sister in Phoenix and she's not heard from them since yesterday. I hope they didn't wander too close to the border and end up lost in Mexico.

New Year's Eve Roller Blading At Indian Village & Interlochen

I need new roller blade wheels. It is not easy to find the ones I like. Last time I found them on Ebay from a nice lady in Colorado.

It is not very warm today, below 50, when I left to go blading, slightly above now. Brrrr.

I overheated blading, despite the cold. It was windy. Blading into a wind is hard work. And fun when the wind is pushing you.

Today's blading was at Indian Village Natural Historical Area. Or is it Historical Natural Area? I can never remember. I scared a little armadillo today.

The trail through Indian Village eventually exits the Natural Historical Area and enters the Interlochen zone. Part of the trail is along side one of the Interlochen canals. I want to move to Interlochen. I won't put up Christmas lights if I do, though.

I am sure you are wondering what is on my t-shirt. It is Mickey Mouse. Years ago, I took my youngest nephews to Sea-Tac and put them on a plane bound for LA, to meet their Dad and Mom (my sister) and my Mom and Dad, to go to Disneyland. I got the shirt I was wearing today out of the deal. It's Mickey riding a mountain bike.

My pool is still closed. Unless it gets fixed today, I am not going to be able to make my Polar Bear swimming on the first day of the New Year video tomorrow morning. I'm thinking maybe I'll go up to Lake Grapevine to do my Polar Bear thing. Maybe.

Sunday Sunny Texas Roller Blading at Quanah Parker Park

Tootsie Tonasket got me on the phone while I was on my way to Quanah Parker Park to roll on wheels. Tootsie had a lot of Tonasket Soap Opera to discuss. Tonasket is the Washington equivalent of Peyton Place.

Tonasket still has not exited being in a deep freeze, but at least they are above zero, which is a better spot to be than they were in last week.

Meanwhile, here in Texas, it is nearing 60, this fine Sunday afternoon. With the return of solid blue sky. My case of SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) has pretty much gone away. For now.

I've got a pork roast in the oven that I got yesterday at Sprouts. I've no idea if I cooked it right. I probably should have consulted someone. I found a lot of broccoli in the fridge that looked like it needed to be cooked. And so I did. And then put an awful lot of cheese on the broccoli. And then there are sweet spuds roasting in the oven along with some weird skinny spuds that Miss Puerto Rico gave me.

If it sounds like I'm trying to put on weight, you probably guessed correctly. I need to eat more.

I also need to get a new camera. I broke the battery cover of my current camera last week. My temporary solution has been a Totally Texas one. Duct Tape. But, that's getting old.

I've narrowed down my choices to a Canon Powershot SD 880 or 890. Or an Olympus 1050 SW. The Olympus one would be a cool one to have because it can go 10 feet underwater and survive a 5 foot drop and sub-freezing temperatures. But it's optical zoom is only 3X. The Canon 890's optical zoom is 5X. That would be good. The Canon 880 is 4x. But it has Digic 4, where the 890 is Digic 3. Digic 4 apparently is a good thing.

I hate shopping.

Winter Starts with a Freeze in Fort Worth

I was stopped by the city of Fort Worth from making a video of me swimming on the first day of winter. It would have been very cold this morning making that video. I'm probably better off.

So, I went roller blading, instead of swimming, for something aerobic on the first day of winter. It was 30 degrees when I took off from here, around noon, to put on my blades. It's now a balmy 35. The sky is back to our norm here, nice and clear and blue.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I can see one advantage to being hugely obese. The most obese person I used to know was constantly getting heavy duty aerobic exercise. Just getting out the car involved using her arms in a sort of pull-up motion to get the heft swiveled towards the door and then lifted to a walking position.

In one extremely aerobic, sort of amusing and potentially tragic incident we were in a McDonald's and the Big One had it in her head that she wanted to sit on one of the tall stools at the tall table. But she could not get her bulk on that stool. I was mortified as I watched her huff and puff and try harder and harder, so determined to get on that stool.

And then she tried a new maneuver which rang alarm bells instantly. She tried to hold on to the table and use her thicker-than-my-legs arms to pull herself on to the stool in much the same manner in which she pulls herself out of her car. Well, the table quickly began to tremble under the pressure of all that weight pulling on it. I insisted she cease at once, before she pulled the table over on both of us. Would you not think, after such a humiliating moment, that one would not proceed to eat 2 Quarter Pounders with Cheese and a Chocolate Milkshake? And Fries?

How does such a person get on an airplane, I can not help but wonder? I know Southwest Airlines is making the Heftys buy two seats. But that does not get them on the plane. I mean, how do they get down the aisle? It's a balancing act for me, due to the carry-on and laptop. But I'm basically a skinny guy. How does someone with a 4 foot diameter get down an airplane aisle that doesn't seem wider than 3 feet? And how is it fair to the other passengers to have such a dangerous clot in the aisle? It perplexes me.

I wonder what would happen if an obese person tried to roller blade? Just getting on the skates would be a challenge. I had to help an obese person put on her shoes once. It was appalling.

Anyway, below is a very short video of me roller blading at Quanah Parker Park on the first day of winter.

Swimming, Roller Blading & Ballistic Missile Launches in Fort Worth

I'm sorry to bore you with my daily swimming reports, but there is one person, well, my one reader, who religiously tracks my swimming reports, who emails me when I forget. Which I did yesterday. Well, yesterday it was much colder than the day before. I only lasted about 3 minutes before I escaped the cold and climbed in the hot tub.

Now, this morning was very strange, as in it was freezing when I went to the pool, as in actually freezing, as in 32 degrees, with frost on the roofs and ice on the windshields. Because it was freezing the water actually felt somewhat warm. I was able to stay in it for about 15 minutes. My skin's heat sensors were so traumatized that the hot tub water felt cold, even though it was steaming. It took a couple minutes for the hot tub to feel hot.

By 8:30am I had to be at the regional Post Office on Rosedale to pick up a package that had not been successfully delivered. That was interesting. A very strange collection of people waiting for the Post Office to open.

About noon I was tired of looking at my computer screen so I went to Quanah Parker Park to go roller blading. The morning's freeze had turned to 67. Very pleasant. The pool should be quite a bit warmer in the morning.

As I was putting on my roller blades I looked up to see what looked like Ballistic Missiles being launched from southeast Fort Worth. I don't know what it was that was climbing almost vertical. That's the Ballistic Missiles in the first photo.

I don't believe I've mentioned before that Quanah Parker Park sits next to the Trinity River. The Trinity River runs through the D/FW Metroplex. It is one of the few things that Dallas and Fort Worth share. That's the Trinity River, as seen from Quanah Parker Park, in the photo on the right.

Texas Twilight Roller Blading

I was feeling aggravated due to too much time wasted fiddling with annoyingly aggravating webpage stuff.

And so at a bit past 5pm I pushed myself away from the computer and out the front door.

I drove the 2 miles, give or take an inch, to Quanah Parker Park and went roller blading. By the time I was done the sun was setting.

You can see me, sort of, in the line of trees, as darkness falls. I'll likely do this again. I came back here in a much better mood.

Bye Bye High Blood Pressure, Hello Peaceful Solitude

Well. Today was all about peaceful solitude. And my high blood pressure, which is no longer high. Maybe in part due to days like today.

Sunday started off with the aforementioned photo documented icy cold skinny dip. During that icy dip I decided I was going to have a human free day. Just me to talk to myself all day long.

At 11 I needed to be in the Tandy Hills zone again. So, even though I'd hiked there the day before I decided a solo hike would be a totally different thing. I thought it would be cold like yesterday, so I totally overdressed. I was dressed for the 40s, but it was in the low 70s.

So, I thought to myself the early morning skinny dip was refreshing, why not go on a skinny hike?

I rarely see anyone at the Tandy Hills. It's actual name is Tandy Hills Natural Area. I know where the isolated trails are. I thought it might be a liberating blood pressure reducing type thing to do. I was right.

When I was done with my au naturel nature hike I decided, since it was nearby, roller blading at Quanah Parker Park would be a good thing. I don't think roller blading would be a fun thing to do au naturel. That and it'd look ridiculous wearing the protective pads and nothing else. I'll spare you a photo of me roller blading today.

After the roller blading I decided to make a 3 park day of it and went to Oakland Lake Park. Just to sit and watch the birds. There are a lot of birds in Oakland Lake. And turtles. I never saw a black goose before, but I saw one today. The black goose was with a pair of white geese, which you can see for yourself in the photo.

The first photo at the top is also at Oakland Lake Park. I was sitting in the lotus position on the edge of a wall.

In two weeks I've gotten my blood pressure down to a good reading, as in 118/69, pulse rate of 56. I think getting off the sleeping pills is one cause. Amping up the exercise so as to not need the pills, due to being worn out by the end of the day, is another likely cause. Zero tolerance for Toxic People likely has many benefits, including lower blood pressure. And I've cut way back on coffee. I think the early morning cold swims also might have a salubrious affect.

Well, it's time to put some clothes on and go have some human interaction. All this solitude gets sort of boring after awhile.

Me & My Shadow Roller Blading and Swimming in Texas

Yes, that is me and my shadow rollerblading at Quanah Parker Park a couple hours ago, before lunch. Usually today would be a go hiking at Tandy Hills Park day, but we had so much rain Monday and Tuesday that the Tandy Hills are likely still too wet in places.

The photos in this blogging are showing you parts of Quanah Parker Park I've not shown you before. The paved blading trail meanders for several miles through some interesting terrain. I have had bobcat encounters in this area. And snakes.

You may notice that unlike 2 days ago, today I kept my shirt on. It got a bit nippy, temperature-wise overnight, as in down to 41. It was in the 50s at midnight.

Consequently the pool was a bit cooler this morning. But I still managed to swim for about 45 minutes, starting at 7am. Saturday it is supposed to get down to 35 overnight. That may test my tolerance for cold.

I kept my shirt on for rollerblading, but went shirtless when swimming when it was a lot colder. One more indication of my convoluted thinking.

Both my blogs are on fire at the same time for the first time. Well, actually this is the first time my Durango TV Blog has been on fire, ever. By on fire I mean I somehow blog about something that people are searching for and so the blog gets a lot of hits. It was the blogging about Naked Biking in Seattle that caused this blog to get a lot of hits. On the TV Blog it was blogging about The Real Housewives of Atlanta's Lee Najjar being the supposed boyfriend of the Kept Woman Kim.

When the Blogs get busy the Google ads get clicked on more. For a long time I thought I was having a good ad day when I made 10 bucks. Lately I don't think I have a good day if the total isn't over 30 bucks. That isn't much, but it makes wasting time on blogs seem like less of a waste.

Roller Blading Storm Therapy & Glass Explosions

I think I already mentioned I had me a day yesterday. A 12 hour storm had left me powerless. The morning started off nice with a pleasant swim in a pool filled to the brim with fresh rainwater. The day went downhill from there.

About 9 in the morning I took off on what ended up being about 100 miles of driving, taking care of multiple little problems.

By the time I got back here, around noon, I decided I needed some relaxing, endorphin producing activity. So, I drove some more, the short distance to Quanah Parker Park. There was a little leftover flooding, but it was mostly dry.

After about an hour of roller blading I got back here and sat down powerlessly wondering when I was going to see light again. And then with a beep and a flash I was at full power once more.

I peacefully took care of some business and pondered what I wanted for lunch when I heard a horribly loud explosion and crashing noise coming from my kitchen. I ran to see what it was. There was glass covering the floor and the stovetop. At first I could not figure out what glass thing had shattered.

And then I saw that a stove top unit was on. I had it on when the power went out. And hadn't turned it off. Unfortunately I'd put a big Corningware glass baking pan on the unit. Lesson learned, I hope, I won't make that mistake again.

I wish I had taken a photo of the glass mess, but, I had another power issue, my camera batteries were dead.

Sunday With Chesapeake Energy & Mother Nature

I am sorry about my lazy slacking yesterday. I know my one reader looks forward eagerly to my daily swimming report. Well, yesterday it got down to 38 from a high at midnight of 51. So, the water was a little colder. But it remained easy to get past the bracingly cold first minute and swim for 30 more.

By noon I'd decided to bail on going to the Fort Worth Stockyards til next weekend. A Dirty Love Burger from the Love Shack will have to wait.

Instead I decided to go to the Tandy Hills and take some video, mainly of the Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling operation that has pretty much de-naturalized a large area of the Tandy Hills Natural Area.

After I was done with taking video I decided to go roller blading at Quanah Parker Park. That was fun. It was windy. I don't believe I'll be doing any roller blading or hiking today. It is supposed to be quite stormy here in North Texas today. I will try to go swimming. Rain is irrelevant when one is already all wet.

I got back here about 3 and grilled steak. After that I made the video you can watch below. I did not get around to YouTubing it or blogging about swimming or blading yesterday because I got a desperate call from a desperate person who desperately needed help with a female problem. That took up the next several hours.

And then I went to bed. But did not sleep well. So, I got up at 5am. The sun is finally up. An attempt to go swimming in the rain and cold will likely soon follow. I'll let you know how that goes. It ought not be too bad, the high at midnight was 60, currently it is 59. So, the water and air temperature will be warmer than yesterday's swim.

Oh. I forgot to mention that is the current state of the Scott Avenue piece of guerrilla art known as "Mother Nature" at the top. She is getting a bit threadbare. Today's storm may do her in. You'll see "Mother Nature" in the video below as well as above.

Texas Gas Under 2 Bucks, Car Wrecks & Roller Blading

About noon I had to go to Washington Mutual again. On the way, on I-820 near the Northeast Mall, I saw my first bad wreck in a long time. A van and a car had a bad meeting. Both looked totalled. But I don't think anyone was injured. The drivers were out of the vehicles, the passengers were still inside. The police had arrived. There seemed to be no worrying about the condition of those in the vehicles.

Cars have gotten so much safer, what with air bags and better designs. 30 years ago I don't think anyone would have gotten out of a wreck like I saw today without bad injuries or, most likely, dead.

After I was done at the bank I headed back south and went to Village Creek Natural Historical Area to go roller blading.

Yesterday's heavy wind caused the trail to be covered with leaves in places. Leaves are not a roller blader's ally. But I negotiated them without a fall. The armadillos were being real busy today. They also are not a roller blader's ally.

As you can see from the photos, gas has fallen under 2 bucks all over my zone of Texas. And there are no long lines. Just a couple weeks ago when it went under 3 bucks in a nearby gas price war, the line of cars extended out on the road.

Just a couple months ago, when I was in Tacoma, the Puyallup Tribe lowered the price at their Reservation Station to $3.99, causing lines of cars to back up onto I-5.

Okay, that's my report from my zone of Fort Worth for the day. Did I already remember to mention I went swimming again this morning at 7am? It got down to 45 last night, the high at midnight was 60. The water seemed way warmer than the air. I swam a long time.

My Right To Life, Sax & Roller Blading In Texas

More on the sax later.

First, my daily swimming report. I got in the water about 7am. It was a bit cooler than yesterday, but it was very pleasant. After I became numbed.

Rush Limbaugh didn't wear on my nerves today. Because I turned him off after about 10 minutes.

I had to go to Washington Mutual again today. Before that I went to the Post Office and got gas. Not at the Post Office, but at the gas station near the Post Office. $2.08 a gallon. I didn't call mom to tell her I got gas. I'd just done that on Sunday. It'd just worry her if she knew I got gas again so soon.

After Washington Mutual I went to Quanah Parker Park to go roller blading. As I put on my blades I started to hear music. A mournful sort of sound. In the distance I saw a guy standing, playing a saxophone. He seemed to be quite good. But I'm tone deaf, so who knows.

That's the sax player in the first photo. That's me roller blading in the second photo.

I had me quite a fine time roller blading. Today it was windy which makes rolling on wheels a bit more challenging.

After I was done with Quanah Parker Park I went to my polling place to check out some books. There seemed to be a lot of voters. There was one annoying woman holding a big "Vote Right to Life" sign. I don't care if that's her point of view. I just don't want her waving a sign at me when I'm going to get a book.

So, that's my Election Day excitement for now. My Election Night Party starts at 7. You are welcome to come. Just don't bring any signs. Or say anything stupid. I maintain a Stupid-Free Zone nowadays. If I can help it. Which I can.

Giant Caterpillar Roller Blading At Village Creek Natural Historic Area

I decided to go roller blading at Village Creek Natural Historic Area today. Roller blading there is a bit more adventurous than Quanah Parker Park. At Village Creek there are 4 hills you get to go down and back up. The hills curve and cause you to cross 2 dams at high speed.

I had my all time worst roller blade wreck at Village Creek. I never thought I'd go back there again on roller blades.

But today I did. It was fun. Just like at Quanah Parker Park, I found I didn't go down the Village Creek hills as fast as I used to, due to my need to put on some weight.

People with a lot of weight are so lucky. They get to go down hills fast and they can go in real cold water and not even feel it and don't even need to swim, they just bob up and down effortlessly due to their built-in auto inner tubes. I wish I could put on weight like that.

Back to today's blading. So, I'm rolling along and I looked down to see this big fuzzy thing, like a caterpillar on steroids, which is what I figured it was, eventually it would become one of those gigantic bat-like Texas moths that like to chase me when I'm wearing my wool cap.

In the photo above I'm stopped right above the giant caterpillar. In the photo on the right you see the giant caterpillar walking across the paved trail.

I think it was chasing me.

Swimming & Roller Blading Weather in Texas

This morning, about 9, I went swimming. The water must have been warmer because I stayed in it about a half hour. Or maybe I'm getting way to used to being frigid. The low overnight was 53 here in Fort Worth.

There is a hot tub adjacent to the pool. I figured it would not be a good thing to get in it because getting out would feel way too cold. I've learned otherwise. Today after a half hour in the cold I got into the hot. Then I got back in the cold. And to my surprise that felt good. Basically I think I've totally de-sensitized my nerve endings.

By noon it was in the high 70s. I decided to go roller blading at Quanah Parker Park. The high here today, so far, has been 88. That's what it felt like when I sat on a bench putting on my roller blades.

It was hot enough that going roller blading shirtless seemed the only sensible thing to do. I thought that sort of thing was over for the year.

There was what seemed to be a slightly crazy lady walking the trail that leads out of Quanah Parker Park. She said something to me, so I stopped and said, pardon me, what did you say? What followed seemed to be gibberish, all said with a smile. She seemed harmless. But you never know with those crazy people types.