Hot Tandy Hills Hiking In Fort Worth With My Mom & Dad Gone Missing In Arizona

I remembered my camera today when I went hiking on the Tandy Hills. My co-hiker also remembered her camera, hence the picture of me hiking.

You can sort of tell from the picture that it is a warm day on the hills.

I think with all the hill hiking I do and all the swimming I do that I am eventually going to get myself in good shape and eventually lose all my unsightly weight gain.

I think I may go for an afternoon swim. It is 80 something out there right now, with a clear blue sky, which should make for some good sun lounging.

I called my mom and dad on Wednesday when I got gas in Hurst. My one longtime reader may remember I call my mom and dad whenever I get gas. They were not home when I called. Usually my mom then calls me back later in the day.

I'd forgotten about the Wednesday gas call when I got gas again today and called my mom and dad and again got the answering machine.

I guess I shall call my sister who lives in Chandler to find out what's up with my mom and dad. My mom and dad live in Sun Lake. About 8 miles, I think, from my sister's house. Chandler and Sun Lake are Phoenix suburbs.

I will likely hear from Betty Jo Bouvier now, harping about me going to Arizona to see my mom and dad.

In the meantime I'm going to go swimming and lay on a lounge chair for awhile.

The Thrill Of The Chill Of The 1st Day Of November In Texas

Last year on the 1st of November I remember making a video and declaring on it "It is the 1st of November and I'm still swimming."

Last November it seemed unusual to be swimming in cold water.

This November the thrill of the chill does not seem all that unusual.

It did not even seem all that chilly this morning. It helps that the temperature was in the upper 50s.

That, and, as you can see, since last November I have added a nice layer of insulating adipose tissue.

Is a super obese person able to go swimming in ultra cold water, having what amounts to a natural skin diving suit?

Speaking of chilly. It was a super chilly haunted Halloween for North Texas professional sports teams on Sunday. The Dallas Cowboys lost, as usual. I don't know to whom or by how much. Why did the Dallas Cowboys used to be known as America's Team? At least locally. Really makes no sense to me. America is fond of winners.

A few feet east and north of the location of the Dallas Cowboys' latest loss, the Texas Rangers suffered loss #3 in the World Series, scoring nary a point to get beat by the San Francisco Giants 4 to 0. The Rangers now need to win 3 games in a row to win the World Series, beginning tonight at the Ballpark in Arlington.

If the Rangers now win 3 in a row and the World Series I think the locals should start calling the Rangers "America's Team."

Shivering After Swimming While Wondering How The Duo Bush First Pitch At The Ballpark In Arlington Texas Rangers World Series Game Works

It is the day before the last day of October. I think that makes tomorrow Halloween.

As you can see, looking out my bedroom window, today is a nice weather Saturday morning, unlike last Saturday, when tornadoes touched down in my neighborhood, lightning struck, thunder boomed, rain drenched and my bike was stolen.

It was in the low 40s when I went swimming this morning. It is over 2 hours later and I am still sort of shivering.  I do not remember having a shivering episode, like this, previously.

Unless I count the time I learned a certain someone referred to me as her second husband. Thinking of that can still cause a shiver.

The Texas Rangers need to beat the San Francisco Giants today or they will be behind 3 games to 0 in the World Series. If the Rangers lose today and tomorrow then it will still be able to be said that the Texas Rangers have never won a World Series game.

Today's game starts around 4. This means I need to get my Tandy Hills hike in early, so as to be able to be at the Ballpark in Arlington in time to see the Bush's throw the first pitch. I think that is today. How do both Georges throw the first pitch? Can't there only be one first pitch?

I must go find some more clothes to put on. Or take another extremely hot shower.

July 21 In Texas Thinking About Snow & Swimming

No. That is not the morning of July 21 view from my patio.

I was stopped from taking a picture this morning of the view from my patio, due to the fact that when I turned my camera on it told me to charge the battery.

Actually, what it said was "Replace Battery Pack". I'd not seen this message before.

What you are looking at is the view from my patio last winter, around Christmas, if I remember right. A very rare foot of snow fell on North Texas.

Hard to imagine that possible in our current status of going over 100 every day, Heat Index-wise.

I find it difficult to believe, right at the moment, that I continued taking a morning dip in the pool all winter long. But I did. Often a very quick dip, then a fast run for the hot tub. I don't know if I am going to continue this bizarre practice this coming winter.

I'll be heading to the ice free pool in a little bit, after the sun finally decides to arrive. The early morning, very dark sky was still missing the moon this morning. Where has the moon gone?

I think I'll do me some virtually tripping to the East Texas Piney Woods zone again today. To Marshall. A town with an interesting history.

Up Before The Crack Of Dawn In Between Storms In Fort Worth

You are looking at the crack of dawn on the last Tuesday of June, from my bedroom balcony.

You would think you are looking at a blue sky, but you aren't.

For some photographic reason not understood by me, when I aimed the camera at the cloudy sky, with the sun just starting to light up the place, the picture turned out to be sort of black and blue.

The forecast is for more possible storming today.

Yesterday, early in the evening, about 7, it was raining hard. I thought the idea of going swimming in the rain sounded fun. And it was. Til the rain turned into heavy duty downpour mode. And then I started hearing thunder rumbling. Having been badly boomed by a ground zero lightning strike earlier in the day, I figured it was probably a good idea to get out of the stormy pool.

A rare thing happened last night. I stayed up til past midnight. I was afraid I was in for an insomnia night, but that didn't happen and, despite going to bed late, I got up before dawn cracked.

I have an inkling I am in for an interesting day. And don't ask me what's for lunch, because I don't know.

Saturday Morning Looking At Me From My Computer Room Window Swimming

You are looking at the Saturday morning zoomed view from my computer room window of me getting wet in the pool.

We are back with completely clear of clouds blue sky again, after Thursday's and Friday's thunderstorms.

I pooled for over an hour this morning. It's a pleasant way to start the day.

I'm wandering around taking pictures of a construction project this morning.

I'll be wandering around the Tandy Hills, today, late in the afternoon. That's my current plan. Subject to change.

BBQed burgers, garlic mashed spuds and watermelon is on the menu for lunch. Don't be late. The burgers will quickly be gone.

Pushing Through Snow Drifts To Go Swimming On The First Day Of Spring In Texas

You're looking at the view of my pool, out the weight room window, with bushes covered with snow, on the first day of Spring in Texas.

If I remember correctly, last year, on the first day of Spring, the water in the pool was already a pleasant temperature and I already had a suntan. Those type Texas days are gone, now that the state, apparently, has decided to re-locate in the Arctic.

When the sun finally got around to lighting up the place, this morning, there was more snow to be seen than I'd expected. Due to the high wind, most areas, like around the pool, were swept clean of the cold stuff.

It is 33 out there right now, coming up on 10am. It was colder than that when I went out, pool-bound, about 8.

In the still photo, extracted from video, you can't tell I was reacting with a bit of a shiver when getting in the water. In the video version I verbalize my reaction to the cold saying something like, wow that's cold.

After I took the video picture I retreated to the Hot Tub to warm up. After that was accomplished I jumped back in the ice, from the deep end, and hurried to the shallow end.

If it weren't for adding an additional 40 pounds of insulative adipose tissue I don't think I'd be able to enjoy these cold morning water experiences. Does a morbidly obese person feel the cold at all? I can't help but wonder.

Still no word from any of the missing persons.

And on a totally unrelated note, the movie star Sandra Bullock is married to a guy named Jesse James. Apparently Jesse was a bad boy and has been in the news lately. Years ago there was another bad boy named Jesse James. Long ago I made a webpage about Jesse James and his imaginary connection to Granbury, Texas, titled "The Truth about Jesse James." Due to people looking for information about the modern day Jesse James bad boy, my webpage about the other Jesse James has gone through the roof, hit wise, due to people Googling for the truth about Jesse James.

I Am A Fat Tub Of Texas Lard So I Went Swimming In The Snow This Morning

There is still a lot of snow whiting up the place, Saturday morning, in Texas. I decided, last night, that nothing was going to stop me from my regular early morning routine, Saturday morning, and nothing did.

I learned this morning that walking barefoot on snow is not an unpleasant sensation.

It is currently 33. It was 32 when I went swimming. It is foggy out there. How can there be fog when the air is freezing? Shouldn't those fog droplets freeze and fall to the ground?

I was appalled this morning to have the scale tell me I've reached a new high with this mysterious weight gain problem I've been having. My new high is 206. When I was last in Washington, summer of 2008, I recollect aggravating some of my aggravating female relatives by remarking I weighed less than any adult Jones' girl. At that point I weighed about 175.

I probably still weigh less than any adult Jones' girl, at 206, now that I'm thinking about it.

I figure at my height and activity level I need about 3,000 calories a day. To gain a pound one must consume 2,000 calories above ones caloric needs. I can't figure out how I am adding sufficient calories to account for the weight gain. It's very perplexing.

I have eye witnessed an extremely obese person's feeding habits with it no mystery why the person was so huge. I have none of those bad habits. I don't like candy. I don't do desserts. I don't slather butter on various edibles. I don't gobble down a half gallon of ice cream. I don't particularly care for ice cream. I rarely eat fried food. I don't even eat dinner. My only big feeding of the day is lunch and that is not all that big.

Anyway, I'm very perplexed about turning into a big tub of lard without being able to find the lard, no gut, no fat butt, no man boobs, no double chin. Where is the weight? Maybe I've grown taller. I should find a tape measure and see if that's the answer.

On a totally unrelated note, the Temporary Scrabble Queen of Hawaii seems to have gone missing. I've not gotten a daily update torturing me with tales of being too HOT and snorkeling and having fish tacos, for several days.

No Texas Clouds Booming In My Zone Of Texas Last Night

Yesterday's predicted Two Inch Hail and Tornado Spewing Thunderstorm did not make it to my location.

Instead it was a very quiet night here in my zone of North Texas.

While I was watching American Idol last night there were none of the annoying "important" weather interruptions by hyper-excitable local weathermen. Instead a nice little message was placed in the upper left corner saying this, that or the other place was having some storm action.

I suspect if I'd been watching something on ABC, instead of the #1 show in TV, I would have seen Pete Delkus doing all sorts of drama queening over a slightly rotating cell somewhere in North Texas that had a remote chance of turning into a tornado. Or producing hail.

I just Googled "Pete Delkus" to make sure I had the name spelled right and was surprised to see this very blog come up. I really do not have a very good memory. It was less than a year ago I mentioned Pete Delkus in a blogging, in March of 2009, title "The Texas Clouds Are Booming & Pete Delkus Is Twittering."

Anyway, that's my morning view in the above picture. A nice blue sky.

Stayed in the pool at least twice as long as any previous time this new year. I'd never thought to take the temperature of the pool water before, but did this morning. Took the hot tub thermometer and stuck it in the pool.

54 degrees.

That fits with my operating belief that the pool water temperature pretty much is an average of the air temperature over a 24 hour period. Which means it will be even warmer tomorrow.

I'm off on a photo assignment this morning. With no danger of running into Gestapo Goons.

Back In The Pool In The Deep South & Simpatico With The High North

I was back in the pool this morning for the first time since New Years Day. I'm feeling the best I've felt all year, this morning, I think in large part due to the salubrious dip in refreshing cold water.

One of my favorite Field Operatives, she's known as Miss CVB of Sedro Woolley, Washington, sends me some amusing and educational items, quite regularly.

People here in the Deep South (my location in North Texas is the Deep South to those in the High North) find it unfathomable that anyone would get themselves wet in outdoor water during anytime outside a narrow window of opportunity that runs from sometime in May through early September.

Meanwhile those of us from the Great White North pretty much go swimming all year long.

Below is a YouTube video of some Canadian Yankees doing some winter swimming...

Merry White Christmas From A Skinny Dipping Santa In Texas

The Dallas Morning News article about yesterday's day long Christmas Eve snowstorm called it a blizzard. I thought it looked like a blizzard, heavy wind blowing the snow horizontal, but since I'd had never been in a blizzard I didn't really know for sure.

Three inches were recorded at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, with that three inches being the first Christmas Eve snowfall since the National Weather Service started keeping records in 1898.

The National Weather Service was keeping records where D/FW Airport is located? Way back in 1898?

At times, during the blizzard, visibility was reduced to around a quarter-mile. A lot of flights did not make it out of the airport yesterday on time.

This morning it was well below freezing when the sun came up. Making this a White Christmas. Because it was so windy a lot of the snow got blown into little drifts. I have a little snowdrift outside my front door. The snow had mostly blown away from the cement area around the pool.

We have now gone above freezing so the white stuff is starting to disappear.

Like I said I would, yesterday, despite my therapist Dr. L.C.'s admonishment not to, I went swimming this morning and photo documented it. And like I said I would, all I wore was my Santa cap. I believe this is the first time I've gotten into the pool when it was below 25.

Since the water in the pool was not frozen it was significantly warmer than the air. So the immediate reaction to getting in it was that it felt warmer. I have no idea what the temperature of the water is. We got to almost 80 two days ago.

Thai food is my Christmas feeding theme. With blackberry pie. The feeding is around 2. Don't be late.

Back To Balmy December Swimming In Fort Worth Texas With Video

That freezing temperatures nonsense is now behind us, for now, here in almost balmy Fort Worth, Texas.

So, I decided to give swimming a try this morning. Before I tried that I found a video I made last December, that I'd forgotten about, documenting that I was still swimming.

A year ago this seemed unusual to me, to still be swimming. Now it no longer seems unusual.

The quality of the video I made last December is real bad. For several months I was using my video camcorder with a setting that made for bad video. This affected all the video I shot when I was up in Washington a few months prior to the December swimming video.

About a month after figuring out why my video quality was so bad I got a new camera. I don't think I've made any videos since then.

It's been a couple hours since I subjected myself to an ice bath. I'm still a bit in recovery mode from that.

Anyway, below is video taken a little over a year ago, really bad video...

Another Cold Foggy Wet Day In Fort Worth Texas

It is not even winter yet and I've grown tired of that particular season this second Tuesday of December in Texas.

That is my balcony view when I returned from swimming around 8 this morning. The fog was so thick it was pretty much a drizzle getting everything soaking wet.

It is a relatively balmy 40 right now in foggy Fort Worth. I suspect the swimming water was a few degrees warmer.

My new swimming shock therapy method is to run into the pool til I'm in swim mode, swim to the end, swim back, run to the hot tub. When I get in the hot tub I feel no heat for a couple minutes. Then it gets feeling too hot. I then get back in the pool where it takes about 2 minutes to feel too cool again.

I heard from the Mad Texas Grandma a couple times last night, emailing from her cruise ship somewhere in either the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean. We still have not found out who actually owns A-AARLINGTON ABANDONED VEHICLE or how it is they tow cars from the Stadium Wal-Mart with Wal-Mart claiming they have no towing contract with the mysterious company.

It is going to be a long day.

Swimming With Sub-Freezing Temperatures In Fort Worth Texas & A Jerry Jones Mystery

You're looking at my view of Fort Worth freezing in the picture. We went 5 degrees under freezing last night. It is coming up on 11 in the morning this first Saturday of December at a balmy 38.

Brrrrr.

I know I'm adding evidence to the case to be made regarding my possible insanity, but I got in the pool this morning before 8. I warmed up on the machines in my weight room. Then jumped in the pool.

It was shocking. I got wet and got right out and in to the hot tub. After I was done in the hot tub I felt no inclination to jump back in the pool

I am determined to do something aerobic today. All this inactivity does all sorts of bad to me. I quickly put on weight like a hunk of fattened up cattle getting plumped up before the slaughter.

I believe the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area is in my future for the day. Unlike my attempt to walk in the cold a couple days ago, today I will be prepared.

On a totally unrelated note, I just got email from an Arlington grandma who wants my help in solving a mystery involving Jerry Jones, Wal-Mart and an Arlington Storage Facility. Sounds intriguing. She gave me 2 numbers to call. She says she has done some digging and has uncovered some good stuff. But she needs help writing it all out.

This could be interesting. Or not.

Going Swimming With The Polar Bears In Texas With Republic Tequila Following Me

Yeah, that's me in the pool this morning with one of my swimming buddies. It was so cold I had to wear a jacket, but forgot my stocking cap.

When I woke up the computer this morning, at 6am, WeatherBug told me it was 65. I thought, well, this is unexpected, I thought it was supposed to get cold overnight, the pool should be nicely warmed up.

And then WeatherBug refreshed its reading and told me it was 45 out there.

That had me thinking I might not last too long swimming this morning.

I was partly right. The water was warmer than the air, so that made getting in the ice water easily doable. I lasted about 10 minutes before requiring a warm up in the hot tub, in which I do not feel the heat when I first get in it. And then I overheat in about 3 minutes and get back in the ice water to cool down.

One would think that going from hot water to cold would be more bracing than my initial immersion, but it isn't. I've not been able to find a physiological explanation for this peculiar phenomenon. Then again, I really have not searched all that hard for an answer.

I see in incoming email that Republic Tequila is now following me on Twitter. Why do I seem to attract so many alcohol related Twitter Followers? It's very perplexing to me.

WeatherBug is chirping with a Weather Alert Message. These usually are annoying. And true to WeatherBug form, this one was annoying. And not at all weather related. It was a Child Abduction Alert. I've tried to change the settings in WeatherBug to only warn me if a severe Thunderstorm or Tornado is incoming, to no avail.

I should get rid of the WeatherBug nuisance. But I like being able to see what the temperature is. It's a conundrum.

Winter Arrives In Fort Worth, Cold & Windy

That is the foggy view looking through my patio door this morning in Fort Worth. We have had a reversal of temperature fortunes, careening down into the low 40s from days nearing 80. Brrrrr.

And it is being very windy, with the windchill factor making it feel like it is the 30s out there.

Again. Brrrrrr.

But, even though it is a bit chilly out there, I managed to go swimming this morning. The water was actually quite a bit warmer than the air, so it was very easy to get in the pool.

I discovered something new this morning. I wanted to make ham and eggs and hashbrowns, but could find not any spuds hiding in here. But, I did find a sweet potato. So, I shredded it and made sweet potato hash browns. Turned out quite tasty. And way more nutritious than a hash browned spud.

It rained a bit yesterday, but I don't think enough of the wet stuff fell to muddy up the Tandy Hills. So, I see a cold hilly hike in my future for the day.

Am I Coming Down With A Texas Cold?

That is me sneezing about 2 minutes ago at 9:55am, Thursday, November 12, 2009. I started sneezing about 9:00am. At 9:45am I decided to aim the camera at myself and set the self-timer and try and catch myself in a good sneezing eruption. This is the best I came up with. I should have set it to video mode. That would have worked better. But, in my current oxygen deprived state of muddled thinking, I did not think of video.

Yesterday I had a burning eye sensation all day long. I thought this was caused by yesterday's incredible bout of gray smog here in Dirty Ol' Town, aka Fort Worth.

But, this morning I am having that telltale slightly dripping nasal type woe, combined with the sneezing.

In other words, I am afraid I may be coming down with a cold. Or worse. I can not remember the last time I've been sick. I can't even remember the last time I had a headache. My sister in Phoenix had the flu last week, but I had no contact with her, except by phone. One of my Washington corespondents, Miss Karen P. F., had a 3 day bout with a cold. I politely asked her not to send me a virus. I'm sure she didn't.

I've been very careful when out and about among germ/virus laden humans. I have been to no restaurants, in months, where sneeze guards protect the food. My closest contacts with humans, alien to me, was at Sprouts Farmers Market yesterday. It was crowded. Very crowded. I cleaned my grocery cart handle with the provided disinfectant wipe and tried to keep a distance from any passing illness carriers. But there were a few very close encounters. Once by the Texas Ruby Red Rio Grapefruits, once by the Broccoli Crowns, once by the Brown Rice, with the worst encounter being by the free sample of Hummus. There was actual physical contact at the hummus station, after which I rushed to get a disinfectant towel. I may have been too late.

My pattern, when ailing, is to continue on as if I'm not ailing. That usually works. At times, in the past, I've knocked out an incoming cold by using the non-doctor approved method of going to the liquor store and getting a bottle of potent medicine. A good dose of that usually knocks out a cold. But that can be one of those the cure is worse than the disease type things.

A person I know here in Texas, let's call her Miss Puerto Rico, takes a daily self-prescribed, non-doctor approved, dose of medicine that she gets at our local supply store. She has not had a cold as long as I've known her. Then again, neither have I, and I don't use her medicine daily.

Despite the symptoms of a possible incoming cold, I braved the other type of cold and went swimming this morning. It was very pleasant.

A Cold October Sunday Morning In Texas

It was 47 when I got in the water this Sunday October morning. The water was warmer than the air. The coldness made my sore thumb feel better. That's a good thing. I don't like having a sore thumb. It makes typing difficult and the mousing painful.

Twitter is not working this morning. I'm guessing the Twitter servers are being attacked. Google's Blogger is acting up this morning, too.

The last time Twitter was attacked, Facebook was attacked on the same day. Facebook seems to be working fine this morning.

I just heard from my therapist, Dr. L.C. that she is having a bad weekend. So, I didn't want to burden her more by asking what she can do for my sore thumb.

Today is the last day of the Texas State Fair in Dallas. Yesterday at the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park, which is where the State Fair of Texas takes place, Texas beat Oklahoma in the annual Red River Rivalry football game. Apparently this has been going on for years, I believe Oklahoma comes down from Norman and Texas comes up from Austin to meet on neutral ground in Dallas.

I have no clue what I'm going to do today. I'm lost, lost I tell you, without Twitter.

Frigid Texas Temperatures With Geese Flying South While I Swim Under Them

I don't think the temperatures, here in my zone of North Texas, climbed out of the 50s yesterday. We are coming up on 3 in the afternoon and 57 degrees. It looks like we aren't going to warm up today either.

I'm liking it. Sort of.

When I went swimming this morning it was 52 and drizzling with the most dense drizzle I've ever been in. I thought I might be chilled into bailing on the swimming, but quickly found it was totally doable.

Another thing happened, when I was in the pool, that was the most of something I'd ever seen.

Over head a massive formation of geese flying south spanned the horizon. As all the birds kept progressing south from me, I kept expecting to see either the left or the right end of the formation. When I'm in the pool I am surrounded by trees, but I still have a fairly wide sky view. That formation of geese, forming several "V"s must have been at least a mile long. Who knows, maybe it was several miles. I'll never know.

It sure was one of those occasions that are the reason 99% of the time I have my camera with me. But, not at the pool this morning. I would not have been able to be quick enough, even if I did have the camera with me, I think.

So, that's pretty much my exciting Sunday in this hell I am living in Texas. I keep telling myself tomorrow will be a better day, but it rarely seems to be. Maybe tomorrow will be an exception.

I love it when I hit the check spelling button and I get told no misspellings have been found, which is what just happened. Such news didn't cheer me up all that much though.

Sleepless In Fort Worth & Catching Common Carp at Fosdic Lake

I have been awake since around 3 this morning. I gave up on the sleeping concept by 4.

I'm tired.

At half past 5 I went down to the pool. The air temperature was 56. The water felt colder than the air. After 5 minutes I was not liking being cold. So, I got in the Hot Tub.

The Hot Tub felt way too HOT. After about 10 minutes I got back in the pool to cool off. This time the cool pool did not feel cold. I swam for around 15 minutes. I was back in climate controlled comfort before 6am.

That is Fosdic Lake at Oakland Lake Park in the picture, a bit before noon. As you can see we are being a bit gray here in North Texas. I needed to go on a walk. My backache woe is still not totally gone away, but it's a lot better. And a walk helps a lot.

I think the fish warning sign at Fosdic Lake has been changed again. Yesterday I mentioned I am a fan of goofy messages on signs.

The sign says...

EATING FISH FROM FOSDIC LAKE

The City of Fort Worth advises against eating common carp from Fosdic Lake. Recent test results from the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) revealed a pollutant in common carp.

The City of Fort Worth and DSHS conclude that eating other fish from Fosdic Lake poses no apparent hazard to public health.

Tips for preparing fish to eat:

• Clean fish as soon as possible
• Remove and throw away the head and guts
• Fillet fish and cut away fat and skin
• Grill, bake or broil your fish and let the fat drain away
  

Now, doesn't that make you want to go fishing for dinner at Fosdic Lake?