A Close Encounter With A Bluebonnet And A Fisherman Has Me Wondering Why Texans Tolerate Polluted Water

I had this year's first up close and personal visit with a Texas bluebonnet today whilst walking with the Indian Ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

What a difference a couple weeks has made in North Texas. That which was previously brown has turned bright green. Leaves have returned to the trees.

The Village Creek zone is well on its way to its annual return to being jungle-like.

But, where have all the armadillos gone? Is this not the time of year when those cute critters go into fun frolic mode? Come to think of it I have not seen any armadillo roadkill this spring. Did the badly timed March freeze wreak havoc with the armadillo population?

The March freeze caused the turtle population no woes, judging by the herd of turtles today populating the Village Creek turtle log.

I was not the only human out and about enjoying the balmy weather walking with the Indian Ghosts. I came upon multiple walkers, a biker or two and one fisherman who said he releases that which he catches, due to the fish not being safe to eat.

Would one not think that if the water in your home zone was so polluted that fish living in that water were not safe to eat that some energy would be put into cleaning up the water?

I recollect a long time ago Lake Washington in Washington was badly polluted. As were parts of Puget Sound. A massive bond issue called Forward Thrust was passed which caused several things to be built, including new water treatment facilities which returned Puget Sound, Lake Washington, and other bodies of Washington water back to their original safe state. And now, in 2015, years later, salmon manage to make the trek through the Ballard Locks en route to Lake Washington, where if you managed to catch one it is perfectly safe to have yourself a salmon barbecue using that which you caught.

North Texas needs some sort of forward thinking Forward Thrust proposal to fix some of that which is in dire need of fixing on this part of the planet. If little ol' Western Washington can manage such a thing one would think big ol' North Texas could....

Rained On While Fishing In Fosdick Lake With The Twins Theo & Ruby

Fosdick Fishermen

A time complication caused by Brussels Sprouts had me exiting my abode later than the norm for my daily mid-day endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

So, due to running late, I aborted my plan to check in on the growing buffet that has been sprouting on the Tandy Hills and opted instead to walk around Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

I experienced a sort of strange weather phenomenon whilst walking around Fosdick Lake today.

In the sky there were a few wispy clouds. A good steady wind was blowing. For a few minutes, from no apparent source, rain rained down. Not many drops dripped, but there was sufficient drippage to make no mistake about the fact that the almost cloudless sky was raining.

In the picture above you are looking at a pair of Fosdick Fishermen fishing next to one of the signs warning fish catchers that it may not be safe to eat the fish you catch from this polluted Fort Worth lake.

It always strikes as such a pitiful, sad thing that such a sign is needed, with that need not seeming to provoke any sort of civic initiative to clean up Fort Worth's lakes. Maybe cleaning up Fort Worth's lake could be added to the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Changing the subject  from dirty water and boondoggles to something else.

The twins, my nephew, Theo John, and niece, Ruby Jean, turned 23 months old yesterday. That is Theo and Ruby below, sitting in their favorite chair in their living room in Tacoma.

I heard from Theo and Ruby's mama on Friday, inquiring whether I would be seeing the twins, and their big brother, David, later this month, or early in December, in Arizona, where they are going to see their grandma and grandpa and favorite aunt. Among many others.

My mom and dad have been thinking that they would be seeing all their kids in one location for the first time since August 11, 2001, sometime in late November or early December.

However, one of Theo and Ruby's aunts is not cooperating with this plan. The old TV game show, Family Feud, comes to mind.

I am sort of looking forward to meeting David, Theo and Ruby for the first time. I am fairly certain my uncle powers are still strong, but it would be nice to have that confirmed.

Fosdick Lake's Inviting New Beaches Intice Forbidden Toxic Swimming

Fosdick Lake Beach

Mid morning, this second Friday of August, the temperature was barely in the 80s, with a strong wind blowing.

Due to these ideal weather conditions, in the mid morning time frame, I thought I'd drive to the top of Mount Tandy, under the Fort Worth Space Needle, that you see near the center of the picture, and have myself some might fine Tandy Hills hiking.

But.

By the time the time came for my regularly scheduled noonday constitutional, the temperature had risen into the low 90s and that strong wind had settled back into being a slight breeze.

So.

I decided today was a good day to take around Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

Due to the lack of incoming water, Fosdick Lake is quickly shrinking. As you can see, in the picture, beautiful sandy beaches have now been exposed.

The pristine waters of Fosdick Lake, with its new beaches, looks so inviting I would have gone for a swim if it were not for the signs warning me not to do so, due to the toxicity that pollutes the water in the lake.

I imagine, as the volume of water shrinks, that the toxicity level concentrates into ever higher levels of toxicity.

One is also warned not to launch a boat on Fosdick Lake.

I wonder if the no boat prohibition is due to that toxicity eating away at the boat's structure? I saw that happen in an awful movie starring Pierce Brosnan about a volcano erupting in the Pacific Northwest. Somehow that eruption made a lake toxic, like Fosdick Lake, with boats being eaten up by the acid. If I remember right Pierce Brosnan made it safely to shore.

I have an inflatable kayak. I've been tempted, a time or two, to pump it up and take it for a float on Fosdick Lake. But then the prospect of being the victim of an on the water police chase, or the water of Fosdick Lake eating a hole in my inflatable kayak, discourages me.

Trying To Keep From Getting Dirty By Practicing Good Habits When I Walk Around Fosdick Lake

The temperature in the outer world at my location currently is colder than when I left my abode for my daily constitutional.

With some cloud action blocking direct sun action I thought I'd go to the Tandy Hills today. And then I saw the temperature on my computer based temperature monitoring device indicated it was 88 degrees, with the 68% humidity and no wind blowing making it feel like 101.

So, I opted out of overheated hill hiking and instead drove to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdick Lake.

As you can see in the picture, Fosdick Lake is looking peaceful today. And sort of jungle-like.

Fosdick Lake has grown greener since my last visit. With thick green algae returning to the north end of the lake.

Today I looked at the Fosdick Lake informational sign and noticed verbiage I'd not previously noticed, or remembered noticing, which seems to be making excuses for Fosdick Lake's sad condition.

Under the question "HOW DO LAKES GET DIRTY?" we are told "When it rains, water flows down the street and collects anything in its path, like cigarette butts, fertilizer and pesticides, litter, leaves, grass clippings and dirt, oil from leaky cars, pet waste and soap from cars washed in driveways."

Then we learn that "All that dirty water flows into the nearest storm water drain in the street, then travels underground and ends up in the nearest stream, river or lake. This polluted water not only looks bad, it causes harm to fish and plants."

Finally, to prevent this scourge we are told we should "PRACTICE THESE HABITS, keep cigarette butts inside your car and then throw away properly, use fertilizers and pesticides when rain is not expected and follow product instructions, pick up litter, leave grass clippings and leaves on your lawn - they add nutrients to the soil, clean up fluid leaks from cars, scoop up what your pet leaves behind, wash your car on the lawn or at a commercial car wash."

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Well, all that is well and good, but it all leaves me perplexed. Why is it small lakes in other urban zones do not have the type pollution problem that plagues Fosdick Lake?

Green Lake in Seattle, for instance. Green Lake is located in a much more densely populated area than Fosdic Lake. Highway 99 runs by Green Lake's west side. Restaurants and stores and apartments ring the lake. Thousands of people walk, jog and roller blade around Green Lake daily. This time of year hundreds of people go swimming in Green Lake daily.

So, what is it about Green Lake that ends up with that lake not suffering the woes that Fosdick Lake suffers?

Methinks the answer is not to be found on the Fosdick Lake informational sign in Oakland Lake Park.

Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake Ducks Do Not Seem To Be Enjoying the HEAT or Fosdic Lake

The heat seems to be stressing out the Fosdic Lake ducks. Or maybe it is Fosdic Lake that is stressing the ducks.

Twice within the last week I have found the Fosdic Lake ducks out of the water, huddled under the shade of a tree on the eastern shoreline of Fosdic Lake.

Is the lake water too HOT for the ducks? Is the lake water too polluted? Are the Fosdic Lake ducks the parakeets in the Fort Worth metaphoric mine, warning that the water is not safe?

I saw only one turtle in Fosdic Lake today. Where have all the turtles gone? Usually the Fosdic Turtles are sunning themselves on any available log when it is HOT.

There were a couple guys fishing in Fosdic Lake today, despite the signs warning about consuming Fosdic Fish.

It was only 98.7 when I left air-conditioned comfort today, around noon, to enjoy walking around the polluted lake called Fosdic in Oakland Lake Park.

I was surprised to see a group of guys playing baseball in the noonday sun. Maybe there was a cooling breezing blowing off Fosdic Lake.

There were a couple people enjoying what appeared to be a picnic under cover in the picnic pavilion.

I do not remember if I've mentioned previously that it perplexes me that, in this city of over 700,000, there are parks, like Oakland Lake Park, with picnic facilities with no running water or restroom facilities.

Is Fort Worth somehow immune from the health and sanitation rules that operate in other parts of America?

Like I said, it is perplexing.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Reporting Perplexing Parking Lot Paving & Barnett Shale Driller Water Destruction

Has there been some sort of change take place within the inner workings of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram?

Have the powers that be, who run that paper, decided that it was time to start acting like a real newspaper, instead of a propaganda shill for the Good Ol' Boy & Girl Network which tries to run Fort Worth, with, it seems, diminishing success?

Of late the Star-Telegram has had articles critical of the Fort Worth City Council's kowtowing to RadioShack.

There has been some honest coverage of the problems being created, air pollution-wise, by the drilling in the Barnett Shale. And the corruption of the state agencies who's supposed job it is to over see drilling practices in Texas.

And now today, there are 2 articles on two subjects I would not have expected to see in the Star-Telegram a year or two ago.

One article is about the absurdity of spending thousands of dollars to pave the parking lot of one of the Fort Worth city pools that are now closed due to budget woes.

In the limited range that my eyes see, I've made note of similar things that seem odd. Like the sprucing up of my neighborhood library parking lot. At the same time library hours are cut.

And just last week a big Fort Worth city road work crew resurfaced the road I take to get to the Tandy Hills and Oakland Lake Park, re-surfacing and re-striping Bridge Street from Oakland Avenue to the east. Like I said, I drive this road often. I'd not made note of it being in need of help. Why re-surface Bridge Street? Why now?

And then the big surprise in the Star-Telegram today. An article about well water gone bad soon after a Barnett Shale drilling operation pokes a hole in the nearby ground.

This type water contamination has been being reported for a long time now, in other venues. And now the Star-Telegram seems to be getting the fact that this is a really bad thing.

That photo at the top is from the Star-Telegram article, showing the orange stain left behind by the formerly clear water. Linda Scoma, who lives near Crowley, in rural Johnson County, had made note of the fact that her well water had taken on an odd odor. She worried something had gone wrong. And then Linda washed her hair to find it turned orange. From that point on there was no denying she had a serious problem

Gas Drilling Propagandists continue to deny their hole poking is polluting underground water. No matter how many times it has happened and how many times the well water has been tested to find that it contains the same chemicals that the gas drillers are squirting into the obviously leaky drill well pipe casings. That are then making their way into people's water supplies.

And rendering the water unsafe to use.

It's all appalling and perplexing and it pleases me the Star-Telegram is finally getting around to reporting on this nasty stuff that is happening to people here in North Texas.

Natural Gas Drilling Polluting Water

Incoming info from Don Young pointing me to an interesting article in the Christian Science Monitor regarding the damage being done to the nation's water supply by the hydraulic fracturing process that is used to release natural gas from stubborn hard shale.

The area around Fort Worth has been the practice ground for this new drilling procedure for about 5 years. It is now spreading all over the country.

Read the whole article here.

Below is a scary excerpt about what happened to one Texas family....

The nation’s shale-gas guinea pigs reside in 15 counties around Fort Worth, where shale-gas extraction using hydraulic fracturing has been validated in recent years. The results have brought wealth to some, but infuriated others.

Charlotte Harris and her husband signed a mineral lease last year. But she’s upset now. She sharply recalls a day last November when her drinking-water well died and a new gas well 100 yards from her Grandview, Texas, home was born.

She washed dishes that morning as usual, she says in an phone interview. But after a shower, her skin itched terribly and she realized the water had a sulfurous odor. Later that day, without warning, her toilet erupted. Water shot out of it “like Niagara Falls.”

About that time, she learned, powerful pump trucks at the nearby well site were sending pulses of water mixed with sand and chemicals thousands of feet down into solid shale to fracture it to increase the flow of gas. She and her husband now believe some of that fluid escaped under pressure much nearer the surface.

After the Harrises complained, the drilling company had the water tested but found no problem. Harris’s next-door neighbor, John Sayers, had a lab test his well water. The lab found toluene, a chemical used in explosives, paint stripper – and often in drilling fluids.

Almost a year later, the Harris family well water, once clear and sweet, is murky and foul-smelling. Ms. Harris’s husband, Stevan, trucks in about 1,500 gallons twice a week, at 15 cents a gallon.

“We’re not using that [well] water for anything at all,” Mr. Sayers says. “I was told not to drink, wash, or anything. Not even water my grass with it.”