Lillian Mae McGregor Candy Canes Burns MSU Fantasy Of Lights

I do not remember if that which you see above was something I have seen previously whilst visiting the MSU Burns Fantasy of Lights. I know I have previously known the story told on this installation, explaining how the Fantasy of Lights came to be.

You can read the text on the historical marker type sign below, and then below that a closeup look at Lillian Mae McGregor, in Christmas mode, with candy canes, near the end of her life in Wichita Falls...

 Christmas 1916 

 Lillian Mae McGregor and Lester Thomas Burns were newlyweds living in Wichita Falls. They displayed a small Christmas tree on their front porch for neighbors to enjoy and thus was born the "fantasy of lights." In 1928 Lillian and L.T. built a home on the corner of Clarinda St. and Harrison Blvd. and each year added a new display. For the next forty-three years, sharing the Christmas spirit was their passion. Midwestern State University adopted the displays and continues this wonderful tradition. Lillian and L.T.'s spirits live on for all children and adults to enjoy. Look around, you might even see her handing out candy canes! 

 Merry Christmas to all!

After dark, last night, I found myself driving down Taft Boulevard where I saw the Fantasy of Lights lit up, along with all the lights on all the buildings of MSU. And the nearby Beverly Hills of Wichita Falls neighborhood, also lit up in full holiday season mode.

An impressive display of the Christmas spirit.

And last night the Fantasy of Lights was crowded with holiday celebrators walking the trails through the displays. I think the volume must be turned up when the sun goes down because I could hear the music as I drove by with my windows up.

For my eyes, the Wichita Falls Fantasy of Lights, and the surrounding university and neighborhood, is even more impressive than the formerly most impressive like thing I have ever seen, that being Arlington's Interlochen neighborhood's lighting extravaganza.

This Christmas season I must remember to do an after dark drive through the Wichita Falls Beverly Hills. There is a mansion there in the Southwest Arizona/New Mexico adobe style, which I saw yesterday whilst rolling by on my bike, has luminarias on the ground all over the property.

I first saw luminarias as a Christmas light thing way back in the year 1999, visiting mom and dad over Christmas, in Yuma. Dad drove us to a hilly Yuma neighborhood which lingers strong in my memory due to all the luminarias, and all the people sitting outside, beside the road, offering drinks and treats to those driving by. I had never seen anything like it, previously, or since...

Hank Frank Visits Great-Grandpa Jack & Great-Grandma Shirley's Future Final Home

Incoming text message, with the photo you see above, from Hank Frank and Spencer Jack's grandpa Jake, with the text saying "Henry visited his great-grandpa today."

I can see via this photo that the monument in Lynden's Monumenta Cemetery has already been edited to include mom. Til now I was not aware this had already happened.

We are currently scheduled to move mom into her final home with dad, next August 6, which is mom and dad's anniversary.

I do not do well at math, but I think this will be mom and dad's 69th, or 70th anniversary together.

Why Seattle Seahawks Will Not Beat Dallas Cowboys In Super Bowl

This blogging falls into the category of seeing something in an online west coast newspaper, usually the Seattle Times, which I would not be expecting to see in a Texas newspaper, usually the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, about a similar thing happening in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro zone.

In this case the thing one does not see in D/FW is the local NFL team winning a game and taking over first place in NFC West, East, North or South.

As long as I have been in Texas I have been reading and hearing the North Texas locals lamenting about the Dallas Cowboys never seeming to have themselves a mighty fine winning team.

When I lived in Washington I recollect the Seattle Seahawks being like the Dallas Cowboys, as in never making it to a playoff game, let alone the Super Bowl.

Since I have been in Texas the Seahawks have made it to more than one Super Bowl. I think they won the Super Bowl once, maybe twice. My memory of this type thing ain't all that great, and I don't think the need for the actual number is great enough to warrant consulting Google.

Earlier in this century when the town of Arlington, in cahoots with Jerry Jones, he being the hapless owner of the Dallas Cowboys, went for a record breaking level of abusing eminent domain to dislodge hundreds of citizens and businesses so as to have enough land onto which to build a giant homage to a space ship serving as a football stadium.

Years ago I webpaged this blight of Dallas Cowboy Stadium eminent domain abuse, with that eminent domain abuse being the primary reason Tarrant County is known as the Eminent Domain Abuse Capital of America, with that title made even more solid when Fort Worth went in for some outrageous eminent domain abuse in order to take property for its ill-advised, ineptly implemented economic development scheme disguised as un-needed flood control.

Way back when I was shocked to see all the homes, apartment complexes and business taken away for a sports stadium I opined that the bad karma of this will likely keep the Dallas Cowboys from ever being in another Super Bowl, and would put an end to the Cowboys being known as America's Team.

As of 2019, both bad karma results seem to be happening. There are fans of the Dallas Cowboys over a quarter century old who have never seen the team play in a Super Bowl.

Eminent domain was not used or abused to get the land on which to build the Seattle Seahawks stadium. All they had to do was blow up the Kingdome and build a new structure in its place.

I saw the above on Facebook this morning. Seeing this caused me to wonder anew if this will finally be the year I secure an invite to the legendary Knappson Super Bowl Party. Those tickets are even harder to get in a year when the Seahawks are in the big game...

UPDATE: Ex footballer, or long distance jobber, Bruce F., points out that it is impossible for the Seattle Seahawks to play the Dallas Cowboys in a Super Bowl, unless one or the other moves from the NFC to the AFC. I probably should have already realized this...

David, Theo & Ruby Chilly Crossing Harstine Island Bridge With Out Mountain UPDATED With Mountain

Incoming photos in this morning's email, sent via iPhone from Harstine Island  in Puget Sound in the west coast state of Washington.

First line of text in the email...

It was really chilly, but the mountain was out.

Ruby and David don't look too chilly, but Theo sort of looks to be shivering with his teeth chattering.

When someone in Western Washington says the Mountain is out, it means the sky is clear and one can see Mount Rainier looming above.

However, none of the photos show the Mountain. In the chilly photo I believe we are looking west, so the Mountain would be in the direction Ruby, David and Theo are looking, oriented slightly to their right, or south.

The text in the email also made mention of that structure behind Ruby, David and Theo...

Also, the bridge to Harstine Island. Built in 1968, I think. Replaced an 8 car ferry!

Another photo gives us a closer look at the bridge which replaced an 8 car ferry.

No details regarding how long it took to build this bridge over actual water. I suspect it took way less than four years. I doubt also that those piers holding up the bridge were ever referred to by any local idiot as being signature piers. I also doubt the building of this bridge to replace an 8 car ferry was turned off and on for years whilst waiting for federal welfare money to arrive from more prosperous parts of America.

Meanwhile, in Texas, this morning we blogged about Fort Worth's multi-year mess of trying to build three simple little bridges over dry land to connect to an imaginary island, in a post titled Bud Kennedy Awards Fort Worth A Gizzard For Panther Island Mess.

One can not imagine how long it would take Fort Worth to build an actual bridge over actual water, particularly deep water subjected to tidal water movement.

Continuing on with the photos from Harstine Island.

I could not tell who was standing by the swings on the Harstine Island beach. But, the camera which took the photos of David, Theo and Ruby is an iPhone which takes incredibly good high resolution photos, so I cropped out the lone swing stander to see if I could see who it was.

Okay, that looks to be Theo. No guess as to why Theo is standing solo by the swings, whilst wearing boots. Had he been clam digging? And what is that tool in Theo's right hand? And am I right? Is this Theo?

I am looking forward to being on a Birch Bay beach with Theo and his siblings next summer. Since we last built sand castles together Theo, David and Ruby have undergone some professional sand castle building training, in San Diego. I suspect Theo will be the lead sand castle building project engineer, with me following his directions.

I hope the Mountain is out every day when I am up north next summer.

But, at Birch Bay, a few miles south of Canada, we are too far north to see Mount Rainier when it is out. At Birch Bay, (and the Skagit Valley) if you said the Mountain is out, it would be the Mount Baker volcano you would be seeing, not Mount Rainier.

But, Mount Baker is never referred to as the Mountain.

The Mountain is reserved to be used only for Mount Rainier.

Now that you are causing me to think about it I remembered that one can see Mount Rainier from the Skagit Valley, when one is out on the Flats, and the air is clear.

The reason Mount Rainier is on the Washington state license plates is because it is the only mountain in the state which can be seen from all over the state, well, most of the state...

UPDATE: I was informed my spelling of the island was wrong. I used the spelling from the original email I got telling me about the new cabin, as in it was on Hartstene Island. But, the island, apparently is actually Harstine Island. It is the private development on the island which goes by the island name with two e's.

UPDATE 2: A second email from David, Theo & Ruby Headquarters told me to zoom in on the last two photos and I would see that the Mountain is out in the picture. I did so, saw the Mountain, and cropped out the version you see below, clearly showing that the Mountain was out.

Bud Kennedy Awards Fort Worth A Gizzard For Panther Island Mess

I saw that which you see here on Sunday, via a right wing nutjob collaborator's Facebook page.

Well, actually, I only saw that which you see here when I clicked the collaborator's Facebook link to the YouTube video in which we hear the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy in, I suppose it must have been some sort of TV news segment, giving out "THE TURKEY AWARDS" with Mr. Kennedy awarding the GIZZARD FOR THE PANTHER ISLAND MESS.

You can watch the short 37 second video below, where you will hear Mr. Kennedy saying something like "If Panther Island just sits there for five more years it's gonna be a big problem for the city. If it sits there for five more months it's gonna be a big problem for Congresswoman Granger."

To which the other talking head replies something like "Because she faces a fight from the right..."

To which Mr. Kennedy interrupts to say "Because her son is running  the project", (or ruining the project, the audio was not clear).

I am somewhat clueless when it comes to understanding the retrograde politics of Texas. But somehow my somewhat clueless understanding tells me that in a sane world, a fight from the right, in its current form, should pose no threat to Kay Granger.

Particularly when you get a look at the right wing nut job who hopes to take Granger out in the upcoming primary. which we recently did in Liberal Lunatics Body Slam Pudgy Putnam.

Methinks, and again, I admit my understanding of Texas modern era politics is limited, but it seems to me the actual hope to end Kay Granger's reign will come from the left, not the right, with Granger flushed out to sea by what most Americans, and the rest of the world, are hoping will be the biggest BLUE TSUNAMI WAVE in American history.

And then, with sanity restored, partially built walls and bridges can be torn down and relegated to the dustbin of history.

Oh, almost forgot, the aforementioned YouTube video...

Maxine Wool Over My Eyes With Polar Bears

The first Sunday, and first day, of the 2019 version of December is another blue sky cloud free day in Texoma.

Clear blue sky with a strong wind with cold air blowing in from the north, rendering today's bike ride slightly chilly, requiring more than the usual amount of outerwear.

It was to MSU (Midwestern State University) I eventually rolled today. Pretty much a ghost town, what with the school children in Thanksgiving vacation mode.

I did a roll by the Fantasy of Lights installation for the first time since its grand opening. There seemed to be a few new additions, but I am not sure about that, what with my faulty slightly addled memory.

I think the polar bears above may be new. A mama bear with her cub, both wearing red MAGA hats. Or they may have been just ordinary red Santa hats. I did not get close enough to make a determination.

The red polar bear hats put me in mind of yesterday on Facebook when I saw Linda Lou had posted a photo of herself and Maxine, with the caption saying something like "Look who I found at the yarn shop! Maxine!".

Maxine's more formal name is Nancy Handy. The married version of Maxine's name is Nancy Handy Scott. It was Maxine who first introduced me to hiking the Cascade mountains, decades ago, when she trail guided myself and the entity then known as Chris McR, up the Railroad Grade of Mount Baker, starting off at Schreiber's Meadow.

Seeing Maxine with Linda Lou in a yarn shop also put me in mind of Chris McR, now known as Granny McP.

To Linda Lou's Facebook yarn shop photo with Maxine I commented that I was shocked to learn Maxine was in such a shop. Due to the fact that way back in the last century I was party to the fact that Maxine and Chris McR made their own yarn. Got wool from sheared sheep, then carded it (I think carded is the term) and then spun the carded wool into yarn, and dyed it, ready to be made into garments, such as hats and sweaters and blankets.

I further commented that even now, decades later, I still have two Maxine made all natural wool caps.

I think my Maxine caps may be the only two things, besides myself, that I still have which moved with me to Texas.

Oh, I just thought of another couple things which made the move to Texas and are still around.

So, I installed one of my all natural handmade wool Maxine caps on my noggin and set the camera to Old Lady Hotpepper mode and snapped the photo you see below.

Is that not impressive? That something made way back in the last century, is in such good shape all these years later, still keeping me warm?

Beautiful Blue Last November Day In Texoma

A couple hours after the sun arrived for the last day of the 2019 version of November the two day fog siege lifted, with the sky returned to its usual clear blue with nary a cloud to be seen in any direction.

And so this morning my mechanized motion device took me to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area to roll my bike wheels up and down some hills, along with dozens of others who came out of their Thanksgiving hibernation to get some salubrious exercise.

All in all a pleasant experience, except for the bad barking behavior of a poorly train German shepherd. The owner had the decency to be apologetic, claiming the bad dog had been cooped up for days and was thus overly rambunctious.

My first annual Tequila Taco Thanksgiving went well. There were few complaints, and lots of leftover taco fixings, along with leftover tequila.

On Thanksgiving after texting a Happy Thanksgiving message and asking if they were cooking the turkey at their new cabin, I heard from David, Theo & Ruby that they made faux turkey for their Thanksgiving dinner. I have no idea what a faux turkey is. I shall make inquiries.

And now it is only about 25 days til Christmas. All my Christmas decorations are up, and all my Christmas shopping is completed, with all my Christmas cards in the mail...

Happy Foggy Thanksgiving

Today,  the 2019 version of Thanksgiving, I can think of a lot of things I am thankful for. And a thing or two I am not too thankful for.

A couple months ago I was sure I would be in Arizona today.

Instead I am looking at a dreary foggy Texas landscape. 

And I am blogging on a new phone. If this works I likely won't be hauling my laptop on a plane anymore.

So, one more Happy Thanksgiving one and all before I hit the publish button...

UPDATE: Well, the typing part worked fine, but the photo did not show up, so I had to use the more primitive using the laptop method. I'm sure it was a user error issue which will resolve with practice.

Elsie Hotpepper Granddaughter Panther Island Challenge

That which you see here arrived on my phone yesterday, on the final Tuesday of the 2019 version of November.

The sender was Natsie Hotpepper, granddaughter of the recently retired Elsie Hotpepper.

We have not heard from Natsie's grandma since our last Smoky Visit With The Retired Elsie Hotpepper.

Natsie Hotpepper's actual first name is Natasha, but she has been known as Little Natsie Hotpepper almost from the first words she ever spoke.

Elsie Hotpepper has long insisted she never be addressed by her actual first name, which is Elsivinia.

Naming Elsie's actual name in this blogging venue is not the same as addressing her by her actual name in person, so that particular Elsie Hotpepper convention has not been violated.

I hope.

Now, regarding this "graphic" which Natsie Hotpepper sent me, well bless her heart. She means well.

And we can all appreciate Natsie's sentiment regarding making mock of Fort Worth's ongoing embarrassment which has become America's Dumbest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision Boondoggle.

But there are some obvious problems with Natsie's Panther Island Challenge meme.

First off the three bridges began their slow motion construction in 2014, not 2009. The meme shows the 2009 V-piers having made it to the cement part of their slow motion construction. That actually happened closer to 2019 than 2009.

And the 2019 part of the meme shows the V-piers in wooden form mode, prior to cement being added. Which is the reverse of the pitiful reality.

Even in 2014, when the bridge construction began with a bizarre TNT exploding celebration, actual construction did not begin til months later, in 2015, and then soon stalled.

Another problem with Natsie's meme is in the 2009 part we see the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth rising in the distance.

But, in the 2019 part of the meme the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth has totally disappeared.

Anyway, thanks for the effort, Natsie, and keep on trying to live up to your grandma's feisty reputation of working to right wrongs and fight for Truth, Justice and the American Way.

The original Hotpepper legacy is a tough act to follow...

Late Halloween With David, Theo & Ruby On A Real Island

Yesterday David, Theo & Ruby's Mama Michele emailed me with an update regarding next summer's Birch Bay stay.

I replied back and mentioned being surprised I had not seen any Halloween photos of the aforementioned David, Theo & Ruby.

Mama Michele then emailed back with several photos, with only one of the photos, that being the one you see here, being Halloween related.

I think I can only identify one of these costumed characters, and even that one I am not totally sure about. But, I think the third from the left, in basic black with red stripes, is Ruby. I am guessing that masked figure next to Ruby may be either David or Theo, with the skeleton on the far right also being either David or Theo, because none of the un-masked figures looks, to me, like either David or Theo.

And now on to the other photos, more recent than Halloween, since these were taken last weekend whilst David, Theo & Ruby drove their parental units to their new cabin on Hartstene Island. I made mention of the new cabin a couple months ago when I mentioned Ruby & David Racing Theo To New Cabin On Puget Sound Island.

For those reading this in Fort Worth, a town which only has imaginary islands surrounded by imaginary water connected by bridges built over dry land, who don't know what an actual island is, these are chunks of land surrounded by water, in this case islands in Puget Sound, which is a body of water which connects to the Pacific Ocean via the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

Above that is Theo, David & Ruby, and I have forgotten the name of the new family member, posing on a beach on a real island.

And here we see the trio on what is known as a beach. Those are also islands you see in the distance across Puget Sound. On a real island surrounded by real water this thing called the tide causes a thing called tidal flats to appear with predictable regularity.

I am looking forward to next summer at Birch Bay, which is an extremely shallow bay. When there is a low tide the beach at Birch Bay becomes huge. And then, if it is a blue sky warm day the sand on the beach heats up so much that when the tide rolls back in the water heats up, making the experience like swimming in a heated pool. This is particularly fun if the incoming tide comes in as the sun sets, with the swimming then being lit up by phosphorous illumination when one splashes the water.

Continuing on with some more beach scenes.

That appears to be Theo standing on a beached log. Beached logs are known as driftwood. It looks as if Theo is holding a large tree limb, but I suspect that is an illusion and that the limb is attached to the log.

My elderly memory just had a moment of possible clear thinking. I think the new poodle's name is Raven. That sounds right. Which would make that Raven on the log with Theo.

The above look at Hartstene Island looks like it could be a scene on a Hawaiian island, with the evergreens almost looking like palm trees. I do not know if that bridge across the channel was built over dry land, using the Fort Worth bridge building method, with the channel added later.  I can say, with almost 100% certainty, that no local politician's son had anything to do with building the bridge or digging the channel. Or creating the island.

Mama Michele made mention of the fact that they are enjoying exploring all the trails on the island. That would be photo documentation of doing so, above. I am fairly sure that is Ruby in the foreground. Not sure who that is ahead of Ruby.

In yesterday's email Michele said I needed to come check out their new cabin, soon, and have myself a mighty fine time exploring the island.

That does sound fun. I can not remember the last time I was actually on a real island.