Sunshine Blazing HOT 101 May 4 In North Texas

I do not recollect the temperature going over the century mark last summer.

Or last spring.

It seems a little early in the year to be hitting 101.

Does this portend ominously for an extremely long HOT summer?

Yesterday, during a rare moment of interacting socially with another human during this period of social distancing, that other human rudely opined that it appeared I was rapidly gaining weight whilst quarantining.

Well.

I've not weighed myself lately. I think it may be a good idea to be layering on some new adipose tissue what with the possibility of food shortages from a possible economic collapse.

If I am remembering right I have heard thunder clapping only once during this usually stormy spring time of the year.

That 101 screen cap I capped from this morning Wichita Falls Times News Record says "Thunderstorms: 24%".

I'm not a meteorologist, so I don't know what a 24% thunderstorm is.

Can thunderclouds and blazing hot sunshine co-exist?

I guess we shall see as the hours of this 4th day of May pass...

Flock Of Sikes Lake Goslings May Be My Final Blog Post

Well, since I last did the blogging thing Google has totally altered its Blogger app. I do not like the change. This may put an end to me doing this blogging thing. Unless I get used to it. Near as I can tell one can no longer edit in HTML mode. Nor can one align a photo to the left of right. Stuck in the middle is the only option.

Anyway, yesterday, before buying a bag of cheeseburgers from McDonald's and driving west to Electra, the Pump Jack City of Texas, I took a morning bike ride around Sikes Lake, where I saw the large family of goslings you see above. Near as I could tell this was two sets of parental units with their babies.

Okay, I am thinking this drastically changed Blogger app marks the end of me doing the blogging thing. The novelty has long worn off anyway. I don't understand why such a drastic change is made, particularly when the change is not even remotely an improvement.

UPDATE: Praise the Lord, after hitting the publish button I saw an option to go back to "Classic Blogger". So, this may not be the end of my blogging thing...

No Coronavirus Rock & Roll On Stormy Lake Wichita

With the wind way too blustery for a pleasant riding of my bike, I opted instead to go for a seasick experience, driving my motorized motion device to the base of Lake Wichita Dam, then boldly angling into the wind until I made my way to the rocking and rolling Lake Wichita stormy sea simulator, often used as a floating fishing platform during calmer times.

Whilst bobbing up and down and getting splashed repeatedly by the crashing wave I managed to take a photo across the bow of the floating dock, aimed at the newly opened Lake Wichita Boardwalk.

Eventually I took my sea legs back to stable ground, knocking against the rails of the gangway as I slowly made my way off the floating dock.

Back on solid ground I made my way to that aforementioned Lake Wichita Boardwalk, upon which I'd rolled my bike a few days ago.

Now in the above photo we are at the end of the Boardwalk, looking slightly northeast at that floating dock we were rocking and rolling on a few minutes prior.

The wood skeletons you see through the Boardwalk railing are the remains of the original Lake Wichita Boardwalk and Pavilion, built way back near the start of the previous century, lost in a fire over a half century ago.

So, that has been my staying in place social isolating for today. For the most part not that much has changed in a daily way. However, I am currently out of new reading material due to the library being off limits. I have not gone to ALDI for several weeks, due to it being pretty much impossible to maintain a six foot distance in that store. 

And my plans for the coming summer on hold, that is just about the biggest impact....

Biking MSU Ghost Campus Wondering About Wichita Falls Hotter 'N Hell 100 & COVID-19

This final Sunday of the 2020 version of April my bike took me north on the Circle Trail, then west through the Wichita Falls Beverly Hills to the MSU campus before crossing Midwestern Boulevard to ride around Sikes Lake with a lot of other refuge seekers.

The MSU (Midwestern State University) campus is a ghost campus these days, way more so on a Sunday. Thus I roll along locations I normally avoid on campus due to there being way too many students with whom to share a paved path.

Today my bike stopped me at the statue on campus which pays homage to the annual Hotter 'N Hell 100 bike race.

That got me wondering, what with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, has the Hotter 'N Hell 100 been cancelled.

I Googled "Hotter 'N Hell 100 cancelled?" and found no instant answer to that probing question.

So, I clicked on the official Hotter 'N 100 website link and quickly found the following answer regarding this year's biggest annual Wichita Falls event...

Both of us, here at the Hotter’N Hell Hundred office, are well and working remotely to comply with our local government “Shelter in Place” guidelines. Planning continues to progress for the 39th Annual HHH Weekend – August 27 through August 30, 2020!  Registrations are currently over 1300 and continuing to grow daily.

We fully expect that by the end of the summer the threat from the virus will have come to conclusion so that we can proceed with our weekend of events. That said, we will be reviewing the situation weekly and may make some adjustments as required for the safety of participants. 

Since I have been aboding in Wichita Falls I have only attended the Hotter 'N Hell 100 event at the MPEC (Multi-Purpose Events Center) once. It was a fun thing to attend, way bigger than I expected, with way more to see than I expected.

But, it was so HOT.

If the HNH 100 takes place this year methinks I shall make an effort to attend. Being there when the winner crosses the finish line was way more fun than I thought such a thing would be, followed by seeing 100s of others cross the finish line.

The crossing the finish line thing happens for hours. I think, if I remember right, I watched for about a half hour before I needed to seek shade...

Wichita Falls Lucy Park Suspension Bridge Coronavirus Lock Down

Feeling the need to commune with nature, whilst vertical in the old-fashioned way, as in walking, not biking, this final Saturday of the 2020 version of April, I used my motorized motion device to drive to Lucy Park to join others escaping social isolation whilst still maintaining a safe distance.

Swaying across the Lucy Park suspension bridge over the Wichita River I came upon this symbol of our current locked down status, locked near the middle of the bridge.

There were two other locks joining the lock you see here, symbolically six feet apart, I think. I did not have a tape measure with me and so had to guess the distance.

As you can see the Wichita River is currently featuring my favorite shade of reddish brown, which always reminds me of the redrock zones of Utah.

I am not totally certain, but I have reason to believe the Wichita Falls Public Library is going to re-open on Monday, while requiring those in search of books to be masked and to maintain the six foot distancing rule.

I am desperate for new reading material. When I finish my last remaining piece of reading material all I have left is three of those awful 50 Shades of Gray books my sister Jackie gave me when I was desperate for reading material when I was in Arizona. I made it part way through the first of those books a couple years ago, appalled while doing so, thinking how can this be a publishing phenomenon, with multiple books and movies?

Anyway, it was nice to go for a long walk on this last Saturday of April. Perfect temperature of 70. Soon it will be too hot for a mid day walk to be pleasant...

Long Ride Down Lake Wichita Boardwalk Pier

The long awaited completion of the 2020 version of  Lake Wichita Boardwalk has arrived. The anticipated Grand Opening event has been postponed until the Coronavirus Pandemic has subsided making it safe to encourage crowds to gather in close proximity.

The Boardwalk seemed way bigger than I had anticipate it would seem after months of watching it be constructed.

In the view above we are at the end of the Boardwalk, looking at Lake Wichita Dam and the mainland.

Above we are on the aforementioned mainland, looking west across the finished Boardwalk. To the left of the Boardwalk, in the water, that is a two man kayak with some sort of pedal mechanism propelling the watercraft. I do not recollect seeing such a thing before. It looked fun, and seemed to be making easy headway against the strong wind and waves.

A Lake Wichita Boardwalk monument has already been installed, making note of how this Boardwalk came to be. That is Mount Wichita you see in the distance, hovering above the horizon and the lake and the monument.

I have no idea what is up next with the Lake Wichita Revitalization Plan. This plans seems to lumber along in slow motion.

But not nearly as slow as that town to the southeast of Wichita Falls known as Fort Worth, a town which has been limping along with a Trinity River Revitalization Plan called the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, for most of this century, so far not completing anything as complex as this new Lake Wichita Boardwalk.

With, for example, three simple little bridges being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, being stuck in slow motion construction mode, for no sensible reason, for six years, which originally begin being built in 2014, with a then astonishing four year building timeline, now stretched well into this new decade.

There is another construction project underway in Wichita Falls, the completion of which I look forward to. There are three gaps in the Circle Trail which circles around Wichita Falls. One of those gaps is the project underway, connecting the Wichita Bluff Nature Area section of the Circle Trail to the Lucy Park section of the Circle Trail.

One of the other two Circle Trail gaps involve building a bridge over some railroad tracks. I believe that section is already designed and ready to build. The other Circle Trail gap is between the southwest end of Lake Wichita Park and the existing Circle Trail which runs alongside Barnett Road. There has been some talk of building this connector out over Lake Wichita. Methinks that is the best solution, an elevated trail above the lake.

What I can say with almost 100% certainty is that Wichita Falls will finish its Circle Trail long before Fort Worth finishes up with its long troubled Trinity River Vision Boondoggle..

Has COVID-19 Lost Us Our Freedom To Wonder About Trump & Romans 8:38-39?

A few days ago I took my driving lunch of McDonald's cheeseburgers to Archer City.

Driving around the thriving metropolis which was the location for The Last Picture Show, along with Larry McMurtry's bookstores, I saw for the first time those giant banners proclaiming "KEEP AMERICA Great TRUMP 2020", which in the days which followed I saw also at those embarrassing Liberate America protests where herds of right wingnut redneck yahoos identify themselves as moronic idiots.

I have yet to see one of those banners stuck on someone's house or in someone's yard here in Wichita Falls. I suspect if I drove around enough I would see one. Or two.

And then yesterday I rode my bike to Sikes Lake. On the way, pretty much almost right across the street from my abode I saw that which you see above stuck to a local's house.

COVID-19 HAS CAUSED US TO LOSE OUR FREEDOM
BUT WE STILL HAVE FAITH HOPE & LOVE
BELIEVE IN ROMANS 8:38-39

Biblical scholar that I be I immediately knew the content of the bible verses being referenced. Okay, truth obviously is, I had to Google it to find out that...

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I admit I am an extremely stupid person and that I have no clue what the point is which the above bible words are trying to convey, or what they have to do with COVID-19 or our supposedly lost freedoms, the loss of which is supposedly caused by the viral pandemic.

I guess it has been a tad inconvenient not to go the grocery store or a restaurant whenever the whim strikes. Or get my haircut. Or a new tattoo.

But, for some reason I do not feel any less free than I felt before the pandemic began to impede upon my mobility. I do feel real free to be part of helping stop the spread of this pandemic, so that we can get back to what passed as normal in pre-pandemic times.

Trump regularly reads my blog, among all the other regular reading he does. So, I expect at today's Trump Show he will now cite Romans 8:38-39, pompously, arrogantly, as if making some sort of point, and thus cause yet more Americans to come over to the side which thinks our Dear Leader to be insane with obvious mental health issues of the malignant narcissistic personality disorder type.

Meanwhile, stormy weather is preventing any bike ride discovery of any other embarrassing house ornaments today...

Puget Sound Kayaking With Deer Tacoma Trio

Incoming email last night from Washington. Specifically incoming from the Tacoma Trio and their parental units from Harstine Island in the south zone of Puget Sound.

That photo above documents a beautiful sunset on Harstine Island's north beach. In the shadowy sunset it was slightly difficult to identify the beachcombers, but I am fairly certain that is Ruby on the left, mama Kristin next to Ruby, with David between mama Kristin and Theo, on the far right.

When last I heard from sister Michele she had ordered a kayak as her happy birthday present to herself. Since then, which is about a week ago, apparently that new birthday kayak arrived.

Actually, judging by the below photo two kayaks arrived.

That looks to be Theo on the left, with mama Michele on the right. Can you see how crystal clear the water is?

It seems everyone was having such a mighty fine time with the two kayaks that it was decided that everyone needed to be kayaked, so three more kayaks were ordered, and arrived, so all can now be on the water at once.

That would be Ruby closest to you, then David, then Theo, ready to shove off to float the wild waves of Puget Sound.

Again, can you see how crystal clear the water is?

It looks like David and Ruby are playing bumper kayaks, whilst Theo makes a clean escape.

Long ago I had an inflatable kayak. It was fun. I do not remember if that kayak made the move to Texas, to be replaced by another inflatable. But I do clearly remember my last inflatable watercraft was not the kayak.

Since the Tacoma Trio has been social distancing on Harstine Island they have made friends with the herd of Harstine Island deer. Well, more accurately, Ruby and Theo have been adopted by the herd, whilst David remains leery of having close contact with wild animals of that sort.

Above we see Ruby having her morning visit with two of her deer friends. I do not know if Ruby has named them yet, or not.

It is only a matter of time til Ruby totally tames a deer or two and has them joining her and Raven for the nightly slumber time.

We are closing in on the time I have long expected to be in Washington. That is looking increasingly unlikely, unless the world changes for the better soon...

Freezing Cold Mid April In North Texas

I foolishly thought I was done with winter, with winter not returning til next December.

Well.

I thought wrong.

Mid April, with the outer world scheduled to be chilled to below freezing tonight.

What happened to March roaring in like a lion and leaving like a lamb? And April showers bringing May flowers.

Okay, we do already have that flower thing happened. Will the blooming wildflowers survive being frozen tonight?

Happy Birthday Sister Michele

On this date, many decades ago, around 9 in the morning, using the Burlington-Edison High School office phone, I called United General Hospital.

I do not know how it happened, or remember precisely, what with it being so many years ago, but the hospital's head of nursing, who we knew as Mrs. Chatt, answered the call, or maybe the call was directed to Mrs. Chatt. Like I said, it was a long time ago and I only remember clearly some of that day.

Such as I clearly remember a large crowd had gathered around me, knowing what I was calling to find out. When Mrs. Chatt told me I had a new baby sister, I looked at those around me and said "It's a girl".

This caused a sort of group groan. Apparently the consensus was hoping for a boy.

Mrs. Chatt told mom it sounded like I was calling from an assembly of some sort, that it sounded like a large crowd.

Later that day I drove to the hospital to check in on mom and meet my new sister. Linda Lou went with me. When I found mom the first thing she said to me was something like "Mrs. Chatt said you called from a pep assembly".

Linda Lou and I looked at each other, puzzled, wondering what mom was talking about. In October of 2018, Linda Lou flew to Phoenix, where we had fun for a couple days wondering what mom was talking about.

In August of 2017 Linda Lou and Betty Jo Bouvier drove north to Birch Bay for a visit. If I remember right when I introduced Linda Lou and Betty Jo to Michele I told Michele that Linda Lou was the first of my friends to meet her, on the day she was born.

When we found out there was going to be a new baby in the house we all had input as to what the name would be. Eventually it was decided Joey if a boy, Michele if a girl.

The summer before Michele was born that year's vacation trip was to Southern California. That included going to Hollywood and what was known at that point in time as Grauman's Chinese Theater.

That fall we poured cement in the backyard for a patio. On part of that patio we made a squared off section, replicating what we has seen at Grauman's Chinese Theater. We all etched our names and handprints into the wet cement, along with etching "Joey or Michele". We never updated this after Michele was born.

I forgot to mention, that is baby Michele on the picnic table on that aforementioned cement patio. I made that picnic table in shop at school. I did not get a good grade for my shop project. That is sister Jackie reaching out to baby Michele. The only other face I think I may recognize is that may be Barbara Brown on the far right.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHELE!!!