Final Chilly February Wichita Bluff Nature Walking

It had been a couple days without any aerobically induced endorphins.

And thus on this last day of the 2021 version of February I was feeling a bit cranky and a bit stir crazy.

Perhaps stir cranky would be the correct terminology.

And so I took myself on a bit of a Sunday drive, heading east to the, well, slum-like part of this fine Texas town. 

Eventually I came to Beverly Drive, which ironically is not in the Beverly Hills section of Wichita Falls, but runs from that aforementioned slum-like part of town to Loop 11. 

Once I got to Loop 11 I was a short distance from the parking lot at the east end of the Wichita Bluff Nature Area. 

And so I decided to do some nature walking and check out the current state of the new section of Circle Trail which will soon connect to the current terminus of the Circle Trail in Lucy Park.

Before I forget, I must make mention of my unkempt appearance as seen in the Elsie Selfie above. I only returned to having hot water a couple days ago, and so I have not yet had sufficient time to undo the damage caused by not having access to modern amenities, such as power and hot water.

You can also tell by my bundled up attire that the outer world is being a bit chilly today. Overcast, foggy, windy and drizzly.

I was not the only one checking out the current condition of the new section of the Circle Trail.

The two speed walking ladies raced past me, startling both me and a big black cat which the lady in pink shrieked was a bobcat. The big black cat did not even remotely resemble a bobcat.

And above you see the current end of the paved part of the new section of Circle Trail. I do not know how far what you see above is from Lucy Park. If I remember correctly this new section of Circle Trail is around 3 miles.

After reaching the point you see above I turned around and headed towards the Wichita Bluff Nature Area.

Eventually reaching the high point you see here. A scenic overlook looking over the Wichita River. In this view we are looking northwest, towards my old home location in Washington.

Tomorrow March roars in like a lion.

I am looking forward to 30 days later when March limps out like a lamb.

Back In Hot Water In Wichita Falls

Late Thursday afternoon lukewarm water began being delivered to my hot water faucets. By Friday morning the lukewarm water had turned HOT, which is what you see flowing from my kitchen faucet above.

I do not recollect ever enjoying a shower as much as I did this morning.

If I remember right there is a song about parking lots with a line something like "You don't know what you miss til it's gone..."

So true.

The power grid going down for two days was bad, real bad. But, I knew being without power would be bad when the temperature went below zero.

When the power came back on, and the temperature went well above zero, and pipes began bursting, I was then without water. I knew being without water would be a bad thing. But, I was prepared, due to having filled virtually everything I had which was fillable, with water, before it was turned off.

And then two days after the water returning, soon thereafter the hot water turned cold. The sub zero temperature had wreaked havoc with the natural gas pipeline in three locations.

I managed a pitifully pathetic version of a bath by boiling a large kettle of water, then delivering it to my bathtub, which I had partially filled with a couple inches of water. This process grew tiresome by day three.

By running water through the coffee maker I was able to have a carafe of hot water next to the kitchen sink for dish washing purposes. Sort of. That also quickly grew tiresome.

Anyway, everything is pretty much back to normal, well, other than the ongoing COVID nightmare...

Cold Golfing Waiting For Hot Water To Arrive

No, that is not me above having myself a mighty fine time golfing under a cloudy cold sky.

A few minutes ago I was taking a short walk north on the Circle Trail and saw the golfer you see above golfing on the golf course on the far side of Holliday Creek from my abode's location.

I believe this is called Weeks Golf Course. There are two golf courses that butt up against each other on the east side of Holliday Creek. 

Mother Nature decided to get chilly again, after being nice for a couple days, all the way into the 80s. But today She is blowing cold, in the 40s, with the wind chill making it feel like it's in the 30s.

These cycles of hot and cold in the outer world sort of mirror the condition of my interior world. As in I still do not have hot water running out of my faucets. 

Not having hot water on demand is not as much of a nuisance as I feared it might be. Having no hot water is not nearly as annoying as having no water.

Or no electricity...

Talking With Linda Lou On A Wichita Falls Bench With No Hot Water

At around 2:40 this final Wednesday afternoon of the February version of 2021 I dropped off the patient known as DB at one of the clinics at which he has appointments with doctors.

I had previously scheduled a 3 o'clock phone consult with the Mount Vernonite known as Linda Lou.

Wichita Falls is a short distance from the location of DB's doctor appointment, and so I parked my vehicle and walked to the top of the falls, to sit on that bench you see above, above the falls, and called Linda Lou.

I did not long remain on that bench talking to Linda Lou, because wind was blowing waterfall mist in my direction. I stood up, looked at the view you see above, and walked to another bench.

Soon after standing up my belt buckle decided to unbuckle. This immediately put my cargo shorts in danger of dropping to my ankles. I had to ask Linda Lou to excuse me for a moment while I secured my shorts and belt.

It seems so odd how quickly we went from living in the Arctic to being back in the semi-tropics. Yesterday the temperature got into the 80s.

A week ago today I was escaping from a Comfort Inn, on ice covered roads, hoping the power would stay on and I could remain in my abode. 

Well, the power has stayed on, but I still do not have hot water coming out of faucets. The natural gas pipeline is the problem. There has been a lot of digging going on, I assume looking for the leaks. Why would a deep freeze cause problems with underground natural gas pipelines? I have heard no explanation for this.

Sunset Bike Ride To Frozen Lake Wichita

Yesterday, late in the afternoon, during the hour when the sun starts to set in the west, with the outer world temperature having soared into the 70s, I thought a bike ride might be a mighty fine thing to do.

And so I did. And so it was. 

When I roll the short distance from my abode to the Circle Trail I have two options, go north on the Circle Trail or go south.

I opted for the south option, the one which a mile and a half later takes me to Lake Wichita.

On the way to Lake Wichita I was surprised to see that long sections of Holliday Creek were still frozen. And then when I got atop Lake Wichita Dam I was surprised again, seeing that Lake Wichita was still frozen with what looked like a solid layer of ice.

I took several photos of this rare phenomenon, the one above, with my bike parked on the floating dock which was currently floating on top of ice. 

And the following photos, some taken from the vantage point of that aforementioned floating on ice dock, and some taken from the vantage point of the Lake Wichita Boardwalk.

Above we are on the floating dock, looking north at an ice covered lake and the earthen dam which makes the lake.

And here we are on the Lake Wichita Boardwalk, looking at all that remains of the long gone Lake Wichita Pavilion.

Looking south from the Lake Wichita Boardwalk. 

Back on the dock floating on ice. That pimple you see on the horizon is known as Mount Wichita.

And for one final photo from the Lake Wichita Boardwalk, looking at some more remains of that long gone Lake Wichita Pavilion, and that aforementioned pimple of a mountain, sticking up out of the far end of the lake.

The temperature today is scheduled to get again into the 70s. I suspect another bike ride will be had today. But no hot shower. The boiler which heats my water is still being repaired....

Walking Wichita Bluff Nature Area With Nephew Jason Today

 

With the outer world temperature soaring into the balmy 60s, and with nary any snow or ice remaining, except for where it was piled up by snow plows, an hour before noon I took my cargo shorts and t-shirt to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area to do some communing with nature.

I stopped soon after entering the Nature Area to take the photo you see above. This is a good illustrative look at how well designed the Wichita Bluff Nature Area of the Circle Trail is.

I had not managed to get my phone back in its phone pocket when I saw an incoming call was coming in from my Favorite Nephew Jason.

So, Jason walked the Wichita Bluffs with me today.

It had been awhile since I had walked and talked with Jason, so we had a lot to talk about.

I forgot to ask Jason if he was planning on being in Cabo San Luca on May 1 for the nuptials of his cousin Christopher. I think I can guess the answer to that question.

Til learning so from Jason today I had not known that it was back being easy to drive to Seattle from Mount Vernon in an hour, due to way less traffic, due to COVID and way fewer tourists.

My last time in Washington, August of 2017, to be precise, it took us about 4 hours to get from Tacoma to Mount Vernon.

I sure am enjoying the retreat of the Polar Vortex, and the return to almost normal. Though, I still do not have hot water running from my taps. But, that is an easy problem to work around when you have electricity and water...

Some Icy Biking With Cranky Geese On Frozen Sikes Lake

With the temperature soaring well above freezing, into the balmy 50s zone, and with snow sufficiently melted, I decided my bike needed to do some rolling.

And so on this 3rd Sunday morning of the 2021 version of February I rolled north on the Circle Trail til I got to Hamilton Park. I experienced only a little snow or ice in only a couple shady locations on the Circle Trail.

Leaving Hamilton Park I encountered no icy dicey conditions rolling through the Wichita Falls Beverley Hills zone.

Same with rolling through the MSU (Midwestern State University) campus. 

But then, crossing Midwestern Boulevard to the sidewalk which takes me to Sikes Lake, I had my first bout of doing some slipping and sliding. Not too bad, but I was glad to be back where such was not the case.

Arriving at Sikes Lake I saw the lake was still mostly frozen. I took three photos documenting this rare phenomenon. The first of which is what you see above, looking west across the lake.

Next I stopped my handlebars on the bridge which crosses Sikes Lake on the north end of the lake. That sort of looks like footprints in the snow which is still on top of the frozen lake. But, I don't think they are human footprints.

I think it is perplexed creatures like you see above which made tracks in the snow on the lake. The geese seemed annoyed that they could only walk on the water they usually floated in. The annoyance seemed to be being verbalized by goose honking noises I had not heard previously.

I exit the paved trail around Sikes Lake at the northeast end of the lake. The usual trail which I use to do so was a muddy mess. So I used another exit, which I seldom use, and which was not a muddy mess.

But, when I got to the paved alley which takes me back to my abode, well, it is in a shady location, and still had a lot of snow and ice and water. This made for some challenging wheel rolling which was sort of fun. 

I have not felt this good for over a week. I was in dire need of some aerobic stimulation and the endorphins one gets as a result of that stimulation.

I think tomorrow, with the temperature scheduled to get into the 60s, I will go do some nature communing in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area...

Wichita Falls Greenbrier Walmart Power Outage Wipeout

Last night, soon before the sun set, I drove to the Walmart nearest to my location, known as the Greenbrier Walmart, due to being located on a road called Greenbrier.

This Walmart, unlike my other nearby Walmart, lost power for the same amount of time I was without electricity. 

I figured Walmarts likely have backup power generators, so as not to lose that which needs to be frozen or refrigerated.

I figured wrong.

Walking into the Greenbrier Walmart last night I instantly saw something was dire wrong. Little produce in the produce section, as you can in the next photo.

Continuing on the meat section was wiped out.

Below is the frozen food area where one finds ice cream and pizza, among other things frozen.

I don't know why Walmart tossed all the frozen stuff. It likely stayed frozen when the power went out. Stuff in my freezer stayed frozen. Stuff in the refrigerator stayed refrigerated in my refrigerator during the duration of having no electricity.

Above is where one usually finds milk products.

I wonder what all this lost stock cost? 

And below is a meme I gleaned from Facebook, giving advice about how to survive this week in Texas...

Facebook Look At Texas Power Disaster & Ted Cruz

What you are seeing here are memes gleaned from Facebook, all about the Polar Vortex Deep Freeze Disaster in Texas. And Ted Cruz.

One of my friends up in the Pacific Northwest asked if Texans are aware of how bad Texas is looking to the rest of America, and the world.

And if Texans are aware of how awful Ted Cruz looks to the rest of America, and the world.

I told my PNW friend that many Texans are well aware that something is dire wrong with their state, and that something is dire wrong with Ted Cruz. If more Texans voted the last midterm election, in 2018, Ted Cruz would not have won another term, and Texas would have one senator who was not an ongoing embarrassment.

So, scroll down and you will see a collection of memes on this subject which I collected from Facebook this morning...

In Downtown Wichita Falls With The Big Texas Thaw

 

The Big Texas Chill finally went above freezing on this 3rd Friday of the 2021 version of February.

The Big Thaw is underway.

I drove to downtown Wichita Falls this morning, before the Big Thaw began. The roads were clear, for the most part, on the way to downtown. In the downtown zone the main streets had been plowed, such as what you see above, with the side streets not plowed so much. This made it a bit challenging.

In the view above we are looking east. I can't remember the name of the street, but it's the one due north of Scott Avenue. Scott Avenue used to be the main drag through town, before the freeway arrival.

That building you see above on the left is called the Stone Palace. I think so named because it used to be owned by someone last name of Stone. I have no idea why it is called a Palace. I have been in the Stone Palace twice.

The first time in the Stone Palace was soon upon my arrival in this town. It was in October, a month before the shocking election of the worst president in American history. The Wichita Falls Adult Literacy Council was holding their annual Spelling Bee. I was a cheerleader on one of the Spelling Bee teams. The other cheerleader was someone named Angela. We did not do much cheerleading. The BBQ that was part of the Spelling Bee was good.

My second time in the Stone Palace was to attend a rally for Beto O'Rourke. It was about a month before Beto almost beat Creepy Cruz in the 2018 midterm election. Since then Beto's stock has risen dramatically, whilst Creepy Cruz has become even creepier, what with being an enabler of Trump's insurrection, and shortly after that escaping Texas and its power disaster to find heat in Cancun, while Beto remained in Texas helping with the disaster in multiple ways.

Beto in person was impressive. I think if I experienced Rafael Edwardo Cruz in person I would have the same reaction I have when I see a big slithering snake.

Switching back to the ongoing Texas Disaster. My hot water is back, slowly getting warmer.

So, my only remaining reminder of the Storm is the thick coating of snow that will likely linger for awhile as it slowly melts away. That and all the containers I have strewn about filled with water...