Northern Friends Vs. Southern Friends

When I spent what seemed like all winter up in Washington last summer, but which was actually only one long month, I was struck more than any previous visit by how differently people behaved. Bad manners. Really bad manners.

Down here in the South people are just more friendly. And they say howdy a lot. At first I didn't like this all that much, but I got used to it. Now I like it.

There are a couple Georgia Peaches, known as the 2 Chippys, the actual Real Housewives of Atlanta, Lulu and Laurie. I can tell they have the Southern Good-Hearted Hospitality Friend thing down to perfection. This evening Laurie sent me an amusing email that sort of represents ways it is different here in the South from the cold North...

NORTHERN FRIENDS VS. SOUTHERN FRIENDS

NORTHERN FRIENDS: Never ask for food.

SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Always bring the food.

NORTHERN FRIENDS: Will say 'hello'.

SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will give you a big hug and a kiss.

NORTHERN FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.

SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Call your parents Mom and Dad

NORTHERN FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.

SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Cry with you.

NORTHERN FRIENDS: Will eat at your dinner table and leave.

SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will spend hours there, talking, laughing, cleaning up, and just being together.

NORTHERN FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.

SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.

NORTHERN FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.

SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowd's back-ends that left you.

NORTHERN FRIENDS: Will knock on your door.

SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, I'm home!

NORTHERN FRIENDS: Will visit you in the hospital when you're sick

SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will cut your grass and clean your house then come spend the night with you in the hospital.

NORTHERN FRIENDS: Have you on speed dial

SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Have your number memorized

NORTHERN FRIENDS: Are for a while.

SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Are for life.

BLOGGER'S NOTE: The above has been slightly edited from its original form.

Sarah Palin & Barack Obama On Dancing With The Stars

I don't care how well Sarah and Barack dance together, I still want Cloris Leachman to win. Tonight on Dancing With The Stars Cloris will be dancing the Hip Hop. Whatever that is. It's supposed to be rather energetic, possibly taxing the seeming endlessly energetic 82 year old past the limit of what she can endure. Cloris is quite flexible for an older dame which you can see quite clearly in the photo.

Today's Rush Limbaugh Obama Bashing

I listened to Rush Limbaugh for a short while this morning whilst doing yoga prior to going to Tandy Hills Park where it was so windy and cold that I ended up running up and down the hills trying to get warm. A month ago this would have killed me due to overheating. But not today. Mr. Limbaugh seems to be getting increasingly into Bad Boy Territory with his Obama bashing. Mr. Obama is highly likely going to be our next President. The Obama bashing at this late date annoys me. Below is today's "Rush in a Hurry." That's an email newsletter summation of today's Rush Limbaugh Show. You get a good flavor from it as to what I mean by Bad Boy Bashing....

On Today’s Show...

Show Highlight: The real Barack Obama revealed himself in a 2001 radio interview. The audio reveals an angry man with disdain for the United States Constitution and the limits it places on government power in our lives.

Democrats say that talk about Obama's plans to redistribute wealth is a "distraction." No, it's the very core of this man's being! He wants to take wealth from those who work and spread it to those who don't.

Pearl of Wisdom: "Speculation about Obama's birth certificate isn't going to sway independents or change minds. With eight days to go, we need to focus on Obama, not the Woods Foundation or Ayers. Tie Barack Obama to Obama, and after we tie Obama to Obama, then tie him to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, and what will happen to America if they get unchecked power."

An Orlando interviewer dares to question Biden on Obama's apparent Marxism and ACORN. Biden responds with rage and lies.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Our Founders put LIFE first, and guaranteed it. If you don't have life, you don't have a chance for anything else. The Supreme Court eliminated the right to life in Roe v. Wade, yet Obama says the courts aren't radical enough for him. What could be more radical than that?

Pearl of Wisdom: "Obama says the Constitution charters 'negative liberties.' He wants government to do things to people, and he's mad that the 'flawed' Constitution limits its role in our lives. He doesn't like the idea of liberty, and wants to change it!"

Who's adding reverb to Obama's voice so he sounds like God? (Remember his speech in Berlin?) The Messiah now says he's going to restore economic prosperity and a higher purpose to an embattled nation. The audacity! The American people don't look to a Castro or a Chavez to give them purpose.

People keep asking, "Rush, what're you going to do?" What he's been doing for 20 years! What are YOU going to do, folks, besides calling on Rush to do something?

Sleep, Swim & Ski in Texas

I woke up some time after 3 am. I could not get back to sleep. I heard the paper clunk outside about 4:30. So, I got up, made coffee and read the paper.

The Monday Fort Worth Star-Telegram was record-breaking thin this morning. It took about 5 minutes to read. Of the 4 or 5 sections in this morning's paper, 2 of them were devoted to sports.

The only news that was remotely interesting was about the Iraqis balking at the new agreement with the U.S. that prolongs our stay. What seems odd to me is we invaded a sovereign nation on the flimsiest of pretenses. That turned out to be wrong. And now we are being all legalistic as to what we want in an agreement with the Iraqi government or we'll take all our marbles and go home?

It got down to 43 last night. I did my regular icy morning swim earlier than usual due to being up so early, as in I was in the cold water soon after the sun came up. I did not last too long.

I was wanting to blog about a couple of TV shows that appall me. One I mentioned before, that being The Real Housewives of Atlanta on Bravo. The other being MTV's disturbing Parental Control pseudo reality show.

But I'm too tired right now to remember all that appalled me about both those shows. I've now watched 3 episodes of the Atlanta one. It is truly jaw-dropping great train wreck TV.

I should be back at full energy in a couple hours. I'm going to Tandy Hills in a bit. That always revives me.

Oh. The skiing photo at the top. That was taken my first winter in Texas, when I lived in a little town on the northern border of Fort Worth called Haslet. The mailbox was in Fort Worth, the house was in Haslet. Those are cross-country skis. I got good use out of them a couple winters ago when we had about 5 inches of snow. I went skiing at Veterans Park in Arlington.

Swimming & Roller Blading Weather in Texas

This morning, about 9, I went swimming. The water must have been warmer because I stayed in it about a half hour. Or maybe I'm getting way to used to being frigid. The low overnight was 53 here in Fort Worth.

There is a hot tub adjacent to the pool. I figured it would not be a good thing to get in it because getting out would feel way too cold. I've learned otherwise. Today after a half hour in the cold I got into the hot. Then I got back in the cold. And to my surprise that felt good. Basically I think I've totally de-sensitized my nerve endings.

By noon it was in the high 70s. I decided to go roller blading at Quanah Parker Park. The high here today, so far, has been 88. That's what it felt like when I sat on a bench putting on my roller blades.

It was hot enough that going roller blading shirtless seemed the only sensible thing to do. I thought that sort of thing was over for the year.

There was what seemed to be a slightly crazy lady walking the trail that leads out of Quanah Parker Park. She said something to me, so I stopped and said, pardon me, what did you say? What followed seemed to be gibberish, all said with a smile. She seemed harmless. But you never know with those crazy people types.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Endorses Obama

That's right. Sunday's Star-Telegram devoted one full page of its puny 2 page Editorial Section to explaining their rationale for endorsing Barack Obama to be our next President.

The Star-Telegram's line of reasoning seemed pretty reasonable to me. But their endorsement of Obama had no impact on my vote because I've already voted.

I don't remember if the Star-Telegram endorsed John Kerry or George W. in 2004. I wasn't here at the time. I was up in ultra-liberal Washington where it seemed a foregone conclusion that Kerry would win and where I saw many protests against George W., including in my old hometown of Mount Vernon where dozens stood on the street corners by the county courthouse, waving memorable signs. Let me go see if I can find a photo I took that day.

In Washington there is a sub-cult of phonetic spellers. I guess that explains "shud."

Getting Lost Again At Bob Jones Park

I didn't get a chance to blog about yesterday's adventure yesterday because when I got back here I got an emergency call from Miss Puerto Rico that had me embroiled in Latina Psycho-Drama til bedtime.

Yesterday I went up to Bob Jones Park. That's near Lake Grapevine. The route to Bob Jones Park, from here, takes me by Sprouts Farmers Market, my favorite grocery store, so I went there after getting lost and after having Costco free samples for lunch.

I don't actually get lost at Bob Jones Park. Bob Jones Park is the access point to where it's easy to get lost. Trails lead out of the park to a maze of other trails that are so confusing there are directional signs. Eventually if you go in the right direction you'll come to Lake Grapevine. The lake is the lowest I've ever seen it at this location. The last time I was there many of the trails were flooded.

Yesterday I found myself on trails I'd not been on before. There were several intersecting trails with no directional signage. After about an hour and a half I had to admit I was lost. I like being lost. As long as it doesn't get dark. That happened to me one Christmas at Dinosaur Valley State Park. That time, just as I started to sort of panic, I recognized where I was and was able to escape before it got too dark.

Yesterday, I came upon the clump of cactus in the photo during the period when I was lost. The lost trail went through some interesting territory. I think long ago a house was at this location judging from piles of wood from a long collapsed building.

The reason I think this may have been the location of a house was due to something very very bizarre. As in there were hundreds of Mason canning jars on the ground, the likes of which I saw my mom and dad fill with raspberry jam when I was in Tacoma last summer. What seemed really strange was all the jars were intact. No one had had themselves a good time throwing rocks at them. I found all those intact Mason canning jars unsettling. They continue to haunt me this morning. I'll probably get over it by this afternoon.

Racial Tensions In Paris After Black Man Killed

A memorial service is being held today for 24 year old Brandon McClelland in Paris, Texas. McClelland was killed in what is being called, by some, a brutal and racist hate crime.

Paris is in East Texas. East Texas is also where Jasper is. About a year before I moved to Texas Jasper became infamous due to the horrible murder by 2 white guys of a man named James Byrd. Mr. Byrd was dragged to his death beneath a pickup.

Brandon McClelland was killed by being hit by a truck and dragged underneath the truck for about 70 feet.

Apparently Paris, Texas has a long history of tension between black and whites and the killing of Brandon McClelland has raised tensions once more.

When I moved to Texas, soon after the James Byrd murder, I thought I'd be living in a place where I'd experience racism up close and personal for the first time in my life. To the contrary I've seen nothing but people getting along well with each other during my entire time in Texas. I've not experienced anything even remotely that seemed at all racist.

The 2 men charged with killing McClelland, Shannon Finley and Charles Crostley, were friends with McClelland. They were all drinking buddies.

Paris is a dry Texas town. The three drinking buddies wanted beer. So they headed up to Oklahoma. On the way back, drinking beer, likely drunk, an argument broke out over who was sober enough to drive.

McClelland tired of the arguing and said he'd walk home. He took some beer and took off walking. That's when the driver of the pickup ran into and over him, dragging him 70 feet to his death.

The New Black Panthers are in Paris calling this a hate crime. Others say the only resemblance between the Paris crime and the James Byrd murder is both were black men and a vehicle was involved with 2 white men in it.

Finley and Crostley are in jail, charged with murder and evidence tampering. They drove through a car wash to try and remove McClelland's blood. This is not the first time Finley has been charged with murder. In 2003 McClelland copped a plea to manslaughter and was sentenced to 4 years.

Ironically, during Finley's previous murder trial the man he is now accused of killing, Brandon McClelland, pleaded guilty to perjury for providing a false alibi for Finley. McClelland was sentenced to 5 years probation and did some jail time when he violated the terms of his probation.

All of this could have been avoided if Paris was not a dry town. It's time to end prohibition in Paris.

Gas Falls Below $2 in Texas

A fresh gas price war has broken out in the south Fort Worth suburb of Burleson. RaceTrac and QT went below 2 bucks Thursday night, followed by other area gas stations on Friday.

If the pattern of the past couple weeks holds true, gas all over North Texas will be falling under $2 in a few days.

The price of natural gas has plummeted too. So, all of us who have our electricity rate tied to the price of natural gas will be seeing reduced electricity bills.

Meanwhile OPEC is cutting back production. Which, I guess, will eventually have the gas prices heading up again. Maybe.

Natural Refreshment at Village Creek Historical Area

By noon I'd grown weary of looking at a computer screen. The blue sky and the pleasant temperatures beckoned me outside. I decided to go to Village Creek Natural Historic Area Park to commune with nature and consult my travel guide book regarding my upcoming trip to South America.

This time of year for some reason the sun causes the leaves in the trees to glow like they are green light bulbs.

Where you see me sitting on a picnic table, reading, in the top photo, behind me, what you can't see, is a big pond. In that pond are a lot of turtles. And snakes. I
don't like sitting with my back to the snakes. There were a lot of frisky squirrels making a racket and making me a bit jumpy. Snakes make no noise when they slither up to you. At least I assume that to be the case. I've never actually had an incident where a snake slithered up to me.

A paved trail meanders through Village Creek Natural Historic Area. It crosses Village Creek in 2 places. Walking the Village Creek trail is very peaceful. For most of it you are under a tree canopy that is sort of jungle-like. River Legacy Park can be like that in places, too, but there are a lot more people at River Legacy. Village Creek is way more relaxing.

And you have all those Village Creek Indian spirits infusing their old homelands with some special voo-doo energy.