Bye Bye High Blood Pressure, Hello Peaceful Solitude

Well. Today was all about peaceful solitude. And my high blood pressure, which is no longer high. Maybe in part due to days like today.

Sunday started off with the aforementioned photo documented icy cold skinny dip. During that icy dip I decided I was going to have a human free day. Just me to talk to myself all day long.

At 11 I needed to be in the Tandy Hills zone again. So, even though I'd hiked there the day before I decided a solo hike would be a totally different thing. I thought it would be cold like yesterday, so I totally overdressed. I was dressed for the 40s, but it was in the low 70s.

So, I thought to myself the early morning skinny dip was refreshing, why not go on a skinny hike?

I rarely see anyone at the Tandy Hills. It's actual name is Tandy Hills Natural Area. I know where the isolated trails are. I thought it might be a liberating blood pressure reducing type thing to do. I was right.

When I was done with my au naturel nature hike I decided, since it was nearby, roller blading at Quanah Parker Park would be a good thing. I don't think roller blading would be a fun thing to do au naturel. That and it'd look ridiculous wearing the protective pads and nothing else. I'll spare you a photo of me roller blading today.

After the roller blading I decided to make a 3 park day of it and went to Oakland Lake Park. Just to sit and watch the birds. There are a lot of birds in Oakland Lake. And turtles. I never saw a black goose before, but I saw one today. The black goose was with a pair of white geese, which you can see for yourself in the photo.

The first photo at the top is also at Oakland Lake Park. I was sitting in the lotus position on the edge of a wall.

In two weeks I've gotten my blood pressure down to a good reading, as in 118/69, pulse rate of 56. I think getting off the sleeping pills is one cause. Amping up the exercise so as to not need the pills, due to being worn out by the end of the day, is another likely cause. Zero tolerance for Toxic People likely has many benefits, including lower blood pressure. And I've cut way back on coffee. I think the early morning cold swims also might have a salubrious affect.

Well, it's time to put some clothes on and go have some human interaction. All this solitude gets sort of boring after awhile.

Seattle Naked Bike Riding Causing Fort Worth Skinny Dipping

On Thursday I blogged about a current Seattle issue, that being the efforts, by some, to curtail the rather liberated behavior of riding around town on your bike. Naked. I have no problem with the being naked part. But as a bike rider, to me, it would be very uncomfortable to pedal about without attire.

I think way too many Americans are way too prudish when it comes to some things. Like being naked. We were all born naked.

If one believes what one reads in the Bible, God has no problem with people being naked. The very first humans he created were perfectly comfortable wandering around in the Garden of Eden naked, feeling no shame.

Then Eve went and ate that damn apple and Adam and her suddenly got all prudish.

And apparently a lot of humanity has been prudish ever since.

Well, I am not prudish. And I'm not all that shy. So, this morning I decided to introduce a bit of Seattle/West Coast type liberalness to Fort Worth. So, I went skinny dipping. I've always preferred skinny dipping to wearing a swimming suit. I hate how the liner in the swimsuit gets all twisted. Sliding through the water without such an encumbrance is much more pleasant.

This morning the water was the coldest yet. And not because all I was wearing was a cap. Overnight it got to freezing. There was a coating of frost on the roof when I first got in the water. With the air being so cold the water felt almost warm. That was very strange.

I'm feeling all natural today. Maybe I'll make like Adam and go hiking at the Tandy Hills Natural Area today. No, it's too cold for that.

A Cold Day In Texas Hiking The Tandy Hills Where Gas Is Cheap

The Tandy Hills have dried out enough from the Big Storm earlier in the week that hiking was doable. Cold, but doable. It's only 49 out there, with a heavy wind making it feel like 45. Brrrr.

The view in the photo is from the highest point in the Tandy Hills, looking west towards beautiful downtown Fort Worth, with the notorious Chesapeake Energy Tandy Hills gas site drilling rig visible on the left. It wasn't making hearable noise today. The wind likely drowned out the drilling noise.

Gas at the Tandy Hills station once more set a new record low for my zone of Fort Worth. I didn't need any so I got none and so mom did not get a gas call from me. Maybe I'll get gas tomorrow and call my mommy.

Azle Christian School Teacher Sex Assault

A 38 year old woman named Julianna Christine Sauls was a teacher at a private school in Azle, Texas. Azle is a suburb on the northwest side of Fort Worth. Sauls taught at a private school named Azle Christian.

Sauls taught algebra. But she got in trouble and is under investigation for some extra-curricular activity with teenage boys. The school says she was fired for lack of work. Whatever that means.

Sauls was let out on bail Wednesday, from the Tarrant County Jail, shortly after she turned herself in due to arrest warrants accusing her of sexual assault and an improper relationship between a teacher and a student.

Parker County is investigating possible prior Sauls' assaults. She faces possible criminal charges in both Tarrant and Parker Counties.

One of her students said there was an incident where she would not let him out of her classroom unless they made out. She also wrote him a note with her phone number and address "so he could come to her home and have sex while her children were asleep." Another time he agreed to meet her at the Azle High School parking lot where she, uh, forced herself on him orally. I don't mean in the speaking sense of the word. But the student was repulsed by what was happening and made her stop, telling police he didn't find her attractive and felt uncomfortable because she was his teacher.

I know this type thing happens all over the country, female teachers seducing students. But here in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone it seems sort of epidemic. Maybe it seems that way because there are more people crammed into this D/FW Metroplex zone than live in the entire state of Washington. Or maybe a lot of Texans are sex crazed. We do have a preacher here telling us to have sex every day for a week. That's been a tough calling to follow.

My Daily Icy Swim Report

Last night the high was 51, by morning it was 41. When I stepped outside the heavy wind made it feel way colder. WeatherBug right now is saying the Wind Chill Factor is making it feel like 36 out there.

Consequently the water in the pool felt warm by comparison to the air and was easy to get in to.

But that constant wind was a bit bracing on the skin exposed above the water.

I only lasted about 20 minutes this morning. I should have waited til later rather than going before 8am. It is supposed to get down to 35 by tomorrow morning. Tomorrow may be the day that ends my string of swimming days. Maybe.

Red Alert in North Texas

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Alert for North Texas for tomorrow. A Red Flag Alert comes about when the humidity drops and the wind blows hard, creating perfect conditions for grass fires.

It rained a lot earlier in the week, so I don't quite see how it would be all that easy to catch grass on fire.

It's been being real windy for hours now.

But before the wind came along I had to go walk off some over eating. So, I went to Village Creek. It'd been closed due to the aforementioned rains of Monday and Tuesday. What you see in the photo above is part of the paved trail crossing Village Creek on a little dam. This gets overflowed during heavy rain. This time it made a huge mess of litter and debris on both sides of the dam.

If I don't do a daily swimming report I get an email asking me why. I forgot til now. Yes, I did go swimming this morning. The low overnight was 58. The water was pleasant. I swam for about a half hour. I don't know if it'll be doable tomorrow, the low tonight is supposed to get to 42, with Saturday being even colder with a low of 35. I keep thinking that one day it is going to be too cold to get in that pool. I'll let you know if tomorrow morning is that day.

40 Days Til Christmas. Ugh.

I went to my local neighborhood Super Wal-Mart today. I've been seeing Salvation Army bell ringers for about a week now.

Today I walked into Wal-Mart and was assaulted by a sound I dread every year. Christmas music. It felt time warpy. But also put me in some sort of momentary odd wistful mood.

And then as I was leaving the store, near the exit, I saw something that appalled me. My first Christmas tree of the year. A real big one with real big balls.

The most appalling thing about the Christmas tree was not the real big balls. It was what was also hung on the tree.

An electronic sign counting down the "Days Til Christmas". As in the sign on the Christmas tree said "40 Days Til Christmas".

Ugh.

Sweet Tomatoes & My Shadow

Within the past year or so a restaurant called Sweet Tomatoes opened in Arlington. Since then 2 more have opened in the D/FW zone, one in Addison and one in Irving.

Sweet Tomatoes is like Fresh Choice. Without the roasted chicken. Fresh Choice used to be my favorite Fort Worth restaurant. And then it closed.

I'd not been to Sweet Tomatoes til today. My Shadow wanted to take me there for lunch to meet up with a couple of her friends I'd not met. My Shadow has forbidden me from putting her name on my blog. Or much of anything about her for that matter. I was given permission to mention going to Sweet Tomatoes with her if I called her My Shadow.

Well, here's my restaurant review of Sweet Tomatoes. I liked it. I probably like Zorro's Buffet in Fort Worth better. And I may have liked Fresh Choice better, but it's been so many years since it closed that I don't trust my memory.

Sweet Tomatoes is a buffet-like setup, like Fresh Choice and Zorro's. The menu consists of Tossed Salads, Prepared Salads, Soups, Pastas, Muffins and Desserts.

In the Tossed Salad category there was Azteca Taco with Turkey that I liked and one called Won Ton Chicken Happiness that was real good. I did not try the Caesar Salad Asiago.

Of the Prepared Salads I liked the Whole Wheat Creamy Chipolte Salad and Joan's Broccoli Madness. I didn't try the Southern Dill Potato, Three Bean Marinade or Tuna Taragon.

Of the Soups I tried the Yankee Clipper Clam Chowder and the Chicken Pot Pie Stew. Very good. There were at least 9 different soups. You'll have to go to the Sweet Tomatoes website to see what the rest of them are.

I didn't try any of the Pastas. The Macaroni & Cheese looked good. There was also a Vegetarian Marinara and Steamed Veggies with Lemon Butter.

The Muffins category is a bit confusing because there were also Buttermilk Biscuits and a couple Focaccia bread choices in addition to some muffins. I tried the Quattro Formaggio Foccaccia.

I'm not a big Dessert fan and there weren't all that many dessert choices. My Shadow thought the Tapioca Pudding was good. That stuff always reminds me of baby food.

So, that was lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. I'd go back. But not tomorrow. Right now I'm in need of walking off eating too much.

Artists Call---Buzzworms in the Backyard: Strikes again!

buzzworm n : a quaint, western euphemism for a rattlesnake 2 : an insistent, noisy vibration 3 : a warning sign 4 : a metaphor for a natural gas drilling rig.

~ Call for Entries ~

FWCanDo makes an open call to all artists to submit entries in all media to the second annual Buzzworms in the Backyard, an exhibition of art against ALL irresponsible gas drilling. Artists may enter up to three works at a fee of $10.00 per entry, or three for $25.00. Art will be juried from the actual work (no slides or cd’s) with $500.00 in prizes to be awarded.

Exhibition Dates and Location
January 9-30, 2009

Fort Worth Community Art Center (Back Gallery)
1300 Gendy Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76107

Jurors: Ed and Linda Blackburn
Ed and Linda are nationally-recognized and revered artists and collaborators “who live in Fort Worth, show here and beyond, teach some, are interested in our town, it’s doings and the art done here”. Recent exhibitions include two solo shows at Artspace 111. Ed’s work was recently seen at SUNDAY L.E.S. in New York and he received the Distinguished Texas Artist Award in 2006.

Pre-registration Deadline: Monday, December 29th
Delivery Date for all entries: Saturday January 3rd, 2-5PM

Rules of Entry and Registration Forms:
http://www.fwcando.org/

For further information:

Go to: http://www.fwcando.org/
Call: Don Young @ 817-731-2787
Email: donyoungglass@earthlink.net
Or write: FWCanDo P.O. Box 470041 Fort Worth, TX 76147

Co-sponsored by:

CREDO (Coalition For Reformed Drilling Ordinance)
Heliotrope

New York Parolee Executed Thursday In Texas

The Texas Death Row lost another resident Thursday night. That makes 2 days in a row of executing here in Texas. Three more are scheduled for the lethal injection gurney next week.

Last night's latest visitor to the Texas Death Chamber was a parolee from New York named Denard Manns. He was 42.

Manns got the death penalty for robbing, raping and fatally shooting an Army medic at her apartment near Fort Hood. The victims name was Michele Robson. She was 26.

Manns came to Texas after he got out of prison in New York. He got in trouble twice there for armed robbery.

Manns claimed to be innocent of murdering Michelle Robson who lived in the same apartment complex as Manns. DNA and fingerprint evidence tied Manns to the crime.

The story of yesterday's Texas Execution was buried inside the second section of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Page 6B.