The First Saturday of December at Fort Worth's Botanic Gardens

Fall colors are being spectacular this year in Texas, due to several factors, like low humidity, a drought and no hard freezes. Last week I read that one of the best places to see a wide variety of colorful leaves was Fort Worth's Botanic Garden. The Botanic Garden is located in what Fort Worth calls its Cultural District.

I'd not been to the Botanic Garden since October of 2001, if I remember correctly. So, on Saturday I thought it'd be fun to walk around Fort Worth's best gardens.

There's been a huge new thing added to the Botanic Gardens that is very impressive. It's called the Texas Native Forest Boardwalk. Which describes it well. It's in Texas, it's a boardwalk and it's surrounded by native forest.

The purpose of the Texas Native Forest Boardwalk is to educate kids. In a fun way. It's also designed to be fun and educational for grownups. I'm grown up and I found it fun. There is education and fun off the boardwalk, that is also part of the Texas Native Forest exhibits.

You can walk balance beams, crawl through hollowed out trees and visit a log hotel. On the Boardwalk there are several listening tubes where you can whisper to someone at another section of the Boardwalk.

For me, the coolest thing on the Boardwalk, other than how cool the elevated Boardwalk itself was, was the "Name That Tune" exhibit. There were 10 buttons to push that when pushed a bird would warble. You guess what type bird it was and then lift the flap to see if you are right. The only 2 I had a clue about were the turkey and the owl. The cool part was how realistic the chirping was. It sounded like it was coming out of the trees, in stereo. Very well done.

A slightly weird, yet somehow amusing thing on the Boardwalk was one of the questions posed. As you walk the Boardwalk you come to signs that pose questions. You lift a board to reveal the answer. The slightly weird, yet somehow amusing question was "Do Trees Poop?"

You can see me revealing the answer to the "Do Trees Poop?" question on the right.

The Fort Worth Botanic Gardens has several totally landscaped, not natural, formal type gardens that are very well done. The formal or demonstration gardens are the Japanese, Rose, Perennial, Fuller, Trial, Four Season, Water Conservation and Cactus Gardens.

In addition to the landscaped gardens and the Boardwalk, there are several totally natural, unpaved, for the most part, trails, like the Pecan Promenade Nature Trail and the Sugarberry Nature Trail. One of the 'nature trails' was paved with flagstones, but still managed to be very natural. The flagstoned trail is called the Rock Springs Trail. It's the location of the biggest pecan tree in the Botanical Garden.

So, if you live somewhere within driving distance of Fort Worth and want to take the kids and Grandma to a fun outdoors experience that manages to be good exercise for both the body and the brain, you should haul yourselves to the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens.

The Botanic Garden is very easy to find. They are about 1.5 miles west of downtown Fort Worth. You can just follow the signs to the "Cultural District." Or get off Interstate 30 at University and head north on University Drive. You'll soon come to the first entrance to the Botanic Garden. Take the second entrance and it will lead you to the Garden Center where the Conservatory is located.

The Conservatory is like a greenhouse on steroids that contains a tropical garden. The only entry fees charged in the Botanic Garden are for the Conservatory and the Japanese Garden.

Don Young's December Tandy Hills Prairie Notes

REMINDER: Prairie Fest is April 25, 2009. Applications for Exhibitor space are now being accepted. Brave Combo is already lined up as our musical headliner.

Most of you have probably noticed the rather late and colorful autumn tree foliage in north central Texas. Ideal weather conditions are, apparently, responsible for this phenomenon.

One doesn't usually associate vibrant fall color and trees with tall grass prairies, but Tandy Hills Natural Area (THNA) is Unique with a capital "U". Experts have noted that, the range of elevations, soil types and other factors have conspired to make THNA an ecological rarity. They point out that THNA has more botanical diversity in the smallest amount of space than anywhere else in the state of Texas.

Right now, the Oaks, Cottonwoods, Elms and other trees that inhabit the drainages and lower elevations of THNA are at peak Fall color. (The photos were taken just before the recent frost.) The native but invasive Ash trees, now leafless, allow panoramic views of the towering bottomland hardwoods.

December is also a good time of year to appreciate the "Hill" part of Tandy Hills. Over the years, I have attempted, unsuccessfully, to express in words or capture in photographs the essential profundity of the hills. Their soft, grass-covered contours and (mostly) gentle slopes are elemental to THNA. I view them as the essence of the place even more so than the 500+ plant species they nurture. The most reverent sense of the timeworn phrase, "Mother Earth", comes to mind.

These hills are or have been home to a surprising variety of wildlife, considering the proximity to I-30 and downtown. I have personally seen Red Fox, Wild Turkey, Coyote, Wolf, Bobcat, Cottontail Rabbit, Great Horned Owl, Screech Owl, Coopers Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Buzzard, Roadrunner and many other bird species.

This past October, when Chesapeake Energy completely removed one of the nearby hills, it affected many of us like the death of a loved one. The thought that they also own 50 unblemished acres of the Tandy Hills greenbelt is especially difficult to accept. I'm keeping a wary eye on that hill.

I have a treasured memory from the late '70's of a Red Fox, its long tail fully fluffed, the setting sun catching the red highlights as he scampered up the same, lovely hill that Chesapeake recently obliterated. It is observations and memories such as these that can inspire one to activism.

Come to the meadow - FAST - and catch autumn's fading color wheel and see with your own eyes where the Red Fox once ran free and what words and photos cannot capture: the irreplaceable essence of Tandy "Hills" Natural Area.

DY

"Be as I am a reluctant enthusiast...a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here."
~Ed Abbey

Polar Bear Plunge in Washington & Texas

No. That is not me running into Lake Grapevine in Texas as part of a Polar Bear Plunge.

Instead, it is a group of Polar Bear Plungers running from Matthews Beach Park into Lake Washington in Seattle yesterday. The Polar Bear Plunge was an event hosted by EarthCorps to bring attention to environmental issues and the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in Poland.

Meanwhile, I did my part here, in Fort Worth, to bring attention to environmental issues by doing my regular Polar Bear Plunge into a very cool pool. I got home at 2am, yesterday morning, and was up and in the pool by 8am.

Regarding me being a Polar Bear Plunger, I neglected to mention, in my blogging about Friday's Austin Ranch Christmas Party, that the subject of me getting in icy water came up several times. One amusing lady asked if I was one of those Polar Bear people.

Yesterday I had a great time at Fort Worth's Botanic Garden. I'd not been there in a long time. I think the last time was way back in October of 2001 when friends from up north, Chris and Nancy were here. There was a very cool new addition to the Botanic Gardens and some very colorful foliage that I took pictures of that I'll likely get around processing today.

At midnight it was 39. The low this morning has been 31. It is currently 32.2. I don't see a lengthy time in a pool in my future this morning.

Texas Dude Ranch Christmas Fun

I've gone to 4 or 5 of Miss Puerto Rico's company Christmas parties. Last night's was, by far, the best. Last year's was a disaster. It was held in cramped quarters at a place called Dave & Busters. Basically Dave & Busters is a Gameworks wannabe. The food was real good, but other than that, no one liked Dave & Busters as a Christmas party place.

So, this year it was back to the town of Grapevine to a place called Austin Ranch. On the way to Austin Ranch Miss Puerto Rico and I drove down Grapevine's Main Street. Grapevine is a very well-done tourist town. So, its Christmas lights were over the top. Then we took a left to the Gaylord Texan Convention Center and Resort complex. I've never seen a place with Christmas lights as bright as Gaylord Texan. It out-brighted the brightest of Vegas. And, in the water feature in front of the main entry, Santa was in a power boat pulling his reindeer on skis.

After looking at the Gaylord Texan excess it was time for some Austin Ranch excess. Austin Ranch, obviously, is very Cowboy/Texas themed. Cowboys wander about in full cowboy gear. A huge fireplace warms up one end of the huge room. A stage is in the middle. A bar is opposite the stage. The buffet is in another room, made to look, sort of, like you're entering a saloon.

It was not a full-service bar. The choices were several wines, Shiner Bock on tap, beer in bottles. And Margaritas. The buffet was basically steak and baked potatoes, along with things like asparagus and a stuffed pasta. And real good pecan pie. Before the buffet opened there was a big cracker and cheese table with raspberries and blueberries and other stuff I don't remember. The raspberries were good.

After the food part of the night was over the guy emceeing the thing indicated it was time to play bingo. What fresh hell is this, I wondered? I don't like playing bingo. But this turned out to be fun. And didn't last too long. Next there was this Conga Line thing that didn't end til everyone was in the Conga Line.

After a raffle for the employees, the dancing part of the evening began. Last year, at Dave & Busters, there was no dancing because there was no room to do so and no music. Previous times, at Austin Ranch, very few people danced. And those few who did were just some of the girls having fun.

Last night was totally different. When we arrived an older couple was already two-stepping, quite gracefully. I instantly thought of Dancing With the Stars. What happened the rest of the night convinced me that that show, being top-rated, has changed people's dancing.

At one point some Merengue type music caused a large group to start doing, I guess, Merengue dancing. One guy shimmied out onto the floor to the sound of people applauding. There was spontaneous dancing taking place off the dance floor. At one point, I looked to my right, to the surprising sight of my friend Shelley, dancing with her formerly, not a dancing type of guy, husband. After the Conga Line, another funny friend, Susan, she being a 50-something who says she can't dance, did so, to the slight embarrassment of her daughter.

At one point that awful Macarena song that spawned a dance craze that even Al Gore managed to learn, started up. One of the company execs, along with one other person, did the whole Macarena thing, quite well. I do not have the ability to remember that type thing.

And in the weirdest Dancing With the Stars affected moment, Shakira's Hips Don't Lie song started up. I like that song. I'd just stood up to head to the bar for another Shiner Bock when Shakira started singing. I'd previously told those at my table that I don't know how to dance. Which isn't the truth. Anyway, when I stood up I did a little Hips Don't Lie wiggling. Susan said, you dance good. To which I said thank you.

Next thing I know Miss Puerto Rico and I head to the bar. I started shaking my hips again. There was some clapping and then I turned all Maxsim Chmerkovskiy (dancer on Dancing With the Stars). Only me and Miss Puerto Rico were shaking to Shakira. I'm pretty sure we would have gotten at least one 10 if the Dancing With the Stars judges had been there.

As the evening wore down our group was pretty much the last to leave. We got a really good hint that it was time to go when Happy Trails was the last song played. Followed by silence. Susan went around collecting all sorts of chocolate and stuffed them in my pockets. She also filled her own pockets.

So, that was my night. I didn't get home til 2am. My one longtime reader may remember that just days ago I was having a bout of insomnia that had me getting up at 3am. I got up at 7am this morning, which I guess means I got only 5 hours sleep.

I'm going to Fort Worth's Botanic Garden today. And then to the Fort Worth Stockyards. Photos and video to appear later.

Picasa 3 Sucks

I'd gotten quite used to using Picasa. That's Google's freebie photo management program that does all sorts of good things. I'd use it to quickly process a lot of photos. Picasa made it very easy to crop and to enhance a photo. It'd become one of my favorite programs and one of my most frequently used.

Until today. Picasa is no longer on my computer.

When I closed Picasa, yesterday, a window popped up telling me that an upgrade would be installed the next time I started Picasa.

I took some pictures this afternoon of the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium. I took them off the camera and started up Picasa, which, without asking me if it could, began upgrading it. I had no input.

When it finished the upgrade, Picasa re-started. With a whole new look. I instantly did not like it. But went ahead cropping and enhancing the photos. Soon my the Windows Task Manager was telling me that Page File Usage had gone to 100%. And then the overheating fan came on.

I closed Picasa and my computer calmed down.

I then tried to re-start Picasa, but the start up icon said it couldn't find the .exe file. I then saw a new program had been installed. Picasa 3 had replaced Picasa 2 and removed the Picasa 2 files.

There was an un-install option. Since Picasa 3 was worthless to me, I thought maybe if i un-install Picasa 2 would be restored. That did not happen. So, I am now Picasa free.

I need to find a replacement.

New Dallas Cowboy Stadium & Chinatown

I had not been to Chinatown in Arlington in many a month. Nor have I seen the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium up close since the last time I went to Chinatown.

That's the new stadium behind the FINA station. The area surrounding the new stadium is rather forlorn looking, rundown industrial stuff and low end houses.

So, today I went to Chinatown to go to the new Saigon Taipei Market. And to Hong Kong Market Place. I got all sorts of good stuff.

Since I was in the neighborhood and I had a list of stuff to get at Wal-Mart, I decided to go to the Wal-Mart across the street from the new stadium. It's a super-nice Wal-Mart Supercenter. But by the time I got there it was past 2. I was hungry. The stuff on my Wal-Mart list could wait. I needed food.

The new stadium is nearing completion. It's a mess all around it of road construction. I had to follow a bulldozer going about 5 miles an hour for what seemed 5 miles. It appears that the entire area from the Ballpark in Arlington to the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium is going to be a parking lot.

It'd been so long since I've been in this area I was surprised to see the new Collins Street bridge over I-30 is completed. Three huge, fancy bridges are going to span I-30 connecting both sides of Arlington's Entertainment District that includes Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor, The Ballpark in Arlington, the Dallas Cowboy Stadium and a lot of restaurants. With the new bridges it will be very pedestrian friendly to cross the freeway with covered walkways on both sides of the bridge.

It was sort of distracting looking up trying to figure out what was looking so different. I should have taken a picture. But like I said I was hungry.

Durango World Is Going Up While Gas Keeps Going Down

Another beautiful cold Fall day in Texas. I went swimming, as usual, this morning. It was cold. I did not last long. I went hiking at the Tandy Hills again today. It was too nice a day not to. That's from today in the photo. Very bright red leaves on the oak trees today.

Every day there seems to be more bad economic news. But in Durango's Contrary World things seem to be going in the opposite direction.

I went to the China King in Bedford today about 2pm. I'd not been there in a long time. My fortune cookie said, "An enjoyable vacation is awaiting you near the mountains." Did the fortune cookie foresee my likely roadtrip to Seattle in a couple months? Spooky. Those Chinese have special psychic powers.

Friday I'm going to a Christmas Party. It's at a place called Austin Ranch. That's a Dude Ranch up by Lake Grapevine. Last year's Christmas Party was at this awful place called Dave and Busters. Everyone hated it. So, it got moved back to Austin Ranch. Austin Ranch is a lot funner. There's a big open bar, lots of food, a DJ, casino gambling. And dancing. I will be forced to dance. I hate it when that happens.

I came the closest I've come to a wreck in a long time, this afternoon up in Hurst. I was using a Texas Turn-Around to switch from one side of the freeway to the other. A merging lane came in at an odd angle. I'd not seen the yield sign. Brakes had to be used along with a deft swerve. It was scary. I came really close to running into another car. That would not have been a good thing. Particularly when I'd been having such a good day.

I didn't need gas today, so I didn't get any when I saw the Tandy Hills Gas Station is now down to $1.58. A couple hours later I saw the stuff for $1.56 at a QT in Bedford.

Kill The Cockroach Part II

I told you yesterday I'd update you on the Cockroach situation.

The good news is this morning when I turned on the kitchen light I did not see any Cockroaches. The bad news is when I looked in the Las Vegas Roach Trap, that I told you about yesterday, well, I could not see any Roaches trapped in the trap. They may be in there, drowned in the coffee slurry. I'm not going to reach in and find out.

There are around 4,000 species of Cockroaches. Of those 4,000 only 30 Cockroach species like to live with humans. Of the 30 types of Cockroaches that like to live with humans, only 4 of the species are thought of as pests. I guess that make the other 26 pets instead of pests?

The pesty Cockroaches are the American, the German, the Asian and the Oriental Cockroaches.

Cockroaches are nocturnal critters, running away when exposed to light. Some Cockroaches hiss. I've not heard mine hiss. Other types of Cockroaches make chirping noises. Mine don't chirp, either. Maybe they are not Cockroaches.

Cockroaches can remain active for a month without food. They can live off the glue on a postage stamp. Some can go without air for 3/4 of an hour. I've flushed 2 down the drain and turned on the garbage disposal, only to watch them crawl back out when I turned the water and disposal off. Only brute force dispatches them. Garbage disposals aren't brutal enough. I had one hop into my fridge's freeze. I thought, he's a goner. The next day, when I opened the freezer, the Cockroach quickly sprinted out.

There is a popular myth that Cockroaches will take over the planet if the human beings destroy the world in a nuclear war. It is true Cockroaches have a greater resistance to radiation than humans. But the same is true of most insects. The reason a Cockroach can survive a heavy radiation dose is because their cells divide way more slowly than humans. It is when a cell divides that it is most vulnerable to radiation.

Well, that's enough about the Kill the Cockroach project for today.

National Cookie Day November 4

Did Congress actually pass some sort of legislation designating today as National Cookie Day? If so, why? Some National Days I sorta get. But a National Cookie Day?

I rarely consume Cookies. But there is one type Cookie that I really like, that being White Chocolate Macadamia Nut.

Years ago I knew a nurse who was known as The Fat Lady. She was a very good cook. And she made these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that were even better than White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. It's been at least 16 years since I've seen The Fat Lady. The last I heard of her she'd married a Russian Pharmacist who she'd met through one of those Find the Desperate a Mate services.

Back to the subject of National Cookie Day. History was my major in college, so let's talk about the History of the Cookie. Persia was one of the first places on earth to cultivate sugar. Way back in the 7th Century those future Iranians started baking the world's first Cookies. I don't know what type Cookies the Persians made. I suspect dates were involved.

An appalling Cookie statistic is Americans eat over 2 billion Cookies a year. That averages out to 300 Cookies per American per year. I had a big Cookie last summer when I was up in Tacoma. I think that's the only Cookie I've had this year. I know a person or two who makes up for my lack of Cookie eating, helping, greatly, to add to the national total.

The word "Cookie" comes from my ancestral homeland. That being Holland. Cookie comes from the Dutch word "koekje" pronounced "Cook-yuh." Dutch Cookies are real good too. I forgot I liked them in addition to the Cookies already mentioned. Dutch Cookies use a lot of butter.

The most popular Cookie in the United States is the Chocolate Chip Cookie. It was invented in 1937 by Ruth Graves Wakefield in Whitman, Massachusetts. Ms. Wakefield ran the Toll House Restaurant, hence the name of a famous Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, as in Toll House Cookies.

Peanut Butter was not used as a Cookie ingredient until the 1930s. I don't know who made the first Peanut Butter Cookie.

So, there you go. That is all the Cookie History I know. Now go out and support National Cookie Day by forcing yourself to eat one.

P.S. Here's a White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Recipe...

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together until smooth:
1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat and add:
2 eggs

Mix together and add gradually:
2 1/4 c. unsifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda

Stir in:
1 pkg. white chocolate chips
1 jar chopped Macadamia nuts

Drop batter by well-rounded teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in moderate oven (375 degrees). Be careful not to over bake!

Now get cooking to celebrate National Cookie Day.

Texas Fall Most Colorful Ever

Longtime Texans are saying this is the most colorful Texas Fall ever. The North Texas weather conditions have been such that the foliage result is pretty much Vermont-like.

The brighter colors are caused by a late summer, cool nights and dry and clear days. We are running about 5 inches below the norm for rain this year. Botanical experts claim that the lack of freezing temperatures in the D/FW Metroplex has allowed the leaves to last longer and develop deeper colors.

The leaf experts claim the coldest it has gotten here was 34 on November 16.

I beg to differ. I know it's frozen already here, because I saw frost on the roofs and had to scrape ice off my windshield.

The colorful leaves in trees you see in the photos were taken this afternoon at Tandy Hills Natural Area.