Foggy Freezy Fort Worth

Anyone who knows me knows it's not my nature to complain. Oh, who am I kidding, whining is the only thing I'm really good at. We are rapidly approaching 48 hours of sub-freezing weather here in usually warm Fort Worth. Just 2 days ago, on Sunday, it got to almost 80.

And now today I came the closest to breaking my neck since I almost fell from a high spot last summer at Mount Rainier. Today I had bundled up as best I could to buffer my sensitive skin from the bracing cold, walking in a very deliberate fashion, when I stepped on to ice.

It was only through the miracle of a hand railing and my George Bush fighting-off-an-incoming-shoe quick reflexes that I was saved from a severe bruising, or worse, as in broken back, neck, leg or foot.

I don't remember if I've mentioned it before, but I'm a very religious person. Religious about making sure I get a good dose of daily exercise. If I don't attend to my religion I can get back aches and get in a bad mood. SAD sets easily in. SAD as in Seasonally Affected Disorder.

In other words this has been the most miserable day I've spent since I spent an entire month in Tacoma last summer.

I couldn't go swimming because my swimsuit was frozen to a chair. That and it was 22 degrees out there. I could not go on a hike or a walk or a bike ride due to the icy spots. I couldn't do any exercise thing in here due to it being too hot due to the furnace constantly trying to keep it above freezing in here.

My one escape today, that involved physical motion, was to walk over to Miss Puerto Rico's to take a photo, about noon, of how miserable it looks here today from her balcony. I forgot, I did drive to the Post Office too. That was treacherous.

And now the National Weather Service has put North Texas on a fog alert, through tomorrow, which could bring a coating of ice. I fear I have not reached the nadir of my misery. If I can't get my swimsuit thawed, I think I may try to make my way to Wal-Mart to get a fresh, unthawed new swimsuit. I must go swimming in the morning. And afterwards I must not leave my swimsuit outside to dry. Because it won't. It'll freeze dry.

An Iraqi Shoe For Bush? A Fort Worth Boot For Mayor Moncrief?

George W. getting shoes thrown at him at a Baghdad news conference made for one of the weirdest things I remember seeing in a long time. W.'s reflexes were quite quick. As was Iraqi leader Malicki's running interference on the incoming 2nd shoe.

The thrower of the shoe was quite good, too. Great aim and speed. A shoe is not the most aero-dynamic of items to be thrown. It's no baseball, football or frisbee. Yet the thrower hit a bullseye twice, or what would have been a bullseye were it not for George's deft ducking.

George handled it quite well, sort of turning the lemon into lemonade. I doubt many would want to drink George's lemonade, but it was a valiant effort, nonetheless, at off the cuff spin control. You can hear that and see the flying shoes in the video below.

Last night on MSNBC Keith Oberman was running and re-running over and over and over and over again the Bush Shoe Attack. With running commentary. It was sort of funny, in a sort of perverse way.

In the meantime, Don Young sent out an email that suggests that maybe this particular tactic might be used to get the attention of Fort Worth's corrupt Mayor Moncrief, he of the multi-conflicts of interest in the gas drilling business, with the Mayor owning interests in the companies seeking political favor in Moncrief's jurisdiction.

Deep Freeze Stops Fort Worth Swimming

It has not been above freezing here in Fort Worth, Texas for well over 24 hours. It got to 22 last night. Up to 25, right now, at about an hour before noon.

It had been my intention to test the pool this morning. My usual pattern is to step outside to where I leave my wet swimming suit and wet towel to dry, then come in here and put on the swimming suit.

But this morning the swimming suit is frozen into a big red ball, frozen stuck. I couldn't budge it to take it in here to thaw. I've got a back-up swimming suit, a black one, but it's nowhere to be found. I don't know how it has managed to come up missing. I suspect some nefarious evil-doer is trying to sabotage my swimming efforts.

Our forecast does not have us getting above freezing until tomorrow.

Meanwhile up in my old location, that being the Puget Sound region of the Pacific Northwest, they are having record breaking lows, colder than here. With snow.

When does this global warming thing we hear so much about kick in?

We're Freezing in Fort Worth

Coming up on 2 in the afternoon we are still below freezing here in Fort Worth. As in right now it is 28 with a Wind Chill Factor making it feel like 19. According to WeatherBug.

That's me hiking at the Tandy Hills about an hour ago in the dark photo. It's a snow clouds type sky. The white stuff may fall later today. That happens rarely in this part of Texas.

I had to find my long underwear to make hiking possible. I think I had 4 layers on top, two of which had hoods, both of which I pulled over my wool stocking cap. And I wore two pairs of gloves. Eventually I overheated.

Now, I know you're wondering if I went swimming this morning. Well, wonder no more. A bit before 8 I went down to the pool. The air temperature was 25, with WeatherBug saying it'd feel like 19, due to the wind. It was less windy this morning than when I went hiking, which I guess accounts for WeatherBug's Wind Chill Factor being the same 19 degrees.

So, this morning was the oddest getting in the water sensation yet. Due to the air being so cold the water felt warm. I stayed in it longer than yesterday when both the water and the air were way warmer than this morning. I swam maybe 10 minutes, then got in the hot tub. Did not stay in the hot tub long. I got out and back in the cold water for about 2 minutes.

I think I have gradually desensitized my skin nerve endings. They are so traumatized now that I think they've given up sending signals to my brain telling me that I should feel cold.

Uncertain in Texas

I have often been uncertain in Texas. But I've never been to Uncertain in Texas. Uncertain is about 18 miles northeast of Marshall, Texas. I have been to Marshall.

There are a few Texas towns with slightly odd names. Like Uncertain. Uncertain is a small town of less than 200 people. But there are usually a lot more than 200 people in Uncertain. That is because Uncertain sits on the shores of the beautiful swampy bayous of Caddo Lake.

There are plenty of places to stay in Uncertain. Caddo Lake Cabins, Canoa Cove, Crip's Camp, Hodge Podge Cottages, Hoot 'n Holler, Johnson's Ranch, Moonglow Lodges, Shady Glade Resort, Spattedock Guest Houses, Uncertain Inn and Whispering Pines Lodge.

That is a lot of places to stay in a town of less than 200.

Now, you're likely still wondering how Uncertain got its name. Well, the name came about due to the same reason other towns in Texas got odd names. Like when the town of Reklaw sent in its township application to Austin, with the town desired name being Walker, Austin rejected the name because there was already a Walker, Texas. So the new town's settlers sent in a new application with Walker spelled backwards.

The same thing happened to Sacul, Texas. The settlers wanted to call their town Lucas. But there was already a Lucas, Texas. So, the same solution to this vexing problem, that Reklaw used, was used by Sacul.

As for Uncertain. Well, way back over 100 years ago, when the settlers in what is now Uncertain sent in their application to Austin, they had not decided on a name. They wanted to be an official township, figuring they'd come up with a name later. They did not know what to put in the blank spot where they were supposed to enter the proposed name of their new town. So, they entered "uncertain."

Austin sent the township application back to the new town of Uncertain with the good news that their name had been approved and they were now officially the town of Uncertain, Texas.

River Legacy Park Destruction Surprise

That's me, on my new bike seat, today, on the River Legacy Park paved trail, on the north side of Hurricane Creek.

I had the biggest surprise at River Legacy Park today since a guy laying out Barnett Shale seismic testing equipment almost killed me with his Off Road Vehicle, riding fast, the wrong way, on the one way River Legacy Mountain Bike Trail.

Previously to almost being a Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling fatality I'd been surprised on the same trail by my first encounter with a Bobcat. At that point in time I did not realize a Bobcat is as harmless as a house cat. So, I biked away at top speed, probably screaming like a school girl. That Bobcat encounter was the scariest critter encounter since 2002 when a Snapping Turtle tried to kill me in Lake Grapevine. I have also had an armadillo encounter or two at River Legacy. As well as some close calls with snakes. Neither the armadillo or snake encounters have been life threatening.

Today's shocking surprise at River Legacy was not an animal or human trying to kill me. Instead it was human activity of a different sort.

I know I've biked at River Legacy within the past 3 months. I'm sure of that. But, in the short time since I'd last been there, much has changed. All was fine as I pedaled along the trail that runs along the south side of the Trinity River. As I pedaled across the bridge to the north side I saw that the boat launch that had been under construction the last time I saw it, was now finished and about 20 from the low water river.

About a quarter mile from that point the trail crosses under the Collins Street Bridge. As soon as I came out the other side I was startled by what I saw. Chain-link construction fencing right up against the trail. And bulldozed dirt as far as I could see. The chain-link fencing along side the trail continued for several miles. It is aesthetically displeasing.

But even more aesthetically displeasing is all the dirt that is being moved around. It appears roads are being built. I knew there was to be a development near the Bird's Fort area towards the end of the paved trail, where there is a big buffer of trees. But, this development I saw today is right up against the River Legacy Park Trail.

There are huge piles of huge pipes laying on the ground with the trench for the pipeline being dug. You can clearly see where the pipeline is going to run. Right under the River Legacy Park trail and then across the Trinity River and under a golf course.

One of the reasons I like this trail is it feels like you've left the city. But today I heard loud screeching noises that I thought were some sort of siren. The noise turned out to be coming from a piece of heavy equipment. There were several bulldozer, earth mover type things, with several of them busy working today.

Where this development is taking place I thought was a flood plain. There are several lakes that are the result of when the river floods. Those lakes are all low due to the drought. Both Hurricane Creek and Boyd Branch have been totally dried up for a long time. But when the Trinity River floods I've seen an incredible amount of water running through those creeks to the flood plain. Or what I thought was a flood plain.

How did this come about without me reading about it? How could Arlington let such a special area be ruined? What did the River Legacy Park people have to say about it? I mean, I got a scolding letter from some lady who works for River Legacy Park because she thought I was promoting environmental damage to the park by pointing out the Off Road Trails that are outside of the park. It is the area around the Off Road Trails that I thought development was to take place.

Not out in the open. And not right up against the River Legacy Trail.

Arlington is a town where dirty dealings seem to take place with nary an eye batted. You want to build a football stadium? Well, Arlington will help you pay for it and will go along with abusing the perfectly legit concept of eminent domain to kick thousands of people out of their homes and apartments in the single worst case of eminent domain abuse in American history.

And now, somehow plans got approved that it seems will totally alter what may be the best park in the D/FW Metroplex. Why did the city not buy this land? Or at least a buffer? That land could not have cost much. It's like a wasteland. A beautiful wasteland. That isn't so beautiful anymore.

The Sacramento Bee & Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Yesterday, that being Saturday, December 13, a guy blogged about my blogging at the start of the month about finally cancelling my subscription to the Fort Wort Star-Telegram. Actually his blogging pretty much consisted of linking to mine and copying it on his blog. His blog is called McClatchy Watch with the blog URL being cancelthebee.blogspot.com.

McClatchy Watch describes his blog as "mainly about the spectacular train wreck at The Sacramento Bee and its parent company, the McClatchy Company. But I also post about current events, the Iraq war, politics, and things that interest me. Take a look around this blog, I hope you enjoy it."

Then this morning, yet one more person calling him or herself Anonymous, commented on yesterday's McClatchy Watch. What made the comment interesting, besides being directed at the blogging about my paper cancellation, was the commenter has a Star-Telegram connection.

Here's the comment....

I left the FWST (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) months ago during one of the staff reductions in mid year. The newspaper was paid from my paycheck automatically, so I called to try and get it changed and pay for a year in advance. Three times I called and left messages and I still have not gotten a reply so that is that - I tried.

BTW - I'm still getting the paper - for free.

When they do catch on, I doubt I will continue. The paper is nothing but wire, which I can get for free on the Internet. And this content sharing with the DMN (Dallas Morning News) - no thanks. If I want the DMN, I'll buy it - I don't need them making my decisions. Sad situation - nothing but panic.

Last month I finally got a new job and can see what many others have said about life being better away from the newspaper business.

And then in what must be a related thing, yet one more Anonymous person made a comment. This comment was also made this morning. The comment was made regarding the blogging on December 1 regarding cancelling the Star-Telegram.

The commenter commented....

**crickets chirping**

I'm guessing McClatchy monitors what gets said about their newspapers in the same way Chesapeake Energy does.

Swimming Under Windy Sunday Clouds in North Texas

It has been windy for over 24 hours here in North Texas. This morning when I was in the pool I looked up to see a very strange and beautiful Sunday morning sky.

The wind was pushing low level wispy clouds at a high speed. There were more clouds much higher in the sky, apparently above the wind, because the high clouds did not appear to be moving.

This created a very unique 3-D effect. While I was looking up 3 jets heading to or away from D/FW Airport added to the odd movement in the sky.

It was all quite hypnotic. So, when I finished swimming and hot tubbing I got my video camera to see if it would be able to capture the beautiful Sunday morning Texas sky. Sadly, the video doesn't do justice to what my eye was seeing. But it comes close...

Horseshoe Trails, Lake Grapevine, New Gas Low & Extreme Home Makeover

Well, I've had me a day. Did my usual early morning swim thing. Done with that by 8am. Then I put my new bike seat on my old bike. Pedaled around testing the seat. I liked it. Then I hit a bump and the seat came loose. Back to the tools for some better screw tightening.

A bit after noon I headed up to Southlake and Grapevine. I was hungry so I went to Costco for their extravagant free sample lunch. Today was the best ever. A lot of very good cheeses and breads. Giant shrimp. I had the sweet chili shrimp. Beef stroganoff, pork tamales, cheesecake, fudge, chicken pot pie and other stuff that I can't remember.

After eating too much at Costco I went to the Horseshoe Trails Park on Lake Grapevine. I used to mountain bike the Horseshoe Trails a couple times a week. I used to live closer. That's the view from the Horseshoe Trails, looking out at Lake Grapevine in the photo above. It has been very windy today here in North Texas. It made for a fun hike in the wind. Gusts to 45 mph.

We hiked for about 5 miles, 7 if you factor in the extra exertion required to make headway into a heavy wind.

After hiking I went to Sprouts Farmers Market in Southlake. Got a lot of good stuff, like oranges and broccoli and apples and ham hocks. I'm making pea soup tomorrow.

I mentioned a couple days ago that if I were in the area I might try and find the Extreme Makeover Home Edition house under construction up in far north Fort Worth. Well, I was sort of in the area. So, I left Sprouts and headed west on Southlake Boulevard for a few miles. Took a right on 377 and then left on to Keller-Hicks Road.

Keller-Hicks Road is where I'd read the new house was being built. This area is where I first lived when I moved to Texas so it's familiar territory to me. Except so much has changed. As in new houses as far as you could see.

Eventually I came to a detour with cops blocking any further driving on Keller-Hicks. A sign said "No Walk-Ins." Following the detour I came to another guarded access point to the TV production.

I could see a lot of cars, tents, light poles and someone being loud over a sound system. It did not sound like Ty Pennington.

Finally I got out of the detour on to a main road. That main road was the main access point for "volunteers" working on the new house. They had to drive a bumpy field of dirt to get in and out.

I could see across the field to a better view than the one by where the cops were blocking the road. I could see a lot of people and I think the new house. You can see that house in the photo to the right of the big white tent.

After all that excitement it was time to head back here. Horrible traffic on I-35. So, I got off the freeway at Western Center Boulevard and made my way to Beach Street, stayed on Beach til Randoll Mill, which leads me to where I am now.

I forgot to mention, on Beach Street, near the Beach Street Super Wal-Mart, I saw a new gas low. $1.42 at a Racetrack station. I didn't need any, so I got none, so Mom didn't get a gas call.

Interlochen Christmas Lights Map & Directions

Yesterday when I blogged about the Interlochen Christmas Lights it did not occur to me to tell people how to find the lights.

By this morning I found several emails asking me for directions. And I found that yesterday's blogging comes up #1 when Googling "Interlochen Christmas Lights." Hence the questions.

Below are 2 maps. The first shows you where Interlochen is in relationship to I-30. That's Interlochen with the big red circle drawn around it. You can see the Interlochen canals on the map. The second map shows the Interlochen Traffic Routes.

To find Interlochen all you have to do is exit I-30 at Fielder Road or Eastchase Parkway. From Eastchase head east on Meadowbrook, which becomes Green Oaks. You'll come to a Shell station on your left. Turn right on Randoll Mill Road, at the Shell station. Continue on Randoll Mill til you come to a light. At that point you will likely be encountering a lot of Interlochen traffic. It is pretty straightforward from then on. Just follow the signs.

A more direct route to Interlochen may be found by exiting I-30 at Fielder Road. Go south on Fielder til you come to Randoll Mill Road. Turn right onto Randoll Mill and head west til you are obviously in the Interlochen zone.

From Division Street head north on Bowen Road til it runs into Interlochen.