Pantego Bi-Centennial Park

I had to go to my bank today, that being Washington Mutual, aka WaMu aka now swallowed up by Chase Bank. The closest WaMu is about 4 miles north, but I didn't want to go in that direction. The next closest WaMu is about 5 miles east. I wanted to go in that direction.

So, I did.

But on the way I got distracted and found myself on a different road than I had intended. This had me taking a left onto a side street to get me where I wanted to be. I had not gone this way before.

The street went by an interesting looking park. I decided to make my deposit and then come back and check out the park.

It is called Pantego Bi-Centennial Park. I assume it opened in 1976. But it looked way newer than that. All over the park there are little statues like you see in the pictures. There are paved trails and bridges across a flood control channel. Or maybe it was a creek lined with cement.

There is a playground for kids and a covered exercise workout area for bigger kids and grownups. The workout area had several stations with directions on what you were supposed to do. It looked like way too much bother to me. So, I just admired the effort and continued walking. That is the covered workout area under the green roof in the background of the picture on the left.

It is getting harder and harder to avoid Texas Wildflowers. They are getting closer to being everywhere. The pink ones the name of which, I think, has primrose as part of it, is one of the earliest to show up and the longest to last. Pink seems like such an un-Texas color. It's a Red State, not a Pink State.

When I was leaving the Pantego Park I didn't think there was enough of a draw to bring me back. Maybe if I was looking for a real nice covered picnic table on a hot day. But, when I exited the parking lot I saw the park continued, along the flood control channel/lined creek, with a trail snaking along into the distance. It looked like it might be a roller blading possibility.

But, that will need to wait for awhile. We are heading into some stormy weather. It's likely going to be very wet for a few days.

Flying Half Mast in Arlington's Veterans Park

Why were the flags flying at half mast today in Arlington's Veterans Park? No one at the park knew. I thought the U.S. flag could be flown at half mast only at the orders of the President?

As you can see it is a windy, cloudy day here in Texas. We are building to a BIG Storm, which is supposed to hit by tomorrow morning.

Eat What You Want Pay What You Want At Potager

An interesting new restaurant called Potager has opened in Arlington near the University of Texas at 315 S. Mesquite. I mention that address because the article about this place in this morning's Dallas Morning News neglected to mention where this place is located.

What makes this restaurant interesting is not what is on the menu, though the menu does sound good, what makes it interesting is how you pay for what is on the menu.

I'll copy a blurb from Potager's MySpace page which will tell you about how you pay for what is on the menu....

BECAUSE FOOD IS SO PRECIOUS, we don't want you to waste any. We're different from other restaurants where food waste runs rampant and food portions are ridiculous. At Potager, we would like you to ask for only as much food as you know you can eat--you are more than welcome to come back for more--but please, don't waste it. As a result, we have no set price for our meals.

THAT'S RIGHT, we trust people. You ask for how much you want; we ask that you pay what you feel is a fair price for it, keeping in mind that that plenty of love, talent and great ingredients have gone into the preparation of your food each and every day. We want everyone to be able to afford a wholesome and delicious meal, reconnecting with food in a way made almost obsolete in this era of fast food restaurants and cheaply made take-out.

Currently this pricing method does not seem like it's being a very good business model. According to the article in the Morning News it is currently costing Potager's about $8 per customer, while the customer's are paying about $7 each.

Shopping For Info About The Shoppe

Anonymous does a lot of commenting on my blog. I think Anonymous is a Greek name, but I'm not sure of that. I also get comments from Stenotroph-omonas. That name sounds Greek to me, too.

This morning Anonymous commented about a blogging I wrote last year about the State Fair of Texas. In that blogging I mentioned the Western Washington State Fair, which is pretty much the State Fair of Washington, also known as The Puyallup (pronounced pew-al-up, the Puyallup are a Pacific Northwest Indian Tribe).

When I mentioned The Puyallup I also mentioned a band that I always made a point of making sure I heard, due to the band being very entertaining. The band's name was/is The Shoppe. They are/were from Dallas.

Anonymous's comment was about The Shoppe, commenting, "Hi, I agree with you about The Shoppe at the Puyallup. They were always fun to watch. They haven't been around for a few years. Do you know where they are?"

Well, I don't know where they are. The last time I went to The Puyallup was some time in the 1990s. I don't remember if I saw The Shopped that time or not.

When I Googled "Dallas band The Shoppe" all I got was an E-Bay auction of a The Shoppe LP album. For those of you reading this who are under 30, an LP album is what music used to be put on prior to CDs. LP's were these big vinyl circles, usually black, that had grooves in which a needle vibrated, turning the grooves into music. Yes, it was a very primitive method for listening to music.

So, does anyone in my current D/FW zone know what became of The Shoppe? Did they ever play at the State Fair of Texas? The Shoppe is/was better than anything I've heard at the State Fair of Texas. It wasn't just the music. They also did very good banter.

Sunday at River Legacy Park

It's Sunday, so I went to River Legacy Park to pedal the mountain bike trail.

I seem to be a creature of habit with little derivation.

Swimming at 8 this morning. Another tiresome habit.

At River Legacy, today, unlike the last time I was there, I saw some wildlife. A lot of humans, hiking and biking, including Blonde Bobbi. Sunday at River Legacy seems to be one of Blonde Bobbi's bad habits too.

I had 2 snake encounters today. One was quite big. The other likely had only recently hatched. Neither were of the venomous sort. But the big one moved real fast. It is unsettling to see a snake move real fast. I don't understand how they can get so much speed out of that slithering motion.

I tried to slither across my Tacoma sister's floor once, so as not to set off the motion detectors. It took me forever to slither across the floor, and then by the time I got to the door, it had taken me so long, I forgot about the alarm and opened the door to get the paper. All sorts of mayhem quickly ensued. I probably should have been embarrassed about all that mayhem, but it all seemed amusing to me. Although, I did think my sister demanding DNA proof that we are actually related to be a bit rude.

It is almost 80 here today, so, when I got back here, a jump in the pool in my biking shorts seemed to make sense. There are good reasons why the approved attire for swimming is either skinny dipping or a swimming suit. Using my biking shorts as a swimming suit brought up all sorts of issues we need not discuss. Suffice to say, I will not make that mistake again.

We are heading into several days in a row of possible severe storms. This happens every Spring in Texas. I suspect I may hear my first tornado siren of the year this week.

In the meantime I'm trying to write the story of the Travails of Tootsie Tonasket. But it is convoluted and very confusing, thus taxing my ability to make sense of it. So, the story stays in draft mode. For now.

$25,000 Reward for Information Leading to the Arrest...

A few days ago I mentioned seeing a couple billboards that were unusual, or seemed unusual to me, that I see when I drive to the Tandy Hills. One is the Dr. Kim Lap Band Billboard that I already mentioned. The other is the one you see above.

This "$25,000 Reward" billboard has been up for quite a long time. I assume that must indicate no arrest has been made. I don't know the details of this murder, or remember anything about. There are a lot of murders in the news when you live in a metro area of around 6 million people.

I'll see if I can find anything out about this murder....

Okay, now that I've read about it, my memory is refreshed. This case has shown up on "America's Most Wanted." Early in the evening of December 9, 2007, 68 year old Marianne Wilkinson's doorbell rang. She opened the door and was shot 3 or 4 times. Neighbors heard the shots.

Marianne's family said she had no enemies and that there was nobody who would want her dead. The random nature of the murder shocked the community and had people afraid that a murderer was at large, randomly ringing doorbells and shooting people.

And then a neighbor of Marianne's came forward saying she believed that she was the intended victim. The neighbor had gone through a very acrimonious divorce due to a lot of money being involved. The neighbor lived in a house very similar to Marianne's, with a very similar address in the same housing community.

Police came to the conclusion this was a murder for hire that had gone badly awry.

Months passed and a handgun was found that proved to be the murder weapon. But tracing registration records showed the gun belonging to people deceased. Police also got shell casings, along with the gun. That lead them from Texas to England, where a forensic scientist named Dr. John Bond had developed a method for removing fingerprints from metal surfaces, even surfaces that had been wiped clean.

So, police now have fingerprints. Now they are looking for the right fingers. If you can help the police find the right fingers you could be $25,000 richer. I know that's nothing like an AIG executive bonus, but it'd still buy a few groceries in these troubled times.

Tandy Hills: Visual & Verbal Poetry From Don Young

Prairie Notes: March 21, 2009
Vernal Equinox

Field report-

I was so busy yesterday, preparing for the 4th annual Fort Worth Prairie Fest, that I forgot to look up when the center of the Sun crossed the equator in the celestial sphere at 8:44 am CDT. The vernal equinox has come and gone. Dang! I hate it when that happens.

The winds of mid-March whistle through the TV towers above Tandy Hills like the ghosts of Indians past. The trees are adorned with kites and plastic bags. A pair of Screech Owls have arrived, testing the mettle of scurrying field mice. Tiny-legged Ground Skinks are on the move again, "swimming" like quicksilver through the mysterious world underfoot.

A Cooper's Hawk, sliced overhead yesterday, reminding me of who rules the air around here.

Learn more about the birds of Tandy Hills in Tom Steven's excellent, Tandy Hills-Stratford Parks Ornithological Assessment.

LOST in the Tandy Hills Dharma Initiative

I was at the Tandy Hills Natural Area today. I saw 3 separate, very large areas covered with what I now know to be Texas Wild Irises, thanks to the horticulture input of Twister and Shirley.

I was surprised to find no Texas Bluebonnets doing their blue thing on the Tandy Hills today, because I saw a patch of them blooming along the freeway, I assumed they'd be up and running on the Tandy Hills.

I did see another Wildflower that has now made its Spring appearance. I've no idea what it is, but it is a reddish colored thing sort of shaped like a horn.

I suspect that by my next scheduled Tandy Hills visit, on Monday, the hills will be alive with the sound of color. And birds.

I've mentioned before that sometimes when I'm wandering around the Tandy Hills the TV show LOST comes to mind. I got around to watching 2 episodes of LOST last night, so it was fresh in my memory.

Today I came upon 3 underground stations like the one in the picture, indicating that before the current Earth Loving Tribe took over the Island of Hills, "Others" had punched some holes in the ground here. I did not try to open the hatch to see if it was inhabited. I suspect whatever "Dharma-like Initiative" put this hatch in this location, has long abandoned the area, unable to abide by it being taken over by Natural People wanting a Natural Area.

I wonder if the patches of Texas Wild Irises date from when "The Others" controlled the Tandy Hills? One more thing they left behind. Like their hatches.

First Texas Bluebonnet of the Year

This morning's Dallas Morning News had a picture of the first Bluebonnets blooming on the first day of Spring.

At noon, on my way to Tandy Hills Park, to hunt for wildflowers. I saw my first Bluebonnets of the year. They were blooming along side Interstate 30. Currently they are looking a bit puny, compared to this same location last year. I suspect it will grow way bluer in this spot in the coming weeks.

In the foreground of the picture (you'll have to click the pic to see the bluebonnets) is another Texas Wildflower staple, the name of which escapes me right now, maybe something with primrose as it's last name. You see a lot of this particular wildflower. In fact they were my introduction to Texas Wildflowers, way back in the Spring of 1998, when I drove into Texas via Amarillo and began seeing these fragile looking flowers lining the side of the road.

Now that Spring has officially arrived with the first Texas Bluebonnets I can relax and eagerly anticipate the first 100 degree day of the year. And the first Tornado Warning Sirens of the year.

Sam Rayburn Turnpike & Other Texas Freeway Honorariums

Lately I've noticed an awful lot of ink being devoted to the naming of a toll road here in the D/FW Metroplex. The toll road being named is a 21 mile section of State Highway 121. It is proposed that this section of highway be named after Sam Rayburn. Mr. Sam was a legendary Speaker of the House from Bonham, Texas. He and Lyndon Johnson, working together, were a formidable pair of legislators.

I don't know why it has come to be, but, as Wikipedia put it...

"For those new to the Metroplex, the area's elaborate highway system can be a bit confusing. The D/FW area has long had a tradition of naming numbered highways."

Some of the freeway and highway naming seems really goofy to me. I know other areas of America also name their freeways, like in the Los Angeles zone I-5 is the Golden State Freeway. They also have the Hollywood Freeway, Ventura Freeway and a lot more. The only freeway named after a person in the LA zone, that I know of, is I believe there may be a section of freeway named after Richard Nixon.

The Seattle zone does no freeway renaming. Up there they just stick with I-5, I-405, I-90, I-520, you get the drift.

Here in the Metroplex the same road can go by various names. Like right where I live on one side of I-820 the road is called John T. White Road, cross over the freeway and it becomes Bridge Street. A couple miles to the east of me Green Oaks Boulevard turns into Dottie Lynn Parkway for no discernible reason.

Here in the D/FW Metroplex we have the LBJ Freeway (I-635), the George Bush Turnpike and the Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway (I-20 in Arlington).

Those are our Presidential Freeways. We also have a section of U.S. Highway 287 in Fort Worth renamed as Martin Luther King, Jr. Freeway.

I-30 from the Tarrant County line on east to the Dallas Mixmaster is called Tom Landry Freeway. Landry coached the Dallas Cowboys at some point in time and is apparently highly regarded. The Tom Landry Freeway signs have a strange hat as its symbol.

I have no idea who the other people are who have freeways named after them. We have the East R. L. Thornton Freeway and the South R. L. Thornton Freeway.

And then there is the Marvin D. Love Freeway, which is U. S. Highway 67.

U.S. Highway 175 is known as C.F. Hawn Freeway.

Spur 366 is known as the Woodall Rogers Freeway.

Texas State Highway 360 is Angus Wynne Freeway. I think he may be the guy who started Six Flags.

Texas State Highway 114 is known as the John Carpenter Freeway. The movie maker? I have no idea.

Interstate 45 in known as the Julius Schepps Freeway. I don't believe it is called that all the way to Houston.

Texas State Highway Loop 12 has a lot of names. Depending on where you are on the loop it is known as Walton Walker Boulevard, Northwest Highway, Ledbetter Drive, Military Parkway and Kiest Boulevard.

We also have parts of freeways named after other sports figures besides Tom Landry. Golfer Byron Nelson, car racer Dale Earnhardt and baseballer Nolan Ryan all have freeway signs with their names on them.

Anyway, like I said, I don't know what caused the bizarre practice to be so, well, frequently practiced. What I do know is I would like someone to explain Randoll Mill Road to me. No matter where I drive in this huge Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex I seem to run into Randoll Mill Road meandering about.