My Exile In Texas Comes To An End

I knew, or sort of knew, that this day would one day come. I said it wouldn't, but I sort of knew it would.

I've lost track, during the time of my exile in Texas, how many times, in response to the most mild verbalization of something that some super-sensitive, insecure Texan sort perceived to be some sort of criticism of Texas, that I have been advised to haul my Yankee self back north by whatever means and direction I arrived in the #1 state in the union.

Usually this sentiment regarding my departure is not expressed as politely as I worded it.

Well, the means of my arrival was a moving van, the direction was from the northwest via Amarillo and Highway 287. I have not decided for certain, but my exit will likely be via the same means and direction.

I will be heading to Seattle to a condo by Myrtle Edwards Park on Elliot Bay in downtown Seattle. That is the view in the picture. Unlike Fort Worth, Seattle already has a town lake in the form of Puget Sound and Lake Washington and Lake Union and other lakes. I'd be an old man if I waited here in Fort Worth for the Trinity River Vision to finally become clear and create a lake and some canals with condos, so I could move to a place facing water.

Reliable sources, more than one, have told me that Lord Voldemort, aka the Fremont Behemoth, is back safely behind bars, thus making a return to the Northwest seem safer and saner.

Adjusting to the weather will be difficult. Very difficult. Adjusting to being able to pick all the blackberries I want, for free, will be easy. As will having access to all the other berries and fruits and vegetables that grow in Washington. I believe that and fresh seafood are the number one things I miss.

I'll miss Texas, really, I will. There is an awful lot I like about Texas. An awful lot. I'll likely return to visit. Especially to see both the Dallas and Fort Worth Trinity River projects in their various iterations come, hopefully, to fruition.

In the meantime, I'm busy packing.....

Gateway Park's Failing Boardwalks & Fort Woof

As you can in the picture of the jogger running up the wooden stairs, after last night's rainy thunderstorm, we have had a return to blue sky and pleasant temperatures.

The jogger is running up stairs that are part of an elaborate boardwalk that brings you down to the Trinity River from a bluff in Fort Worth's Gateway Park.

I decided to do something radically different today. Hence hiking at Gateway Park rather than one of my regular locations. I was hoping to find the Trinity in making rapids mode. But all the heavy rain did was make the river muddy.

Gateway Park is just a couple miles from my abode, closer than Tandy Hills Park. The I-30 Freeway separates Tandy Hills Park and Gateway Park, with Tandy on the south side, which makes Gateway on the north side of both the freeway and the river.

Gateway Park is the location of one of Fort Worth's proudest achievements, that being Fort Woof, home to what something called Dog Fancy magazine ranked as the #1 Dog Park in America. I don't remember if we had a city-wide celebration for being #1 or not.

In Gateway Park there are two elaborate boardwalks, one of which you see in the pictures. Both have been allowed to fall on hard times. Floods have wreaked havoc, burying the last few switchbacks in sand and dirt, now overgrown with foliage. It's sad, after going to the bother and expense of building the things, that they have been left so neglected. Eventually deterioration will likely necessitate the total removal of these boardwalks. That would be a shame.

But. Fort Worth is not really all that big on preserving things. Look at poor Heritage Park. Fort Worth hasn't managed to un-eyesore that sad monument to civic neglect, even with it representing where Fort Worth began. And its heritage.

Fort Worth also does not do a very good job with keeping the Fort Worth Stockyards looking good. Even though the Stockyards are on the National Historical Area Registry. And yet many buildings in that location have sat, ever since I moved to Texas, as boarded up eyesores.

When I saw the Gateway Park Boardwalks, for the first time, the boards must have been fairly new. There was no deterioration at that time. I saw them after a heavy rain had the Trinity running high. It made the boardwalk look like it ran right into the water. Which made it a scary looking boardwalk.

Gateway Park has added a Disc Golf Course since I was last there. A mountain bike trail has supposedly been built, but the one mountain bike trail like spot I've seen does not look promising. With no one riding it. I think the Gateway Park bike trail may have been abandoned. There are miles of paved hiking trails through the park with wooden bridges across shallow ravines.

Gateway Park is worth a visit if you've never been there. Fort Woof on weekends can be amusing. Very busy. There are entries to the park easily found by exiting I-30 at Beach Street. Or from Randoll Mill Road.

Sweetwater Sucks & Other Dumb Comments

I find amusement in reading a TV Forum called Survivor Sucks. Part of the amusement comes from being appalled at how people can get so worked up, so angry. At each other and about people on TV. And so inarticulate, to the point that, at times, they come across as so seriously deficient I don't understand how they can manage to navigate a computer, let alone the Internet.

The worst of the forums, for sheer mean-spirited idiocy, are the ones for shows like American Idol or Survivor. They really draw in the bottom feeders. And then I go to the Survivor Sucks forum for LOST and I feel like I've entered some high level discussion by a bunch of college professors analyzing a work of art.

Now, there is a slight corollary between Survivor Sucks comments and comments I get to videos I put on YouTube. To the YouTube videos, like the one for the State Fair of Texas and the 40th JFK Assassination Anniversary I get LOST-like, thoughtful, insightful comments. To the videos I made of of my visit to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup and videos I've made of the building of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium and Chesapeake Energy Natural Gas Drilling I get American Idol Survivors Sucks dumb/angry type comments. Though there have also been quite a few thoughtful LOST-like comments regarding the Dallas Cowboy Stadium and Chesapeake Energy's dirty deeds.

So, with that all as preface, yesterday I got a comment to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup YouTube video, from a Canadian calling him/herself diflorio007.

diflorio007 said, "see my point has been made...you taxas rednecks...you would think the US would have smart people....but just goes to show how stuped they are....and you guys make fun of the middle east......stop sleeping with your mothers and cousins...."

So, this Canadian, diflorio007, is concluding all of us Americans are "stuped" because some people in "taxas" have an annual roundup of rattlesnakes that they turn into a big festival. The Canadian goes on to suggest we Americans make fun of the Middle East. And that we are all the result of inbreeding.

I wonder how many baby seals this Canadian clubs to death every year? Baby seals seem way more harmless and cuter than rattlesnakes.

How many Canadians have died 'making fun' of the Middle East so that a country or two in that region might enjoy the benefits of freedom and democracy?

I can't remember, what was the name of that most recent Canadian to win a Nobel Prize? How many Canadian Nobel Prize winners have their been? I think, maybe one Canadian has won the Nobel Peace Prize. How many Americans have won the Peace Prize?

Okay, I'll tell you, only one Canadian has ever one the Nobel Peace Prize in that peace-loving, world-leading country, that being Lester Pearson, for his role in trying to end the 1956 Suez Conflict.

Meanwhile 21 Americans or American Organizations have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Teddy Roosevelt, Elihu Root, Woodrow Wilson, Charles Gates Dawes, Frank B. Kellogg, Jane Addams, Cordell Hull, John Raliegh Mott, American Friends Service Committee, Ralph Bunche, George C. Marshall, Linus Pauling, Martin Luther King, Jr., Norman E. Borlaug, Henry Kissinger, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Elie Wiesel, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Jody Williams, Jimmy Carter and Al Gore.

I wish Canada would breed more American style "stuped" people, so that Canada might contribute more to the world than the Canadians currently do. Maybe if Canada bred some more American style "stuped" people Canada might contribute more to the development of technology, science, medicine and the arts and win more of those illusive Nobel Prizes that us Americans win way too high a percentage of, compared to Canada, even when one factors in the population difference.

Anyway, I love the "stuped" comments I get. Especially from Canadians.

Monday Night Storm Blows Into Fort Worth Getting Me Out Of Bed

I was peacefully in bed, reading a new book, almost ready to fall asleep, when WeatherBug went off with its annoying chirping sound that I thought I had disabled. But, apparently had not.

I knew we were in storm mode. When I fast forwarded through tonight's Dancing With The Stars, after being over-stimulated by 24, I saw a weather warning crawl across the screen over and over again warning of impending doom in the form of powerful Thunderstorms capable of producing baseball size hail.

Usually when a Big Storm like this happens Pete Delkus would be excitedly interrupting the regular programming and the screen crawl warnings to tell us over and over again of the impending doom.

But, not tonight. Because tonight on ABC their most popular show was running. Which raises an interesting ethical question. If the locale TV Station normally feels they need to interrupt the programming that their viewer has chosen to watch to go with pointless live weather updates, why did tonight having the storm happen during ABC's most popular show keep Pete Delkus from imposing his weather fetish on us?

This bizarre practice of interrupting programming for dumb reasons is fresh on my mind due to Hell's Kitchen being ruined on Thursday by multiple interruptions that made the show impossible to watch.

The warning crawl seemed to work just fine for ABC tonight. They did their civic duty, or what they see as their civic duty, and did not ruin the programming they try so hard to get us to watch. The local stations should always use a crawl rather than break in with live info from the local Ted Baxters.

Now, below is tonight's chirping warning from the National Weather Service that got me out of bed....

Bulletin - Eas Activation Requested Severe Thunderstorm Warning National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 1009 PM CDT Mon Mar 30 2009

The National Weather Service In Fort Worth Has Issued A

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning For, Southern Denton County In North Central Texas, Northern Tarrant County In North Central Texas, Southeastern Wise County In North Central Texas,

* Until 1115 PM CDT

* At 1009 PM CDT, National Weather Service Meteorologists Detected A Severe Thunderstorm Capable Of Producing Baseball Size Hail, And Damaging Winds In Excess Of 60 Mph. This Storm Was Located Near Pelican Bay, And Moving East At 30 Mph.

* The Severe Thunderstorm Will Be Near, Pecan Acres And Lakeside By 1015 PM Eagle Mountain, Lake Worth And White Settlement By 1020 PM Sansom Park, River Oaks And Westworth By 1025 PM Haslet And Saginaw By 1030 PM

Golfball To Baseball Hail Was Reported In Springtown With This Storm.

Another Severe Storm Between Boyd And Rhome, In Wise County, Was Capable Of Producing Golfball Hail. This Storm Was Also Moving East At 30 Mph, And Will Impact Southern Portions Of Denton County.

Now, I'm gonna try and go back to bed. After turning off WeatherBug. Oh great. I think I hear tornado sirens in the distance.

Texas Bluebonnets & Wifebeaters at Tandy Hills Park

It is another windy, gray day today in Texas. I needed to escape this chair and computer screen, so I went to the Tandy Hills around noon and saw my first Tandy Hills bluebonnet of the year, up close and very personal.

Bluebonnets are very photogenic. The one you see here was up by the Fort Worth Needle, that being a really tall communications tower. This was the only spot I saw bluebonnets today inside the Tandy Hills Park. I saw a lot of bluebonnets along side the roads on the way to Tandy Hills.

Bluebonnets are the State Flower of Texas and are very strongly protected by strict Texas law. You can look, you can take pictures, you can see if they smell good, but if you pick a bluebonnet there is a chance you may do a stint in Huntsville.

Imprisoned for picking a bluebonnet? And yet some wonder how America manages to imprison 756 inmates per 100,000 Americans, at a rate nearly 5 times the world's average.

Speaking of crimes and jail time. For months now there has been a white wifebeater t-shirt hanging from a bush. Today it was blowing in the wind like some sort of ghostly apparition. Why would someone take off their wifebeater and leave it behind at this location in the Tandy Hills? Or did it blow in from some domestic dispute in some distant location? It's a puzzlement.

The first new Tandy Hills wildflower of today's hike appeared even before I exited my vehicle, in the open prairie zone viewable from View Street. I don't know what the name of this wildflower is, but it looked like an orange Indian Paintbrush that had been dyed pink. I'm pretty sure no one went to the bother of painting a field of Indian Paintbrush a new color.

It's less than a month til the 4th Annual Fort Worth Prairie Fest, Saturday, April 25, 2009, 10 AM - 8 PM.

A New Mouse From An Empty Texas Target

I've been having trouble with my mouse. By mouse I mean my computer mouse, not my pet mouse, Moose. Moose is fine.

But my computer mouse had developed an annoying habit of not doing what it should when I clicked. This seemed to be getting increasingly more chronic and was beginning to cause problems that caused errors and accidents.

So, this morning I'd had my fill of my misbehaving mouse. I have 2 easy mouse choices within a short distance, those being a Wal-Mart Supercenter and a Target.

I chose Target. It's easier to return things to Target if the need arises. It was 10 in the morning when I went to Target. There were very few customers, very few cars in the lot. I looked across the freeway to the Wal-Mart and there were a lot of cars in the parking lot. Target has a lot of workers wandering around. I was asked 3 times if I was finding what I was looking for.

I need a T-shirt that says, "NO, I NEED NO HELP. I NATURALLY LOOK PERPETUALLY LOST."

I don't understand how Target stays in business. It is always so quiet. I've never been in a busy Target. The Super Targets seem even more ghostownish. The first Super Target I visited was in Logan, Utah. I couldn't believe how huge it was. With checkouts all across the front of the store. Now that I've seen many Super Targets, I've never seen on where more than a few of the checkouts are open.

This morning when I went to buy my new mouse there was only one checkout open. Across the street at the Super Wal-Mart there would be about 20 checkouts open, along with the self checkouts. Target has no self checkouts.

When my mom and dad were here I took them to the Montgomery Plaza Super Target in Fort Worth. I forget why my mom wanted a Target. Even though my mom has trouble seeing she said the Fort Worth Super Target was bigger than their Phoenix area ones. Mom said, "I guess what they say is true. Everything is bigger in Texas." But, mom said the Texas Target was just as un-busy as their Phoenix Targets. So, the number of customers wasn't bigger in Texas.

Is Target some sort of tax write off for some bigger corporation? Is that how it keeps going? It's puzzled me for years.

Anyway, that's my day so far, that and I went swimming this morning. It's windy now, but I think I'll go do my doctor prescribed excessive activity thing. Since it is Monday, I think that means I'll be seeing the Tandy Hills in an hour or two.

Tootsie Tonasket's Triumphs & Tribulations

It has been a tough couple months for Tootsie Tonasket. On February 19 Tootsie's husband, Goofbert, a 50 year old man smitten with a girl half his age, filed for divorce from Tootsie.

I first came to know Tootsie Tonasket years ago. She'd emailed me, thinking I had something to do with the Branch-Davidians and that fiasco outside Waco.

At first I thought Tootsie was pretty much a kooky-bananas nutcase. It took me awhile to figure her out. Finally I understood that this was a very nice, good, smart person, who has had a lot of bad things happen to her that have wreaked havoc with her self-esteem and confidence. And yet she continues on.

In the picture above you are looking at Tootsie's 5th birthday party. It took place in a small house in Pensacola, Florida. Tootsie is in the middle, on the left is big sister, Payne. Sitting on Tootsie's lap is Tootsie's baby sister, Denise.

Now here's the part where you may need your hankies. Soon after the above picture was taken, Tootsie's life was torn apart.

Tootsie's dad had abandoned his family. Tootsie's mom had taken up with a guy Tootsie called The Hillbilly. I'm not real clear as to the sequence of events, but soon after Tootsie's 5th birthday her mom took Tootsie and sister, Payne, and left The Hillbilly. Leaving Tootsie's baby sister, Denise, behind.

Tootsie's mom told Tootsie and her sister that she could only take care of two kids. Somehow Tootsie grew up thinking Denise was The Hillybilly's daughter. A short time ago Tootsie was to learn differently. Denise is not her half-sister. They share the same father.

Tootsie and her mom and sister ended up in the Chicago area. Tootsie's mom re-married. To a nice guy, this time, who Tootsie remembers fondly.

Tootsie never forgot about the little sister she lost. A few months ago Tootsie contacted a website that deals with missing or lost persons. That website put Tootsie in touch with a group called, I think, The Angels.

The Angels asked Tootsie for all the info she had about her missing sister. Within a short time they located her! Living just a short distance from one of The Angels and just a short distance north of Pensacola, the place where Tootsie last saw her baby sister.

The Angels gave Tootsie a phone number. Tootsie bravely called her baby sister. Denise answered. And instantly understood who was calling. Denise told Tootsie she had been trying to find her lost family for years.

Since then Tootsie and Denise have talked hours on the phone. Denise is hoping to come north to visit Tootsie. Yesterday was Tootsie's 56th birthday. Her long lost sister sent Tootsie $50.

I don't know when they are scheduled for Oprah. Or Dr. Phil. Maybe that's where they should have their reunion. That seems to be the modern way to do these type things.

Watch This: The Carter Avenue Story

Fresh incoming from Don Young.

One of the Tough Texas Women who have had enough of the roughshod way some things are done here in Texas has made a video showing the plight of those who's lives and homes and peace of mind have been sacrificed so Chesapeake Energy can run a pipeline through their yards.

A 24 inch natural gas pipeline carrying non-odorized pressurized gas.

The Tough Texas Woman's name is Brook. The video she made is a great example of citizen activism in our modern era. Everyone has the tools of mass communication nowadays.

Brook's video is long. She first shows you the Carter Avenue neighborhood. And then she moves on to interviewing several people who live on Carter Avenue, including the well-known Jerry Horton. After the interviews Brook shows some examples of natural gas explosions in recent times, here in Texas.

The video opens in Windows Media Player by clicking the first link in the message from Don Young below....

Neighborhood activist and my and compatriot in the gas drilling wars, Brooke, has put together an excellent short film you need to watch. The subject of, Carter Avenue Story, is the proposed installation of a natural gas pipeline (gathering line, actually) in a Fort Worth, Texas neighborhood.

Known as the Carter Avenue pipeline, it would be the first such large diameter line allowed to run through a densely populated neighborhood. If approved by the Fort Worth City Council, the 16" - 24" diameter pipe will carry un-odorized natural gas and cut through the yards of a four-block long street of low income residents.

This is also an important test case for the many other expected pipelines that Barnett Shale drilling companies have planned. This story will be repeated wherever gas drilling occurs in the USA.

Brooke's short film consists of interviews with several Carter Avenue residents who were intimidated into signing agreements with, Texas Midstream (a Chesapeake company), under threat of Eminent Domain.

Brooke, who is not a professional, conceived of the idea, filmed and edited the video in just a few days with the goal of screening it for Texas state legislators and others. She is another of those unheralded, Texas Women who are doing it.

Please take a few minutes to educate yourself on this important issue by watching this important and heartfelt film.

You can contact Brooke at her website, Meadowbrook Today.

Dog Terror at River Legacy Park

My health adviser, Dr. L.C., told me I am WAY too active. She may be right.

This morning I tried to go swimming, it'd gotten down to freezing overnight, so the water was a bit colder than optimal. I lasted about 5 minutes before retreating to the hot tub.

Around 1 I headed to River Legacy Park to pedal the mountain bike trail. It's dried out from our recent deluge. And gotten a lot greener thanks to that deluge, as you can see in the picture.

There were a lot of people in the park, including a lot of people on the mountain bike trail. I saw no wildlife and no wildflowers.

But, I did have an incident with a savage beast. I was in the zone of the trail called The Prairie Loop. I pedaled past a group of walkers. They had a dog. As I pedaled on I heard the people yelling. And then I realized their dog was chasing me. I went in to hyper-fast mode. The dog was gaining. It was a brutal looking black pit-bullish monster. I knew I couldn't keep control of the bike going at the speed I was pedaling. So, I hit the brakes and hollered "GET" real loud. The vicious dog turned tail and ran. I was relieved.

The Dallas Bad Cop Robert Powell Ryan Moats Scandal

I had not seen the video of the Dallas Bad Cop Incident til this morning. Watching and listening to it is a lot more shocking and disgusting than reading about it.

I doubt there is anyone out there who has not heard this story since it's turned into a nationwide embarrassment, but I'll re-cap.

NFL footballer, Ryan Moats, in the wee hours, when traffic was light, was rushing his wife and other relatives to a Plano hospital. They had gotten a call telling them that Moat's mother-in-law was in her final moments of a long cancer battle.

A short distance from the hospital Moats stopped at a red light. Then seeing there was no traffic he proceeded on. The common sense thing to do.

But a Dallas cop, Robert Powell, was lurking in the shadows and gave chase, turning on his lights and siren. Powell chased Moats to the Emergency Room parking lot. Moat's wife, Tamishia, got out of the car to run into the hospital, but was stopped by Powell. And that's when the police abuse began.

I've not read it anywhere else, but to my ears the Dallas Cop sounded drunk. His rambling threats sounded like a drunk. The cop's insolent attitude sounded drunk. If the cop was drunk that would seem to explain his irrational, rather stupid behavior.

Robert Powell issued an apology on Friday. He is on paid leave. After watching the video I think he should be fired.

And now another NFL player, Zach Thomas, has come forward to accuse Robert Powell of a similar abuse on July 27, 2008. His wife, Maritza Thomas was pulled over by Powell for doing an illegal U-turn. Powell issued 5 tickets, handcuffed Maritza, put her in the back of his police cruiser and stuck her in a Dallas jail cell for 3 hours. Maritza's mother, Teresa Lozano, visiting Dallas for the first time, from Mexico, and speaking very little English, was left stranded, riding the tow truck to where Maritza's car was impounded.

4 of Powell's 5 tickets were thrown out. Maritza accepted deferred adjudication for the U-turn charge.

At the time of the incident the Thomases decided not to file a complaint against Powell. Now they realize they should have and plan to do so now.

Like I already said, that bad Dallas cop needs to be fired now.