Next Week: Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival

In 9 days the Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival starts up. Of the festivals I've been to, in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, this one has been the best, in my opinion. It's huge, it attracts a lot of people, it has 3 music/performance stages, it has a lot of food options (although you have to buy coupons to buy food, American currency is not accepted) and it has an incredible variety of art from all over America.

I'm hoping to go this year. Earlier in the year I had hoped to go to the Fort Worth Stock Show Parade, but that didn't work out. One more hope, I hope the weather, April 16 through 19, is as perfect as today. That would be a real good thing. The last time I went to the Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival it was overcast, hot and very very muggy. Not a good thing.

If I remember right an incoming storm wreaked havoc with last year's Main Street Festival. Or was that the year before. Time flies.

Support Prairie Fest 2009 by Drinking Rahr & Sons Beer

The next 2 Saturdays, those being April 11 and 18, from 1 - 3 pm, you can help support Prairie Fest 2009 by taking the regular Tour & Tasting at Rahr Brewery. For every pre-owned Rahr beer glass filled with beer, Rahr & Sons Brewery will contribute $2.50 to the Friends of Tandy Hills to benefit Prairie Fest 2009.

You can buy a Rahr Beer Glass for $5.00.

I am not quite clear on how this works. You buy the glass for $5.00 and then Rahr fills it for free? And then you have the option of putting some money in the donation jar that will be there? I don't know. The details are a bit sketchy.

Sounds like potential fun though.

Rahr & Sons is located at 710 Galveston Avenue in Fort Worth. Go here for a map.

2009 Bashing Texas Or Not

I started my Eyes on Texas website way back in early 2001. I was not yet 2 years into my Exile in Texas. At that time I was still adjusting to Texas, trying to understand things like Dry, Wet and Damp. Perplexed by being unable to use American currency to buy a hot dog at the State Fair of Texas or any random street fair. Little things like that. At that point in time I could still be shocked by areas of Third World-like poverty that one sees when one drives through some parts of Texas.

So, when I started my Eyes on Texas website I made a webpage on which I collected examples of Texas Bashing and solicited for more Texas Bashing, or Counter-Texas Bashing.

The intro to the Texas Bashing webpage---Texas Bashing is a national phenomenon to which Texans take extreme umbrage. Texans have no way of seeing themselves the way the rest of the country, or world sees them. To a Texan bragging about Texas seems a perfectly natural thing to do. From early grade school Texans are propagandized with a theme summarized by the phrase 'Texas Proud'. To a non-Texan, particularly a Yankee, and most particularly a West Coaster, Texas Pride can seem a bit delusional. Very few Texans seem to understand that it is their 'Texas Pride' which provokes most of the Texas Bashing.

It has been years since I've paid any attention to that webpage or received any Texas Bashing or Counter-Texas Bashing.

Til yesterday. I got a very heartfelt Counter-Texas Bashing from a Texan named Jason who is currently stationed outside his preferred location, that being Texas. Below is what Jason had to say....

"Firstly, I'm not sure why a website so thoroughly devoted to Texas, it's legends, history, culture, and lore can be created and maintained by an admitted transplant and still thought to be objective. It goes from defending the state to criticizing it so often I really can't tell what side of the proverbial fence the author is on, though I get the feeling they aren't Texas' biggest supporters, so I wonder what drives them to create and maintain this site. I roamed the different pages, especially those about my home town of Dallas. It was interesting, but at times a bit aggravating. I'm glad you made Texas your home, I'm one of the "Texas Proud" you mention, I suppose. Although I don't think I am such a braggart about it unless people ask or I am provoked.

As for the "bashing", there seems to be a lot of people saying that Texas is backwards, arrogant, red-neck, gun crazed, blah blah blah... we've heard all that nonsense before. People can say what they will about my fair state and the people that come from it. I was born and raised in Dallas for 23 years of my short life. Since leaving to go to graduate school I have lived in North Carolina (the mid-state and the mountains), Southern California, and Upstate New York. I spend significant amounts of time in Manhattan NY, Orange County CA, and all across the Midwest. Currently I live in Asheville, NC which is a beautiful mountain country about 1 hour east of the Tennessee boarder on I-40. All that is to say that in all the climates, with all the differences in culture, atmosphere, people, taxes, traffic etc., and with all the negative things these people want to say about the Lone Star State, having been all around the continent, Texas is still my first choice of places I would like to live. It's a job that keeps my in North Carolina, but after all my wanderings, my heart still belongs to Texas."

Jason

Canyon of Thorns Devastation at River Legacy Park

I had to make a delivery this afternoon in Arlington. The details we need not discuss. I may have mentioned previously that my physical therapist, Dr. Layla, keeps insisting I do not get enough physical activity.

I suppose she's right. This morning I went swimming for a half hour, then around noon I spent an hour traipsing all over the Tandy Hills looking for an elusive flower.

So, with Dr. Layla's prescription calling for me to haul my lazy self off a prone position more frequently, I decided, even though I pedaled it for 11 plus miles yesterday, to go for a late afternoon bike ride at River Legacy Park.

Yesterday I showed you a picture of the Canyon of Thorns in the Prairie Loop section of the mountain bike trail. That is the Canyon of Thorns above. It was a thrilling thorn-defying section of trail. Why am I using the past tense 'was' word? Well, the Canyon of Thorns is no more.

This afternoon I was appalled, appalled I tell you, to discover that the Canyon of Thorns had been destroyed, mowed down in its prime. As you can see in the picture on the right, taken this afternoon, at the same location as the picture at the top.

Oh well. It'll grow back. Maybe

Is the Yellow Rose of Texas Blooming in the Tandy Hills?

After reading Don Young wax poetic about the Terrestrial Prairie Celestials, busy a-blooming all over the Tandy Hills, with an ethereal short-lived beauty, I decided I had to see these blooming purple things for myself.

So, with great effort, I hauled myself to the Tandy Hills today a bit before noon, as per Mr. Young's suggestion, that being that by noon the one day wonders begin their fade to death.

I hiked and hiked and hiked, up hills, down hills, across prairies, along creek beds, through forested zones, the west side, the east side, the north side, the south side. I looked and looked and looked and I saw not a one of the vaunted Prairie Celestials, not a one.

Near as I could tell I exhausted all possible places where this saffron-spewing flower might be blooming. To no avail. But I did see a new wildflower coloring up the Tandy Hills today, that being the yellow flower you see in the picture. The picture almost does justice to how bright the yellow of this flower is, as in they glow in the noon sun like neon yellow.

It is supposed to freeze tonight. I don't know if that fragile looking yellow flower is going to be able to survive a freeze. I guess we will soon find out.

Don Young's Prairie Notes: Celestial Terrestrials Have Landed

Visual and Verbal Poetry from Don Young....

Prairie Notes: April 05, 2009
Prairie Celestials, Easter Eggs & Plum Bliss

No, it's not a 50's sci-fi flick, but close. Prairie Celestials (Nemastylis geminiflora) have landed at Tandy Hills Natural Area but these purple beings mean you no harm. I suspect they began emerging from the Earth after the recent rain and lightning storms. They are now mature and releasing saffron-colored pollen from their pleated, purple petals to the bees and butterflies that have also invaded THNA. WARNING: Homo prairiens are particularly at risk of being overwhelmed by their startling beauty.

There are very few colonies of Prairie Celestial at THNA which also means they are very rare in north Texas. After a year of miraculous preparation, each flower lasts only one day. Please, show them respect and tread carefully around them. Viewing is best before noon.

Many other purple/blue wildflowers such as, Blue-eyed Grass, Wine Cup, Engelmann's sage, and even a Bluebonnet or two, are starting to paint the prairie. A spectrum of colorful wildflowers are on the verge of exploding in coming weeks. Stay tuned.

One of the advantages of living across the street from THNA is the abundant wildlife, including lots of birds, that often make our yard part of their habitat. We enjoy their company and help them out with a steady supply of sunflower seed and nesting material.

Starting about a week ago, one resourceful little bird decided to ... um, push the envelope on our open door policy. The following photos tell the story pretty well. This swift, but shy mother bird built her *nest so quickly last Sunday that, by Monday we had to get a new mailbox for our own use. (Note the snakeskin material used in the nest)

Resident bird expert, Tom Stevens, has ID'd the bird as either a Carolina or Bewicks Wren. She has dutifully laid six tiny eggs in our mailbox. Each egg is about 1/2" long. I'll keep you posted on their development.

A few days ago while hiking at THNA, I had the pleasure of discovering, off the beaten path, a hidden grove of Creek Plum in full bloom. For one beautiful, sunlit hour the Monarch butterflies and I had a profound convergence inside the blooming oasis. Here are some snapshots of my "prairie vacation". I hope they remind you, as they do me, of the duty we have to to protect THNA and other prairie treasures. We are Prairie Keepers and we are be born under lucky stars.

Come to the prairie and wish upon a Prairie Celestial before they depart for the season.

DY

PS: Prairie Fest is only 20 days away. Be there.

National Weather Service Freeze Warning for North Texas Tonight

I have not done as much shivering, as I've done this morning, since I spent an entire unfortunate month shivering in Tacoma last summer. I think it was Mark Twain who said the coldest winter he ever experienced was a summer in Tacoma. I may have the city wrong.

It was 37 when I headed down to the pool this morning, with the wind chill factor making it feel like 32. I did not think the pool would be doable and figured I'd quickly retreat to the hot tub.

I was wrong. The pool was a lot warmer than the air. I swam for about a half an hour. I think this must have lowered my body temperature a lot, chilling me to my inner core, because it is now an hour later and I am COLD.

The National Weather Service has issued a Freeze Warning for North Texas for tonight. I don't know how all the fragile looking wildflowers handle a freeze. Do they wilt and die? I don't know. Is this an unusually late freeze in North Texas? Again, I don't know.

All I know for sure is I am COLD.

The Canyon of Thorns at River Legacy Park

Yes. I am a creature of habit. I go from one habit, bad or good, to another. Of late going to River Legacy Park, to ride my bike, seems to be one of my bad or good habits.

That and swimming in the morning, which I did this morning in a cold wind, but warm, well, sort of warm water. Unlike yesterday, when it got in the 80s, today I don't think we got out of the 50s. Brrrr.

It took a couple miles of pedaling before I warmed up, a bit, at River Legacy today, around noon. Just like yesterday there were a lot of people biking, hiking and jogging the mountain bike trails. I hope the River Legacy powers that be are fully aware of what a good thing DORBA (Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association) has done for River Legacy Park by building these excellent, well maintained trails.

The entire DORBA team should get some sort of award or something, I don't know, maybe tickets to the George Strait/Reba McEntire opening of Jerry's Jones' new Dallas Cowboy Stadium in a couple months. Or season tickets to watch the Dallas Cowboys have another hapless season in their new stadium.

I saw no wildlife, again, today, except for some butterflies and birds. I didn't even see a single squirrel. Where have all the squirrels gone? I did get accosted be a damsel in distress who was in distress because she thought she'd had a worrisome encounter with a wild beast. As in she was pedaling along and stopped when she heard a loud rutting and oinking noise.

She asked me if there are wild boars in the park. I told her, yes, there are, and thought to myself how weird, I've been biking here for years, only within the last month did a guy tell me there were wild boars here, and then 2 days later I saw the herd, followed by another 2 days when Blonde Bobbi told me about her encounter with a large, single, male boar. And this damsel, today, telling me of an encounter. She was afraid they were dangerous. I told her I thought not. But what do I know? I thought bobcats were also harmless, and then that one in Arizona went on a rampage.

The Canyon of Thorns in the Prairie Loop on the River Legacy Mountain Bike Trail, as you can see in the picture above, is growing ever more thorny and treacherous. It's a risky, stickery chance every time I choose to take that loop. The Canyon of Thorns Prairie Loop is also the location where I was almost killed by an out of control pit bullish type dog last week, you may remember me mentioning. It is a treacherous section of trail. Many avoid it.

A funny thing happened today when I neared the Fun Town section of the trail. That's a special section of extreme, expert only drops and corners. There was a family of bikers, stopped for a rest. As I took the turn that went by the Fun Town entry I heard a little guy, maybe 5, say, "Look, that guy is going to Fun Town."

No, I'm not, I thought, Fun Town scares me. As I came around the loop, about 5 minutes later, I came upon that group back pedaling. They stopped to let me by and the little guy asked, all in awe, "Did you really ride Fun Town?"

"Yup." I said. Little guys need heroes. Even if they are bogus.

Oh Canada, Oh Canaduh

Last week. Or was it the week before, I blogged about some of the dumb comments I get, to this blog and to my YouTube videos. With the dumb comments usually being in reference to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup or the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal.

I was motivated to comment about the comments due to a comment I got from a 28 year old Canadian calling him/herself diflorio007, in which phrases like "you taxas rednecks" and "how stuped they are" were used.

And then yesterday I got another YouTube comment to the same Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup video from yet one more product of the Canadian public school system.

This Canadian called himself (I know it is a him, or assume so, due to his name being Neil) ExodicSnakes. Note the exotic spelling of "Exodic."

Neil, aka, ExodicSnake's comment was...

"im all down for catcking rattel snakes but y do they kill them maby for food but ok kill it dont exploied the snake.. when thay milk the snake it is just useless they dont do it in a stairl invirement so it is all junk venom."

Now, Canada does have some different ways of pronouncing and spelling some words. Like they add a "u" to humor, making it humour. Stuff like that.

Maybe I have fallen behind the times and Canada has gone to some new futuristic, phonetic, fractured, abbreviated, punctuation-free spelling method, hence Neil's "rattel" for rattle and "catcking" for catching and "y" for why and "maby" for maybe and "exploied" for exploited and "stairl" for sterile and "invirement" for environment.

I dunno. Maybe Neil/ExodicSnakes is simply spelling challenged and the fact that I've received two of these type things, from Canada, in a week, is just a fluke and has no reflection on the bad job Canada may be doing teaching its kids.

Or, like I sort of alluded to in the previous blogging about this serious subject, could the bad education Canadians are getting explain why, in ways we can measure a nation's accomplishments, such as number of Nobel Prizes, America wins so many and Canada wins so few?

It is a conundrum that may have no easy answer.

In the meantime while we ponder that conundrum, below is the YouTube video that causes too many Canadians to sound so stuped, I mean stupid.....

Saturday Mountain Biking At River Legacy With Trinity Rapids

It has been the best Spring Day of 2009, so far, today. It is a bit after 6 pm and it is 81 out there, according to WeatherBug.

I went swimming at 8 this morning and again when I got back from riding the mountain bike trails at River Legacy Park, again today.

The mountain bike trail at River Legacy is getting really popular. And with good reason. Overall it may now be the best in the D/FW Metroplex, when you factor in accessibility, fun, trail shape and the variety of humans you encounter.

Did I mention it is scenic? Huge oak trees with a lush undergrowth that is slowly making its annual turn into a jungle. Without lions, tigers and monkeys. But, there are snakes, boars and armadillos, none of which I saw today.

In the first picture we are looking down on part of the Trinity River Rapids at the west end of the park. The river narrows at this point, hence the rapids. They are not a Washington river cascading down the Cascades type rapids, they are more a genteel Texas style sliding down the prairie type rapids, but rapids nonetheless.

Can you spot me pedaling my way through the jungle? Two of the pictures of bike riders are me. The other is a group of three, a mom and her two kids. Mom was one wicked wild riding beast on her bike. I was impressed.

I saw a lot of signs of rutting today. I thought maybe it was the rutting of the River Legacy Boars, but due to its solo nature I suspect it was the rutting of the River Legacy Armadillos, none of whom have I seen in a long long time.

There were hundreds of picnickers at River Legacy today, the smell of barbecue made me hungry. One of the groups was a family reunion. There were signs directing incoming to the family reunion. It crossed my mind to join them. I have been to a large family reunion. It would be easy to crash a large family reunion. Just act sullen if anyone asks any questions. That worked at my family reunion. That family reunion was in July of 2002. My worst week in Washington til a month in 2008. Actually by comparison, July of 2002 was a fine time, a totally fine time, totally glad I went to the bother of flying 4,400 miles to attend, totally glad.

Tomorrow I may rollerblade from Buffalo Ridge Park in Haltom City and roll my way along the creek to an infamous backyard, where if a family reunion is occurring, I may try and crash the party...or not.