Wink Texas Ghosts, Sinkholes & Roy Orbison

My West Texas Eyes On Texas corespondent, Jammin Mole, has been sending me pictures from West Texas for my humongous Regions of Texas Project that has been tormenting me for a year.

Actually, it has been tormenting me for a bit less than a year. A year ago this coming July 20 I flew up to Tacoma for what turned into a torturous lost month. Prior to leaving I'd built the website framework for my Regions of Texas Project. I brought the reference materials north with me and my intention was to make 5 to 10 webpages a day.

By the time I escaped Tacoma I'd been so traumatized that I'd totally forgotten about my Regions of Texas Project. When I got back here I was more interested in regaining my sanity than working on that website project. And so it remained way in the back of my mind for months and months.

And then last week I was looking at my Google webstats and I saw that the few pages of that project that I had gotten done were doing real well. I had not noticed. I have an awful lot of webpages to try and keep track of. That and I forget things.

So, I'm currently in what's called Big Bend Country. That is where Wink is. Wink is both famous and infamous. Wink is a very little town, it's seen better days. Wink was Roy Orbison's hometown. There is a little Roy Orbison Museum in Wink that you can visit by appointment.

Wink needs to have someone make the town a statue of Roy Orbison, similar to what Lubbock has done for Buddy Holly. And maybe someone could make better signage for the Roy Orbison Museum and for the sign that says "The Original Home Site of Roy Orbison."

Wink is also known for its Sinkholes. There are two of them. The first Sinkhole sank on June 3, 1980. Then, almost 22 years later, to the day, an even bigger Sinkhole sank. And now there is a sagging in the ground, near Wink, that geologists say will become Wink Sinkhole #3.

My West Texas Wink Corespondent tells me that locals travel about Wink in pairs. One car following another with about a 100 foot gap. If the ground sinks underneath car #1, car #2 is supposed to get help, and vice versa if car #1 sees car #2 disappear in the rear view mirror.

That is Wink Sinkhole #2 in the Sinkhole picture.

Little Wink is also famous for being really HOT. As in Wink is often the HOTTEST spot in Texas and the entire country.

Wink is also known for its ghosts. There are several Wink ghost stories. The Wink ghosts are nationally known. By those who pay attention to such things.

So, for a little town of less than 1000 people, Wink has a lot going on. Ghosts, Roy Orbison, record breaking temperatures. And giant Sinkholes.

The Iraqi/Nigerian Scam Targeting A Gullible Texan

I've gotten the Nigerian email scam many many times. There have been a few variants over the years, but, til today, they have always been African.

I've figured these scams must work, otherwise they would have long ago disappeared from the Internet.

Reading the Wikipedia article about the Nigerian Scam, apparently it is quite a little industry in Nigeria and has been for quite some time.

And now Iraq is getting in on the act. Or maybe it is Nigerians posing as an American major in Iraq who somehow came into possession of $45 million of Saddam's money.

Below is the scam email. One would have thought the scammer would have properly spelled "good luck." And properly signed the major's name....

Dear Sir,

I am Major.scott J.wright, an American soldier in peace keeping force in Iraq, I am serving in the military of the 1st Armoured Division in Iraq, as you know insurgents everyday and car bombs are attacking us.

We managed to move funds belonging to Saddam Hussein's family in the tune of USD$ 45 Million Dollars in cash. We want to move this money to you, so that you may keep our share for us till when we will come over to meet you.

You are to take 40% of the total 45 Million Dollars and keep 60% for me and my partners. Please No strings attached, we plan on using diplomatic courier and shipping the money out of Iraq in three large silver boxes using diplomatic immunity.

The boxes can be shipped out in 48hrs,so If you are interested kindly send me an e-mail signifying your interest including your most confidential telephone numbers for quick communication, then we can send to you the shipment details and the fright number and labels.

goodluck,

major.scott J.wright.

Natural Hiking At The Tandy Hills Natural Area & Whataburger

Apparently today is Au Naturel Day in Texas. So, after this morning's refreshing skinnydipping and way too much time clacking on a keyboard, and even though the Heat Index was 92, I decided that it was likely that the Tandy Hills had dried out from our recent deluge, so I went to the Tandy Hills Natural Area for some natural hiking.

It was HOT. The humidity has dropped, so it was not quite as HOT as yesterday. At noon, on a Sunday, when it's this hot, you have the Tandy Hills to yourself. Except for noisy birds.

I saw a few diehard wildflowers today, but most of the color has left the prairie.

A long time ago I blogged about Whataburger after Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, sent me a disturbing email about her Whataburger experience. The last few days I've been getting rather detailed comments from Whataburger employees, pretty much guaranteeing that I am never going to ever experience what a burger Whatburger makes.

Speaking of lunch, mine is done. Time to eat it. Talk to you later.

Sunday Morning Texas Skinnydipping Before Church With President John Quincy Adams

It is 10 am, Sunday morning. The humidity is at 64%, the temperature is 80. The Heat Index is 83. We are gradually burning off the excess moisture that has us being way too humid here in my zone of Texas.

Yesterday, when the Heat Index was 104, I went in to Wal-Mart. It was like walking into a refrigerator. Icy. And then walking out of the refrigerator, back into the hot, humid air, it was instant sticky. I am not a fan of instant sticky.

I did my usual Sunday morning skinny dip later than usual. Which made the moon a bit more faded than normal and the sun a bit brighter.

I'm always getting asked if I have had any embarrassing skinnydipping incidents. The only one I can think of was at my previous abode, the meter reader showed up in the back yard while I was au naturel. I think the meter reader was more embarrassed than I was.

Did you know one of our Presidents was a skinnydipper? John Quincy Adams liked to take a daily skinnydip, weather permitting, in the Potomac River. John Quincy had a couple embarrassing skinnydipping incidents.

One involved a female reporter named Anne Royall. Adams had over and over again refused interview requests from the woman, she being the first female professional reporter in America. When Ms. Royall learned that Adams skinnydipped in the Potomac virtually every morning at 5 am, she went to the river, waited for the President to get in the water and then sat on his clothes until he answered all her questions.

Another time, while the President was skinnydipping in the Potomac, a bum stole his clothes. President Adams stayed in the river for almost an hour, til he saw a boy walking by. He hollered at the boy to go up to the White House and ask Mrs. Adams to send down a new set of clothes for the President. About 20 minutes later the boy came back with a servant carrying clothes for the President.

I don't know if President Adams continued his Potomac River skinnydipping after that. I suspect he continued.

Walking The Dog At The Gateway Park Sauna In Fort Worth

Well, there seems to be a lot of concern regarding my failing health as evidenced by my headache epidemic. As in someone emailed me inquiring as to my current status.

I am happy to report I am currently headache free.

Going swimming this morning did nothing to help my head pain. But going walking sometime after noon did have a salubrious effect. Possibly this salubrious effect was due, in part, to the natural sauna we've got going on here today in Tropical Texas. It is 94 with the high humidity making a Heat Index of 104. It felt like 114 to me.

To do my walking today my only choices were Oakland Lake Park, Quanah Parker Park or Gateway Park. Village Creek Natural Historical Area is still closed due to flooding. I don't like walking at River Legacy Park, and I'd just been to Veterans Park 2 days ago and Oakland Lake yesterday. It'll take a few days for the Tandy Hills to dry out.

So, the walking choice was Gateway Park. I had an ulterior motive. I wanted to take a picture of the long abandoned sewage treatment plant that Fort Worth wants to turn into an amphitheater. About a year ago I discovered the old treatment plant. I did not know, then, what it was. It looked liked an old fort with guard towers. It reminded me of Fort Casey in my old home state of Washington. Fort Casey is a Spanish-American War era fort.

While I thought the treatment plant looked like a fort, I could not imagine why a fort would be in such a location. Then I decided it must be an abandoned jail. Sewage treatment plant did not cross my mind as a possibility.

Today I was unable to get through the cyclone fence that guards the perimeter of the jail/fort/treatment plant. Previously there were several breaks along the fence. It has now been made impenetrable again.

I was hoping that the Trinity River would be running a lot of water due to the deluge two days ago. But it was only slightly higher than the norm. We are looking at the Trinity in that picture at the top, when the water is running high that area turns into rapids.

Gateway Park was very busy today. Several girl softball games were being played. At noon. With a heat index of 104. It looked miserable. Spectators watched from the shade of trees. No one sat in the uncovered stands.

Fort Woof had a lot of dogs running around. Have I mentioned before that Dog Fancy magazine, whatever that is, has picked Fort Woof as the #1 Dog Park in America? We are very proud of that here in Fort Worth. Having the #1 Dog Park in America is the first time in history Fort Worth has been #1 in anything. There was talk of having a city wide celebration, but none materialized.

A Saturday Morning Headache In Texas

Yes, that is me this fine Saturday morning. My one longtime reader may recall me mentioning yesterday that I'd come down with a headache, 2 days in a row, and how this used to happen to me all the time, but has not for a long time. With me crediting Texas with the cure.

When I used to have headaches, the worst were the ones that continued for days, as in go to bed with a headache, wake up with a headache. When your head aches that bad it is pretty much all you can think about. And then when it finally goes away it is such a relief and you feel so good.

My only multi-day bout I can remember in Texas happened in July of 2001. I drove solo up to Washington for my mom and dad's 50th. I was barely 100 miles in when a headache started up. By the time I got to Pueblo, Colorado, for that day's pitstop, I had a blinding, eyes weeping, throbbing headache. The next morning I was still throbbing. On into Wyoming my head ached. I was hoping the All You Can Eat KFC Buffet in Rawlins, Wyoming would cure me. But, no buffet, it was summer, tourist season and all the fast food joints in Rawlins had long lines. I ended up finding food in a grocery store and continued on, stopping at Little America for coffee. And then, as I descended into Utah, to the Great Salt Lake Basin, the drop in altitude seemed to melt the headache away. By the time I got to that night's pitstop in Twin Falls, Idaho, I felt great. I remained headache-free for the rest of this trip.

This morning when I woke up and found my head was still aching I thought floating in the pool might cure it. It did help, but no miracle cure. I will say this in my headache's defense, this current pain in my head is not nearly as bad as the epic bad headaches of the past. I'm just hoping this isn't some sort of new trend and that I'm not sliding down some slippery slope that ends with me being a chronic aching head sufferer again. Because that will make me very cranky. Me being cranky is not a good thing.

Microsoft XP Update Headache

I used to get headaches all the time. But, somehow moving to Texas cured that. Yesterday I could not have told you the last time I had a headache. And then by late in the afternoon, I had my first headache in a long long time. And now, 24 hours later, another headache.

I used to so regularly get headaches I just assumed one would arrive whenever I was doing something fun. Like both times I went to Vancouver's Expo 86. Splitting, blinding, throbbing headaches. And then the drive back to the U.S. You don't know fun til you drive from Vancouver, south to the border, past midnight, brain in going to have a stroke mode, to find the border crossing you chose to use, closed at midnight, requiring a multi-mile detour to get to another crossing.

And now on to a more metaphorical headache. Microsoft and its relentless Windows XP Updates. They are automatically downloaded. You get that little notice that Critical Updates are Ready to Install. I look at the 5 or 6 Critical Updates and each says something has been discovered that may allow some rogue force to take over my computer.

The only rogue force that has taken over my computer has been Microsoft.

The last time I chose to ignore the update notices, I'd select 'Cancel." Figuring I'd install the Critical Updates when it was convenient. A couple days go by, Microsoft continued to nag me. Then, in the middle of the night, my computer woke up. Microsoft had taken control of my computer and was installing the updates!!!

To me this would seem to indicate that Microsoft is the problem from whom I need protection. I had several programs open. All gone when the computer was restarted.

Who are these people who are finding ways to exploit security breeches and supposedly take over random computers? Why would anyone want to do that? If there are people doing such things, why not go after them and leave my computer alone.

I should not have even started this blogging. My headache is now much worse.

Humidity, Oakland Lake Park & Pineapple

I did not have insomnia last night. I was up early. In the pool early. On the computer early. And by noon I had to get out of here. Oakland Lake Park was the only place I could be sure would be dry enough, after our recent deluge, to allow mostly damp-free walking.

I'd forgotten about the rain-caused jump in humidity that follows a storm. As in it is only 90 out there, but the Heat Index makes it feel like 96. It felt more like 106, to me.

That's Oakland Lake on the other side of the trees in the picture.

I got back here, turned on the A/C when I walked in. And then took a cold shower. That helped.

Yesterday at the Hong Kong Market, in Arlington's Chinatown, I got a pineapple. I'm making a Canadian bacon/pineapple type thing for lunch. This is the best pineapple I remember tasting since year's ago when my, now deceased, Uncle Ivan, showed up where we were staying, near San Fransisco, with 2 fresh pineapples that he'd brought back with him from Hawaii.

So, that has been my exciting day, so far, this Friday, about half way through the day. I see a lot of typing and picture scanning in my future for the rest of the day. And some very very good pineapple. As soon as the rice gets done cooking.

Juneteenth Next Week In Texas & Most Of The Rest Of America

One week from today, on June, 19, the Juneteenth holiday takes place. I had not heard of the Juneteenth holiday until I moved to Texas. Now, less than a decade, later Juneteenth is celebrated in 31 of the United States, including my old home state of Washington and all the other west coast states, including Alaska.

For those who do not know what Juneteenth is, like I didn't a decade ago, it commemorates the abolition of slavery in America.

Since Juneteenth is also known as Emancipation Day one might think that June 19 was the day Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It is not. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862, effective January 1, 1863.

In reality, the Emancipation Proclamation pretty much had no effect on those living in the areas under Confederate control.

What Juneteenth commemorates is June 19, 1865, that being the day that Union General Gordon Granger, along with 2,000 Federal troops, showed up in Galveston, Texas to take control of Texas and emancipate Texas slaves.

General Granger stood on the balcony of Galveston's Ashton Villa and read General Order #3.

"The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere."

The newly freed men and women erupted into happy celebrations on the streets of Galveston. The following June 19, Juneteenth celebrations happened all over Texas. The newly freed pooled their money to buy land for parks in which to hold their Juneteenth celebrations, including Mexia's Booker T. Washington Park, Austin's Emancipation Park and Houston's Emancipation Park.

It took well over a century for Juneteenth to spread to most of the rest of America.

In a week there will be a wide range of events, parades, street fairs, BBQs, block parties,with a lot of music and dancing.

Most Juneteenth events include a big feast that goes on all day in a park or other outdoor venue. It is usually a potluck type deal, with a lot of barbecue, greens, watermelon and pies. Along with the traditional red soda. And a lot of ice cream.

The original Juneteenth celebrants in Galveston feasted on fried chicken, watermelon and red soda. Hence the red soda tradition that continues to this day.

There are a several Juneteenth celebrations in Fort Worth. I don't know which one I'll be going to next Friday. I would think the celebrating will be especially happy this Juneteenth due to who is currently doing Abraham Lincoln's job.

Chesapeake Energy Drill Site Fluid Kills 19 Cattle In Louisiana

Deep in a surprisingly critical, full of surprising facts article published Monday, June 8, 2009 in the Fort Worth Business Press I was shocked to learned that the Shreveport Times, on April 29, reported that 19 Louisiana cattle died after exposure to a fluid that originated from a Chesapeake Energy drilling operation in Louisiana.

An entity calling itself Schlumberger Ltd. was doing a frac job when the cattle died.

The cattle poisoning is being investigated by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

Below is the first paragraph of the Fort Worth Business Press article titled "States or Feds: Who gets to regulate hydraulic fracturing?".....

A controversial process used in natural gas drilling, and crucial to the Barnett Shale’s development, is at the center of a tug-of-war dispute between the energy industry and some legislators over whether hydraulic fracturing should be regulated by the state or the federal government.

A recent push by federal legislators to repeal the Energy Policy Act of 2005 could mean companies that employ hydraulic fracturing, a means of stimulating and opening up a well, would have to answer to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Act about the chemicals they use in the injection process.