A Flower Blooms In Washington, In Texas, Not So Much

That is a Brugmansia busy blooming in the picture. It grows in the home garden of Miss C in the town of Sedro Woolley in Washington. It's a big white flower that grows on a bush that will eventually get as tall as 12 feet. Make note of the big man hand on the left of the Brugmansia to get an idea of how big that flower is.

I've long made note of the summer fact that way fewer flowers bloom here in Texas than I would be seeing up in Washington right now. I don't think this can be explained by the hotter temperatures in Texas, because the town in Washington where you would likely see the most flowers is in Eastern Washington, in Leavenworth. Eastern Washington rivals and often exceeds HOT Texas, temperature-wise, in summer.

Just a couple days ago Tootsie Tonasket was baking at 117 in her town near the Canadian border.

In Washington most towns hang big flower baskets in their downtown zones. And big flower pots on the sidewalks. I've seen an isolated flower pot or two in Texas. And some flowers planted in the ground. I've seen few flowers hanging in pots here. Maybe it's a watering issue. I can see where that would be a bit more difficult here.

But. I am still seeing plenty of wildflowers blooming on the Tandy Hills. So, it's obvious some flowers can handle the water situation here. Texas does get a burst of color from all the wildflowers every year. Those are nice to see.

Those are not yellow Texas wildflowers in the picture. Those are also flowers from Miss C's home garden in Sedro Woolley. I believe they are sunflowers.

I wonder what a Texan thinks, if they are visiting towns in Washington and they see all those flowers. Do they wonder why their Texas town doesn't color itself up in summer? Or do they think that all those flowers must be expensive, I'm glad my town doesn't waste money on such a thing?

It's perplexing.

Darrell "Shifty" Powers Memorial

Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, currently warbling in various venues in the Port Aransas area regularly sends me good stuff. Like this morning. Darrell Powers was a member of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne, you know, those guys known as the Band of Brothers.

Well, Shifty died on June 17 after yet one more battle. This time not against Nazis, instead, this time, the enemy was cancer.

A guy named Mark Pfiefer met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport a few years ago. Below is his account of that meeting, along with the request that Shifty's story go viral on the Internet as a fitting memorial. So, I am doing my part....

Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle", the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.

Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 . . . " at which point my heart skipped.

At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know where Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped.

I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was, and I know what D-Day was. At that point he said "I also made a second jump into Holland, into Arnhem." I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.

I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France, and he said "Yes. And it's real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I'd take his in coach.

He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.

Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.

There was no parade.

No big event in Staples Center.

No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage.

No weeping fans on television.

Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet way. Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the veterans.

Rest in peace, Shifty.

FWCanDo Anniversary Day Soapbox From Don Young

It is already 4 years since the Eastside Rabblerousers started shaking up the status quo, in hard to change Fort Worth where the Ruling Junta exerts considerable influence to make sure things continue to be done the "Fort Worth Way." As in not a participatory democracy, but instead a semi-Fascist Oligarchy, not accountable to the people, due to only 6% of those people can manage to unshackle the kowtowing long enough to vote.

That's enough from me, now on to the FWCanDo 4th Anniversary message from Don Young.

August 4th, 2009, marks the fourth anniversary of the founding of FWCanDo (Fort Worth Citizens Against Neighborhood Drilling Operations). Like all four year olds we've been bratty at times but not without provocation. We only mean to take a harmless machete to your intellectual thicket.

That's four years of Just Saying No to irresponsible gas drilling. Four years of delivering important information and commentary about a complex subject that affects everyone in north Texas. Four years of trying to squeeze some justice out of crooked politicians. Four years of telling it like it is whether "it" is pleasant or not.

Four years of watching the residents of my hometown go from ignorant bliss to disbelief to shock to outrage to apathy and finally, resignation. Public sentiment has gone from,

"No f*****g way will you ever drill in my neighborhood!" to,
"Show me the free money!" to,
"You didn't tell me about the pipelines!" to,
"Honey, are you having breathing problems, too?"

Early on, it became clear that the City of Fort Worth, the Chamber of Commerce and the local daily newspaper were in cahoots with the gas extractors. Our civil efforts to be heard fell on deaf ears. Lacking the unlimited ad budget of Big Gas, we were forced to use "whatever means necessary" to make our case. Nor were we afraid to point fingers at those whose main concern was how much money they could take to the bank.

My family enthusiastically turned down $25,000. per acre bonus money and a hefty royalty offer from XTO Energy. Like everyone else, we could have used the "free money" but we refused to do business with environmental criminals. (The notion of free money is a lie told by liars.)

We all watched as elected officials handed the Keys to the City over to Chesapeake and XTO. We watched in amazement as gas drillers spent millions of dollars on unprecedented green-washing campaigns featuring the likes of actor, Tommy Lee Jones. We watched in horror as the "Fort Worth Way" transformed Cowtown into Dirty Ol' Town.

We withstood being branded as radicals, fanatics and rabble-rousers while Mayor Moncrief and others made dirty back-room deals, wallowed in conflicts of interest and approved drilling next to schools parks and homes. We answered their campaign of lies with truth, facts and science that cannot be ignored for long.

We remain undeterred. Efforts by elected officials and gas drillers to marginalize our efforts have only fanned the flames of our resistance. We take great pleasure in exposing their misconduct while pushing for broad reform of this dirty industry. As pipelines, compressor stations, eroded air quality and possibly earthquakes slowly emerge public sentiment is likely to flip. When it does, FWCanDo will be ready to help tear down the monuments to greed that continue to jeopardize the victims of the shale.

My hat is off to all those comrades who have stayed the course, done the research, walked the 'hoods, sent the emails, made the speeches and held the picket signs. You are the true leaders of Fort Worth. Thanks for your continued support and for enduring 659 FWCanDo Updates since 2005.

DY

*PS: Feeling nostalgic for the good old days? Read a report from 2005 on the first FWCanDo protest rally against urban gas drilling in the Fort Worth Weekly

Washington Cowboys & Cowgirls In The Wild

Okay, I am back on my Washington theme for the day. Earlier today I showed you some Seafair fun from this past weekend on Lake Washington.

Then I showed you some hiking fun on a mountain in the North Cascades. That particular hike did not take place this past week.

But the cowboys and cowgirls on a horseride in the picture, that did take place this past week, also in the North Cascades, but on the east side of the mountains, in the Pasayten Wilderness Area, which stretches north to the Canadian border.

I know the rider who is bringing up the rear in the picture, though obviously it must be the picture taker who is actually bringing up the rear. The cowgirl in the back is Miss K. I was impressed a lot when I learned that Miss K went on long Harley rides, way up into Canada. That is something I do not believe I could do.

But, even more impressive is this annual trek out of Winthrop in Eastern Washington. A 7 hour horse ride to get to the camping destination. The longest I have ever lasted on a horse was about 10 minutes before it evicted me. It has been a long long time since I went camping and slept in a tent on the ground. It was at Alta Lake State Park, also in Eastern Washington and also somewhat near Winthrop.

I lasted one night. I needed some sort of thick pad between me and the hard ground. Years later I found myself similarly miserable on a hard cot on a houseboat.

And then there are the things like showers and restroom facilities. If a 7 hour horse ride didn't kill me, sleeping on the ground, with no 'conveniences' would surely do me in. I guess it is true, what one of my few critics said this morning. I am just one big ol' whiny wimp.

912 Project Fort Worth March & Rally???

Okay, I am now off my Washington theme for the day, at least for now. My Fort Worth Underworld Spy I call Hottsie Tottsie sent me a link to a video about a March and Rally to take place here in Fort Worth the day after the upcoming 9/11. Lately we've been doing so much protesting here in Fort Worth. Up til the Rainbow Lounge incident and its resultant uproar, I did not think the locals knew how to hold a good ol' loud, disruptive protest.

And now this 9/12 deal. Started by Glenn Beck. I only learned recently, from my favorite TV star, that Glenn Beck grew up in our old zone, that being Mount Vernon. What is it about the Skagit Valley that grows so many cranky people and TV and Movie stars? Is it the rich soil? The pure drinking water?

Below is the blurb off YouTube describing, in brief, this upcoming Fort Worth March & Rally...

Join the 912 Project Fort Worth for a March and Rally in Downtown Fort Worth on September 12, 2009. We are tired of our voices not being heard, come be heard. Wake Up America and come protect unalienable rights of life, liberties and the pursuit of happiness as we take back this country and preserve the U.S. Constitution. The 912 Project was started by Glenn Beck in early 2009.

Going Back To Tabletop Mountain While In Texas

Staying with my Washington theme for the day. Let's go back to Tabletop Mountain again. I took you to the top of Tabletop Mountain yesterday, with the only picture being my all time favorite. Today I'll show you a few more pictures of my nephews, Christopher and Jeremy, on Tabletop Mountain.

Some years, the road to the parking lot, you see here, does not open. The Mount Baker area gets one of the world's deepest accumulations of snow. Some years it does not melt enough to open the area you see here. The road to the Tabletop Mountain parking lot goes past the Mount Baker ski area. If you saw this location in winter you would have trouble believing you could drive here in late summer. Trails lead up Tabletop Mountain and on to Mount Baker from this location.

That is our destination in the distance, the top of Tabletop Mountain. You pick your way over snow and rock til you pick up the trail.

This is a classic Northwest Washington type mountain trail. That is Mount Shuksan off to the right.

Now we are at the top of Tabletop Mountain. If I remember right Jeremy was contemplating throwing a snowball at me. Which he soon did. He missed.

It did not look too dangerous, so when Christopher asked if he could slide down that little glacier, I said sure, not realizing Chris would pick up quite a lot of speed that sent him quite a long distance. I had some concern I was being an irresponsible uncle. I had a reputation for getting my 4 nephews into what came to be known as Nephews in Danger episodes. The worst of those was when nephew Joey and I climbed Sauk Mountain in a snowstorm.

Chris had fun sliding down the glacier, so Jeremy had to give it a try. Being an expert skateboarder, Jeremy was able to do this much more gracefully than his brother. That is the north side of Mount Baker that Jeremy is heading towards. If we were climbing up the south side of Mount Baker we would be able to see steam coming out of the volcano. I was able to see Mount Baker from my kitchen window in Mount Vernon.

So, there you go, you've now been on a virtual hike up a Washington mountain in September. And I'm still whining about being homesick for a real mountain. And some blackberries.

Seafair on Lake Washington

I guess today on my blog I am continuing my "I'm Homesick" theme. That body of water you are looking at is called Lake Washington. Lake Washington has 2 floating bridges that cross it. Seattle has an annual event that lasts for weeks called Seafair. Seafair starts off with a big event called The Torchlight Parade. I blogged about that very parade when I was in Seattle last summer.

Another part of Seafair is hydroplane races. I've never quite understood the fascination with watching those boats go fast, but thousands of others do, lining the shores of Lake Washington, or floating on the water, on various devices, to watch the big boats go fast and spray a lot of water.

At some point during Seafair, I think it's during the hydro races, the Blue Angels put on a show, making an awful lot of noise.

My one reader may remember me mentioning, a week or so ago, the re-discovery of a lost memory about going swimming in the moonlight at Bay View. Me and 2 others, in our undergarments, though only one of the perpetrators remember this.

Well, the party who remembers that swim is the party I refer to, for privacy sake, as Miss C. Well, I told Miss C that anything she sends me I may use as blogging fodder. Miss C sent me the above Seafair photo this morning. Miss C's daughter, who I'll call Lil' Miss C, due to both misses having first names that begin with 'C', is the young lady on the left in the picture.

I am almost certain the 3 girls are wearing swimsuits and Lil' Miss C is not following her mom's penchant for swimming in a warm Washington lake in her underwear.

By the way, Lake Washington is a huge, natural lake. It was not built as part of any sort of vision damming up a river to make a little lake.

Hiking At Fort Worth's Best Place To Stand & Camp

Today was my first time at the Tandy Hills Natural Area in awhile. The Hills needed to dry out from our recent deluges.

All that wet from Mama Nature has brought about little bursts of green where a wildfire had turned the prairie black a few weeks ago.

I saw only one other human standing on Fort Worth's best place to stand today.

Earlier today I was lamenting about all the places I used to stand on in Washington. As much as I like the Tandy Hills and as much as I think they are a rather unique location in an urban zone, it really is due to a shortage of great places to stand that this is the best place to stand in Fort Worth.

Today I came upon something I'd never seen at the Tandy Hills before. Someone had set up a tent. Maybe the person figured if this was the best place to stand it must also be the best place to camp. I don't know. The conditions are rather primitive.

There is running water, in the form of creeks, but this campsite was not near any of the creeks. I did not look in the tent to see if there were campers inside.

Tabletop Mountain Is Not In Texas

It is past 10 in the morning. If I don't blog something soon I'll start getting emails and phone calls asking what is wrong with me. Well, there is plenty wrong with me, but I don't care to talk about it.

That picture you're looking at is my all time favorite photo. But, it vexes me because I can not find the originals of that photo. Those boys are my nephews, Jeremy and his big brother, Christopher. They are sitting on top of Tabletop Mountain. Behind them is Mount Shuksan. Christopher is looking south at Mount Baker. Mount Baker is a volcano.

You get to the top of Tabletop Mountain via a fun trail that gets to the top via a series of switchbacks. I think I'll make a separate blogging with other pics from that day.

Lately it has crossed my mind a time or two that I think I'd like to move back to the Northwest. I miss the mountains. I miss the saltwater. I miss the seafood. And fresh fruit and vegetables. Right now I could be picking all the blackberries I wanted to pick. For free.

When I moved to Texas there was a house waiting for me. My house in Washington was sold in 2002. So, there is no house waiting for me, right now, in Washington. So, moving back is not quite as easy as moving here. It's vexing.

That's me laying on top of Hidden Lake Peak, looking down at Hidden Lake, deep in the North Cascades. Mount Baker and Tabletop Mountain are about 30 miles to the north.

Scenery like this was only a few miles east of where I lived in Washington. I am several hundred miles from any scenery that comes remotely close to this at my current location.

Today I'll try to cheer myself up by going to the "Best Place to Stand in Fort Worth." That being the Tandy Hills. Hiking on the Tandy Hills is a pretty pale substitute for the type of hiking I regularly did in Washington.

New Proof That Natural Gas Is Not Clean

The above video shows what looks like billowing smoke and fire coming from a natural gas well in the Barnett Shale. What you are actually seeing is plumes of invisible hydrocarbon emission through the filter of a high-tech video camera, making the invisible visible.

Seeing this video makes it easier to understand how it is that these operations belch around 200 tons of smog into the North Texas air every day. This is the dirty stuff that Al Armendariz, a Southern Methodist University chemical engineer, first brought to public attention, initially to scorn, from some, eventually validated as accurate by part of the state government of Texas.

The video was brought to you by TXsharon and FWCanDo! for BS Guinea Pig Productions.

Please visit their websites and The Daily Kos for more information.