Hiking Hot Leads To Driving Without A Seatbelt Again

That is the tree tunnel on Barnett Street, looking west towards the Tandy Hills eastern entrance and the beautiful skyline of downtown Fort Worth in the distance.

It was a bit on the HOT side hiking on a Texas prairie today. I was a wet mess by the time I made it back to the air-conditioned comfort of my vehicle. And I did not put on my seat belt til I wanted to. Being really HOT makes me willing to risk being caught, again, by the Fort Worth Gestapo.

Who was this Barnett person who has his/her name on so many things, like this street and the shale that is under this street?

Yesterday, or was it the day before, I mentioned what I see to be a shortage of flowers here in North Texas. But, even though it is now August and we have had plenty of very HOT days, there are still wildflowers blooming on the Tandy Hills.

I was not here at this point in time last summer, I don't think I'd discovered the Tandy Hills by the summer preceding last summer, but time flies so fast, I may have, but I sure do not remember seeing wildflowers anywhere in Texas this time of the year, any other year.

The above is one very convoluted sentence. I wonder if it will make sense to anyone but me?

The purple flower is a new wildflower that's been blooming of late on the Tandy Hills. Dozens of them.

So, that's been my day today in Texas. Up early and swimming, HOT hiking at noon and a lot of computer frustration between escapes.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

Today is the day my mom and dad got married, some time back in the last century. I was born 5 days later. A few years after they got married.

I think this picture may be the last time all my siblings, nephews, spouses and mom and dad were all together at the same place at the same time.

My brother has changed wives since this picture was taken. I'm holding nephew Jeremy. My one longtime blog reader may remember Jeremy from a couple days ago, playing on snow on Tabletop Mountain.

I got gas today. As that one longtime blog reader may remember, whenever I get gas I call my mom. So, I had 2 reasons to call. That Happy Anniversary thing, and the gas. But their cell phone generated an out of range message. Which must mean they are out of the Puget Sound zone. Maybe they are on the Oregon coast. I know they were staying on the coast for 8 days on their way back to Arizona.

In that picture we are up in Lynden at my aunt and uncle's house for the annual combo Christmas/Grandma's Birthday Party. The aunt and uncle no longer live there and grandma has been gone for a long time now.

My relatives ended up in Lynden because my great-great grandpa came to America from Holland in the 1890s. Along with my great-great grandma and their two kids, one of whom was my great-grandpa. Once they all got to America they tried several locations, including a very short stay in Texas, just north of where I now live.

I think they were in Ohio when word came of a town way out west, about as far as you could go back then, in America, without leaving the country, this area up in the new state of Washington, where a lot of Dutch people had moved to because it reminded them so much of Holland.

So, my great-grandpa was sent, by train, to Lynden to see if it would be a good place to move to. He stayed through a summer, working on a farm. He returned to his mom and dad and sister eager to get them to move to Washington. He brought them a piece of bark off a fir tree to show them how huge the trees are. He brought them some apples and told them there were plenty of apple trees. He told them about the berries that grew wild and free. And all the farmland available.

And so they moved and started a farm. That farm exists to this day, though no longer owned by relatives of mine. The road that the farm is on is still named after my family. And no, it is not Jones Road.

Now I'm sitting here thinking to myself, my ancestors went through so much to get the future generations to one of the nicest places to live on the planet. And then I, the oldest son of the oldest son of the oldest son of the relative who decided to move to America, moved to Texas? What's wrong with me?

Anyway, Happy Anniversary, Ma & Pa. Hope you're having fun wherever you are today.

The Cicadas Seem To Have Vanished From Texas For Now

Mister Twister pointed me to a very interesting BBC YouTube video this morning, all about Cicadas. I had no idea there were so many of them making all that noise, that currently seems to be silenced for the year. After watching this video I am perplexed as to why I have not seen the remains of at least one of the little beasts.

The most important information I got from this video is when the male Cicadas are making their mating noise do not snap your fingers. Unless you want to have a Cicada try to mate with you.

We Are Watching For Lightning & Tornadoes Tonight In Texas

We've gone into triple digits for the first time in a couple weeks. And just as WeatherBug turned the temperature red, which it does whenever it gets over 100, the little bug also started flashing and chirping. Nothing I do seems able to stop this.

But, this time it was a more serious weather warning than telling me something I already knew, as in it is HOT. This flashing and chirping was due to the NWS Storm Prediction Center issuing a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 10:00 CDT tonight.

I'm blogging about this almost at the same time I got the warning, so that a particular Haltom City resident has plenty of time to alter her plans for the evening, in case she feels the need to do some flash flood watching.

Below is the NWS Warning....

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 10:00PM CDT

Urgent - Immediate Broadcast Requested Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 664 Nws Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 325 PM CDT Wed Aug 5 2009

The NWS Storm Prediction Center Has Issued A Severe Thunderstorm Watch For Portions Of Extreme South Central Oklahoma North Central Texas.

Effective This Wednesday Afternoon And Evening From 3:25 PM Until 10:00 PM CDT.

Hail To 2 Inches In Diameter, Thunderstorm Wind Gusts To 70 Mph, And Dangerous Lightning Are Possible In These Areas.

The Severe Thunderstorm Watch Area Is Approximately Along And 65 Statute Miles North And South Of A Line From 60 Miles North Northwest Of Fort Worth Texas To 80 Miles East Of Dallas Texas. For A Complete Depiction Of The Watch See The Associated Watch Outline Update.

Remember, A Severe Thunderstorm Watch Means Conditions Are Favorable For Severe Thunderstorms In And Close To The Watch Area. Persons In These Areas Should Be On The Lookout For Threatening Weather Conditions And Listen For Later Statements And Possible Warnings. Severe Thunderstorms Can And Occasionally Do Produce Tornadoes.

Gators, Whitewater Rapids & Thinking About Hugging Aversion At Oakland Lake

I was up late, slept in late, well, til 6. Didn't feel like getting wet so I stayed out of the pool.

I got some good blogging fodder from one of my best Washington corespondents. I like getting good blogging fodder. Or any type of fodder for that matter.

Speaking of fodder, my therapist, Dr. L.C. wants me to go to a Hugging Aversion Therapy Meeting with her tonight. I am averse to any type of meeting, particularly when any type of hugging is involved.

We are under an Extreme Heat Advisory today and tomorrow. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with such advisories, so I decided to go on a walk at Oakland Lake Park and ponder what I should do about the heat.

One of the first things I saw upon arrival at Oakland Lake was what appeared to be an alligator slowly making its way northward in the middle of the lake. Other lake life, like the ducks, seemed to be avoiding whatever the partially submerged moving big thing was. You will need to click on the picture to see the possible gator.

Another odd thing. It has not rained in several days. Usually this means the creek, or ditch, or whatever it is that feeds water to Oakland Lake is pretty much dried up. But today, as I neared the creek/ditch I heard the sound of wild rapids.

When I saw the source of the sound I wondered where all this water was coming from. The whitewater rapids almost made me want to go home and get my inflatable kayak and do some rapid running. But the urge passed.

Tomorrow is my mom and dad's anniversary. I should remember to call. They got married on the same day Hiroshima got nuked. Not the same year, but the same day.

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.