Sakuma Market Stand and Fruits & Vegetables In Texas

Every once in a while I'll see something that causes me to greatly miss the fertile Skagit Valley, that being the place I called home for a lot of years. Where I live now, in north Texas, it is not much of an agricultural zone.

When I was up in the Skagit Valley, last summer, we dropped in on a farmers market that had opened since I moved. There are a lot of farmers in the Skagit Valley. Among the biggest are the Sakuma Brothers. I had a Sakuma sister in my class in high school. She whacked me regularly with her clarinet, though these days she denies this, but, I have the scars to prove it.

The farmers market we dropped in on was the Sakuma Market Stand. How is it that the Skagit Valley, with a population just a bit over 100,000 has so many fruit and vegetable stands, while this Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, I'm living in, with a population in the 6 million zone, has so few farmers market, fruit and vegetable stands type places?

I know strawberries, tomatoes, peaches and apples can grow here. There is a U-Pick strawberry field here that I know of, on Bowen Street in Arlington. Out in east Texas they grow blueberries.

The Sakuma brothers are 1 of only 2 farmers in America to grow tea leaves. At the Sakuma Market Stand, in addition to all sorts of fruits and vegetables, you can also get fresh baked pies, Sakuma jams, shortcake, berry milkshakes, made with freshly made French Vanilla Ice Cream and all sorts of other things.

On their 100s of acres the Sakuma Brothers grow raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, boysenberries, logan berries, marionberries, apples, sweet onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, green beans, cauliflower, garlic, lettuce, potatoes, broccoli, squash, pumpkins and the aforementioned tea.

Click here to visit the Sakuma Market Stand and the Skagit Valley. It might give you an idea why I get a bit homesick at times.

My First Win Ever At Anything! The Scrabble Queen Comes In 2nd!

It is official. Facebook Scrabble has declared me the WINNER! Scrabble added the exclamation point, not me. I can't tell you what it means to me to have finally triumphed over the Reigning Scrabble Queen of Washington.

My final letter was an 'I.' I used the 'I' to make 'IT' for, I think, 2 points.

Those 2 points gave me a final score of 346 to the Scrabble Queen of Washington's 307 points.

I feel with this victory my life may finally turn around and steer me away from this hell I have been living.

As an extra omen of this stunning reversal of fortune, I am currently in the lead in another Scrabble game with the Reigning Scrabble Queen of Washington.

I do not know how many times I would have to defeat the Scrabble Queen of Washington to take her crown away, making myself the Reigning Scrabble King of Washington. I suppose to take the title I'd have to move back there.

I would not mind that fate. Too much.

A Sunflower Blooms In Texas On A Sunny September Day With Tootsie Tonasket

I was aerobic exercise free for days in a row, til today. Part of the problem was weather related.

Another part was I was obsessed with changing code on pretty much every web page of my durangotexas.com domain, plus altering many of the webpages, changing them all to white, like this blog, no borders, the look of all matching my Eyes on Texas website, getting rid of a lot of color.

When I started spewing out webpages, on which to add Google ads, I made up some about Washington. I don't know what I was thinking regarding the color, I think, maybe I was going for a Washington foggy dawn. I thought it'd be more bother to fix than it was. I am happy with it now.

I went swimming this morning. The water is getting colder. Today there was a slight adjustment time getting used to the temperature that had me thinking how was it that I managed to be getting in the water all last winter?

The Tandy Hills Natural Hiking Area was all dried out from the rain of yesterday, or was it the day before? I saw a flock of sunflowers, I think that is what they are, looking sunny on this sunny day.

While I hiked I talked to Tootsie Tonasket. She is always quite funny describing the hell she is living. I tell you she should write plotlines for soap operas. Tootsie is one of my assistants when it comes to Internet related dilemmas. So, as I walked I talked Tootsie through checking on something for me on her remote computer. Tootsie, if you are reading this, it worked. Thanks.

Tootsie Tonasket is one of those insecure sorts who sort of lacks confidence. But she is quite bright and writes quite well. And she talks without ever saying 'uh' or 'um.' I do not like listening to uhers or ummers. Why is the spell check not flagging uhers or ummers? Those can not possibly be words.

I learned today that the Queen of Wink's cute little daughter, Annie, was inspired by the Tandy Hills prairie being preserved here in Fort Worth, so she took what amounts to being a small fortune in little girl dollars and spent $1,200 buying up empty lots in the Wink zone of West Texas for around $25 per lot.

At $25 per lot, I think I'm gonna move to Wink and pitch a tent. I need a new place to live. Wink seems like it'd be a nice town. I wonder if they have both a Costco and a Sam's Club?

Earth Liberation Front Takes Down Two Towers In Washington, None So Far In Texas

I've wondered a time or two what would happen up in Washington if natural gas producing shale were discovered in the Puget Sound zone. Washington does not have a lot of mining or drilling action going on, unlike Texas, where Texans are used to holes randomly getting poked in the ground.

Well, early Friday morning I think I got my answer to what would happen if Chesapeake Energy put up drilling towers and started making a lot of noise, along with environmental damage within earshot of residential neighborhoods or near parks in Washington.

For almost a decade environmental groups have been fighting a radio station's plan to build a couple new transmission towers in Snohomish, where there were already 2 controversial towers. Snohomish is a town northeast of Seattle about 25 miles. The objections to the new towers ranged from them impeding on a trumpeter swan habitat to possible human health hazards.

The existing towers had generated complaints of interference with telephones and intercoms.

Well, the existing towers are no more. Around 3:30 a.m. a 911 call came in telling the operator that someone seemed to be attacking the towers with a bulldozer. By the time police arrived the towers were on the ground. A banner bearing the initials of the ELF were found at the scene.

ELF is the Earth Liberation Front. An ELF spokesman said the towers were taken down because of health and environmental concerns, with ELF press spokesman Jason Crawford saying, "We have to weigh our priorities, and the local ecosystem in Everett, along with the local residents, do not need additional sports news radio station towers that come at the expense of reduced property values and harmful radio waves."

The ELF's Web site has pictures of the toppled towers, along with an article. I'll copy the headline and article below...

Earth Liberation Front Topples Two Radio Station Towers in Snohomish County, WA

Everett, WA: Two radio station towers were torn down early Friday by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) in the Lord's Hills valley in Snohomish County, WA. The towers, owned by station KRKO, have been a source of controversy for years. A sign left at the scene claimed responsibility by the ELF.

"Due to the health and environmental risks associated with radio waves emitted from the towers, we applaud this act by the ELF," stated Jason Crawford, a spokesperson for the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office. "When all legal channels of opposition have been exhausted, concerned citizens have to take action into their own hands to protect life and the planet."

For the past eight years, opponents have waged a legal battle against the towers, arguing that AM radio waves cause adverse health affects including a higher rate of cancer, harm to wildlife, and that the signals have been interfering with home phone and intercom lines.

Last year, the first four towers were erected by KRKO after numerous hearings and appeals. KRKO plans to build two more towers to boost the station's broadcasting power.

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I wonder if Texas has an ELF branch? I doubt it. I wonder what the ELF would have done about the Chesapeake Energy drilling operation on the west side of the Tandy Hills? Or what they'd do about the Carter Avenue pipeline. Or the ring of gas terror surrounding Gateway Park?

Noisy Thunderstorming & Gas Drillers In Fort Worth

As you can clearly see, last night's extremely long lightning storm totally zapped me, aging me greatly overnight.

Ever since late July, when I eye-witnessed a lightning strike starting a fire in a heavy downpour, I have grown more concerned when a big storm pops up, particularly when the lightning strikes are simultaneous with the concussive thunder boom.

Last night there were 3 directly overhead strikes. I lay in bed waiting to smell smoke or hear the fire alarm go off.

This morning I did not feel like wading through the lake that formed overnight between me and the swimming pool, so I didn't.

It was cold last night, in the low 60s, so the windows are open, with no A/C. I do not remember being able to have the windows open so much in summer before here. I read today that Global Warming has the Arctic its hottest in over 2000 years. Why are we not warmer here in HOT Texas?

With the windows open I am hearing some high pitched metallic squealing coming from the Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling site across the street. I thought that type noise coming from there ended a long time ago. I will not be shocked, when I step outside today, to see that a drilling tower has popped up overnight. I hate it when that happens. There it goes again.

More storms are expected today, tonight and tomorrow. I know a pretty young lady in Haltom City who gets very worried when the weather here takes a turn for the worse. She had a rough night of monitoring possible lethal creek flooding.

Troubled Water With Green Slime & A Worried Interracial Couple At Fosdic Lake

A couple days ago I think I mentioned walking by some neon green water in the lake in Oakland Lake Park. Today the green was no longer so neon, today it just looked like run of the mill slime.

I also think I've mentioned the do not eat the fish you catch signs in this park. They seem to have been modified. Now you are advised to not eat carp you may catch. And, any other fish you may catch, you are advised to get them filleted, on ice and then on a grill quickly.

I have wondered why, of late, I've seen so many fishermen fishing in Fosdic Lake.

Fosdic Lake? I thought I was at Oakland Lake. No, I was at Oakland Lake Park. But the lake's name, apparently, is Fosdic Lake. I've noticed the sign that says Fosdic Lake before. I figured it was some sort of mistake. We are prone to those here in Texas. It's the heat. It makes our thinkers go screwy at times.

But, I think I've figured it out. Oakland Boulevard is on the west side of Oakland Lake Park. So, I think people would say, "let's go to the lake," not knowing the lake had a name. Then Fort Worth decided to turn the area around the lake into a park. Since Oakland was the main street in the area it must have been decided to name the park, Oakland Lake Park, with no one considering the considerable confusion this would cause later, when a sign was put up identifying the lake inside Oakland Lake Park as being Fosdic Lake.

The last time I was at Oakland Lake Park walking around Fosdic Lake I mentioned the lovebirds, Ramon and Gabriella. Today it was a pair of lovebirds I've mentioned before, an interracial pairing between a black bird and a while bird. Usually I see the happy couple out on Lake Fosdic. But today they were sitting under the shade of a bush. They seemed troubled. Usually the birds do not let me get too close, but today it was not me who seemed to be on their minds. Maybe they've been driven from the lake by that green slime I showed you. I know it keeps me out of Fosdic Lake.

For The First Time In My Life I May Win Something

I have never been a very good game player. Except for Monopoly. Since January the Scrabble Queen of Washington, aka SQW, has beaten me at a lot of Scrabble games.

Over that period of time I've learned that taking a Scrabble break is good brain exercise. I think figuring out Scrabble words must use the same side of the brain as doing math. I am not good at math.

Over time I've found by not trying to think too hard about it and just slightly pondering it, a word will pop up, usually quite quickly.

And now, today, in one of 2 games being currently played, SQU, aka Miss Karen, has conceded, saying unless I mess up real bad I'll be winning the game you see in the picture.

I do not know how I am going to celebrate. But this is huge. If I do win this Scrabble game it will mark the first time I've ever won anything. This is a momentous, possibly life changing event.

I don't know when I've been happier.

Fort Worth Gestapo Storm Troopers Strike Again. And Again

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Deep Fried Butter & Other Big Tex Choice Award Delicacies Available At The State Fair Of Texas

The 2009 Big Tex Choice Awards 8 finalists were revealed this morning. The winners will be named on Labor Day.

You can start eating these wholesome, tasty treats when the State Fair of Texas starts up September 25. You'll have til October 18 to do some exotic food sampling.

Of the final 8 goodies, the Deep Fried Butter concoction seems, to me, the most, uh, interesting. The fryer's name is Abel Gonzales. Abel whips butter til it gets all fluffed up, then he sweetens it before wrapping it in dough. Then the dough is dropped into the boiling oil and stuck on a stick.

Butter on hot bread is tasty. So I can see where this might taste good. But, when you bite into the dough, it seems like butter is going to be squirting out. Messy.

Nick Bert figured he could improve a Texas Pecan Pie by deep frying. So, he batters up a piece of pecan pie, tosses it in the boiling oil, puts some caramel sauce on it and calls it Fried Texas Pecan Pie.

That is too much sweet for me.

Sweet potatoes and yams are very nutritious. So much so, they are known as superfoods. Milton Whitley takes the superfood, spiral cuts it, deep fries it, then sticks the sweet spud on a skewer after which he rolls it in butter, sprinkles sugar and cinnamon on top and hands you Twisted Yam on a Stick.

I like sweet potatoes and sweet potato fries. I'd eat the Twisted Yam on a Stick. Maybe.

I have had what is called a State Fair Corny Dog at the State Fair. I like corn dogs. I also like seafood. Mark Zabel has figured out a way to combine seafood with a corn dog with his Sweet Jalapeno Corn Dog Shrimp. The shrimp dogs are coated with spicy, sweet corn meal before hitting the fryer. Instead of mustard these dogs have a spicy glaze.

The shrimp corn dog sounds good.

I like pork. Glen Kusak thinly slices pork loin into chips, batters the chips in corn meal, then fries them before serving up his Country Fried Pork Chips with ketchup or cream gravy.

I'm thinking no on the battered fried pork.

Fernie, with no last name, has concocted Fernie's Deep Fried Peaches & Cream. Fernie coats peach slices with a batter made of coconut, graham cracker, eggs, milk, cinnamon and ginger before turning it crunchy in hot grease. Then the peaches get a raspberry sauce drizzle, with streusel on top of the drizzle and whipped cream to top it all off.

Way too much sweet for me. Although one bite might be tasty. I like peaches.

Shirley Weiss has come up with something that I could be induced to eat. Green Goblins. She stuffs hollowed out peppers with spicy chicken and guacamole before battering and the requisite frying. You get 3 peppers on a skewer topped with melted cheese.

Maybe the batter is like what's on a chile relleno, that being my favorite Mexican dish. I'd go for the Green Goblins, I think.

I like macaroons. I'm not a fan of peanut butter cups. Shirley London has combined the two with her Fried Peanut Butter Cup Macaroon. The peanut butter cup is surrounded by the macaroon, then fried, followed by a powdered sugar dusting.

Ugh, the deep fried macaroon sounds like way too much greasy sweetness.

So, there you have it, this year's Big Tex Choice Awards finalists. Green Goblins and Sweet Jalapeno Corn Dog Shrimp for the win.

Me & My Shadow Stalking Litter At The Tandy Hills

I've been up since a little after 3 this morning. This type behavior always makes for an interesting day.

Right now I'm thinking about Deep Fried Butter. The Big Tex Choice Awards final eight were announced today, with the winners to be announced on Labor Day. I blogged about the Big Tex Choice Awards yesterday, saying this year's contestants had not yet been announced. And now, this morning, they have. I'll blog about this year's other bizarre fried concoctions in another blogging.

Sometime around 5 I felt like taking a dip of the skinny sort. The overnight low had the water being a bit cold for the first time in a long time.

Around 8 I started feeling constricted by interior spaces with a need to be in exterior spaces. I chose, like I often do, creature of habit that I am, to go to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area for some early morning hiking. You can tell it's early morning by the long shadow I cast in the picture. Hiking around noon there are no long shadows.

Early morning light changes the look of the Tandy Hills. I was seeing things I don't usually see. For instance, I was startled by a root that I reacted to like it was a snake. I've walked over that root many times and never thought it was a snake. But the early morning shadows gave that root rattlesnake like markings and so I jumped.

Another thing I'd not noticed before was in one of the dry creek beds. I've always seen litter in the dry creek beds, but this morning's low light and shadows revealed way more litter than I'd ever noticed before. One creek bed, that I cross every time I'm at the Tandy Hills, had a soccer ball amongst its litter collection. I'm sure it's been there for a long time, but I never saw it til this morning.

My other excitement today has been being perplexed by data that does not make sense. Short version. I use something called bit.ly to turn a long URL into a short one, suitable for Twitter. For instance, I Twittered about the State Fair of Texas, then used bit.ly to make the link back to the blog. Bit.ly provides stats. Bit.ly says that there were 24 clicks on the bit.ly link in Twitter. However, none of those clicks show up in my other stat thing called FeedJit. So, one or the other, or both, are wrong.

Like I said, it's perplexing.