My Mom & Dad In Texas & Me Not In Phoenix

That's my mom & dad at Fair Park in Dallas, the site of the State Fair of Texas. Behind them is the Texas Star, it being the tallest ferris wheel in the Western Hemisphere. Or is it the Northern Hemisphere? I'm not sure. It's the tallest in some hemisphere, let's leave it at that.

Mom & dad were here in Texas the first week of 2009. They stayed 5 days. I could not get them out of their cowboy hats when they were here. Not even in church. Oh, just remembered, they weren't here on a Sunday. My dad is busy texting my sister in the picture. He's a real good texter.

A couple days ago one of my favorite Washington corespondents, Miss CVB, told me I need to visit my mom and dad more often.

I feel guilty that I don't. When they were here I told them I'd come to Phoenix in April, at the height, or one of the heights, of citrus season. But, that did not work out. Now it is coming up a year since I last saw them and I've still not made it to Phoenix.

I do call regularly, whenever I get gas, to tell my mom how much it costs and what the temperature is. I tell myself that is better than nothing.

Am I Coming Down With A Texas Cold?

That is me sneezing about 2 minutes ago at 9:55am, Thursday, November 12, 2009. I started sneezing about 9:00am. At 9:45am I decided to aim the camera at myself and set the self-timer and try and catch myself in a good sneezing eruption. This is the best I came up with. I should have set it to video mode. That would have worked better. But, in my current oxygen deprived state of muddled thinking, I did not think of video.

Yesterday I had a burning eye sensation all day long. I thought this was caused by yesterday's incredible bout of gray smog here in Dirty Ol' Town, aka Fort Worth.

But, this morning I am having that telltale slightly dripping nasal type woe, combined with the sneezing.

In other words, I am afraid I may be coming down with a cold. Or worse. I can not remember the last time I've been sick. I can't even remember the last time I had a headache. My sister in Phoenix had the flu last week, but I had no contact with her, except by phone. One of my Washington corespondents, Miss Karen P. F., had a 3 day bout with a cold. I politely asked her not to send me a virus. I'm sure she didn't.

I've been very careful when out and about among germ/virus laden humans. I have been to no restaurants, in months, where sneeze guards protect the food. My closest contacts with humans, alien to me, was at Sprouts Farmers Market yesterday. It was crowded. Very crowded. I cleaned my grocery cart handle with the provided disinfectant wipe and tried to keep a distance from any passing illness carriers. But there were a few very close encounters. Once by the Texas Ruby Red Rio Grapefruits, once by the Broccoli Crowns, once by the Brown Rice, with the worst encounter being by the free sample of Hummus. There was actual physical contact at the hummus station, after which I rushed to get a disinfectant towel. I may have been too late.

My pattern, when ailing, is to continue on as if I'm not ailing. That usually works. At times, in the past, I've knocked out an incoming cold by using the non-doctor approved method of going to the liquor store and getting a bottle of potent medicine. A good dose of that usually knocks out a cold. But that can be one of those the cure is worse than the disease type things.

A person I know here in Texas, let's call her Miss Puerto Rico, takes a daily self-prescribed, non-doctor approved, dose of medicine that she gets at our local supply store. She has not had a cold as long as I've known her. Then again, neither have I, and I don't use her medicine daily.

Despite the symptoms of a possible incoming cold, I braved the other type of cold and went swimming this morning. It was very pleasant.

Fort Worth Is Not In The Top 10 Of America's Cleanest Cities

The sun is going down in Dirty ol' Town. The smog I mentioned, in the previous blogging, seems to have lessened, somewhat, as the day got older, but my eyes still burn a bit.

I was just looking at Twitter and saw a Twitter Tweet thing that Tweeted,"Top Ten Cleanest Cities in America."

I had some sort of intuition that Fort Worth was not going to be on this list. Or Dallas. I had doubts that any Texas city was going to be on a list of America's cleanest. But who knows. I can be wrong about such things. Then again, I have long been astonished by the amount of litter I see blowing about in these parts as compared to points further west and north.

I was a little surprised to see that Miami is the cleanest city. And that Oklahoma City is the 7th cleanest. I am not too shocked that Seattle is the #2 cleanest city in America. Though I did see a candy bar wrapper floating in Elliot Bay, by the Seattle Aquarium, the last time I walked the Seattle Waterfront. I was shocked and appalled. I'm sure it's been removed by now.

Alas, my intuition proved correct. No Texas city is on the Top Ten List of America's Cleanest Cities. I'll see if I can find a Top Ten List of America's Dirtiest Cities. (found one, scroll down)

Top 10 Cleanest Cities in America

#	City, State
1.	Miami, Fla.	Healthy ozone levels, low pollution and high-quality water boost Miami.
2.	Seattle, Wash.	The nearby Cascade Mountains keep pollution low. Seattle also spends more per capita on waste management than any major city.
3.	Jacksonville, Fla.	The only major city with a top 10 ranking in all the categories.
4.	Orlando, Fla.	The family-friendly land of Disney scores big on ozone and air pollution levels.
5.	Portland, Ore.	Portland has spent $2 billion over the last decade cleaning up the Willamette River. Adding light rail and more sidewalks has cut down on auto emissions.
6.	San Francisco, Calif.	The City by the Bay ranks in the top five in waste-management spending and water quality.
7.	Oklahoma City, Okla.	One of the few land-locked cities on the list, Oklahoma City ranks in the top 10 for both particle pollution and ozone levels.
8.	Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.	Tampa spends more per capita on waste management than any major city other than Seattle, helping make up for lower rankings on water quality.
9.	Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.	The Twin Cities rank first among major metros for healthy ozone levels, which counters so-so rankings for waste removal spending and water quality.
10.	San Jose-Sunnyvale, Calif.	Like San Francisco up the road, San Jose is among the nation's leaders in water quality. The area also cracks the top 10 for lowest levels of air pollution.

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Ozone

1. Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.
2. Bakersfield, Calif.
3. Visalia/Porterville, Calif.
4. Houston, Texas
5. Fresno/Madera, Calif.
6. Sacramento, Calif.
7. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas (that is Fort Worth's skyline under a Level Orange Ozone Alert last summer in the picture above)
8. New York, N.Y./Newark, N.J.
9. Baltimore, Md./Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia
10. Baton Rouge, La.

My Fort Worth Eyes Are A-Stinging In Dirty Ol' Town

I had my bedroom window wide open all night. This morning my eyes were sort of stinging. When I departed here, about a half hour before noon, and saw a broad view of the sky for the first time today, I thought it was foggy.

I was wrong. It was smoggy.

The first time I remember smog stinging my eyes was during the 1970s in Los Angeles. Los Angeles has greatly improved its smog problem over the years. I did not know until 1991 that Los Angeles has a range of mountains to the west that looks sort of like the foothills to the Cascades in the Puget Sound zone. All previous times the LA foothills were shrouded in smog.

There are no mountains to shroud in smog in the D/FW Metroplex. The closest thing to a mountain is the skylines of Dallas and Fort Worth. They were hazy, really hazy today.

I got an email yesterday from the individual known locally as The Watchdog. A videographer from the Environmental Defense Fund was going to be in town. The Watchdog was asking for any suggestions of examples of Barnett Shale related problems in the Fort Worth zone. All I could think of was the gas driller water pipeline damage to the levee by Beach Street/Gateway Park and the strange Chesapeake Energy pond that holds who knows what chemical stew by the intersection of Brentwood Stair Rd. and Cooks Lane.

Had I known today was going to be producing eye-stinging smog I would have suggested filming the hazy skyline. Or what I saw when headed north to Southlake today. By I-820 and Trinity Boulevard, on the southeast side of the intersection, a gas drilling operation has been going on for some time. Today there were a lot of trucks and a lot of smoke/pollution spewing skyward. That's what you're looking at in the picture at the top.

Is this what has had my eyes burning today? I can't help but wonder.

That aforementioned Watchdog has re-christened Fort Worth from its former nicknames of Cowtown and Panther City. The Watchdog calls Fort Worth, "Dirty ol' Town." I did not see a single cow or panther today. Dirty ol' Town seems much more appropriate.

My eyes continue to sting. Maybe I should shut the window.

Veterans Day In Texas

Veterans Day November 11, 2009

A soldier guards the Veterans Memorial at Arlington's Veterans Park 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year long.

Someone Please Water The Flowers Planted By Volunteers In Fort Worth

Several Saturdays in a row, as I drive by the trail that leads to Quanah Parker Park, I've seen what I thought were un-chained work gangs working off their crimes on the weekend. I've seen the same type buses with similarly clad inmates picking up litter along the Trinity River.

Today when I went to see if jogging was fun, I chose Quanah Parker Park for my test run, mostly because I was curious to see what the un-chained work gang had been doing.

Well, what I found was really weird. First off, there is the sign you see in the picture. "TRAIL WORK VOLUNTEERS."

Okay, so these weren't criminals working off petty offenses, like driving without a seatbelt, while driving slow. The sign is asking for volunteers, Saturday and Sunday, 9am til 2pm, to help plant flowers.

Why? Why flowers in this location. It's about a mile from Quanah Parker Park. Very few people use this trail. In addition to the flowers, chunks of wood had been placed lining the edges of the paved trail. Beauty bark had been spread around, with more big piles waiting to be spread.

The weirdest part of the weird project was 3 signs stuck in the ground where the now wilting flowers had been planted, saying "PLANTED BY VOLUNTEERS PLEASE WATER."

Who did these supposed volunteers think was going to read the signs and water the plants? I had a water bottle with me. I like to help when I can, when asked politely, and the sign did say "PLEASE." So, I chose one of the dying plants and gave it about 12 ounces of water, saving a couple ounces for myself.

Why did they not plant the flowers at Quanah Parker Park where more people might see them. And where water is available?

It is all very perplexing.

And I didn't like jogging.

Up Since 4 Blogging Blogging Blogging Twitter Twitter Twitter

I've been up since 4. I should be cranky but I'm not. I started another blog this morning. The may be some sort of sleep deprivation mistake.

Many months ago I set up a blog that was going to focus on the Pacific Northwest. I did that after I started the Durango Roadtripping one. Well, I was not happy with the results of the Roadtripping blog, so I decided not to bother with the Northwest one.

Some time back I decided to make the blog you're reading, right now, mostly about my experience in Texas, and not mix in stuff like something about TV. So, I started up a TV blog. That one does well. But, I find it not much fun.

Over the past few weeks I started up Twitter accounts that matched the various blogs. I had a Washington Twitter thing going, so I decided to change the Pacific Northwest blog to a Durango Washington blog.

The Durango TV Twitter is very amusing. Not my part of it, that's not amusing at all. It's what some of these celebrity sorts Twitter about, that I find amusing. I wish you could see for yourself, but if I give you my TV Twitter address all you will see is my Twitterings, not the Twitterings of those I supposedly follow.

Keeping track of 4 blogs and 4 Twitter accounts is very confusing to me. I've gotten my identities mixed up a couple times.

I am going jogging today. I used to be a regular jogger. A couple weeks ago I ran into Wal-Mart during a downpour and was surprised at how easily I was able to run fast. I made that same discovery Summer of 2008 at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, and then forget about it when I got back to Texas HEAT.

I'll let you know how the jogging goes.

All A Twitter At The Tandy Hills In Fort Worth

A lone chair is all that remains of what used to be a one tent Tandy Hills Campground. Last month Princess Annie of Wink visited the site of the hobo camp, in the Tandy Hills Natural Area, and left a vase with flowers and 4 quarters.

All is now gone except for the forelorn chair looking north towards Interstate 30.

I still have not been able to find the infamous Witchey Tree or the Death Van. Maybe it was the ghost of the Witchey Tree Death Van that occupied the Tandy Hills Campground.

Speaking of Wink Texas Royalty, this morning I was startled to learn that the Queen of Wink is now one of my legion of Twitter Followers. The Queen is very smart. I'm hoping she'll help me figure out Twitter and if it is useful in any meaningful way. This afternoon I am back on the side of thinking Twitter is useful.

I have now mastered the art of Re-Tweeting. This morning I Re-Tweeted Oprah. Two years ago if you had told me that on this day I would Re-Tweet Oprah, I don't know what scary thing my imagination might have conjured that to mean.

Today I came upon a dad hiking with his kids. You can't tell it from the picture, but I was quite a distance below them, zooming in close with the camera, as they were going down a rather steep section of trail. I heard the kids asking dad if there were snakes. I could not make out his answer. I hope it was no. Because I have yet to see a snake while hiking the Tandy Hills. Or an armadillo. Or a bobcat. I think maybe the Tandy Hills wildlife may have been greatly reduced in population before it became a natural area.

Murder At Hippie Hollow Nude Beach In Austin Texas

Hippie Hollow Park, down in Austin, Austin being the capital of Texas, is the only legally recognized clothing optional public park in the State of Texas.

Austin is about 180 miles south of my Fort Worth location. That's a long ways to drive if I get a hankering to go skinny-dipping. By the time I drove all that way the hankering to skinny-dip would likely have passed.

So, when I get that particular hankering I have to find myself a not legally recognized clothing optional place to dip skinny.

Denniger Bolton has written a book titled Hippie Hollow - Murder on a Nude Beach. The story takes modern day Austin, stirs in murders at Hippie Hollow with a collection of Austin Weird characters, all investigated by an ex-rodeo cowboy, ex-Austin cop, B.B. Rivers, who is Austin's newest private investigator. The book is described as a "wild ride, humorous, irreverent and contemporary. Carlos Castaneda meets Hank the Cowdog."

I don't know how I came upon this Hippie Hollow book. I really need to start taking notes as my memory continues to fade.

Below is a semi-amusing YouTube video about the book and Hippie Hollow. The video is basically a 5 minute commercial. But, like I said, it is semi-amusing....

Technological Neanderthals In Texas

Now this is pathetic.

This afternoon I was over at Miss Puerto Rico's. She showed me some photos on her cell phone that she took on her recent trip to the island to see her mom and dad in Coamo.

That is mom and dad in the picture. In a hospital in San Juan.

So, Miss PR was showing me the pics on her cell phone and asked me how she could get them off the phone and onto her computer where she could print them.

I had no idea how to do this. I use a camera to take pictures, not a cell phone.

And now here is where it gets a bit embarrassing. We can't figure out how to take photos off the cell phone, when I have the bright idea of using my digital camera to take pictures of the pictures on the cell phone. So, the cell phone gets laid on the floor, I set my camera to macro mode and disable the flash and take pictures.

This seems to have worked. But there's got to be a better way. Maybe Miss Puerto Rico should consider getting a digital camera.