The Loony Lunar Landscape Of Wink Texas & The Wink Sinkholes

The moonscape you are looking at, in the picture, is a satellite look at the infamous Wink Sinkholes, #'s 1 and 2.

Wink Sinkhole #1 is the smaller of the holes. It's the dark spot in the middle about a third of the way down the picture. On Wink Sinkhole #1's upper right is a big Tank Farm.

If you click to view the enlarged image you'll see lots of what look like the results of a massive bombing campaign and the resulting bomb craters.

A maze of what looks like trails, which are likely dirt roads, run all over the landscape. I don't know if one can drive around on this puzzling maze.

I suppose I should ask the Queen of Wink, what with her being the go to source for all matters pertaining to Wink.

Wink Sinkhole #2 is the big dark dot at the bottom middle of the picture. The bigger of the two sinkholes does not appear to be near any tank farms.

I found a good picture of Wink Sinkhole #2. This sinkhole is no dainty, little hole in the ground. It's huge. As in about 1000 feet in diameter with vertical cliffs rising about 60 feet from the water, covering around 18 acres

Wink Sinkhole #2 first sank in 2004. It continues to grow, with the no trespass chain link fence needing to be re-located as the sinkhole grows ever bigger and ever closer to Wink. The information one finds about the Wink Sinkholes all included the same message, as in "WARNING! This is NOT a tourist attraction."

Where does the water come from that looks so inviting in the sinkholes, I can't help but wonder, with the sinkholes being located in the parched West Texas desert? Maybe the Queen of Wink can enlighten us.

I Visited Tropical Kauai Today From Fort Worth Texas Where It Is Not Tropical

I'd not heard from the Temporary Scrabble Queen of Hawaii, currently stationed on the island of Kauai, for a few days. I was worried she'd had a bad snorkeling encounter with a shark.

Instead she was busy hunting for the perfect puka shell necklace.

The latest message from Kauai did not torment me, too much, with mental images of tropical splendor, in dire contrast to my current state of frigidity in Arctic Texas.

I had asked the Scrabble Queen for the address of her tropical location so that I might make a virtual visit via Google Earth and possibly get a live snapshot of her snorkeling in her bikini. The Scrabble Queen did not know the exact address, but said she was across from the only Safeway on the island.

With that info it was easy to locate the location of the Scrabble Queen's latest Scrabble victory over me.

She was not out in the Pacific swimming when I visited. She was in the pool. Satellite images can make identifying small details a bit difficult, but I believe the Scrabble Queen is on the right side of the pool. And she is not in a bikini.

I also started off my day in a pool. However, there was no ocean to look at and no palm trees overhead and no 80 degree temperatures to keep me warm. It was below freezing, again, this morning in the Arctic Cold of Fort Worth, Texas.

Fort Woof Mayor Tsunami The Nominator Has Invited First Dog Bo Obama to Fort Woof

There were not many dogs running around America's #1 dog park, Fort Woof, in Gateway Park, in Fort Worth, today.

I'm sure the weather had something to do with the small number of barkers. That and a large section of the Large Dog area of Fort Woof had turned into Fort Woof Lake, thanks to a lot of melted snow. And bad drainage.

It appeared that with the Large Dog area now a lake some Large Dogs had turned scofflaw and had invaded the Small Dog area. There were so few dogs this did not seem to be a problem, with all dogs playing peacefully and none of the big guys bullying the little guys.

I learned from a sign outside the entry to the Large Dog area that the First Dog, Bo Obama, has been invited to Fort Woof, where Dogs rule, invited by the Mayor of Fort Woof, Tsunami the Nominator.

I assume Tsunami the Nominator is a dog. What a name. How did Tsunami get elected mayor? I wonder if it was with a 70% landslide of the 6% of eligible dog voters who bothered to vote? I hope Mayor Tsunami isn't doing any back door deal shenanigans to let gas drillers poke holes in Fort Woof.

A Trio Of Snowmen In Fort Worth's Gateway Park With Trinity Falls In Mini-Niagara Mode

These snowmen were found today in Gateway Park. Proof that at some point in time someone had some fun playing in the snow in this park.

But today, with the return of blue sky and the snow still being perfectly playable, I saw no playing. I think Texas kids are so unused to the white stuff they don't know how to have fun in it.

That and who is going to have a sled in these parts? I only saw one sled during our latest white period. And it was dinky little one. Maybe some of the parks that have hills, like Veterans Park in Arlington, got more action.

Another problem with Gateway Park and kids having fun playing in the snow there, is the access problem. As in none of the roads that lead to Gateway Park have sidewalks. What sort of lamebrain town builds a nice park, but does not have sidewalks that kids might use to safely walk or bike to the park? That is just irresponsible on the city's part, in my opinion.

The Trinity River is running a lot of water, I assume it's snow melt. I could hear Trinity Falls roaring well before Fort Worth's Niagara came into view.

The melting run-off found a nice path way to the river, provided courtesy of Express Energy Services and the ruts left behind after their recent Trinity River water removal operation.

A lot of erosion is taking place, where previously no erosion took place, because grass protected the underlying dirt from the ravages of fast moving water, but the protective grass was replaced by deep ruts. And a lot of mud.

Speaking of fast moving water, there was a lot of the stuff flowing over Trinity Falls today, rendering the dam/bridge passable only to water. So much water is in the river that it makes the falls shorter.

There are a lot of negative ions released by a waterfall, or so someone told me once. It felt real good in this location today. And the air smelled fresh, as if it had had a good scrubbing.

More snow is in the forecast.

Why can't winter in Texas be warm like it is up in Washington? Everything is being backwards. The Northwest is being warm, Vancouver has a snow shortage, while here in the South, we are cold with a snow surplus. I don't know how much more climate change I can take before it starts to make me cranky.

I Am A Fat Tub Of Texas Lard So I Went Swimming In The Snow This Morning

There is still a lot of snow whiting up the place, Saturday morning, in Texas. I decided, last night, that nothing was going to stop me from my regular early morning routine, Saturday morning, and nothing did.

I learned this morning that walking barefoot on snow is not an unpleasant sensation.

It is currently 33. It was 32 when I went swimming. It is foggy out there. How can there be fog when the air is freezing? Shouldn't those fog droplets freeze and fall to the ground?

I was appalled this morning to have the scale tell me I've reached a new high with this mysterious weight gain problem I've been having. My new high is 206. When I was last in Washington, summer of 2008, I recollect aggravating some of my aggravating female relatives by remarking I weighed less than any adult Jones' girl. At that point I weighed about 175.

I probably still weigh less than any adult Jones' girl, at 206, now that I'm thinking about it.

I figure at my height and activity level I need about 3,000 calories a day. To gain a pound one must consume 2,000 calories above ones caloric needs. I can't figure out how I am adding sufficient calories to account for the weight gain. It's very perplexing.

I have eye witnessed an extremely obese person's feeding habits with it no mystery why the person was so huge. I have none of those bad habits. I don't like candy. I don't do desserts. I don't slather butter on various edibles. I don't gobble down a half gallon of ice cream. I don't particularly care for ice cream. I rarely eat fried food. I don't even eat dinner. My only big feeding of the day is lunch and that is not all that big.

Anyway, I'm very perplexed about turning into a big tub of lard without being able to find the lard, no gut, no fat butt, no man boobs, no double chin. Where is the weight? Maybe I've grown taller. I should find a tape measure and see if that's the answer.

On a totally unrelated note, the Temporary Scrabble Queen of Hawaii seems to have gone missing. I've not gotten a daily update torturing me with tales of being too HOT and snorkeling and having fish tacos, for several days.

The Snow Is Melting & Me & My Fellow Texans Are Out Driving Around Breaking Rules & Being Scofflaws

You are looking east on Randol Mill Road in east Fort Worth, Friday afternoon around 3. As you can see we have had some snow melting.

I'd been outside enjoying the Winter Wonderland in walk mode, but, when I realized the roads were easily doable, I quickly went and did them in fully mechanized mode.

When I got the wheels turning, first, I needed to go to the Post Office. There I found a mysterious, thick envelope from the Queen of Wink. I've not opened it yet. I'm saving it for a special moment. I also found something else that once more sent me to the Chase Bank on Beach Street.

I did not even consider the possibility of having me one of my regular walkabouts on the way to the bank, which would be my regular pattern.

I left the bank and saw that the Trinity River is flooding over Trinity Falls at the infamous location of the Express Energy Services Trinity River Water Withdrawals. It looked so different, all white, with the rutted up, muddied levee, looking all pristine and clean.

I then went to Town Talk. Fewest cars I've ever seen there. Got some good stuff, cheese, hummus and apple cider. Really good apple cider.

It was when I left Town Talk I encountered the Road Closed sign on Randol Mill Road.

I think being all cooped up due to being snowbound had the scofflaw side of my makeup all revved up. I wanted to see what was closing Randol Mill Road. Something dire, I assumed. Maybe the old bridge, that crosses the Trinity River, had finally given up. It's had trucks banned on it for years, which I've also seen ignored, having had encounters, mid-bridge with both big UPS and Fed-Ex trucks.

I suspected if the bridge was the reason for the closure, the Road Closed sign would have been more dire sounding, as in, "Danger Ahead Bridge Out."

I was not long past the Road Closed sign when I encountered an incoming car. I thought maybe they were coming out of the north entrance to Gateway Park.

And then more incoming cars. I got to the infamous Randol Mill Trinity Bridge and encountered the oncoming car you see in the picture.

Prior to this incoming car I saw what I think had the road closed. Some snow damaged tree material was leaning over the road. I hit some when I could not swerve around it, due to one of those incoming cars I mentioned.

I met so many incoming vehicles I assumed only the eastbound lane of Randol Mill was closed. I was wrong. The westbound lanes were more seriously blocked than the eastbound, as you can see in the picture.

Why were so many Texans scofflawing today? Usually we are such a docile people, living in fear of an encounter with the taser wielding Fort Worth Gestapo Stormtroopers and never, ever breaking any rules.

Taking A Snow Covered Tour Of My Zone Of Texas, Fort Worth, The Arctic Of The South

You are looking at the Friday morning view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony at what 12 inches of snow, give or take an inch, looks like in Fort Worth, Texas.

Miss Puerto Rico called me about 8:30 asking if I could lend some pushing assistance to a stuck vehicle. I'd not helped unstick a vehicle in decades, so that sounded fun.

I made it to the stuck vehicle in about 5 minutes, but it was already unstuck. But I opined that its current location left it vulnerable to other sliders. Moving it to the other side of the parking lot got it stuck again. So, I got in my desired vehicle unstuck help.

That is the unstuck vehicle, the green one, currently stuck in front of the office of the Havenwood Apartments. As you can see there is a lot of snow hanging over the stuck green car.

That is Miss Puerto Rico's Jeep covered with snow. She actually drove it to this location, from her abode, in this snow covered condition. That is Miss PR behind the open door, on the phone, consulting with her boss.

As I wandered around, taking pictures, the snow was falling out of the trees, at times in big bursts. After getting hit by a really big avalanche of snow, I decided it was not a really good idea to be under a snow covered tree. Another good reason not to be under one of the snow covered trees is below.

A limb snapped under the snow weight, toppling over a sidewalk. I suspect before today is done there will be a lot more tree limb snappings happening.

I was going to BBQ and have a picnic today, but the table and BBQing device I use for that activity appears to be not very usable today.

There are mechanized transportation devices out on the roads. I don't think I will be joining them, unless we get a quick melt.

As you can see, this morning I have a lot more cold white vehicle coverage than I showed you yesterday. Even if I cleared off all the snow and ice I don't know if I could make it over the snow hump.

All the snow that fell since I showed you the Snowball Head, yesterday, has dulled its delicate features, like its orange eyes and big toothy grin. I don't think my van is likely being very happy with its thick coat of ice and snow.

I don't think this tree or bush or shrub or whatever it is, that I see from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony, is likely too happy with its covering of ice and snow. It's being very droopy.

This tree seems to have given up in icy cold exasperation and is sticking its snow covered fingers in the air. Now lets go visit this morning's swimming pool with all its extra snow.

Icicles appear to be hanging from yesterday's icicle free fountain. The pool is the color of blue you see when you're on a snow covered mountain and look into a crack in the snow.

The thing sticking up from the center of the snow-covered table is an umbrella in its down position.

If I had known it was doable, and not an iced over, impossible to walk on mess, I would have taken an icy dip this morning. Doesn't it looking inviting? One more pool picture and I'm done with today's look of the Arctic of the South.

The Sheet Of Ice and Snow Has Brought Dead Calm To My Zone Of Fort Worth Texas

The sun has now lit up Friday's extremely white world of North Texas and Fort Worth. The snow total now being reported is 12.4 inches at D/FW Airport by 4am Friday morning. 11.2 inches had fallen by midnight Thursday at the official measuring station.

11.2 inches broke the previous 24 hour snowfall total. The previous record had been 7.8 inches in both 1917 and 1964. This is now the whitest winter in North Texas in 32 years.

It is dead quiet outside. Usually at 7 in the morning, if I step outside, I hear the traffic zooming by on the 820 freeway and traffic on my neighboring surface streets.

But, it is dead calm out there this Friday morning in Fort Worth.

It is still freezing out there. I suspect I will not be able to escape here today by mechanized transport. I may use the bi-ped method to go over to Miss Puerto Rico's to look at the view from her more elevated vantage point. That might be a way too slippery adventure with way too high a painful fall possibility.

The cross country skis should work on today's frozen condition. Maybe I'll use that as my means of locomotion.

Friday Morning With North Texas & Dallas/Fort Worth Under Record Breaking Snowfall, School Canceled, Power Outages

It is over an hour til the sun shows up. The picture I took a few minutes ago, from my patio window, does not do justice to the pile of snow out there.

Thursday's snowstorm continued well after the sun set. By midnight the official National Weather Service location for D/FW, that being Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, had recorded a new one day record of 11.2 inches. And the white stuff was still falling. By 4am the 24 hour total was 12.4 inches.

The snow piled heavy on tree limbs, which by 8pm had wreaked havoc with power lines to the tune of over 70,000 people powerless in the D/FW Metroplex.

Most Dallas/Fort Worth area schools have canceled Friday classes. If you were were supposed to show up in Tarrant County court today due to jury duty, don't bother til Tuesday.

Road conditions are expected to be terrible this morning, possibly impossibly impassible. Currently at a bit past 6am it is 31. The predicted high for today is only 35, which would seem to indicate we will not be seeing any fast melting.

Meanwhile, while we here in the south, in North Texas, are under a thick cold blanket of snow, up north, in Vancouver, desperate measures are in play to get a snow covering on some of the Olympic venues slated to need snow real soon.

Anne Mitchell Acquitted By West Texas Jury After Less Than An Hour Deliberation

Well. What a day. Justice has prevailed in West Texas.

Well, a bit of justice has prevailed, in that Nurse Anne Mitchell has been acquitted by a West Texas jury in a bizarre case where the nurse had been arrested, accused and indicted for committing the imaginary crime of reporting a malpracticing doctor to the appropriate authorities.

Out of the Kermit Nurse Scandal many Kermit dirty deeds have been slithering to the surface, like rattlesnakes in the spring. The Kermit Nurse Scandal may be setting in motion the cleaning up of what, apparently, has long been a really creepy town.

The ridiculous trial part of Nurse Anne Mitchell's Kermit ordeal is over. But that does not mean she is whole. As in restored to her pre, damaged by Dr. Arafiles and Kermit, state.

Anne Mitchell and her fellow victim, Nurse Vickilyn Galle, have civil lawsuits pending in federal court against Winkler county, the Kermit hospital, Dr. Arafiles and various officials, including, I would hope, the obviously corrupt sheriff who worked in cahoots with the malpracticing doctor to have the good nurses arrested. Nurses Mitchell and Galle charge that their firing and indictment violated their 1st Amendment rights and their right to due process.

I love the way America works. When it works the way it is intended to.

Congrats to Nurse Anne Mitchell and those who fought to do the right thing. And the jury.

And now it is time to fire and possibly indict a Kermit sheriff, named Robert L. Roberts. He needs to face jail time via an indictment and a conviction.

I love poetic justice. Oh, I forgot to mention, there is a doctor in Kermit who needs to have his license to practice medicine taken away. Last name Arafiles. He should be easy to locate.