I Support Confederate History Month But Don't Support Texas Textbook Revisionism

I remember when I first realized I was in the Confederacy. It was on a trip to Fort Worth, May of 1998, to see if it was feasible to make the drastic move to Texas.

We were out in Weatherford, walking around the Parker County Courthouse, my first look at what was to become many looks at various impressive Texas County Courthouses, with the one in Waxahachie being the best that I've seen.

On the grounds surrounding the Parker County Courthouse there is a Civil War Memorial. I don't remember if this said Confederate States of America on it, but I was looking at this memorial when I realized for the first time I was in Rebel Territory.

At Pioneer Plaza, in Dallas, between the cemetery and the Convention Center, sits the biggest monument to the Confederacy that I've seen. The monument has statues of several stars of the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and one other I'm forgetting. I am almost 100% certain it was not John Wilkes Booth.

A few weeks ago the guy who replaced Gar the Texan as the smartest Guy in Texas, Jovan Gonzalez, blogged about his dismay at Texas re-writing history in new textbooks. And the appalling reality that, apparently, Texas textbooks are used by other states.

On March 24, I did not read it, but the Fort Worth Star-Telegram printed a letter from Paul R. Schattman in which Mr. Schattman complained about the Texas textbook revisionism. Apparently Jefferson Davis gets a re-do. Davis was the President of the Confederacy.

I believe Jefferson Davis was arrested at the end of the Civil War. If I remember right he was caught while trying to escape to the West. I don't remember if he did any jail time.

So, Mr. Schattman's letter (and opinion) generated some amusing follow up letters. In one of them the letter writer asserts that at one point Robert E. Lee was considered the best military tactician of all time. The writer did not say who made this consideration.

Anyway, for your reading enjoyment and enlightenment, Letters from the Confederacy...

Rewriting History

If there was any question as to the wisdom of the State Board of Education dedicating space in its new textbooks for Jefferson Davis, then Paul R. Schattman's "Honoring traitors, not heroes" letter of March 24 provides a conclusive answer.

Anyone who name-calls Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee as "traitor" and "secessionist trash," comparing these men and all others who fought and sacrificed for the cause of Southern independence as the equivalent of those who represent "al Qaeda and the Taliban," is in serious need of a proper education.

I am hopeful that Schattman will at some point return to school and avail himself of the new text.

-- Scott Bowden, Arlington

The ignorance of Paul R. Schattman amazes me. People such as he concern me much more than al Qaeda or the Taliban.

-- Greg Pitts, Carrollton

The State Board of Education is charged with reporting history, not rewriting it. Schattman calls people "traitors, incompetent leaders, vainglorious fools"? If he knew his Civil War history, he would know that Gen. Robert E. Lee was offered command of the Union Army but rejected it to represent the Army of Virginia. Also, before we decided to not win wars but accept political settlements, Lee was considered the best military tactician of all time.

Some malcontents would rewrite history, not teach it. I would like my grandchildren to learn historical facts.

-- Philip E. Orr Jr., North Richland Hills

Sunday In Texas Trying To Reverse My Failing Health

I decided yesterday that the reason my health is failing is because I don't get enough exercise. And I eat too much.

So, I'm amping up #1 and cutting back #2. Hopefully I'll be able to get my high blood pressure back under the you're about to have a stroke level.

This morning I took the temperature of the water in the pool for the first time in awhile. The last time I checked the temperature it was under 50. This morning it was 64.

So, with the water temperature being about the temperature of a Washington lake, in Summer, I convinced myself it was Summer in Washington and I was swimming in Samish Lake. I was able to maintain the delusion for about 15 minutes.

After swimming and wasting too many hours fixing webpages, I drove to the Tandy Hills and increased my speed and doubled my number of hill climbs. I had a bit of an adrenalin pump when I heard something coming up behind me and turned around to see a little white ankle biter in silent stealth mode running at full speed towards me.

Lucky for me I had picked up a whacking stick. I brandished the whacking stick at the ankle biter and after a few barks the likely rabid beast tucked tail and run.

Very few Wildflowers have yet to color up the Tandy Hills. This is very unusual, or so it seems to me. Sure does not match my previous Springs in Texas.

I did see something unusual and colorful on the Tandy Hills today. A large cluster of balloons had been snagged by a Tandy tree. That is what you are looking at in the picture at the top.

10 Years Since Killer Tornado Hits Fort Worth & Seattle's Kingdome Implodes

It's is being a bit difficult for me to believe it has been 10 years ago this very day of March 28, that I had my first up close experience with a tornado.

I did not actually see the tornado. I did see the huge greenish gray storm wall that contained the tornado.

If I remember right there were several tornadoes touching down during that storm, with the worst being one that start ripping its way across the west side of the Trinity River on its way to doing a lot of damage to downtown Fort Worth.

It took awhile for some of the damage to be repaired, the most notorious being the Bank One skyscraper. It is now a nice looking residential tower, but for a lot of years it was a covered with plywood eyesore.

The tornado damage sort of turned into an urban renewal project. The replacement for the destroyed Cash America building is a much better looking structure. Where a church once stood a Pier One Imports Headquarters was built. A very nice looking piece of architecture that Pier One could not afford, so it now is the base from which Chesapeake Energy runs Fort Worth.

The Montgomery Wards building took quite a hit. The store closed and the building was renovated with that area of Fort Worth, now, possibly, the most thriving property in town.

The day after the tornado struck downtown Fort Worth, the downtown was closed. But, I was able to ride my bike into the damaged area. I'd really never seen anything like this before. I took pictures and webpaged what I saw.

About 5 years later I was to see something that instantly brought the Fort Worth tornado damage to mind, that being the bizarre sight of all those homes and apartments destroyed in Arlington by the Jerry Jones Eminent Domain Abuse Tornado.

I did not realize til reading it this morning that the Implosion of the Kingdome also occurred 10 years ago, March 26, 2000. I got to watch that implosion, but I don't remember how, it must have been live on CNN. I remember being on the phone with my sisters who were watching it live from my little sister's office in a downtown Seattle skyscraper. Elliot Bay was filled with people on boats.

Ten years goes by awfully fast. Then again, a lot has happened in those 10 years. On March 28, 2000 we were a year and a half until 9/11/2001.

Watching the YouTube video, when the Kingdome implodes, it brought 9/11 to mind. The Seattle destruction probably made more of a mess than the Jerry Jones Arlington destruction. Key difference being in Seattle only the Seahawks lost their home, in Arlington, thousands lost their home.

Breaking Out Of My Texas Rut With Arlington Veterans Park Easter Egg Hunting & Disk Golfing

I didn't find any money today at Veterans Park. The last time I was there I found 17 pennies. That was the best thing that happened to me that week.

When I drove into the Veterans Park parking lot it was quickly obvious something was happening. Soon I saw a giant Easter Bunny. An Easter Egg Hunt had just taken place.

This caused me to wonder if Easter was tomorrow. I'm oblivious to such things. I subsequently found out that Easter is not tomorrow.

When I reached the spot where I had my 17 penny windfall I found no money. But I did find a Golf Disk. Veterans Park has a Disk Golf Course. There were no Disk Golfers to be seen.

So, I now have a Disk Golf Disk in my possession. I've seen a lot of people over the years throwing Golf Disks. It looks easy. Like throwing a Frisbee. However, I was not able to cause the Golf Disk to fly very far. Two tries later I was tired of Disk Golfing.

Earlier today I mentioned that someone had told me I was in a tiresome rut and needed to do something different to break out of my tiresome rut.

I feel that finding and throwing a Golf Disk qualifies as doing something different. But I still feel stuck in a tiresome rut.

I did have one other exciting thing happen today. I was cooking some burger material in a frying pan. And roasting oven-baked fries in the oven. A sort of pleasant smoky smell was wafting about. I thought it was coming from inside the oven, looked there, saw nothing unusual.

After the burgers were done I lifted the frying pan off the thing that gets hot, the name of which I'm not remembering right now, and found a large chunk of burned paper towel. I guess I'm lucky it did not go to flame. How it got so black and did not catch fire, I don't know. And why did I see no smoke? I was sort of distracted, due to worrying about that tiresome rut thing, maybe there was smoke. But the smoke alarms did not go off.

Maybe I should check the smoke alarm batteries.

Leaving My Texas Rut To Fly Over Camano Island In Washington

No, in the picture you are not looking at the Pacific Ocean from a Hawaiian Island. You are looking at Puget Sound from a Washington Island named Camano.

This morning someone with whom, in the distant past, I frequently drove, told me I was in a rut and needed to take a Roadtrip.

That sounds like a reasonable prescription to me.

But, I don't see that happening today, so instead I flew up to Washington via Google Earth to fly over Perry Mason's sister, Lori's, house on Camano Island.

From Perry Mason's sister's house you can see the Olympic Mountains and Mount Baker. Mount Baker is a volcano. One of 5 in the Washington Cascades. Mount Baker last erupted some time in the 1800s. Here in Texas we don't have to worry about mountains blowing up, we just have to worry about manmade things blowing up, like natural gas pipelines.

I could see Mount Baker from my house in Mount Vernon. I miss seeing mountains.

I miss a lot of things.

A short distance from PMS's house is Ustalady Point Park. We are looking west from Ustalady Point in the picture.

This morning, back in Texas, my therapist, Dr. L.C., seems to be enjoying being a Drama Queen, arguing with Elsie Hotpepper. Why can't people try harder to just get along?

Meanwhile back to Washington, I'm worried about Tootsie Tonasket and people not getting along in her world, which seems to be driving Tootsie to drink. That's not good.

So, it's another Saturday in my Texas rut. It's a warmer Saturday than the last one, which saw snow falling.

Sticking The Wild Woman Of Woolley In My Mustang's Trunk

Earlier today I mentioned the Wild Woolley Woman, Miss CVB, and her resemblance to her beautiful daughter.

So, I told Miss CVB that I'd recently come across some ancient photos of her teenage years. Today I had to scan a bunch of documents, so I figured, since I was doing some scanning, the first thing I'd scan was some evidentiary photos of Miss CVB, back when she was still Miss CV.

That is my first car in which Miss CV is trunk sitting. It was a 1965 Mustang Fastback. If it were still alive today it would be worth a small fortune.

I bought my Mustang in October of my Senior High School year. A lot of fun was had in that car.

I've been feeling a bit homesick for Washington lately, the scenery, the clean air, the good weather, the people. Washington is like living in a theme park. In Texas there is a nearby theme park that I can go to, Six Flags Over Texas, that I don't like. In Washington I could go a few miles east and be in the mountains, a few miles west and be on a saltwater beach.

In Washington I had so many favorite places to go hiking within a 25 miles radius. The Tandy Hills is nice, compared to other choices in my current Texas locale, but the Tandy Hills would not be hike worthy if they were nearby where I lived in Washington. I doubt they'd even have any trails. Why would they?

So, why is Miss CV in the trunk of my car? Well, we were wild kids. Miss CV was practicing for going to see a drive-in movie. She'd hide in the trunk and then once I was safely parked she'd climb through the panel door that opened from the trunk. We ended this practice after being caught at the drive-in in Bellingham. It was a little embarrassing.

I can't remember for sure if the car next to mine is Miss CV's or Miss Beth's, aka Miss Oahu's? If I remember right Miss CV had a Mustang and Miss Beth had a Cougar. I suck at identifying cars. If forced to guess I'd guess it is Miss CV's Mustang, mostly because I can tell the cars are sitting on her driveway.

The passage of a lot of time has dulled a lot of what I'm able to remember. The aforementioned Miss Beth wrote something in my annual about never forgetting a moonlit night at Bay View. I had no memory of what she was talking about. But, Miss CV claims this references an incident where it was real warm, with myself, Misses Beth and CV at Bay View, late, feeling like going swimming, but with no swimsuits, going swimming in our underwear. It bothers me because one would think I would remember this.

In the black and white picture I think me and Miss CV were up in the North Cascades, maybe. I remember having a picnic and pulling out the easy to remove back seat to use to sit on.

Okay, enough time spent on Nostalgia Road.

My Foul Mood And A Wildflower Blooming In Texas On The Tandy Hills

I am having one of my rare why do I bother days. Someone recently told me that Peckish and Durango were synonymous. I had to look up Peckish to see that Someone was right.

Today my therapist, Dr. L.C., is in one of her men are way too difficult moods, something to do with cats being easier to herd. I am not sure if I am among the difficult to herd, or not.

My dear Mom mailed me a lot of vacation house rental info, sent March 15, that I did not get til today, because today is the first day I've gone to the Post Office in awhile. The house rental info is for Perry Mason's little sister, Lori, who is up in Washington. I love convolutions. So, now I guess I'm mailing my mom's house rental info to Washington.

Speaking of my dear Mom, today I heard from my Mom's youngest, my little sister, the shyster, I mean, lawyer. Little sister is having a major back woe, something called Piriformis Syndrome, which causes the Sciatic Nerve to be pinched, with a lot of pain being the result.

Made me feel bad reading my little sister's description. I'd emailed her to remind her of a Running Challenge, that is 17 years old, and which is triggered on her next birthday, which is April 13. This Running Challenge takes place at Washington Park in Anacortes in Washington. Late summer is the earliest my little sister thinks she might be up for the Running Challenge.

Meanwhile, I am currently Sore in Texas due to the Twister Push-Up Challenge. I believe I overdid it, because I'm sore from the waist north. This may be due to that slippery mud sliding incident on Wednesday on the treacherous Tandy Hills, but I doubt it.

Speaking of which, due to my foul mood of feeling foul, I went to the Tandy Hills today, hoping they'd be dried out and I could strain my bad mood into oblivion. Well, the Tandy Hills were still muddy, but I was able to get off the trails and cross country it for the needed mood elevation.

It is hell being addicted to endorphins.

A couple signs of Wildflowers finally starting to show up, including that pink wild flower you see at the top. The Texas Wildflowers are being really late this year. Something to do with the long cold Winter?

One of the most ubiquitous Texas Wildflowers is the State Wildflower of Texas, the Bluebonnet. I saw Bluebonnets on Wednesday, and again today, but not on the Tandy Hills, but in the yards of homes by the Tandy Hills. How does that happen?

Wild Woman of Woolley Nightmares While Sleeping In Texas

I had a nightmare last night that had the Wild Woman of Woolley, Miss CVB, in it. (I had not noticed before, til just typing it, that CVB are in that exact order on the low row of the QWERTY keyboard)

A couple days ago Miss CVB sent me a picture of her daughter. That is her in pink. It seems recent in my memory, but it was long ago, that I saw Miss CVB's daughter, in person. She was just a baby.

I'll spare you the rest of my memory on this subject. Suffice to say that Miss CVB's daughter puts me in mind of Miss CVB all those years ago.

So, last night, I'm having a nightmare. I was back in the Skagit Valley. At the Mount Vernon Mall. It's dark. I run into Miss CVB, well, actually, at that point in time she was Miss CV. I asked if she wanted to go have pizza. Sure, she said.

So, we go in this dark pizza joint, sit at a table, I go order pizza, then go back to the table to find Miss CV missing. I figure she had to go do something but would be right back. So, I sit. I do not wait well, but I continued waiting. Eventually I realized Miss CV was not coming back. I then woke up.

After that I could not go back to sleep. I started obsessing over the Mount Vernon Mall. There were two malls in Mount Vernon, one on each side of College Way, on the east side of I-5. These malls were built in the 1970s. Then torn down in the 1990s and replaced with more modern strip malls. I think.

And that's what kept me awake. Trying to remember what replaced the 2 malls. I could remember Albertsons and Ernst on the south side and a huge Safeway on the north side. And, awhile after that, a Wal-Mart. But then I go blank.

I do recollect being back in Mount Vernon, after I moved to Texas, for a funeral, staying at the Day's Inn in Mount Vernon and roller blading from the Day's Inn all over the Wal-Mart and Safeway parking lots. But, I can't remember what was there besides those 2 stores and a Jamba Juice joint.

I wonder if I am exhibiting early Alzheimer's and what the Freudian implications are of last night's Miss CV nightmare? If any.

Falling In Texas With Other Pains At Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake

I think I mentioned that I talked to Elsie Hotpepper this morning. Elsie was not long out of bed. I think she was only half awake and not at all recovered from the previous night's shenanigans, which somehow left Elsie's voice about 2 octaves lower than normal and her Texas drawl about 2 octaves lower, as well.

And then I heard from my therapist, Dr. L.C., grilling me about why I'm getting up so early. Dr. L.C. does not sounds as raspy as Elsie Hotpepper.

I don't know why my therapist is now concerned with when I get up in the morning. Yesterday it was concern about how late I have lunch. I tell you I live with an Orwellian level of Big Brother monitoring. It's very stifling.

To get temporary relief from feeling stifled, around noon, I went to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake. My quest to find Oakland Lake remains a quest. As you can see, in the picture, it was not being even remotely sunny when I was out walking.

I ended up only slightly sore from yesterday's fall. The slip and slide incident was not painful, unlike last week's ankle twisting fall by my mailbox. There seems to be an epidemic of falls and backaches among those I know.

My little sister is out of commission with an aching back. The Scrabble Queen of Washington is currently in back pain. Perry Mason's little sister, Lori, took a bad fall while gardening. Elsie Hotpepper falls regularly during her nightly shenanigans. Tootsie Tonasket took a tumble, on Sunday, whilst trying to chase a deer from her garden.

I'm sure I am forgetting some aches and pains. But, you know who you are.

Buying An ALDI Bag While Finding Pool Treasure & Recovering From Yesterday's Texas Storm

Yesterday when I was in Hurst I went to another of the newly opened ALDI Food Markets. I did not have my ALDI bag. I didn't get much and only needed one bag. On my first ALDI visit the ALDI checkout person told me you get one ALDI bag free, extras cost a dime each.

So, imagine my shock when I looked at my ALDI receipt, later, to find I'd been charged a dime for an ALDI bag, plus a penny tax, for a grand total for the ALDI bag of 11 cents.

Now, to most people 11 cents is no big deal, but to me 11 cents is a significant percentage of my daily income.

And then something happened this morning that is like some fortuitous sign from above that my lifelong bad luck is about to change.

Just as I was about to step into the pool, as I looked down to take my first wet step, what do I see? A dime and a penny. Here I'd been fretting about being charged 11 cents for that ALDI bag, to find myself, this morning, mysteriously reimbursed for my loss.

It is the dawn of a new lease on the future or something like that.

Meanwhile, Elsie Hotpepper left me an urgent text message last night, insisting I call her at once. I did as ordered, but it was after I found my 11 cent windfall, that I saw the text message. I called Elsie. I can't tell you what Elsie needed to talk to me about. Suffice to say it had something to do with the fight against corruption in the Eminent Domain Abuse Capital of the World, Tarrant County, Texas.

And then I had another surprise this morning. Last night the Queen of Wink blogged about her recent trip to San Antonio and made mention of the fact that she and I had discussed one aspect of that trip, that being going to see a doctor about getting Pamela Andersonized. I naively thought this was a private matter.

But then again, of late, I've had to bear witness to an ongoing discussion regarding my personal pectorals, including reading a comment, this morning, from the just mentioned Queen of Wink, where she verbalizes her opinion and personal experience with the issue in question.

Anyway, here's hoping I find some more treasure laying on the ground today. But I won't be treasure hunting on the Tandy Hills. We had a bit of a storm here yesterday that dropped some water. It did not downpour for too long. I had only one close lightning strike. I experienced none of the predicted strong wind gusts.