Waiting For Texas Wildflowers While Taking A Virtual Trip To The Skagit Valley Tulips

The wildflowers have been slow to bloom this Spring in Texas. While the wildflowers are blooming, Texas is at its most colorful. And then the wildflowers fade away and basic drab returns.

It is harder to cultivate flowers in this climate than my former Western Washington climate. Which, I suppose is why you don't see big flower displays and giant hanging baskets hanging from posts along downtown streets like you do in Washington.

Right now, in my old home zone, the Skagit Valley, the 27th Annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is underway. It runs from April 1 -30. Around a million tourists will descend upon the Valley during the festival. This past weekend the throngs caused bad traffic jams, backing up on to Interstate 5, in Mount Vernon.

Helicopters monitor the Tulip Traffic flow. You can take bus alternatives to get out to the fields. The Tulip Festival does a pretty good job of keeping the traffic flowing, but at times the system gets overwhelmed.

The Skagit Valley is one of the most fertile, productive agricultural areas in the world. All sorts of fruits and vegetables grow there. In recent times tea fields have arrived. I believe this is the only location in America that grows tea.

The Tulip Fields were brought to mind because last weekend Perry Mason's little sister, Lori, drove her dad up to the Valley to take in all the color. This caused Miss Tess, former Valley Girl, currently in Northern California, to ask Lori if she'd taken any pictures. Like me, it'd been a few years since Miss Tess had seen the Tulips.

Ironically, I was in the Skagit Valley, April of 2008, but we did not drive out into the part of the flats were the Tulips bloom. Did not even cross my mind. However, I did go to the cool new Farmer's Market, that is part of Miss Tess's family's agricultural operation. That is where I learned tea is now grown in the Valley, with the Sakuma Brothers venturing over to Japan to see how to go about cultivating tea leaves.

After reading Tess lamenting Lori's lack of photo documentation, I took a virtual trip to the Skagit Valley and took some pictures. I then put them on my Washington Blog. If you have Google Earth, on your computer, you can take yourself on a virtual trip to the Skagit Valley and click on a lot of Tulip pictures.

While you do that I'm having myself another cup of Sakuma Brothers Skagit Valley Tea.

I'm homesick.

Fort Worth's #1 Boondoggle & Haltom City's #1 Bully

Monday morning of this week in Texas is starting off nice, pleasant temperatures, blue sky, no fist fights with my bedroom wall in the middle of the night.

Really, can't get much better than that.

And the Fort Worth Star-Telegram had 2 good letters in its Letters to the Editor section this morning. I makes for an additional oomph to the start of a good week when Monday has 2 good letters to read.

In the first, Clyde Picht, well known Fort Worth activist with an active conscience and common sense about everyone's favorite Fort Worth Boondoggle. In the second letter, Ray Ecklund takes Chesapeake Energy to task for its overbearing behavior in Haltom City. Haltom City, also known as The Flood Capital of Texas.

First Clyde, followed by Ray.........

Hometown boondoggle

LOL (laugh out loud) as those who text would text. Mitchell Schnurman ( Star-Telegram, March 20) took a swipe at Keller for its financial unraveling due to an expensive public-private economic development and a TIF (tax increment financing) district that is falling short.

A few choice quotes from Schnurman's column: The "taxpayers never expected to be on the hook for anything," "... more public-private partnerships fail to live up to their billing ...," "brick-lined streets, bike and walking trails, a small lake and a sprinkling of public art" and "... TIFs across Texas that have not performed as they expected to."

Hello Mitch! Walk up the street a few blocks and view the landscape that some would like to turn into Trinity Uptown. Everything wrong in Keller will be wrong in spades with Trinity Uptown. Some of those deficiencies are already apparent. Like how a $320 million project now will cost almost $1 billion.

Having seen Congress in action lately, we aren't likely to get enough money for a brick sidewalk unless it's renamed Trinity ACORN.

So come home, Mitchell, and let Keller stew in its own juice. Write about our homegrown boondoggle that has gone from bad to worse and is going to get a lot worse yet.

-- Clyde Picht, Fort Worth

Shame on Chesapeake

Tuesday, we were given a political rally by a multibillion-dollar corporation trying to run over our hometown. Chesapeake spared no expense. They would have us believe that Haltom City's elected leaders were slowing their company's grand scheme to make us all rich. We should storm City Hall on Chesapeake's behalf.

"If they don't vote right, vote them out," Chesapeake Vice President Julie Wilson said. Chesapeake should be able to do as they please.

They presented themselves as benevolent big brothers just trying to help individuals. What an insult. They acted like we were poor, uneducated and uncaring about our city. They expect Haltom City residents will take a few small potential dollars to overthrow our government. They want us to think that our elected leaders -- our neighbors whom we chose to lead us -- suddenly do not have our best interest at heart.

I don't like bullies. This is my hometown. Don't forget it!

-- Ray Ecklund, Haltom City

A New Blue Flower Blooms & A Crowd Looms On The Sunday Tandy Hills

A new blue flower was coloring up the cloudy, gray Tandy Hills today. Last time I was on the hills it was the very blue Bluebonnets that made their first Tandy appearance of the year.

Is this new blue boy a Periwinkle? I did not have any botanist wannabe with me today to identify the flora.

I really was in dire need this Sunday of the salubrious effect of being at Fort Worth's best place to stand, that being the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area.

Last night I got in a fight. Sort of.

In a variation of one of my sleepwalking episodes, I got into an altercation, possibly inspired by yesterday's gang fighting that I watched at Veterans Park. In the middle of the night I was in the middle of one of my ongoing nightmares, when I took a punch at my adversary.

And then woke up to discover my adversary had been the wall by my bed. So, once more I am recovering from bloody knuckles.

Tootsie Tonasket went hiking with me today on the Tandy Hills. When I told her about last night's Wall Altercation, Tootsie advised me that I should not go to be without wearing protection. Like boxing gloves. I suppose that is good advice.

Another odd thing, spotted on the Tandy Hills today, occurred when I came back into view of View Street and saw a lot of cars parked there. Usually there are not a lot of cars parked.

Barely off View Street, about 20 feet from the cable fence at the park's edge, this group was pondering something, as if on some sort of nature walk. I thought to myself, go deeper into the park, you silly people, there are wildflowers in there. But, I politely kept my thoughts to myself and drove away.

Typing is being painful due to my banged up right hand. I wonder why I punched the wall with my right hand? Because I am left handed.

Hiking Arlington's Sherwood Forest With Wildflowers, Dangerous Ravines & Sword Fights

You are looking at the Sherwood Forest of Veterans Park in Arlington. I used to hike the back trail in Veterans Park, frequently, but have not done so in a long, long time. Until today.

A short distance from the location in the picture there used to be a thick log bridge that the trail used to cross over a ravine. A treacherous crossing for the acrophobic. It appeared a flash flood had flushed the thick log bridge downstream about 50 feet.

The thick log bridge has been replaced by a very narrow log. My balancing skills are not sufficiently evolved that I felt like risking crossing the ravine on that skinny log.

Eventually I found another path to the other side. An adventurous crossing that required some minor gymnastic ability, along with being willing to take a leap of faith and grab a branch on the other side.

It all worked out. The backwoods of Veterans Park is a fairly convoluted maze of trails. I've long wondered how these came to be. Some are like trenches. At one point in time the Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association (DORBA-mountain bike trails) tried to build trails, but that effort did not last long.

I have been troubled for weeks due to the absence of my favorite Texas Wildflower, it being possibly the most prolific of the wildflowers. Previous years it had long made its appearance by this point in time.

It is a hardy little devil. Usually showing up early and lasting well into May. In fact, it was the first Texas Wildflower I ever saw, coming towards Dallas/Fort Worth, via Highway 287, though Amarillo, these pink flowers were soon lining the sides of the highway.

Eventually I had to stop for a close up look. This would have been early May of 1998, an exploratory trip to see if the move to Texas was something I might consider. If adequately bribed.

Yesterday on the way to the Tandy Hills I saw my first cluster of the formerly missing wildflower. Today, at Veterans Park I saw more, and took the picture you see here. Last year I learned the name, but my age-related memory shortcoming is preventing me from remembering, except I do think I correctly remember that Primrose is part of the name.

The other interesting thing I saw today was once more there seemed to be some organized gang fighting going on. It appears that a group of nerds get together, some in costumes, to have sword-like battles, only the swords are like padded baseball bats. It is quite a strange spectacle.

It appears the bigger guy on the right is being a bit of a bully to the littler guy on the left. But, the little guy on the left seemed to be enjoying himself, so I felt no real need to intervene to stop a bully.

I'm big on being a Bully Stopper these days.

So, that's part of my exciting Saturday in Texas. Two bouts in the pool, bailing on going to the Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival, Catfish viewing at Cho Saigon Market, treacherous ravine crossings, padded sword fights, wildflower viewing and a stop at ALDI Food Market.

Catfish Hunting At Cho Saigon Market In Arlington's International District

Yes, those are Catfish in the picture. No, that is not a picture of Catfish that I took while on a Catfishing expedition.

I don't know if Catfish is the State Fish of Texas. But I suspect it may be.

The Catfish in the picture are in the live fish tanks at Cho Saigon Market in Arlington's Chinatown. Well, probably more accurately, it should be called Arlington's Vietnamtown.

Or maybe just call it what Seattle renamed its Chinatown to, long ago, and say Cho Saigon Market is in Arlington's International District. That makes sense. Just across the street is another market, with that one specializing in Middle Eastern products.

There is a lot of live seafood available at the Cho Saigon Market. Including Dungeness Crab. $9.99 a pound for Dungeness Crab. I used to get Dungeness Crab for free by driving a few miles west and sticking a crabpot into Puget Sound. Paying $9.99 a pound for such a thing just seems wrong to me, like when I see blackberries for $1.99 for a teeny container.

A suspected Self-Anointed Catfish Expert (SACE) told me that the Cho Saigon Catfish were Mud Cats. As opposed to Channel Cats. Something to do with the long whiskers indicating they had been bottom feeders. This came up when I speculated that these Cho Saigon Catfish might not have that disgusting mud taste that permeates a lot of Catfish.

I chose not to buy a Cho Saigon Catfish, even though Cho Saigon makes it very convenient. They'll give you the fish in at any of 6 stages you prefer. I think Step 1 is hand it to you live, then the Steps go through various stages of butchering the fish, with Step 6 being they'll fry what they've butchered for you.

Held Up By Zebras & Rams At Fossil Rim Wildlife Center By Glen Rose Texas

A comment from Mister Twister brought Fossil Rim Wildlife Center to mind.

I do not remember in what year my December visit to Fossil Rim took place. I know it has been several years. I also know that Fossil Rim Wildlife Center remains the funnest thing I've done in Texas.

At the Fossil Rim Visitor's Center you have an opportunity to buy feed for the critters. It is a good idea to have food. The critters expect it. Like this herd of Zebras. The Zebras plot to halt the traffic flow and then walk along extracting treats from the stopped vehicles.

When I came upon some of the critters I quickly rolled up my window. Like when I saw an Ostrich quickly stick its head in the vehicle in front of me. I could see the people inside the vehicle jump out of the way. When the Ostrich pulled its head out, it had something in its beak. What, I do not know.

Towards the end of the trail through Fossil Rim I ran out of food to bribe the critters with for safe passage.

This became problematic as I drove down a steep hill after seeing some Cheetahs. A herd of some type of Ram was holding up traffic as the various Rams solicited treats. When I told the Ram, in the picture, I had nothing, he/she stuck its tongue out at me.

The hills in the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center are the steepest I've driven on in Texas. One steep hill leads from an area called the Overlook. There are many things to see and do at the Overlook, including the Overlook Cafe, which had a very good Overlook of the valley below, hence the name.

If you have not been to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center and you live within easy driving distance, you really should go, especially if you have kids. It is only between 60-120 miles from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, depending on where you live in the Metroplex.

After I webpaged my Fossil Rim experience, Fossil Rim sent me a Season's Pass, plus a couple guest tickets. I never got around to using them. For years now I've wanted to go back and shoot video.

If you want to visit Fossil Rim Wildlife Center you can find all the information you might want to know by going to the webpage I made of my one and only visit.

Getting Lost With Bluebonnets On Fort Worth's Tandy Hills

For reasons not of my design, I spent more time on the Tandy Hills today than any day previous.

And I saw the Tandy Hills first bluebonnets of the year. A big patch of the State Wildflower of Texas was coloring up the top of Tandy Mountain, near the Fort Worth Needle.

One of my informers had informed me that I needed to check out and possibly photograph something possibly nefarious going on on the Chesapeake Energy Thomas Pad Site at the end of Scott Avenue.

So, that was my Tandy Hills goal today. To hike from Tandy Mountain to Ben Avenue to look down on the Chesapeake operation to see what those bad boys are up to.

To get to that part of the Tandy Hills requires hiking on the west side of the main entry trail. This is the Tandy Hills zone less traveled. I can't really get lost on the Tandy Hills, you can always get your bearings. But, I can manage to get off trail and then have to blaze a new one to find my way back to civilization.

It is sort of like finding your way out of a maze.

It's not like when I've gotten lost at a place like Dinosaur Valley State Park. There, I have lost my bearings. I got lost there, so bad, Christmas Day of 2002, the sun was setting, I was panicking, almost ready to leave my bike and see if I could hike out of there, but suddenly the confusing trailmarkers quit being confusing and I realized where I'd been turning wrong and I got out right as the sun left for the night.

My little semi-lost escapade today turned what is usually about 45 minutes of hill hiking into an hour and a half.

On the wild west side I did come upon a really bright wildflower I do not recollect seeing before coloring up the Tandy Hills.

After about a half hour of going up and down and around and under various hills, valleys and areas of thick brush, I finally popped out into familiar territory, seeing my vehicular transport in the distance.

That is a zoomed view, looking east towards where my mechanized mobile device is parked. It's the white dot slightly to the right of the flag. The zoomed view takes out the hills and compresses the distance. But, without zooming the mechanized mobile device is not visible.

So, I have had myself an unintentional amp up of the exercise regimen today. It's fun getting semi-lost. And aerobic.

The Bully Police Stomping Bullies In Texas & The Rest Of America

Bullies and their evil ways have been in the national news of late.

Here in North Texas, in the town of Joshua, a 13 year old boy, Jon Carmichael, killed himself, recently, after enduring years of Bully abuse. Jon was picked on because he was short.

The Bullies did stuff like sticking Jon in a trash can.

When I was in grade school I remember a kid suffering a lot Bullying, named Tommy. I usually went home for lunch. One time, in 8th grade, I came back to school to find the other boys had thrown Tommy up on top of a closet. All the boys got swats, but me.

Back then schools were able to punish the bullies.

Last night Dr. Laura Schlessinger was on Larry King Live to discuss the Bully Problem. Dr. Laura revealed she'd been a Bully victim when she was a kid. Dr. Laura made the interesting point that some of the Bully problem has arisen due to the coarsening of the culture. She made mention of the multiple Reality TV Shows where a lot of the drama comes from people being mean to people. In other words, being Bullies.

That is so true.

In my own life, the worst Bully I've ever known was a female. Ironically one of this Bullie's Bully tactics was to accuse others of being a Bully. This Bully actually has more than once said I was a Bully. I'm about as far opposite of a Bully as one could be.

That is my worst case Bully in the picture at the top. You can sort of see how she exudes a Bully Essence. She is physically threatening due to her HUGE size. Combine that HUGE size with a flash temper and a poisoned mind, which gives the Bully permission to say any Bullying thing the Bully feels like saying, well, it's a Toxic Combo.

As an adult it is easy to marginalize a Bully, and if the Bully re-acts up you can easily re-marginalize it. But, for kids, being victimized by a Bully, it is way harder. The victim is embarrassed. Does not want to tell mom and dad. Is afraid if he/she tells, there will by more Bullying.

If you are a kid who is the victim of a Bully there is help.

Go to the Bully Police website and click on your state.

I'm going to do that today and see if they can help me with that disgusting Bully in the picture.

Living With The Trinity On The 40th Anniversary Of Earth Day

No. That is not an artist's rendition of what Fort Worth's Town Lake and Canals will look like if the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle ever gets built.

The picture is one I extracted from a very good video about the history of the Trinity River and how Fort Worth and Dallas started building their towns on what they did not realize was the Trinity River's flood plain.

After a few flood disasters, corrective measures were undertaken. In Dallas a mammoth relocation of the Trinity to a new channel away from downtown Dallas was built under the direction of a man named Stemmons, who later had a freeway named after him.

Speaking of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. There are some people in Fort Worth who think nothing can be done to put a stop to this ill-conceived project. There are also some who think something can be done.

Some think that ordinary citizens have no chance when it comes to taking on powerful political interests in Texas.

I beg to differ.

There was a time in the 1960s when Texas politicians had a different Trinity River Vision, with that vision attempting to turn the Trinity River into a Barge Canal connecting Dallas and Fort Worth with the Gulf of Mexico.

Many ordinary Texans thought this was nuts. They fought the project.

And won.

In 2010 there is no Barge Canal connecting D/FW to the Gulf of Mexico.

On Tuesday, April 20 at 8pm, KERA-TV will air Living with the Trinity, a one-hour documentary that chronicles the history of the fight to save the Trinity River. The one hour documentary airs statewide on public television stations as part of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day.

The documentary revisits the period from 1965 to 1973 when U.S. Congressman Jim Wright of Fort Worth, working with the Johnson Administration, was able to win Congressional approval of nearly $1 billion for what would become a highly controversial project. Seventeen counties in the river basin voted on a bond issue to supplement the federal funding. The bond issue failed by just 20,000 votes and the barge canal was never built.

Jim Wright was the Kay Granger of his era. Key difference between Jim's vision and Kay's is the voters voted on Jim's vision. Interesting that both Trinity River Visions have $1 billion price tags. Of course, in 2010 a billion dollars is not worth nearly what a billion dollars was worth in 1965.

A new radio series updating the Dallas and Fort Worth Trinity River projects will air April 13, 14 and 15 on KERA-FM.

Wind Has Blown The Fort Worth Air Free Of Visible Pollution For Now

Yesterday I showed you a very smoggy, polluted view of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

I also mentioned learning from a guy named Warren that we need not worry ourselves about North Texas smog or what might be causing it, due to an ingenious method devised by Mother Nature which clears the air.

By blowing it to Oklahoma.

Warren did not mention who gets that bad air when the wind is coming from the north. Austin? San Antonio? Both?

Well, today's view of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth shows how well Warren's air cleaning method works. It was real windy for a couple days, scrubbing the Fort Worth air clean of, at least, the pollution that you are able to see.

I worry about those poor folks up in Oklahoma, though. Their eyes are likely burning, with visibility diminished, today. Then again, Warren's air cleaning method should work for them too, blowing the bad stuff to Kansas. Eventually it all ends up in Canada and we can all breathe a sigh of relief.