Veterans Park Wildflower Hunting With Turtles, Nerds, Fires & Human Rights Abuses

Today has been overcast with off and on rain. The rain was off long enough to let me walk, dry, around Veterans Park in Arlington, looking for Wildflowers and listening to excruciatingly loud noise coming from the Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling Operation across the street, right up against an apartment complex.

I've not heard from the Nice Lady who lives in those apartments, or her daughter, regarding the ongoing Disturbing of their Peace Nightmare. The racket being generated today was way louder than when my neighboring Chesapeake Energy operation was underway.

This one at Veterans Park makes high pitched squeaking noises with accompanying ultra loud bangs. How is this allowed so close to the apartments? What happened to the 800 foot distance rules? Is this just more corruption in the Eminent Domain Abuse Capital of the World? Where the rights of citizens are run over in an outrageous roughshod manner that would, well, outrage people in the civilized parts of America.

I took video of the Driller Operation using my digital camera. But, it did not do justice to the noise. You do hear birds loud and clear, though. I think the birds were panicking due to the loud screechy noise.

Meanwhile, the Veterans Park Pond Turtles were above water and sitting on their log, watching the fountain. Usually turtles are very easily spooked, but these guys seemed sedated, likely due to the noise of the fountain, combined with the screeching noise across the street, rendering them oblivious to me.

The Society for Creative Anachronism Nerds were out in force today, battling over Veterans Park turf. Several picnics were in full operation, complete with burning wood, cooking meat products that smelled real good.

And I found some new Wildflowers coloring up Veterans Park, awaiting being identified by resident Botanist, Miss Sarah R.

This reddish one was my favorite I saw today. Big stalks of bright red.

These were in the Stay off of Wildflowers Area, so I assume they were Wildflowers. I took no pictures of flowers in the Texas Xeriscape show garden area, because I thought that would be cheating in regards to stumping Miss Sarah R. in her Wildflower identifying, by mixing in a non-Wildflower flower.

I'd not seen a multi-petal yellow Wildflowers like the above one before, not that I recollect.

I am almost 100% certain the pink guy in the upper left has Primrose in its name. Primrose appeared to be playing Big Brother to all the little Lavender/White colored Wildflowers. Lurking to the middle left was a deep Red/Purple Wildflower, that was not yet at full bloom stage.

After hiking around a muddy Veterans Park it was off to ALDI Food Market to get, well, food.

It is now 5. I think I'll go swimming in the rain. Hopefully lightning strike free.

A Rainy Saturday In Texas With Possible Flash Floods & Thunder

The National Weather Service issued a Flood Alert yesterday, lasting, I think, until Sunday. I had not heard any rain falling, so I was a little surprised, when the sun got around to lighting up the place, to see that it was very wet outside.

This turn of events wreaks havoc with my today plan to go Wildflower hunting on the Tandy Hills to find exotic types to try and stump Texas Wildflower Champion Identifier, Sarah R.

Currently, at 11 in the morning, a slight amount of wet stuff is dripping out there. Maybe I can go to Veterans Park in Arlington and find some exotic Wildflowers on the way to ALDI Food Market in Pantego. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

There appears to be a bolt of lightning coming out of the cloud in the prediction picture for today. I did not realize we'd been forecast for some dire weather. But it is that time of year, thunder and tornadoes are to be expected.

Yesterday's day, that started out at around 2:30, turned out to be one of the busiest, most over the top productive days I've had in a long time. I broke my record for most bloggings. 8, yesterday, on my various blogs. I updated multiple pages on my Eyes on Texas website. Dealt with some longtime toxicity, that had long vexed me. That felt, well, cathartic. Went swimming in the morning and evening, with a good hike on the Tandy Hills in between.

And then by the end of the day I slept real nicely, unlike the night before, as in I slept in til past 7 this morning. This is borderline unprecedented.

Duchess Jessamyn Has Invited Me To Middlefaire In Hillsboro Texas

Yesterday I said I had heard from the Duchess of Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival. That was incorrect.

Correctly stated, I had heard from the Duchess of Middlefaire opining about my opining about Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival.

Near as I can make out, the preferred name, for the Duchess of Middlefaire, is Jessamyn. I guess that makes her Duchess Jessamyn of Middlefaire.

Middlefaire takes place near Hillsboro. That's the Texas town located where Interstate 35 West and East merge as one, south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

After I blogged about Duchess Jessamyn, and her Scarborough opining, I heard back from the Duchess, inviting me to Middlefaire and doing so in a sort of poetic fashion.

The message from Duchess Jessamyn is below....

**reads**
Oh, gods. They're gonna kill me. Dead.
So, do you want to put any bets as to whether you get comments saying 'What? Duchess? What? There's no Duchess at Scarby by that name!'
'Cause I bet they do. I really do.
I feel oddly famous now, being on the receiving end of a blog post. I mean, really:
Post 2003 = Scarborough Faire
Post 2010 = Jessamyn
So Scarborough Faire is roughly equivalent to Jessamyn.
I'm not THAT fat!
...
...
............ Okay, yeah I am.
So, for the record, if you do ever venture as far out into the wilderness as Hillsboro, I would be more than glad to get you into Middlefaire free. Just tell me what name you want your ticket held under, and what day. I am there. You can come with the band. Listen close, tip generously. Just pick a date from the list on this cheap and shabby website.

May There Be A Road (Come to faire and hear the song),

-Jessamyn (lore and fables, my faire personas have more normal names than I do), nearly Duchess of Middlefaire

I Have Heard From The Duchess Of Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival

Way back in Spring of 2002 or 2003 I spent a couple hours at the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival in Waxachachie.

It was Pirate Adventure Weekend. That fact would later cause me all sorts of trouble. The simple little webpage I made of my visit, to what I called Scarbo (another crime), generated a storm of upset unlike anything I'd done before or since.

There were attempts to win me over, to what I guess was the Scarbo Cause. I got invited to Scarbo events. I got invited to a Scarbo Wedding. I got invited to document Scarbo Training. I was told if I returned for another visit, this time with a guide, I would have security protection.

But, in all the years since that fateful visit, I've not been back. It was all sort of a toxic experience. I get enought toxicity from some of my relatives. And others. I really don't need exposure to stranger toxicity, in the form of wenches and men in tights.

So, this morning I got what must be the longest Feedback Comment I've ever received. It came from a Scarboite calling herself Jacqueline Bones / Rosemary Margaret Barley / Cherubina Rosetta Antonia Cantalupi, Sixth child of the third cousin twice removed of the youngest brother of lady wife of the Duke of Padua, so I'm *breathes* practically a Duchess.

Below is the amusing Comment from the Duchess...

Yeah, I'm never going to get used to hearing it called Scarbo. Just never. Not a complaint. Just not one I've heard. I mean, I *just* got used to 'Scarby'. I laugh at my own inflexibilty. This must be why I'm a rennie: My total inability to move with the times.

Ah, the debate. I would have more respect for the original article and comments if it weren't so obvious that you don't give a damn what people say - you like those who agree with you, and mock those who don't... which is human nature, but does put your openmindedness in question. (By the way, if I got that one totally wrong, please let me know, with minimal sarcasm - I really didn't read every single bloody comment on the page, so I may totally be slandering your noble and bidder character.) Not that this really matters - more of a pet peeve, I suppose.

Now, a (hopefully) brief bout of persnicketyness.

Regarding anachronicity (this is a word, as of now, because I say so): Scarby has never (I don't think) even pretended to authenticity... if they have, then something is very, very wrong. Faire is a bit like Steampunk - the fun is in the mixing of time periods, which keeps it quirky (if I see an aticle on steampunk, I'm gonna do a culture revolution dance). The most die-hard authentic rennies at Scarby still bring out the anachronisms, just for the fun of it! The ones more intense than that... just don't come to faire. The become history professors. Robert Stout of Portershire (brewer and purveyor of fine spirits) is a loved one and a history lover of epic proprtions (bad, bad pun), who nevertheless will turn right around and make jokes based on twentyfirst century culture, because he enjoys it. It's one of the many ways that he's cooler than me. And it catches people a bit off their gaurd, which just makes it so much more entertaining. Note: Without A Net's most popular song is a rewritten Rice Crispies commercial. Dammit.

Regarding Nay-sayers: Oh, Janna, Janna, Janna... Why. Why bother. I thought that comment was stupid, too, but writing a three-page memo is the most pointless over-reaction.... Oh well.

People get so worked up over nothing (quothe the girl writing the enormous ever-growing e-mail when she should be doing her homework or sewing), it's just silly. That said, Don't Knock Diamond, the lady's the bomb. She's just too cool. It's not safe. And, she's been known to kill pixies with her cleavage, which is a hell of a way to go.

As for the people who posted sycophantically laughing at fellow rennies... Good luck. Tight knit group, thin nerves, drama queen tempers, do not use your real name.

Regarding your replies: Okay, I'm gonna be the persnickety person now, it's not a hobby. Playtrons do it as a hobby, and that's awesome. That was me from five to fifteen. But actual Rennies are for the most part professionals, and it's not a hobby. They are doing something they love, not in addition to, but often instead of a 'real job'. I was once at a Scarby birthday, and got to hear the words, "...sixty - and for a Rennie, that's halfway to retirement age!" ...which I thought was very classy.

Similar note, a favorite story from Daniel, Duke of Danger will often get Rennies talking about the looks you get at grocery stores when you pay in ones.

What's sad is that I probably have more, but I'm going to STFU now, so this is me signing out.

May There Be A Road,
-Jacqueline Bones / Rosemary Margaret Barley / Cherubina Rosetta Antonia Cantalupi, Sixth child of the third cousin twice removed of the youngest brother of lady wife of the Duke of Padua, so I'm *breathes* practically a Duchess.

P.S.
Regarding Steve: NO, you should defenitely not come out to Middlefaire. Oh no. Don't do it. it's tiny. It's like Scarby had a baby and abandoned her in a field. We need all the good hype we can get, and as little as possible of the bad! We've already had our flames, thank you....

Incoming Flash Floods & More Wildflowers Coloring Up The Fort Worth Tandy Hills Prairie

I believe I have been awake since sometime after 1 this morning. I realized at around 2:30 that I would not be falling back to sleep.

So, I got up.

It is sort of surprising how much you can get done during those extra hours waiting for the sun to light up the place.

The National Weather Service issued a Flood Watch Alert a couple hours ago. I assume this indicates rain is going to causing some dampness.

So, today's wildflower examination, on the Tandy Hills, may be the last for awhile, if rain muddies up the hills.

I saw two wildflowers I did not see yesterday. My favorite was the tropical looking big-bloomed yellow flower, above, that looks like something I might see in Hawaii, instead of coloring up the Texas Prairie.

I'm liking this sleep-deprived feeling of being a bit punch drunk, feeling like I'm on mile 55o of a leg of a Roadtrip, with another 200 miles to go before I get to the day's destination. I like that on the road punch drunk feeling. It's been awhile since I've experienced it.

The other new wildflower of the day looked like it had a color scheme that would inspire Native American art.

I got the most long-winded feedback comment to my Eyes on Texas website in memory today. Regarding the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival. It was funny. I think I'll use it for blogging fodder. But not before I have lunch.

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief & Texas Governor Rick Perry In Six-Shooter Shoot Out In Downtown Fort Worth

In his strangest behavior since he poured grape Kool-Aid into the Trinity River, because he thought this would turn the river purple, Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief and the Secessionist Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, were caught firing six shooters Thursday at Fort Worth's Sundance Square, emulating, I guess, Butch and Sundance.

I don't know which one was Butch and which was Sundance. My best guess, due to the uncanny resemblance to Robert Redford, is that Mayor Moncrief was the Sundance Kid in yesterday's shootout.

The gunplay was not a Tax Day Tea Party thing. Nor was it the first shots in Perry's plan to Secede from the Union. Instead it had something to do with the upcoming NASCAR weekend, which I assume is taking place in far north Fort Worth at Texas Motor Speedway, or whatever that humongous racetrack is called.

Does it set a good example for kids to see a governor and a mayor shooting pistols at a public function like this? Were any kids watching? Did any grackles get scared away from downtown?

Insomnia In Texas With My Hero Richard Nixon

You're looking at me in the midst of an insomnia bout.

Well, it really was not insomnia. I went to bed around 10, had no woe falling asleep, woke up about 2:30, could tell I was not going to fall back asleep.

So, I got up.

I've been reading the Haldeman Diaries: Inside the Nixon White House. I'm easily influenced by anything I read. When Haldeman talked about my hero, Richard Nixon's, theories on sleep, in that it's a big time waste and we really don't need all that much, well, it imprinted on my memory.

Like how Nixon, sometimes, would stay up all night long, working on his plots and schemes. Or Nixon would wake up really early, and, like me, realize he was not going to be sleeping anymore, so he'd get up, like me, and go to work on his plots and schemes.

I'm wondering if Nixon got a bit more sleep maybe that whole Watergate disaster might never have happened. There really was way too much plotting and scheming involved in the Watergate disaster. That's real clear when reading the Haldeman Diaries.

I suspect I will be sleeping real well tonight, with a possible nap intervening between now and then. In the meantime, I'll be doing some heavy duty plotting and scheming.

Men's Health: Five Of The 10 Fattest Cities Are In Texas

Being obese is stigmatized in most of the modern Western world, though those thus endowed were seen as a symbol of wealth at other times in history, and still are in many parts of Africa. And possibly Texas.

The current issue of Men's Health Magazine has yet one more of those ubiquitous lists, listing, this time, the Fattest Cities in America, from #1 to 100.

From the Men's Health website...

"Go to Google Maps, type in "United States," and you'll be reminded of just how big Texas is. But what you can't see is the size of the state's citizenry: Five Lone Star cities are among the nation's fattest, with Corpulent Christi at the top."

Joining Corpulent Christi in the Top Ten from Texas are #3 El Paso, #4 Dallas, #7 San Antonio and #9 Houston. All received a Grade of F, except for Houston, which got a D-.

Also on the list from Texas, but extremely lean, is Austin, at #97. Getting an A grade, along with Seattle at #98. Only Seattle, Washington, D.C., Burlington, Vermont and San Francisco are skinnier than Austin.

Other Texas towns on the list are # 13 Lubbock with a D- Grade, #54 Arlington with a C+ and #66 Fort Worth with a B-.

Some optimistic Obesity News for Texas is that NBC's Biggest Loser reality TV show is going to help Texas lose some of its poundage, promising to help America's 2nd biggest state shrink.

Currently, I am in Fort Worth, which, according to Men's Health, is almost as skinny as Austin. I am guessing it is all those natives constantly hiking all over the Tandy Hills that keeps Fort Worth from ballooning to a Dallas/Arlington size of bigness.

It Is April 15 So I Need To Mail A Letter To The IRS In Austin

About 4 this afternoon I figured out why I woke up with a headache this morning.

It is April 15.

Due date with the IRS.

I always put this off til the last minute. This year is no different. Except this year I sort of forgot about it, due to that headache woe.

That headache woe was likely brought on by my sub-conscious angsting over having to go through that miserable filling out an IRS form ordeal.

It is currently quarter after 5. I just stuck a stamp on the envelope that is going to the IRS. I guess I have 45 minutes to get to the Post Office.

So, I've got plenty of time.

The Tandy Hills Are Coming Alive With The Sight Of Color

I am back from taking the Tandy Hills Natural Sanitarium Area headache cure.

The cure did not work. Now I'm hoping lunch takes the pain away. I made Poblano Corn Potato Turkey Soup this morning. With a lot of Garlic. I'm sure it'll have a very medicinal effect.

If that does not work, maybe a nap will cure me. I think I've mentioned previously my inability to take a nap. Well, a few weeks ago that ability returned. Why? I don't know.

The 2010 Tandy Hills Prairie Fest is only about 10 days away, Saturday, April 24. I was pleased yesterday to see that the bags of trash, that had been collected awhile back by the Brush Bashers, have been picked up.

The Tandy Hills seem to have finally gotten the memo that it is time to color up the place. I saw a lot of wildflowers making their first appearance of the year, today.

I've no idea what these stalks of pink wildflowers are called. I'm sure someone, somewhere, does know the proper name. What I do know is they are a very spectacular wildflower.

I saw the above wildflower in only one location. It'll likely be popping out all over in the coming days. It seems like I should know the name of this guy, but my failing memory woe is preventing me from accessing that information.

Okay, it is time to take the soup headache cure. I hope it works. I don't like feeling this miserable.