A Good Fort Worth Thunderstorm For The Last Monday Of June

Well, the day may have dawned blue, but this afternoon my zone of Texas has turned very stormy.

It was 96 out there when I went hiking on the Tandy Hills around noon. Cloudy but HOT.

Around 3 I was over at Miss Puerto Rico's to fix something on her computer when the sky turned ominous and the thunder I'd been hearing booming in the distance got way closer.

I took a picture of angry sky from Miss PR's balcony and then headed back here.

The air felt charged with energy. And then the wind started up. I wandered around enjoying the incoming storm and then sat on a lounge chair by the pool to watch the storm.

And then the rain started up. I was under a tree so I was able to stay dry. For awhile.

I could feel the temperature dropping. It felt good. When I realized I was starting to get wet I decided it was time to take shelter.

When I opened my patio door to take a picture a flash of lightning exploded right in front of me, with the boom at the same time as the flash. I've only had this happen once before. It's a bit unsettling.

As you can see we have plummeted almost 24 degrees. The rain is now letting up.

This has been our 3rd Thunderstorm in 5 days. With more in the forecast for tomorrow.

It's been 20 minutes, at least, so I am assuming the close encounter lightning strike did not start a fire. Looking out my computer room window I can see a tree knocked over.

The only other "damage" that I've seen is my swimming suit was blown off the balcony to the ground below, to be rescued when it dries out.

Monday On The Tandy Hills Listening To Traffic Noise & Mating Cicadas

As you can see, looking west from the Tandy Hills at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, it is cloudy here this last Monday of June.

So far, no rain has dropped.

I enjoyed the hill hiking very much today. For the most part. For some reason, the noise from the I-30 freeway seemed way louder than it usually does.

Maybe the cloud cover was bouncing the traffic noise back to earth today. There are locations in the Tandy Hills where usually I hear only the sounds of nature being natural in the Tandy Hills Natural Area. But today I heard traffic noises all over the hills.

It's the mating season for cicadas. It was only during heavy duty outbreaks of the cicada mating noises that the traffic noise was blocked out today.

I was also serenaded by mating cicadas while I was in the pool this morning.

A new noise is now assaulting my eardrum. I hear thunder rumbling in the distance.

In Texas With Incoming Rain & Melting Ice Cream

You are looking out my computer room window at the dawn of the last Monday of June 2010.

As you can clearly see, it's the dawn of another beautiful day in Texas.

However, as Monday unfolds it may get a bit less beautiful, or even more beautiful, if your idea of a beautiful day is rain. As in there is a 50% chance of the wet stuff falling today. Supposedly.

Speaking of wet stuff falling. Sunday afternoon Miss Puerto Rico called me, desperate for my help. Miss PR had told a friend of ours that she'd deliver her a waffle cone from Braums. When I was told of the mission I thought it had amusement possibilities. I ended up being correct in that assumption.

The Braums drive through ordering was like something out of a sit-com, only more so. As in, if this was in a scripted TV show you'd think they were exaggerating it way too much.

Miss PR's accent is not very strong. She clearly said "A waffle cone with vanilla and chocolate."

The Braums person said "One Coke with hot fudge?"

Miss PR said no, then repeated her order.

The Braums person then said, "You want 2 small cones, one vanilla, one chocolate?"

Again Miss PR corrected the order and again the Braums person would get it wrong. We went through 5 cycles of this, both me and Miss PR were cracking up. I then, really loudly and really clearly, and with no accent, said, "we want 1 waffle cone with vanilla & chocolate."

That'll be $2.15 at the window, the Braums person then said.

With the waffle cone securely in my hands we were now in a rush to deliver it. Did I mention we were in Miss PR's air conditioner-less jeep? At almost 100 degrees. Within 10 seconds the ice cream began to drip. Miss PR called the ice cream recipient to tell her to be outside ready to accept the melting ice cream in about 20 seconds.

The ice cream cone successfully changed hands and I was not rendered too sticky by the ordeal.

I suffered through way too much Miss Puerto Rico drama over the weekend.

At Oakland Lake Park With Mental Confusions & Problems With Out Of Control Mice

I was in no mood for heavy duty hill hiking today, due to a variety of reasons, the least of which isn't the fact that I've got my feet aching, well, more accurately, aching by feeling like they are burning.

I've no clue what is causing the burning sensation. I am fairly certain I've not walked barefoot through a jalapeno patch.

But, I needed to get out of here and breathe what passes for fresh air in this polluted part of Texas in which I live.

So, I went to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake. Now, can you tell that the picture of the Oakland Lake Park sign was not taken today? Note that the trees are devoid of leaves.

I forgot to take my camera with me. This forgetfulness concerns me. Last night I forgot to bring my camera over to Miss Puerto Rico's, missing out on a good photo opportunity.

Had I had my camera with me today I would have taken pictures of the beaches that have emerged on Oakland Lake Park, due to the lake shrinking.

Switch of subject back to my mental malfunctions. I mainly use my laptop computer rather than my desktop version. This I do because the laptop can run two monitors. This is very convenient when one is a major multi-tasker such a myself.

Long ago I bought a wireless mouse to use with the laptop. At some point in time I got a USB mouse to use with laptop, because I had it in my head that the wireless mouse wasn't working. So, I went to Target and got the USB mouse.

Awhile back the USB mouse started acting real screwy, so I went to Target and bought another.

And then a couple days ago the second USB mouse started causing problems. Lots of problems. It was being real frustrating.

So, not remembering what I thought was wrong with my laptop wireless mouse, I plugged in its USB receiver and turned on the wireless mouse. I was surprised to see the mouse light up. I thought I remembered it quit doing that. And then I was pleased to find that the wireless mouse is working just fine.

Now, I'm thinking that me thinking that the wireless mouse was broken was the result of one of my overly vivid dreams, or possibly a sleepwalking episode.

I've long known I have to test a premise, that seems surprising, to make sure what I'm thinking is reality based.

So, I've wasted I don't know how many dollars buying mice I don't need.

And my feet continue to burn. And with all these woes plaguing me, my therapist, Dr. L.C., is currently not attending to my various needs.

The Mystery Of The Missing Queen Of Wink

Have you seen these Eyes in Texas? They belong to the Queen of Wink.

The Queen of Wink has gone missing. The last I heard from the Queen was a text message on my phone. Sent from a Doctor's Office.

Last weekend the annual Roy Orbison Festival took place in Wink. There has been no report on the festival on the Queen of Wink's blog.

Some have speculated that maybe the Queen of Wink is despondent over not winning this year's Pretty Woman contest at the Roy Orbison Festival. I highly doubt this would cause any despondency in the Queen of Wink due to she being Wink's most well known pretty woman, even though not this year's official Roy Orbison Pretty Woman.

The Queen of Wink has also gone missing from Facebook. I think the last I have seen of her on Facebook was mentioning looking forward to going to a possibly Mafia run Italian run restaurant. I don't know where this restaurant is located, likely Midland or Odessa. I don't think Wink has an Italian restaurant.

I've emailed the Queen of Wink and called. To no avail. I would send a text message, but I don't know how to do that.

If the Mystery of the Missing Queen of Wink does not resolve itself in the next 24 hours, I think I'll call the Wink Police and ask them to do a welfare check, or whatever you call it when the police go check on someone.

The Mystery of the Missing Queen of Wink is very perplexing.

Sunday Morning Looking Out My Computer Room Window & Thinking About Last Night's Fight At Miss Puerto Rico's

You are looking at the last Sunday of June view from my computer room window, looking out at my bedroom balcony.

As you can see, it is a blue sky Sunday. Currently, at 9:48:25 it is 84.3, heading into the high 90s. We have yet to have a 100 degree day this summer in my zone of Texas.

I don't know why, because it has not been cooler, but my pool water was refreshingly cooler this morning. Or so it seemed.

Last night I was over at Miss Puerto Rico's. The view from her balcony reliably provides entertainment, particularly on Saturday night, as humanity in various forms passes by on various forms of transportation. Including walking.

We witnessed a rather heated confrontation between a guy, who was being very stylish by wearing his pants down below his underwear, and a plus-sized gal who did not seem to have sufficient material to cover her assets properly.

After about 10 minutes of hollering and shoving a Fort Worth police cruiser cruised by and stopped. The officer calmed the combatants and then continued on his way. I did not have my camera with me, which is very rare, so I could not photo document the droopy drawer and floopy boob fight.

I don't know if I'm going to go get aerobic on hills today. Swimming for an hour seems to provide a bit of an endorphin fix.

I'm making Chinese food for lunch today. A stir fry of turkey, red peppers, broccoli, onion, garlic, celery, cabbage, ginger and duck sauce, with spring rolls and brown rice. Lunch will be around 1. Don't be late.

HOT Hill Hiking & Fort Worth Train Traffic Vexations

It was 95 when I hit the Tandy Hills sometime around 3 this afternoon. A breeze was busy blowing so it did not feel too HOT.

And those big, puffy, cotton ball clouds took turns blocking the sun, which brought some HEAT relief.

I only hill hiked for about 45 minutes. When I had had enough I headed to the Beach Street Wal-Mart Supercenter. When I was stopped at the Randol Mill Road light, by Town Talk, I saw a slow moving freight train was blocking access to Wal-Mart.

So, I figured I'd go stand in the Town Talk cooler and maybe find something new, even though I was at Town Talk yesterday. Well, I found nothing new. I did cool off, and then left.

The train was still blocking Beach Street.

I did not want to get stuck in a train jam, and I needed to be at a particular location by 4:30. So, I headed back south on Beach Street and headed to an alternative Wal-Mart on Meadowbrook.

Now, what's bugging me right now is how can a large city, like Fort Worth, population over 700,000, allow trains to block major roads? Why are there not overpasses, or underpasses? Arlington is worse when a train comes through town.

The little town I lived in in Washington, Mount Vernon, had train tracks running north and south through town. And there were some roads that were blocked by the trains. But, Mount Vernon had at least 2, maybe 3, non-blocked alternatives, as in roads that went over the railroad tracks. And maybe one that went under, if I remember right.

I can't think of ever being stopped by a train in Seattle. I know a large part of the Seattle train tracks are underground in a tunnel, thus creating no traffic problems. You can get stopped by a train along the Tacoma waterfront, but, like Seattle, and unlike Fort Worth, there are ways around the train, overpasses and underpasses. And bridges.

I know part of the problem, here in Fort Worth. And Arlington, is the railroad tracks and roads were put in place long before so many people clogged up the place. And infrastructure adjustments have not kept pace with the population growth. So, freight trains slowly make their way across the Dallas/Fort Worth zone, wreaking havoc with the flow of traffic.

With the locals, apparently not realizing it doesn't have to be this way.

It's very perplexing.

Snorkeling Topless in Austin's Barton Springs Pool

No. That is not me snorkeling in my swimming pool. The snorkeling took place down in Austin, in Zilker Park's Barton Springs Pool.

Barton Springs is a man-enhanced natural springs. In the 1920s Austin dammed the springs to create a bigger swimming hole. And added sidewalks and other park-like features.

In the 1940s a bathhouse was added.

You can go swimming in Barton Springs Pool all year long. Just like my pool. Only Barton Springs stays warmer. The temperature ranges from 68 in winter to almost 72 in summer.

Admission is free from November til the Ides of March. A fee, ranging from $1 to $3, is charged from mid March til October. Barton Springs is open from 5am til 10pm. The admission fee starts getting charged at 8am. That gives early birds 3 hours to swim before paying that big entry fee.

On Thursdays Barton Springs Pool closes from 9am til 7pm for cleaning. Once a year Barton Springs is closed for several weeks with the floodgates fully opened so the pool totally drains for heavy duty cleaning.

Barton Springs closes during heavy rain due to Barton Creek being prone to flooding and overflowing the diversion dam.

Barton Springs, in addition to swimming and snorkeling, also provides a nice sunbathing zone on the green slopes that surround the Springs. And, with it being in liberal, free-spirited Austin, topless sunbathing is permitted for both genders.

You'll need to go to another Austin location, Hippie Hollow if you feel the need to go both topless and bottomless.

Watch the YouTube video below to see what it is like to go snorkeling in Barton Springs. Notice the big eel that is snorkeling with you in Barton Springs Pool...

A Bright Texas Saturday Morning Walking With My Neighborhood Lizards

This morning my right knee felt the need to go on a nice, easy walk. So, I decided to do something I've rarely done.

As in, take a walk around my neighborhood.

I saw some wildlife. One of which was a little Chihuahua. It was a cute Chihuahua. It looked like that Chihuahua who recently won an Ugliest Dog in the World Contest, in a total travesty.

A short time after seeing the cute Chihuahua I came upon an equally cute pair of lizards. The two lizards were about 3 feet apart, facing each other on the trunk of the tree you see in the picture.

I don't know if this was some sort of territorial facedown. Or a mating ritual. I watched the 2 lizards for about 5 minutes and then gave up waiting for something to happen.

I have seen more lizards of various sizes this year than all my previous years in Texas. Do lizards thrive on the increase in air pollution?

There is a slight plague of wild plum trees in my neighborhood. I have seen locals picking the plums. Apparently they make good jam. But, it seems most of the plums end up on the ground, making for some careful walking to avoid getting shoes stuck with sticky stuff.

It's noon. Time to make some lemonade, BBQ some burgers, mash some spuds and cut up some watermelon.

Saturday Morning Looking At Me From My Computer Room Window Swimming

You are looking at the Saturday morning zoomed view from my computer room window of me getting wet in the pool.

We are back with completely clear of clouds blue sky again, after Thursday's and Friday's thunderstorms.

I pooled for over an hour this morning. It's a pleasant way to start the day.

I'm wandering around taking pictures of a construction project this morning.

I'll be wandering around the Tandy Hills, today, late in the afternoon. That's my current plan. Subject to change.

BBQed burgers, garlic mashed spuds and watermelon is on the menu for lunch. Don't be late. The burgers will quickly be gone.