Schizophrenic Tandy Hills Hiking With Yellow Fuzzballs

It was in the high 80s when I hit the Tandy Hills before noon today. It was a very schizophrenic day, hiking temperature-wise.

With the wind being in minor gust mode I was hiking along, enjoying a bit of a Wind Chill Factor. Then the wind would stop and the Heat Index would kick in. It felt like going from the low 70s to the low 100s, back and forth, over and over again.

I have been churning out webpages of late. This is something I'd not done much of in awhile. I was a bit rusty at first, but then my memory of HTML kicked in and I eventually reached hyperspeed about 2 days ago.

Betty Jo Bouvier opined, again, that I need to go to Phoenix, to see my mom and dad. And my youngest nephew. My youngest nephew has been on my mind again today. His name is Jeremy, with a middle name of Ryan. So, he has always been JR. Though I've always called him Jeremy. I don't remember ever calling him JR, but everyone else does.

I was in Phoenix for 10 hours in February of 2004. My mom and dad had not yet moved to Phoenix. This was the first I'd seen Jeremy since 2001. We all went to a happy hour at some Phoenix place before going to an In and Out for my best burger ever and then sticking me back on a plane.

While at the happy hour place Jeremy and I went out to the parking lot and took turns on his skateboard. Jeremy asked me if I'd come to his high school graduation that June. I said I would. But I didn't make it. I felt guilty about that at the time. But, I don't recollect getting a graduation announcement. I likely did, though, I just don't remember.

I've no idea what the name is of the yellow wildflower I snapped a picture of today. Yellow Fuzzball? Frizzy Yellow Green Balls?

A HOT July 23 Morning Thinking About Swimming & My Nephew's Heart

As you can see from the July 23 morning view from my patio the majority of the sky is blue with a little wispy cloud action.

I opened my windows in the middle of the night. A cooling breeze blowing in from the outdoors is so much nicer than the A/C blowing cold.

It is not 7 am yet, and already 80. Almost time to close the windows.

I did not go swimming yesterday due to my attempts to try and break free from my repetitive habits.

This morning I've decided that breaking free of my repetitive habits really is not high on my priority list. So, I'm going swimming in a few minutes.

My sister called me last night and told me the details of my youngest nephew's heart condition. I felt a lot better after talking to her. What an ordeal they have been through.

I do not recollect if I've previously mentioned my disdain for the medical business. My one and only up close and personal experience with that business was shocking, disgusting, appalling, maddening and turned me, long ago, into one who thought the entire business needed a complete makeover.

My nephew's experience with the medical business completely reinforced my extremely negative opinion of how that business operates too much of the time.

It's time to go swimming now.

I have no idea where I am going to take a virtual trip to today.

Walking The Bayous Of Village Creek Thinking About The Big Thicket & My Nephew's Ticker

No, you are not looking at a bayou somewhere in the wild wonderland of the Big Thicket National Preserve out in East Texas.

What you are looking at is a bayou in Arlington called Village Creek, located in Village Creek Natural Historic Area. This area should be named Indian Village Creek Natural Historic Area, but the Indians were wiped out of their village and out of the area's name by incoming undocumented illegal aliens called Texans.

This morning, like I said earlier I would, I took a virtual trip to the Big Thicket. Interesting part of Texas. UNESCO designated Big Thicket as a Biosphere Reserve. There are 85 types of trees, over 1,000 flower plant types, almost 300 types of birds and, disturbingly, more than 50 reptile species. Including alligators.

Leaving Big Thicket, I got gas on the way to Village Creek. So, naturally, I called my mom to tell her I got gas and how much it cost. I talked to my mom during the entire walk under the Village Creek trees.

My mom had 2 family news items. I found one upsetting, the other not so much. The not so upsetting news was mom told me one of the incoming Tacoma Twins is a boy. I've not quite figured out if this incoming boy will be my nephew. Or not. It's very confusing.

The upsetting news was also nephew related. My youngest nephew, one of 2 who lives in the Phoenix zone, in his young 20s, is having heart problems. Going to a doctor quickly had my nephew sent to a heart specialist. He's been fitted with some device to help control the rapid heart beating while tests are being done to figure out what is wrong.

My mom was a tad sketchy on details, so I called my sister, but got no answer. It's so strange. I've got all these out of shape, semi-old, unhealthy relatives, about whom it would not shock me to hear a heart problem had developed, but to be told that my ultra-skinny, skateboarding, easy-going, youngest nephew has something wrong with his heart, well, that just does not seem right.

I'm thinking for several reasons, I need to take a trip to Phoenix.

ESPN Broadcasting Super Bowl From Downtown Fort Worth Parking Lot

The next Super Bowl will be played in Arlington in the new Dallas Cowboy stadium. It seems like only yesterday history's worst case of eminent domain abuse was being used in Arlington to kick people out of their homes, stealing their land, to build a stadium.

And now that stadium, built so shamefully, will shamelessly host a Super Bowl

Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, a town that also has a tendency to abuse eminent domain, has its own Super Bowl stuff going on.

Yesterday Fort Worth's goofy mayor, Mike Moncrief was not pouring purple kool-aid into the Trinity River or shooting guns in downtown Fort Worth. Instead of those noble type activities, the dishonorable mayor was announcing that, uh, the parking lots, known as Sundance Square, will be used by ESPN as the location of their coverage of the Super Bowl taking place about 20 miles to the east.

Mayor Mike breathlessly opined, "It will transform our city from this day forward. It's one of those places along the road that help define our city. I believe ESPN was looking for a unique setting, a setting that made a Texas statement. And Fort Worth says Texas. This will give international exposure to millions of people and raise the curiosity not only for our city but for North Texas."

Oh. Where do I begin? A cable network broadcasting from a downtown Fort Worth parking lot will transform Fort Worth? Helping define the town? International exposure to millions? Raising curiosity about Fort Worth's parking lots?

And then Ed Bass, the man behind so much that is not quite right in downtown Fort Worth, who the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said helped bring about a renaissance of downtown, with the Sundance Square project, focused on what Bass seemed to think was an Old West theme, due to Fort Worth being a favorite haunt for the Sundance Kid and the Hole in the Wall Gang and other nefarious sorts 100 years ago.

Bass said, "Why did they come here? Because this is where the action is. And ESPN is coming to Fort Worth because this is where the action is."

Butch Cassidy and the Gang came to Fort Worth because it was a notorious lawless zone with its Hell's Acre area of bordellos, saloons and gambling joints. Not because it had a reputation as Action City. Now, modern day Fort Worth remains a bit of a lawless zone, as compared to other towns in America, but I doubt ESPN chose to come to Fort Worth because it has a mayor who does dirty deeds, that would land him in prision if he was not being mayor in a lawless zone, where criminal acts of conflict of interest are permitted without fear of punishment.

Then the Star-Telegram says, "With the Chisholm Trail parking lot's famous mural of longhorn cattle being herded by two drovers as a backdrop, viewers worldwide will see a slice of history in modern Fort Worth and learn why its motto is "Where the West Begins." Football fans across the world tuning in for ESPN's coverage of Super Bowl week in February will get a huge taste of downtown Fort Worth and its historic Sundance Square."

Famous mural of longhorn cattle? Famous with who? Historic Sundance Square? What is historic about a bunch of downtown Fort Worth parking lots being called a square? Now, when I've opined about the goofiness of the "Sundance Square" nomenclature before I've heard from the Sundance Square marketing director explaining to me what an amazing project of building restoration and preservation the Sundance Square project is. That its scope extends far beyond the network of parking lots.

But. Historic? The local propaganda describes Sundance Square as an Entertainment/Shopping District. I don't know of any other big city downtown in America that is not an Entertainment/Shopping zone.

But, Fort Worth is the only city in America, with a population over a half million, who's downtown does not have a single department store in its "Shopping District". No Neiman-Marcus, no Nordstroms, no Penneys, no Macy's, no Dillards, not even a Sears. There is a store where you can buy a cowboy hat downtown, however.

I wonder if the ESPN people checked out Heritage Park, where Fort Worth began, just a short distance north of the famous mural ESPN is going to be broadcasting in front of? I guess the Heritage Park eyesore must sit outside the 16 square block of renovated/restored structures that encompasses Sundance Square.

Isn't the Super Bowl broadcast on one of the networks? ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX? Would not the logical spot to broadcast your coverage of a sporting event be where the sporting event is taking place, not in some random downtown's parking lot? Is ESPN not allowed to infringe on the network's broadcast rights? Which likely include using the stadium as a backdrop?

I'm thinking this ESPN Super Bowl broadcast from Fort Worth deal is yet one more time where the good ol' boy network of goofballs who run Fort Worth are hoping magic is striking that will finally cause the rest of America to be able to recognize something in Fort Worth. A better plan would have been to use the Fort Worth Stockyards. At least it's a unique location, unlike downtown Fort Worth's parking lots and that famous mural looking down on that historic square.

One thing I am grateful for this morning. This ESPN news would seem to have been a perfect opportunity for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to break out its patented "Green With Envy" verbiage. As in, towns far and wide are green with envy because ESPN is coming to Fort Worth. Or Fort Worth is the envy of other towns because ESPN will be broadcasting from a downtown Fort Worth parking lot.

Instead, the verbiage was a bit more sophisticated, words like "famous" and "historic" used to describe objects that are neither famous or historic. But, this is much less cringe inducing than the Star-Telegram's green with envy verbiage. I consider this progress.

A Clear Blue July 22 Morning In Texas Heading To The Big Thicket

As you can see from the view from my patio, the sun is up, the sky is blue.

I was up before the sun was, this morning, but I did not make it outside to take a picture til after the sun arrived.

I am working at trying to be less of a creature of habit, hence the tardy picture of the view from my patio. And the fact that I am choosing to forego my regular, habitual morning swim.

There was some extremely good mockworthy material in this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The mocking will need to wait for another blogging.

I have no idea what I am going to do today. Except for a virtual trip out to East Texas, again, to the Big Thicket National Preserve.

Sitting Under A Fosdic Lake Tree Trying To Talk To The Queen Of Wink After Visiting Marshall Texas

I ended up being a bit sore from Sunday night's fast running, due to downpours. I seem to have compounded this with Tuesday's Tandy Hills hiking.

So, today I had myself a really good swim, an activity which seems to make the aches and pains way less achy and painful.

By 11 this morning I was feeling no need for an additional endorphin fix. So, for my fresh air fix, or my fix of what passes for fresh air in Fort Worth, Texas I went to my favorite picnic table, overlooking Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

I brought a book along, but prior to reading my intention was to call the Queen of Wink. Because the Queen of Wink told me to call her. I always do what I am told.

But the Queen exercised her Royal Prerogative and refused to answer her phone. So, I opened my book.

I was in the shade of several trees, with a pleasant breeze, quite a nice circumstance for doing some book reading.

Previously to heading to Fosdic Lake I had headed east to the Piney Woods Region of Texas for a virtual visit to Marshall. Interesting town. Both Martin Luther King and Jesse Jackson went to school there. It was a hub of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. And a hub of the Confederacy in the 1860s. And Marshall puts on one of the world's most spectacular Christmas displays called the Wonderland of Lights.

It is currently 95 with a Heat Index of 100 in my zone of Texas. Two years ago today I was in a state of shivering shock, having spent an icy night in a Tacoma Basement Dungeon. Oddly, right now, it is 95 in Fort Worth. In Tacoma, right now, just reverse those digits. It is 59 degrees in Tacoma.

59 degrees is closer to 32, and freezing, than it is to 95. How did I ever manage to live in that brutal climate? I do recollect wearing shorts far less frequently in Washington, than I do in Texas. And I had a lot of long sleeve shirts and sweaters. And long pants, lots of long pants. And sweat pants. And long underwear. I do not clearly recollect if I ever went shirtless in Washington. I'm sure I must have gone swimming a time or two without being in a wetsuit.

If I remember right, tonight, 2 years ago, my sister got home from work and insisted I help walk the dogs at Point Defiance. It was brutally cold, I had a sore throat and my eyes had not yet adjusted to the extremely clear sparkling air and water. Brutal.

I must go find video of that brutal icy walk along the beach at Point Defiance...

July 21 In Texas Thinking About Snow & Swimming

No. That is not the morning of July 21 view from my patio.

I was stopped from taking a picture this morning of the view from my patio, due to the fact that when I turned my camera on it told me to charge the battery.

Actually, what it said was "Replace Battery Pack". I'd not seen this message before.

What you are looking at is the view from my patio last winter, around Christmas, if I remember right. A very rare foot of snow fell on North Texas.

Hard to imagine that possible in our current status of going over 100 every day, Heat Index-wise.

I find it difficult to believe, right at the moment, that I continued taking a morning dip in the pool all winter long. But I did. Often a very quick dip, then a fast run for the hot tub. I don't know if I am going to continue this bizarre practice this coming winter.

I'll be heading to the ice free pool in a little bit, after the sun finally decides to arrive. The early morning, very dark sky was still missing the moon this morning. Where has the moon gone?

I think I'll do me some virtually tripping to the East Texas Piney Woods zone again today. To Marshall. A town with an interesting history.

Virtual Tripping To Seattle's Fishermen's Terminal To Chinook's At Salmon Bay With Some Womenfolk

Right about this time, 2 years ago, I was making a tired arrival in Seattle with a very sore throat, hoping the clear, good smelling air of the Pacific Northwest would have my damaged by Barnett Shale respiratory system back quickly working. It didn't work out that way. I had a sore throat for the next 2 weeks.

So, yesterday I had been instructed to make a surprise visit to Seattle, to go to Chinook's at Salmon Bay at the Seattle Fishermen's Terminal, with the instructions coming from Betty Jo Bouvier, aka the Wild Woman of Woolley. Miss Linda R., who I'd not seen in many a year, though I have talked to her on the phone, since I've seen her in person, was to be there.

Linda R. is very reclusive, well, actually busy. She is hard to get to agree on a meeting time. Or so I've been told. It has been years since I tried to get her to meet me anywhere. That is Linda R. on the left, with Betty Jo in the middle.

You may recognize the third one in the trio if you watch LOST closely. Bethenny Jane. That's her Internet stage name. That I just made up.

Betty Jo just emailed me this picture, taken yesterday, asking me "Well...where were you???"

I was going to say I didn't know why she was asking me that, since it was I who took the picture. Then I realized that made no sense since it was Betty Jo who sent it to me, so obviously I did not take it.

Now, you Texas people looking at this picture, who have said to me it always rains in Seattle, but who have never been there, make note of the lack of clouds in the sky.

You in Fort Worth reading this, make note of the Town Lake that the fishing boats are floating on. The Town Lake is called Salmon Bay. Salmon Bay is connected to the Ship Canal and Ballard Locks which connect Puget Sound with Lake Union and Lake Washington.

I do not know how all these manmade water projects came to be. They are quite large. And don't involve any flood control, except for controlling the water in the Ballard Locks. I'm fairly certain none of it was the result of any Vision, Pork Barrel Earmarks, or a local Congresswoman's son being put in charge to build the project, with no experience doing such a thing.

If I've said it once, I've said it twice, Texas, well, Fort Worth, is like a whole different country from the one I used to live in.

Two Years Ago At This Very Minute I Was In A Plane Heading To Washington

In a couple hours it will be 2 years since I saw the view in the photo. That is not a stormy wild ocean you're looking at. You are looking north, towards Mount Baker over the Sea of Peaks of the Cascade Mountains in Washington.

A few minutes after this picture was taken I was landing in Seattle, around 9 pm, if I remember right, picked up by a pair of poodles.

Since it is 7 pm Central time, right now, where I was, precisely 2 years ago, was, I think, Albuquerque. I did not have to switch planes, we landed to pick up new passengers and get rid of others.

I remember today, 2 years ago, was HOT here in Texas, just like today. In the high 90s, with the Heat Index in the 100s. I remember overheating checking in at Love Field.

When I arrived in Seattle and exited the terminal, the first thing that struck me was that it was so COLD. When I got to where I was staying, in Tacoma, I was led down to a dungeon like quarters in the basement. It was very cold. That night I laid in bed shivering. When I could shiver no more I got out of bed and searched for more blankets. Eventually I was able to layer enough blankets on top of me to stop the shivering.

I really never did warm up that entire month in Washington. I remember 2 days before finally escaping the frigidity, I was in a Safeway with an enormously obese woman. It was cold outside, yet that grocery store seemed to have its air-conditioning running. I remember the shivering started again. Of course, I got no sympathy from the enormously obese woman, blessed as she was with a natural warming blanket, like a whale's layer of blubber.

Just a second, I must go check what the temperature is in Seattle right now...70!

I have my A/C set at 82, 70 is very chilly.

After several nights of cold terror, spent shivering in that Tacoma dungeon, I discovered a third floor loft which the dungeonkeepers thought was too HOT for human habitation. They'd even added two high-tech air-conditioning window units in the hope of making the loft habitable.

I asked if I could move from the dungeon to the loft. Permission was granted. The temperature gauge on the A/C units said it was 81, cooler than I keep it where I am right now. So, finally I was able to sleep without shivering.

A couple days after my arrival my mom and dad arrived. I proceeded, apparently, to ignore them, while they proceeded to devote a lot of time to processing an awful lot of raspberries.

Time flies. I can't believe it is 2 years since I put myself through that living hell of entire month in Washington. How did I get talked into that? I think I've blocked that memory.

Hiking The Emerald Forest Of The Tandy Hills With Wildflowers, Recovering Queens, Gar The Texan's Erudition & Smart Phones

You are looking at a trail deep in the Emerald Forest of the Tandy Hills, around noon, today. This particular trail is found after you cross the dried up Tandy Falls, where nothing is currently falling, at the end of the new Tandy Highway, that the Fort Worth Water Crew made passable.

Speaking of falls, this morning on another blog I blogged about Nooksack Falls. I mentioned Nooksack Falls a couple days ago. Due to it causing me bad nightmares.

I returned to the Tandy Hills today for my salubrious aerobically induced endorphin fix because Stenotrophomonas informed me that Sunday's downpour did not pour down on the Tandy Hills.

Yesterday I mentioned being perplexed by a sign in the Village Creek Natural Historic Area that made no sense to me.

The sign said, "DANGER LOW WATER CROSSING".

The entity widely believed to be the most erudite person ever to have come from Wink, Texas, Gar the Texan, made sense of that sign for me.

Gar said, "The Golden Gate Bridge is a water crossing. It's a high water crossing; as in it's way up there. You aren't going to get wet crossing the water. A low water crossing also crosses water, but it's low. If the water rises too much, you're going to get wet. Anyway, it's not the water that is high or low. It's the crossing."

I think the rains of June and July and the high humidity have caused a slight resurgence of wildflowers coloring up the Tandy Hills prairie.

I don't know what I'd call the color of this delicate wildflower that was blooming solo, no relatives seen. I guess I might call the color faded lavender.

I heard from the Queen of Wink this morning. She has been laying low while she works out the kinks in her Top Secret Operation. She's had some computer issues. Even royalty has computer issues.

But, I suspect the Queen of Wink is the first queen anywhere using her phone to use Facebook.

Miss Puerto Rico got one of those new smart phones that can access websites, show movies, take movies, make movies, watch TV, do email and all sorts of others stuff.

Except it seems a bit weak on the classic phone operation.

As in, on Sunday, Miss PR got paged. When she went to call the number her new smart phone would balk at the 5th or 6th input. After she tried several times I asked if she wanted to try and make the call with my antique cell phone. She was able to make the call with no further problems. Using my extremely outdated un-smart phone.