Wildflower Wildscapes & Snake Skin At Arlington's Veterans Park

A few days ago I made note of the fact that, apparently, Fort Worth is no longer mowing the grass in some of its parks, Oakland Lake Park, for instance, which, unless it has been cut today, is currently a weedy hayfield.

Village Creek Natural Historic Area is still closed due to flooding. My fall back park, today, was Veterans Park in Arlington. One would think, looking at the picture above, that Arlington has joined Fort Worth in not mowing its park grass.

Well, one would be wrong to think that. What we are looking at is a large section of the open grassy area that is being left to vegetate in its natural state, which today meant a lot of flowers on vines.

Veterans Park has an area called "Wildscape." It is a very well done, wooded zone, with a maze of trails, creeks, thick with trees and foliage. And plenty of benches and a gazebo, or two, to enjoy the cool shade. If you live within easy striking distance of Veterans Park, in Arlington, you really owe it to yourself to give it a walk through.

And, if you have your own yard to tend, you can get a lot of good ideas, in the adjacent Xeriscape, of how to grow plants native to Texas that use much less water than some of the plants you might buy in a nursery.

I am a bit of a snake-a-phobe. I have never seen a snake in Veterans Park. But, today, while walking in the Wildscape, I was crossing the creek and looked down to see a thick, long snake skin in the water. I assume the skin did not travel far from its owner, and that owner was likely still in the neighborhood.

But, I really did not feel in too great of snake danger, due to the fact the cool temperatures would have a snake slithering at a greatly reduced speed.

Only 20 Degrees Above Freezing In North Texas On The Last Monday Of September

You are looking out my bedroom window at the dawn of the last Monday of September of 2010.

I had my windows open last night. Some time after midnight it got so cold I had to crawl under the blankets for the first time in months.

It is currently 52 degrees. In Seattle, right now, it is 11 degrees warmer, at 63.

It is a bit ironic, for me, that this cold front has arrived this morning, due to the fact that I have an incoming pair of Pacific Northwesterners who I had previously told to brace themselves for some HOT, humid misery when they passed through these parts.

Dallas finally won a football game, so did Seattle, so they are on track to play each other in this year's Super Bowl in Arlington. I have not bought my ticket yet.

This morning is likely going to be the first morning in a long time when getting in the pool may be a bit bracing. I will know in a few minutes, after the sun completely lights up the place.

I Am Behind Bars In Texas Again After Returning From Glen Rose & Applying To Be On The Amazing Race With The Queen Of Wink

I am back behind bars this Sunday afternoon in Texas. As you can see, laying with me on a chaise lounge, out on my patio, looking through the bars, the fog eventually lifted and a somewhat blue sky is the result.
For now.

Before the clouds finally parted, thus allowing some heating, it got down to 62. And very breezy.

Nonetheless, I needed a break from spending this morning down in Glen Rose, by Dinosaur Valley and Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, so I decided to brave the clammy cold and go on a bike ride.

First stop, Chase Bank, where I am proud to say, for the first time since Chase installed their new ATMs, I successfully deposited a check without incident.

Then it was on to Village Creek Natural Historic Area.

Closed. Due to flooding. Again. I decided against driving to River Legacy Park and finding it also closed, so for that reason, and the fact that I realized I was way under-dressed for a bike ride in such extreme chilly conditions, I aborted and came back here.

Where I learned I may be getting incoming from Washington, tomorrow, via Houston, en route to Amarillo and a date with a big steak at the Big Texas Steakhouse. If the logistics work out, I am having lunch tomorrow in the Fort Worth Stockyards with a pair of Pacific Northwesterners. That'll be nice. It has been awhile since I spoke Washington. Over 2 years. I don't know if I can speak Washington, anymore, without a Texas accent.

The latest iteration of The Amazing Race starts up tonight. The Queen of Wink and I are applying to be on The Amazing Race. The Queen will be the brains, doing anything that requires math or any other higher level thought process. While I perform, mainly, as the navigator, due to my uncanny navigational abilities. When our audition video is finished I will put it on YouTube for your viewing pleasure.

Foggy Sunday Swimming In Fort Worth

It is a foggy Sunday, this morning in my zone of North Texas. I suspect the fog is due to yesterday's rain.

The sun is currently trying to pierce through the fog. The birds are in welcome the sun tweet mode, with a sort of air of panic in their tweeting. I suspect the fog makes the birds nervous, what with fog being a bit unusual in these parts. Some of the younger birds may never have seen fog before.

Just opened my blinds. It is lit up out there enough to see that this is the thickest fog I've seen since I've been in Texas. This is on the ocean where-is-that-foghorn-coming-from-to-help-me navigate thickness of fog.

When I took the picture of the foggy pre-dawn view from my patio, I picked up my swimming suit and towel to find that the fog has completely re-dampened them. Which means I must search for a dry alternative swimming suit. And then go swimming. As in right now.

I can not recollect the last time I went on a foggy swim.

Another Trinity River Litter Flood In Fort Worth

That is the Trinity River you are looking at. Those are not white birds floating on the Trinity River that you see in the picture. That is litter you are looking at.

Rain fell in copious amounts last night, finally ceasing sometime past one this afternoon. I grew tired of being cooped up inside, like a stereotypical winter day in the Pacific Northwest, so, around noon, I drove the short distance to Quanah Parker Park to take a walk under an umbrella.

Quanah Parker Park is on the southern banks of the Trinity River.

The Trinity River flooded a few weeks ago, courtesy of Hurricane Hermine, with the highest water I've seen since I've been in Texas. That flood left an astonishing amount of litter on the Trinity's banks in its wake.

One would have thought that North Texas had been power washed clean of litter from the Hermine Flood.

One would have thought wrong.

The Trinity River is back in flood mode, likely not as severe as the previous flood. But, I was appalled and astonished at the amount of litter and debris floating down the river today.

Where does all this junk come from and how did the litter supply get replenished so quickly?

I made a video of the Trinity River Litter Flood. You can watch that below. Make note of what you see floating by at the 1:27 mark. It appears J.D. Granger lost something...

Free Admission Today For Fort Worth's Cultural District Museums

I met a Texan this week who spent 7 years exiled in Seattle working for Boeing. She hated the cold, wet weather. Today in Texas she is experiencing her Washington nightmare, because this rain dripping on us today is like a typical fall/winter day in Western Washington.

I don't know if it will let up enough to go on a walk.

I could go to Fort Worth's goofily named "Cultural District" and do some free museum walking today. This particular Saturday is National Museum Day.

So, today the "Cultural District's" 8 museums are free of admission charges from 10am til 5pm.

And the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, aka "The T" is providing free transport between the museums in the "Cultural District."

I have never been to the Kimball Museum. I've not been to the new Science and History Museum. Nor have I been to, nor had much desire to see, the Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. I have been to the other museums in the "Cultural District."

I think. I know my favorite has been the Amon Carter Museum. And I really like the architecture of the Modern Art Museum. The art, not so much.

So, maybe I will take off and join the museum throngs today for some cultural walking.

Hacking My Way Through The Grass At Fort Worth's Oakland Lake Park

It is looking like I won't be hiking, biking or walking anywhere today, due to a lot of rain coming down this Saturday morning. Combined with lightning, strikes of which cut my morning swim short.

Last night, about an hour before the sun left for the day, I went to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake.

I don't walk much on the paved trail at Oakland Lake Park, other than to get across Fosdic Lake Dam. I like walking on the grass.

A couple weeks ago I aborted walking at Oakland Lake Park, due to the uncut grass, and instead went to the Tandy Hills.

Last night I was surprised to see that the grass at Oakland Lake Park has still not been cut. It is now basically a hayfield awaiting harvesting, as you can see in the picture.

My guess is that the grass is not being cut due to cutting the grass not being in the city budget for August and September, due to the fact that normally the grass is not growing, not green, but instead, totally brown by mid-summer.

It was in the city park's budget to do a lot of, what seemed to be, unneeded cement work, to the paved trail at Oakland Lake Park, in August and September.

And now one needs a machete to walk on the grass at Oakland Lake Park.

Up Late Saturday Morning After State Fair Of Texas Deep Fried Frito Pie Nightmares

I was up late last night, which caused me to get up late this morning, well after the sun got up, as you can see by looking out with me from my bedroom window.

It is Saturday, today and Sunday are days when one is supposed to sleep in, if one is in being conventional mode. Which I usually am not in.

Rain came down hard during the night, accompanied by flashes of light and booming thunder. This disturbance did not last too long.

The State Fair of Texas got off do a dry start yesterday in Dallas. There were long lines waiting to try Deep Fried Frito Pie. There were no reports this morning of public intoxication due to Deep Fried Beer or Deep Fried Margaritas.

Last night, before I got dark, I felt the need to walk. So I went to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake. I did not like what I found there. More on that later.

In the meantime, I am going swimming.

On The Way To Village Creek Noting That Chesapeake Energy Had Nothing To Do With Killing Wapato Lake

Coming up on noon I was worn out from spending too much time in San Antonio.

I decided to take off to the River Legacy Park Mountain Bike Trails.

On the way I changed my mind and instead headed to the Village Creek Natural Historic Area and Bob Findlay Linear Park Pioneer Park Trails, to oxygenate my tired brain by bi-pedaling at high speed.

On the way to Village Creek I take a left from Cooks Lane on to Brentwood Stair Road. At the northeast corner of that intersection there is a Chesapeake Energy pond that is somewhat the same color as the pond you see in the picture.

The pond in the picture is Wapato Lake in Tacoma. When I was in Tacoma, summer of 2008, Wapato Lake was in the news, due to a chemical mistake. The intention had been to add something to kill the algae and clear the lake's water. Instead too much chemical was added, which had the effect of making Wapato Lake ultra-clear.

And murdering all the fish that lived in the lake. And revealing a stolen car. Or two.

No fish have died in the Chesapeake Energy pond. It is a manmade pond. I don't know how many birds have landed in the Chesapeake Energy pond and had themselves a what the hell moment right before they died.

The past few weeks a pump sits beside the Chesapeake Energy Brentwood Stair Pond, with a black pipeline running from the pump to Cooks Lane. You see the black pipeline on the west side of Cooks Lane, but I've not figured out how it gets across that road, from the pond.

I have also not figured out if water is being pumped in or out of the Chesapeake Energy Brentwood Stair Pond.

I do know for certain that Chesapeake Energy had nothing to do with the Wapato Lake disaster.

Morning Of September 24 After Spending The Night Behind Bars Under The Texas Stars

You are looking at the view, early in the morning of September 24, soon after I woke up from my night of sleeping under the stars, behind the bars of my patio.

I do not remember the last time I spent a night outside with no cover. This may be the first time in Texas.

Spending the night outside, in Texas, does not quite have the same appeal as spending a cloudless night outside in Washington. Texas has a more interesting collection of critters that have the potential to disturb ones night's sleep.

However, none disturbed me last night. No lizard or snake slithered into my sleeping bag. No cockroach walked across my face, that I know of. No bug bit me. No squirrel checked me for nuts.

Today, the State Fair of Texas starts up in Dallas. Every year I intend to go to the fair. It's a really big state fair. But every year, but two, since I have been in Texas, the days to go to the state fair dwindle down, without me managing to arrange to attend. This year I am going to make an effort not to let the state fair days dwindle down to none.

I really want to have myself some Deep Fried Beer and a Deep Fried Frito Pie. I think this may help with my ongoing attempt to gain weight.

In the meantime I think I will go swimming, which really does not help with my weight gain program, since it burns calories, rather than add them. It's a conundrum.