71 Degrees This Morning In Balmy Texas While Washington Has Record Breaking Lows & Snow

The morning before Thanksgiving, November 24, outside, looking through my patio prison cells bars at my tropical Texas paradise, with the temperature a balmy 71, windows open all night.

Meanwhile up in my old location in the frigid north, the Seattle zone is shivering at 16 degrees, with it expected to get colder, as in record breaking cold. With more snow. The deep freeze and snow of the last couple days in the Pacific Northwest has overwhelmed crews trying to keep roads open.

Tropical Texas, well, my zone of Tropical Texas, is scheduled to get frozen on Thanksgiving, with a predicted low tomorrow of 27 with a high of 44, with precipitation. I assume not in the form of iced crystals.

So, I guess I need to go swimming this morning while the pool remains at a pleasant temperature.

After the swimming I need to do some cooking to get ready for tomorrow's Turkey Buffet.

Day 11 In A Row Of Not Getting In Shape Hiking The Tandy Hills

Winter is fast approaching, in a week it will be December. Yet, today on Day 11 in a row of hiking on the Tandy Hills I saw a newly bloomed wildflower.

The yellow flower you see in the picture, blooming solo, the only bloom to be seen in any direction from its location.

Eleven days in a row of hiking may be a record. I'm not sure. I have memory issues.

The excessive hiking had been part of my campaign to get in shape and rid myself of unsightly excess adipose tissue.

Last night, thanks to Don Young, I learned that all my swimming, hiking, biking and all the other various aerobic strains I put myself through are likely all totally futile, due to the fact that I am likely genetically doomed to be physiologically unable to get in shape.

Don Young sent me a link to a New York Times article titled "Phys-Ed: The Workout Enigma" which detailed the findings of Finnish research into the reasons why, no matter what people like me do, there is no way we can get can get to a shape level commonly known as buff. Or those 6 pack ab deals that are considered a mark of being in good shape.

The first two discouraging sentences of the article are...

Recently, researchers in Finland made the discovery that some people’s bodies do not respond as expected to weight training, others don’t respond to endurance exercise and, in some lamentable cases, some don’t respond to either. In other words, there are those who just do not become fitter or stronger, no matter what exercise they undertake.

Well, at least I now know why, after all these years of heavy duty exercise, eating healthy and taking my vitamins, I am still a high blood pressured mess with baby fat.

I guess I should thank Don Young for showing me the light. I won't let this new reality stop me from doing my hill hiking or swimming. I find both to be relaxing and fun, even if all that activity is doing nothing for me, getting in shape-wise.

November 23 Looking At A Warm Clear Blue Texas Morning While Washington Freezes At 19 Degrees

Looking out my window at the pool through the bars of my patio prison cell this morning, Tuesday, November 23, at a clear blue Texas sky, currently 3 degrees shy of 60.

Meanwhile up in my old home zone Washingtonians are in a deep freeze of 19 degrees, with roads iced over, schools closed, power out, more snow expected, with a very rare blizzard scheduled to slam Eastern Washington today.

It is a little unusual to get this type of heavy duty winter weather action in the lowlands of Washington before the arrival of winter. I do remember a heavy duty storm, back in the 1990s, known as the Thanksgiving Day Storm. If I remember right this was a Pineapple Express Storm, courtesy of El Nino, or was it El Nina, that dumped a lot of snow in the mountains and rain in the lowlands, and then rising temperatures melting snow in the Cascades, which caused epic flooding.

I recollect sandbagging way past midnight to save downtown Mount Vernon from getting flooded. And then when the Skagit River reached its crest point the next morning it suddenly dropped a couple feet. A dike had broken down river.

And then 2 weeks later it all happened again, another massive flood. I don't remember if it was the first flood or the second one that sank the I-90 Floating Bridge.

Anyway, weather drama is way different in Washington than Texas weather drama. Texas weather drama can be very sudden and very violent. Washington weather drama can play out over days, with a slow build ending in a big mess.

I suspect I will not be experiencing any weather drama in Texas today.

81 Degrees Monday Afternoon In Fort Worth While 28 In Tacoma

Seconds ago I checked in on Facebook and saw that former Fort Worth native, now in exile in Tacoma, Mary Bishop Kellogg, shared the chilly information that it was currently 28 degrees in Tacoma.

One of MBK's Facebook Friends, Evelyne Schwarz Neimand, then felt compelled to comment that it was currently 81 in Fort Worth. I felt compelled to make the same comment, even before I saw Evelyne Schwarz Neimand's 81 degree comment.

I do not know what dire events conspired to take MBK from the balmy paradise known as Fort Worth, and has her currently incarcerated in that chilly Northwest town known for churning out crazy, Tacoma.

I do know that MBK has totally adjusted to the Pacific Northwest lifestyle. Hopping ferries to go pick fruit. Canning and preserving the ample, readily available fruits and vegetables that grow all over the the Northwest.  Just reading what MBK is cooking, canning and baking makes me homesick, at times.

I hope the Arctic Blast currently chilling Tacoma, does not put a damper on MBK's constant food preservation endeavors.

Climbing To The Top Of The Fort Worth Space Needle On Top Of Mount Tandy

I was peacefully deep into a salubrious endorphin trance, on my 10th day in a row of hiking the Tandy Hills, in a desperate attempt to get myself in shape, when, as I was hiking across Lost Sunglasses Ridge, I heard a lot of shouting.

I looked in the direction of the shouting and saw what I thought might be human forms on the Fort Worth Space Needle that sits atop Mount Tandy.

I'd not parked at the top of Mount Tandy for this particular excursion, I was parked on View Street. I'd not intended to hike to the top of Mount Tandy.

But, seeing someone climbing the Fort Worth Space Needle motivated me to get closer.

As you can see in the picture, there are 3 guys on the tower. They seemed to be clipped on to the structure. I could not tell what they were doing. They did not move up or down while I was watching.

The top of the Fort Worth Space Needle does not have a revolving restaurant. You have to bring your own sack lunch to the top and do your own rotating.

A few days ago I ran into a raven-haired, red lip-sticked beauty, with a dog, on top of Mount Tandy, underneath the Fort Worth Space Needle. This was the first day I had seen all the cable on the ground, with it apparent the tower was being worked on.

The raven-haired beauty told me the support cables were being replaced. And that the day before she'd watched a guy, part way up the tower, go into panic mode when he ran into a hive of bees who were not happy to see him. She also told me she had a friend who worked for whoever maintains the tower and that he was barely on the job when he had to climb to the top of the Fort Worth Space Needle.

Which I believe is something like 1,000 feet tall. He told the raven-haired beauty that the tower swayed at the top, even when it was not windy. When her friend was back on the ground he vowed to never climb such a thing again.

It was quite windy on the Tandy Hills today, which makes it a bit surprising that ascending the Fort Worth Space Needle was being attempted.

I do not know how much money it would take to motivate me to climb to the top of the Fort Worth Space Needle. Maybe a million, half up front.

Today Is The 47th Anniversary of JFK's Assassination In Dallas

The happy scene above, in Dallas, was taking place a little less than 47 years and two hours ago. November 22, 2010 marks the 47th Anniversary of the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 2nd or 3rd of major jolts of the 1960s, a decade that was to provide America and the world with a lot of jolting experiences, some bad, like Wars, Assassinations and Riots. Some good like Space Missions, Color TV and Hippies.

I was at Dealey Plaza for the 40th Anniversary of the JFK Assassination, along with thousands of others. It was a poignant, eerie, macabre scene. Security was very tight, I think due to this taking place just 2 years after 9/11. Just at the moment marking the exact time of the assassination, a Dallas Police Swat Team showed up in full armor. That was the macabre part of the day.

A man from Longview, Texas, born less than a month after the assassination, had a good letter to the editor in this morning's Dallas Morning News, in which he paraphrased JFK's famous "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," line from his Inauguration Speech on a snowy January day in 1961.

Below is the letter from Longview, and below that is the video I made of this day in 2003....

Today marks 47 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on the streets of downtown Dallas. I was born just 22 days later, on Dec. 14, 1963. 

When he was killed, Kennedy was smiling and waving to thousands of spectators along that motorcade route. He was 46 years old. Now, I am 46 myself. A few days ago, I was traveling by car in Dealey Plaza. I glanced over at the old Texas Book Depository Building, and then I looked down at the roadway at the "x" that I have seen so many times. Many people are frozen in grief, wondering what might have been if Kennedy had not been shot. 

I share that grief. But I look at that spot with fresh eyes as a 46-year-old today: The dream did not die. The vision of a brighter future did not die. The man's legacy lives on.

To broadly paraphrase and adapt one of Kennedy's sayings: "Ask not what types of bereavement are associated with Dealey Plaza. Ask yourself how you can turn the page and make this country a better place for all mankind."

James A. Marples, Longview

Another Warm November Monday Morning In Texas

As you can see, looking out my computer room window, on Monday morning of November 22, it is not snowing.

Currently it is 69 degrees out there. Meanwhile, up in Seattle, right now, it is 30 degrees, with 1 to 3 inches of snow predicted, with the mass transit systems running in weather emergency mode this morning.

I do not know if clouds are predicted to be part of the weather mix on Thursday in my zone of Texas. But, I do know the predicted low is 30. So, if clouds are in the mix, I suppose there is a chance we might get to have a White Thanksgiving here.

Don Young sent me an email last night, subject line: what's up, message: with your website?

I did not know anything was up with my website. This morning when I checked there appeared to be no problem. But, my immediate reaction when seeing the what's up question was a feeling of panic and dread that this meant I'd been hacked again.

I have no major plans for today. I suspect there will be larger than the usual Monday crowds this morning at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, what with today being the 47th Anniversary of the Assassination of JFK. I won't be among them.

Sliding On The Mount Aggie Ski Resort In College Station Texas

You are looking at Mount Aggie. A destination ski resort on top of a mountain in Texas.

I did not know of the existence of Mount Aggie til this morning, when I was informed about this heretofore, unknown to me, Texas  mountain, informed by my #1 information source about the things I don't know about Texas, he being my fellow Washington transplant who goes by the name of Steve A.

Yesterday I blogged about the opening of the Mount Baker Ski Resort (in Washington) on Saturday.

I said, regarding Saturday's snowfall in Washington, "I do know the Mount Baker Ski Area opened yesterday. That is a sentence I could not type in Texas, as in the Mount Somewhere in Texas Ski Area opened yesterday."

To which Steve A corrected my erroneousness by telling me...

"Mount Aggie in College Station is open year round. Not a real challenging slope, however."

I have not been down to College Station, even though I would like to visit the George Bush Presidential Library. I certainly did not know of the existence of a mountain in College Station.

The Mount Aggie Ski Resort has a website. It was there I learned that "outdoor skiing is also available year-round to students at Texas A & M, who ski on a plastic slope known as Mount Aggie."

Mount Aggie is located on the southwest side of Read Arena at the end of Penberthy Road, east of the George Bush Library.

I watched a couple videos of Texans "skiing" on Mount Aggie. In one of the videos a guy is heard to yell that this was the most fun he has ever had sliding on wet carpet. In none of the videos did I make note of chair lifts or rope tows taking skiers to the top of Mount Aggie.

In the YouTube video below you will see some Texans having winter-like, snow-like fun, on Mount Aggie, in Texas...

Hiking The Colorful Tandy Hills Thinking About Big Rocks & Getting Scalded

As you can see, the Tandy Hills are alive with the sound of color. The chirping music of singing birds, not so much. I would have thought the birds have flown south for the winter, but that's where they already are.

Today marked Day 9 in a row of hiking the Tandy Hills. I believe 11 is my record. If I keep this up I may lose the unsightly weight gain that motivated me to make my DurangObestity Blog. Or not.

This morning I went to Beacon Rock on my Durango Washington Blog. Beacon Rock is a big rock, some say second only to the Rock of Gibraltar. Others beg do differ.

Where does Enchanted Rock in Texas fit in in this world-wide big rock sweepstakes?

This morning I managed to go swimming for the first time in over a week. The 24 hour temperature average had been way over 50 degrees, thus rendering the water swimmable. However, something has malfunctioned with my hot tub's thermostat. I jumped out of the cold water and into the hot and instantly experienced what a live crab must feel like when it gets thrown into the cooking pot. The thermometer informed me that the hot tub temperature was 180.

It's time for lunch. Burgers on Whole Wheat Buns, Red Pepper/Tomato Salad, Baked Sweet Potato Slices & Waldorf Salad made with low-fat Vanilla Yogurt, rather than mayonnaise. Buzzers buzzing. Lunch is ready.

Up Early On A Balmy Sunday Texas Morning Thinking About A Snowy Washington Volcano

I'm up about the same time as the sun, this Sunday morning of November 21.

As you can see, looking through my patio prison cell bars, there is no steam currently fuming from my hot tub. There is no steam fuming because the temperature this morning is a balmy 63.

The temperature got into the 70s yesterday. This should mean the water in the pool has warmed enough to be swimmable. I will test that possibly debatable theory in a short while.

The current forecast for Thursday and Friday of this week is for it to freeze in my zone of Texas for the first time of this freezing part of the year.

Meanwhile up in my old location, in the usually semi-warm Western Washington, the north part of Puget Sound, in the Bellingham zone, saw a lot of snow blow in. Flurries dropped some flakes on areas of the rest of the Puget Sound zone. I do not know if the area I lived in, known as The Banana Belt, due to it being an area less frequented by snow than the areas to the north and south, got any snow yesterday.

I do know the Mount Baker Ski Area opened yesterday. That is a sentence I could not type in Texas, as in the Mount Somewhere in Texas Ski Area opened yesterday. On my Durango Washington Blog, yesterday, I blogged about Mount Baker, it being the snowiest place on the planet, with a record breaking 95 feet recorded in 1999.

In winter I used to be able to look out my kitchen window and see the Mount Baker volcano. In Texas when I look out a window I do not see any volcanoes.

It is time to go skiing now, I mean swimming.