A Dark Dreary Raining Last Sunday Of March In North Texas

In the picture you are looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, looking west from the Tandy Hills, today around noon.

As you can see it is a bit overcast. An extremely light slight drizzle dripped on me while I did my hill hiking today.

And now, coming up on 3 in the afternoon, the first big drops of rain I've seen this month are falling. Currently not in copious amounts. I don't know if this rain is hitting the official measuring station at D/FW Airport. Or if it will add up to enough to bring the total above the current record low for North Texas, set back in March of 1926.

I just heard a big BOOM of thunder. That's the first thunder boom I've heard in a long time.

It is now raining hard enough that it will quickly accumulate more than .1 of an inch, and then go on to break the .2 record low.

It has not gotten above 50 today. Right now it is colder than when I went swimming this morning. At that point in time the water was warmer than the air.

I don't see myself swimming tomorrow morning. And if this rain keeps up there will be no hill hiking tomorrow either.

Which means by about 2 in the afternoon I will be being cranky from extreme endorphin withdrawal.

Okay, we are now in downpour mode. But there have been no more thunder booms.

Have I ever mentioned I really like a good storm?

It has now let up. That was a rainstorm of very short duration. And the only thunderstorm I remember that had only one boom.

Up With The Sun On The Last Sunday Of March Thinking About Being In A Dallas Jail

I stepped outside to take a picture of the outside view at about the same time the sun started to arrive on this last Sunday of March of 2011.

Now that the sun has done its daily illuminating duty I can see we are under a bit of a cloud cover.

I do not believe any rain has fallen, so we are still on course for a record breaking lack of rain for a March in North Texas.

Rain is in the forecast for the next several days. It won't take much, only .01 to tie the 1926 March rain total.

I think I have previously mentioned that the Dallas Morning News online has gotten very annoying. Not satisfied with generating revenue via ads, the DMN online now only gives limited access, unless you pay a monthly fee.

This morning on the Dallas Morning News this headline caught my eye...

"Three years since being declared innocent, mans waits for ruling to set him free"

I clicked on the link and was able to read this....

"Three years have passed since State District Judge Rick Magnis found that Ben Spencer was innocent of a March 1987 deadly robbery in West Dallas. But Spencer, 46, still sits behind bars because the Court of Criminal Appeals hasn’t ruled on the judge’s recommendation that his conviction and life sentence...."

Before I came to this....

"Get Subscriber Content access to read this story."

I would think that the Dallas Morning News webstats are likely way down, which likely has led to a big drop in their online ad revenue.

I think it is time to go swimming now.

On Wednesday TRIP Invites You To Fort Worth's Historic Stagecoach Ballroom For The World Premiere Of The Movie Documentary "Up A Creek"

This coming Wednesday you will likely find me at Fort Worth's historic Stagecoach Ballroom.

No, I am not going to be at the historic Stagecoach Ballroom to dance with Dancing with the Stars' Edyta Sliwinska and Alec Mazo. That pair will be giving dance lessons at Fort Worth's non-historic Universe Ballroom.

I had no idea, til today, that Fort Worth had ballrooms.

On Wednesday you can join me, if I show up, at the historic Stagecoach Ballroom to watch the world premiere of the documentary movie "Up a Creek."

"Up a Creek" looks at various impacts of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

I do not know if "Up a Creek" includes footage of the infamous J.D. Granger UTA breakdown.

I have no idea what this documentary movie is rated. But, since it's about Fort Worth I expect it to be filthy, with a lot of trashy stuff shown.

The historic Stagecoach Ballroom is located at 2516 E. Belknap in Fort Worth. You can easily find directions by Googling "Stagecoach Ballroom Fort Worth." That is how I found out where the historic Stagecoach Ballroom is located.

On Wednesday, March 30, 2011, doors open at 6:30 p.m. with "Up a Creek" screening at 7:00 p.m.

This is a TRIP event. TRIP is an acronym for Trinity River Improvement Project. TRIP is a non-partisan, non-profit organization which advocates cleaning the Trinity River, while supporting development that does not spoil the natural aesthetics and historic nature of the river.

Go to the TRIP website for more information.

Hot Tandy Hills Hiking In Fort Worth With My Mom & Dad Gone Missing In Arizona

I remembered my camera today when I went hiking on the Tandy Hills. My co-hiker also remembered her camera, hence the picture of me hiking.

You can sort of tell from the picture that it is a warm day on the hills.

I think with all the hill hiking I do and all the swimming I do that I am eventually going to get myself in good shape and eventually lose all my unsightly weight gain.

I think I may go for an afternoon swim. It is 80 something out there right now, with a clear blue sky, which should make for some good sun lounging.

I called my mom and dad on Wednesday when I got gas in Hurst. My one longtime reader may remember I call my mom and dad whenever I get gas. They were not home when I called. Usually my mom then calls me back later in the day.

I'd forgotten about the Wednesday gas call when I got gas again today and called my mom and dad and again got the answering machine.

I guess I shall call my sister who lives in Chandler to find out what's up with my mom and dad. My mom and dad live in Sun Lake. About 8 miles, I think, from my sister's house. Chandler and Sun Lake are Phoenix suburbs.

I will likely hear from Betty Jo Bouvier now, harping about me going to Arizona to see my mom and dad.

In the meantime I'm going to go swimming and lay on a lounge chair for awhile.

The Shadow Of The Skinny Dipping Thin Man Staying Dry In Texas Thanks To La Niña

As you can see, looking past the Shadow of the Skinny Dipping Thin Man, I am up way before the sun on the last Saturday of March of 2011.

It is currently 66 degrees.

Yesterday it got so HOT I turned on the A/C for the first time this year and learned my A/C is in malfunction mode, quickly in need of repair in case we get hit with a real HEAT wave.

The Pacific Ocean has been in La Niña mode for awhile now.

I forget what La Niña does to the weather in Washington. I think El Nino is when the West Coast gets hit with Pineapple Express rainstorms.

In Texas La Niña means drought. As in if it does not rain this week, March of 2011 will break the record as the driest in recorded history. We have had only .01 inch of rain this month, as measured at the official measuring station at D/FW Airport.

The previous record was .02 inches of rain, way back in March of 1926. I don't know where the official measuring station was back then. I know it was not at D/FW Airport, because the airport did not exist then.

All my previous Springs in Texas have been the wild weather time of the year, with big thunderstorms, tornadoes, torrential rains, windstorms.

I don't remember the last time I heard thunder or a tornado siren.

I hear the birds starting to chirp, which means the sun is arriving, which means I am going swimming in a few minutes.

Missing My Camera On The Tandy Hills Looking At The Stunning Skyline Of Beautiful Downtown Fort Worth

You are looking at a rare middle of the afternoon view through the bars of my patio prison cell.

As you can see it is yet one more nice blue sky day in North Texas. Heated, currently, to 83 degrees.

More often than not at this time of the day I have downloaded a picture taken on the Tandy Hills, Veterans Park, Village Creek Natural Historic Area, or some other park.

I went hiking on the Tandy Hills today. The hike went much longer than the norm. Longer than the norm because of my picture taking camera.

I was at the western most part of today's Tandy Hills hike, looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth. I reached into my pocket to get my camera to take a picture of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

But.

There was no camera.

Earlier on today's hike, heading down a steep trail, I had a bit of a stumble. I did not fall. But I stumbled enough that I thought the camera may have fallen out of its pocket.

So, I backtracked to the scene of the stumble.

No camera.

When I got back to my current location I was not too shocked to see my camera sitting in its usual location on my desk.

I am pleased to report that overnight the wildflowers have suddenly grown more numerous. I saw several large patches of bluebonnets along the freeway. Indian paintbrush is sprouting out in large numbers on top of Mount Tandy. I think it is going to be a good wildflower season after all.

The Last Friday Of March Swimming, Blogging, Website Updating, Hill Hiking & Calling A Plumber

Looking up from behind the bars of my patio prison cell we see a bright white celestial orb hanging high.

Due to the extreme darkness you likely can guess I am up early on this final Friday of March of 2011.

It is a pleasant 61 degrees outside right now.

The sun is beginning to arrive, doing its daily lighting duty. Soon it will be bright enough for my morning swim.

Other than swimming, blogging, website updating, hill hiking and calling a plumber I have no clue what I'm going to do today.

I think I'll knock the swimming thing off my to-do list right now.

Talk to you later....

On The Tandy Hills With A Gorilla & No Answers Blowing In The Wind

That is today's new Tandy Hills wildflower you're looking at on the left.

I was late to the hills today, due to a lot of distractions.

When I don't get my usual aerobic stimulation and its resultant endorphin fix, I get cranky.

Today Elsie Hotpepper sent me an invitation to go saloon hopping next Wednesday. Saloon hopping in the middle of the week seems borderline decadent to me.

The Paradise Center Scandal continues to astonish me with the amount of comments and level of vitriol. The people commenting who associate themselves with the MHMR-TC agency come across as so incredibly dumb, logic and grammar challenged.

While the proponents of the Paradise Center sound so reasonable.

Today one of the dumb Anonymous MHMR-TC con comments had a double-negative that rendered it amusing, meaning the opposite of what the commenter intended. I'll go see if I can find the double-negative sentence.

Okay, there have been a lot of comments from Anonymous today along the theme that MHMR is moving on and will no longer be commenting on the Paradise Center issue.

Anonymous said, "Well, Folks the Grownups are not feeling a need to no longer speak with you."

Not feeling a need to no longer speak? Which means you are now feeling a need to speak.

Anyway, it's been a day. Started off good with a nice soothing swim.

Driving back from the Tandy Hills I saw something on top of my neighborhood Firestone store, next to my neighborhood Chevron that appeared to be a perfect visual metaphor for the MHMR Bullycrat thugs.

A big gorilla waving a shark in the air.

I have no idea why the big gorilla is there. Or how it got the shark. But it sure looked weird blowing in the wind.

I wish there was an answer blowing in the wind to all that perplexes me.

But there isn't. Windows open. Wind blowing. No answers.

Up Late With A Mind Gone Blank In Texas

I am looking out my viewing portal on the world well after the arrival of the sun on this next to the last Thursday of March of 2011.

I have no idea what caused my late arrival on my latest day on the planet.

My current state of mind is a total blank.

So, I think I will go swimming. And hope the cold stimulates my synapses.

It is an almost chilly 52 degrees right now.

The Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man Thinking About Seattle, Elizabeth Taylor & The Paradise Center Scandal

I have had myself a long day. And it's only a little past 6. I was up way before the sun this morning. In the pool for a long swim soon after the sun arrived. Up in Hurst in the noon time frame, which put me late on the Tandy Hills.

Hence the long Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man. It was semi-HOT on the hills today. In the 80s.

I encountered a pair of humans on the hills today. It sort of startled me. I was lost in my thoughts when suddenly a pair of what appeared to be hippies, who may have been living on the Tandy Hills since the 1960s, were right in front of me.

This may have been some sort of ghostly apparition.

The Paradise Center Scandal continues to be scandalous. I've written, maybe, 20 postings on this subject, on two blogs. These postings are generating dozens of comments a day. Putting it all together it becomes sort of a soap opera. You have villains, heroes, good guys, bad guys, nutcases and really creepy creeps.

The news of Elizabeth Taylor's passing really hit me today. The last star of the Golden Age of Hollywood. I just watched "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" a couple weeks ago. Elizabeth Taylor may have been at her peak in that movie. As was Paul Newman. Now they are both gone. It's depressing. To me, this is the saddest passing since Jackie Kennedy died.

Speaking of making me feel old, this morning Betty Jo Bouvier sent me a link to a funny YouTube video about "Fun Seattle Stuff You May Remember."

I remembered a lot of it. And put it on my Washington Blog. When I watched the "We Love It In Seattle" video I could not help but wonder if such a video could be made with Fort Worth material. Methinks not. Were Elvis or the Beatles ever in Fort Worth? Any killer whales make their debut on the Fort Worth waterfront?

Anyway, I have had myself a day and I still have hours to go.

You can watch the "We Love It In Seattle" video below....