Smelling Roses In Arlington's Veterans Park And A Bigger Stink In Fort Worth's MHMR Of Tarrant County

I had to be in Pantego today. Pantego is close to Arlington's Veterans Park. Which had me deciding to go walking in Veterans Park before going to Pantego.

Upon arrival at Veterans Park and exiting my motor transport device I was immediately hit with air heavily perfumed by roses.

It was like being stuck on an elevator with someone with way too much perfume or cologne. Only not annoying.

Those are the smelly roses in the picture, below the waving flags and the soldier guarding them.

I am starting to get ever more annoyed at the Mental Health Mental Retardation of Tarrant County people who make comments regarding the Paradise Center Scandal. I don't mean to be too rude, but they are so incredibly stupid.

One of the issues in this scandal is the fact that the Paradise Center was an independent operation, which MHMR helped. MHMR represented itself as running the operation, which is not true. Then MHMR staged their February 17 coup d'etat, kicking out the Paradise Center and putting their possessions in a storage container.

In the Anonymous comment below, the Anonymous MHMR moron is bragging about all that MHMR is doing to the old Paradise Center. Which begs the question, if the Paradise Center was a MHMR operation why were these good things not done previously, if the quality of the Paradise Center's stuff was so trashy?

Below is the comment I'm talking about, and then below that I do more commenting.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fort Worth's Paradise Center Scandal Now Has A Blog":

No it was not a April Fool's joke. Adults I am around "act like Adults" amd we do not play childish April Fools jokes. We have better things to do with our "Time". Yes, it is true that the new Drop In Center is Upgrading the old Paradise Center Building. Yes, Sam's Club is bringing supplies to us. With the cost of gasoline it is cost effective to have it delivered. The "old couches" were heavily used and Steve (Teresa's Davis husband) had put stacks of boards under the middle of the couches which didn't help much, and definitely made them look "trashy". New couches are ordered to replace the "junk". My understanding MHMRTC actually purchased those and that is why they are still there and not in storage. MHMRTC is replacing them with couches that will hold up to alot of wear, that will hold up to people flopping down on them, and accommodate heavy clients as well. The PROS brag alot, but, it has now been six weeks and Teresa Davis, her so called board, has accomplished very little. Let's see you act like "grownups" and rent your own storage building, rent you a Uhaul and put your own "dumpsters best" items in storage.

Has it occurred to MHMR people that maybe the Paradise Center's lawyers have told them not to touch the stuff that MHMR took possession of and placed in a POD storage container?

Today on the Paradise Center Scandal blog I compiled all the comments to that blog from the past 3 days. It is a daunting task to do that. If I don't figure out an easier way I don't think I'll be doing any  more comment compiling.

It's No April Fool's Joke: Fort Worth Is An All American City Finalist Due To Its Homeless People Programs, Mental Health Programs & Anti-Graffiti Programs

This morning Elsie Hotpepper pointed me towards something really bizarre.

On Wednesday Fort Worth was selected as a finalist in the National Civic League's All-America City Competition.

Along with 25 other cities, most of which I've never heard of, like several towns in California, such as Downey, Dublin, Yucaipa and Huntington Park.

Others I've never heard of include Eden, North Carolina. Dakota County, Nebraska. Dedham, Massachusetts. Belleville, Illinois. Lakeview, Oregon. Taylor Landing, Texas. Cottonwood Heights, Utah. Beloit, Wisconsin. Scott City, Kansas. Marshalltown, Iowa.

And then there are the towns I have heard of, like Cincinnati, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Kenai in Alaska, Torrance in California, Lakewood in Colorado, Tupelo, Ann Arbor and Seaside, Oregon.

Seaside, Oregon? That's just a little coastal town.

The criteria for being on this list is also what makes it very bizarre that Fort Worth is on it.

The cities are picked based on the strength of three specific items. Those being the town's participation in the Directions Home program that addresses the homeless people problem, the Mental Health Connection program, plus something called the We Are Legal Anti-Graffiti program.

Where do I start?

First off, you've got to hear what Fort Worth's goofy mayor, Mike Moncrief said about Fort Worth being in the running for this supposedly prestigious award....

"Fort Worth's credentials are stronger than a horseradish milkshake. Homelessness is not a new problem, but a different solution was certainly in order. Fort Worth was no longer going to sit on the sidelines. It was time to act. The same can be said for our local mental health care system, which was disjointed and ineffective. This community came together and did something about it."

I can't help but wonder if maybe Fort Worth's mayor is possibly insane.

Yes, Fort Worth took a different tack with its homeless population problem than most modern American cities. For instance, there was a functioning Shantytown west of Beach Street that the City of Fort Worth removed, right before the Super Bowl.

The City of Fort Worth's city government has been "studying" the homeless problem for years. Task forces have been sent out to modern American cities like Denver, Portland and Seattle to see how those towns handle the homeless. And then the task force comes back to Fort Worth where nothing changes.

The community came together and did something about Fort Worth's disjointed, ineffective mental health care system?

Really?

Because Fort Worth does not have a real newspaper the mayor of Fort Worth likely has not heard of the MHMR-TC shenanigans and the Paradise Center Scandal. How did the community come together and do something about Fort Worth's ineffective mental health care system? By sitting mute while the county mental health agency booted out a well-functioning mental health facility because that facility would not go along with an insurance monetizing scheme?

And what is it that Fort Worth has done about the graffiti problem?

Fort Worth's credentials are stronger than a horseradish milkshake? Does no one check over Fort Worth's mayor's press releases before they get released, to reduce the goofiness quotient?

Note to the National Civic League: On June 17 in Kansas City,  Missouri, if you pick Fort Worth as an All-American City based on your stated criteria, you will have rendered your All-American City Award meaningless.

65 Degrees With A Red Flag Warning On The First Thursday Of April In North Texas

As you can clearly see, looking out one of my viewing portals on the world, this first Thursday of April, it is a relatively balmy 65 degrees outside.

And, for some reason, the outdoor world seems to be glowing with a greenish tint.

Currently in North Texas we are under what the National Weather Service calls a Red Flag Warning. This means wildfires are easily started due to the dry conditions.

So far no wildfires have erupted near enough to me that I have smelled that distinctly acrid odor.

I have no idea what lays ahead for me today. Except for the fact that I am going swimming at this point in time.

Talk to you later.

Hiking Among The Tandy Hills Prickly Pear Cactus Thinking About Being Up A Creek With TRV MHMR SFRF FWW & Other Initials

In the picture you are with me today around noon, face to face with a patch of prickly pear cactus prickling up the Tandy Hills.

It was a perfect hiking temperature today, with a strong wind blowing.

This morning's swim was also perfect with the water warmer than the air.

I've been a blogging/websiting maniac today, on my blogs and other blogs, that are sort of like my secret secondary blogs.

I think all the commenting on the Paradise Center Scandal Blog is the most of that type activity I've experienced since years ago when I inadvertently caused myself the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival Brouhaha of over the top silly reaction.

The Scarborough Brouhaha was pretty much silly nonsense. The Paradise Center Scandal brouhaha is not something silly, it's something serious that sort of is like a boil on the festering sore that is the dark side of the Fort Worth Way of how the city and county government operate, with little accountability and zero transparency.

Meanwhile, on a brighter note, FW Weekly has an excellent article about Tarrant County's fiesty firebrand, Layla Caraway, and her multi-year battle to get Fort Worth and Tarrant County to wake up and face the water.

Read "TRV's Up a Creek: As the Trinity River moves right along, local communities still aren't  safe from floods" in this week's FW Weekly, the closest thing Fort Worth has to a real newspaper.

Up With The Texas Sun On The 1st Thursday Of April

UPDATE: I was time traveling on Wednesday, shifting ahead 24 hours.

The sun and I got up about the same time this morning, which you can sort of see from the picture I took when I stepped outside to recover my swimming suit.

This 1st Thursday of April is currently heated to 54 degrees, heading to a high today somewhere in the 80s.

Heard from the Scrabble Queen of Washington this morning. describing something I could not do in my current location where this is no ferry to ride to an island to go to a restaurant.

The Scrabble Queen said...

Went to Lummi Island to a restaurant called the Willows. Fantastic dinner - a little like French Laundry in Napa - everyone ate the same meal, lots of courses. They used a lot of rocks from the beach. Some were on a plate with water - frozen, with oysters on the half shell. Heated rocks under the bread. Big rock with radish and dip served on it, very fun.

Okay, that all sort of made me homesick for a ferry ride, being out on the San Juan Islands and having fresh Puget Sound oysters. I can't remember when I last had oysters.

Maybe I will find some shellfish on the Tandy Hills today. But, before that, I am going swimming with the tweeting birds.

A Yellow Flower Blooms On The Tandy Hills While The Paradise Center Re-Opens

Today there was pretty much nothing wet that would make one think it rained an inch or more on the Tandy Hills during Monday's Thunderstorm.

Monday's short bout of wetness seems to have activated some new wildflower activity. Like the yellow wildflowers you see in the picture, that appear to grow out of a rock.

These particular yellow wildflowers may be my favorite. The blooms are relatively large, wildflower-wise, about 3 or 4 inches across.

I mentioned yesterday that I might soon have good news to report regarding the Paradise Center. I got the go ahead to spread that good news this morning. And so I did on The Paradise Scandal blog. You can read the long version there. Short version, they have found a new location for the center and are moving in.

I called the Phoenix zone whilst driving to the Tandy Hills today. I called my sister in Chandler. My mom and and were at my sister's. I got an email a couple days ago, from my sister, because they'd had their first 100 degree day and my mom wanted me to make it there by early May at the latest.

Or wait til September or October. I think my mom remembered I live in Tornado Alley and spring is tornado season.

The plan is for me to fly to Phoenix and then drive back to Texas.

Did I mention that that bright yellow wildflower, at the top, is a perfect metaphor for my currently sunny disposition?

Well, it is.

Insomnia On The First Tuesday Of April Only 7 Degrees Above Freezing In Texas

Looking out one of my viewing portals on the world, on the first Tuesday of April, you can see it is yet one more clear blue sky morning in Texas.

What you can't see is that it is only 41 degrees out there.

I had myself an Insomnia Night last night. When I finally managed to go into slumber mode I had myself an extremely detailed nightmare. Nazis were involved. I now sort of know what it is like when Nazis take over your town.

I see the Tandy Hills in my future for today. Yesterday's wind should have dried the hills.

The ubiquitous Anonymous left a  comment on yesterday's blogging about walking around Fosdic Lake, asking....

How close is Fosdic Lake to a drilling site? I'm just saying... 

I did not understand the premise of the question til I looked, just now, at what I said in the blogging. So, I guess Anonymous is suggesting my miserable cold like symptoms may have been being caused by a Barnett Shale Natural Gas drilling site being near Fosdic Lake.

Well, there is one a fairly short distance to the northwest of Fosdic Lake, maybe a quarter mile distant. I live closer than that to a Chesapeake Energy drilling site. I suspect it is the culprit behind my occasional misery.

Regarding my feeling miserable, the symptoms have abated, so far, this morning.

I don't know about going swimming this morning, with it now only 7 degrees above freezing, having dropped 2 degrees since I woke up the computer. I'll probably give it a try because the water is going to feel so much warmer than 37.

I will let you know how that goes, later.

Walking Around Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake Experiencing Misery Symptoms

That is Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park you are looking at in the picture. Fosdic Lake is about a half mile east of the top of Mount Tandy.

I figured the thunderstorm that rolled in after midnight may have muddied up the parched Tandy Hills. So, walking around Fosdic Lake was my default choice today for some salubrious aerobicizing.

It is slightly hilly in the park that surrounds Fosdic Lake. And there are some long paved stairs that provide some verticality.

It is only 63 degrees right now at around half past 3. This morning when I went swimming it was 54 and very windy. The water in the pool was quite a bit warmer than the air. It was very pleasant.

I've got my windows open, with a nice breeze blowing. You'd think I'd be feeling real good.

However, I am having what seem to be incoming cold symptoms. It has been so long since I've been sick I don't quite remember for sure what it feels like. Something is irritating my eyes, I seem to be sniffling and stifling the impulse to sneeze. And there is a burning sensation in my throat.

Maybe it's just the heavily polluted air that I breathe, having a worse effect than usual.

If I get sick I'm going to be very, very cranky.

Swimming In The Wind On The 4th Day Of April In Stormy Texas

Well. The 4th day of April has been a noisy one, so far. You can't hear the noise looking at the picture of one of my outdoor viewing platforms on the world.

Some point in time before 5 this morning I was startled out of a peaceful slumber by the concussive boom of thunder.

Thunder kept concussively booming for well over an hour, non-stop, flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder.

With heavy rain.

The heavy rain prompted the National Weather Service to issue what I believe to be its first flood advisory for Tarrant County this year.

Along with the rain and thunder it was very windy, with gusts up to 60 mph. It is still be windy out there.

I suspect there will be no Tandy Hill hiking for me today, due to wetness.

Speaking of Tandy Hill hiking, someone Anonymous made an amusing comment regarding me saying I was going to be leaving Texas. For some reason someone Anonymous repeated the comment 3 times.

Someone Anonymous said....

Say it ain't so, Durango. Your wit, your unapologetic criticism of the Fort Worth Way, fill a gaping void. Besides, where else could you go that would give you so much blogging material? Chicago, maybe, is more corrupt. But only because it's older. Somebody, find another hill for this man to climb!

Since I don't currently have a hill to climb, I think I will go swimming in the wind.

On Top Of Fort Worth's Mount Tandy Thinking About Hiking Washington Cascade Mountain Trails

We are on top of Mount Tandy, in the picture, looking west at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

Looking at this view it seems unlikely that this setting is in a town of over 700,000, with beautiful downtown Fort Worth being only about 3 miles distant.

Just to the north of the top of Mount Tandy, on the other side of the I-30 freeway, sits Gateway Park. Gateway Park is where J.D. Granger is busily planting 80,000 Magic Flood Stopping Trees in his personal mission to save Arlington from any excess flooding  brought courtesy of J.D.'s Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Has anyone seen any of the Gateway Park Magic Trees that J.D. says he's planted?

I heard a "peep" from a fairly reliable source this morning regarding the Paradise Center. I think we may be hearing some good news about this scandal soon. Real good news. Non-profit organizations doing good works are always grateful when what is known as an "Angel Donor" comes along. I believe such an "Angel" has appeared in Fort Worth.

Let's leave the Paradise Center and go back to the Tandy Hills.

Someone Anonymous asked me a question in a comment to my April Fool's Day blogging.

I said, "Today is the day that in the past I've announced I am moving out of Texas. And then at some point in the day someone realizes this is my idea of an April Fool's joke. Well, this year it is no joke. I am moving out of Texas. I just don't know exactly when."

To which the Anonymous commenter asked...

"Are you really going? Have you hiked the Tandy Hills enough that you need some new terrain? will the next blog be durangocolorado?"

Yes, I believe I will be leaving Texas, likely sooner than later. I do not believe I will be moving to Colorado. I don't think I could have a Durango Colorado blog, as that name is likely taken because there is a town called Durango in Colorado, just like there is a town called Durango in Texas, which I did not know when I got my durangotexas.com domain. I did know there was a town in Texas called Durango, by the time I started my Durango Texas blog.

As for hiking different terrain. I was wondering just yesterday how well I'd handle the Cascade Mountain trails that I hiked when I lived in Washington. I lived pretty much at sea level when I lived in Washington. In Texas I think I'm around 500 feet above sea level most of the time. Has this made my lung power slightly stronger? I have no idea.

I don't know which of my favorite Washington hikes I'd choose to go on if I had time for only one. Maybe Green Mountain, due to the cool firewatch station at the top and the amazing view of the sea of peaks and the views of Washington's least seen volcano, Glacier Peak.

Hiking up Mount Baker from Schrieber's Meadow is the Washington hike I've probably done more than any other. In the fall you can pick wild blueberries on Schrieber's Meadow.

Must cease thinking about Cascade Mountain hikes now or I'll slip into a state of melancholy homesickness.

I think I'll go swimming and lounge in the sun.