Today's Prairie Fest Opens At 10 With Strong T-Storms Scheduled For This Afternoon

Looking out my number one viewing portal on the world you can sort of see that the next to last Saturday of April has dawned fairly calm with a fairly clear sky. The current calm bodes well for the final setting up for today's Prairie Fest on the Tandy Hills.

The Prairie Fest opens at 10.

I am scheduled to do some booth sitting starting at 2.

Mother Nature is currently scheduled to deliver a strong afternoon t-storm.

Lately none of Mother Nature's scheduled t-storms have arrived on schedule.

For the sake of the Prairie Fest let's hope Mother Nature holds off on today's scheduled t-storm.

Having a pessimistic, gloomy nature, such as I possess, I have a strong feeling I am going to get drenched this afternoon while getting a heavy duty workout dodging lightning bolts.

There seems to be a nervous element to the loud bird tweeting I'm hearing come in through my open window. There is being no melody to the tweeting, just random noise bursts that are sort of annoying. It's like the birds are shouting at each other.

I guess I'll go out there and swim with the birds now.

I Did Not Break My Back Lifting Hay Bales At The Prairie Fest Preparation Today

I did something this morning that had my shoulder blades sending shooting pains to my built-in pain detector. This made me a bit wary regarding the idea of helping put the Prairie Fest together, something I'd been drafted to do.

So, I decided to park on the top of Mount Tandy and hope that hiking to the Prairie Fest Grounds would cause endorphins to abate the pain.

By the time I reached the Prairie Fest Grounds the pain had abated.

Upon arrival I reported to General Young. The Prairie Fest set-up is run like a military operation. Such precision, such organizational finesse. I was given my uniform and ordered to report to Captain Jan.

Captain Jan ordered me to report to a squad assembling umbrella stands and tent frames.

As you can see in the picture at the top, it was being a bit stormy. Very windy.

You might think, looking at the picture, that some phallic symbols had been erected for the Prairie Fest, with the theme of the festival maybe being the Fertile Prairie, or something like that.

Well, you would be wrong. Those are the unopened umbrellas we were tasked with sticking in to heavy umbrella stands, not phallic symbols.

Eventually a load of hay bales arrived. My squad was tasked with removing the hay bales and laying 3 by each umbrella stand. Either I have gotten hugely stronger since the last time I lifted a hay bale, or these were extremely light hay bales.

In the picture with the sticks stuck in the ground, you are looking at an art installation in progress.

I was a little surprised when I came off the Tandy Hills, to the Prairie Fest zone, to find painters already out on the prairie painting. I thought they did that when the festival was underway.

Betty Jo Bouvier was flying in from Seattle to go to the Prairie Fest, but now claims she was unable to book a flight. I'm very disappointed.

Using a different camera setting than the setting that made it appear that the Prairie Fest was peppered with phallic symbols, in the 2nd picture, of the same scene, you can clearly see the unopened umbrellas, the hay bales, the tent frames and one of the work squads busy working.

I suppose I could have used the second photo of the unopened umbrellas in the first place and not had this phallic symbol confusion.

But, I found that first picture to be amusing and so I amused myself by using it.

Fort Worth's Goofy Mayor Mike Moncrief Turns Into Spiderman On A Fort Worth Skyscraper

I've been asked a time or two why I think Fort Worth's mayor, Mike Moncrief, is goofy.

How would I know why he is goofy? I'm no psychiatrist.

I suppose if one did not follow, too closely, the antics of Fort Worth's mayor, it might sound a bit rude when I refer to him as Fort Worth's goofy mayor, Mike Moncrief.

But.

I've seen the mayor shooting pistols with the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, in downtown Fort Worth.

That is goofy.

I have seen the mayor pour purple Kool-Aid in to the Trinity River after reading a proclamation renaming a section of the river after a local football team. Fort Worth's mayor was trying to dye the river purple.

That is goofy.

And then this morning, in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, there were photos of Fort Worth's goofy mayor, Mike Moncrief, trying to rappel down the side of a downtown Fort Worth building.

That is goofy.

The goofy mayor forgot his rappelling instructions, which caused him to start his descent upside down.

That is also goofy.

A Morning Moon For The Misbegotten Shining Over Texas

I am feeling a bit misbegotten, so, this morning, on this next to last Friday of April, I guess I was glad to look up to see two-thirds of a moon shining in the clear blue sky above me.

It is currently a relatively warm 70 degrees, heading to a high of 87. With wind.

Today I think I'll be helping set up the Prairie Fest. What that entails I have no clue.

Thunderstorms are predicted, again, for late in the day. Of late, predicted thunderstorms have not been materializing.

The weather forecast for Saturday, that being the day of the Prairie Fest, has been changed to partly sunny with a t-storm.

I think I will go swimming now before it gets any hotter.

List Of Who Will Be At The 2011 Prairie Fest On The Tandy Hills Including Me

On the left you are looking at a list of the exhibitors, vendors and organizations who will be at the 2011 Prairie Fest on Saturday.

I will be manning one of the booths beginning at 2 in the afternoon, til closing.

This morning I got an offer, that seemed difficult to refuse, to come help set up the Prairie Fest on Friday. I'll try hard to be there.

Even if you click the image to make it bigger you still likely will be unable to read the list of who will be at the Prairie Fest.

So, I'll convert the list into readable form...

At the Prairie Fest you will find 3L Photography, Aguilar, Miguel, Amnesty International, Andralynn Creative Designs, Arendt, Erin, Arizona Sunset, Arlington Conservation Council, Artspace, Plein Air Art, Aunt Anita’s Books, Backwoods (Share w/ Patagonia), Baz, Carlos, Beloved’s Mercantile, Benson, Brenda, Birdlink Sanctuary, Inc., Black Cat Collective, Boy Scout Troop 12, C.S. Kettle Korn and More, Camsquarters, Carter BloodCare, Celtic Photography, Chadra Mezza & Grill, Champion Windows, City of FW Master Composters/Keep FW Beautiful, City of Fort Worth Water Department, City of Fort Worth/Bike Fort Worth, City of Fort Worth-Neighborhood Education (recycling), CM Artisans, LLC, Connemara Conservancy, Cross Timbers Master Naturalist, Danette’s Urban Oasis, Daylight Rangers, Degenkolb, Nancy; Photographer, Don’s Dawgs, Don't Forget to Feed Me, DownWinders at Risk, Earth Naturals Pet Food, Edible Dallas & Fort Worth, Edita Drago Accessories, Exeltech (solar-power), Family PetCare, Fazi, Jane, Creative Memories Consultant, Feed Your Head, Ferrier Custom Homes, Fire Face Painting, Food For Life, Forget-me-Not Originals, Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge, Fort Worth Vegetarian Society, FOTHNA Head-Quarters, FOTHNA Merchandise Booth, Freestyle Craft, Friends of the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge, Inc., Frilly Pepper (Kelli Holmes), Go Frog Wireless, Greater Fort Worth Wellness Community, Green Mountain Energy, Greener Good, Historic Fort Worth, Joy Forever, Keep FW Beautiful (City of FW Water/ Master Composters), Kelly Willems Designs, Lake Worth Alliance, Le Gourd on Blue, Log Cabin Village, Longoria's BBQ, Loving Hut Vegan Cuisine, Madd Hatter's Balloons, Mama Lou's (soaps), Marshall Grain, Mary the Caterpillar & Friends, Meadowbrook United Methodist Church, Mercy for Animals, Mind Full, Mindful Mushroom, Mukta's Jewelry, Murals, Mosaics & More, Mykolyna, National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum, Native Plant Society of Texas-North Central Chapter, Native Prairies Association share/Connemara, Nature's Guide, NCTCA (North Central Texas Communities Alliance), Neesee’s Sunroom Jewelry, Etc., New Belgium Brewing, NORML, Dallas & Fort Worth, North Texas Peace Learning Center, North Texas Renewable Energy Group, North Texas Renewable Energy, Inc., Not Just Canvas, Papa Richter's Roach Ridder, Paper Jewelry by Ina Crowe, Patagonia (Share w/Backwoods), Peaceful Vocations (Tarrant County Green Party), Pettigrews, Pottery Conceptions, Prairie Keepers, Proforma Green Marketing, Pure Energy management, Purple Kat Creative, Rahr & Son's Brewing Co., Redenta's Garden, Riverside Kennel, Rocking D Creations, Rockin ' Rhinestones, SBDC, Scentsy Wickless Candles, Shemtov, Shining Dawn Design, Sierra Club, Greater Fort Worth, Silver Threads & Golden Needles, Sims Art, Solidarity Peddlers, Somebody Special calls me..., Sophy Sam, Sustaita Studio, Tarrant County Green Party (Peaceful Vocations), Texas Bluebird Society, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project, Texas Olive Ranch, Texas Wesleyan University, threeRdesigns, Times Ten Cellars (Wine), Toyota of Fort Worth, Tribe Feathers, Trinity Bicycles, TRIP/Trinity River Improvement Partnership, Trishcat Soaps, Tutor Doctor, Unity Church of Fort Worth, West Meadowbrook Neighborhood Assoc., Whole Foods Market, Inc., Wildseed art studio, Wind Dancer Kites, Wood Art by Sandi & Don, Wyldewood Cellars and Yeleda.

A Groggy Foggy Semi-Cold Thursday Morning In Texas

Looking out from my main viewing portal on the world I can see we are a bit overcast and slightly foggy at my current location in North Texas.

It is currently only 22 degrees above freezing.

Thunderstorms are in the forecast, again, for today. Yesterday's predicted thunderstorms did no storming within hearing distance of my ears.

I don't know if I will make it to the Tandy Hills today. I have a doctor appointment that today interferes with my regular aerobicizing time.

I am going to try and go swimming in a few minutes, even though it is only a few degrees above freezing.

It is only 2 days until Saturday's 2011 Prairie Fest. Currently the forecast, weather-wise, looks good. Except for some wind action, which can wreak havoc with tents and displays.

Walking In Village Creek Natural Gas Historic Area In Arlington This Afternoon With Elsie Hotpepper

In the picture you are looking at Village Creek in the Village Creek Natural Historic Area in Arlington, some time after 4 this afternoon.

In the picture you can see the creek, a patch of pink evening primrose wildflowers and a yellow cord.

Cords of various colors are strung all over the Natural Area.

Somehow manmade cords don't seem all that natural to me, sort of out of place in a Natural Area.

Maybe the correct name for this park zone should be Village Creek Natural Gas Historic Area.

Because that is what the multi-colored cords are for. Doing seismic testing of the Barnett Shale to see if the Village Creek Natural Historic Area is a good drilling zone.

All the Indians murdered in this area, murdered by the incoming Texans, must be rolling over in their collective graves at what their village has become. First a park. And now a gas drilling site.

I must leave you now to do the bidding of the ever demanding Elsie Hotpepper, who is being particularly hot today.

Following A Texas Rocket Car While Pondering The Gail Galtex Rant About Fort Worth Incompetence

This afternoon at a little before one in the afternoon I was heading west on Harwood, coming up on Harwood's intersection with the Grapevine Highway, also known as Highway 26, when the Rocket Car you see through my windshield, rocketed past me.

The Rocket Car had a Texas license. I did not see the Rocket Man. The Rocket Car's windows were tinted.

This Rocket Car is the strangest thing I've seen on a Texas highway since I saw an Aqua Car drive into Lake Grapevine. I doubt the Rocket Car can also fly, so it's not quite as convenient as an Aqua Car.

I am now going to change the subject from flying cars to the weather. It was in the 50s when I went swimming this morning. This created the illusion that the pool was heated. It was very pleasant. So far, at just a few minutes past 3 we are currently a chilly 63 degrees. Windows open, no A/C.

I am not going to the Tandy Hills today. If the hills got hit with yesterday's rain, I don't think it's been warm enough to dry them out. I probably should go do something aerobic or else crankiness will set in.

Speaking of crankiness, the local craziness has Gail Galtex in pissed off rant mode today. I think Gail is most upset over Fort Worth's tardiness in coming to the rescue of Possum Kingdom. I learned a couple hours ago that it is hundreds of homes that have been destroyed in the Possum Kingdom zone, up from the much smaller number I was thinking had burned. Also towns, like Palo Pinto, have been evacuated. If Palo Pinto is in danger, what about Mineral Wells?

Below is Gail Galtex's Rant of the Day....

Also, did you see this in today's paper?  I am so pissed off about the TRV and the incompetence of of the FW city council I think my head is going to explode.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/04/20/3013627/fort-worth-council-blocks-commercial.html#my-headlines-default

Also, I'm pissed off about the FW firefighters not helping, that you mentioned and that I read about in today's paper.  Here's my FB rant of the day:

Ft. Worth, with the highest property tax rate of urban cities in TX, is the worst-run city on the planet. While nearby Possum Kingdom and towns to the west have been burning for a week, Wyoming, Arizona, and California firefighters are helping. But Ft. Worth, the largest city nearby, has not helped AT ALL because of some bureaucratic gobbledy-gook. The incompetent city council finally gave approval yesterday to help.

And, to make matters worse, the gobbledy-gook issue is over liability for health/death benefits if a firefighter is killed.  Basically, FW doesn't want to have to pay these costs if a firefighter is killed outside the city, like, in Lake Worth.

I really need to calm down.  Think I'll go to HEB and do some grocery shopping. :-)

Gail

Paradise Center Has A New Website & Is Accepting Donations While The Paradise Center Scandal Grows More Scandalous

The Paradise Center, Inc. website is back up and running.

And is now accepting donations.

The Paradise Center Scandal keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. It seems those who thought they were the "powers that be" never considered it a possibility that Paradise Center, Inc. might have the tools to fight back.

But, fighting back is what Paradise Center, Inc. has done. And at 2 months into the scandal, I can tell you, the fight has only begun.

Already there is some organizational shaking up going on in an agency or two in Tarrant County. There have been multiple demands for the firing of MHMR-TC CEO, Jim McDermott.

On the Paradise Center Scandal blog there have been around 400 comments made. I've been appalled multiple times over the meanspiritedness and downright nastiness of those making comments from the MHMR-TC side. Appalled at the nasty character assassinating, appalled at the juvenile verbiage and bad grammar. Just overall appalled.

I have not been the only person appalled at what some of these people have said. Reading through the Paradise Center Scandal blog it becomes sort of a soap opera.

At times I have trouble figuring out pieces of information I get sent. And then I'll realize how the new information fits into the scandal. It is like putting a puzzle together at times.

Paradise Center will be having an Open House in their new location sometime soon. I'll let you know when that happens so I can see you there.

A Wednesday Texas Morning Recovering From Getting Hit By Hail

The early morning view looking through the bars of my patio prison cell might make you think this is a blue sky morning in Texas.

It is not. Stormy weather is heading our way.

Yesterday, a short time before 6pm, I was walking over to Miss Puerto Rico's when I heard popping noises. I could not tell what was popping. Thunder was rumbling in the distance.

I was a couple minutes into enjoying the view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony when suddenly what was causing the popping noise became obvious.

Hail.

Big balls of hail. Along with a downpour of rain. Soon what I assumed to be tornado sirens began screaming.

The storm did not last long. I did not learn until this morning that while I was getting pounded by hail, over in Arlington, on I-20, more than 50 vehicles collided in a chain reaction that closed the westbound lanes of the freeway for around 3 hours.

I don't know if rain fell in the Possum Kingdom zone to help put out the wildfires that continue to consume expensive homes. Firefighters from California, Arizona and Wyoming are helping put out the Possum Kingdom blazes.

Fort Worth is the nearest big city to Possum Kingdom. Fort Worth was not sending any fire fighting help to Possum Kingdom.

Until Tuesday, when the Fort Worth city council gave approval to send firefighters to Possum Kingdom.

Below is a really short video I took while the hail was hailing down yesterday. The video is really short because I started getting really wet and needed to get under cover....