A Rash & Tarrant County Tornadoes & The Last Tuesday Of April

As you can see, looking through the bars of my patio prison cell, the last Tuesday of April has dawned with a clear blue sky.

Severe Thunderstorms are again in our forecast for today.

We had some tornado action here in Tarrant County yesterday.

Up in Washington they are having a bizarre return to winter weather, with snow.

Meanwhile, here in Texas, I had a fresh new woe visit me yesterday afternoon. I suddenly broke out in a rash, in various locations, all over me. I took an anti-histamine pill and covered the rash with calamine lotion. In a few hours the rash went away.

And then re-appeared, covering more of me, in the middle of the night. I took another pill and covered the rash, again, with calamine lotion and again it disappeared.

I have no idea what is causing this new travail. Right now I am rash-free. I hope I stay that way.

Take A TRIP To Rahr & Sons On Friday For Beer, BBQ, Music, An Auction & To Go Up A Creek In A Movie

Saturday, at the Prairie Fest, we ran out of TRIP printed material to hand out to the legions of people wanting TRIP printed material.

We were reduced to showing the legions of people the TRIP ad from this week's FW Weekly.

And writing the TRIP website address on random scraps of paper we scavenged from the ground.

For those few who don't know, TRIP is Trinity River Improvement Partnership.

TRIP proposes a sane "Alternative Plan" to the insane Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, with the very clever slogan, "Don't Move the River, Improve the River."

On Saturday Mrs. Caraway told me, due to the heat, I had to hydrate myself by drinking products from Rahr & Sons Brewing Company.

This coming Friday, April 29, from 6:30 til 9:30 you can go to Rahr & Sons Brewing Company for TRIP's next event.

I scanned the TRIP ad in FW Weekly, but the ad was bigger than my scanner. Then I remembered I can usually get a good enough reproduction of a printed thing by just taking a picture of it. And so I did.

The Rahr & Sons/TRIP deal is a fundraiser.

For $25 you get a Collector's Cup Edition Rahr Pint Glass, Live Music, a Silent Auction, Bar-B-Q, a showing of "Up A Creek," and complimentary samples of that Rahr brewery product Mrs. Caraway made me dizzy with on Saturday.

If I can manage to scrape together $25 I may go to this. But, I'm a bit wary of drinking much of that Rahr & Sons Brewing Company brewery product after Saturday's Prairie Fest's intoxicating over imbibing.

The Last Monday Of April All Wet From Thunderstorms

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell, on this last Monday of April, you can not quite tell that all is wet in the outdoor world due to a t-storm in the middle of the night.

T-storms continue on the schedule for today.

The thunder did not boom close last night. I heard it in the distance.

I do not believe there will be any Tandy Hills hiking today.

The misconception that I am that Layla Caraway gal's dad continues to spin out of control. This morning someone calling him or herself Anonymous made the following comment....

Definitely strong physical resemblances between you and the Caraway gal.

Early happy Father's Day, Durango.

I really don't see the resemblance at all. It's very perplexing.

Hiking The Tandy Hills On Easter While CatsPaw Explains Today's Holiday To Me

I had not been on the Tandy Hills in hike mode for a few days. As you can see via the Easter noon view from the top of Mount Tandy, looking west at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, Easter is a bit overcast in North Texas.

I was erroneous when I said earlier today than no predicted t-storms had arrived yesterday. I was later informed that thunder was clapping quite loud around 10pm and then again in the wee hours of Easter.

On the way to the Tandy Hills I saw a lot of blown down tree limbs.

Apparently I slept through a couple storms. I was exhausted from being worked like a pack mule at the Prairie Fest. And on top of that that Caraway lady was plying me with some sort of intoxicating beverage from Rahr's Brewery that seemed to have the same effect on me as a sleeping pill.

This morning, in addition to saying there'd been no t-storms I asked if anyone knew why Easter was called Easter.

CatsPaw kindly alleviated me of my ignorance, telling me...

Again, we have a mixing of Pagan and Christian beliefs and practices ... the name was probably taken from the spring fertility goddess Oestre who brought the end of winter and new life at the vernal equinox.

Spring. Fertility. Now we know why those "umbrellas" were at Prairie Fest! (Interestingly, "oestre" is also the root word for estrogen, the female hormone.) Eggs, bunnies ... umm hmm.

Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs after the spring equinox which is why the date changes each year. 

It took me a second or two to get CatsPaw's "umbrellas at the Praire Fest" reference from an earlier blogging.

I wonder if I am going to be conscious and sober for today's predicted t-storm?

If lightning bolts aren't striking I think I will go swimming again, after lunch. This morning's swim was quite salubrious. I won't be working on my tan this afternoon though, unless the wind blows the cloud cover away.

It Is Easter Morning In Texas With Wildfire Smoke And Ham & Eggs

Today is the last Sunday of April. It is also Easter. The last time I went to an Easter Sunrise church deal it was in the 30 degree range and foggy.

That 30 degree Easter Sunrise was at Roozengarde in the Skagit Valley, surrounded by thousands of tulips.

I don't think there is anywhere in Texas that I can go and be surrounded by thousands of tulips.

Easter Sunrise in Texas this morning was nowhere near freezing. More like 40 degrees above freezing.

I have my windows open. The smoky smell of wildfires is definitely in the air.

I don't believe yesterday's predicted t-storm arrived in my location. If it did, I missed it. Why are all these predicted t-storms not materializing?

Because it is Easter I am having ham and eggs for breakfast. But, before the ham and eggs, I am going swimming.

I forgot to ask. Does anyone know why Easter is called Easter? I know why Christmas is called Christmas, sort of, but Easter is a mystery to me.

A Fun Day At The Prairie Fest With Granny Grassroots, My Daughter Layla & Rahr's Brewery Product

As of about 6:30 it seems like Mother Nature has once again spared the Fort Worth Tandy Hills Prairie Fest from a weather disaster.

It was hot. It was humid. It was windy. But no afternoon t-storm arrived.

However, it does appear, as of 6:30, some weather action may be on its way.

This was the biggest Prairie Fest yet. I was very entertained, sitting in the TRIP booth, watching the passing humanity and trying to find Cathy Hirt.

Dozens of people were sporting Cathy Hirt I.D. tags. So, I'd politely inquire if that name tag wearer was Cathy Hirt. None were.

One or two people seemed to know who Durango Jones was, but other than that it was an afternoon of total anonymity for me.

I met a Texas Livewire who calls herself Granny Grassroots. That is Granny G with the black TRIP t-shirt in the picture. Granny Grassroots was with us in the TRIP booth for much of the afternoon.

Texas breeds some great characters. Granny Grassroots would be one.

Granny Grassroots has a website.

One of my favorite moments of the day came when some guy asked if I was Miss Layla Caraway's dad. I said I was and from that point on we had ourselves a few minutes of amusing entertainment.

Earlier in the day another dialogue had me either married to or marrying Ms. Caraway. Something about divorces was said. It was way too much dialogue coming at me way too fast to remember it all.

And then there were the Elsie Hotpepper inquiries. Why is there so much interest in Elsie Hotpepper? It is very perplexing.

Yes.

Elsie Hotpepper was at the Prairie Fest. I said hello as Elsie passed by on her way to the Rahr's Brewery Exhibit.

Can you find Elsie Hotpepper in the picture?

Speaking of Rahr's Brewery. At some point in the afternoon a pair of guys showed up slurping on Rahr's Brewery product. I said something to one of the guys that caused him to spill his Rahr's Brewery product. This then somehow led to him giving me and Ms. Caraway coupons for some Rahr's Brewery product.

All in all, I had myself my funnest time yet at the Prairie Fest.

Til the end.

When the White Knight and Robin showed up for the dismantling part of the day. That turned in to a bit of a boondoggle. A boondoggle that I still managed to somehow find somewhat amusing and entertaining.

Come the 2012 Prairie Fest, I am going to take a much more active role in any part I am part of. No more black t-shirts is all I can say about that. And no duct tape. Or leaky pens. Or shortage of printed material.

I just got a call from Elsie Hotpepper, asking if I want to go saloon hopping. No. I am tired. I am in for the night.

I Think Jim Lane May Be Fort Worth's Best Hope For A New Goofy Mayor

For the second Saturday in a row I opened my mailbox to find a political campaign mailing from Jim Lane that is too big for my scanner, so I can only scan part of the political campaign mailing.

Jim Lane is one of the dozens of candidates hoping to replace Fort Worth's goofy mayor, Mike Moncrief.

After years of living under the goofy Moncrief regime I have grown to become a big fan of having a goofy mayor.

Of those running, near as I can tell, Jim Lane shows the best potential to give Fort Worth a new goofy mayor.

My scanner cut off the bottom of Jim Lane's latest ad.

At the bottom it says "A Mayor who will fight for all Fort Worth families!"

And then, under that inspiring slogan...

"It takes a fighter to know a fighter...that's why I'm supporting Jim for Mayor." Signed by "Paulie Ayala, Former Two-Time World Champion."

Now that explains why Jim Lane is in a goofy pugilist pose in the picture.

Since I blogged about last week's Jim Lane mailer I've learned I was erroneous in assuming Jim Lane is the Fort Worth Ruling Oligarchy's pick for mayor, thus guaranteeing him a win with 70% of the 6% of Fort Worth voters who bother to vote.

Apparently the Fort Worth Ruling Oligarchy's pick for mayor is Tarrant County tax assessor and collector, Betsy Price.

I have received nothing in the mail from Betsy Price. But if I remember right, she is following me on Twitter. That is slightly goofy, following me on Twitter.

But, I'd like to know both Betsy Price's and Jim Lane's positions on shooting guns in downtown Fort Worth, dyeing the Trinity River unnatural colors and rappelling down Fort Worth skyscrapers.

Just looking at pictures of him I get the idea Jim Lane has a high goofiness quotient. I have read that he is quite amusing with an actual sense of humor. I don't think Fort Worth's current goofy mayor, Mike Moncrief has an actual sense of humor, but he makes up for that by being accidentally amusing, like when he rappelled upside down a Fort Worth skyscraper.

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.