Hot Stomping Through The Tandy Hills Jungle In FW TX Not FW WA

It is currently 82 in the outside world, with windows closed and A/C running and ceiling fans spinning overhead in my abode.

I don't know if it was in the 80s when I got HOT on the Tandy Hills today around noon. As you can see I was stomping quickly through the Tandy Hills Jungle.

Where I am stomping in the picture is the location where, a few weeks ago, I ran into a guy who very earnestly warned me about poison ivy, or was it poison oak? Along this section of trail.

Elsie Hotpepper took off for Vegas without me yesterday. This sort of hurts my delicate feelings.

In the past 48 hours I've spent quality phone time with Washingtonians I've not spoken to, via phone, in decades. First it was hearing the sweet, lilting voice of Betty Jo Bouvier.

I talked again to Betty Jo Bouvier when I was lounging poolside yesterday afternoon. And then late yesterday afternoon Carlotta Camano emailed me with her phone number and instructions to call, because she had too much to tell me to do so via email.

So, I called Carlotta just as she was leaving her place of employment in Arlington. That'd be the Arlington in Washington, not the one in Texas. We talked all the way from Arlington to Carlotta's home island overlooking Puget Sound.

Speaking of towns in Washington and Texas with the same initials. And who isn't? I got an amusing blog comment from Sarah R. who is up in FW, Washington.

Below is Sarah R.'s amusing comment....

I am starting to see that FW has a lot in common with FW. I mean look they even have the same initials. They both lack a downtown.

Federal Way (the one in WA no one else would figure out) has the same kind of cronyism. The council members have almost all served more than 20 years. Every year they're up for re-election, I always vote for the newbies, but they never win. A couple years ago a guy got pissed off and after 2 tries managed to get the government changed (via voter initiative) so we can directly elect the mayor. Problem is that the winner was a local politician that decided to continue to serve by taking a step down to local level where he originally started out 20 years ago -- the FW city council.

Our Trinity Project is the "build a high-rise" on the old theater site. The city and previous owner cheated a church out of the property. They bought it 2 days after we voted to raise taxes to pay for police using ($4 mil) money they said they didn't have. And since the downturn, the property has sat empty waiting for the developer to get funds to do the development no one wants.

Our council decided to help out $50K-wise with the World Championship Sand Castle Building Tournament "to bring in more tourists". (really? there isn't anything touristy here!) The tournament was held in the parking lot of an abandoned Target store. Still trying to figure out why they didn't actually do it at one of our beaches, but paid 20K to have sand hauled in and out!

Hmmmm...

A Sand Castle Building Tournament on a parking lot? Doesn't FW have quite a few miles of Puget Sound beach? Not to mention Dash Point State Park.

A Sand Castle Building Tournament on an old parking lot sounds like something that might happen in the FW I am currently in, but there would be a good excuse here, due to the lack of beaches, until the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's little town lake gets built. Surely it will have a beach.

Up Early On The 6th Day Of May Thinking I May Bother Voting Even Though It Is Pointless In Fort Worth

Day number 6 of May has dawned with yet one more blue sky morning in North Texas, with that blue oasis, you can see through the trees, looking particularly inviting.

I must try and remember to early vote today. I don't think there is anything to vote for except the city council person in my district and the mayor of this forsaken town I'm living in.

Unlike people who live in areas of the world that practice the democratic form of government, we don't vote on things like public works projects here, so nothing like that shows up on the ballot.

In these parts you can have a billion dollar project wreaking havoc with something everyone shares, like a river, using public funds to do the havocing and do so with no one voting to approve of the project.

I find the governmental method here to be very bizarre. But, it is what the people here are used to.

So much so, that the vast majority of them don't bother to vote.

I suppose they don't bother to vote because over the years the vast majority have been conditioned to believe their vote does not count, because the ruling gang of the good ol' boy and girl network runs things, with the elections just being shams, sort of like what took place in the old Soviet Union or like what takes place, currently, in places like Iran.

Iran has elections. But the outcome is pre-ordained. Just like in Fort Worth where Betsy Price is the good ol' boy and girl network's pick to be the next mayor of Fort Worth.

I'll likely be voting for either Cathy Hirt or Dan Barrett. Not that it matters. Neither has a ghost's chance in hell of becoming mayor of this company run town.

On Top Of Mount Tandy Not Really Thinking Fort Worth Bad Seattle Good

It is yet one more beautiful day in May in North Texas, which you can clearly see, looking west from high atop Mount Tandy at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

The Fort Worth water guys were back today, back to fix their washed out creek crossings, driving down the Tandy Highway in slow motion with a piece of heavy equipment emitting an extremely annoying beep that wreaked havoc with the peace and serenity of the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area.

Speaking of beautiful downtown Fort Worth. And who isn't?

So, a week or so ago, in Fort Worth Weekly's Blotch blog, Jeff Prince wrote a blogging about the epidemic of phallic symbols that have been seen sprouting up all over Tarrant County.

Somehow Durango was brought into the discussion, with someone named Anonymous saying, "All you need to know about that Durango dude is Fort Worth bad, Seattle good."

I was shocked. I do not recollect ever saying that Fort Worth is bad. Or that Seattle is good.

I have opined a time or two about things I may find a bit perplexing. Like when the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first breathlessly told us about what was then called, I think, Trinity Uptown, saying this would turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South.

I remember thinking, and asking, does this embarrassing newspaper not realize they may have a reader or two who has actually been to Vancouver and automatically knows how absurd it is to say anything could possibly turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South?

Then today, whilst hiking the hills, it occurred to me that I may have been wrong. The Star-Telegram may have meant that Trinity Uptown would turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver, Washington of the South.

Now that might be possible. Both Vancouver, WA and Fort Worth, TX share a river with a bigger, nearby city. Vancouver with Portland, Fort Worth with Dallas. I suppose if Fort Worth did some major urban renewal it could turn itself into the Vancouver, WA of the South. Why Fort Worth would want to do this is a mystery to me.

Another time I remember making fun of something in Fort Worth, is also Star-Telegram related. That ridiculous newspaper claimed a very lame, long defunct, little food court called the Santa Fe Rail Market was modeled after Seattle's Pike Place Market and public markets in Europe and was the first such public market in Texas. This particular Fort Worth Star-Telegram whopper was like shooting dumb fish in a barrel.

Now, regarding me supposedly suggesting that Fort Worth is bad, Seattle is good. Well, you have to keep in mind, til I came to Texas it was towns like Seattle, Vancouver, B.C., Portland, San Francisco, Denver, San Diego, with which I was most familiar. I'd not seen a downtown that did not seem like a big city downtown, of the sort that Fort Worth is, til I came to Texas.

I was used to lively downtowns where lots of people live, with lots of stores, restaurants and other good stuff. When I would read something about Fort Worth being the best downtown in Texas, or some other such accolade, it would just astound me and have me wondering, do these people ever leave Texas?

Now, a month or two ago a pair of lifelong Texans, now living among the few living in downtown Fort Worth, the Galtex's, ventured up to Seattle, the first time for Mrs. Galtex.

Below is what Mr. Galtex had to say about downtown Seattle. I share this with you as a way to help illuminate why at times, maybe, I sound like I'm saying Fort Worth is bad, Seattle is good, to put it simplistically, but I have perfectly valid reasons why I think such a thing.

Below are some excerpts from various postings from Mr. Galtex's blog........

We spent our first afternoon as we always spend our first afternoon in a new place, walking around the neighborhood. My first impressions are all good: we are in the middle of downtown, and within three or four blocks we've found a Belgian waffle shop, a gelateria, several Thai restaurants, three supermarkets, twelvety-seven coffee shops, and more fresh seafood than I could eat in a lifetime. People actually live here.

The train from SeaTac airport to downtown costs only $2.50, and it took us to within a block of our hotel. Buses and trains converge in the downtown area in a large underground tunnel, making it very easy to transfer from one line to another. A public transportation system that is logically designed and efficiently run -- it's enough to make an old Texan like me weep with joy.

Seattle is clean: little trash, no dog poop.

If you think there are a lot of Starbucks where you live, come to Seattle, where there are at least two on every block. High-rise office buildings have several, conveniently placed on intermediate floors. We've seen one McDonald's.

Seattle has fewer people than Fort Worth and half as many as Dallas. Yet downtown Seattle is much more urban than anything in Texas.

Seattle is a beautiful city. There are lots of apartments downtown and in nearby neighborhoods like Belltown and South Lake Union, and lots of residents means lots of shops and restaurants, even shopping malls, that are not dependent on customers in cars.

Every April in Texas we close up the windows and turn on the air conditioner, and it stays on until October. In Seattle, anything over 80° is considered a heat wave, even in August. Few residences have air conditioning.

There you go, now if you wanted to be simplistic you could say Mr. Galtex is saying Fort Worth bad, Seattle good. But what Mr. Galtex is actually doing is describing his perceptions of Seattle, sort of compared to his perceptions of Fort Worth. Just like I've done over the years....

No One Remembered To Tell Jim Lane That The Fort Worth Ruling Oligarchy Has Picked Betsy Price For Mayor

Another Boss Hogg, I mean, Jim Lane for Fort Worth mayor mailing showed up in my mailbox this morning.

Why is Jim Lane still spending money on campaigning?

Didn't Jim Lane get the memo that the Fort Worth Ruling Oligarchy had made its choice for mayor and had announced its choice via the Editorial Board of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram a few days ago?

Now, I wish the FWRO had picked Jim Lane, so that we could continue having a goofy mayor in Fort Worth.

Just look at the picture of Jim Lane I took from today's mailer. Does Jim Lane not look like the physical personification of Fort Worth? And look how that little girl towers over Jim Lane. How can you not like that?

I've been told, by those who should know, that Jim Lane is a much nicer guy than Mike Moncrief. And that, unlike Mike Moncrief, Jim Lane has a good sense of humor.

So, with Jim Lane we'd get a very short, amusing, nice guy who looks like Fort Worth and is proud to wear a cowboy hat.

I must remember to go do the early voting thing.

Up Early On Cinco De Mayo Thinking About Not Going To Fort Worth's Mayfest

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the world I can see the 5th day of May has dawned with a bright blue sky.

Looking at my computer temperature monitoring device I can see it is a relatively chilly 55 degrees out there, heading to a possible high of 84 today.

May 5 marks the start of Fort Worth's Mayfest. I have never gone to this festival. Mayfest runs through Sunday. There is an admission fee, with it costing $8 for adults.

I have no idea what is so special about Mayfest that warrants an $8 admission fee. There are over 40 arts & crafts booths, 7 music/entertainment stages, food and rides.

I have no idea what the rides are. Carnival? I'm getting my Mayfest info off the Mayfest website.

Mayfest takes place in Trinity Park, on the west bank of the Trinity River. If you want to buy anything other than your admission ticket, Mayfest uses the coupon method, rather than the direct use of American currency.

I never ran into a festival of this sort charging an admission fee until I moved to Texas. The first time was a festival in Grapevine. Was it Grapefest? I don't remember. What I do remember is me and my fellow Washingtonians were appalled at how lame it was and the fact an admission fee was charged for something so lame.

Fort Worth's extremely well done, recently completed, Main Streets Arts Festival, does not charge an admission fee. Neither does the Prairie Fest. The Parker County Peach Festival charges an admission fee. I've gone two or three times and don't mind paying to get into that humongous, one day, festival.

It looks like the primary sponsor of Mayfest is Chesapeake Energy. I'm making that assumption based on Chesapeake Energy being prominently featured on each page of the Mayfest website.

I don't think I'll be going to Mayfest.

Happy Cinco de Mayo. I'm making tacos for lunch.

Hiking The Mostly Dried Out Tandy Hills Today With Betty Jo Bouvier While Crossing Washed Out Bridges

It's been awhile since I talked to Betty Jo Bouvier. I can't remember the last time she went hiking with me in a natural area. Likely somewhere in the North Cascades.

I called Betty Jo on my way to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area, hoping Betty Jo might help restore my sanity, in case the Sanatorium Area failed me in that regard.

Betty Jo and I talked about all sorts of things, including the idea of going to Hawaii to see Honey Lulu, but never once discussed the weather, which, incidentally, here in my zone of Texas, is back being in the 70s. So, my windows are open.

When I got off the phone with Betty Jo I began my descent down Mount Tandy. When I got to the Tandy Highway I was not too shocked to see that the first temporary bridge across Sewer Spill Creek had washed away.

The Fort Worth water guys had not bothered to put a culvert pipe under their Sewer Spill Creek bridge.

However, the FW water guys did put a culvert pipe under the bridge they built over the creek that crosses Tandy Highway, further south, that is more prone to having water run through it.

But, the pipe is about 10 inches in diameter. It did not take a hydraulic engineer to know that that little pipe was worthless the first time it got hit with a lot of rain. That deluge occurred on Monday, washing out both temporary bridges and moving the culvert pipe of the bridge that had culvert pipe, about 10 feet downstream.

Are the FW water guys finished with their repair project? Or are more scarce city funds going to be used to once more construct these high tech bridges?

I think I will go swimming again and worry about washed out bridges while I work on my suntan.

Up Early The 4th Day Of May Mostly Thinking About Chesapeake Energy's Dirty Dealings In The Barnett Shale

Taking a real close look through the bars of my patio prison cell, this 4th morning of May, at the steaming hot tub.

I usually don't get in the steaming hot tub.

But, yesterday I spent too much time in its nearby cousin and got way too cold. I should have warmed myself up in the hot tub after getting out of the ice tub.

Change of subject from getting cold to locals getting hot over Chesapeake Energy disingenuousness.

This morning the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in an article titled "Chesapeake Energy to make fixes on wells after Arlington gas leak" finally got around to mentioning a Chesapeake Energy gas pad incident that occurred in Arlington in early April.

Last week I opined that the fact of the lack of this incident being reported was a scandal, among other scandals. I'd first heard of the incident from Kim Feil, who verbalized her frustration and the frustration of those who had been affected by the incident, because they could get no answers as to what had been hissed into the air they breathe.

It the Star-Telegram article most of it is devoted to the Chesapeake spin. However, towards the end of the article it is acknowledged that those who were affected by the "incident" aren't buying Chesapeake's fox in the henhouse explanation about what killed the chickens.

And, in the section of the article that does acknowledge that there are those who do not believe Chesapeake, there is one line that stands alone, saying...

The report does contradict what Chesapeake previously reported to the council.

So, what did Chesapeake originally tell the council? Chesapeake's employee, Tony Rutigliano told the Arlington city council that "the safety devices worked as expected and no one was in danger." And that the released gas dissipated quickly.

What Chesapeake originally claimed is rendered very ironic by the first paragraph in this morning's Star-Telegram article about the "incident".......

ARLINGTON -- Chesapeake Energy will make safety improvements to its 1,800 natural gas wells across the Barnett Shale after equipment failures at a southeast Arlington site released a small amount of gas during a power outage last month, officials said Tuesday.

Having A Bad Day Of Senility Signs & Train Blocks On The 3rd Day Of May In Texas

The picture is a perfect metaphor for how I'm feeling.

Blocked.

I had myself a rough night of rough nightmares and that had me waking up feeling beat up.

I thought swimming in really cold water would break me out of it, like shock therapy. This did not work. But it made me very cold.

My brain is just not working right today.

Well before noon I took off from here, heading to Pantego. I had multiple reasons to be going to Pantego.

The way to Pantego goes by Village Creek Natural Historic Area. I thought maybe a short walk was what I needed to get the synapses in my failing brain firing right again.

I was wrong. The walk provide no noticeable benefit.

I'm so badly malfunctioning I could not even manage to take a decent picture of the Village Creek Natural Wildflower area and the sign that tells you that that is what the sparse patch of wildflowers is.

Eventually this morning, at one point, I ended up in an ALDI Food Market. When I checked out my brain was still checked out, which caused me to use the wrong debit card. This was no big deal, but did require changing what I'd planned to do during the bank visit that was also part of this morning's adventure in minor senility.

When I left ALDI is when I came to the train blocking my way. I've heard more than once that Arlington is the only major city in America that allows itself to be cut in two by a train several times a day. There are only a couple ways to get past the track in Arlington.

That seems really odd to me. The little town I used to live in, Mount Vernon, has a train track running through it. There are several ways to get over the tracks. But, I do remember getting stuck waiting for a train a time or two on College Way, which was the main route I'd take back to my house.

It seems like a big waste of gas to have so many vehicles stopped and waiting for a train several times a day. A lot of money was spent fixing up the I-30 freeway in Arlington, with new bridges and new freeway that really does not seem to be all that big of an improvement.

Eventually the double-decker train came to an end and I was able to continue on my way.

Right now it is half past 3 in the afternoon and I feel so beat up I'm ready to go to bed. But, I don't see that happening for a few hours. In the meantime maybe I'll go try some more cold water pool therapy and do some sun lounging now that it is almost 70 degrees out there.

The Return Of Blue Sky And Near Freezing Temperatures With No Texas Tulips

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell you can see that the morning of the third day of May has dawned cleared of clouds, allowing the return of a bright blue sky.

With a temperature only 8 degrees above freezing, heading to a supposed high of 70.

It will take a few days to dry out my favorite hiking zone after yesterday's deluge.

I think the high yesterday was only 51. The 24 hour average does not quite meet my 50 degree requirement upon which I base if swimming is doable. But, I think I'll give it a try.

We've been in a bit of a drought in these parched parts, which is likely, I think, the main reason this spring's Texas wildflowers have been a bit muted.

Speaking of flowers. The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival just wrapped up. Last weekend Carlotta Camano headed north to the Skagit Valley to tour the tulip fields.

I've not done this in well over 10 years.

Around a million visitors come to the valley during the Tulip Festival. It is a big sprawled out deal. Over the years methods have been found to manage the massive traffic flow.

I think I may have seen a tulip in the ground in Texas, but I'm drawing a blank as to when or where.

What I do know, for sure, is looking at Carlotta Camano's pictures of the Skagit tulips, this morning, made me a bit homesick.

Under An Umbrella In A Downpour At Fosdic Lake Pondering Rush Limbaugh Heaping Praise On President Obama

You are with me under an umbrella, in a downpour, looking at Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park, today around noon.

I rather enjoyed walking in the rain under an umbrella. I've not done that all that often in Texas.  Lightning striking made me a little nervous, but the rumbling thunder was slightly in the distance, so I felt slightly safe.

I have been having myself a wet day today. This morning I said I did not think I'd go swimming. And then the rain went into downpour mode, making it suddenly seem fun to go out in it in my swimming suit to go swimming in the rain.

The pool water was quite a bit warmer than the incoming rain and the temperature of the air. Was very pleasant. Except usually I do not get wet from the neck up. That was not possible today.

When the thunder started booming, as I was walking, and the rain started pouring real hard, I thought taking some video might be interesting. I just uploaded a YouTube video of today's walk in the rain.

But, before I get to that, one very strange thing happened today. I turn on my radio to WBAP/96.7, at a bit past 11, to listen to the opening of the Rush Limbaugh show. This is part of my aerobic routine, because usually I find him annoying, which raises my blood pressure. I think.

I was curious how Rush was going to spin the killing of Bin Laden and somehow make Obama a bad guy.

Well, first off, Rush had the same problem I just had. When I typed Obama, it came out Osama. Over and over again Rush made that mistake and then corrected himself, eventually saying he needed to refer to the guy as Bin Laden and end the problem. And then a few seconds later, made the mistake again.

Here's a blurb from today's Limbaugh email newsletter...

"We need to sincerely congratulate President Obama.  He has done something extremely effective -- and when he does, it needs to be pointed out.  He has continued the Bush policies of keeping a military presence in the Middle East.  He did not scrub the mission to get Osama Bin Laden."  -Rush

The above is a mild version of how effusive Rush was in his praising of Obama. I kept waiting for the sarcastic twist, that never came. Yes, Rush did get in some digs about how many times Obama used the words "I" and "me" in his message from the White House last night.

My reaction to the Osama news was odd. I think because it's been such a long time he's been the world's most wanted man. The news seemed somehow anti-climatic. I'd long gotten over the shock of 9/11. So much has happened since then. A lot of it not good. And now Bin Laden is finally dead.

I'm thinking what happened last night is just the start of a new chapter that may take us to some disturbing new places we don't really want to go.

And now my disturbing video of walking in the rain with lightning strikes...