A Saturday HOT Hunt For The Trees Of Life & Prairie Notes On The Tandy Hills

An occasional cloud came between me and the sun today on the Tandy Hills, providing a short cooling respite from the glaring rays of the noon sun.

Yesterday I mentioned Don Young's Prairie Notes and the roadrunner he caught in his birdbath.

Yesterday I did not realize that Don Young's Prairie Notes are now memorialized for posterity on the Friend of Tandy Hills Natural Area website.

On the FOTHNA website you will find the latest Prairie Notes, with the latest currently being Trees of Life - Prairie Notes: #55.

I do not know what camera Don Young uses to take his photos. What I do know is he sure takes better photos than I do.

It is currently only 94 degrees at almost 2 in the afternoon. I don't think we are going to hit the predicted 100 degree mark today.

The Second Day Of July In Texas Thinking About Next Saturday's Parker County Peach Festival

The Saturday morning sky shines bright, semi-deep in the Heart of Texas, on this, the second day of July.

Currently we are being chilled to a relatively cold 79 degrees, heading, supposedly, to an eventual high of 101 today, with the humidity making it feel like 107.

Parker County peaches are currently in ripe mode. This means the Parker County Peach Festival is next Saturday, July 9, from 8am til 5pm.

The Parker County Peach Festival takes place in the county seat of Parker County, Weatherford.

The Parker County Peach Festival is a one-day event. A HUGE one-day event. A very well-done HUGE one-day event. With all sorts of peach products, like peach juleps, peach cobbler, peach ice cream and just plain peaches available for your eating pleasure.

The first time I went to the Parker County Peach Festival I was a bit disapointed in the quality of the peaches. As in the peach flavor was a bit lacking. That was an off year for the Parker County peaches.

On my second visit the Parker County peaches were as good as the peaches I was used to in Washington.

I do not know if I will make it to the 2011 Parker County Peach Festival. I do know I am going to go swimming in about 5 minutes.

I Saw No Thirsty Roadrunners Running On The Tandy Hills Today

This morning it seemed the water in the swimming pool and the air were just about the same temperature.

With a few more 100 degree or more days the water in the pool is not going to be all that refreshing.

We are now at the point in the HOT time of the year where cold Texas tap water is not all that cold.

Today I again decided to do something different and went hiking on the hills of the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area around noon.

I saw no thirsty roadrunners.

The Tandy Steambath/Sauna was the HOTTEST so far this year.

When I returned to air-conditioned interior comfort I found the HEAT effects continuing with non-stop leaking through my skin's thousands of leak portals. To try and stop the leaking I tried a shower of that previously mentioned not so cold Texas tap water.

The semi-cold water was able to stop my leaking skin portals from continuing to leak.

It is starting to become a regular Friday afternoon thing, where I get a message from Elsie Hotpepper telling me she is once more in need of clothes. I suppose I shall go see if I can help Elsie get dressed. Again.

Don Young's Prairie Notes #55 With The Tandy Hills Roadrunner

Every month Fort Worth's Watchdog, Don Young, sends out his Prairie Notes.

Since this is July 1, Prairie Notes #55 has arrived.

I webpaged Don Young's Prairie Notes a couple times, due to me thinking the notes were too good not to share. Then it occurred me that I was sort of plagiarizing Don Young's good material without permission, so I stopped that bad boy behavior.

I did not realize til I right now, when I Googled "Don Young's Prairie Notes," that my webpaging of the notes Googles #1, along with a lot of blog posts where apparently I've mentioned Don Young's Prairie Notes, like this current blogging.

The coolest thing in Don Young's latest Prairie Notes is the picture he took of the Tandy Hills Roadrunner. The TH Roadrunner left the Tandy Hills Natural Area, crossed View Street, then ran onto Don Young's yard and hopped up on a birdbath to get a drink of water.

Currently, the Texas drought has rendered water very scarce on the Tandy Hills. Near as I can tell nothing remains of the two rains of June.

I'll carry an extra bottle of water with me on the Tandy Hills today in case I come across the Tandy Hills Roadrunner and it needs a drink.

The First Day Of July Dawns With A Texas Drought Disaster & Snow At Lake Tahoe

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the world on the first day of July it appears to be yet one more cloud free morning in Texas.

Currently chilled to a relatively pleasant 77 degrees. Heading to a scheduled high of 101 with the Heat Index making it feel like 106.

I did not realize til reading the news this morning that we are in a very very bad drought here in Texas. The worst in decades.

The Agriculture Department has designated 213 Texas counties as drought disaster areas. 32 counties in Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma were also declared drought disaster areas.

It was a noticeably dry spring this year. And so far summer in Texas has also been dry, for the most part. And HOT.

Meanwhile out west, in locations like the mountains around Lake Tahoe, snow continues to fall, well past the time snow usually ceases. Up in my former zone in Washington, the Skagit Valley, perpetual dampness seems to be the ongoing theme, with 4th of July celebrants anticipating using umbrellas to watch the annual Sedro Woolley 4th of July Loggerodeo Parade.

June zipped by at an unseemly pace. I anticipate July to zip equally fast. With August quickly arriving.

Soon we will be at the cooler time of the year when going swimming is a bit of a chilly challenge, which will not be the case when I go swimming in just a few minutes.

Talk to you later.

Hiking The Tandy Hills Seeing Volcano Visions While Thinking About Trinity River Inner Tubing With Elsie Hotpepper & GG

I decided to make a rare visit to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area today, around noon, for my daily salubrious aerobic activity.

It was HOT on the hills. HOTTER than yesterday. I was soon a HOT sweaty mess.

And loving it.

Like I was in an Indian Sweat Lodge without walls.

Soon I was having "visions" just like my Native American forebears used to have.

Climbing up the trail that leads to Lost Sunglasses Ridge I had a vision of a snow covered mountain peaking over the crest of the ridge. I felt like I was back in the Pacific Northwest, hiking a trail on the western slopes of the Cascades, seeing a volcano in the distance.

But, when I reached the top of Lost Sunglasses Ridge the vision of a volcano in Texas turned into yet one more cloud.

Elsie Hotpepper has been sending me mixed messages today. By this afternoon I am not sure if she really wants to go inner tubing in the Trinity River on the 4th of July. Regarding that issue, I did get a message from Miss GG in which she clearly indicated, in her words, she won't be "swimming with big rats" on the 4th of July.

I do not understand why so many Texans are so hypersensitive about the water they are willing to get wet in.

Very perplexing.

Fort Worth's 4th Of July With Trinity River Floating While North Richland Hills Has No River Floating Or Alcohol

I just got an email from Elsie Hotpepper asking me if I wanted to go floating in the Trinity River with her on Monday at Fort Worth's 4th of July celebration behind La Grave Field in what some now call Trinity Uptown.

The ad for Fort Worth's 4th says, "Float the Fourth Water Activities. Be cool and have a fun, splashing good time in the river."

If this floating is taking place by La Grave Field will this be a case of floating where no man has dared float before? Is the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle supplying Inner Tubes for this float like they do for the Inner Tube Happy Hour Floats that occur on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the summer months?

Chesapeake Energy is presenting Fort Worth's 4th of July, according to the ad. What would Fort Worth do without Chesapeake Energy?

I mistakenly did not include the NRH 4th of July among my list of D/FW 4th of July celebrations.

Chesapeake Energy, among other Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers is helping sponsor North Richland Hills 4th of July celebration, as you can see in the ad below.

North Richland Hills' "The Family 4th Fireworks Show" is not the type event of which the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's J.D. Granger would approve, because, according to the ad, "This is a litter-free, alcohol-free family celebration."

In addition to the NRH 4th of July ban on litter and booze, no personal fireworks or outdoor grilling will be allowed. But, there will be patriotic music playing, in sync, with the fireworks.

It seems odd to me, since the 4th of July is basically a celebration of freedom, that some of the celebrations tell you you are not free to grill a hot dog. Or drink a bottle of beer. Or set off a firecracker.

Of these two 4th of July celebrations, J.D. Granger's party on the Trinity River would appear to appeal to me more than the NRH celebration. 

But, I don't think I could possibly drink enough beer to cause my common sense to go haywire enough that I'd end up on the 4th floating in the Trinity River. No matter how strong a case Elsie Hotpepper makes to do so.

Ex Congressman Weiner Approves Message About When Your Weiner Needs To Be Tweeted

After Osama bin Laden was killed I was a bit appalled to see an ad in the Fort Worth Weekly in which the ad depicted the corpse of bin Laden being buried at sea, with an aircraft carrier in the background.

This in an ad to sell condoms.

Somehow this seemed a bit tasteless to me.

And now, this morning, again in Fort Worth Weekly, I saw another condom ad, this one using scandalized former Congressman Anthony Weiner as ad fodder, with the clever ad line of "When your WEINER needs to be TWEETED...YOU BETTER SHOP CONDOM SENSE."

The ad also says, "I'm Ex Congressman Weiner, and I Approve this Message."

Does Condom Sense and FW Weekly run their ads by a lawyer to make sure they aren't setting themselves up for some legal woes? I somehow think no lawyer is consulted before the ad is run.

The Morning Of The Last Day Of June In Texas Is Chilled To 76 Degrees

You can not tell it by looking through the bars of my patio prison cell, at the blue oasis below, that the last day of June has dawned chillier than yesterday's dawn, with this morning chilled to a pleasant 76 degrees.

So, I temporarily have my windows open, with slightly cool, highly humid air circulating into my interior space.

June zipped by, seemingly even faster than the regular monthly slipping. The month started with me wondering if I would be heading north for a reunion. The month ended with me glad I did not do that.

This morning I am once more realizing I would not long survive being a customer service type person. It is so frustrating trying to nicely help someone when the someone does not have the slightest clue and continually wastes time with nonsensical stuff and does not do what you've clearly explained.

Okay, the above paragraph was totally cryptic. If it weren't cryptic it would expose the culprit.

Back to the less controversial weather/temperature topic. No thunderstorm materialized yesterday, despite the prediction of the possibility. Today we are scheduled to get to a real temperature of 102 with the humidity making it feel like it is 108. No thunderstorm in the forecast. So, we will likely get one.

Before it gets any hotter I think I'll go swimming in that blue oasis you see above.

Tripping Over Mount Tandy Seismic Testing Cable Whle Finding Fireworks On The Tandy Highway & Scoping Out A Location To Watch The Fort Worth Fireworks

Swimming this morning was the best in a long time. The air temperature and water temperature seemed a perfect match.

When the time came for my noontime salubrious aerobic stimulation I decided to do something different and drive to the top of Mount Tandy to do me some hiking in the Tandy Hills Natural Area Sanatorium.

The hills were exceptionally natural today.

Earlier today I blogged about the 4th of July and the various venues where one can view fireworks and get some 4th of July action in the D/FW Metroplex zone.

Stenotrophomonas then made an informative comment to that particular blogging, commenting...

"A popular place to watch the downtown fireworks is the slope of Mt Tandy, near the lower traffic barrier. I wonder if Dawson will clean up their trash this week If not, will it be trampled by the crowds, or trip them up in the dark. Or maybe someone will steal the cables and equipment, just like the person last year in need of golf balls."

The cables to which Mr. Stenotrophomonas refers are the seismic testing cables strewn along the trail that leads from the top of Mount Tandy. If you look close you can see the yellow cable posing the tripping threat in the picture above.

Anyone injured by tripping over a seismic testing cable left carelessly on the ground, please remember that that Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers have deep pockets. Lawyers love targets with deep pockets.

Below is the Fort Worth Fireworks viewing zone to which Stenotrophomonas refers. You can see the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth in the distance.

I can see why viewing the Fort Worth Fireworks from this location might be fun. I may do just that in a few days.

Speaking of fireworks, check out the photo below.

In the aforementioned blogging about the 4th of July I opined about the dearth of local availability of personal fireworks of the firecracker/rocket sort, due to the lack of Indian Reservations anywhere nearby.

Today, I found the above "firework" laying on the ground on the Tandy Highway between the two creek crossings that the Fort Worth Water Boys messed up. This particular piece of ordnance had yet to be exploded, the fuse was waiting to be lit.

A couple years ago exploding fireworks set a section of the Tandy Hills on fire, doing what Mother Nature used to do via lightning strikes, clearing the prairie of intruders and pests. When the burned section on the Tandy Hills grew back, it did not seem like much of an improvement to me.

I wonder who is hiking to the core of the Tandy Hills armed with fireworks? And then littering the ground with them? I am almost absolutely 100% certain it is not Stenotrophomonas. And I know with 100% certain it is not me. I guess that leave Don Young as the chief suspect, til other possible culprits are identified.