The 3rd Morning Of July In Texas Attacked By A Mosquito

The 3rd morning of July has dawned with a clear blue sky, devoid of any clouds, as you can clearly see, looking skyward through the bars of my patio prison cell.

I was attacked and stung by a mosquito yesterday. I believe this is the first time I have been attacked by a mosquito since I have been in Texas.

In Washington during the summer months a summer never passed without multiple mosquito attacks. And usually several deer fly bites suffered whilst hiking in the Cascade Mountains.

I do not know if I have contracted that West or East or whatever it is Nile Disease from yesterday's mosquito bite. I do know I am having strange muscle pains this morning. But no detectable fever. So far.

I think I'll go swimming now and try to forget about all my aches and pains.

Thinking About Riding A Texas Longhorn In Granbury & Arlington's 4th Of July Parades

A few 4th of Julys ago I drove down to one of my favorite Texas small towns to view the Granbury 4th of July Parade.

Granbury puts on very good festivals. And parades. General Granbury's Birthday is another fun Granbury event.

The Granbury 4th of July Parade may be the most fun 4th of July Parade I have watched.

With Arlington's 4th of July Parade a close second. Arlington's is about 2 hours long. And it was very HOT the year I watched it.

Granbury's 4th of July Parade does not last as long as Arlington's. And the year I watched it it was cloudy, thus not so HOT. And the Granbury 4th of July Parade had one entry that blasted air-conditioned cold air at the parade watchers which was very refreshing.

I make way too many webpages. And then way too often I forget I made the webpage. For instance, I had my information researcher looking for info about Texas 4th of July Events. Totally forgetting I'd at some point in the past made a web page about Texas 4th of July Events.

I did turn the info my information researcher found about D/FW Metroplex 4th of July Events into a blog post.

I have no idea what I am going to do on the 4th of July this year. Maybe I should fire off some firecrackers with Elsie Hotpepper.

A Rogue Downpour With Hail Gets Me Unexpectedly Wet In My Zone Of Texas

Rain was not in the forecast for my zone of North Texas for this first Saturday of July.

I was sitting here minding my computer business, the view out my computer room window was bright, the sky blue, with a cloud or two.

And then, suddenly, with the sky still bright, hail started hitting my window in copious amounts.

The hail was soon followed with rain mixed in, which then went into downpour mode, as you can see in the picture.

And now, 10 minutes later, only a few stray drops are now falling and the sky is back being bright blue again.

I am seeing no rainbow from my location. But, I have a very limited view.

I think the quirky weather may be my favorite thing about Texas.

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.