Visiting Fort Worth's Paradise Center With CatsPaw

I have returned to Durango Headquarters from my visit to Paradise Center with CatsPaw.

I had my camera with me. But, I did not feel right about asking if I could take pictures. That always puts people on the spot. I usually only take pictures if I am surrepititious about it. I had no idea if the Paradise Center folks would be shy about pictures, so I thought it best just to keep the camera in my pants.

Fort Worth's Lone Ranger, Steve Doeung, took some pictures when he arrived towards the end of our visit. At that point in time, due to Steve's camera-free example, I realized it would have been okay for me to go into picture taking mode, but that point in time was when CatsPaw and I were leaving.

I don't know why I am going on and on about pictures, except to explain why I took none, when usually I am a picture taking maniac.

Teresa gave CatsPaw and me very nice Paradise Center t-shirt's. Mine is 2XXL, which means it fits me well. Unlike the medium sized shirts my mom sends me. That would be me in my Paradise Center t-shirt in the picture. I am smiling because Elsie Hotpepper said she'd pay me $100 if I smiled in a picture.

Visiting the Paradise Center, up close and personal, I can say they need no more TVs or computers.

However, is there anyone out there in the Fort Worth zone with a BIG HEART and plumbing skills who could help do some simple plumbing involving installing a sink?

Anyone out there in the Fort Worth zone with a BIG HEART with some building skills who could help knock out a wall to make a bigger common area room?

Anyone out there in the Fort Worth zone with a BIG HEART with some ability to help build a simple outdoor shaded area?

Anyone out there in the Fort Worth zone with a BIG HEART and a picnic table they would like to see go to good use?

Today I could clearly see, with a little help, and a little work, Paradise Center could easily be a paradise, inside and out.

I can't remember the last time I felt my spirits lifted by so many uplifting spirits.

Including CatsPaw.

You can find information about Paradise Center, contact info and location on the Paradise Center website.

You can learn all about the Paradise Center Scandal and the dirty deeds done in Tarrant County by those who need to be held accountable for their dirty deeds, by visiting the Paradise Center Scandal website.

I Did Not Suffer Heatstroke Today Thinking About Hiking In Yosemite Or General Tarrant's Eminent Domain Abuse At Village Creek

Yes, I know I sort of clearly indicated I was going to stay out of the Texas sun today and thus avoid any minor heatstroke incidents.

But, I was feeling the need to be outside after spending hours inside working on webpages and blogs.

Including a blogging on my Durango Roadtripping Blog that made me want to return to Yosemite National Park and hike to the Glacier Point viewpoint of Half Dome, Yosemite, Vernal and Nevada Falls and the rest of the panoramic view of the Yosemite Valley from up high.

The highest I have ever been up the Yosemite Valley walls of granite is half way up to the top of Yosemite Falls. My co-hikers lacked the stamina to go any further. That and they were hungry.

Today I did not do anything in the Texas Heat as strenuous as hiking in the Yosemite Valley. In the ongoing process of taking America away from the Natives who had lived there for thousands of years, at one point Indians sought refuge in the Yosemite Valley.

Indians wish they had refuge in the place I walked today, that being, again, Village Creek Natural Historic Area, it being the site, long ago, of one of the biggest Indian Villages in America, an agricultural center growing corn and squash and other goodies, until, like I've said before, Texans came along, in what became Tarrant County, using a somewhat primitive form of eminent domain abuse to take their land away from its rightful owners.

One of the Texans who used the primitive form of eminent domain abuse, to remove (or kill) the Village Creek Indians, was named Edward H. Tarrant. He was a General. Due to his successful use of primitive eminent domain abuse, Tarrant County was named after him. Tarrant County continues to honor the memory of General Tarrant by repeatedly securing its reputation as the Eminent Domain Abuse Capital of the Free World.

Changing the subject from eminent domain abusers to my HEAT woes.

I did not overheat today, even though it was 94 when I left my abode, with a Real Feel Heat Index of 98.

In the Village Creek Bayou, today, I saw a bird colored in a very nice shade of blue. Is it a blue heron?

The Village Creek Bayou appears to be quickly drying up. Parts of it are now mud. What becomes of the snakes, turtles, fish and birds if the bayou turns totally to mud?

Well, I am totally headache-free and heading towards downtown Fort Worth in a few minutes to find the Center of Paradise and the Paws of a Cat. Wish me luck in this very risky endeavor.

I hope I don't overheat.

A HOT Hiking Heatstroke Moratorium Hoping To Enter Paradise In Texas

Looking at the blue-tinted view from my primary viewing portal on the world on this, the 2nd Thursday of July, Day 14, it appears to be yet one more cloud-free morning in Texas.

Currently heated to 83 degrees, heading to a scheduled high of 105, with a Real Feel Heat Index of 109.

I think I will test my doctor's theory that my recent afternoon headaches have been heat exposure related and not expose myself to the noonday heat today.

I have some skepticism regarding this theory I have been suffering from a minor case of heatstroke due to the fact I have been hiking in the HOT Texas noonday sun for years without any noticeable dire effects.

However, this summer it does appear to be more humid than summers past. And, the number of Barnett Shale Natural Gas wells spewing who knows what into the air that I breathe is something I did not much contend with 5 or 6 or 7 years ago.

I am currently scheduled to go with a cat to the Center of Paradise this afternoon around 3. I can not remember the last time I went to the Center of Paradise with a cat.

If I do not get aerobic endorphin stimulation via HOT hill hiking today, that means the only way I can get my needed daily fix is via swimming. I think I will go take care of that right now.

Recovering From Possible Heatstroke Possibly Caused By Hiking The 102 Degrees HOT Tandy Hills Today

I had myself plenty of endorphin stimulating aerobic activity swimming early this morning.

By the time my regular, daily, I feel cooped up and need to get some of what passes for fresh air in this seriously polluted location I currently inhabit time of the day rolled in around noon I was just a bit wary of doing any hill hiking on the Tandy Hills.

Even though the Tandy Hills is a registered, certified, Natural Sanatorium Area, which does a body a world of good, it was 96 when I decided it was time to leave air-conditioned comfort.

96 with a Real Feel Heat Index of 102.

Since I was going to Town Talk hoping to get sushi and Cornish game hens I parked at the park on View Street access to the Tandy Hills. I was not soon into walking when I realized I likely was not going to be wanting to go down and up any steep hills.

I was already feeling a bit woozy, for who knows what reason. I did not have with me my favorite piece of elderly person equipment, that being my little remote control device that I can use to hit a button and say, "Help me, I've fallen and can't get up."

But, I did have my cell phone with me, so if a serious case of heatstroke struck me I figured I could call 911. But that really would seem rather selfish to put the 911 rescue people through HOT HELL just because I was foolish enough to subject myself to the Texas Furnace.

So, I risked no steep trail heat prostration by staying on the trails that are fairly flat that lead in from View Street. I still got too HOT.

All it takes is some wind and for the humidity to head further south and then these HOT temperatures become much more easy for me to tolerate.

As you can see, by around 3 in the afternoon it has not heated up all that much hotter than it was at noon. Currently 100, with the Real Feel Heat Index feeling like 104.

The predicted high for today is 104, which should happen, if it does, around 5. At 104 the Real Feel Heat Index will only be 106.

This morning I read the Queen of Wink waxing on about rain that fell upon her parched parts in West Texas yesterday. Why is rain falling in the West Texas desert and not in this part of rain-starved Texas? We are wilting here. Wilting and turning brown.

I got a confession from Tarrant Liberty Guy an hour or so ago, confessing to playing fast and loose with my words on the TRIP website. I mentioned this particular crime in a blogging earlier today. I don't know if it is too late to turn off the police investigation.

I am having myself what seems to me, for me, a bit of a very very rare headache. Is this some sort of possible heatstroke symptom?

TRIP's Enhanced Version Of Durango Rockin' The River With JD Granger & His Mama

The screencap on the left is from the Trinity River Improvement Partnership website.

TRIP.

TRIP advocates a sane alternative to the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Of late I have been surprised a time or two to see my blog being re-posted by some entity other than myself.

Last night it was TRIP which surprised me.

TRIP has a blog on which I found my blog.

I likely told the TRIP people to feel free to use anything they want of my stuff. What made this use of my stuff interesting is my stuff was "enhanced." Arguably for the better.

For example, the opening sentence says....

From “Durango, Texas”, Saturday, July 9, 2011, where he asks, “Don’t algae and amoebas like it when the water gets warm like this?”

What I actually said was...

Is the Trinity River turning green due to the water warming up, due to the HOT weather, causing algae and other bad stuff to grow?

Now, when I wrote the above, I tried to think of another thing that grows in hot water. Amoebas did not occur to me. So I used the banal "bad stuff." I would have used amoebas had it occurred to me, just for the alliteration alone.

And then, under the ad for Rockin' the River on my blog, I have no caption. TRIP added the following caption...

Float in various germs, contaminants, bio-hazards and turds.

I would not have written this because the word "turds" is not in my vocabulary. I believe "turds" is Texas-speak for fecal matter.

The last 2 sentences in my blogging about Rockin' the River were...

Are J.D. Granger and his mom, Kay, going to be in the Trinity River on Thursday? If not, why not?

After those last 2 sentences TRIP repeated some of what I had written, including the 2 above sentences, and then added a lot more, which is pretty good verbiage, but not quite what I'd say, in the way I'd say it.

You can read the TRIP augmentations below...

WARNING!  DO NOT BECOME A FLOATER IN THE TRINITY! ELEVATED FECAL COLIFORM BACTERIA CONDITIONS PRESENT!

Are J.D. Granger and his mom, Kay, going to be in the Trinity River on Thursday? If not, why not? When our ‘friends in the government’ are trying to persuade folks that all is great in the Trinity.  In fact, grab a tube and  join them in a float down the river!   PLEASE  remember this:

    * This is a media stunt, aimed at showing people having fun in the ‘clean enough’ waters of the Trinity ONLY!
    * These promoters care LITTLE for your health and well-being, apparently.
    * This is a taxpayer funded frat party (complete with drink specials for those that participate)
    * Federal and state studies warn us NOT to eat fish caught in the Trinity due to elevated PCB levels (a known carcinogen) and other harmful legacy (aka – BANNED) chemicals.
    * Industrial and agricultural waste runoff have only INCREASED since those tests
    * This portion of the Trinity is home to alligator gar and more importantly a growing population alligators.  They don’t mind sludgy, polluted swamps.  They have thick skin and murky water makes it easier for them to do their hunting.
    * Did we mention that this frat party was being paid for BY YOU?!?!?  Did you sign up to pay for this?

Real flood control is being ignored, water cleanup is claimed as unneeded and your health is at risk.  Demand some accountability!

I have no idea who I have to thank for so greatly enhancing my meager words. So, I'll just thank TRIP.

The 2nd Wednesday Of July In Texas Pondering Swimming While Not Drinking Cancer Causing Beer

The 2nd Wednesday of July, Day 13, has surprisingly dawned with yet one more blue sky morning a few miles north of being Deep in the Heart of Texas.

That blue oasis in the picture is looking particularly inviting this morning.

Currently we are being heated to 83 degrees with a 20 degree increase planned for the day, heading to a scheduled high of 103.

The drought is starting to noticeably take a toll. Greenery from tree leaves to weeds is starting to wilt.

Switching subjects to another type of liquid consumption. Surprising news from the French this morning. A French research study has concluded that the consumption of any amount of an alcoholic beverage presents a cancer danger.

As the news of this latest cancer danger spreads around the planet I expect alcohol consumption to plummet. This could lead to a Great Depression far greater than the Great Depression that began in 1929.

Switching subjects, again, to another subject involving water. My swimming pool is back in swimming mode again. I think I will go swimming now and ponder the Great Depression that is about to hit the world when everyone stops consuming adult beverages after finding out that such consumption will likely result in cancer.

Firearms And Hitting Golf Balls Are PROHIBITED In Arlington's Village Creek Natural Area

I am a fan of spotting what seems to me to be goofy verbiage on signs. Or in ads.

I do not know how I missed this particular verbiage on the sign I walk by every time I walk into the Village Creek Natural Historic Area in Arlington.

There are many things listed on the sign "For the Enjoyment of all Visitors," asking those visitors to "Please Observe these Park Rules."

Among the rules one is asked to observe is "Firearms and hitting golf balls are PROHIBITED."

I have never seen firearms and hitting golf balls linked together like this. I guess both potentially endanger park visitors with fast moving projectiles.

The sign does not prohibit fireworks. I heard no firecrackers cracking during our recent 4th of July in Texas. But today I saw a little unexploded, fuse still intact, firecracker, laying on the Village Creek Natural Historic Area ground.

Note the signage that includes the warning about firearms and hitting golf balls makes no mention of Village Creek being an Historic Area. I don't know why some of the Village Creek signs omit that, whilst others add that it is a Historic area.

Is there a park within easy driving distance from my location where I am not prohibited from having fun with my firearms while hitting golf balls? Preferably a natural, historic area.

Taking It Easy In The Shady Jungle Of Village Creek Natural Historic Area Thinking About Mike Moncrief's Legacy Of Greed & Deception

Today is my therapist prescribed Day of Taking it Easy. Days of Taking it Easy are timed to coincide with when my pool is being treated and not swimmable.

I decided to escape confinement by going to the Village Creek Natural Historic Area, again, to be one, again, with the spirits of all the Indians who were murdered here.

That and enjoy a nice walk in a shaded jungle of green, blocked from the blistering rays of the relentless sun which is currently in heavy duty wilting mode.

With no incoming rain it will not be long before North Texas turns from its nice shade of green to a pleasant shade of brown. Brown is my favorite color, so I am okay with seeing brown everywhere I go.

I just a long email from Don Young with the subject being "Mike Moncrief's Legacy of Greed & Deception." I wonder if now that Fort Worth is finally rid of its corrupt mayor if the FBI, currently busy in Dallas, might turn some federal racketeering attention on Fort Worth?

I suspect not.

Instead of worrying about Fort Worth racketeering, I am going to have lunch now.

Half The Country Is Baking In A Monster Heat Wave With My Pool & Fort Worth's Public Pools Closed

Half the country is sweltering in Heavy Duty Heat Wave mode, with day after day temperatures over 100, with some areas feeling like it is in the 120 degree range, due to the humidity.

In a long MSNBC article about the Heat Wave, titled "Feels like 120: Half of US set to swelter again" mention was made of the Dallas-Fort Worth area's HEAT.

Mention was also made regarding the fact that Fort Worth has closed all its public swimming pools. Along with information I was unaware of, that being that four Fort Worth YMCA pools are allowing Fort Worth residents to swim for 2 hours a day, without needing to be a YMCA member.

Below is the excerpt of the part of the MSNBC Heat Wave article that pertained to Dallas/Fort Worth....

Dallas recorded its 10th-straight day of 100-degree weather Monday. The city hit 100 for nearly three straight weeks as recently as 2006, and the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory Monday afternoon for the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the first time since June 18. The advisory will remain in effect until Wednesday night.

In 1980, the Dallas-Fort Worth area endured 42 days in a row of 100-degree-and-over heat.

Little chance of rain

Triple-digit highs are expected through the weekend in Dallas, and there is little chance of rain to cool things down.

On Monday, 87-year-old R.F. Lanham was taking the heat in stride as he picked weeds in his shaded front yard in Dallas. "I've seen a lot of hot summers," he said.

As 40-year-old Sally Smith loaded two of her children into her minivan as she left a spin class at a Dallas YMCA, she said that even though she had lived in Texas for 18 years, the hot weather was hard to get used to.

"You feel like your skin is baking," the Michigan native said.

In Fort Worth, all of the city's pools are closed because of budget cuts. Through a partnership with the YMCA, Fort Worth residents can swim at four of its pools for two hours a day without a membership.

My swimming pool is not usable today. A YMCA is less than 2 miles from my location. I know it has a pool. I do not know if it is one of the four Fort Worth YMCAs opening its pool to the public.

Up Early The Second Tuesday Of July Thinking About Shocking The Trinity River & Betsy Price

I was up before the sun on this second Tuesday of July, but I did not look out my primary viewing portal on the world til the sun began lighting up the outdoor world.

I will not be visiting that blue oasis you see through the window this morning. The pool got its weekly shock treatment Monday afternoon. When the temperatures are over 100, day after day, the pool needs help to stay crystal clear.

I wonder if the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle has plans to shock the Trinity River prior to Thursday's third Rockin' the River Inner Tube Happy Hour Float of the summer?

Speaking of Rockin' the River, why was Thursday, a school/workweek night, picked as the day for  Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats? Rather than Friday or Saturday?

I read this morning that Texas lost 358 million gallons of water from the state's lakes in June. That sounds like an awful lot of water. The drought is currently being one of the worst in Texas history.

Continuing with the water, Rockin' the River theme, I got a very odd comment from the Ubiquitous Anonymous yesterday to a blogging a few days ago about Rockin' the River....

Though I understand your political stance, please refrain from commenting gars, gators and snakes do not belong in our ecosystem. They do. They won't hurt you. Treat them with respect to ensure others do. They are part of the food chain. Your disdain for such creatures is an attitude found in the very same people you purport to disagree with (yes, end, with a preposition). For all your meanderings, you steadfastly refuse to learn and appreciate the basic naturalism inherent in your outings. This disturbs my greatly. We do not live in a Pacific Northwest ecosystem .

I feel real bad about disturbing Anonymous greatly, but I don't recollect ever suggesting gars, gators and snakes do not belong in our ecosystem. I may have suggested, sort of, that inner tubers don't belong in a river where gars, gators and snakes try and make a living.

Also, I was not aware I have a political stance. I was aware that in my current location in Texas we do not live in a Pacific Northwest ecosystem.

On a non-water note, today Fort Worth is celebrating the installation of a new mayor, with Betsy Price replacing Mike Moncrief. I have a good feeling that Betsy Price is going to be a much better mayor than her predecessor. Eternal optimist that I be.

Today is my weekly take it easy day. This should have me cranky from endorphin withdrawal by about 10 this morning.