Taking My Cane On A HOT Walk With The Village Creek Ghosts

I got out my walking cane and used my senior citizen's pass to take the bus to Village Creek Natural Historic Area today.

I felt like communing with the wise elderly spirits of Indians long gone.

You can not tell it by today's picture taken via the Village Creek photo mirror, but it was being horribly HOT in the noon time frame today. HOTTEST HOT yet.

The HOTTEST HOT yet had my cold tapwater feeling HOT. Previously the cold tapwater had warmed to being warm, but never HOT.

I called my mom on my way to Village Creek to wish mom a Happy Birthday, due to the labor my mom went through today, all those decades ago, to deliver a very little me to the world. Mom was not home to receive her Happy Birthday call.

So, I left a voice mail.

As you can see via the picture of the Village Creek Jungle, the jungle is beginning to show signs of lack of water, as in, drought strain. Leaves are falling as if it were Fall. Green is turning brown.

Tomorrow if we hit 100 it ties the all time record for days in a row getting that HOT. Something has happened in the past hour or two that has me thinking that the 1980 record may not be broken.

We have dropped a lot of degrees in the past hour or two. As in it was over 100 when I wilted with the Indian ghosts, but it is only 84.7 now, at half past 3. Clouds have arrived. Along with a forecast for some possible storming....

An outflow boundary continues to push southward across North Texas with scattered thunderstorms to its north. The boundary could reach a Comanche to Ennis to Greenville line around 4 PM. Look for north winds of 15 to 30 mph and temperatures falling into the 80s behind this boundary. Rain and thunderstorms just north of I-20 to the west of Fort Worth will continue to follow the boundary southward this afternoon. These will move across Eastland...Earth... Hood... Somervell and Johnson counties by 5 PM. Gusty winds...heavy rainfall and dangerous cloud to ground lightning will occur from the strong thunderstorms. Rain and isolated thunderstorms along the Red River counties east of Gainesville will continue to spread east and southeast through 5 PM. This rain will spread through Collin... Hunt...Delta and Hopkins counties by 5 PM. Elsewhere...it will remain hot and dry with temperatures in the upper 90s and lower 100s under mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies. Heat advisory in effect until 9 PM CDT this evening...

It Is A Happy 47th Birthday Today In Durango Jones World

I have been getting emails and Facebook messages this morning wishing me a Happy Birthday. I checked my biographical information to see if it is my birthday today. Apparently it is.

Today, using the patented Durango Age Calculating Formula I calculated I am 47 years old. The Durango Age Calculating Formula adds ones Chronological Age to How Old One Looks to How Old One Acts and then divides the total by 3.

As you can see in my high school senior photo I have always looked way younger than my chronological years. I believe I was 17 when my senior photo was taken.

I have always been told that as I got older I would come to appreciate my freakishly youthful appearance. I guess I do. But it does get tiresome, at times, the few times I purchase an adult beverage, to get asked to prove I am old enough to do so.

Last October my mountain bike was stolen. This was about a week after I had my last mountain bike wreck. It was not a bad wreck, but it wrenched my right foot, a pain which took a long time to go away. I took the bike wreck, followed by the bike theft, followed by the foot pain to be an omen that I was too old to be riding a bike.

In the picture you are looking at me on my first mountain bike, pedaling the streets of Eugene, Oregon, wearing a very stylish bike helmet.

Being at the ripe old age of 47 it is hard to remember all the people I have met over the years in the various places I have met people.

Sometimes memories are too painful to remember. Or to forget.

I don't remember the name of the girl in the picture. It seems like maybe the last name was Figenbaum. My mom would likely remember.

I have always liked being outdoors. This likely explains why at my now semi-advanced age of 47 my skin is leathery. Or is it just tanned?

My enjoying playing in the sun years began in Eugene. Summers are hot in Eugene. Not Texas HOT, but hot.

I think in the picture on the left I am working on my garden.

I have always liked to plant stuff and watch it grow. Not so much in Texas, though. Growing stuff in Texas is a daunting task. You might run low on water. Or get a plague of locusts.

Elsie Hotpepper emailed me a few minutes ago asking what my Happy Birthday plans are.

I have no Happy Birthday plans. Except to call my mom and wish her a Happy Birthday for birthing me.

The August 11 Morning Of Day 41 Over 100 In North Texas

My internal lights came on at right about the time the sun arrived to light up the 11th day of August.

It is yet one more clear blue sky morning in North Texas, currently chilled to 82.7. This chilly temperature gives my air-conditioner a slight break from its cooling duties.

Unless a Blue Norther Arctic Blast arrives today it will be Day 41 in a Row of 100 Degrees or more, as measured by the official temperature monitoring station at D/FW Airport.

The record numbers of days in North Texas of 100 or more is 42. The current temperature prediction for tomorrow, Friday, the possible Day 42, is 99 degrees. That is the prediction from the Weather Underground. Other predictors are predicting 100 for tomorrow.

I suspect the other predictors are going to end up predicting correctly, with Friday being the record tying day 42 in a row of 100 or more. With the record broken on Saturday, at 43. Followed by several more days in a row over 100.

All this temperature talk has made me HOT. So, I think I will go swimming now.

Three Boys Stuck In The Fosdic Lake Mud While Fosdic Creek Floods With Fosducks & Turtles

Today as I drove on to the parking lot on the east side of Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park I looked across to the west side of the lake to see something I have never seen before. Humans in the lake. Well, more precisely, humans appearing to be stuck in mud made bare by the receding Fosdic Lake, evaporating away due to the ongoing  Great North Texas Drought and 40 days in a row of 100 degrees of more.

The 3 guys in the mud were pulling stuff out of the mud. And then running across the mud to deposit what they'd pulled up in the garbage can that usually floats in the lake, but is currently sitting on the mud flat. I could see the boys were barefoot. Barefoot in thick, gooey, black mud that holds who knows what.

A short time later I was on the west side of Fosdic Lake, directly above where I'd seen the boys in the mud. No boys to be seen. A short distance from that location I walked down a cement stairway to lake level.

Still no boys to be seen. Then I noticed black mud footprints on the cement steps. I've no idea where those 3 boys went and how they went there so quickly. While barefoot.

The 3 boys may have hurried off the mud sand bar when they noticed that the level of Fosdic Lake was rising. Rising due to a large volume of water entering Fosdic Lake from a flooding Fosdic Creek. I assume yet one more Fort Worth water main had broken, somewhere upcreek from Fosdic Lake. The water appeared very milky.

In the news the past couple days has been the news that we may soon be in water restriction mode in North Texas due to the drought. Those vexing water main breaks are not helping conserve water.

I suspect the Fosdic Creek flood will likely quickly abate and Fosic Lake will continue evaporating. In the above picture you are looking at the beach that has formed on the east side of the lake.

The Fosdic Ducks, also known as Fosducks, had moved to a new shade location. Also in evidence were a few turtles. The Fosducks were not in the water, but the turtles were. So, that makes turtles and humans I sort of saw in Fosdic Lake today.

I think I'd be more willing to go inner tubing in Fosdic Lake than I would in the Trinity River. No slightly treated sewage is pumped in Fosdic Lake, as far as I know.

If You Like Soap Opera Mixed With Politics You've Come To The Right Place

I was blogging this morning about good news about the Paradise Center's little sweetheart's Elizabeth's successful heart procedure, when I clicked on the link to the Paradise Center website and found myself being talked about.

I found what was said to be nice and amusing....

We know this is out there.  Some of the comments are outrageous, unethical, unprofessional, and false.  We don't read it very often, because alot of the mean things are written by anonymous people ABOUT US.  And when we do read it, we get upset.  We don't like the negativity.  We're focusing on the here and now and our bright future.  So, if you like soap-opera stuff mixed in with local politics, click below and have some fun.

http://Paradise-Center-Scandal.blogspot.com

That blog and the following blog are written and hosted by Durango.  None of us at Paradise Center have ever met or talked to him.  We're pretty sure that's just his internet name.  But he is a local blogger with his finger on the pulse of what's happening in and around Fort Worth.  We think you'll find some interesting information about Fort Worth, and if you look closely, about Paradise Center.

http://durangotexas.blogspot.com

Thanks, Durango, for keeping our story alive!

You are welcome, Paradise Center.

On the Paradise Center website the sentence that says, "None of us at Paradise Center have ever met or talked to him," now has a line struck through it, because people at Paradise Center have now met me.

Microsoft Caused Tardiness On Day 40 In A Row Over 100 On Dr. L.C.'s Happy Birthday

It is almost 4 hours after a pre-dawn picture was taken of the view through the bars of my patio prison cell on this 10th day of August.

Microsoft is always very concerned about evil doers exploiting a weakness and taking over my computer. This morning it was Microsoft installing security updates which took over my computer.

Microsoft really seems to be the only evil doer that regularly takes over my computer.

I just heard from my therapist, Dr. L.C., asking what is wrong with me, apparently concerned that I am tardy with my regular blogging. Dr. L.C. also informed me she was canceling today's regularly scheduled therapy appointment due to needing to go celebrate the 20th Anniversary of her 29th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Dr. L.C.

Speaking of schedules, today we are scheduled to be Day 40 in a Row over 100 degrees in North Texas. The record is 42 days.

Also scheduled is tomorrow's Grand Opening of Fort Worth's first In n' Out Burger joint. I suspect there will be traffic jams on West 7th tomorrow caused by legions of In n' Out fans looking to have a Double Double Cheeseburger.

I won't be one of the legion of fans jamming West 7th. I'll wait for the hubbub to die down to get me a Double Double Cheeseburger.

Visiting The Soldier Guarding Arlington's Veterans Park Memorial Worrying About My Double Dip Recession & My Nephew Shooting Himself

Today in the noon time frame I was heading to Chinatown in Arlington. On the way I decided to stop at Arlington's Veterans Park to pay my respects to the soldier guarding the memorial.

The shady walk on the Veterans Park boardwalk through the Wildscape slightly cheered me up.

I've been feeling a bit depressed, of late, worrying I may be slipping into a dreaded double dip recession. My credit rating recently took another hit. I had a nightmare where, someone who I thought liked me, suggested I was a parasite on the world.

That was harsh.

My stock in the world has really taken a hit lately.

On the positive side of my current state of mind, this morning I was surprised to check the mail to find a settlement for a class action suit in the form of a check. The lawyers took over half of the settlement.

A few minutes ago Elsie Hotpepper sent me a link to a disturbing video on MSNBC about a gun incident in Chandler, Arizona.

Where my nephews live.

Apparently a 27 year old male Chandlerite was in a grocery store fumbling in his pants pocket when his girl friend's pink gun, which for some reason he was carrying, without the safety on, went off, sending a bullet through his most private parts.

A full recovery is expected. I have not received a phone call from my sister or mom with tragic news, so I strongly suspect the shooter is not one of my nephews.

Speaking of places, like Arizona, where it is very HOT. Today, in Texas, it was a little under 100 when I visited the Veterans Park Soldier.

Currently, at a little past 4, it is 106.5, feeling like 111, at my location in HOT Texas. Right now Chandler is a relatively chilly 103.6.

Today is Day 39 Over 100 in North Texas. Tomorrow will be Day 40. When is this HOT madness going to end?

Day 39 In A Row Over 100 In North Texas While I Ponder Inner Tubing In The Green Trinity River

Looking skyward through the bars of my patio prison cell on the second Tuesday of August, Day 9, I am seeing something that has been a bit rare of late.

Clouds.

According to the forecast there is 0% chance of precipitation today in North Texas. So, those clouds are just a big tease in the sky.

Today will be Day 39 in a Row of 100 degrees or more, as measured at the official temperature monitoring station at D/FW Airport.

21 days til September arrives. In Septembers of the past, in Texas, by the end of September the temperature of the pool starts to be a slight bit of a challenge to acclimate to. I will be glad when that day arrives.

Today is my pool-free day due to the pool getting its weekly shock.

I do not know if the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is shocking the Trinity River in preparation for Thursday's Rockin' the River Inner Tube Happy Hour Float in the currently very green river.

Perhaps the TRVB could use Fort Worth's former goofy mayor, Mike Moncrief's method for dying the Trinity River purple, to dispense chemicals to turn the formerly purple river a more aesthetically pleasant color than green.

I suppose crystal clear, like a swimming pool, is out of the question.

I can not help but wonder what sort of testing is done of the river water in the Happy Hour Zone prior to encouraging 100s of people to get in the green water?

The Paradise Center's Elizabeth's Heart

I got a blog comment this morning from someone calling him or herself "Anonymous" that those of you who have been following the Paradise Center Scandal and who know the story of Elizabeth, will find of interest.

This is what Anonymous had to say......

Durango, I was told by two people from Paradise Center that Elizabeth had surgery to repair the hole in her heart. The couple said she had the procedure in Childrens Hospital at Dallas. Thought you might want to check it out and let folks know who love and follow Paradise Center happenings.

I hope Elizabeth and her mom and dad are doing well. This family has been through a lot the past couple years. The Battle to Save Carter Avenue from having an un-odorized natural gas pipeline run under the homes of Carter Avenue, which was a battle successfully waged by Elizabeth's dad, Steve, also known as Fort Worth's Lone Ranger.

And then the family got hit by the Paradise Center Scandal via the unscrupulous underhanded dealings of a corrupt Tarrant County Agency, MHMR-TC and its equally corrupt, irresponsible, unethical, inhumane co-horts in bad behavior.

I will try and find out where get well cards can be sent to Elizabeth. I suppose the Paradise Center address would work. That would be 525 South Henderson Street, Fort Worth.

Walking With My Mom & The Ghosts Along Village Creek Thinking About Cherry Pie

Today I learned that dialing my camera to the "Aquarium" setting makes for a much better picture of the reflection in the Village Creek mirror than my previous attempt.

I called my mom when I left air-conditioned comfort to drive to the Village Creek Natural Historic Area to walk in the shade with the ghosts and my mom.

Mom and dad got back home yesterday from their trip to Washington.

I found out, via talking to my mom, I was wrong in my assumption as to what pass they took to get over the Cascades to see my aunt in Eastern Washington. They took the northernmost pass, the North Cross State Highway, also known as the North Cascades Pass, among other things it is known by, like the road that passes through North Cascades National Park. Or simply Highway 20, which is what my mom called it.

Mom and dad got peaches and cherries in Eastern Washington, among other things. I'd been lamenting missing cherries and good cherry pie just yesterday.

Cherry pie came up whilst talking to my mom when I asked about their eldest grandson making them dinner at his house in Mount Vernon. My two oldest nephews were there. And my oldest nephew's oldest, Spencer Jack. And Spencer Jack's grandma, who is my favorite ex-sister-in-law, who brought what my mom said was really good cherry pie.

Anyone reading this who happened to be a Twin Peaks fan knows cherry pie and the Pacific Northwest go together. Along with coffee.

After I lamented my lack of cherry pie my mom told me to look for Marie Callender, suggesting she might provide a worthy substitute in my current cherry deprived location.

The last time I had a cherry was at the Fremont Sunday Market in Seattle, sometime in August of 2008. They were Rainier cherries. Great big ones.