The Last HOT August Friday In Texas Thinking About Turtle Soup Among Other Things

Standing on Fosdic Lake Dam today, in Oakland Lake Park, gazing south across the lake, as a water cooled breeze made the 99 degrees feel less HOT.

The Fosdic Fosduck flock was down to 3 birds today. Where do the Fosducks go?

I do not know why, but the Fosdic Lake turtles are very skittish. Unlike the turtles I see sunning themselves on a log in the pond at Veterans Park in Arlington.

The Veterans Park turtles pretty much preen and pose for the cameraman. While the Fosdic Lake turtles jump off their sunning log as soon as they hear the beep of the camera turning on.

Today I saw two rather large Fosdic turtles sunning themselves on a log. Today's Fosdic turtles did not even wait for the beep of the camera before jumping in the water. All it took was reaching into my camera pocket and they were gone.

Is someone catching Fosdic turtles for Turtle Soup? Is this why they are so skittish?

No, that is not Elsie Hotpepper on the left. The photo is used only for illustrative purposes representing the pain I am in.

It is the weekend and I'm still in a weakened state from last weekend's hyper-activity hyper-extending my hyper-abilities.

The bruise on my arm is starting to fade. That is the only visible bruise that is starting to fade.

This weekend I am going to be very sedate. I shall allow no liberties to be taken with my sedate state of being. Not even if Elsie Hotpepper shows up in one of her official t-shirts.

Frank E Asked Me About My New Chesapeake Energy Neighbor

I am almost 100% certain that I have mentioned, at least once, that Chesapeake Energy is drilling another Gas Well in my neighborhood. I believe I blogged a few pictures, as well.

Just a second, I'll find the blogging in question.

Found it, from July 24, 2011, titled Chesapeake Energy Wants To Poke Another Hole In My Neighborhood.

This morning Frank E made a blog comment regarding my neighborhood Chesapeake operation...

Frank E has left a new comment on your post "The Confederacy Of Dunces Wants To Know Why The Yard Waterers Of Tarrant County Are Wasting Water That Could Go To Gas Well Fracking ":

Hey Durango, have you been made aware of the sneaky plan by CHK and the city to turn that former Walmart land right near your abode into another heavy industrial drilling site? Yep, it's the one right across the street from the Chinese buffet and Albertson's.....and right next to a large apartment complex, full of people and children which the city's Ordinance classifies as a public-use and thus requires a minimum setback distance of 600 feet. But CHK and its servants the public officials seem to think that people who rent are third-class citizens, deserving little to no protection or input to such a hazardous plan. Maybe, the people in this city is like the proverbial frog-in-the-slow boiling pot of water when it comes to this crazy gas drilling+fracking+pipelining+profiteering enterprise...of the backs, and lungs, of regular people.

Yes, Frank E., I have been aware of this Chesapeake sneakiness. I walked over to the sneakiness this morning to take some new pictures. The picture at the top is a sign announcing in rather convoluted English that "A Gas Well Permit within 600 feet of a Protected Use by Protected Use Waiver to drill for gas has been requested by Chesapeake Operating, Inc."

Now, here is where it gets a little weird. At the top is the Chesapeake sign from today. The sign on the left is what Chesapeake had installed on the site on July 24. On the July 24 sign it says "A Gas Well Permit to drill for gas within 600 feet of a Protected Use has been requested by Chesapeake Operating, Inc. A public hearing is scheduled at City Council Chambers - 1000 Throckmorton Street, Fort Worth, TX on August 6."

Okay, why does today's sign repeat that a waiver has been requested? The project seems to be well underway. I know a resident of the nearby apartment complex was gathering signatures on a petition objecting to this close by drilling operation. Did that petition get presented at the public hearing?

Let's look at some pictures I took this morning of this close to the public Chesapeake Energy gas drilling operation...

Above I am standing at the northeast corner of the Super Bowl Buffet that Frank E references. Albertsons is to my left. Across the street is the Chesapeake Operating Inc. Operation.

Above I am still standing on the Super Bowl Buffet parking lot, looking north across Boca Raton Boulevard at the Chesapeake Energy Operation. At the north end of the drill pad site you see a building. That building is the offices for a big self storage complex. Someone lives, full-time in that office. Thus living well inside the supposed minimum 600 foot setback.

Above I am looking northwest from the north side of Boca Raton, up against Chesapeake's chain link fence that surrounds their operation. This picture gives you a good idea of how close these apartments are to this operation. The last time Chesapeake drilled near these apartments, on the west side, it was so disturbing to the peace and quiet that some residents moved.

I don't understand why the setback rules are so easily ignored, particularly when you are talking about a setback from a densely populated location.

Like I've already said, if, as the sign indicates, a "Protected Use Waiver Has Been Requested", with no mention made of the waiver having been granted, then why is this gas well operation well underway?

It is all very perplexing. And thank you, Frank E, for asking me about it.

Up Early The Last Friday Of August

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at the turquoise pool below on the 26th Day of August, the final Friday of this 8th month of 2011, puts me in the mood to plot an escape from this particular confinement.

I'm in the mood to be shivering in the chilly Pacific Northwest. This morning, before the nuclear explosions in the sky arrive, we are chilled to 84.5, heading to 104. Again.

84.5 degrees is a few degrees warmer than what I have my air conditioner's thermostat set to. Up in my old home zone of Mount Vernon, Washington, right now, it is 55.7 degrees. That is way colder than what I set my air conditioner's thermostat to.

It is a bit disappointing that Hurricane Irene chose to take a course that will not deliver any much needed water to Texas.

The sun has now arrived and is providing sufficient illumination that I can find my way to the swimming pool.

Fort Worth Is Where The West Begins But It Turns Classic In West Texas

The rainbow in the picture is not the one that arched over me this morning whilst I was swimming.

The rainbow in the picture was in a video Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, sent me today of photos of West Texas taken by Wyman Meinzer of Benjamin, Texas, where his gallery is in the old Benjamin jail.

The photos are classic scenes of the American West. In Texas. Scenes that are what many people think all of Texas looks like.

When I first moved to Texas I did not get how Fort Worth could bill itself as "Where the West Begins." Coming in from the Far West, this made no sense to me. It took me awhile, but now I get it. Fort Worth is sort of where the West begins.

Going way back to when I could first check a book out of a library the history of the American West has always been one of my favorite genres.

Reading about Custer's Last Stand, Captain Jack's Stronghold, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Black Kettle, Red Cloud, Sand Creek, the Fetterman Massacre, Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Deadwood, Virginia City, Tombstone, Dodge City, Wounded Knee, the Black Hills, Fort Union and much more, and then eventually visiting these locations where these people did their deeds, well, good memories.

I do love the American West. And Fort Worth. Where the West Begins....

Another HOT Walk In The Shade Of The Village Creek Oak Trees

The sun had barely arrived this morning when a thunderstorm let loose a few big bangs and a short flood of water vertically delivered in drop form.

By the time I was in the pool a very bright rainbow arched across the sky above me. I wish I had had my camera with me.

One would have thought the bright rainbow might have been a bright omen for a bright day.

Well, the day did turn out bright, my mood, not so much.

The rain temporarily made the outer world feel cool. But, by the time I went walking in the shade of the Village Creek Natural Historic Area the rain-caused humidity had the 89.4 degrees feeling way HOTTER.

Currently it is 104.1, according to the Weather Underground, with that miserable humidity making it feel like 108.

The Last Thursday Morning Of August Has Started With A Thunderclap & Downpour

That blue oasis in the picture is looking inviting this last Thursday morning of August of 2011.

The sun has only been providing illumination for a few minutes, so it has not had a chance to take the chill out of the air which is currently only 81.4 degrees in the outer world in my vicinity.

I just heard what sounded to me like thunder. Looking out my primary viewing portal on the world I do see some thundercloud type activity in the sky. The National Weather Service claims there is a 10% chance we may see some precipitation today. No mention made of thunderstorms.

Yesterday, that being Wednesday, set yet one more temperature record, reaching 106 at the official temperature monitoring station at D/FW Airport.

Just as I hit the period on that last sentence rain began hitting the window. I must go outside and stand in the downpour. I'll be right back.

Now that was refreshing. Big, semi-warm drops of wetness. I am about 10 minutes from my morning swim. Will I be swimming in the rain this morning? I hope so.

The Confederacy Of Dunces Wants To Know Why The Yard Waterers Of Tarrant County Are Wasting Water That Could Go To Gas Well Fracking

Lately the Confederacy of Dunces has been confounding me more than the norm. This current confounding may be heat related.

The constant HOT seems to make everything HOTTER.

Like the level of outrage generated by Chesapeake Energy running 3 big water pipes through Fort Worth's Trinity Park, in order to suck a few million gallons of water out of the Trinity River, so that chemicals and sand can be added to the water, so that Chesapeake can frack yet one more Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale gas drilling site.

The local CBS TV Station, Channel 11, covered the Trinity Park Chesapeake operation, with the help of Fort Worth's Watch Dog, Don Young. You can watch that particular news report below.

In that news report the news reporter reported that of the estimated water usage of Tarrant County only 1% was used by the Gas Drillers, while Yard Watering used 50-60%.

Does this seem credible to you? It does not to me.

One fracked well uses up a lot of water. Millions of gallons of water over the course of multiple frackings.

I do not see a lot of yard watering going on. Yes, there is an occasional sprinkler. But, it appears to me that most people let their yards turn brown during this water starved time of the year.

I know Oakland Lake Park does not irrigate its big fields of grass. Most of the fields of Gateway Park turn brown. Veterans Park is brown except for the Xeriscape garden that shows you how to grow green, in Texas, with little water.

How many thousands of gas wells are now in Tarrant County? How much water has been used to frack those wells?

If, in Tarrant County, there were only a thousand wells using a million gallons of water, to do their fracking, that amounts to 1 billion gallons of water. If yard watering is using 50-60 times that amount, that would be 50-60 billion gallons of water.

Yard watering uses more water than other household uses? Like washing clothes, dishes, drinking, bathing, flushing?

This whole yard watering fuss seems like a phony bogeyman, to me, an amorphous imaginary thing used by propagandists to frighten dunces into behaving.

What Dunce in the Confederacy came up with this 1% figure for the amount of water the gas drillers are using?

Methinks that the gas drillers need to be told there is a moratorium on using the local water supply until the drought ends. Or better yet, run a water pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico and pump that water to Tarrant County. It'd have the benefit of already being salted.

As wise man once said...

"When gas drillers use water, it's permanently removed from the water (hydrologic) cycle.. There's a finite amount of water on planet Earth. Whenever you use it to frack, it has to be buried in the ground a million years."

-DY

This is all very perplexing. Why is common sense so lacking in this part of the planet?

According To Anonymous The Trinity River Has Been Tested On More Than One Occasion By Different Organizations And Is No Different Than A Pristine Lake

You are looking at today's HOT noon view of Fosdic Dam at the north end of Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park in Fort Worth, Texas.

It was breezy today, but that did not stop the, what may be, record breaking temperature from feeling too HOT.

Minutes prior to exiting air-conditioned comfort and heading to one of Mother Nature's natural sauna steam baths I got a blog comment about a blogging from a few week's back about the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats on the Trinity River.

The commenter was calling him or herself "Anonymous." Anonymous made the very astute observation that if you "swim in the lakes, it's the same thing," as swimming in the Trinity River, I assume Anonymous meant.

Well,  I guess that is true. Fosdic Lake, which drains into the Trinity River has signs around its perimeter forbidding swimming and warning that one should not consume the fish one catches in Fosdic Lake.

Apparently the water from Fosdic Lake must somehow magically transform into pristine water when it enters the Trinity River. Perhaps it passes through a forest of JD Granger Magic Trees.

Among the many well-reasoned points that Anonymous makes is suggesting that "People shouldn't comment when they don't know what they are talking about."

Below is the comment from Anonymous in its entirety....

I have attended more than one of the floats and enjoyed it each time. It was well organized, clean and safe. The stage that was built for the band is awesome and the event has attracted people of all ages. Twenty year olds to Fifty year olds. It was not a drunk-fest, just people having fun. The water has been tested on more than one occasion and by different organizations. There is nothing wrong with it. If you really knew what you were talking about you would know that. If you swim in the lakes, its the same thing. It was cleaner and less drunks than at an out-door music festival and those are held everywhere and hosted by major Cities. And people bring kids to those too. Thats a parenting issue. People shouldn't comment when they don't know what they are talking about. I give them a thumbs-up for trying to educate the people of Fort Worth about the river.

Up Early On Another HOT Wednesday In Texas

Unlike yesterday, today, on the 24th Day of August, I am up well before the sun looking through the bars of my patio prison cell wondering how I can escape this incarceration of my own making.

Yesterday I woke up to find various body parts in full ache mode. This morning those aches have abated.

Yesterday my swimming pool was in shock, so I was unable to go for my regular early morning swim. I will make up for that this morning.

Yesterday it was no great surprise that North Texas found itself heated to over 100 degrees HOT. Again. This morning my zone's outer world is already heated to 85.7, heading to a scheduled high of 104. Again.

Meanwhile, right now up north in my old home zone of Mount Vernon, Washington, the Pacific Northwest natural air-conditioning is chilling the Skagit Valley outer world to 54.7, about 30 degrees cooler than my un-natural air-conditioning is chilling my inner world.

It is time to go swimming now before it gets any hotter. I shall ponder my plot to move back to the Northwest whilst I swim.

Walking With The Snakes & Vultures Today At Village Creek Natural Area

I stopped at Village Creek Natural Historic Area today. Again. On my way to Pantego around noon.

Today the Village Creek focus seemed to be more on the natural than the historic.

I saw my first snake of the year, if my memory is serving me correctly. A little green snake sunning itself on the HOT pavement.

In years previous I have seen Copperheads, Cottonmouths, Water Moccasins and Rattlesnakes in the Village Creek Natural Area. But ever since a really bad flood a year or two ago the Village Creek Natural Wildlife has gone missing for the most part.

I would imagine a bad flood is hard on snakes.

I see way fewer armadilloes in the Village Creek Natural Area, too.

Today I saw the vulture you see in the picture, feasting on what appeared to be a wild hog or an armadillo.

Vultures make me nervous. Several circled above me acting like they were wondering if my head was a big egg to crack.

Til I was away from the vultures I waved my snake whacking stick overhead to discourage any vulture sneak attacks on my head zone.

Heading north on Bowen, from Pantego, I saw traffic was stopped by the railroad crossing indicating a train was soon to be passing. I waited about 5 minutes. No train. Long backup. I turned around and headed another route.

A few miles west I was back in Fort Worth, trying again to cross the tracks to find the railroad crossing blocked. Drivers were acting very frustrated. One by one we took our turn going around the malfunction.

I think I've read somewhere that Arlington is the biggest town in America that can be cut in two by a train. Or a train crossing malfunction.

It seems very wasteful to stop the flow of traffic in this manner. Particularly due to what appeared to be a major malfunction.