Up Early On The 2nd Saturday Of September Thinking Of Joining The Physical Fitness Crowd By Doing Some Tire Flipping

You can not really tell by looking through the bars of my patio prison cell that the pre-dawn morning of Day 10, the 2nd Saturday of September, is chilled to 63 degrees, only 10 degrees warmer than my old home zone of Mount Vernon, Washington.

Changing the subject from the temperature to Giant Tires. Yesterday I found a Giant Tire on the Tandy Hills.

I could think of no logical reason why this Giant Tire was in this location.

And then someone calling him or herself "Double Ugly" commented on that blogging, commenting....

"Someone may be doing tire flip exercises with the giant tire. Tire flipping is popular with the physical fitness crowd."

Well, I am not in with the physical fitness crowd, so I've never heard of this tire flipping exercise.

Double Ugly is an interesting name. I assume it means ugly inside and out. I can think of only one person, whom I've personally known, who would meet that criteria.

Changing the subject from Double Ugly to swimming. I don't know if swimming is popular with the physical fitness crowd. But I like it. Seems funner than tire flipping. I think I'll go swimming right now. And maybe do some tire flipping later today on the Tandy Hills.

Giant Tires & Bobcats Invade The Parched Tandy Hills

Lately it seems hardly a day goes by without yet one more Tandy Hills mystery.

White snails, bamboo teepees, frozen water, flooding creeks, giant tires, just to name a few of the Tandy Hills mysteries.

The Giant Tire is today's new Tandy Hills mystery. Actually it was two tires. One giant, the other not giant.

The Giant Tire is the Big Mystery. The Giant Tire arrived within the past 24 hours. It sits in the middle of Tandy Highway, near the creek crossing which recently flooded.

I thought maybe some kids had fun rolling the tire to this location. However, I saw no tire tracks.

I tried to lift the tire to its rolling position. It was too heavy, way too heavy. I could not budge it.

How did this Giant Tire get to this location?

Far away from the Giant Tire I found another tire that had arrived since yesterday. This one was located near the end of the trail that leads on to the Tandy Hills from the park on View Street.

As you can see, this is a little tire. With a view of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

A short time after discovering the second tire I came across something I've not seen on the Tandy Hills before.

A Bobcat.

I have had multiple Bobcat encounters at River Legacy Park in Arlington, and once at Quanah Parker Park near my abode.

I was about 50 feet from the Tandy Bobcat when I spotted it looking intensely at something, I assume lunch. As I reached for my camera the Bobcat spotted me and leaped into running mode before I could aim the camera at him.

This was the biggest Bobcat I've seen. It seemed a little skinny. I imagine times are tough on the Tandy Hills, food-wise, and definitely water-wise. Maybe the Tandy Bobcat has discovered the Tandy Roadrunner's water barrel.

Years ago, when I had my first Bobcat encounter, was during a period of time when there had been cougar sightings along the Trinity River.

I was on the River Legacy Park mountain bike trail when I saw a cat ahead of me. My imagination said cougar, at first, then I realized it was way smaller than a cougar. Still, I was certain its intent was to murder me and drag me to its lair.

I sort of over-reacted and turned around on the one-way trail and hurried out of there, going the wrong way til I made it back to civilization. I pedaled fast to find a park ranger to warn of the danger. If I remember right the park ranger giggled at me.

After that first Bobcat encounter I had many more, some documented on my River Legacy Park webpage. Years after that first Bobcat encounter I was pedaling on to the bike/hike bridge across the Trinity and saw a Bobcat walking on to the bridge from the other side. I continued on, as did he. We passed each other, sort of warily, at the middle of the bridge. I think I said something like "Howdy Kitty."

If I go to the Tandy Hills tomorrow for my regular Saturday hike, followed by a Town Talk visit, I wonder what new mystery I will find to mystify me? I hope it isn't anything that bites.

The 2nd Friday Of September Cooling Off From The HOTTEST 3 Months In American History

As you can sort of see, via the view from my outer world patio viewing platform, the sun and I got up about the same time on this second Friday of September.

I had no windows open overnight. No A/C running. No ceiling fan spinning. And yet I had a perfectly pleasant night's sleep.

It is currently only 66 degrees, heading to a high 22 degrees warmer.

Continuing with my favorite subject, that being the temperature, the National Weather Service has made it official. Texas, which is enduring its worst single-year drought, its worst drought related agricultural losses and it worst wildfires, which have burned millions of acres and over 1,000 homes, has also endured the hottest June, July, August on record for the nation known as America.

The temperature average for that 3 month period was 86.8 degrees.

All this HOT talk has me in the mood to get cold. So, I think I will go swimming now, something I did not do yesterday.

Saloon Hopping With Elsie Hotpepper To The Ozzie Rabbit Lodge With Her 12-Gauge Shotgun

More often than not, when I agree to go saloon hopping with Elsie Hotpepper, the saloon hopping starts off in Fort Worth's Handley neighborhood at the Ozzie Rabbit Lodge.

Sometimes the saloon hopping hops no further than the Ozzie Rabbit Lodge.

The Ozzie Rabbit Lodge is a Lee Harvey Oswald themed bar. Ozzie Rabbit was Lee Harvey's nickname when he was in the marines, before he moved to the Soviet Union to become a communist.

I did not know it til I read it in the Ozzie Rabbit Lodge's ad in this week's FW Weekly that the Ozzie Rabbit Lodge has given away more 12-gauge shotguns than ANY bar in Tarrant County.

Is this how Elsie Hotpepper came to have that new shotgun she's been proudly packing lately?

How many 12-gauge shotguns has the Ozzie Rabbit Lodge given away to have it in the #1 spot for Tarrant County, I can't help but wonder?

Miss Puerto Rico's View Of Her New Chesapeake Energy Noisy Neighbor

I had not visited Miss Puerto Rico's since Chesapeake Energy altered the view from her balcony.

Miss Puerto Rico is harboring the erroneous belief that the brown barrier surrounding the drilling operation stops the sound of drilling from reaching her delicate ears.

I let Miss Puerto Rico continue to harbor her erroneous belief that she will be hearing nothing from her new neighbor.

I knew the brown barrier does not block the noise because of the drilling operation that operated on the east side of Veterans Park in Arlington. An apartment complex was between the park and the drilling site. With that brown barrier blocking no sound. You could hear the screeching no matter where you were in the park.

The first time Chesapeake drilled in my neighborhood the operation was closer to my abode. There was no brown barrier. The drilling was maybe 1,500 feet, or more, from my ears. It was very loud. And very dirty. Everything was coated with dust.

Chesapeake did not offer to wash any cars to clean off the Chesapeake dust.

Miss Puerto Rico also thinks the brown barrier is there to stop the dirt from flying through the air. I did not disabuse her of that notion either.

More Snails On The Tandy Hills While The Puget Sound Bakes From A Heat Wave

I had myself another strange snail sighting today on the Tandy Hills.

Have white snails always been part of the Texas prairie landscape? Or is this yet one more foreign invasive species?

And why are the snails sliming themselves up stalks of grass?

Changing the subject from snails to me making another mistake.

Earlier today in a blogging I mentioned the Republican with the last name of Huntsman. John Huntsman.

A fellow Republican, Gar the Texas Nerd, then informed me that the correct first name for Mr. Huntsman is Jon, not John. I really appreciate Gar the Texas Nerd, or GTN as his close friends call him, taking the time to alleviate me of this bit of erroneousness.

Changing the subject again, this time from GTN to the temperature.

It was only 80 when I hit the hills today. It is only 84 right now. A couple days ago I mentioned that the Puget Sound zone was finally getting the HOT weather they'd missed in June, July and August.

I said I'd be hearing some temperature whining from the Northwest. Below is the latest example of Puget Sound temperature whining. This particular one is from Tacoma....

"We are in a heat wave. Over 80 all week. Maybe 90 on Sunday. Holy moly!!!"

Now, this particular Puget Sound dweller actually has air-conditioning in her house. Very very few Puget Sounders have air-conditioning in their house.

Speaking of air-conditioners, mine just turned on. I thought I had it turned off.

I'm out of here for a bit. Miss Puerto Rico requires my assistance with something electronic.

My Banjo Playing Nephew David's Relationship With Stephen Foster

That is my nephew, David, staging one of his impromptu banjo concerts for his brother and sister, Theo and Ruby.

David will soon be 3 years old. Theo and Ruby have yet to cross the year one threshold.

When my sister told me David was fixated on Stephen Foster songs I Googled to jog my memory about Stephen Foster.

David's favorite Foster song is "Oh! Susanna". His concerts include others of Foster's well known songs, such as "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home", also known as "Swanee River", "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair", "My Old Kentucky Home", "Old Black Joe", "Beautiful Dreamer" and "Hard Times Come Again No More".

That last song, the one about Hard Times was a bit ironic for Stephen Foster. He was only 37 when he died.

While Foster is known as the "Father of American Music" and the pre-eminent songwriter of the 19th century, he was unable to make a living as a professional songwriter, due to the fact that that field did not exist, in America, at that time.

In the early 19th century the concept of music copyrights and composer royalties was ill defined, allowing sheet music publishers to steal his tunes.

Stephen Foster made a measly $100 for "Oh Susanna."

Stephen Foster was born on the 4th of July in 1826. He died in New York City on January 1, 1864. Foster had moved to New York City in 1860. A year later his wife and daughter left him, moving back to Pittsburgh.

Foster began a collaboration with a lyricist named George Cooper, during the Civil War, and together they spewed out a lot of music with patriotic war themes. But this did not improve Foster's financial situation.

Stephen Foster died after he contracted a fever and collapsed against a wash basin, clunking his head hard. Foster was living in abject poverty when he died. In his old leather wallet there was a scrap of paper which only said, "Dear friends and gentle hearts", along with 3 pennies and 35 cents in Civil War scrip.

Stephen Foster was buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. One of his most popular songs, "Beautiful Dreamer", was published shortly after he died.

I don't know if his widow got any money for "Beautiful Dreamer."

I also don't know when David's next Stephen Foster Banjo Concert takes place. Currently I believe there is no admission fee to David's concerts.

Up Late The 2nd Thursday Of September Pondering Wednesday Night's Republican Debate

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the outer world you may be able to guess I am up and about well after that glowing yellow orb in the sky arrived on this 8th day of September.

I think I overstressed my personal infrastructure, so I am not going to additionally stress my personal infrastructure today. Which means, no pool or other stressing today.

Something is seriously irritating my eyes this morning. I am almost sure this was not caused by watching the Republican Debate last night.

I also do not think my eyes burning is being caused my toxic chemicals released in the air by my new Chesapeake Energy neighbor, because I have heard no screeching drilling noises so we are not at the squirting toxic water into the well part of the process yet.

Back to that debate. My little sister, the lawyer, told me that of the Republicans the only one she could remotely consider letting in her house, if he knocked on her door, was John Huntsman.

When my little sister said this to me I had no clue who John Huntsman was. I do now. He seems like a very bright guy.

Last night's debate was my first exposure to Michele Bachmann. I did not react well to Michele Bachmann. Not well at all.

I find Ron Paul amusing. No bat's chance in hell he'll be president.

I liked Herman Cain a lot. I could see him being our first successful black president.

Newt Gringrich seems like yesteday's news to me. I do think he's a smart guy though. But with way too much baggage to make it to being president.

I'd met Rick Santorum previously. I like the guy. He seems smart. I don't think he has a chance of winning.

I was sort of hoping Rick Perry would stage an epic fail in his first debate. I was disappointed in that hope. Rick Perry did a good job last night. This sort of surprised me. I might even have found myself liking him last night, if it were not for the weird history of wearing his religion on his sleeve.

Of the 8 debating last night, I can see Mitt Romney being a good president. I think any of the 8 would fare well against the current state of Barack Obama, with the possible exception of Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul.

Enough with the politics. I am not going swimming now.

Funhouse Village Creek Mirrors And Getting Cranky About Arlington's Really Bad Train & Transit Woes While Dressing Elsie Hotpepper

I find the Village Creek Natural Historic Area's funhouse mirror very useful. With it I can easily document my huge weight gain's ever swelling beer belly.

Accomplished with no beer consumption.

Well, there was that beer I had against my better judgement, last April, at the Prairie Fest. But, that seems too long ago to account for a beer belly.

Village Creek has shrunk a lot since my last viewing. Unlike my aforementioned beer belly.

After I was done getting fresh air in the shade of giant oak trees I headed to ALDI. The last time I went to ALDI I got stuck behind a malfunctioning train track crossing, heading north on Bowen, after leaving ALDI.

This time the track was stuck as I headed towards ALDI. I was about 10 cars back. Vehicles were getting out of line, turning around and heading the opposite direction. I would then move up a space. When I was 6 vehicles back, with no train and no train whistle, I decide to leave the heard of Sheeple behind and go around the crossing guard rail, or whatever it is the blockage is called.

In my rear view mirror I could see some Sheeple following my bad example.

When I was done at ALDI, about 20 minutes later, getting back on Bowen Street, heading north, back towards the train track, I could see the crossing lights were still flashing, but traffic did not seem to be backed up too bad.

Soon I saw why. There were now 3 Arlington cops directing traffic around the crossing guard rail barrier. Southbound would get a turn, then northbound.

How idiotic.

Arlington is the biggest town in America that is bisected by a train track, with only a couple streets that cross without being blocked. In other words, south/north bound traffic grinds to a halt whenever a train rolls through town.

That's bad enough.

But then you have train traffic signals that apparently regularly malfunction, I assume, unless it is a freak coincidence that I came upon this happening twice in the past 2 weeks.

And then you have the cost of cops being employed to direct traffic due to this malfunction. Is the railroad billed for this?

And then you have all the gas wasted by all the vehicles that can not move.

I really think it would behoove Arlington to spend less time worrying about building and helping pay for sports stadiums and a little more time worrying about and paying for some of Arlington's serious infrastructure woes. Including being the biggest city in America without any public mass transit.

Yes, America, you read that right, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, the Texas Rangers and Six Flags Over Texas has no public mass transit. Not even a bus system.

I have to go now. I've received an urgent message from Elsie Hotpepper saying she needs help getting dressed.

Enjoying Big Tex Choice Winner Fried Bubblegum At The 2011 State Fair Of Texas

That delicious looking concoction you are looking at in the picture is Fried Bubblegum.

Justin Martinez's Fried Bubblegum creation won the 2011 Most Creative Big Tex Choice Award, for the 2011 State Fair of Texas which opens in Fair Park in Dallas on September 30, closing on October 23.

Fried Bubblegum is bubblegum-flavored marshmallows dipped in batter, fried and decorated with icing and powdered sugar.

The 2011 Best Taste Big Tex Choice Award went to Allan Weiss for his Buffalo Chicken in a Flapjack.

Buffalo Chicken in a Flapjack is a skewered buffalo chicken strip, coated with flapjack batter, rolled it in jalapeño bread crumbs before deep-frying, served with a side of syrup.

The top 2011 contenders which almost made it to Best Taste or Most Creative status were....

Deep Fried Pineapple Upside Down Cake is pineapple rings dipped in cake batter, fried, then topped with a glaze made of caramel, sugar and cinnamon, with a cherry on top.

Deep Fried Texas Salsa is a mix of jalapeños, roasted garlic, onion, tomato and pepper rolled together, dipped in corn masa and crunchy tortilla chips, then deep-fried and served with melted cheese.

El Bananarito is a deep-fried banana rolled in a flour tortilla then topped with whipped cream, powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, topped off with hot caramel or chocolate syrup.

Fried Autumn Pie is a puff pastry filled with pumpkin, cream cheese, powdered sugar and pumpkin spices, deep-fried then rolled in ginger, cinnamon and sugar.

Hans' Kraut Ball is browned pork sausage, onion, garlic, sauerkraut, mustard and seasonings rolled into a ball, covered with bread crumbs, deep-fried then served with spicy mustard, raspberry chipotle or ranch dressing.

The Walking Taco is seasoned ground beef, lettuce, onion, fresh tomato, grated cheese, sour cream and salsa in a nacho cheese-flavored Doritos bag.

During the course of the 7 years of the existence of the Big Tex Choice Awards there have been more than a few fried concoctions that sounded a bit on the disgusting side, to me. Along with a few I might consider trying. But never have. The Walking Taco sounds like I might be able to eat it, this year, but the Walking Taco was not a winner.

Below is the Most Creative and Best Taste Winners of the Big Tex Awards of the past 7 years. Of these Deep Fried Butter seems like it might be tasty....

2005 Most Creative    Viva Las Vegas Fried Ice Cream
2005 Best Taste         Fried PB, Jelly and Banana Sandwich
2006 Most Creative    Fried Coke
2006 Best Taste         Fried Praline Perfection
2007 Most Creative    Deep Fried Latte
2007 Best Taste        Texas Fried Cookie Dough
2008 Most Creative    Fried Banana Split
2008 Best Taste         Chicken Fried Bacon
2009 Most Creative    Deep Fried Butter
2009 Best Taste         Fernie's Deep Fried Peaches & Cream
2010 Most Creative    Fried Beer™
2010 Best Taste         Texas Fried FRITOS® Pie
2011 Most Creative    Fried Bubblegum
2011 Best Taste         Buffalo Chicken in a Flapjack