Up Early In Texas On A Chilly 3rd Thursday Of September

Up early in the pre-dawn hours on the 3rd Thursday of the 9th month of 2011, looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at a glowing turquoise pool heated by outer world air chilled to only 9 degrees warmer than the current temperature of 55 at my old home zone of Mount Vernon, Washington.

In other words, it is only 64 degrees this morning, awaiting the arrival of the skybound nuclear heat source who's thermostat is currently set to only warm us up to 83 degrees today in this formerly HOT zone of Texas.

A doctor's appointment this morning, up in Hurst, will keep me from my regular middle of the day aerobic endorphin stimulation. That stimulation will need to be re-scheduled til some time late in the afternoon, lest I tailspin into a bad bout of extreme endorphin withdrawal.

In the meantime I am going swimming, right now, as a temporary endorphin inducing stop-gap measure.

Dirty Ol' Town's History Of Drilling In Fort Worth, 2004-2011

Don Young, one of Fort Worth's better known YouTube Videographers, has made a YouTube Video detailing his experience with the Dirty Ol' Town of Fort Worth during the past 7 years.

Below is what Mr. Young had to say about this video, with the video below what Mr. Young had to say about the video...

I recently gave a talk to the Tarrant County Democratic Women's Club. My Powerpoint presentation was a condensed timeline, with photos, of my personal experience living in Fort Worth, Texas, A.D. (After Drilling).

It was NOT a Gas Drilling 101 with all the facts, figures and graphs. Rather, it's my personal story and remembrances in this complex experiment from, 2004 - 2011: Why I became involved and what has happened along the way, so far. Not every detail is listed (or remembered) but most of the highlights are present. Needless to say, it's a work-in-progress.

Thanks to masterful technical assistance from Jen Schultz, and the brain-jogging consultation of Debora Young, the Powerpoint is now a YouTube video titled "DIRTY OL' TOWN".....

Elsie Hotpepper's Lips Touched By Alcohol Shall Not Touch Mine

1919 Temperance Union Poster

You know how you get "joke" emails or emails with "attachments" from some people and you pretty much auto-delete the "joke" or "attachment" without reading the joke or looking at the attachment?

And then there are those who have established they have good taste and a highly evolved sense of humor. With jokes you read and attachments you open.

Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, and Betty Jo Bouvier fall into the good taste, highly evolved sense of humor category, with jokes I read and attachments I open.

This morning Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, sent me the 1919 Temperance Union Poster you see here, of a group of gals letting it be known their lips would not be touching any lips that had been touched by alcohol.

The text accompanying the poster said....

"If you were around in 1919 and came upon the above  poster wouldn’t you just keep drinking?"

I think the premise here is that the Temperance Union gals in the poster do not look very kiss-worthy. I can see where, for the most part, this seems to be true.

However, the Temperance Union gal directly under the sign bears a striking resemblance to Elsie Hotpepper.

Elsie Hotpepper seems kiss-worthy to me, in good lighting and when she's not armed with more than one firearm and when her lips have not been touched by alcohol.

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head On The Tandy Hills While I Think About Drinking The Best Coffee In The World In Oklahoma

In the picture it is a little after noon looking west from the Tandy Hills at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, with a rare shroud of cloud overhead.

That shroud of cloud had a few raindrops falling on my head, but not enough to dampen my regular overly sunny disposition.

The hills were cooled to the low 80s today. Very pleasant. The outer world has since heated up to around 94, coming up on 4 in the afternoon.

It is highly unlikely today will hit the 100 degree mark. So, maybe the HOT nonsense is over for the year.

Changing the subject from HOT temperatures to HOT coffee.

Of late I've found the need to amp up my coffee consumption to counter going in to low energy mode in the late afternoon. I have never learned to make good tasting coffee.

I do not mind my bad tasting coffee in the morning when it is primarily used for perk me up purposes. But, in the afternoon, I would like coffee that tasted better.

Years ago I met up with Miss Chris McMoosejaw up at the WinStar Casino in Oklahoma to have a very long lunch at the buffet. After the buffeting was done we had coffee. We ended up staying there at least 3 hours drinking coffee. With us both being from the Coffee Capital of the World, that being the Pacific Northwest zone centered around Seattle, we know good coffee.

We both agreed that coffee we were drinking in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma was the best we'd ever had. Eventually the nice Okie who kept our cups filled fetched us the information as to what brand of coffee it was we were drinking and how it was brewed. That information has been lost in the fog of time.

Sometime after that first exposure to the best coffee in the world I returned to WinStar with another Pacific Northwest coffee drinker. Again the Okie coffee was proclaimed to be the best ever.

I must remember to Google for "good coffee" after I'm done blogging and drinking this bad coffee I've currently brewed.

Another HOT Day Breaks More Texas Temperature Records While The Skinny Dipping Thin Man Swims

In the picture you are looking at the Shadow of the Stocking-Capped Skinny Dipping Thin Man early in the morning of the 2nd Wednesday of September.

I don't know if it was a sound effect during a nightmare, or it really happened, but, I think I heard a loud thunderclap last night and some thunder rolling in the distance when I woke up this morning.

Looking at the early morning sky I can not see any stars due to clouds being between me and the sun's celestial partners. So, I guess thunder and lightning is possible.

Lightning strikes in these parched parts of the planets could set off some explosive wildfires. The prairie land of the Tandy Hills is starting to look like a tinderbox in search of a spark.

Yesterday's high, as measured at the official temperature measuring station at D/FW Airport, reached a record of 107, with yet one more day over 100 breaking the record set in 1980 for number of days of 100 or HOTTER.

The following sentence in this morning's Star-Telegram surprises me....

Meteorologists have already handed Texas the crown for the hottest June through August on record in the U.S., with an 86.8-degree average that burned past Oklahoma's 85.2 degrees in 1934.

June through August in Texas is the HOTTEST on record in the U.S.? I know there were a lot of days we were hotter than the Phoenix zone. But, Death Valley? We were HOTTER here from June through August than Death Valley?

Maybe the nightly low goes lower in the deserts of Phoenix and Death Valley, thus making the average for this zone of Texas higher.

It will be a nice change to segue from record breaking HEAT to the upcoming record breaking cold winter with record breaking snow levels in North Texas.

In the meantime, I am going swimming.

Breaking The Most Days Over 100 Record In Dallas/Fort Worth While Picking Up Tandy Hills Litter

Dry Tandy Hills Creek Litter-Filled Bed

When I left air-conditioned comfort today, around noon, the outer world was heated to 95 degrees.

With a predicted incoming cooling trend I thought this might be my last day to be able to enjoy the salubrious effects of the HOT Tandy Hills Natural Area Sanatorium in 2011.

A strong wind blew across the prairie today. I called the wind Mariah. Mariah created a good Wind Chill Factor that prevented the sauna/steambath factor from kicking in.

Today was my first day on the Tandy Hills since learning of this coming Saturday's Tandy Hills Litter Stomp & Creek Bed Exploration.

In anticipation of Saturday I thought I'd inspect some Tandy Creek Bed today to see if I could find any litter in need of stomping.


I did not have to look very hard. The picture above is the littered view looking west at the creek bed of the recently flooded Tandy Creek that runs under the Tandy Highway, when it is not flooding. This particular litter is located a few feet south of the biggest piece of Tandy Hills litter, other than the old rusting car and truck hulks, that being the Giant Tandy Tire.

The current forecast high for Saturday is 91. Is the Tandy Hills Litter Stomp a "Shirt/Shoes Required Or No Service" type of enterprise?

Speaking of the HEAT, and who isn't? On my way back from the Tandy Hills, listening to the radio, I learned that the official temperature monitoring station at D/FW Airport had confirmed that the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex had hit 100 again, breaking the record for number of days of 100 or more, set in 1980.

It is now almost 4 in the afternoon, with the D/FW temperature measuring station reporting 106 degrees of current HEAT. A record for this 13th day of September.

I must go pick up some litter now.

Another Record Breaking HOT Day Thinking About Being In Fort Worth In 1980

You are looking out my primary viewing portal on the outer world, well before the arrival of the yellow sky heater, on Tuesday the 13th Day of September.

It is currently 77 degrees, so I have my windows open.

Yesterday the temperature high ended up being higher than the predicted high, hitting a high of 103, as measured by the National Weather Service at the official temperature monitoring station at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

In Grapevine.

Monday's HOT high of 103 tied the infamous 1980 record for most days of 100 or more in a year. The predicted HOT high for today seems to range from 104 to 106, depending on who is doing the predicting.

Which means, unless a freakish Arctic Cold Front quickly arrives, today will break the 1980 days of 100 or HOTTER record.

I did not know til this morning that that 1980 record ended on August 11, 1980, when a thunderstorm lowered the temperature causing the high to reach only 97 on that day.

Ironically and bizarrely, I remember that day. My first time ever to visit the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex (the term "Metroplex" had not been invented at that point in time) was in that infamous summer of 1980.

I arrived in Fort Worth on August 11, 1980. I am able to remember this precisely because August 11 is a date I remember. For personal reasons.

I drove to Fort Worth, from Mount Vernon, Washington, in a Toyota without air-conditioning. The entity that caused me to come to Fort Worth put me up in what was then a Ramada Inn.

A Ramada Inn on Beach Street, right off Interstate 30, about 4 miles from where I now live, 31 years later. And less than a mile from the Tandy Hills, where I also live 31 years later.

My impression of Fort Worth and the Dallas area, at that 1980 point in time, was not good. Fort Worth's downtown was not the impressive envy of the world that it is now. I don't think at that point in time there was a single skyscrapers. The Fort Worth Stockyards was not then in the tourist attraction mode it is now.

I remember driving to Dallas and being unable to find Dealey Plaza and the site of the JFK Assassination. That seems very odd now, due to the fact that that location is extremely easy to find.

I got one of my worst sunburns ever that summer in Fort Worth, spending too much time at the Ramada Inn pool. I can not remember the last time I had a sunburn. I do remember the last time I was in a Fort Worth pool.

I think I will go relive that memory of being in a Fort Worth pool right now.

A Reminder To Take A Trip To A TRIP Meeting On Wednesday

Just minutes ago I got an urgent email from TRIP infoming me of a meeting on Wednesday where I am expected to give a speech and sing the National Anthem. I can not guarantee I will do what is expected of me. I seldom do.

Below is the TRIP message....

Dear Friends of the Trinity River,

Worried About Water In Tarrant County?  Maybe You Should Be.

Over the past ten years, North Texas has seen record population growth while our water supply levels have consistently fallen.  There seems to be no real plan to solve the problem and as we're beginning to see the dry lake bottoms baking in the sun, it can only get worse.  But this is nothing compared to what we're facing.  Where is the money that can be used to solve this problem - and where should it be going?  John Basham will tell you.

Also - What is TMDL and what's the status of our TMDL?  TMDL is the Total Maximum Daily Load.  Sounds like just another government alphabet soup acronym, but it actually refers to the levels of PCBs in the Trinity River. PCB or Polychlorinated biphenyls, are highly toxic and carcinogenic chemical compounds that river tubers, wake-boarders and others enjoying a dip in the Trinity have been exposed to.  The North Central Texas council of Governments is involved in a study of the maximum allowable levels of PCBs in the Trinity.  Since they hold their "public" meetings during business hours (when most people are at work), we attended for you and will give you the lowdown. Of course, you can ask US tough questions!  Because we like asking tough questions ourselves.

Get updates on the increased costs of the Trinity River Vision and how it will impact you. 

Then, take a look at some alternative plans.

We'll have many guest speakers - -You won't want to miss this one!

Join the Trinity River Improvement Partnership (TRIP)

Wednesday, September 14th @ 6:30 PM

2501 Ludelle, Fort Worth (Map Below)

And remember - our water is a non-partisan issue!

Sincerely,

Your Friends at TRIP

Tandy Hills Litter Stomp & Creek Bed Exploration

Stratford Park Picnic Table Location

I did not make it to the Tandy Hills Natural Area and Giant Tire Sanctuary today.

But I did get an email from Don Young inviting me.

And you.

To the Tandy Hills this coming Saturday of September 17.

This is one of those invitation type things that I do not know why anyone would pass up due to the fact that not only do you get a T-shirt for participating, you also get a Certification of Appreciation, presented, I assume by the Wizard of Tandy Hills.

Below, as best as I can re-create it, is the invitation inviting you to the Tandy Hills this coming Saturday....

Howdy Friends and Neighbors,

Have you ever been hiking at Tandy Hills Natural Area/Stratford Park and noticed all the trash in the creek bed? You probably said to yourself: "Yuck!"

And, if you did, we have an opportunity for you...

JOIN US for 
**** The 1st Neighborhood FALL LITTER  STOMP ****

Saturday September 17th, 9am to 12noon

We have an amazing opportunity RIGHT NOW  because the drought has dried up the creek. That means, we can walk the creek beds (neat!) and clean up the cups, cans and crud that will (when we eventually get rain) be washed all along the creek's path through THNA and into the Trinity River.

WHEN & WHERE:
Meet at Stratford Park picnic table at 9:00 AM this coming Saturday, September 17. 2288 Chelsea Road @ 4000 Meadowbrook Drive. Park on Chelsea Rd.  (Stratford Park is on the eastern border of Tandy Hills)

WHAT:
Spend the morning adventuring and making a difference.
It will be fun, and you'll see bits of the Natural Area that you have possibly never seen before.

BRING:
The City of Fort Worth is providing Bags, Gloves, and a couple of "Little Grabbers".
If you have Gloves or Grabbers, you may want to bring them along.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?
A tee-shirt!
A Certificate of appreciation (woo!)
And a sense of accomplishment on your next visit to Tandy Hills/Stratford Park.

RSVP & ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contact: Jen Schultes
jenschultes@gmail.com

Don Young

Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area
P.O. Box 4700412288
Fort Worth, TX 76147
817-731-2787

"Keep it like it was."

Village Creek Natural Historic Area Tree Limbs Crash While Flowers Bloom Spiting The Great North Texas Drought

A Natural Pecan Tree Loses A Limb

It is being another clear blue sky HOT day in North Texas, currently heated, according to the Weather Underground, to 100 degrees.

It was not that HOT when I left air-conditioned comfort and headed to Village Creek Historic Natural Area around noon to walk under the shade of giant oak trees.

We have had no high winds blowing through North Texas since the last time I walked under the Village Creek giant oak trees. And yet, since I last walked among them, several have lost limbs.

I suspect the Great Texas Drought of 2011 is causing trees to lose limbs. It's tragic.

Village Creek is no longer flowing. Pools of water remain. I don't know what's happened to the fish and water snakes. The turtles seem to be adjusting, though a bit extra skittish.

The Drought Clematis

The Village Creek Bayou is now totally dried up with large swatches of brown vegetation. And yet, somehow, since I was last in that location, flowers are blooming.

The flowers are growing from vines growing beside the dried up bayou. I'm not much of a flower identifier, but these looked like clematis. I tried to grow clematis a time or two on my Washington rooftop garden. Never successfully.

Obviously, whatever this flower and vine is, it is very resistant to the Great North Texas Drought.