Change Of Meeting Location For Saturday's Tandy Hills Litter Stomp

I wondered why the Tandy Hills Litter Stomp was meeting in such odd location, far removed from any creeks, at least that I know of. But, it's not my place to question these type things.

It did not surprise me to get an email telling me there had been a change of location to the much more familiar meeting place of the Tandy Hills Playground on View Street.

Below is the message about the change of plans....

Hello Tandy Hills Litter Stompers!
First off, thank you everyone. We have had a great response.
In fact, we have had such a great response that we need to make a small CHANGE of PLAN.

Instead of meeting at Stratford Park:

We will MEET at the Tandy Hills Natural Area Playground (the usual meeting place)
3400 View Street, 9am, Saturday, September 17th.

Don't be late or you'll miss the organic breakfast snacks donated by Whole Foods plus coffee & tea

Keep those RSVP's coming------>

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

cheers
jen

The Moon Glows Bright This Morning For Misbeggoten Me

I looked skyward this morning when I stepped outside on this first day of the last half of September to see a bright white moon looking as if it was being chased by some white fluffy stuff.

At 68 degrees it is very cold this morning. 68 degrees is 12 degrees colder than I have my air-conditioner thermostat set to.

Currently I have all my windows open, making it sort of feel like I am sitting inside a big cooler. By cooler I mean refrigerator.

Today Mother Nature has been tasked with heating the outer world to only 85 degrees. And there is a chance she will be putting on a Thunderstorm show. We have not had a good Thunderstorm show in these parched parts of the planet in a long time.

Before it gets any colder and before lightning starts striking, I think I will go swimming in my formerly warm pool.

My Nephew David's Late 9/11 Happy Birthday Blogging

My Nephew David's 9/11 Birthday Party

That is my nephew, David, on Sunday, 9/11, swinging at a Pinata at his birthday party in his backyard in Tacoma.

Last week, before David's birthday, I mentioned it was upcoming the upcoming weekend, but that I did not know if his birthday was 9/10 or 9/11.

I now know, courtesy of David's poodle caretakers, Blue & Max, that David was born on the 7th Anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

One would think a good uncle would be able to remember such things without a blog having to remind him.

Today, 9/15, is the birthday of David's oldest aunt, my oldest sister. Also known, by many, as Miss Crankypants, and by others, simply as, "The Nag." I do not know, precisely, how old "The Nag" is today. I do know the number is significant and that "The Nag" is about to retire from her job of many, many years.

One of David's favorite aunts, my sister who lives in the Phoenix zone, was invited to and was able to attend David's 3rd 9/11 Birthday Party. I was unable to attend, but was not invited, so it really was not an issue.

I must hit the publish button on this blogging now and then go email "The Nag" a happy birthday greeting, which will likely make her cranky.

Swimming With The Fosdic Lake Turtles On A Cold Texas Day In September

Fosdic Turtles Getting Sunburns

Being a creature of extremely deeply entrenched repetitive habits, I am thrown out of my comfort zone every other Thursday by a mid-day visit to a doctor in Hurst.

Today was one of those Thursdays.

I got back to my comfort zone later than the norm this Thursday, which only made me more uncomfortable.

Coffee this afternoon, after lunch, only made me nervous. It did not perk me up out of my doldrums.

Around 4 I left my air-conditioned comfort zone, where the air-conditioning has not been running, because it is barely in the chilly 80s, to go for a walk with the turtles at Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

The chilly temperature made for a pleasant, fully clothed walk.

I don't know why the Fosdic Lake turtles are not skittish, posing so willingly for photos, while the Veterans Park turtles are totally neurotic, camera-shy turtle divas.

Fosdic Lake is currently containing the least amount of water I've ever seen in that lake. If the lake continues to dry up one can not help but wonder what disturbing lake bottom things might be revealed.

I am optimistic Friday will be a better day for me than this Thursday has been, so far.

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.