Swimming In The Wind On The 2nd Saturday Of October Listening For Thunder

The 2nd Saturday of October has dawned with a stormy looking sky after a windy night.

Thunderstorms are on the schedule for the next 3 days. I won't be shocked if the Thunderstorms do not show up.

This morning I have decided to be a man of few words.

I'm going swimming in the wind now.

Drinking Bad Coffee Under A Stormy Sky With The Indian Ghosts At Village Creek

In the picture you are looking south from the viewing platform overlooking the Village Creek Bayou in Arlington.

As you can see, in the noon time frame, walking among the ghosts and under the oak trees of Village Creek was a bit on the dark and stormy side of a usually bright, sunny day.

Last week I mentioned that water was again flowing through Village Creek, despite the ongoing Great Texas Drought of 2011.

The water began flowing through Village Creek at the same time that 3 water pipelines, courtesy of Chesapeake Energy, ran along the road that leads to Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

I speculated that the reason water was flowing through Village Creek was because Chesapeake Energy needed it so they could do some fracking.

Well, more circumstantial evidence disappeared today. As in the 3 water pipelines are now gone. And water is no longer flowing through Village Creek.

Coincidence? I think not.

Changing the subject from possible coincidences to coffee.

I have never mastered the art of making good tasting coffee. I gave up years ago. I may have mentioned previously that the best coffee I've ever had was had at the WinStar Casino's buffet, in the year of 2004, when I met fellow former Washingtonian, Mrs. McP, for lunch and coffee.

Over the years I've tried grinding coffee beans with no noticeable improvement. I do not recollect doing so ever since I moved to Texas, along with my coffee grinder, which was one of the few kitchen things I did not give my nephew upon moving.

Well. At Town Talk on Wednesday they had bags of coffee beans. From Safeway. They don't have Safeways in Texas. I believe here Safeway is called Tom Thumb. I don't ever go in to a Tom Thumb, so I've no idea if Tom Thumb sells stuff with the Safeway Select brand on the label.

So, I've no idea where Town Talk's Safeway Select coffee came from.

And if you think where this is leading is me saying that I finally made a good cup of coffee, well, you would be wrong. I'm drinking it right now, the first batched brewed with the Town Talk beans.

It's worse than my usual coffee.

The 7th Morning of October Dawns Cloudy

When I stepped outside to retrieve my swimsuit this 7th morning of October I felt what seemed to be some precipitation, possibly in light mist form. I think this was some sort of delusion triggered by what looked to be a stormy sky.

The current rain prediction is for a 50% chance of wet stuff hitting the ground on this parched part of the planet, on Sunday.

Apparently there is a massive wet system to the west of us, moving in this direction.

I got a call yesterday from someone from Washington, driving in Utah, in storm mode, with heavy rain blowing horizontal with snow and ice mixed in.

Seems like only yesterday, well, actually, it was last week, I think, we were experiencing 100 degree days. And now I'm getting reports of snow.

I think I will go swimming now before it gets any later or colder or wetter.

October 12 Trinity River Vision Open Discussion With J.D. Granger Minus City Of Fort Worth TRV Director

Thumbing through this week's Fort Worth Weekly this afternoon I came upon an ad that reminded me I am currently scheduled to go to Fort Worth's Botanic Garden next Wednesday.

A few minutes after seeing the ad in FW Weekly I got a call telling me that the City of Fort Worth has decided it can not participate in this public forum.

This would seem to be a City of Fort Worth attitude holdover from the repressive, non-communicative, un-open, un-democratic, Moncrief crony capitalist regime.

If I am understanding correctly, the City of Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Director, Mark Rauscher, was forbidden from participating, once the horror that this would be an open discussion forum, with various views presented, was realized.

Because, as we all know, participating in an open public forum, by Fort Worth City Officials, is not the Fort Worth Way.

However, J.D. Granger is going to be there, presenting his vision of the Trinity River Vision.

For me, I am long over due for a drastic change of mind. I fully expect to listen to J.D. Granger explain his vision of the Trinity River Vision with the result being me jumping off the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle and on to the Trinity River Vision Bandwagon.

I previously listened to J.D. Granger give a presentation in Arlington. He was so persuasive he made me a believer in Magic Trees.

A Sunny Yellow Wildflower Sprouts Today In Drought Stricken Texas On The Dry Tandy Hills

Today, in the noon time frame, was my first time back to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area since Saturday.  

Clouds, a semi-cool temperature and a breeze made for some pleasant hill hiking.

I do not believe any significant precipitation has precipitated on to the Tandy Hills to account for the sprouting out of some colorful wildflowers since my Saturday visit.

Wildflowers like the sunny yellow flower you see in the picture.  I only saw one of these, in one location, at the north side of Mount Tandy, southeast of Dry Tandy Falls.

Stalks with purple flowers are now sprouting all over the Tandy Hills.

Swimming this morning was pleasantly cold. But apparently it did not aerobicize me to a level sufficient to release pain reducing, mood elevating endorphins.

I think, post hiking, that I'm feeling less pain and my mood may be slightly elevated above its pre-hiking doldrums.

It may be the endorphins speaking, but I think I want to move to Florida.

But, before I do that, I need to have lunch, which is now available. This I know because the lunch buzzer is buzzing.

The Dallas Cowboys Really Are America's Favorite Football Team While The Seattle Seahawks Are Among America's Least Favorite

I admit I am not much of a football fan. Actually I am not even remotely a football fan. I have never understood what people find entertaining about sitting and passively watching endless permutations of the same behavior.

So, when I moved to Texas and started to hear the Dallas Cowboys over and over again referred to as "America's Team" I figured it was just more Texas hyperbole.

At one point in time, years ago, I  added a page about this subject to my Eyes on Texas website, titled "Dallas Cowboys: America's Team?"

This morning I was looking for an "America's Team" image and was surprised to see the webpage I made years ago Googled in the 2nd spot, right after Wikipedia's article about "America's Team."

I was looking for an "America's Team" image because I'd just read an article in the Seattle P-I which made me want to blog about this subject.

According to the Harris polling people and an interactive poll they conduct, yearly, the Dallas Cowboys are America's favorite football team. A position the Dallas Cowboys have held for 5 years in a row.

The top five favorite football teams are....

1. Dallas
2. Pittsburgh
3. Green Bay
4. New England
5. Chicago

The professional football team in the town in which the Seattle P-I is published, the Seattle Seahawks, ranks really low in terms of America's favoritude, at a lowly 27th place.

America's least favorite professional football team is the Jacksonville Jaguars.

I've never heard of this lowly Jaguar team. All I know about Jacksonville is I think the town is in Florida.

The Seattle P-I made what seemed to me a slightly lame explanation as to why the Seattle Seahawks are at such a lowly 27th place ranking in such a serious matter. Apparently fewer people on the West Coast follow football than people who live in the East, the Midwest and the South.

In 2006 the Seattle Seahawks reached their most favored position ever in the Harris poll, coming in as the 12th most favorite the year they lost the Super Bowl to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That particular Super Bowl is probably the only football game I have watched, start to finish, in this century. It was painful viewing.

The Semi-Chilly 6th Morning Of October In Texas

Looking closely through the bars of my patio prison cell the pool is looking particularly inviting to me this 6th morning of October, the first Thursday of the 10th month of 2011.

The outer world in my location is currently air-conditioned to 32 degrees above 32 degrees.

I had the most convoluted night of convoluted dreams that kept waking me up and kept making sense, until this morning when I can make no sense of it. The dreams/nightmares were all based on some conspiratorial type thing that Elsie Hotpepper told me. That is all I remember.

My computer started vexing me this morning. Re-starting it seems to have fixed the vexation. At least for now.

I'm going swimming now with the hope that it helps my sore aching body parts.

An Anonymous Look At JD Granger's House Improvements & Tim Love's New Woodshed Restaurant

Someone calling him or herself "Anonymous" sent me the above photo, with minimal commentary, simply saying that "Isn't it interesting how much recent improvements to JD Granger's home match the look of Tim Love's nearby new restaurant."

I am assuming what is being implied is that somehow JD did some dirty dealing that somehow got improvements made to his house in a manner nefarious.

While I do see the similarities between the two structures, I really don't think JD Granger would do something untoward of this nature.

So, I Googled for info about Tim Love's new restaurant. Previously to Googling about Tim Love's new restaurant all I knew was that it was located near the Hoffbrau Steak place on University Drive.

Well, imagine my surprise when I learned that Tim Love's new restaurant, to be called "The Woodshed", is part of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's plan to supposedly improve the Trinity River trails and their surroundings.

I had no idea that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's vision saw so far beyond the area of the little pond at the north end of downtown, the unneeded flood diversion channel, the  obliteration of Riverside Park and the upgrade of Gateway Park with the planting of thousands of Magic Flood Control Trees.

JD Granger's home is a short distance from Tim Love's new restaurant.

How does a deal like this work? I can't help but wonder. Does the Tarrant Regional Water District, which oversees the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, sell Tim Love the land on which he has built The Woodshed?

Isn't that public land? Is public land being sold for a privately owned restaurant? Or does the Tarrant Regional Water District have a financial interest in Tim Love's restaurant?

And, what part did JD Granger play in finagling Tim Love's deal to build his new restaurant on land controlled by the Tarrant Regional Water District?

I must say, separate from all these perplexing questions, I like the look of Tim Love's new restaurant, and the upgrades to JD Granger's house.

A Big Acorn Welcome Today To Quanah Parker Park With Coyote Scat

An Acorn Welcome to Quanah Parker Park

As I've driven by Quanah Parker Park lately I've noticed signs along the trail.

Today my curiosity regarding the Quanah Parker Park signs was alleviated.

The signs are giant acorns. Which is fitting because there are some giant oak trees in Quanah Parker Park.

The first acorn sign that you see as you walk from the parking lot is the Welcome to Quanah Parker Park sign. This sign informs the visitor that Quanah Parker Park is home to many animals, with different habitats to enjoy. You are advised to enjoy the open prairie while you watch butterflies and dragonflies doing flower flitting, with lizards racing across your path.

The next acorn sign explains who Quanah Parker was. Quanah's mom, Cynthia Ann Parker, was taken by the Comanche in a raid. Eventually Cynthia became a wife of Comanche chief Peta Nocona and had a son named Quanah, who eventually became the last chief of the Quahada Comanche tribe.

The acorn signs are all cleverly titled. Such as the above one titled "Tracks and Scats," advising the nature seeker to look for tracks and scats, like Coyote scat. I ignored this suggestion and sought no Coyote scat today.

An acorn sign featuring "Furry Friends" suggested one might see Virginia Opossum, White-Tailed Deer, Nine-Banded Armadillo or Fox Squirrels. I've seen a lot of squirrels scurrying about Quanah Parker Park, but never an Opossum, Deer or Armadillo. I have seen Bobcats a couple times.

Armadilloes have never seemed all that furry to me. More scaly than furry.

If you'd like to hike along the Quanah Parker Park trails alongside the Trinity River in Fort Worth and don't know where Quanah Parker Park is, it is very easy to find. Just exit Loop 820 at Randol Mill Road and head west for a couple miles and you'll come to the park entry on your right, after you pass a couple Chesapeake Energy drilling operations.

Or, exit I-30 at Oakland Boulevard, then head north on Oakland, til you come to a gigantic Chesapeake Energy operation, then take a right on to Randol Mill and you will see one of the Quanah Parker Park trails on your left. You will come to the park entry in about a mile. Maybe less.

I do not know if it is legal to remove any Coyote scat you might find. I am fairly certain it is not legal to remove any Coyotes you might find.

The Warning This Morning From A Red Texas Sky

Looking skyward from my patio view on this first Wednesday of October I'm seeing red.

Growing up on the west coast, as far back as my memory goes, I remember hearing, "Red sky in morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight."

I have no idea what a red sky means when you are landlocked semi-deep in the Heart of Texas.

I think I will not take heed of this red sky warning and will instead risk the dangers inherent in going swimming.