November Prairie Notes #59: Metamorphosis

Since today is the first day of a new month as regular as clockwork a new Prairie Notes showed up in my emailbox this morning.

To the left is one of the many beautiful photos of the Tandy Hills that you will find in Prairie Notes #59: Metamorphosis on the Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area website.

On the FOTHNA website you will learn that "Prairie Notes are monthly photo/journal observations from Tandy Hills Natural Area by Founder/Director, Don Young. They include field reports, flora and fauna sightings, and more, mixed with a scoop of dry humor and a bit of philosophy."

Below is a sample of this month's photo/journal observations....

October brought a welcome change to Tandy Hills Natural Area. It seems like Mother Nature's odometer passed a milestone. Day after day of Indian Summer weather provided perfect temps for hiking and discovering hidden treasures. Add a couple of nicely spaced rain showers and prairie metamorphosis is under way.

There are signs of life where none were present just a few weeks ago. Flying insects have reappeared in swarms, perennial wildflowers have new growth, even the grasses have produced a touch of green. Overall, there's a very limited palette of color to be found after the blistering drought but, there are notable exceptions. 

The day after an October 'norther blew in, a steady succession of Monarch butterflies fluttered unwaveringly over the Autumn hills and a date with metamorphic destiny. Their orange-black wings contrasted sharply against the jet-blue prairie sky.  Days later, crusty pods of Milkweed, their larval host plant, began spewing ballerina-like seeds skyward, as if welcoming the Monarch's return. 

All of nature is submitting to transformation of one kind or another. Even us bipeds, far removed from the natural world, feel the tug of change coming on as Summer inevitably fades and we look ahead to Winter. Some of us grow more hairy or fat while some prepare for hibernation. According to doctors, the very composition of our blood changes in Fall and Spring, whether we know it or not.

After the Great Drought of '11, a metamorphosis is just the ticket. Shed your chrysalis and migrate over to Tandy Hills. Your host plants are waiting.

DY
Prairie Notes #59: Metamorphosis

The Shadow Of The Skinny Dipping Thin Man Up Way Too Early On The First Day Of November

You can sort of tell by looking at the picture of the Shadow of the Skinny Dipping Thin Man that I am up well before the sun on this 1st day of the next to last month of 2011.

What you can not tell from the picture is that a bout of insomnia is what has me up way too early.

You can also not tell from the picture that it is currently heated to 59 degrees in the outer world in my location.

My aching right arm pain came back with a vengeance last night.

While I lay awake lamenting my pain I pondered how odd it is that the right arm that aches is attached to my right hand. And that I use my right hand to do my computer mousing.

But.

I am left handed. Using my left hand to do my computer mousing would seem very awkward.

If the sun ever rises and lights up the outer world I'm going swimming. The average temperature the past 24 hours has been well over 50, which means the pool water should be warmer than the last time I went swimming.

The Long Halloween Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man On The Last Monday Of October

You wouldn't think the overhead noonday sun would cast as long a Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man as it does, as evidenced by today's picture of the Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man.

It is currently 72 degrees at 2 in the afternoon. This hills were heated to the high 60s when I hiked them today. Very pleasant.

I found no new tires on the Tandy Hills today. I did encounter one other human, but no other wildlife.

And no human caused flash floods blocking my way.

Changing the subject from the Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin man  to the Shadow of the Thin Lady known as Elsie Hotpepper.

Last night Elsie Hotpepper asked me for help with some of her new attachments. Helping people with their attachments is really not a forte of mine. I did not feel like there was anything I could do to help. I like being helpful and don't like it when I am not helpful.

Tonight I will likely be suffering an ordeal due to being helpful. I'm going over to Miss Puerto Rico's to help her book a flight to her home island. This never goes well.

Up Late On The Last Day Of October Waiting For Halloween & Thinking About Burlington Washington

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the world you might guess that I arose after the sun on this last day of October.

Your guess would have been correct.

We need not discuss why I awoke much later than my norm. Suffice to say I was tired.

Today is Halloween. Tonight I'm going to put on my Kay Granger costume and go trick or treating.

Switching the subject, now, to my favorite subject. The temperature.

In a very rare coincidence, this morning, the temperature at my current location and my old location in Washington are the same.

45 degrees currently.

Speaking of my old hometown location, the town I grew up in, Burlington, Washington, this morning the Skagit Valley Herald had a little article about Burlington.

Growing up in little Burlington, currently with a population of less than 9,000, sort of warped my view of the world. Burlington is sort of a boom town, with sidewalks lining every street. And a very good library.

And then I moved to Fort Worth.

I did not know parts of America were 3rd world-like until I moved to Fort Worth.

Below is a blurb from this morning's article about my old hometown from the Skagit Valley Herald....

Take a drive down Burlington Boulevard, with its bumper-to-bumper weekend traffic and door-to-door strip malls, and it’s hard to imagine the Burlington of 40 years ago.

The major food processors that once dominated the landscape — Darigold, frozen food packers and canneries — are all gone. A shopping mall, big box stores and auto dealers have sprouted from farmland once bursting with crops.

Burlington has had to redefine itself many times over through the years, as technology, transportation and an ever-increasing population have transformed it from an agricultural hub to the shopping mecca of Skagit County.

Many Burlington residents say all that development — and the tax dollars it brings — is just fine with them. In fact, some would say it’s a reflection of two of the city’s biggest assets: its community cohesiveness and the foresight of its leaders.

For all of the town’s changes, the values of Burlington residents — what they want out of life and how hard they will work to get it — haven’t wavered, said Margaret Fleek, the city’s planning director.

“There’s no apathy in Burlington and there never has been,” said Fleek, who lives in Lyman. “People really care about their little town on the flats. ... It totally has its values intact regardless of what’s happening on the I-5 corridor.”

The Rarest Sea Creature Is The Salt Water Gar The Texan Nerd Fish

Gar The Texan Nerd Fish

Yes, I agree, I also found this photo of an underwater creature to be a bit unsettling. But, that is a human underwater, not some sort of big-headed spooky monster fish with spindly fins and pasty white scales.

From this particular human's blog his self description....

"And last, but not least, the rarest of all sea creatures. It's the salt water Gar Fish."

That is Gar the Texan Nerd underwater, somewhere near the Cayman Islands, during the course of his monthly Caribbean cruise.

Apparently some of the tubing apparatus was additional equipment of the diabetic episode kit variety, needed in case Gar the Texan Nerd had one of his cases of the vapors, whilst in the deep sea.

Having experienced Gar the Texan Nerd having an extreme case of the vapors on dry land, I can not imagine such a thing happening underwater. There are no Burger Kings with Whoppers to the rescue underwater.

Finding Out From Whence The Trinity River Flows

In the picture you are standing on an overlook in the now defunct Heritage Park in Downtown Fort Worth looking at the convergence of the West and Clear Forks of the Trinity River.

This convergence is where the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle holds its Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats.

Heritage Park is also the location where I first learned that Gar the Texan Nerd had huge gaps in his education.

I learned this when I said this was the location of the original Fort Worth.

"Fort Worth was actually a fort?" asked the incredulous Gar the Texan Nerd. "Well, it was more of a camp," I replied, equally incredulous that Gar the Texan Nerd did not know this.

Gar the Texan Nerd explained this lack of historical knowledge with the fact that in Texas the football coaches teach history. That explanation sort of made sense at the time.

When I first moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex zone I was perplexed regarding how garbage was disposed of. As in what was the waste management methodology? I was curious about this because I came from a small valley in Washington, with a population of around 100,000, where waste management was a HUGE issue. And now I was in a metro zone with a population about the size of the entire state of Washington and I heard nary a peep about waste management.

During my first year in Texas I asked many locals about local waste management. Their answers were usually a variation of a garbage truck picks up the garbage. Where the garbage went in those trucks seemed to be a universal mystery. I soon gave up my quest for an answer to this question.

Switching the subject from garbage to the Trinity River. Just realized, typing that, that this is not a very big subject switch, since during my years in Texas I have learned that the Trinity River is part of the local waste management method, particular when in flood mode, when it becomes a fast flowing ribbon of litter.

A few weeks ago I asked Elsie Hotpepper from whence the Trinity River flowed. With no mountain ranges within 100s of miles, no snow capped mountains melting and leaking water into a valley, one day it occurred to me to wonder where the Trinity River came from.

And then yesterday I remembered to just Google for the information to find out....

The Trinity River is 710 miles long, flowing only in the state of Texas. The Trinity River's headwaters are in far North Texas, just a few miles south of the Red River, beginning to flow from bluffs that separate the Trinity's headwaters from the Red River.

The Trinity River has 5 branches that make up the Trinity tree, the Clear Fork, West Fork, Elm Fork, East Fork and the North Wedge.

I've never heard of a river wedge before.

The West Fork starts flowing in Archer County, flowing southeast through the Lake Bridgeport and Lake Eagle Mountain reservoirs, then entering Fort Worth through Lake Worth to meet up with the Clear Fork at the location in the picture above.

The Clear Fork starts flowing north of Weatherford, flowing southeastward through the Lake Weatherford and Benbrook Lake reservoirs before it joins up with the West Fork.

The Elm Fork flows south from the Gainesville zone, meeting up with the combined forces of the West and Clear Forks in Dallas.

The East Fork starts flowing near McKinney, joining up with the Trinity River a bit southeast of Dallas.

I have not been able to find out where the North Wedge starts flowing or where it joins the rest of the joined forks.

After all the forks and wedges join forces the Trinity River flows southeast from Dallas across a floodplain before flowing into the Piney Woods Region of Texas, flowing south til it eventually empties into Trinity Bay, which is part of Galveston Bay in the Gulf of Mexico.

So, now I know where the Trinity Rivers starts. And where it ends.

Another Tire Has Arrived On The Tandy Hills Which Were Not Being Flash Flooded With A Broken Fort Worth Water Main Today

Tandy Tire # 3

I, and I am sure the Lawn Whisperer, also, was pleased to see, today, that Tandy Creek is no longer being flash flooded by a broken Fort Worth Water Main.

And that Tandy Falls is no longer roaring and has returned to being Dry Tandy Falls.

Yesterday the water that was flash flooding was quite clear, like water flowing in a creek in a pristine mountain zone. Today the water that remained was a murky shade of bluish gray.

I was surprised today to discover, just slightly south of Tandy Falls, on the Tandy Highway, another Tandy Tire. This one is not a GIANT tire. It is more of a regular size. This tire was mated with what I assume is fiberglass from the inner part of the tire.

Dry Tandy Falls

Is Tandy Tire #3 part of the continuing work of the Tandy Hills Guerrilla Artist? I have no idea. Did this tire come from Don Young's Engulfed Death Car? Or maybe the Death Van associated with the Witchey Tree?

Is the person hauling all these heavy tires on the Tandy Hills acting alone? Or is there an accomplice?

I think an accomplice would definitely be required to help with the GIANT Tandy Tires.

It was near perfect conditions on the Tandy Hills today. I was back in short pants, again, after being in long pants yesterday. It was in the mid 60s today, with a good wind blowing.

I did not last too long in the pool today. It seemed cold.

The Sunny Sunday Day Before Halloween With No Texas Ranger Celebration Party This Year At The Ballpark In Arlington

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the last Sunday of October I can see that it appears to be yet one more sunny Sunday in Texas, so far, today.

With today being the next to last day of October that makes tomorrow the biggest holiday of the year.

Halloween.

I've not decided, yet, which area neighborhood I'll be doing my trick or treating in. Maybe Interlochen.

I am very disappointed that I won't be going to any celebration of this year's Texas Rangers almost championship season.

The Texas Rangers told Arlington city officials that they preferred there not to be a public event this year. Last year thousands of fans showed up for a part outside the Ballpark in Arlington. I was not among the thousands.  I don't think I was invited.

Changing the subject from not getting invited to parties to the temperature.

It is warmer this morning than yesterday morning at 44 degrees. I went swimming twice yesterday, once in the early morning when it appeared there was frost on the roofs. And then again after I got back from the Tandy Hills when it was in the 60s with no frost on the roofs.

I have not yet decided if I am going swimming this last Sunday morning of October.

Virtually Going To A Happy Birthday Lunch With Betty Jo Bouvier, Honey Lulu, Carlotta Camano & Peggy Sue Today

Happy Birthday Girl Betty Jo Bouvier

That is Betty Jo Bouvier on the left and her daughter, Carey, on the right, in the picture, lost somewhere in the Sonoma Valley in California, on their Segways.

This morning Betty Jo invited me to the birthday lunch celebrating her, at least, 39th birthday. Also to be at Betty Jo's birthday lunch were Honey Lulu, Carlotta Camano and Peggy Sue.

I told Betty Jo if I was unable to make it to please say howdy for me to the girls.

Betty Jo's birthday lunch had me thinking about the Pacific Northwest today, well, more specifically, the Puget Sound zone of Washington.

It has been 3 years since I have been back to Washington. This is the longest I have gone without returning to Washington since I moved to Texas. I have pretty much recovered from the well documented trauma I suffered during my month long stay in Washington from July 20 til August 20 of 2008. The traumatizers were brought to justice, which is as it should be in a perfect world where scoundrels eventually pay a price for their scoundrelizing.

Speaking even more about the Pacific Northwest, today I realized it is over a quarter century since Vancouver's Expo '86 closed.

So, I blogged about this shocking reality this morning on my Washington blog in a blogging appropriately titled "It Is Over A Quarter Of A Century Since Vancouver's Expo '86 Closed".

If Betty Jo Bouvier turned 39 this week, that would mean she was only 14 when Expo "86 closed. I well remember when Betty Jo was 14. I do not remember going to Expo "86 with Betty Jo when she was 14.

Flooding Tandy Creek Roars Over Tandy Falls Bringing Tears To The Fort Worth Water Whisperer's Eyes

GIANT Tandy Tire Surviving Latest Tandy Creek Flood

On my way to the Tandy Hills today, a location I had not been to for several days, I came upon a road construction detour on Meadowbrook Drive. The detour pointed me to take a left on to Sargent Street.

On the road ahead of me I saw water. By the time I got to the next detour sign, telling me to take a right to head back to Meadowbrook, I was seeing a lot of water.

As in a flood of water was rushing down the road. A Fort Worth water crew appeared to be working near the McDonald's on Lancaster and Sargent. I don't know if that was from whence the gusher flooded.

As I continued on to View Street, to park to hike the Tandy Hills, I saw many scenes of water backing up. In one house's driveway the water was so deep I don't know if it was possible to get to the car parked in the driveway.

I got to my parking location on View Street and proceeded to walk in to the Natural Area on the main trail that runs from View Street. For today's hiking I'd planned to walk to the end of the entry trail, then head down the hill to Tandy Falls, cross the falls, then walk Tandy Highway and take the right turn that heads back up the hills.

Well.

I could not get across Tandy Falls today. I'd never seen so much water roaring over the falls. Usually I am at this location days after a rain, with the falls greatly diminished.

So, I took some pictures and video and heading back up the trail I had just come down. I decided my flood altered route would take me back to the Tandy Highway from another direction, to see how bad Tandy Creek was flooding across the Tandy Highway.

That particular creek crossing is where the GIANT Tandy Tire #1 currently rests. As you can see in the above picture and the below video, today's flood has not move the Tandy Tire or the baseball cap that sits upon it.

Fort Worth's Lawn Whisperer must be in a very foul mood this Saturday what with all the water being wasted  today, being flushed through the Tandy Hills. How many Barnett Shale Natural Gas wells could have been fracked with the water being wasted today? Appalling.