Veterans Day Thinking About Veterans, The Buffet At The Kickapoo Indian's Double Eagle Casino & Nachos At Black Rock Mexico

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at an outer world chilled to 41 degrees I'm feeling like time is quickly slipping away because a third of the next to last month of 2011 has already passed into history.

Speaking of history, today is Veterans Day.

I probably should go walking at Veterans Park in Arlington today, but I likely won't.

Changing the subject from Veterans to something else.

Last weekend I virtually went south to the Texas/Mexico border to the town of Eagle Pass where I virtually had a really good $4.99 buffet at the Kickapoo Indian's Lucky Eagle Casino. The town of Eagle Pass is situated on a river called the Rio Grande. On the Mexican side of the river is a larger than Eagle Pass town called Piedras Negras.

I believe in English Piedras Negras translates as Black Rock.

Black Rock, Mexico is where the gourmet dish that goes by the name "Nacho" was invented. If I remember right, I blogged about this recently.

Changing the subject from Nachos to swimming.

Yesterday morning it was 41 degrees when I went swimming. The high for that 24 hour time period had been barely 60. I had a very pleasant time in the pool yesterday, followed by a very pleasant hot shower. This morning it is also 41 degrees, but the high in this particular 24 hour time period was higher than yesterday's 24 hour time period. Which means, I think, that the pool will be warmer than yesterday.

I will test this theory in a couple minutes.

I Have Been Invited To An Old Fashion Christmas In Belton Texas

Bell County Courthouse In Belton, Texas

Texas has 254 counties, more than any other state in the union. Many of those 254 counties have very elaborate, ornate courthouses.

The county seat of Bell County is Belton. That is the Bell County Courthouse in the picture.

Belton is slightly south of Temple, north of Salado, on Interstate 35, part of the Killen - Temple - Fort Hood metropolitan area. Basically the town is deep in the Heart of Texas.

And why am I talking about Belton?

Well, a few days ago I think I mentioned that due to my Eyes on Texas website I find myself getting invited to events and festivals that I don't find myself attending.

This morning Sandy Bigham, of Belton, invited me to an "Old Fashion Christmas in Belton," saying....

Join us for a fun day in downtown Belton on the second Saturday of December at 10:00 to 7:00pm. Santa, Clowns, Gospel groups, vintage cars, Hay rides, Kiddie Korral, carolers, Teddy Bear Parade at 5pm. Lots of food and vendor. A fun day for all.

Clowns and Gospel groups are a HUGE attraction to me, but I probably won't make it to the Old Fashion Christmas in Belton.

I did put the Old Fashion Christmas in Belton on my Eyes on Texas Christmas in Texas webpage, though.

I do have one lingering question about the Old Fashion Christmas in Belton. I thought the phrase was always "Old Fashioned" not "Old Fashion." But, I looked at the Belton Chamber of Commerce website and that is what they are calling it, "Old Fashion" not "Old Fashioned."

Fort Worth's Quanah Parker Park's Tire Population Continues To Grow

Another Pile Of Tires In Quanah Parker Park

I returned to Quanah Parker Park today, again, even though I was just there yesterday.

The pile of tires I came across yesterday strewn next to the Quanah Parker Park paved trail were still strewn there today.

But, today I looked up from the pile of tires next to the trail to see an even bigger pile hiding under the shade of a group of trees.

What is causing this explosion of tires? They seem to be breeding like rabbits.

Two Weeks Til Thanksgiving With Rick Perry Being A Turkey In Last Night's Republican Debate

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the outer world at the bright beginning of Day 10 of the next to last month of 2011.

It is only two weeks until Thanksgiving. We are on the fast track to Christmas and a New Year.

Speaking of turkeys, I got a strange thing from TXU in the mail yesterday. You non-Texans reading this, TXU is a Texas electricity provider. Yesterday's TXU mailing thanked me for being such a good customer by giving me an up to 16 pound turkey or up to 9 pound spiral cut ham.

To acquire the turkey or ham requires going to Krogers. I don't like going to Krogers.

Still speaking of turkeys, Rick Perry had another really bad debate night last night. Perry's gaffe that had the pundits in full punditry mode came when Perry said he'd eliminate 3 departments of the government. He then proceeded to try to name the three he'd get rid of.

The Commerce Department, the Education Department and, uh, uh, uh, uh. Not able to remember the third one. Perry ended his gaffe by saying "OOPS."

Later in the debate Perry remembered the third department he wanted to get rid of was the Energy Department.

I'm finding the Republican Debates to be rather entertaining. I don't recollect making it through to the end of so many debates the last Presidential Election cycle as I have already during the current one.

It's getting late. It is currently 41 degrees. Time to go swimming before it gets any hotter.

White Pickup Trucks, Cars & Tires Today On The Quanah Parker Park Trail

White Pickup Truck Rapidly Heading Towards Me
On The Quanah Parker Park Trail

Today, on my way to Town Talk, I parked at Quanah Parker Park so that I could walk on the Quanah Parker Park Trail to check out a new section of Quanah Parker Park Trail that has had me a bit perplexed as I have observed its construction as I passed by on Randol Mill Road.

I had myself an encounter with a white pickup truck on the Quanah Parker Park Trail today.

If I remember right I have previously mentioned my encounters with white pickup trucks on trail in Fort Worth parks.

Today's white pickup truck encounter did not seem as sinister as some of my previous white pickup truck encounters.

There has been some upgrading going on in Quanah Parker Park in the past couple months. The fixing of the flood damaged entry road. New signage. Many added park benches.

New Trail To The Right, Old Trail To The Left

And then a month or so ago, at the point where the paved trail makes a long oxbow, following a bend in the Trinity River, bulldozers graded a path that ran parallel to Randol Mill Road.

I figured this was preparation for the laying of yet one more Barnett Shale Natural Gas Pipeline.

Instead this turned out to be a new section of paved trail, sort of making a detour around the oxbow.

Why would the City of Fort Worth spend money building this new paved trail, an addition to a trail that is not very heavily used, when there are so many places in Fort Worth that really could use a sidewalk?

The long long long term plan for the Dallas/Fort Worth towns, through with the Trinity River passes, is to connect Dallas with Fort Worth, and the towns in between, via paved biking, pedestrian trails. Fort Worth, Dallas and Arlington have all done a very good job building paved trails along the Trinity River.

But, there are a lot of gaps in the paved trail in Fort Worth. For instance the Quanah Parker Trail does not connect with the Gateway Park Trail and thus connect to the Trinity Trails. The Quanah Parker Trail is the furthest east that the Fort Worth paved trails travel.

There is maybe a 10 or 12 mile gap before you get to the Trinity River Trail that runs through River Legacy Park, in Arlington, almost all the way to Highway 360. And then another gap of maybe 15 miles before you get to the Dallas paved trails.

Methinks it really should be some sort of priority to fill in these gaps. Me also thinks if a paved bike/pedestrian trail extended from Fort Worth to Dallas that it would be very popular. Maybe not Burke Gilman in Seattle level of popular, with bike shops and places to eat along the way, but still popular. And who knows, maybe a snack bar and coffee shop might spring up along the route.

Crazy Man Driving Down The Quanah Parker Trail

In addition to the white pickup truck heading towards me today there were a couple other strange things that happened.

When I stopped to take the picture of the new trail that you see above, behind me was yet another white pickup truck. And behind that white pickup truck there was a car parked. As I snapped a picture the car started its engine and began driving down the oxbow section of the paved trail.

I found this to be very bizarre.

And then after I snapped a picture of the car careening down the oxbow section of the Quanah Parker Park Trail I turned around to see something I've been seeing in another park that I frequent.

Quanah Parker Park Tires

The Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Where in the past couple months 3 mysterious tires have appeared in an isolated area of the park, with two of them being BIG heavy tires.

And now today I find all these tires laying on the ground next to the Quanah Parker Park Trail?

Who put them there? And why?

Are they lined up waiting to be moved to the Tandy Hills?

I tell you, there needs to be some investigating into the goings on that go on in some of Fort Worth's parks.

It is all very perplexing.

It Is The Dawn Of A New Day In Texas Able To Buy Booze At Costco In Fort Worth & Washington

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell on Day 9 of the next to last month of 2011 it looks like the pool has turned into an ice rink. But, it'd take at least another 10 degrees colder than the current 42, for that to happen.

I was peacefully slumbering this morning when my phone played its cheerful, unwanted wake up tune.

It was Miss Puerto Rico calling from the airport. I let the call go to voice mail. My one longtime reader may remember I used to provide taxi service for Miss Puerto Rico to the airport. That ended on the day Obama was inaugurated.

In other news, yesterday was election day in America. For the most part election days in Texas are sort of quiet. There were a lot of proposed amendments to the constitution being voted on in Texas. I don't recollect seeing a single sign trying to get me to vote yes or no on any of the proposed amendments.

Texas proposals 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 and 10 were approved by the voters, while Proposals 4, 7 and 8 were rejected.

I don't know if Texas has the Referendum and Initiative method of putting an issue on a ballot.

In Washington I always had a lot of Referendums and Initiatives to vote on. A citizen, or group, in Washington, can take the initiative and put an Initiative on the ballot if they are able to get enough signatures on  a petition to do so.

COSTCO was behind an interesting Initiative that passed yesterday in Washington. Initiative 1183 removed the last vestige of Prohibition from Washington, allowing private retailers, like COSTCO, to sell whiskey, gin and other hard liquor. Prior to Initiative 1183 one could only buy those items from state run liquor stores. COSTCO spent $22 million into its campaign to get this Initiative passed.

Texas still has many vestiges of Prohibition. Some places totally dry, some totally wet, some just a little damp. I live in a totally wet zone, bordering a totally dry zone. This causes 4 liquor stores to be at the Randol Mill Road exit from Loop 820, because that is the nearest entry point from the freeway to the wet zone I live in.

The town I live in, Fort Worth, being wet, I guess, for some reason has long allowed the Fort Worth COSTCO to sell hard liquor. But grocery stores in Fort Worth are not allowed to sell hard liquor.

I don't know why.

COSTCO likely figured out what local palms it needed to grease so it could sell whiskey to the locals.

I guess I'll stop thinking about how easy it is to get drunk in Fort Worth and go swimming now.

Caution: No Smoking Or Open Flames Near My Neighborhood Abandoned Chesapeake Energy Drilling Site

Abandoned Fort Chesapeake

Today I decided to not waste petrol driving to a place to walk. Instead I decided to take a very rare walk around my neighborhood.

My primary motivation to take this walk was to take pictures of my #1 neighborhood eyesore, what the locals have taken to calling Fort Chesapeake.

That is Fort Chesapeake in the first picture, looking east up a hill on Boca Raton Boulevard.

NO SMOKING OR OPEN FLAMES

Ever since Chesapeake abandoned Fort Chesapeake, a chain link fence has surrounded the perimeter of the fort. Last week a secondary chain link was added about 10 feet in from the original chain link fence. Apparently Chesapeake wants to make sure the abandoned fort is secure from invaders.

CAUTION

But, why is Chesapeake so worried about incoming invaders that 2 chain link fences are required? Well, the picture on the left might have the answer to that query.

Why would this abandoned well require a sign warning "CAUTION NO SMOKING OR OPEN FLAMES"?

As I type these very words a few miles to the northwest of my location, near Boyd, in Denton County, a Barnett Shale Driller's Saltwater Disposal Well is burning. Saltwater, you know, that harmless water that is injected into the ground during the fracking process somehow went to explosive flame mode.

The Metal Plate At The Center Of Fort Chesapeake

Now, my neighborhood abandoned Fort Chesapeake operation is very strange. In August us living in this location were a bit non-plussed at all the activity, big trucks, noise, involved in erecting a drilling tower and all its accompanying accouterments.

And then a short time later, with no drilling noticed by anyone, suddenly a big line of trucks showed up, creating a bit of a congestion problem on Boca Raton, lined up to remove all the drilling equipment.

After all the equipment was removed, the drilling site was smoothed over, with an orange mesh fence, that you can see in the picture, above, surrounding what looks like a heavy metal plate. This is not what one usually sees left behind after Chesapeake Energy finishes poking the earth in one of their Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling Operations.

Collapsed Fence Enhancing Explosion Danger?

Other than the addition of the second chain link fence I've seen little activity at abandoned Fort Chesapeake.

I would think someone from Chesapeake Energy would show up to re-erect the chain link fence on the eastern edge of Fort Chesapeake. It has collapsed onto the sidewalk that runs along the Loop 820 frontage road.

In the picture of the fallen fence you are looking south towards the Super Bowl Buffet. I hope the fallen fence does not make it easier for open flames or smokers to have access to whatever it is that is so flammable inside abandoned Fort Chesapeake that it required a dire warning sign.

Am I the only person in Fort Worth who thinks abandoned Fort Chesapeake is a bit of an eyesore? Why is this type eyesore allowed? It really ruins the view east from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony. It blocks the view of the 820 freeway and Dallas to the east.

Already The 2nd Tuesday Of November With The Fort Worth Stockyard Ruins Ruined By Chesapeake Energy

The view from my primary viewing portal on the world on this 8th day of the next to last month of 2011 seems to have an odd golden glow going on, even though the sky is totally overcast with the sun's light filtered through a thick layer of vaporized H2O.

After the sun finished its daily lighting duties on Day 7 of the next to last month of 2011 rain fell in copious amounts for a short duration, accompanied by a little thunder and lightning.

Watching Dancing with the Stars Pete Delkus did not directly interrupt with any dire weather warnings, except during commercial breaks, when he did inform us that there was some potential tornado action possible somewhere within his viewing range.

All appears wet this morning in the outer world. Currently heated to a balmy 70 at my location. I see no hill hiking in my future today.

Changing the subject from the weather to the destruction of one of my favorite Fort Worth locations.

The Fort Worth Stockyards Ruins.

I did not know, until this morning, that Chesapeake Energy had purchased the 18 acre site of the former Swift Armor meat packing plant at the east end of the Fort Worth Stockyards, way back in 2007, hoping to develop the property as yet one more drilling site.

Chesapeake supposedly spent around $700,000 removing asbestos from the site, along with $30,000 a month on security. Security which I've only noticed way back when the FOX TV show, Prison Break, used the Stockyard Ruins as a set, turning the Stockyards into a Panama prison.

Chesapeake gave up on the idea of drilling on the Stockyard Ruins land, then looked into turning it into some sort of headquarters. That was deemed too expensive. And so now the Fort Worth Stockyard Ruins are going to be demolished so the land can be redeveloped.

The Fort Worth Stockyards will never be the same. But, they may be better with the Stockyard Ruins gone.

I'm going swimming now.

The Tandy Hills Trojan Horse Stands Guard Over A Stormy Prairie

NO Bikes, Motorized Vehicles Or Trojan Horses

The Tandy Hills Trojan Horse stands guard under a stormy sky today in the noon time frame. You can see the stunning gray skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, scraping the cloudy sky, in the distance.

So far on this potentially stormy day there have not been much storming. I felt a couple drops during my extensive hill hiking today.

A few more drops fell whilst I was eating lunch. I find myself wanting more precipitation. And perhaps enough Doppler Radar action to get Pete Delkus all atwitter with Weather Drama King excitement.

Swimming this morning was very pleasant. It should be pleasant tomorrow morning as well. Unless it is raining. With lightning.

I'm heading to the library now, while it is still open. I need some books.

Video Of An Okie All Shook Up By Saturday Night's Oklahoma Earthquake

Okie All Shook Up By Oklahoma Earthquake

If you've never experienced an earthquake I can understand how jarring the first ground shaking experience can be.

Even if you grow up and live long in a location where earthquakes and mountains blowing up is fairly common, an earthquake can still be quite unsettling.

During the 1990s, at my old home location in Mount Vernon, there were a couple years where a lot of very low magnitude shallow quakes took place, epicentered a couple miles east of my abode. I remember being on my waterbed when one of them hit and it quickly became rough water, almost tossing me out of bed. Another time I was in my living room watching TV when one hit, the windows popped and flexed, the tall trees swayed and the tile on my kitchen floor cracked.

The biggest quake I've ever felt was a 6.5, epicentered about 70 miles south of my location in Burlington, Washington. It shook for about a minute. It was difficult to walk. I can't imagine what it is like to be near the epicenter of a strong quake.

Elsie Hotpepper was freaked out by Saturday night's Oklahoma quake. Apparently Elsie was quite badly shaken by it. I've not heard from her since she let me know she was all shook up.

In the video below an Okie is talking about a football game and then the Oklahoma earthquake strikes. I assume this was the big one on Saturday night that shook up Elsie Hotpepper....