The 6th Day Of The New Year With Having A Baby Nightmares & Pondering Swimmability

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell you can not tell that the outer world is currently heated to almost halfway to 100, at 48 degrees, this 6th day of the New Year of 2012.

Already almost a 5th of January has passed into history.

I believe the outer world temperature got to, or neared, 70 yesterday. With the low barely below 50 that would make the 24 average above 50, and thus, possibly, the pool may be warmed up enough that a salubrious swim may be doable.

I had a very disturbing nightmare last night that involved dozens of babies. I think this nightmare may have been triggered by a conversation yesterday evening, with Elsie Hotpepper, in which having a baby was discussed.

Having a baby or adopting.

I can see where a conversation about this type subject would be significantly disturbing to a level that it would trigger nightmares in a hypersensitive sort, such as myself.

I got up way too early this morning, thus making for a long wait for the sun to begin its daily illumination duties. I see I have lost 2 temperature degrees since I woke up my computer. We may lose another couple degrees before the day breaks.

I may need to recalculate the idea of testing the pool for swimmability this morning.

Why does the spell checker feel the need to flag a word like "swimmability" as a misspelling with suggestions such as summability, snowmobiled, stumbled or switchblade as possibly the word I was trying to spell?

If swimmablity is not a word, it should be.

Young Couple Fights Fort Worth City Hall & Wins The Right To Have A Yard Requiring No Watering

Young Couple On Criminal Yard

This afternoon I read an article in this week's Fort Worth Weekly, titled As Long as the Grass Should Grow, about the young couple you see in the picture and their 5 year battle with the Corrupt City of Fort Worth, a battle which the young couple won.

For now.

The battle with the city was over this young couple's landscaping.

The young couple's house sits across the street from the Tandy Hills Natural Area. So, they landscaped their yard with the same natural plants that grow in the natural area.

Including native grasses.

The yard has never been an overgrown jungle. The edges are trimmed, and part of the yard is conventionally grassed.

I have seen this particular yard many times whilst driving by on my way to hike the Tandy Hills. I have long made note of how nice this yard looks, how natural it looks and how well it fits in with its setting.

5 years ago an anonymous neighbor anonymously complained to the city that the young couple's grass was too tall.

I really am starting to develop a dislike for all the anonymous complainers out there in the world anonymously complaining about matters that really are none of their anonymous business.

The young couple got a ticket for having grass taller than a foot. The ticket was contested, with the judge siding with the city and the anonymous complainer, with the young couple fined $315.

After years of court time, on December 7, 2011 a Tarrant County Criminal Court Judge reversed the original judgment.

The city is now working towards re-working the inept wording of its codes as they pertain to property owner's landscaping.

Now, where this really bugs me is this is a city which employs someone to look like Sherlock Holmes who calls himself the Lawn Whisperer, to encourage people to conserve water used on their landscaping.

The yard of the young couple, who got fined, is Xeriscaped to a fine tuned level, requiring no watering.

One would think a city, with even a little common sense, would ally this young couple with the Lawn Whisperer to show other yard owners in Fort Worth how to replicate their water saving success.

This is a city, with a government which turns a blind eye to all the various depredations the Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling Industry foists upon the landscape of Fort Worth.

Gas Drillers in Fort Worth can put up a roadblock on a Fort Worth road, forcing motorists to detour, with no threat of a fine possible.

I daily see a giant, ugly brown wall, that I call Fort Chesapeake, that hovers over my neighborhood like a metaphor for a city gone mad. $315 fine because someone has some tall grass. A blind eye to multiple ugly brown wall eyesores.

Gas Drillers in Fort Worth suck copious amounts of water out of the Trinity River, with nary a peep from the Lawn Whisperer. And with the shills in charge making ridiculous claims that the millions of gallons sucked by the gas drillers are just a teeny fraction of what all those lawn watering water wasters waste.

And then this corrupt town has a young couple, trying to be good citizens, setting a good example, doing a good thing.

Using no precious water to water their yard.

And they get fined.

I'm surprised they didn't get tasered and taken to jail.

The nerve.

Growing a natural yard across from a natural area.

Hiking The Tandy Hills With 100s Of Yellow Ribbons Desecrating The Natural Area Unnaturally

Tie A Yellow Ribbon Around A Tandy Tree

Well, the Tandy Hills Guerrilla Artist struck again. Stringing hundreds of yellow ribbons along various trails in the Tandy Hills.

Yellow Ribbons are often tied to trees, or other sticks, for various reasons, thanks to a Golden Oldie song by a one hit wonder named Tony Orlando, with the title being something like "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Around An Old Tree."

I am almost 100% certain today's Tandy Hills Yellow Ribbons were not tied to Tandy branches to make note of the end of the Chesapeake Energy Blockade on Fort Worth's Bridgewood Drive.

Speaking of which, even though the Chesapeake Energy Blockade has been lifted, the "Road Closed" and "Detour" signs remain, as of early this afternoon.

Perhaps the road signage is a City of Fort Worth Road Crew responsibility, which would explain the dawdling and incompetence.

To get my daily endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation, today I parked on top of Mount Tandy, under the Tandy Tower, also known as the Fort Worth Space Needle.

I walked down Mount Tandy and when I came to the Tandy Trojan Horse Shrine, I took the north option and headed towards Tandy Falls. It was soon after that I came upon the first Yellow Ribbon.

In the photo you see above, that is the first Yellow Ribbon I came upon. By the time I came upon the 3rd Yellow Ribbon I realized this must be a Tandy Hills Guerrilla Artist Operation.

All these Yellow Ribbons were not seeming all that natural to me, festooning, as they were, the Natural Area, with their flamboyant flashes of unnatural yellow. What with Saturday's Manly Men Wild Women hikers hiking the Tandy Hills, this Yellow Ribbon thing seemed quite worrisome to me.

This made me wonder to myself, what would the Tandy Hill's Godfather Don do?

I decided it was my duty today to clear the Tandy Hillls of those un-natural Yellow Ribbons, even though it greatly prolonged my hiking time.*

Soon after I saw the first Yellow Ribbon I saw a small piece of heavy equipment zip by, heading towards the Tandy Highway.

The Relocated Tandy Tires

I was not fast enough, with the camera, to get a photo of the small piece of heavy equipment. I thought it might be the Tandy Hills Guerrilla Artist driving the small piece of heavy equipment.

Upon reaching the Tandy Highway I saw that the Tandy Tires I caught coupling on Saturday had moved way closer to Tandy Falls. That is the coupling tires in the second photo.

I crossed the dry Tandy Falls, then headed west to the main trail that enters the Natural Area from View Street, collecting Yellow Ribbons along the way.

The New Big Boulder Bridge Across Tandy Creek

Eventually I found myself back on the Tandy Highway, with a heavy load of Yellow Ribbons. I came to the first, formerly washed out bridge across Tandy Creek to find what the small piece of heavy equipment had been up to.

Big boulders have been dumped on top of the flood erosion exposed drain pipe. And also on top of Tandy Giant Tire #1.

Soon after gingerly making my crossing over the giant boulder bridge I came upon the trailer that likely hauled in the small piece of heavy equipment, along with the pickup that likely pulled the trailer.

Soon after that I came upon the small piece of heavy equipment and the heavy equipment operator, operating on the second bridge across Tandy Creek, this time with fewer big boulders.

The Heavy Equipment Hauling Trailer & Pickup

The small piece of heavy equipment said "Caterpillar" on its front. It appeared to be a mini-bulldozer of some sort.

So, that was my adventure on the Tandy Hills on the 5th day of 2012.

*I was joking about taking down all the Yellow Ribbons. Clearly they'd been tied to limbs in order to mark the way for Saturday's Manly Men Wild Women Hike. I'm guessing Godfather Don will fire off an earnest comment or email informing me of the bad bad thing I'd done, before he gets to the point where I indicate I did not take down any Yellow Ribbons.

See you on Saturday along with 100s of other Manly Men and Wild Women who'd get lost without Yellow Ribbons.

My Neighborhood Chesapeake Energy Blockade Has Been Lifted

One Of The Sheep Coming To A Stop Before Detouring

Yesterday after I found myself having to take a detour to get around a Chesapeake Energy Blockade  I took a picture of the blockade and blogged about it.

Early in the evening, last night, when I left my abode to go to an appointment, I saw that the Chesapeake Energy Blockade had been lifted,

But the "DETOUR" signs were still up.

The "DETOUR" signs still being up made for an interesting observing humans and their various reactions to perceived authority moment.

Most drivers correctly calculated that the Chesapeake Energy Blockade had been lifted and drove under the overhead fracking water pipelines.

I saw several drivers slow to a virtual stop as they approached the former blockade, obviously wondering if they should drive under the former blockade, risking a traffic ticket and possible jail time, or be a good sheep and follow the "DETOUR" sign and turn in the direction the arrow was pointing.

Within just a few minutes I saw 6 sheeple opt not to risk a ticket and jail time.

In the picture above you see one of the sheeple stopped, wondering what in the world to do, before deciding to take the directed right turn detour.

The Dawn Of The 5th Morning Of 2012 Thinking About Michelle Bachmann's Gaffes, Rick Perry's Flip Flopping, Newt Gingrich & Abraham Lincoln

The very dark, pre-dawn, 5th morning of 2012 look out my primary viewing portal of the outer world, at the currently unusable turquoise oasis, through a frost-free window, gives no indication how cold it is or if the sky is free of clouds.

But, my computer based temperature monitoring device provides me the information my viewing portal does not afford me. As in it is currently 37 degrees in the outer world at my location on the planet, with a clear sky, which should be blue when the sun arrives to heat the day to a predicted 64 degrees.

Why can I not break my habit of writing long run-on sentences?

Changing the subject from my bad writing skills to bad politicians.

Did Rick Perry not realize it would cause voters to take him even less serious, when he flip flopped back into running for president, after indicating he was giving up and going home to Texas, after his bad showing in Iowa?

Speaking of other dumb politicians. The Seattle P-I had a list, this morning, of the Best of Michelle Bachmann's Embarrassing Gaffes.

 A few of my favorite Bachmann Gaffes...

Michelle Bachmann apparently thinks the Founding Fathers lived extraordinarily long lives, saying that slave owners may have drafted the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, "but we also know that the very Founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States.”

None of the Founding Fathers were alive when Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

Showing that we would definitely not want Michelle Bachmann having anything to do with America's economy she said, “If we took away the minimum wage — if, conceivably, it was gone — we could virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level.”

Speaking of the Founding Fathers and Abraham Lincoln. In all of America is there no one alive who operates at the quality level of those men? Well, maybe Newt Gingrich comes close. At least, unlike Michelle Bachmann, Newt knows, in depth, the history of America.

I wish I could say I am going swimming now.

So Far North Texas Has No Modern Day Ghost Towns Like Centralia Pennsylvania

In North Texas we have the Barnett Shale.

In Pennsylvania they have the Marcellus Shale.

Many of the same Shale drillers who poke holes in North Texas are also doing so in Pennsylvania, like Chesapeake Energy.

Some people are of the opinion that Texas is an Environmental Wasteland, that reputation earned by things like the world's biggest experiment in urban gas drilling, that being the thousand of Barnett Shale Natural Gas Wells that have been poked in Fort Worth and Tarrant County.

While some may think Texas is a bit irresponsible, methinks Pennsylvania outdoes Texas in the Environmental Wasteland area.

Pennsylvania actually has a town named Frackville. No, it was not named to honor all the fracking taking place in the Marcellus Shale.

Frackville sprang up at the time of the start of the Civil War, 1861, and was incorporated in 1876, the year of America's 1st Centennial, well over 100 years before Aubrey McClendon's greedy beady eyes started looking for places to do damage to the planet.

A very short distance from Frackville, walking distance if your idea of walking distance is around 8 miles, is the former town of Centralia.

Centralia is a rarity in America. A modern day Ghost Town.

Centralia was doing just fine as a mining town, with, at times in its history, up to a couple thousand residents.

The Sprawling Centralia Mine Fire

And then, in 1962, a fire began. No one knows what started the fire. There are several theories. The fire continues to burn to this day, 50 years later.

The fire that turned Centralia into a Ghost Town is burning in a coal vein under that town.

People continued to live in Centralia, though the earth under them was burning.

Eventually the fire got too big and too hot, to the point that Centrailia was no longer fit for human habitation.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in 1992, began condemning Centralia property by eminent domain. Some fought having their property taken.

The most recent count has 10 or 11 people still living in Centralia.

I had not heard of this particular ecological disaster til a couple days ago.

Read the Wikipedia article about Centralia, Pennsylvania to get a much better idea than I can convey of how bad it can get if underground ignitables get inflamed.

Chesapeake Energy Has Closed The Road Where My Abode Is Located

Chesapeake Pipeline Over Bridgewood Drive

Yesterday when I left my abode and headed west on Boca Raton Boulevard I was confused by signs that were indicating that Boca Raton was a detour for the street I live on, that being Bridgewood Drive.

When I left my abode today, to head to the Tandy Hills, I clearly saw what was causing the detour.

Chesapeake Energy has closed a Fort Worth city street so a pipeline crossing can be installed, so that water can be pumped to frack the Barnett Shale Natural Gas Well that Chesapeake poked, last summer, a few hundred feet from my abode.

Three lines of pipe are snaking their way up from the Trinity River, across Randol Mill Road, then across Bridgewood Drive and then along the property line between Havenwood Apartments and a storage unit complex.

How does Chesapeake Energy acquire the right of ways to run these pipelines on what would seem to be private property?

How does Chesapeake Energy acquire the right to close a road, forcing drivers to burn extra gas to get around the detour?

Is there a Chesapeake Energy toll-free line I can call to request compensation for the extra gas and time Chesapeake caused me to burn up today?

Today I also noted a messy Gas Driller Operation south of the Trinity River, east of Beach Street. There was some pipeline preparation in evidence in this location a few weeks ago.

I do not know if this Beach Street activity is courtesy of Chesapeake Energy. A section of earth has been scraped off, maybe 15 feet wide, running as far as I could see, maybe to make it level to lay water sucking pipeline, maybe to put in a road. I have no idea.

All I know is this also had me wondering how the right of way is acquired to alter what I assume is public land between the river and the freeway.

The Tandy Bamboo Teepee Has Been Resurrected Just In Time For Saturday's Manly Men Wild Women Hike On The Tandy Hills

The Tandy Bamboo Teepee Stands Again

In a resurrection from the dead almost as amazing as one alleged to have happened a couple thousand years ago, today I found the Tandy Bamboo Teepee back standing tall, its triangulating poles piercing the cloudy blue sky.

On New Years Day I was shocked to find the Tandy Bamboo Teepee laying flat on the ground, the victim of what I assumed was a vandalous assault, but which others attributed to an alleged wind.

I do not know if the Tandy Bamboo Teepee was resurrected to serve some purpose for this coming Saturday's 3rd Annual Manly Men Wild Women Hike, led by William Wallace and Wonder Woman.

Speaking of Wonder Women. If this is the upcoming 3rd Annual Manly Men Wild Women Hike on the Tandy Hills, that means it is 2 years since the Queen of Wink and Princess Annie drove to Fort Worth to do the hike, all the way from their realm in West Texas.

How can that already be 2 years ago? I remember that day, fairly well. The hike started off easy, but I soon found myself lamenting what terrible shape I was in, as I found myself having trouble keeping up the pace set by the HUGE throng of Manly Men and Wild Women marching across the prairie.

A Very Rare Human Sighting On The Tandy Hills

Speaking of throngs of humans traipsing across the Tandy Hills prairie. Today I had a rare human sighting.

I was looking through my camera's view finder to find a human waving at me. That is the waving human at the center of the photo. I did not have a close up encounter with this human, the photo was as close as I got.

I think I may be in better shape, now, than I was the first time I joined the Manly Men and Wild Women. I am hoping to fare better this coming Saturday than I did 2 years ago.

I am almost 100% certain neither the Queen of Wink or Princess Annie will be in Fort Worth on Saturday. There have been some troubles that keep the Queen of Wink very close to her realm and her subjects, who have become a bit rebellious under her benevolent, albeit, autocratic rule.

The 4th Morning Of 2012 Dawns Almost Free Of Any Pain In Texas

Stepping outside to view the outer world on the 4th morning of the New Year it appears I am able to look at the pool below without having to look through the bars of my patio prison cell.

I think I may have been metaphorically liberated.

Every morning of the New Year I have greeted the new day in rather debilitating pain.

Yesterday morning I thought the pain had alleviated, but after sitting in my computer chair for a short while, when I got back vertical, I could do so only painfully.

This morning, so far, only a little residual aching remains. I'm hoping that remains the case.

Yesterday I resisted the urge to issue a BOLO for the missing Elsie Hotpepper. Miss Hotpepper has now established a pattern of going missing and then being found. So, I've learned not to be too concerned.

Well, this morning there was an email from Elsie Hotpepper with the short message being, "I have no food."

I suspect this may be a typo.

Seeing Grizzly Bears While Walking Around Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake In Oakland Lake Park

The start of a New Year always seems to bring out a lot of New Year's Resolution inspired newly resolved exercisers.

This increase in human activity has been noticed, this year, at every park I've visited since the start of the New Year, 3 days ago, except for the human-free Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Could it be Don Young's lurid tales of the Tandy Hills ghostly hauntings that scares people away?

I like how trees and bushes look after being stripped naked of their leaves. The photo of naked trees I took today, at Oakland Lake Park, where I went to walk around Fosdic Lake, looks, to me, like a bear standing up to confront a bigger bear.

I had a Grizzly Bear encounter years ago in the mountains east of Mount Baker in the Washington Cascades. I suspect that Grizzly Bear encounter imprinted deeply on my sub-conscious. Hence the absurdity of thinking a dead tree looks like a standing bear.

I learned this morning that former Fort Worth native, MLK, exiled, currently, in Tacoma, barely escaped being caught in that nightmare that happened in Mount Rainier National Park yesterday. As MLK was en route to Paradise, multiple emergency vehicles passed as MLK drove towards the park entry, which was closed, forcing a turn-a-round to seek snowy vistas elsewhere.

I hate it when a gunman, turned crazed by a crazy war, causes me to have to turn around to seek snowy vistas elsewhere. This does not happen to me in Texas. MLK should move back home where she will be safer.