The Dark Drought Free Dawn Of The 3rd Morning Of February In Texas

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell, this third dark morning of February, you might guess, due to the grayish look to the sky above the pool, that we are under a cloud cover at my location on the planet.

You would be guessing correctly.

I was surprised when I stepped outside this morning to find myself being moisturized by a fine mist.

A couple downpours hit the ground before midnight last night.

With those downpours last night and the deluge from last week, apparently, this was enough water for something called the U.S. Drought Monitor to claim that the Great Texas Drought is over for the Dallas/Fort Worth zone.

According to these drought monitors a section of North Texas making up under 5 percent of the state is  now at drought free status.. This leaves almost 60 percent of Texas still too dry, with an extreme drought, and 27 percent of Texas parched at the highest level of drought.

Last night was warm to an almost borderline summer heat level of HOT. I do not recollect sleeping cover free at this time of year before. Last year at this time the furnace was running around the clock to combat the frigid freeze.

Even though it is 62 degrees this morning, I don't think I will be going swimming.

A Smoky Return To The Tandy Hills Where The Raw Sewage Still Flows

The Smoky Skyline View Of
 Beautiful Downtown Fort Worth

I enjoyed the Tandy Hills so much yesterday, even with the shocking massive raw sewage spill, that I returned today.

The shocking massive raw sewage spill is still spilling.

But, I just got a message from Don Young telling me that the city is now aware they have a problem.

Doesn't the EPA issue fines for this type of thing?

The raw sewage was still flowing today.

If the raw sewage ever stops flowing it is going to be awhile before I'll be wanting to walk on that sewage tainted ground.

I wonder if this spill will qualify as a Superfund Cleanup Site?

Continuing with the pollution theme. Looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth today, the view was through a thick smoky haze.

Last night I was impressed with how much smoke the Woodshed Smokehouse was spewing. The Woodshed Smokehouse smoke made for a hazy view across the Trinity River last night as the sun was setting.

I am almost 100% today's smoky haze has been caused by Fort Worth's newest restaurant.

We are currently scheduled for some stormy weather during the coming 48 hours. I hope this stormy weather does some good air cleaning.

The Very Dark Morning Of The 2nd Day Of February With A Barbecue Hangover

Looking out my primary viewing portal on this second morning of February it is dark, very very dark.

My eyes are burning bad this morning. As bad as if someone was blowing smoke in my eyes.

I do not think my burning eyes are a residual effect from visiting the smoke, last night, that spews from the Woodshed Smokehouse.

I do think that last night's nightmares, that featured Granny Grassroots, were a residual effect from visiting the Woodshed Smokehouse.

I think I may have consumed too many barbecue products last night, which may have been what helped cause the disturbing nightmares.

Changing the subject from smoke, Granny Grassroots and nightmares to my favorite subject.

The sun has now arrived, turning the formerly dark view from my primary viewing portal to a bright view. I can see that, currently, the sky is free of clouds at my location on the planet.

Currently, according to my computer based temperature monitoring device it is 49 degrees. I think a return to the raw sewage of the Tandy Hills is in my future today.

And no swimming.

The Occupy The Woodshed Smokehouse Event Had A Good Menu & Music & Tim Love BBQing In Cowboy Boots

Flush The Shed Down The River

Since this Occupy thing started happening all over the world I have not been to any Occupy thing.

Until tonight.

I found myself part of an Occupy Woodshed group.

I did not know what to expect.

Upon arrival I was given my Occupy Uniform in the form of a black t-shirt that Xed out Trinity Uptown on the front and said Save a River Save a Billion on the back.

I did not put on my Occupy Uniform because I already was wearing a long sleeved t-shirt. This made sense at the time I decided not to put on the Occupy Uniform.

A Group Of Woodshed Occupiers In Uniform

Occupy Woodshed seemed to be a very festive affair. Sort of like a party. A band provided music. We had our own Woodshed picnic table, to occupy, and a very pleasant Woodshed Smokehouse waitress brought drinks and vittles. For some reason I thought these Occupy things were more of a roughing it experience. I did not realize at Occupy Events there are menus and waitresses.

I now understand why the Occupy Movement is so popular.

A Couple Of  Woodshed Occupiers Enjoying Some Woodshed Grub

The Woodshed Smokehouse spews out an awful lot of smoke. Between all that wood smoke and all the humans smoking tobacco based products, some of which were home grown and organic, I believe I breathed in an awful lot of carcinogens tonight. I had to take a shower as soon as I got back to my abode to wash out the smoke smell.

Skinny Blonde Woodshed Occupier

I saw Tim Love several times tonight. He was wearing a cowboy hat, way too tight blue jeans and cowboy boots. The Occupiers tried to get the waitress to get Tim Love to come by for a group picture. But, that did not happen.

The skinny blonde in the sunglasses, who looks like a movie star, was the only one of the Occupy Woodshed people I saw who were occupying any space outside of the Woodshed Smokehouse.

After the sun exited for the day, J.D. Granger showed up. But not with a beautiful, buxom blonde. J.D. Granger had a kid with him. I suspect one of his offspring.

I expected Elsie Hotpepper to be at the Woodshed tonight. Elsie had told me she would be there for certain. But, Elsie was a no show. Elsie Hotpepper is so unreliable.

Today I Was Shocked To Find The Tandy Highway Has Turned Into The Tandy Sewer River

Tandy Trojan Horse On Roof Of House

Today was the first day I have been back on the Tandy Hills since our recent deluge.

I parked on top of Mount Tandy, under the Fort Worth Space Needle. The trail down Mount Tandy, leading to the trail junction, where the choices are to go north or south, was a bit damp.

At the trail junction I saw that the Tandy Trojan Horse had moved on top of the house that arrived a couple weeks ago.

As you can see looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, it is partially cloudy today. What you can't see is that it is quite warm. Currently 70.

At the trail junction I chose to take the north option, planning to cross Tandy Falls. I was soon shocked to find that doing so is currently not possible.

Tandy River Sewer Flood

Last week Stenotrophomonas told me that after the rain the Tandy Highway had turned into the Tandy River.

Today when I got to the bottom of Mount Tandy and saw the Tandy Highway I was very surprised to see that it is still being the Tandy River, more than a week after we got around 4 inches of rain.

There have been plenty of times more than 4 inches of rain has fallen on the Tandy Hills, without turning the Tandy Highway into a river.

I was very perplexed.

Due to being blocked by the river I could not make it to the Tandy Falls crossing. So, I backtracked back up Mount Tandy, to go down the south trail option to the Tandy Highway.

When I reached the Tandy Highway from the south trail I expected to see it covered with running water. But, it was dry.

Now I was even more perplexed.

Perplexed due to the fact that there are no creek crossings, or water sources, that I knew of, that would explain the flood.

Tandy Sanitary Sewer Fountain

So, I headed north on the dry Tandy Highway. After awhile I began to hear the sound of water gurgling.

And then I saw the source of the flood.

Water shooting out of a Fort Worth Sanitary Sewer manhole.

That explained the malodorousness.

Apparently this manhole has been spewing sewer water for over a week, flowing into Tandy Creek, and then the Trinity River.

Now, it is well known that untreated sewer water flowing into the Trinity River is no big deal in this part of the planet. Come summer, many of the locals think nothing of going inner tubing in the Trinity River's untreated sewer water.

A Closer Look At The Tandy Sewer Fountains

What is causing this outpouring, I can not help but wonder? Is the sewer line plugged further down the line, causing the backflow to flood out of the manhole?

The city has been doing a lot of work on the sewer lines in the Tandy Hills.

Is the city aware that one of their Sanitary Sewer Manholes has turned into the Tandy Sewer Fountain?

Like I already said, this is all very perplexing.

The Dawn Of The First Day Of February Thinking About Occupying A Woodshed

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell you can see that the arrival of the sun on the first day of the second month of the new year of 2012 is shining through a clear blue sky.

It is currently 52 degrees in the outer world at my location. This means the 24 hour temperature average has been over 50.

Before I re-calculated my swimming temperature requirements I would have consider this a sufficient temperature average to warrant getting in the water of that turquoise colored swimming pool that daily taunts me.

Late this afternoon an untold number of aggravated citizens will be occupying Tim Love's Woodshed Smokehouse to protest the sweetheart deal given to him by J.D. Granger and the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Because there is no open transparency in the dealings of J.D. Granger and the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, the "story" of how it was that Tim Love got this sweetheart deal and who, exactly, gave it to him, has been as shifty as any other Tall Texas Tale.

I do not know, right now, if I will be among the Woodshed Occupiers. I do know I am not going to go swimming in a few minutes.

Walking Around Fosdic Lake Thinking About Occupying A Woodshed While Being On Fire Due To Uncensored Skinny Dipping

Earlier today I said I thought I'd be going to the Tandy Hills for my endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

But, I changed my mind and went to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake instead.

As you can see, Fosdic Lake is looking very serene today. And white puffy clouds are floating under the bright blue sky.

It does not appear to me that enough clouds are going to assemble today to deliver the predicted rain.

Looking at my computer based weather information device I see the prediction for rain has been removed from today and moved to Friday.

As you can see, it is currently 73 degrees at my location on the planet. I have my windows open. Last year, at this point in time, I had my furnace running and was wearing multiple layers of outerwear.

If the forecast holds, there will be no need for weather shielding tents at tomorrow's Occupy The Woodshed Protest on the banks of the Trinity River.

I got my TV Blog on fire for the first time in a long time. I figured there would be a lot of Googling for the uncensored version of last night's skinny dipping on ABC's The Bachelor. I figured right.

The TV Blog is currently getting more visitors every 20 minutes than Gar the Texan's Random Ramblings gets in a year.

I just threw that Gar the Texan remark in there to test if Gar the Texan's claim to read all of my bloggings is true.

The Last Day Of The First Month Of 2012 Has Already Arrived

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at the dawn of the last day of the first month of 2012 you can see that we are under a pre-rain cloud cover.

What you can not see is the outer world at my location is currently heated to a relatively balmy 59 degrees.

At this point in time a year ago, in the days leading up to the Super Bowl debacle in Arlington, we were freezing and covered with ice on this part of the planet.

If the predicted rain does not arrive by the noon time frame I plan to return to the Tandy Hills for the first time in over a week.

Due to a lot of unexpected interruptions, yesterday, I did not make it to any location where I could get myself some much needed endorphins. Today, even if I have to walk at high speed in Wal-Mart, I am going to get myself some endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

Should Storage Unit Facilities In Tarrant County Be Allowed To Rent To Medical Marijuana Growing Operations & Open Indian Casinos?

Every once in awhile I see something that starkly contrasts big differences between my current location in Tarrant County, in Texas, in the Buckle of the Bible Belt, and my old location in Skagit County, in Washington, a couple thousand miles from the Buckle of the Bible Belt.

As in, this past week my old home zone's hometown newspaper, the Skagit Valley Herald, has been running a poll asking if storage unit facilities in Skagit County should be allowed to rent to medical marijuana growing operations.

Recently one of the towns in Skagit County, Sedro Woolley, that's where Betty Jo Bouvier lives, approved a medical marijuana processing facility.

Texas has not legalized medical marijuana, let alone allowing facilities to process the medicine.

I don't recollect it even coming up as an issue, the idea of Texas legalizing medical marijuana.

I can not imagine there being a poll in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram asking readers if they approve of the idea of allowing medical marijuana to be grown in storage unit facilities.

It is a really interesting experience to go from living in one of the progressive, liberal areas of America to an area that is not quite as progressive and liberal.

Skagit County has two large casino complexes, complete with hotels. Native American tribes operate these casinos. When I lived in Washington, my favorite seafood buffet was at the Swinomish Casino, with my favorite all around buffet being at the Skagit Valley Casino Resort.

The above is one of two large casino resort complexes in Skagit County.

The population of Skagit County is 116,901. The population of Tarrant County is 1,809,034.

Both casino complexes in Skagit County built large hotels without milking any city for funding help. Fort Worth had to ask for funding help to build a hotel for its seldom used (for conventions) convention center.

Skagit County has Native American tribes in residence in addition to the Skagit and Swinomish. The Samish Indian Nation is another proud Skagit County tribe.

When the Texans arrived in Texas they needed Lebensraum. And so the Native Americans, who were living in Texas, were either exterminated or run out of the territory. There are a couple very small Indian Reservations remaining in Texas.

The teeny Kickapoo Reservation, down on the Rio Grande, by Eagle Pass, actually has a little casino, the Lucky Eagle Casino.

When Anglos moved into the Western Washington zone, there were some adjustments between the existing tribes and the incoming new white tribes. For the most part the adjustment was peacefully made. Well, there was that nasty Yakima War. But that was on the east side of the mountains, not the Puget Sound zone.

One of the chiefs of one of the Pacific Northwest Tribal Nations, the Duwamish, was named Sealth. Chief Sealth was born in 1780 and died on June 7, 1866. Chief Sealth was revered by his people and by the incoming white settlers whom he befriended.

A small settlement grew on the banks of Puget Sound. That settlement was named after Chief Sealth.

In 1890, a group of Seattle pioneers, led by Arthur Armstrong Denny, set up a monument over Chief Sealth's grave, with the inscription "SEATTLE Chief of the Suqampsh and Allied Tribes, Died June 7, 1866. The Firm Friend of the Whites, and for Him the City of Seattle was Named by Its Founders"

Now that is how you treat your Native Americans. In my humble opinion. And from such treatment, good karma flows to this day. Again. In my humble opinion.

Occupy Woodshed Smokehouse Wednesday To Protest Million Dollar Giveaway

TRIP To Occupy Woodshed Smokehouse

Last month my favorite aunt asked me if I'd participated in any of the various Texas occupy operations.

I told my aunt that Fort Worth's occupying petered out with about 9 people participating at the height of the occupation.

Last night I got email from my scheduler telling me to mark my calendar because I had plans on Wednesday.

This is what my scheduler told me my plans were...

Time for OWS! Occupy Wood Shed! We're "Occupying" the front of The Woodshed Smokehouse on Wed, February 1st! We'll meet out there starting at 4:30...The TRV GAVE almost $1Million to this restaurant with barely anything in return. No competitive bids. No personal guarantees. Just gave them your $$! Instead of working on fixing our water problems, they just keep thieving from us!! EVERYBODY who helps us 'occupy' gets a free TRIP T-SHIRT!! (No camping required... We'll break up after a while and head to Pappa's for some real BBQ!!)

Demonstrations and protests make me really nervous. I've never been part of an occupation, but I suspect an occupation will make me as nervous, if not more, than does a demonstration or protest.

With the 100s of OWS Occupiers occupying and yelling protest chants I worry how Tim Love might react.

What if Tim Love sends out his phalanx of cutting knife wielding Chef Goons?

My one longtime reader may remember that last month we learned that Tim Love owns Fort Worth.

I can not imagine Tim Love standing idly by while his new Woodshed Smokehouse is sort of Occupied. And let us not forget, Tim Love is tightly allied with J.D. Granger, who happens to be Tim Love's benefactor who so kindly gifted him, like a Mafia Don, with the Woodshed  Smokehouse.

Who knows what legions of goons J.D. Granger might be able to summon, if the opening of his, I mean, Tim Love's, new restaurant is occupied by 100s of protesting malcontents?

It is all very worrisome.

You can read more about this worrisome occupation on Facebook.