Pedaling The Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trail Concerned About Official Square Dancing In Washington

What you are looking at in the picture is my handlebars atop a steep drop off, also known as a cliff, above a green body of very slowly moving water called the Trinity River.

I pedaled the Gateway Park FWMBA mountain bike trail for my Saturday salubrious endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation, before going to Town Talk, next door to Gateway Park.

Soon after the sun arrived, this morning, I got my first endorphin boost of the day via a long swim in very pleasantly temperatured water, water that was just slightly warmer than the air.

Last night, at some point real early this morning, my slumber chamber had chilled to the point that a blanket was required for additional slumbering. I don't think tonight there will be a similar chill level because currently the temperature is 83 midway through the afternoon.

Yesterday, in a blogging titled Running River Legacy Park Mountain Bike Trails With An Armadillo I mentioned that the Armadillo is the Official State Small Mammal of Texas. In that blogging I wondered if my old home state of Washington had any official this, that or the other thing, further wondering if the Orca was the Official Mammal of the State of Washington.

Well, one of my fellow Washingtonians in exile in Texas, Steve A, made a couple amusing comments, one of which informed me that the Orca is the Official Marine Mammal of Washington.

And that the Square Dance is Washington's Official Dance.

Square Dance? The Official Dance of Washington? That is just disturbing.

So disturbing I need to walk away from the computer and go feed a Puerto Rican's hungry fat cat.

Running River Legacy Park Mountain Bike Trails With An Armadillo

Shall I Bike? Or Shall I Hike? Neither. I'll Run.

Today my means of acquiring endorphins from aerobic stimulation was to go running on the mountain bike trails in River Legacy Park.

I am being a bit surprised at how easily and quickly I've transitioned into running after years of only running when circumstances warranted that behavior, circumstances like being chased by a dog, running for cover in a downpour, that type thing.

I have biked the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails dozens of times. I have walked the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails a couple times. Walking these trails seemed to take a long time, likely it seemed that way because my locomotive means on these trails had usually been bi-pedaling.

Well.

Today I was surprised by how quickly I was covering the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails in running mode. It was being fun, but I think I may have overdone it, a bit. So far nothing seems to be sore.

At one point one of my favorite type critters quickly crossed my path. I stopped and grabbed my camera.

The Armadillo is the Official State of Texas Small Mammal. I don't know what the Official State of Texas Large Mammal is. I know I could quickly find out. My guess is that it is the Longhorn.

Just a sec, I'll see....

Yes, the Longhorn is the Official State of Texas Large Mammal.

I don't remember if my old home state had official this that or the other things. If Washington did have an Official State of Washington Large Mammal I would guess it would be the Orca.

Big Tex Burns Up Today At The State Fair Of Texas

This morning I was driving in Hurst, listening to the radio, when I heard the shocking news that the iconic symbol of the State Fair of Texas, Big Tex, had burst into flames, with Big Tex totally destroyed in the conflagration.

I later learned Big Tex met his end due to an electrical short in his neck that sparked the fire that quickly consumed Big Tex.

Why was Big Tex made out of what must have been very flammable material I can not help but wonder?

I also heard reports that the past few days Big Tex had been talking a little funny, suggesting that this electrical problem had been festering for awhile.

Big Tex was something like 60 years old. I suspect by the time the 2013 version of the State Fair of Texas is ready to open a new Big Tex will be ready to greet fairgoers.

If you never got to meet Big Tex and hear his booming voice, in his classic Texas accent, watch the video below that I made from my most recent visit to the State Fair of Texas. In the video I visit with Big Tex before wandering through the noisy State Fair of Texas Midway...

Kids On The Prairie With Science-Based Fall Field Trips At Tandy Hills Natural Area

Moments ago I got an email from Don Young marked urgent with a red exclamation point. Attached to the email was a PDF document, which is what you see on the left.

In that PDF document we learn that the "Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area (FOTHNA) are pleased to announce the first ever Fall edition of Kids on the Prairie, a program that will bring two-hundred FWISD students to one of the few remaining examples of native prairie in north Texas. Master Naturalists will lead the 4th grade classes from our Fall Scholarship Schools, Meadowbrook and Eastern Hills Elementary, in a day of field investigations in science, math, creative writing, art and ecology."

Where:
Tandy Hills Natural Area
3400 View Street
Fort Worth, TX 76103

When:
Tuesday, October 23 @ 10 a.m.
(Meadowbrook)
Wednesday, October 24, @ 10 a.m.
(Eastern Hills)

For More Information

Mountain Biking Through The Dark Gateway Park Jungle With Indian Soul Food

In the picture you are looking over my handlebars deep in the dark jungle of Gateway Park on the Fort Worth Mountain Bike Association (FWMBA) mountain bike trail.

It has been awhile since I've bi-pedaled on a mountain bike trail. I think it is well over a month since I got a flat front tire on the River Legacy Park mountain bike trail.

The flat tire happened around the time my allergy respiratory woes went into high gear.

Today was the first cool day I've been biking since I got a new bike. By cool day I mean cool in the sense of the word that refers to the temperature, although it being a cool day, temperature-wise, is making this particular Thursday a cool day in the other meaning of the cool word.

Whilst biking the air was cooled to a cool 60 something. Now, an  hour later, a couple minutes past one in the afternoon, the air is still relatively chilly at 70 degrees.

Swimming was very refreshing, early this morning, at 52 degrees.

Enough with the temperature reporting. It is time for lunch. Chicken Samosas with Cilantro Chutney, plus Collard Greens and Re-Fried Beans with a lot of Cilantro added. Basically lunch today is Indian Soul Food.

What Is Going On Behind The No Trespassing Signs In Fort Worth's Gateway Public Park?

In Gateway Park, on the south side of the paved trail one exits to enter the Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trail there is an old roadway that heads south towards the Trinity River.

Years ago I pedaled a short distance on this particular trail and found that a goathead had flattened my flat tire.

For months now I have been seeing big trucks hauling what looks like rocks, from behind the Gateway Park ball fields. The road these trucks are exiting from has two NO TRESPASSING CITY EMPLOYEES ONLY signs. I climbed up on the berm that surrounds the ball fields and could see heavy equipment in the distance.

The heavy equipment made me curious. Gas drilling operation? In the park? What?

Road Through The Gateway Park Backwoods

So, I jogged down the aforementioned road, past the point where I'd been flattened years before. I was surprised by the distance I was running, by how much undeveloped space I was seeing in Gateway Park that I'd not seen before.

After awhile, on my right, I saw chain link fence on top of a levee type berm.

There is a long abandoned sewage treatment plant in Gateway Park. Years ago I climbed through the cyclone fence and explored around the old cement structures.

The area previously explored was a distance to the west. When I climbed up the levee type berm to see what I could see, today, I saw a lot of abandoned cement structures and a lot of heavy equipment.

The abandoned sewage treatment plant is way bigger than I previously realized.

My best guess as to what is going on with the heavy equipment is the cement structures are being broken up and removed.

Then I remembered years ago reading of a strange proposed development that I think later became part of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle after the Boondoggle was expanded to include Gateway Park.

That strange proposed development was to turn the abandoned sewage treatment area into an outdoor amphitheater that could sit thousands.

Is that what is now underway?

The entire abandoned sewage treatment plant is surrounded by a high levee berm. I assume this was installed to keep a flooding Trinity River from flooding into the treatment plant. Or to keep an out of control sewage treatment plant from flooding sewage into the Trinity River.

Not that anyone would notice.

Paperwork Drives Me To Village Creek Walking With Re-Fried Beans

I had myself a very pleasant swim this morning with the water again being a little warmer than the air, which was chilled to somewhere in the high 50s or low 60s. It's been hours since I was in the pool and my memory is failing me in the remembering this morning's temperature department.

After swimming, several hours this morning were spent filling out paperwork. Pages of paperwork. I don't like filling out paperwork. I no longer write very legibly, with printing numbers with a pen in my left hand, being particularly difficult. More than half of the paperworking involved printing numbers.

Miss Puerto Rico flew to her home island this morning. I did not drive her to the airport. I've not driven Miss Puerto Rico to the airport since the incident on Obama's Inauguration Day way back in January of 2009, which had Miss Puerto Rico locked up for hours in the airport's jail.

I guess I am blessed in that in my long life I have only known 2 criminals who have done jail time. Miss Puerto Rico's airport jail time was for the relatively innocuous crime of over medicating on alcohol to fortify her flying courage. The other criminal I have known committed the crime of stealing 100s of thousands of dollars. That is a bit more serious crime than being drunk at the airport. Miss Puerto is not a convicted felon and thus is able to vote. The other criminal is a convicted felon and thus not allowed to vote.

During her absence I have agreed to check in on Miss Puerto Rico's very ill-behaved feline named Tasha. I'll do that sometime after 6 this evening.

In the picture above you are looking at the trail that winds around Village Creek in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington. That was my go to place today for my daily dose of endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

I guess I am looking forward to tonight's debate. Til then I've got some beans that need to be re-fried. With cilantro.

The Old Man & The Fosdick Sea Fishing With Turtles

The Old Man and the Fosdick Sea were back together again today. Along with a cute puppy.

I've seen the Old Man and the Fosdick Sea together many times, but I've not seen the Old Man hook a fish.

I don't know what the Old Man would do with a fish he caught in the Fosdick Sea, what with the warning signs informing potential Fosdick fish eaters that the fish is not safe to eat.

Would you not think that a city, like Fort Worth, which regularly makes the rest of the world green with envy, because of its absolute awesomeness, would be just a little embarrassed by the fact that there are bodies of water within its city limits which are so polluted they render fish a danger to eat?

Both the turtles and the ducks who live on Fosdick Lake were being really frisky today. I think they may have been being happy due to the fresh infusion of fresh water from the rain that fell over the weekend.

Today the turtle population on Fosdick Lake's biggest log was the largest number of the shelled reptiles I have ever witnessed congregating in one spot.

When I eventually got too close for comfort the mass turtle exit from the log looked like an Esther Williams synchronized swimming routine, with the turtle on the far right being the first to dive off the log, followed, one by one, til the turtle on the far left was the last to hit the water.

This mass turtle exit happened so quickly I was unable to photo document the event.

I was able to get a picture of some Fosducks acting ducky.

The two boys on the right had been feeding the Fosducks, with the ducks coming out of the water, then up the hill towards the boys, with the boys backing up from the approaching ducks.

Then the boys ran out of duck food. The quacking became very demanding. The boys quickly walked away as the Fosducks seemed to be conferring to decide what next to do, as in, continue to chase after the boys, hoping for more food, or head back to Fosdick Lake?

Eventually the near riot conditions abated, with the ducks slowly calmed down, ceasing with the loud quacking.

I tell you, walking around Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park is starting to become way too stimulating for an easily excitable person like myself.

Spencer Jack's Smashing Pumpkin Tragedy

I've never seen Spencer Jack look as unhappy as he does this morning via a picture sent via email from Spencer Jack's dad.

A couple days ago I mentioned that Spencer Jack and his favorite girlfriend, Brittney, had gone pumpkin hunting.

Sunday morning it was discovered that Spencer Jack's Jack-o-Lantern had met a smashing sad end.

Below is Spencer Jack's dad's email explaining the smashed pumpkin....

Spencer Jack's morning chores are to a) make his bed, b) put away his water bottle, c) open all the shades and blinds in the house and d) bring his dad the paper. It wasn't until d) where he learned that some people in this world are just not nice. Returning from the front porch with the Sunday editions of the Seattle Times and the local Skagit Valley Herald he discovered that his recently attained pumpkin was missing. As noted on your blog...he and his girlfriend Brittney picked out this $7 monstrous pumpkin yesterday in the annual trip to the pumpkin patch. He was so proud. And eager to carve and color it. And sad that it was gone. He thought perhaps the wind blew it away. His dad quickly dressed and Spencer and him walked one block away where we found the pumpkin smashed in the middle of the street. His dad explained to him that somebody took his pumpkin and the the wind was not to blame. He's been upset all day. His girlfriend promised him that they can return to the pumpkin patch and find a replacement pumpkin. That made him happy. He is insisting that we keep the replacement pumpkin indoors.

Walking Across A Raging Village Creek With A Snake

That is the spillway of one of the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's dam bridges you are looking at in the picture.

A lot of water was shooting through the dam bridge today during my regular Sunday walk with the Indian Ghosts who forlornly haunt this location on the planet.

I was expecting rain all day on Saturday, but only saw a few drops.

On my way to the swimming pool this morning I found myself trudging through some mud sludge. This was my first indication that some rain had fallen. And then when I got a closeup look at the pool I could see that several inches had been added to the depth, thus indicating several inches of rain had fallen.

I was later to learn that at some point in time during the dark hours of Sunday morning a booming thunderstorm passed over my abode, with very strong winds and heavy rain, and possible hail.

I heard none of this because I was peacefully asleep in my soundproof slumber chamber.

By the time the sun arrived this morning to begin its daily illumination duty the solar rays hit the earth with no cloud intervention, as in the sky was totally blue, with the air chilled to a pleasant 64 degrees. Currently, in the middle of Sunday afternoon the air is slightly heated to a pleasant 76 degrees.

Today, crossing the dam bridge you see above I had a slightly unsettling experience whilst gazing at the flotsam that was jammed up against the dam bridge. That is the flotsam you see below.

As I looked at the mess of litter and wood I saw something odd, like a long, thick, black piece of rubber.

And then the rubber moved.

It was a snake. A really really big black snake. As I reached for my camera  the really really big black camera shy snake slithered down into the pile of floating wood. I hope the really really big black snake knew it was slithering on wood that was jammed up against a dam with culverts through the dam shooting out water at high speed.

I maintained a watch for several minutes, waiting for the really really big black snake to shoot out the other side of the dam.

However, no further snake sighting was made.