Mountain Biking In Gateway Park Before Having Fish & Chips

My handlebars were back on the Gateway Park Fort Worth Mountain Bike Association mountain bike trail today.

In the picture you are looking over my handlebars at a trail junction. It is a bit dark under the Gateway Park jungle canopy, so you can barely make out the trail direction sign pointing to the right.

If one were to miss seeing that sign pointing one in the right direction, one might quickly find oneself flying over a cliff into the Trinity River.

I am liking the cooler temperatures whilst hiking and biking. The cooler pool temperature is also being enjoyable, so far. This morning the pool was cool, but not too cool. I continue to find that if the 24 hour average is 50 degrees, or above, the pool is not too cool.

When I used to go swimming in Washington lakes, in summer, I suspect the temperature was very similar to my current slightly cool pool.

I am making fish and chips for lunch. It is my celebration lunch to celebrate the end of another election. Four years goes by so fast. The next election will soon be upon us.

It seems like only yesterday, but, it was 8 years ago, on the day after that election, that being the one where George W. Bush beat John Kerry, I was up in Washington at that point in time, in Tacoma. Sara, the Chocolate Lady, took a group of mourners, including me, out to Zoopa, to drown our sorrows in salad, so morose were we at the idea of 4 more years of George Bush.

The buzzer has buzzed. Time for fish and chips. And salad.

The 2012 Election Is Over With Marijuana Legal In Washington While Texas Gets A Lot Of Republican Judges

Well, another election fades to history.

At some point in last evening's return viewing I decided it could wait til morning for me to learn who was going to be president for the next 4 years.

Thirty years ago if a science fiction movie was about the election of 2012 and that movie envisioned the high tech future of coverage, methinks that movie's viewers would have thought all that high tech gadgetry was totally far fetched. And really cool.

But, the reality 30 years after 1982 is that the TV news people manipulate info on giant i-Pad like devices, whilst the viewers at home sit with their smart phones and tablets that do the same thing, on a smaller scale.

My old home state had a couple interesting items on the ballot. Initiative-502 had to do with legalizing recreational use of marijuana. Referendum 74 had to do with letting anyone get married who felt the need to get married. Also known as same sex marriage.

I-502 passed. R-74 is in the process of passing. I don't think it has been called yet. My guess is within a year you will be able to go to your sister's wedding to her girl friend in Washington and smoke pot while watching the ceremony.

I got a letter from my favorite aunt this morning, she being my dad's sister. Among the items in the envelope was an article my aunt snipped from the Washington Post titled "Posturing in Texas validates the world's autocratic regimes." Referencing this article, in her letter, my aunt wrote, "Only in Texas."

The article was about idiotic comments made by the Texas State Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding international election monitors, with the Texas AG threatening to have them arrested and criminally prosecuted.

I do not know what other Referendums and Initiatives were on the Washington ballot this year. Usually there are quite a few, in addition to local bond issues for various things, like a new school or a water works project like Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Billion Dollar Boondoggle that the citizens of Fort Worth have never been allowed to vote on.

There were zero state-wide Referendums or Initiatives on the Texas ballot. I don't recollect ever seeing such a thing on a Texas ballot. Are Texas citizens not allowed to collect signatures on a petition  to put an issue on the ballot?

Voting in Texas is very odd. I suspect others who have voted in other states, prior to voting in Texas, have thought the same thing.

The oddest thing, to me, is you really do not get to vote on all that many things on a Texas ballot. Like I already mentioned, no Referendums or Initiatives to vote on, no approving or disapproving of something like legalizing gambling or legalizing marijuana use or legalizing same sex marriage or any other thing or building a bridge or a football stadium or a useless pond and unneeded flood diversion channel.

In Texas you get to vote on an incredible number of judges, most of them Republicans running unopposed. Is this why Texas produces so many judicial embarrassments that amuse and appall the rest of the country?

In Texas you do not get a voter's pamphlet in the mail. In Washington you get a voter's pamphlet in the mail. In that voter's pamphlet you read the pros and cons of all the Initiatives and Referendums and other ballot issues. Plus info and statements from the candidates.

Does Texas not have voter's pamphlets because the majority of the info in it would be about Republican judges running unopposed, with no state wide votes on anything that would require providing info to the voting public?

It is all very perplexing.

The Public Is Notified That A Chunk Of OakLand Lake Park Is Being Converted To Non-Recreational Use

Today I returned to Oakland Lake Park for the first time in what seems a long time, to walk around Fosdick Lake.

Upon entering the park I was greeted by the cockeyed sign you see in the picture, a public notice telling the public park users that....

Approximately .20 acres of parkland at this site is being considered for conversion to non-recreational use.

Two-tenths of an acre is not a very big chunk of land. To what type non-recreational use is this little parcel of parkland being considered for conversion?

Is two-tenths of an acre big enough for a gas drilling pad site?

What other non-recreational use could there be? My feeble imagination draws a blank.

Other than this mysterious PUBLIC NOTICE the walk around Fosdick Lake was very pleasant today. No wind. Dead calm on the lake. Lots of ducks busy floating. Lots of turtles busy sunbathing.

Spencer Jack Is Getting Old, But Not As Old As His Aunt Nancy

That is my great grand nephew, Spencer Jack, you are looking at in the picture.

To create this picture Spencer Jack's dad used a flattering app on his iPhone that 'Oldifys' a person.

In this case Spencer Jack has been oldified to 70 years old. That's older than me.

Yesterday morning there was incoming from Spencer Jack's dad. a  video in the Apple Quicktime .mov format. I don't like how intrusive Apple's Quicktime is when one installs it on ones computer, so I de-installed Quicktime a long time ago.

I replied to Spencer Jack's dad's email explaining my lack of easy Quicktime playing and inquired if this video was something I needed to see and thus worth the bother of converting it to a YouTube video for my viewing pleasure.

Spencer Jack's dad replied back that converting the video to a YouTube video was probably not worth the effort. He then sent another email  with the subject line being "This one may be worth the effort!"

A followup email contained the above picture of the elderly Spencer Jack.

So, logged into Google, then YouTube and uploaded both videos.

I was appalled to see that the one Spencer Jack's dad sent me yesterday was of me aged to 70. The appalling part was I thought I looked more youthful in that video than I do in my present moment reality.

The second video, the one Spencer Jack's dad said "may be worth the effort," was not me being aged. It was Spencer Jack's Aunt Nancy, she being my Big Sister, aged to 70. Or maybe it is 80. That is older than my mom.

I think my big sister will be surprised by how much she will be looking like our sainted mother in a few years....

Running With The Elusive Tandy Hills Roadrunners

In in the picture we are looking north on, I think, Lost Sunglasses Ridge, on one of the Tandy Hills, today around noon

At this location I quickly whipped out my camera, hoping to get a picture of the Roadrunner who was posing about 100 feet from me. But, by the time I got the camera on, aimed and zoomed, the Roadrunner had run away.

I think I may have alluded to the fact, previously, that Roadrunners tend to elude my attempts to successfully photograph the cute birds. Though, I have managed it a couple times.

Speaking of something being alluded to or eluded, just seconds ago someone with the interesting name of Anonymous had some words for me about alluding and eluding, and about my lack of a proper education....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Almost Going Over A Cliff Again In Gateway Park Without Daylight Savings Time": 

Neither the appeal of soccer nor the appeal of disc golf has “alluded” you. What has escaped your grasp are both the meaning of the word “allude” and the correct word choice of “elude.” Did you go to school in Washington state? 

I did go to school in Washington state. A couple of my school years were spent in Special Education. That may explain why allusions elude me.

Now back to the Tandy Hills Roadrunner.

Today I had three Roadrunner encounters. The first was the one I've already mentioned. Then, when the trail I was on junctioned with the Tandy Highway, I saw another Roadrunner. I was very close to this one, but this bird also escaped before I could take a picture.

A short distance later, heading north on the Tandy Highway, I saw the above startling sight. A white truck. It is well known that I have a strong aversion to white trucks.

As I walked by the white truck the truck driver howdied me. I howdied him back. The white truck turned out to be some sort of dump truck with a trailer behind it with a bulldozer type device on the trailer.

Now, here is where my hike today got real surprising. I headed up Mount Tandy, heading back to my motorized vehicular transport, about to the junction with the trail that leads to the summit, near the disheveled Tandy Shrine, when I saw another Roadrunner.

That is 3 Roadrunners in one day on the Tandy Hills. I don't see how these 3 Roadrunners could all be the same runner, particularly the third encounter. I don't think the Roadrunner would have run around the big white truck.

Methinks the hills are becoming alive with the beep beeps of Roadrunners.

Methinking this is further reinforced  by something I read in this month's Tandy Hills Prairie Notes...

"A juvenile Roadrunner, possibly the offspring of our nesting pair, was recently spotted."

So, we have some Roadrunners breeding on the Tandy Hills who have already produced some offspring?

I wonder how large a Roadrunner family the Tandy Hills could support? Should we start sprinkling Roadrunner food on the Tandy Trails?

Almost Going Over A Cliff Again In Gateway Park Without Daylight Savings Time

My handlebars were back in Gateway Park on the FWMBA (Fort Worth Mountain Bike Association) mountain bike trail this first Sunday of the next to last month of 2012.

The location of my handlebars, this time, is different than the last time I took a picture of my bike about to go over a cliff into the Trinity River.

The Trinity River is that real slow moving slimy green water-like entity you see below the handlebars.

This morning it was a real nice thing to be rid of that annoying Daylight Savings Time aberration that has the sun arriving later in the morning than I prefer.

This morning I went swimming before 7. Yesterday if I had gone swimming before 7 it would have been in the dark.

There was a lot of soccer game action today in Gateway Park. The appeal of that sport has always alluded me.

There were also a lot of disc golfers today in Gateway Park. The appeal of that sport has also always alluded me.

There were not a lot of mountain bikers today in Gateway Park. The appeal of that sport has never alluded me.

I'm am sitting here waiting for the lunch buzzer. When the buzzer buzzes this will indicate that the oven fries I'm frying in the oven are ready for consumption. This morning I BBQed some pork product.

When the buzzer buzzes, lunch today will consist of the aforementioned oven fries and BBQ pork product, plus salad made from Romaine, with yellow peppers, cauliflower, tomatoes and olives. Today's lunch drink is  grapefruit juice lemonade. This tastes better than it sounds.

The buzzer will be buzzing in about 10 minutes. If you want to come for lunch you'd best hurry up and get here.

The buzzer is buzzing. I was off with my time estimate.

JFK Said There Are No Faint Hearts In Fort Worth

On November 22 it will be 49 years since John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

JFK began his last day, alive, in Fort Worth, along with First Lady, Jackie.

JFK gave a speech in Fort Worth on his final morning. If I remember right Jackie remained in their hotel room, looking out the window, causing cheers to erupt from the audience, when she was spotted.

For years now, maybe going all the way back to when I first was exiled to Texas I have been hearing about the need for a memorial of some sort to JFK in Fort Worth.

Well, this is finally going to happen. I believe the statue has already been installed in its location in General Worth Square at Main and 8th Street in beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

The public is invited to the dedication of the John F. Kennedy sculpture at 9:00 AM Thursday, November 8.

November 8?

Why is this dedication not taking place on the morning of the 49th Anniversary of the JFK Assassination? As in the morning of November 22.

Very perplexing.

There is a JFK Tribute website where you can learn more about the JFK Tribute.

Hard Hats On The Fall Colorful Tandy Hills With Stevie Wonder In Town Talk

For my Saturday endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation I opted to do some hill hiking, venturing to the seldom visited, by me, northeast section of the Tandy Hills Natural Area.

That white object you see in the picture is a hard hat.    I do not know why a hard hat would be located in this isolated location. I did not look under the hard hat to see if there was a head inside.

With Fall well underway the leaves on the trees and bushes are beginning to put on their annual color show, as you can see in the picture with the hard hat.

In addition to the hard hat I was accosted by two humans today, along with their dog, Roxy. Roxy violated my personal space by putting her paws on me. The female half of the two humans tried to get control of the beast to little avail. Eventually Roxy ceased attacking me and we parted ways.

Above is another view of the Fall color coloring the Tandy Hills. This view is looking west from the trail junction halfway down Mount Tandy.

I had myself a nice long swim early this morning. Days with temperatures in the 80s have the pool not being cool. The Tandy Hills were also not cool today, with the temperature nearing 80, hot enough to require a minimalist approach to outerwear, but not hot enough to cause a very severe steambath effect.

After I finished my hill hiking I went to Town Talk. I got myself a lot of tomatoes today. Among other things.

Stevie Wonder, or a guy who looked a lot like Stevie Wonder, asked me for help in Town Talk. I'd bumped into his walking stick. He apologized to me, when it was I who was being a klutz.

Stevie Wonder then asked me if he could ask me something. Sure, said I.

It was only then I realized Stevie Wonder was slight of sight. He was using some sort of illuminated magnifying glass thing to look at products. He asked me if the chicken breasts were half price. It did not say so on the package, but did say so on a sign stuck to the freezer.

Stevie Wonder thanked me for helping him, and I continued on my way. Later I realized I should have asked him if he'd like me to help him  find stuff in Town Talk. Town Talk is not a brightly lit store. I have trouble reading the Town Talk labels sometimes.

I wonder how Stevie Wonder got to Town Talk? Obviously he did not drive himself there.

So, that has been my exciting Saturday, so far. I think I may go swimming again.

Log Jamming & Water Sucking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Thinking About The Paradise Center Scandal & Jalapeno Cilantro Soup

In the picture you are looking at the litter log jam that Village Creek has pushed up against the southernmost bridge/dam in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Methinks it might be a good idea to un-jam this log litter jam before the next flash flood flashes.

I would not want to be the person or persons un-jamming this litter log jam. A week or so ago I saw one of the biggest snakes I've ever seen snaking around on that litter log jam.

Before I forget, I must mention I got an interesting blog comment to the Paradise Center Scandal blog this morning from someone named Jocelyn Kay. The comment was on a blog post from well over a year ago, titled Anonymous Research Into the MHMR-TC Relationship With BRAVO Health. This comment from Ms. Kay seemed blog worthy, so I turned it into a new Paradise Center Scandal post titled An Update on the Health of Bravo Health.

Now, let's leave the Paradise Center Scandal and go back to the Indian Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Today I hiked to the end of a sort of peninsula that has Village Creek on one side, with the other side being a  waterway the name of which I do not know, but I do know it eventually becomes an Interlochen canal.

Today when I got to the dam that holds back the water in the creek without a name, and turns it into an Interlochen canal, I saw a strange thing on the far side of the dam. It appeared water was being sucked out of the canal, with a frenzy of activity surrounding the water sucking. The water sucker is that orange tube you see below. The orange to was attached to the boxy device on wheels you see on the right. I heard a motor noise which I assumed was a pump pumping. But where was the water going that was being pumped?

I really could not figure out what was going on above. I saw no water tubes except for the one that led from the water to what I assume was a pump. There is no gas drilling operation in this zone that would explain the apparent water suckage.

Very perplexing.

Now let's chain subject to something else. Like lunch.

I mentioned yesterday that I was making Jalapeno Cilantro Soup. The construction process took place yester evening. That went well with no jalapeno problems.

The Jalapeno Cilantro Soup was lunch today. This may be the tastiest soup I've ever made.

I altered the Reata Restaurant's version a bit. No way was I going to make soup with 8 cups of heavy cream. I used 3 cups of sour cream and 5 cups of skim milk instead. That was the only change I made except for using a few more Roma tomatoes than the Reata recipe called for and about twice as much garlic.

Below is the Reata's Jalapeno Cilantro Soup recipe in its un-altered state....

1⁄2 tbsp. unsalted butter
5 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
2 tbsp. garlic, minced
3⁄4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1 avocado, peeled and diced
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
8 cups heavy cream (use the highest fat content available)
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch cilantro, stemmed and chopped

In a large stockpot, heat the butter over medium heat.  Saute the jalapenos, onions, and garlic for about 10 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and the peppers turn soft.

Remove from the heat and add the avocado, tomatoes and cream. Lower the heat, then return the pot to heat, stirring constantly so the cream doesn't separate. Slowly bring the soup back to a simmer, cooking until liquid is reduced by 1/3. Stir often to prevent scorching or sticking.

Season with salt and pepper. Just before serving, add the cilantro, reserving about 1 t. per serving for garnish. Sprinkle with the reserved chopped cilantro and tortilla chips.

A Slightly Smoggy Tandy Hills Hike With Jalapeno Cilantro Soup

In the picture we are looking west at the Tandy Wagon Train Trail, heading towards the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, a couple miles in the distance.

As you can see there is a slight smoggy haze above the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

This morning when I checked the air quality, something I have been doing for a couple months now, ever since I had myself a really bad bout of allergy woes, the Ozone Level was Good. That was before the sun arrived this morning. Now, at a few minutes past two in the afternoon, the Ozone Level is no longer Good.

The Ozone Level is now Moderate. I guess that explains the smog that hovers above the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

I have also been monitoring the Pollen Index. Until this morning, since I have been monitoring it, the Pollen Index has been either Extreme, Very High or High. But, this morning the Pollen Index was Moderate for the first time. And now, at the current point in time, the Pollen Index has changed to Low.

I do not know if Low is better or worse than Moderate.

What I do know is currently it is warm in the outer world at my location. As in 84 degrees. Today was a shirtless hiking day on the Tandy Hills, with a return to the summer-like steambath sauna effect that I find so salubrious when I am getting my endorphin induction via aerobic stimulation.

Due to yesterday also getting warmed into the 80s and it being above 50 when the sun came up, this morning I had myself a long and pleasantly refreshing swim for the first time in a couple days, with the pool not being so cool as to cause a quick exit.

Changing the subject from the Tandy Hills and the quality of the air that I breathe to something else.

This morning I was looking through a book I recently acquired, that being Texas from Moon Handbooks. In the section about Big Bend Country I came upon the section about the town of Alpine where the Reata Restaurant was mentioned with the suggestion that one start off ones cowboy gourmet experience with the Jalapeno Cilantro Soup.

Jalapeno Cilantro Soup sounded good to me, so I Googled "Reata Jalapeno Cilantro Soup" and found the recipe from the Reata on a lot of websites.

I already have all of the ingredients, except for the jalapenos. The recipe calls for finely chopping 5 jalapenos.

The fumes from jalapenos can chase me from the kitchen when first gutted.

After the chopping process I have to be real careful to thoroughly wash the capsaicin from my hands. I have had a painful incident, or two, where I touch a delicate area without sufficient capsaicin removal, resulting in an extreme burning sensation.

I'll keep you posted as to how the Jalapeno Cilantro Soup project goes.