A Slow Recovery From My Thanksgiving Buffet Debacle With The Chesapeake Energy Parade Of Lights

Tandy Hills Fall Color

I am slowly recovering from yesterday's Thanksgiving Buffet debacle.

A long swim this morning helped with my recovery.

I don't think I will be able to swim tomorrow morning due to the fact that a cold wind is blowing from the north.

I thought a nice long hike in the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium might help with my recovery from yesterday's debacle. I thought right, with the endorphin inducing from aerobic stimulation being quite salubrious.

I sure you are wondering what about my Thanksgiving Buffet was a debacle.

Well.

One thing I learned is mashed sweet potatoes are no substitute for mashed potatoes. And then there was the stuffing. I think when my back was turned someone added a lot of Oregano to the stuffing. The gravy tasted good, but was very thin. I had no corn starch to thicken it. Somehow the cranberries that I made the day before Thanksgiving turned into a stiff gelatinous mass.

I've decided yesterday was my last Thanksgiving Buffet. It is way too much bother.

I forgot to mention how the color display on the Tandy Hills has gotten a lot more colorful since my visit just a couple days ago. You see evidence of that in the photo at the top.

The Wagon Trail To Downtown Fort Worth

My hiking today started on the summit of Mount Tandy. From the top of Mount Tandy I walk down the old wagon trail you see in the picture on the left, heading west to where the west begins, in downtown Fort Worth.

Today is Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year. I'm not a fan of Black Friday and the throngs of shoppers. So, I won't be going to downtown Fort Worth today to do any shopping in any of its department stores or vertical malls.

Later today, starting around 6pm the local benefactor that calls itself Chesapeake Energy is presenting the Parade of Lights. This year there are 106 entries, lighting up downtown Fort Worth with over a half million lights. The theme for this year's parade is "The Wonder of it All."

I have only been to the Parade of Lights one time. Big Ed's little sister was visiting Fort Worth for the first time, and so a group was assembled, with watching the Parade of Lights our Friday night entertainment. The Parade of Lights was quite impressive.

I've been impressed with every parade I've been to in Texas, with Fort Worth having three that I liked, in addition to the Parade of Lights. The Fort Worth Stock Show Parade is a  parade of the sort I'd never seen before. Non-mechanized.

The other Fort Worth parade that I liked a lot was a one time only parade that introduced the Fort Worth Herd to the Fort Worth Stockyards.

I don't think I will be heading to downtown Fort Worth tonight to watch the parade. Too chilly.

Happy Turkey Day

Happy Turkey Day was the subject line in an email I got this afternoon from Spencer Jack's dad.

The email included the photo on the left, with the text saying...

FUD--- Thought you'd enjoy this photo. Spencer Jack's girlfriend and I took an early morning drive down to see Snoqualmie Falls. I was telling Brittney that my favorite Uncle took us there during the 1990 flood when even more water could be seen flowing down the falls.

Spencer Jack's dad calls me FUD. The FUD initials stand for Favorite Uncle Durango. Spencer Jack's dad is known as FNJ, or Favorite Nephew Jason. Spencer Jack's uncle is also known as FNJ, for Favorite Nephew Joey.

I think FNJ is erroneous about the year I drove him and his brother and cousins down to see Snoqualmie Falls. I remember the vehicle I was driving at that point in time and that vehicle did not get driven by me until 1994.

The visit to Snoqualmie Falls, which FNJ is referencing, was falling a lot more water than what appears to be falling in this picture. I remember the ground was vibrating and a very thick mist made seeing the falls only possible intermittently.

The view in this picture became well known after a TV show called Twin Peaks frequently showed a slightly wider view, which included the Salish Lodge on the left.

Go to the Salish Lodge website and you'll see a rather cool view of the Salish Lodge and Snoqualmie Falls. Move the mouse to the top of the picture and you'll see a mountain in the background. That mountain is Mount Si.

Yesterday whilst blogging I was lamenting the fact that I can not remember the last mountain I hiked. Seeing the picture of Mount Si has me thinking that may have been the last mountain I've climbed, at some point in time late in the previous century.

The trail to the top of Mount Si may be the busiest trail in Washington. Every time I've reached the summit I have been amazed by how many people are already there.

The last time I hiked to the summit of Mount Si I remember going to North Bend afterwards and having some of that famous cherry pie at the Mar T Cafe. Along with coffee. Neither were as memorable as Twin Peaks led one to think they would be.

Thanksgiving Turtles In Village Creek

Before the scheduled removal of the turkey from my oven I decided to go take a walk with the Indian Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington.

I was surprised to find myself walking with a lot of other walkers out walking before eating too much turkey.

On Tuesday I mentioned that the Village Creek turtles were so skittish I'd never been able to get a picture of them, unlike the eagerly posing Fosdick  Lake turtles.

Today the Village Creek turtles, for the most part, did not jump in the creek as soon as they saw me. Instead, several of the previously shy reptiles politely posed for multiple photos, including the one above.

Changing the subject from one body of water to another.

This morning my formerly too cool pool had warmed up enough that I was able to have myself some swim time. I don't know the same will be true tomorrow morning. Currently my computer based temperature monitoring device is telling me it is a relatively chilly 67 degrees in the outer world at my location.

I need to go mash some sweet potatoes now.

A Thanksgiving Morning Gas Pipeline Warning From Chesapeake Energy

This morning I decided I needed to add cherry pie to my Thanksgiving Buffet.

The closest cherry pie to my location was a short distance from my abode, so I walked over to Albertsons where I was surprised by what a large number of people were shopping for groceries on Thanksgiving morning.

On the way to a cherry pie I walked by a new addition to the neighborhood, across the street from Albertsons.

A  GAS PIPELINE WARNING sign, courtesy of Chesapeake Energy.

I guess this means that the newly installed pipeline now has non-odorized natural gas flowing through it.

Behind the sign, in the center of the picture, there are a bunch of pipes coming out of the ground.

There is no security in the form of impenetrable fencing on this particular gas pad site, located at the east end of Boca Raton Boulevard. A short, easily climbed over, chain link fence surrounds part of this gas pad site.

The bunch of pipes in the above picture looks sort of vulnerable. It is outside the area surrounded by a short chain link fence. I can see where some of the neighborhood kids might not realize they are doing a bad thing turning a valve or two.

My other neighborhood Chesapeake Energy gas pad site has a tall brick wall around it. While the Albertsons Chesapeake Energy gas pad site sits exposed to the world.

I suspect a better fence will appear at some point in time.

The Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man Worrying About Losing His Memory

The Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man did some pre-Thanksgiving hill hiking today.

I felt a dire need for some salubrious endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation and there is no better place to get such stimulation, within a 4 mile range of my abode, than the Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Last week on Top Chef Seattle when the Top Chefs got to the place they would be bunking and saw the view, one of them remarked something along the line of there are mountains every direction you look.

The mention of mountains on Top Chef had me trying to remember the last time I hiked on an actual mountain. I could not remember if such a thing has taken place in this century.

Not being able to remember the last time I had hiked on an actual mountain was sort of depressing.

Is this how Alzheimer's starts?

I did remember to go swimming this morning in the cool pool. The water had not warmed up as much as I'd hoped it would, but I managed to get in some swimming without shivering. The pool should be less cool tomorrow morning due to the fact that it is being warmer today, as in it is currently 79 degrees according to my computer based temperature monitoring device.

I heard on the radio we may get into the 80s today. In my younger, pre-Alzheimer's years, I would consider a day in the 80s to be a very HOT day.

Today The Fosdick Turtles Were Performing For The Oakland Lake Park Crowd Of Visitors

Fosdick Turtles & Their Happy Dancing

Apparently summer decided to make a temporary return to North Texas for Thanksgiving Week, which had the turtles of Fosdick Lake in high fiving celebrating mood, today, after their recent bouts with frigid temperatures.

Why are the turtles of Fosdick Lake, in Oakland Lake Park, such willing photo posers? While the turtles who live with the Indian Ghosts in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area are totally camera shy, so much so that I've never successfully taken a picture of any of them.

It may be that the turtles of Fosdick Lake are used to having a lot of close encounters with humans.

Like today.

I don't remember ever seeing so many little kids walking around Fosdick Lake as I did today.

Below you see some of the kids and their parental units. The pair of tall blondes were maternal units to some of the kids. Prior to the scene in the below picture one of the tall blondes let out a very charming yell with a very thick Texas accent, yelling to her kids, "Y'all get back here now."

I find a good thick Texas accent to be very charming. Even when the accent goes into yelling mode it still sounds charming to my Yankee ears.

Elsie Hotpepper has a pretty good Texas accent. I've never heard Elsie Hotpepper in yell mode, not that I remember. Some Texas accents, like the one that lady had in the above photo, well they just sort of drip honey. Elsie Hotpepper is not exactly a honey dripper, her delivery is too rapid for that, but the Hotpepper accent is still quite pleasant to listen to.

For several mornings of late I've run the furnace to heat up this space. This afternoon my windows are open.

I went swimming this morning. I lasted a couple minutes before I got in the hot tub. But the hot tub was quickly too hot, so I got back in the cool pool and swam for several more minutes.

|With today's high supposed to be in the 80 degree range I suspect I will be able to swim as long as I want to tomorrow morning, without going into shiver mode.

I have all my fixin's, for the most part, for my Thanksgiving Buffet. Invitation only. $30 a person, includes beverage.

The Ongoing Search For The Truth About Jesse James

Several years ago rumor had it that Jesse James had not been killed by Bob Ford, but had escaped, living out his life in the Texas town of Granbury.

This rumor ran so far amok that at one point in time somehow an exhumation order was issued with the grave in a Granbury cemetery, thought to be Jesse James, was dug up. It was quickly determined that this was a mistake, with the digger claiming the wrong grave had been opened, but no further exhumation orders were issued, so no further grave digging was done.

Earlier in this century I made a webpage titled "The Truth About Jesse James" on my Eyes on Texas website.

The webpage about Jesse James has generated some interesting feedback over the years, including an email this morning from someone named Jsradan Radan. I have no clue how one might pronounce that first name.

Below is the email from Jsradan, followed by a couple other interesting emails I've received regarding Jesse James....

My grandmother was Gladys Parker, married name, her maiden name was Biggerstaff.  She died in 1985 in Newport, Washington. The closest birth record had her born around 1889.  Before she past away she said she had a letter from Jesse James after he supposedly died.  But shortly after she said something she "past away" at the old folks home and all of her stuff was taken and "sold" to pay for what they said she owed.  History is written by the winners or what the government wants you to know.  Think about the lies that are told as fact even in your own lifetime.  I think he escaped the tyranny of Pinkerton and the government.  GOD bless the USA, but condemn the socialistic government. If you have anything you can share with me about my grandmother so I can find my own history I would appreciate it. 

If you have anything to share with Jsradan you can email him here.

And then there was the following from Doug Bigelow...

I found your website "Eye on Texas; The Truth About Jesse James" and thought you might be able to help me with a few questions. 

As you are certainly aware one of the stories / legends about Jesse James is that Charlie Bigelow was killed in his place. Although there has been much said about the life of Jesse James and his history I have not been able to discover much about the supposed Charlie Bigelow. 

I have read that he may have been from Bigelow, MO and that the town was named after his family. I have also found that the town may have been named after a wealthy English businessman that invested in the railroad. This leads me to believe that there may have not even been Bigelows in the small town. 

With all of the alias that the outlaws used I wonder if “Charlie Bigelow” might have been one that Jesse James used thus confusing who was actually murdered. They say that Charlie looked liked Jesse, maybe it WAS Jesse? 

My hopes are that you can help me with my research on Charlie Bigelow. Did he even exist? If so, where was he actually from? If Jesse was the one actually killed by Bob Ford then what happened to Charlie? Was he even a Bigelow or was it an alias that Jesse or some other outlaw used at one time? 

Any light you can shed on this mystery would be greatly appreciated. I hope to write an article for the Bigelow Genealogical Society’s newsletter, Forge. 

Thanks for your time and efforts on this matter.

Sincerely,
Doug Bigelow

If you can shed any light on this mystery you can email Doug Bigelow here.

And then there was the email from a lady married to the great great great granddaughter of Geronimo...

The man known as deacon reminds me of some of the Jennings. They were in Kansas City, Missouri at that time, left in 1869. Albert A. Jennings, who is a cousin of the James Brother, as well and the Youngers, he was there in Missouri for while since he left Reddish River North Carolina after his marriage to his wife Mary Pollyanna Muse. 1853, the son of John Thomas Jennings and Nancy I. Irving or Irvin, one of the founding people probably founded the place between Fort Worth and Dallas. I suspect Albert A. Jennings was a member of the James gang. For some reason he changed his last name from Jennings to Gennings or Gennins, like he was on the lam.

Also have you heard the story were Jesse James sold the rifles and ammo to the Lakota Sioux that ended in the destruction of another cousin, General George Armstrong Custer, even though he really deserved what he had did to my red brothers?

Guess I would classify myself part Indian, for interest sake, i am married to the great great great granddaughter of Geronimo, through his second wife and daughter Tosey, who married Jose Ramirez. Of course my wife was born in a place called Idabel, Oklahoma.

On your page you should have the photo of Jesse James when he was there, took with some sheriff or somebody of that time.

The above email with the connection to Geronimo, plus the reference to Custer and what he did to the red brothers, may be my all time favorite feedback email I've received from my Eyes on Texas website.

Everybody In Fort Worth Loves That New Rig Smell

Yesterday I was shocked, shocked I tell you, when Someone Else opined, via a blog comment, that he or she felt I was perennially negative about the city that calls itself Fort Worth, even though there is no fort in Fort Worth, which is just one more example of how the town tends to misrepresent itself.

Gone looking for Sundance Square lately in downtown Fort Worth?

The fact of the matter, regarding Fort Worth, is that there are some things that go on in this town that, when one describes them accurately, it really can not be done in a positive way, if you want to be truthful.

Take the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, for example. A billion dollar public works project that the public has not voted on. A public works project of very dubious value, destroying river levees that have functioned well for over a half a century, replacing the levees with an un-needed flood diversion channel and adding a little lake to the north side of downtown Fort Worth, where currently the Clear and West forks of the Trinity River merge.

And to give Fort Worth Congresswoman, Kay Granger's son, J.D., a job running the project, with that job currently being America's worst example of nepotism.

And then we have Fort Worth being the world's big city test tube experiment for allowing thousands of holes to be poked in its ground to fracture shale to produce natural gas, and then move that un-odorized natural gas, under the city, in hundreds of miles of pipeline.

Last night I got an email from Don Young which I imagine Someone Else would characterize as being negative about Fort Worth, when in reality the message is actually a plea for civic sanity from a lifelong Fort Worth citizen who is appalled at what he sees happening to the town he lives  in.

Below is what Don Young had to say, along with 3 links to what some other people had to say about that which goes on in Fort Worth....

Only in Fort Worth would such an arrogant message via a giant billboard sprout in the heart of downtown.

The people that run Fort Worth (FW), Texas, the 16th most populous city in the USA, are hell bent on helping FW become the dumbest large city in the USA. Here's a short list of their accomplishments:

- FW was the first large city in the USA to allow natural gas (NG) drilling in all neighborhoods regardless of zoning class.

- FW has more UN-ODORIZED NG pipelines in neighborhoods than any large city in the USA.

- FW is the first large city in the USA to allow an UN-ODORIZED NG pipeline in the downtown corridor.

This new billboard in the downtown FW, just a few hundred feet from I-30, reinforces the fact that Fort Worth is out of touch with reality as Chesapeake completes installation of the downtown pipeline. 

The real dangers and risks to public health and the environment are well known as these recent reports confirm. Please educate yourself, raise hell and/or move out of the shale patch, if you can.

An Exploratory Study of Air Quality Near NG Operations

Filming Dirty Air

Flowback: How the Texas NG Boom Affects Health and Safety

DY

Hiking The Tandy Hills With My Perennially Negative Self & A Possible Bobcat

Today I was back on the Tandy Hills. As you can see via the view up a steep trail up a Tandy Hill some of the Tandy trees are getting very colorful.

Most of the food in the Tandy Buffet Shrine, that I have mentioned a couple times in the past week, has now disappeared. Not a single crumb of the coffee cake was in evidence.

I have not gone swimming since last Monday. It's been cold. But the 24 hour temperature average the past 24  hours has been well over 50 degrees. With the current temperature in the middle of Monday afternoon being 71 by tomorrow morning the 48 hour average will have been well over 50.

So, tomorrow morning I am going to try and go swimming. If the water has not warmed to a suitable temperature I can retreat to the hot tub.

Yesterday, in a blog comment to a blogging that mentioned my twin nephew and niece, Theo and Ruby, had their 23rd month birthday party on Saturday, also mentioned one of Theo and Ruby's aunts, which had the commenter commenting that Theo and Ruby's aunt is a bad apple. That seems a really harsh judgement to make from very little evidence.

And then Someone Else, in another comment to another blogging,  that being a blogging about the most beautiful work of modern architecture in the world, outrageously opined that my supposed "perennial negativity toward Fort Worth has become rather annoying."

I am shocked. Perennial negativity? At best it is only occasional. And usually with very good reason.

Changing the subject from my perennial negativity back to the Tandy Hills.

As I headed down the hill that leads to the aforementioned Tandy Buffet Shrine I was hearing voices. Eventually the trio of guys you see in the picture above came into view. The trio appeared to be painting. I  would have gotten closer to see for sure what the trio was doing, but I respected their invisible no trespassing sign.

Continuing on I eventually found myself back on the Tandy Highway, heading towards Mount Tandy and my vehicular transport parked on the summit. When I got on the Tandy Highway and looked north I saw what looked like a bobcat looking at me. I stopped and grabbed my camera.

I zoomed in and took 3 pictures. From where I was standing I was too far away to tell for sure if this was a bobcat. It has been awhile since I've had a bobcat encounter.

When I got the pictures off the camera I was able to tell with some certainty that this was not a bobcat. I think it was a rather big cat of the domestic house cat sort. Out having him or herself a real fine time running around on the Tandy Hills.

I hope I have not been too negative about the perennial Tandy Hills today.

Someone Thinks Fort Worth Is The Location Of The Most Beautiful Work Of Modern Architecture In The World

The Kimbell Art Museum

In the picture you are looking at the outside of the Kimbell Art Museum, located in the area of Fort Worth zoned for museums called The Cultural District.

Stay with me, eventually I'll get back to the Kimbell Art Museum, but first we have to go to Rome.

Last night I went to Rome via Wikipedia. There I saw some incredible sights, like closeup views of structures like the Coliseum.

While visiting Rome I saw mention made of Rome being what is known as a World City. So, I went to Wikipedia's World City entry.

There are several organizations that rank the world's cities by various criteria. Every one of them had New York City as the #1 World City. And London #2. Some Texas towns showed up on the various lists. Like Houston, Austin and Dallas. Maybe San Antonio, I don't remember for sure.

But, I do remember, for sure, that the city that makes the world Green with Envy, Fort Worth, was no where to be seen.

Seattle was on several of the lists. As was Vancouver. And Portland.

Seattle, Vancouver and Portland are the world's biggest cities with which I am most familiar, along with Fort Worth and Dallas.

I clicked on the Seattle Wikipedia entry. It was a good article, with great photos giving a good idea of what Seattle looks like, including the skyline from various angles.

Then I clicked on the Fort Worth Wikipedia entry. Yikes. "Holy Embarrassment!" as Batman might say. Or "Ay Carrumba!" as Bart Simpson might say.

Below is the Wikipedia picture of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth. As viewed from the aforementioned Cultural District. The caption for this photo in Wikipedia says, "Fort Worth skyline from the Amon Carter Museum."

Fort Worth Skyline from the Amon Carter Museum

From the view from the Amon Carter Museum let's go back to the Kimbell Art Museum. I told you at the start we'd eventually get back there.

The third paragraph in the Wikipedia article about Fort Worth starts with the following doozy of an example of classic delusional thinking, of the sort one might read in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"Fort Worth is home to the Kimbell Art Museum, considered to have one of the best collections in the world, and housed in what is widely regarded as the most beautiful work of modern architecture in the world."

The most beautiful work of modern architecture in the world? I don't even think it is as beautiful as the Museum of Modern Art next door.

The Wikipedia entry about the Kimbell Art Museum does not repeat the nonsense found in the Fort Worth entry.

The Seattle Central Library

Now, if you want an actual example of a beautiful work of modern architecture, visit the Seattle Central Library.

A few years ago the American Institute of Architects compiled a list of Americans' 150 favorite structures located in the U.S.

The Seattle Central Library was voted #108. This surprised me, wondering how did many Americans even know about this relatively new building.

The Star-Telegram printed this list of favorite structures and opined outrage over the borderline criminal omission of the Kimbell Art Museum from the list.

That is sort of shocking, what with the Kimbell Art Museum apparently being widely regarded as the most beautiful work of modern architecture in the world.

I don't remember if any buildings in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex were on this list. I would guess a new list of this sort would include the new Dallas Cowboy stadium. And would still omit the Kimbell Art Museum, mostly due to the fact that hardly anyone in America has heard of this building that is the most beautiful work of modern architecture in the world.