Perplexed By Gateway Park Green Grass Before Getting Lunch From The Tamale Kid

On my way to Town Talk today I stopped at Gateway Park to get in some salubrious walking on the extremely pleasant first Saturday of the new year of 2013.

Quite a difference from the last Saturday of 2012. Last week I shivered whilst taking a short fast walk around the ball fields before retreating from the elements.

Due to the recent bout of freezing most green has left the natural world. This made the ultra green play fields of Gateway Park stand out in stark contrast.

When I saw the glaring green I walked closer. It looked like grass. I saw blades. I saw what looked like dirt. How are they keeping this grass so green, I wondered?

Then I came upon the sign you see in the picture.

First off the NOTICE caught my eye. With the notice informing that "FIELDS WILL BE CLOSED WHEN FIELD SURFACE TEMPERATURE REACHES 125".

125 is quite HOT. Death Valley type HOT.

And then the sign said, "Welcome to Gateway Park multipurpose synthetic turf fields."

So, I now knew why the grass was so green. Because it is not grass. It is plastic.

After solving the mystery of the green grass it was on to Town Talk, hoping to find the Tamale Kid.

Driving on to the Town Talk parking lot I saw no Tamale Kid.

So, I did my Town Talk treasure hunting. Exiting I saw the Tamale Kid sitting on a picnic table. I pushed my cart over to him and asked if he was selling tamales today.

"Si, senor", said he.

"Chicken or beef, 6 for 5 dollars," said the Tamale Kid.

I gave him 5 dollars and followed him to a white car where he popped open the trunk and took out a foil wrapped package of tamales from a cooler. Well, in this case, it was a heater. The tamales were warm and ready to eat.

And so my lunch plan for today changed. So, I'm making rice with Carne Asada, refried beans with cilantro and tamales from the Tamale Kid.

I was going to make Mexican food for tomorrow's pre-Super Bowl Party. I think I may now revert back to the pizza plan.

This Morning I Have Self Diagnosed The Flu As Being My Current Ailment

I read this morning that this flu season's flu epidemic has come on earlier and stronger than is the norm.

Of late every time I talk to my mom I get asked if I've gotten a flu shot yet.

The answer to that question remains, currently, no.

But, this morning, reading about the flu symptoms, I am thinking that it is Influenza which I have been dealing with for the past 20 days or so. All the symptoms match.

Only the version of the flu I have been experiencing is very mild.

I think maybe I have some sort of immunity to the flu which may lessen the severity of a fresh flu virus invasion.

Way back in the 1990s I had the worst case of the flu I have ever experienced. Sickest I have ever been. My skin turned a greenish gray color. I had the shakes, a bad fever, my ears were plugged, I had trouble breathing,  I could not eat, had trouble sleeping.

A living hell.

Then came a Friday morning, after being miserable for I don't know how many days, I woke up and found myself totally symptom free, feeling totally normal.

And really really hungry.

To deal with that hunger I drove up to Bellingham, to the Dickinson's Buffet, because I had an overwhelming craving for their macaroni and cheese and fried chicken.

Currently I know of several people in the D/FW zone who are being made miserable by flu-like symptoms, including Miss Puerto Rico, Elsie Hotpepper, Delores Del Rio and Miss Connie. I may be forgetting a few due to the brain befuddlement that accompanies this ailment.

The Washington Redskins Won Their Division So Now They Have To Play The Seattle Seahawks

UPDATE: I was erroneous regarding the start time of tomorrow's Seattle Seahawk pre-Super Bowl game. Like I've already admitted, I get befuddled calculating time zone differences. The correct time is tomorrow's pre-Super Bowl game starts at 1:30 pm Pacific Time. Central Time is 2 hours later than that, not two hours earlier, so the game will come on in my zone at 3:30 pm.

Earlier today I was confused on Facebook by Football Fanatic, Miss Chris, who caused me to think that the Seattle Seahawks were playing a playoff game today. I think it was something about wearing blue today, to show support for the Seahawks, that confused me.

It did not take too much effort to find out that it is on Sunday that the Seahawks play a playoff game against the Washington Redskins.

I thought team names like "Redskins" had become totally politically incorrect, particularly, one would think, in the nation's capital. Then again, I think most Native Americans would have zero objection to this being this particular team's name.

I am not much of a fan of watching football on TV. Or in person. I did watch last year's Super Bowl. I don't remember who was playing or who won.

I think the last time I watched the Seattle Seahawks play football was in their very painful to watch, one and only, Super Bowl appearance.

Apparently this year the Seattle Seahawks have a good team and have been winning a lot of games. I've been told the Seahawks are a lean team that moves fast against less lean slower moving teams.

Miss Chris, the Football Fanatic, told me Sunday's playoff game starts at 1:30 Pacific Time. I think that makes it either 10:30 or 11:30 Central Time.

I suspect I will have a Seattle Seahawk playoff party on Sunday. Likely pizza will be involved. And a chicken product.

Are the Arlington, I mean, Dallas Cowboys, also in the playoffs?

If I am understanding what Miss Chris, the Football Fanatic, has told me, if the Seahawks win on Sunday, they then have to win one more playoff game and then they will be making their 2nd Super Bowl appearance.

If the Dallas Cowboys are in the playoffs are they in a different league than the Seahawks, thus making there be a chance that Dallas would play Seattle in the Super Bowl?

That'd be cool.

I'd be really torn as to which team I'd be rooting for. The Dallas Cowboys or America's New Team.....

I Saw No Bubo Virginianus In Oakland Lake Park Today While Fosdick Creek Was Flooding

Muddy Flooding Fosdick Creek

Something somewhere in Fort Worth is leaking a lot of muddy water into Fosdick Creek, flooding into Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

Walking around Fosdick Lake today was a lot less chilly than the frigid walk around Fosdick Lake a couple days ago.

My Arizona sister walked with me today. Eventually our little brother and sister-in-law joined us.

I woke up this morning before 4 and was unable to get back to sleep. My sister also woke up before 4 this morning and was unable to get back to sleep.

Soon after my little brother and sister-in-law arrived my sister quit walking with me so they could drive to Sun Lakes to pick up my mom and dad so they could all drive south to Maricopa to go out to lunch in a trendy Maricopa restaurant called McDonald's.

I was in that Maricopa McDonald's in March, last year.  I had a Fish Sandwich. It was delicious.

Yesterday I mentioned seeing a big bird at the Village Creek Blue Bayou. This morning noted local Ornithologist, CatsPaw, informed me that the bird that turned its back on me was a Bubo Virginianus, also known as a Great Horned Owl.

I saw no Bubo Virginianus in Oakland Lake Park today. But, I did see a lot of ducks quacking on Fosdick Lake.

The Lingering Creepy Weirdness Of Fubbo The Hut On Facebook

Last month, I blogged about my ongoing problem with the stalking weirdness of the criminal sociopath known as Fubbo the Hut, in a blogging titled The Lingering Creepy Weirdness Of Fubbo The Hut.

At the end of the blogging I wrote..."Well, that ends this amusing blogging about Fubbo the Hut. I'll be sure and share any incoming Fubbo the Hut lunacy should it occur....."

Well, a couple days ago I got a call telling me I should check out Fubbo the Hut's latest lunacy on Facebook.

Let us review a little history. Way back in August of 2008, when I realized that Fubbo the Hut was no longer anyone I wanted to have anything to do with, I was quite perplexed trying to figure out what in the world I'd been dealing with.

And how to be totally rid of it.

Over the course of multiple bloggings I sorted it out to my satisfaction, that being that this person exhibited classic Only Child Syndrome behaviors, exhibited Histrionic Narcissistic behaviors, was a Sociopath, Prescription Medication Addict and a Pathological Liar.

After I opined my explanation for the Fubbo behaviors I'd experienced, in the time since then, I have read Fubbo the Hut assign to me most of the syndromes I associated with her, except for claiming me to be a Prescription Medication Addict  Pathological Liar or a sufferer from Only Child Syndrome.

It seems that me accurately identifying Fubbo the Hut as a Sociopath hit home the hardest. I believe she's been diagnosed as such by psychiatrists who examined her during the course of Fubbo the Hut being prosecuted for her crimes. And, so, of course, Fubbo the Hut now opines in any venue she can, that I am a Sociopath. Which is sort of ironically amusing, what with me suffering with a highly evolved Empathy Complex, which is about dead opposite of being a Sociopath.

In my blogging about the lingering creepy weirdness of Fubbo the Hut I was motivated to have fun making fun of Fubbo, once again, due to, once again, Fubbo making a rude comment on my blog.

Fubbo's rude comments on my blog and other blogs have been chronic.

In Fubbo the Hut's Facebook rant she claims she removed her blog because I was using the material on that blog to humiliate her.

Well.

Who put that humiliating material there?

That causes the humiliation?

If you read the blogging about this you will see I was getting emails asking about oddball things Fubbo was claiming on her blog that defied believability. I was not extracting humiliating material from her now dead blog. It was being emailed to me.

In Fubbo's Facebook rant she claims she "tried every means, to get me to stop."

Every means? What would those be?

To get me to stop what? To stop me telling the truth about her?

In Fubbo's Facebook rant she claims she realized I will never give up?

Give up what?

Give up being disgusted at her being such a disgusting human being?

I think I've already mentioned that Fubbo got struck with the dumbstick, so I'll try and clearly make it real clear for her. Fubbo, if you don't want me reacting to you, simply knock off the blog comments, the emails and the telling of lies about me. See how simple that is?

Then go on with your fabulous life. Do you think you can manage this? Learning how to say "I am sorry, I behaved badly" might also reap benefits for you. But you're a Sociopath, so that avenue is not really available to you...

A Chilly Walk With The Ghosts & Hawks Who Haunt The Village Creek Natural Historical Area

The air was nearly 40 degrees warm when I went walking with the Indian Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area today in Arlington.

As you can see via the reflection in the big round mirror it is a bright, blue sky day, so far, today in North Texas. You can also see, via my reflection in the big round mirror, that I am bundled up in layers of outerwear.

What you can not see, via the big round mirror, is that I finally located my previously missing thermal underwear. What a relief.

Speaking of the murdered Indians whose ghosts haunt the Village Creek zone, I got a couple related blog comments on the first day of the new year.

But, the comments were not to a blogging about Village Creek, they were comments to a blogging from way back in January of 2012 about Walking With The Spirit Of Quanah Parker & Other People Before Being Hypnotized By Naked Pecan Tree Limbs.

Someone named Anonymous objected to my Comanche sympathies, saying....

Village Creek Trail

In response I tell anyone here in Texas that has complaints, the means that brought you in will take you out- whether highway, train, or plane. My family has been here since 1832, and Texans whose families have been here for generations feel that they are Texans first, then Americans. We love our state and feel a loyalty to it that seems to be hard for outsiders to understand.

Anonymous is expressing a very unique sentiment I don't know that I've heard before.

Then someone named Dashiell777 said....

I am related to Silas Bates, the Brave Father that fought the Comanches an Titos when they came to Fort Parker under a flag of truce while the men were working in the fields. Study history deeper than face value, It's not black an white.

Following the above two comments were the two pro-Comanche comments that showed up on New Year's Day...

Since the early 1800s?? That's funny to feel that it's your land?? It never was! It belonged to the Redman, that had been there long before your family settled.

And...

Your right it's not black and white, however, the Comanche was also forced off their land by invading white folk like your kin.

Changing the subject from Anonymous comments back to Village Creek.

Today I saw something in a tree at the northern edge of the Village Creek Blue Bayou that I'd not seen at this location before.

A big bird of the hawk or owl variety.

The big bird turned its back on me when I aimed my camera at it.

Miss GG has been taking really good bird photos from her perch high above the Trinity River in downtown Fort Worth. I don't think my photographic skills or camera quality are anywhere near the Miss GG level.

Blog Post #5,000 With Snow In The Forecast For North Texas

I was shocked, shocked I tell you, seconds ago, when I saw that this blog post I am currently typing is blog post #5,000.

Five thousand.

That is a lot of weather reports.

A weather report being the subject of blog post #5,000, seems like the right thing to do.

As you can see, the National Weather Service has issued a Alert.....

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
Now - Thursday, Jan 3, 3:00pm

...WINTER WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...
A STORM SYSTEM WILL ORGANIZE ACROSS NEW MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS LATER TODAY INTO TONIGHT...BEFORE LIFTING NORTHEAST ACROSS OKLAHOMA AND KANSAS DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY. MEANWHILE...A COLD POLAR AIRMASS WILL REMAIN IN PLACE ACROSS NORTH TEXAS AS THE STORM SYSTEMS LIFTS NORTHEAST. CURRENT ATMOSPHERIC PROFILES INDICATE LOW LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE DRY AND COLD INITIALLY WITH TIME NEEDED TO SATURATED THE ATMOSPHERIC COLUMN FOR WINTER PRECIPITATION TO OCCUR. SATURATION OF THE COLUMN IS EXPECTED TO ENHANCE OVERNIGHT TONIGHT AS THE SYSTEM AND LIFT APPROACHES THE AREA FROM THE WEST. LIGHT SNOW DEVELOPING ACROSS WEST-CENTRAL TEXAS WILL SPREAD INTO FAR WESTERN PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS AFTER MIDNIGHT. VERY LIGHT SNOW OR SLEET...OR EVEN FLURRIES MAY OCCUR AS FAR EAST AS INTERSTATE 35 BY SUNRISE FRIDAY MORNING...THOUGH THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN DRIER THE FURTHER EAST YOU GO ACROSS NORTH TEXAS.

MANY UNCERTAINTIES EXIST AMONGST FORECAST MODELS REGARDING STORM TRACK...LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AVAILABILITY...AND WHERE THE BEST LIGHT SLEET OR SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL OCCUR EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. THERE WILL BE A VERY TIGHT GRADIENT BETWEEN LOCATIONS THAT RECEIVE LOWER AMOUNTS AND THOSE THAT RECEIVE A DUSTING OR EVEN JUST A FEW FLURRIES OR PELLETS OF SLEET. AREAS WITH TERRAIN ACROSS WESTERN NORTH TEXAS COULD BECOME IMPACTED AND ICY BY SUNRISE FRIDAY WITH ANY LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW OR SLEET.

BOTTOM LINE...THE BEST CHANCES FOR LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS OF SLEET OR SNOW WILL BE SOUTHWEST OF A BRECKENRIDGE TO TEMPLE LINE ON FRIDAY MORNING...WITH JUST A DUSTING TO A FEW FLURRIES POSSIBLE FURTHER TO THE NORTH AND EAST. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO WARM INTO THE 40S FRIDAY AFTERNOON WITH PRECIPITATION EITHER MIXING OR CHANGING OVER TO ALL RAIN. PLEASE CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECAST UPDATES THROUGH TONIGHT REGARDING THE POTENTIAL FOR WINTER WEATHER... ESPECIALLY ACROSS WESTERN SECTIONS OF NORTH TEXAS.

Day One Of My New Year's Resolution To Eat Better Exercise More And Cease Being Obese

My primary New Year's Resolution for 2013 is to try and make myself get more exercise, and thus be less of the sloth I was in 2012.

Towards that sloth-less end, today I drove to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdick Lake for the first time in what seems like has been a long time.

The last time I saw Oakland Lake Park the trees still had leaves. Today the trees were totally leaf free.

The temperature was only 2 degrees above freezing when I got myself some much needed salubrious endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

Earlier today I drove up to Hurst, for a couple of reasons, one of which was to go to ALDI. Each week the drive through the 820/121 construction zone seems to be more of an adventure than the week before.

Also, earlier today, I learned from Betty Jo Bouvier that the Burlington Belles, including herself, Honey Lulu, Carlotta Camano, Babs Bullock and others are meeting up for lunch tomorrow at an undisclosed location.

I think it is really really rude to mention a lunch party without inviting the person one is mentioning it to. I am almost 100% certain I may have attended this lunch, had I been invited and had I managed to somehow get myself up to Washington by lunchtime tomorrow.

Well, speaking of lunch, I just heard the rice cooker indicate it is done cooking the Jasmine Brown Rice that I am going to smother in a Sweet and Sour Vegetable Ginger Sesame Chicken Peanut concoction.

It is my secondary New Year's Resolution to eat more nutritiously. I am hoping that with better nutrition and more exercise, by the time 2013 ends I will no longer be obese and out of shape. It's a worthy goal.

Hunting For Orgeat Almond Syrup So I Can Make The Durango

I just never know what wonders I am about to behold whenever I log into the wonderment that calls itself Facebook.

This morning, one of the Facebook wonders to behold, came courtesy of Miss Connie, who informed me that an adult libation has been named after me.

The Durango.

The directions that instruct one on how to build oneself The Durango are to be found at a website called Mix That Drink.

Apparently, The Durango is a great adult libation to libate oneself with in the morning. I can not imagine myself having such a concoction in the morning, even with the promise that it gets one going when one needs an extra kick. That's what an extra cup of coffee is for.

The recipe to make yourself The Durango is as follows....

2 ounces Tequila
2 ounces Grapefruit Juice
1/2 ounce Orgeat Almond Syrup or Amaretto
1 teaspoon water
Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice cubes. Pour in your ingredients and shake well. Strain the mixture into an old-fashioned glass.

The most old-fashioned glass that I have in my possession is a Mason jar. Does that work?

I Wish I Could Be A Manly Man Whilst Unleashing A Wild Woman Today On The Tandy Hills

Moments ago I opened an urgent email urgently informing me that the 4th Annual Tandy Hills Manly Men Wild Women is scheduled to begin in just a few minutes.

The info in the email....

The rain has ended. 
The hike is on. 
A new year.
A new you.
10 a.m. sharp. Don't be late.
The trails will be muddy in places so bring an extra pair of shoes to wear after the hike.
Details at website.

Get your manly on! 
Unleash your wild woman! 
Don't wimp out!

I am still not totally recovered from being ill with a cold, so I really don't have any option other than to wimp out of doing some chilly, wet hill hiking. That and during last night's New Year's Eve I did way too much getting my manly on whilst unleashing a wild woman.  Or two. Along with pizza. And an adult libation, or two, mixed with medications of various types.

I think last night's revelry did me a world of good. I'm starting this new year of 2013 feeling the best I've felt in weeks.