Hiking The Tandy Hills With Herds Of Dogs Thinking About Dungeness Crab For Lunch

A few days ago, when I was on the summit of Mount Tandy, the fog was so thick that it shrouded in obliteration the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

Today, the sky is clear, with downtown Fort Worth back being visible in all its splendor, which you can clearly see looking west across the old wagon trail that leads to where local legend claims the West began.

I came upon a hiking couple today who were hiking with a large herd of dogs of various sizes. All but one of the dogs was not on a leash. The unleashed dogs were very friendly. I did not feel in danger.

I looked for a Trout Lily today. I read in this month's Prairie Notes that the annual appearance of the illusive Trout Lily had arrived. I have yet to find a Trout Lily.

Changing the subject from the Trout Lily to the Best Hamburger in the Pacific Northwest, or, at least, Anacortes.

I heard from Spencer Jack this morning that his dad's restaurant in Anacortes had been determined by scientific data acquisition to have the Best Hamburger in Anacortes.

So, I blogged about this on my Washington Blog in a blogging titled The Fidalgo Drive-In Has The Best Hamburger In Anacortes.

Looking at my nephew's menu has me craving crab, of the Dungeness type. Crab and cod. And halibut and prawns.

And clam chowder.

I wonder if Spencer Jack's dad uses his grandma's (my mom's) clam chowder recipe? Because mom's is the best ever.

My nephew has absolutely no catfish on his menu. I can't imagine why...

Taking A Fort Worth Risk Walking In A Town With A Sidewalk Shortage

Sidewalk Free Bridgewood Drive

 A couple days ago I found myself freshly annoyed regarding the town of Fort Worth's disgraceful neglect regarding installing sidewalks along side way too few of Fort Worth's streets.

I can, maybe, understand not worrying about sidewalks on side streets. But no sidewalks on main roads? Like 4 lane roads which lead to commercial enterprises that people feel the need to walk to?

The thing that freshly annoyed me a couple days ago, regarding Fort Worth's apparent collective disregard for a modern amenity, like sidewalks, was seeing 6 kids on skateboards rolling along sidewalk-free John T. White Road.

John T. White Road is a 4 lane boulevard with a wide grass covered median separating the lanes. I drive John T. White Road to get to my neighborhood Walmart. John T. White Elementary School opened on John T. White Road last year.

It seems only common sense, to me, that you have sidewalks on a road that leads to a school and to a shopping district. And it seems borderline criminally negligent for a city to lack sidewalks on such roads.

Now, the City of Fort Worth can not claim lack of funds as the reason why Fort Worth can not have sidewalks to the level of most modern cities. Fort Worth has so many excess funds that it is spending around $1 billion to build an un-needed flood control economic development project called the Trinity River Vision.

A Little Bit Of Sidewalk Does Not Go A Long Ways

It would seem that any town that can waste money on a goofy boondoggle, like the Trinity River Vision, can surely have itself a Fort Worth Sidewalk Vision.

I was freshly aggravated by Fort Worth's 3rd World-like sidewalk situation when I took a walk through my neighborhood this morning.

The two photos are looking south on Bridgewood Drive. As you can see in the photo at the top, locals have worn a dirt path along the sidewalk-less road.

In the second photo you are looking at a short section of sidewalk, which was installed when one of those ubiquitous dollar stores showed up a few years ago. Across the driveway there is no sidewalk in front of the Firestone store, or the Chevron station next to the Firestone stone.

Sidewalk-less Bridgewood Drive leads to dozens of businesses and restaurants, such as a Home Depot, several fast food joints, and a Luby's.

Would not one think that any city with pretensions of wanting to grow up and wear big city pants, let alone a town which regularly is the Envy of the Nation for various insipid things, would somehow manage to install sidewalks in its densely populated zones?

This subject is very perplexing to me, both the lack of sidewalks subject, and the fact that this lack does not seem to be an issue with anyone but me.

Very perplexing.

Mountain Biking Gateway Park With 5 Pounds Of Blue Cheese

Handlebars Over The Trinity River in Gateway Park

By the time I was riding my two wheel chain driven locomotive device on the mountain bike trail at Gateway Park the ground was dry, totally dry.

This morning, when I made another swimming attempt, by the time I retreated to the hot tub, large drops of precipitation was precipitating. The drops dripping did not last long.

Currently, at the halfway point of this 1st Wednesday afternoon of the 2nd month of 2013, my computer based weather monitoring device is indicating the outer world at my location is being heated to a relatively balmy, for this time of the year, 74 degrees.

So, I have now opened my computer room window. This seems to have quickly raised the temperature in my computer room. Must I resort to having the ceiling fan spin to get some relief from this relentless warmth?

I refuse to turn on the air conditioning.

Unless we go over 80 in the outer world.

Because I was at Gateway Park I went to Town Talk, due to those two locations being neighbors. At Town Talk I got a giant 5 pound bag of blue cheese crumbles. What I am going to do with this much blue cheese I am sitting here, typing and wondering?

I guess I could make several gallons of blue cheese dressing. But then what would I do with several gallons of blue cheese dressing?

Spencer Jack's Possible Girl Friend's Birthday Dreams Come True With First Train Ride

Incoming email from Elsie Hotpepper, subject line: Found! Message in email: Spencer Jack's girlfriend...

In addition to the message in the email being "Spencer Jack's girlfriend", there was also a link to a Yahoo webpage article titled 3-Year-Old's Birthday Dreams Come True With First Train Ride.

From that Yahoo article we learn that all Madeline Dubois wanted for her 3rd birthday was to go on a train ride.

Madeline's dad filmed her ultra-cuteness as she saw the train approaching the station.

The video of Madeline's reaction to the incoming train was first posted on YouTube way back in March of 2011. In the past few days this video has gone viral, with hundreds of thousands of views.

I do not know if Spencer Jack has met fellow train aficionado, Madeline Dubois, yet.

Foggy Tandy Hills Hiking With Disappearing Trees

Fog Shrouded Downtown Fort Worth

When I exited my abode, intending to drive to the Tandy Hills, I was a bit surprised to discover that the ongoing foggy drizzle had rendered the ground at my location very damp.

As I drove west I decided to change my hill hike plan to a walk plan and go to Oakland Lake Park instead.

And then the further west I drove the drier the outer world became. So, I reverted back to the Tandy Hills hike plan.

I parked on top of Mount Tandy and began my foggy hike. As you can see in the above picture, the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth is barely visible through the fog shroud.

I was soon pleased to discover that the trails of the Tandy Hills were totally dry, no mud anywhere.

The picture below shows some of today's dry Tandy trails. And the fogginess.

That hill you see in the background, with a trail leading up it, well, when I hiked up that trail I was a bit startled to see that the big shade tree I've always seen there had disappeared. And then when I got to the top of the trail I was even more surprised to find the area pretty much stripped of all un-natural vegetation.

I had discovered the location, well, at least one of the locations, of last Saturday's Brush Bashing, that being the systematic removal of non-native plants from part of the Tandy Hills prairie.

The Brush Bashing left this area rather bare, as you can see in the above picture. In the heat of summer this used to be a location where I would stand for a bit under the shade of the aforementioned tree.

In the picture, in the center background, you might be able to make out the 8 benches that were recently installed on the Tandy Hills, creating the Tandy Hills Amphitheater, now with a lot more open space.

Today was my first time back on the Tandy Hills in quite some time. I rather enjoyed it. I was not alone in enjoying the Tandy Hills today. I saw several other people doing some salubrious hill hiking.

A Foggy February Texas Swim With Drizzle

Well before this morning's arrival of the sun, my computer based weather monitoring device let me know that a dense fog was in the process of fogging up North Texas.

As you can, see via the view from my pool patio, in  a picture taken around 9, the fog is shrouding visibility so much I can not see Albertsons, which is usually visible in this view.

A couple hours before the foggy picture was taken I left my abode to go swimming.

Yesterday the temperature reached into the 70s. This morning, when I woke up my computer, it was 58. I figured the pool would be more doable than it was yesterday morning.

More doable it indeed was. I lasted about 3 minutes, rather than 1, before I retreated to the hot tub.

The fog was so thick, in the early morn, that a drizzle drizzled heavily, coating the outer world in extreme dampness. It was like being near the ocean with no ocean nearby.

As you can see, via the screencap of the information provided by my computer based weather monitoring device, the sun is predicted to appear, eventually, today, with the temperature scheduled to almost get to 70. I suspect I will make another swim attempt tomorrow morning. It actually is quite enjoyable. Particularly the escape to the hot tub part...

Not Swimming With The Village Creek Turtles & Giant Insects

Giant Village Creek Insect

This morning, before the arrival of the sun on the 4th morning of February, some precipitation precipitated at my location, rendering the outer world a bit damp when I exited my abode to see if swimming was doable, what with the temperature being above 50 and nearing 70 on Sunday.

I lasted a couple minutes in the pool and then sought the heat of the hot tub.

I did not know how damp my regular outdoor exercise locations were, so, for my daily mid-day constitutional, I went to a place where dampness is not usually an issue, unless we are in flash flood mode, a mode which usually closes the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

I'd walked with the Indian Ghosts who haunt VCNHA yesterday. I don't recollect ever doing this two days in a row before, which makes today some sort of groundbreaking occasion. A groundbreaking occasion with giant insects on the ground, which were somehow rendered mostly non-mobile, which allowed me to get up real close for the picture you see above.

Usually the Village Creek Turtles are the most skittish of any of the turtles I see in any of the places I frequent. Today, for the first time ever, I saw turtles in the Village Creek Blue Bayou. And they were not skittish. They allowed me to take their picture with little protest.

It was me who was feeling a bit skittish today. Last night's Super Bowl Party went on way too long. It was exhausting.

By the time the Super Bowl Party was over some of the people partying had consumed too much cranberry juice, to the point where I, responsible host that I be, could not allow them do drive home.

Having foreseen the possibility that my Super Bowl Party might end up with all the beds in my abode being occupied, yesterday I bought an air bed at Walmart to add a back up to the air bed I already had.

Well, it did not go well when I blew up the new air bed. It has/had a built in pump. That worked fine. But, when the air bed began to approach being full it made a very unseemly popping noise, then a swelling down the length of the middle of the bed, sort of making a divider, with a narrow sleeping zone on either side.

Changing the subject from my air bed issues back to Village Creek.

Now, with the next three photos, taken today at Village Creek, we'll be looking at a wider view than I usually show you.

Above you are looking at the overlook that looks over the Village Creek Blue Bayou. A couple years ago the overlook suffered bad damage from a bad flood. Arlington then totally replaced the overlook with a much more flood resistant structure. Arlington does a very good job of maintaining its parks in peak condition, unlike some towns.

Fort Worth comes to mind as a town a bit weak in the park maintenance department. Fort Worth's Gateway Park's boarded up, flood damaged, boardwalks, come to mind. These have been boarded up eyesores for years.

Above is another view of the Village Creek Blue Bayou zone. That structure you see in the foreground is a picnic table, in the mid ground is the aforementioned Blue Bayou Overlook, looking over the Blue Bayou.

Let's leave the Blue Bayou now and walk the paved trail across Village Creek.

I really don't see the need to have a railing at this location. Is a person going to somehow meander off the trail and fall in the creek without this impediment? The trail here leads to a dam/bridge across Village Creek, one of two in the Natural Historical Area.

This bit of trail is particularly fun whilst on a bike. One can pick up quite a bit of speed and then one must carefully negotiate the sharp turn lest one find oneself swimming with the turtles.

I Did Not Ride A Recumbent Bike With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Today Before The Super Bowl

No, that is not me on a recumbent bike.

All sorts of things slowed me up this 1st Sunday of the 2nd month of 2013.

So, I exited my abode intending to skip my regular salubrious endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation acquired via walking, running, hiking or biking and instead just go to Walmart to get some Super Bowl Party supplies.

Including an air bed.

But, when I exited my abode, and was hit with a very good feeling outer world, I decided to go for a walk with the Indian Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington, before going to Walmart.

I saw six recumbent bikers biking with the Indian Ghosts today. I have never understood the attraction of recumbent biking.

Among the things that slowed me up today was getting caught up in an instant message texting frenzy with Frita Fremont. Frita was doing her frenzied instant messaging from Seattle, but I do not know if Frita Fremont was at the Fremont Sunday Market at the time.

Frita claimed I was acting all outraged in text message mode. Something to do with using a lot of exclamation points. All I was exclaiming was my bewilderment as to why Frita was inquiring about very very personal information, such as asking me what my shoe size is.

I do not believe I have ever asked anyone what their shoe size is. Or had anyone ask me mine. I shuddered at the impertinence, alarmed as to what followup questions would be asked if I allowed this particular line of questioning to continue.

Changing the subject from my mysterious shoe size to Walmart.

The store was a zoo. I suspect I was not the only one getting last minute Super Bowl Party supplies.

My Super Bowl Party menu is sweet potato chips, oven-fried chicken breast strips, coated with my proprietary whole wheat coating with 7 secret spices, oven-roasted garlic, olive oil red spuds, guacamole with cranberry, raspberry and pomegranate juice Sangria being the healthy libation.

I must figure out how to blow up an air bed now....

Going With Frita Fremont To Gateway Park To Mountain Bike Ride

This 1st Saturday of the 2nd month of 2013 is the first time my handlebars have been back on a mountain bike trail in quite some time.

For weeks, it seems, either ailing with respiratory woes, or the air being way too cold, has left me with no desire to do any pedaling.

But, today, with me feeling fine and the temperature in the 60s, I took off to Gateway Park to ride the Fort Worth Mountain Bike Association (FWMBA) trail.

It is beginning to become just a bit spooky how many times, of late, I leave my abode to find my mobile telecommunication device making its incoming call noise, to discover it is Frita Fremont calling.

I am starting to wonder if Frita has me under some sort of surveillance. Perhaps a satellite view letting her know when my motorized vehicular transport is in motion. Frita is quite the Smart Phone guru. Is there some sort of spy app tech geeks can avail themselves of?

Whatever the explanation is for Frita's uncanny calling, Frita talked me all the way to Gateway Park, with one short intermission to get gas.

I usually call my mom when I get gas, but due to the fact that I had to cut Frita off, in mid soliloquy, I said I'd call right back after I was done pumping.

I called back a couple minutes later which had Frita exclaiming that I was a fast pumper. I really did not know what to say, so I simply agreed that I am a very fast pumper.

I was very pleased at how well the bike riding went. I must have been pedaling at a high rate of speed, due to it seeming as if I reached various landmarks very quickly.

Now that I am back in bike mode, I must make a habit of it again.

When I was done spinning my non-motorized wheels, I spun my motorized wheels to Town Talk. I thought it would be exceptionally busy today with Town Talkers stocking up for the Super Bowl. However, I suffered no being crushed in a crowd sensations.

I think I am totally ready for my Super Bowl Party.

Now I just need to go to the bother of finding out who is playing. I know Beyonce is doing the halftime show. I am not a fan. I do not think I could name a Beyonce tune. I would prefer it be Nicki Minaj. Now, that would be some reliable entertainment. She could start by taking off with her catchy Starship song.

I currently have my computer room window open.

It gets old, this weather pattern in Texas in winter, a few days cold, a few days not cold, a few days running the furnace, a few days with the windows open.

Up In Seattle Mount Rainier Comes Out For Fort Worth's Galtex's In Search Of Uwajimaya

In the picture, in the foreground, you are looking at the Seattle Seahawk Stadium, behind the Seahawk Stadium you are looking at Safeco Field, where the Seattle Mariner's play baseball, behind that you are looking at Mount Rainier, where a volcano erupts every once in awhile.

Fort Worth residents, the Galtex's, are currently up in Seattle.

This morning I purloined the Mount Rainier picture from Gail Galtex when I saw it on Facebook.

When the Galtex's first visited Seattle a March or two ago, I opined that they would be very very lucky if the Mountain, as in Rainier, made an appearance. Well, they were lucky, an appearance was made.

And now, with the Galtex's in Seattle in the middle of Winter, I opined that they would be very very very lucky if the Mountain, as in Rainier, made an appearance.

Well, yesterday, the Mountain came out.

I suspect this has something to do with the upbeat natures of Mr. and Mrs. Galtex spreading sunshine wherever they go.

The Galtex's have been getting 'what to do' suggestions from natives, or former natives, familiar with what to do in the Seattle zone. One suggestion was to drive over Stevens Pass to Leavenworth.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it to Seattle in time to provide taxi service.

I have two new suggestions.

One is ride the Super Ferry to Bremerton. It does not cost too much to walk on. Unless the fare schedule has changed since I was a Washingtonian, you pay only one way. A Washington Super Ferry is way bigger than the ferry you might be able to use to cross Fort Worth's Pond Granger if that lake ever floats anything.

Suggestion number two is to go to Uwajimaya. I saw on Facebook that the Galtex's have already been all over Pioneer Square, which is an actual square, unlike Fort Worth's Sundance Square.

Uwajimaya is in what is now known as Seattle's International District. When I was a kid this was known as Chinatown. Seattle's Chinatown was not nearly up to the par of the Chinatowns in San Francisco, Vancouver or Los Angeles. I don't know if that is why the name was changed to the International District. Or maybe it was some politically correct thing to be more inclusive with the other Asian cultures.

If the Galtex's have been watching Top Chef: Seattle they have seen Uwajimaya  a couple times when a couple chefs went food shopping there.

Mr. and Mrs. Galtex, if you are reading this, it is very easy to find Uwajimaya . You can take the transit tunnel to the last station, that being the International District Station. Or walk from Pioneer Square to the Seahawk Stadium. There you will see the Union Station train building. Near there you will see a pedestrian bridge across the train tracks. Cross the bridge, on the other side you will come to a plaza and should see Uwajimaya.

In Uwajimaya you will find the best food court I have ever been to. Nothing like this exists in the D/FW Metroplex. Nor does anything like Uwajimaya exist in the D/FW Metroplex. Not that I've seen, anyway.

Hope the Mountain comes out for you again today!