A Melancholy Walk With Indian Ghosts A Year Since My Last McDonald's Double Fish Sandwich

Shortly before noon, before leaving for my daily scheduled bout of endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation, I got email with news that made it seem like today was a good day to go for a walk with the Indian Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington.

As you can see in the picture of the VCNHA paved trail, green is starting to appear in the outer world at my location. Spring is less than a week away, with the Vernal Equinox currently scheduled for next Wednesday, March 20.

Soon green and other colors will be sprouting in jungle abundance in North Texas.

Speaking of jungles. Since Monday I have been tasked with checking in on Miss Puerto Rico's elderly cat, Tasha, whilst Miss Puerto Rico is on her home island. Miss Puerto Rico is scheduled to arrive back in D/FW tonight at midnight, at which point my cat-sitting duty comes to an end.

I have been unable to get a clear explanation as to why Miss Puerto Rico flew to Puerto Rico for what amounts to 3 days, what with Monday and Friday being spent in the air. Miss Puerto Rico booked this flight herself, with no help from me, or a travel agent, for the first time. This may explain how she managed to fly out at 3 in the morning and is arriving back at midnight, after a two hour layover in Philadelphia.

A year ago today I was in the air, no actually, by now, I was on the ground, in Phoenix. I think, to be even more exact, at this precise point in time, a year ago, I was in a Phoenix McDonald's having myself a Double Fish Sandwich, with my mom and dad and sister.

My Arizona sister used to be my Middle Sister, with my Little Sister being the sister in Tacoma. I used to have a Big Sister, who some of my siblings, and myself, now refer to as BS, or Sister Non Grata. Well, actually it is just me, as far as I know, who refer to BS as Sister Non Grata.

If it was a year ago today that I flew to Phoenix, that means tomorrow it will be a year since I saw Spencer Jack, his dad and girl friend Brittney.

Time flies.

I've heard time flies particularly fast when one is having fun. I guess I must have way too much fun....

Walking A Fort Worth Greenbelt With The Fruits Of My Seeds

This morning I had to be up in Hurst. Going to Hurst, from my location, I drive through the 820/121 freeway construction zone. Back at the start of my exile in Texas I soon came upon 2 big freeway exchange construction projects.

One was the downtown Fort Worth Mixmaster. I remember being appalled when I learned that this had been being constructed for many years. The first year or two I did not see much progress. And then, it seemed sort of suddenly, the Mixmaster was open.

The other big freeway exchange construction I saw soon upon arrival in Texas was the original 820/121 complex of overpasses. This was a nuisance to drive through whilst being constructed, but was quickly completed. And now, a decade later, give or take a year, that same freeway exchange is back being a big construction mess. To be completed when? I don't know.

I got back from Hurst in time for my regularly scheduled daily walk. I opted to take a hike in my neighborhood, again. Walking the new, to me, Fort Worth Greenbelt. That's the Greenbelt you see in the picture.

I remember a few years back being appalled to discover the Tandy Hills. With the appalling part being that I lived so close to these hills, for years, and did not know it. I'd drive many miles to Cedar Hills State Park or Rockledge Park in Grapevine or Dinosaur Valley State Park, just to find myself some hills to hike on.

And now in the past month I've learned there are multiple decent walking venues right in my neighborhood.

I wonder how many gallons of gas I've burned over the years driving to find myself a hill to hike on?

The end of my walk today took me to Albertsons to get this week's FW Weekly. Near a couple fast food joints that are next to Albertsons I saw the sign you see below.

I've noticed this sign for what seems years, but I've never bothered to actually read it til today.

Apparently "COMING SOON" my neighborhood will have a Divine Touch Lounge & Grill, along with Lv's Barber & Beauty Salon. And my favorite, Fruits Of My Seeds 24 HR CHILDCARE CENTER.

That is a really interesting mix of businesses. I wonder how soon coming soon is? Sooner than the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle? I expect I will see Fruits Of My Seeds before I ever see the Granger Pond.

Combined With Dallas Fort Worth Is One Of America's Least Favorite Cities

Last week I was really surprised when I learned that Fort Worth is known world-wide as one of the Greatest Cities in the World.

I am a fairly ignorant guy, so me not knowing that Fort Worth is known world-wide as one of the Greatest Cities in the World is not too surprising.

But, now that I know that Fort Worth is one of the Greatest Cities in the World I can't help but wonder how this fact is determined and by what criteria such a claim is made.

A survey in Travel Leisure Magazine online about America's Most Favorite Cities only made me more confused about how it is that Fort Worth is considered, world-wide, to be one of the Greatest Cities in the World.

The survey ranks the Top 35 American Cities by its reputation regarding certain criteria, with the categories labeled Intelligent, Attractive, Tech Savvy, Sports Crazed, Diverse, Stylish, Proud of Their City, Athletic/Active, Driving Ability, Offbeat.

I am most familiar with two of the urban zones on these lists, that being Seattle and Dallas/Fort Worth.  Let's mix another Texas town with the two I'm most familiar with and see how the towns do on some of these lists.

America's Most Intelligent City is Seattle. Austin comes in at #10. Dallas/Fort Worth is dead last at #35. I"m shocked.

America's 13th Most Diverse City is Seattle. Austin is #18. Dallas/Fort Worth did a little better with diversity than in the Intelligence department, coming in at #34.

America's 9th Most Sports Crazed City is Dallas/Fort Worth. Austin is #12. Seattle is #20.

America's 3rd Most Athletic/Active City is Seattle. Austin is almost as Athletic and Active as Seattle, at #4. Dallas/Fort Worth is dead last again, at #35.

I think I've mentioned previously that it is really amazing how many more plus-sized people there are in the D/FW zone than in the Seattle zone. Every time I'm back in the Pacific Northwest it takes me awhile to get used to most of the people looking like they've had the air let out of them. Then I fly back to Texas and its over supply of pumped up balloon people.

The town that came in at #11 with Most Attractive People is Austin. Seattle is #20.  Dallas/Fort Worth is #32.

America's #1 Tech Savvy City is Seattle. Austin is #3. And once again, Dallas/Fort Worth is dead last at #35.

I thought for sure that D/FW would do well in the Friendly category. I thought wrong. Austin is America's 12th Most Friendly town, with Seattle #19. And Dallas/Fort Worth #30.

Austin is the 3rd Most Offbeat City in America. Seattle is #9. And once again Dallas/Fort Worth is dead last at #35.

Combining all the categories for an Overall Ranking has Austin at #5. Seattle at #7. And once again, Dallas/Fort Worth is dead last at #35.

Well, enough of that, you can click on the links and see the lists and all the categories.

So, now I am faced with even more of a conundrum of a mystery. As in by what criteria can Fort Worth possibly be considered one of the World's Greatest Cities?

In this Travel and Leisure survey I think it must be Dallas that brings Fort Worth down to the bottom. I'm almost certain if Fort Worth were judged without having that Dallas noose around its neck that Fort Worth would be at the top, or near it, on all these lists, because, like everyone knows, Fort Worth is one of the Greatest Cities in the World....

Hiking On The Tandy Hills In One Of The Greatest Cities In The World

In the photo you are looking west from the summit of Mount Tandy, from whence a wagon trail heads towards the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, a town some of the locals believe is known planet-wide as one of the Greatest Cities in the World.

More on the Greatest Cities in the World delusion in a subsequent blogging.

Today's hiking conditions were just about perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. And not windy.

With local kids on Spring Break I would have thought there would be some kids doing some hill hiking today. But I saw none.

I heard on the radio whilst driving to the Tandy Hills that traffic was a bit congested in the area around the Fort Worth Zoo due to Wednesday being half price admission day at the zoo, which always draws a big crowd to the zoo during Spring Break.

I've only been to the Fort Worth Zoo once, a long long time ago. There were areas of the Fort Worth Zoo that I liked. And other parts that I did not like. Like the aquarium. Is that aquarium still operating? It smelled bad and looked sort of rundown. Not the type thing you expect to see in the zoo of one of the Greatest Cities in the World.

Speaking of things you don't expect to see. Today I came upon a pile of litter at an unlikely location on the Tandy Hills.

That is the pile of litter I am talking about, above. This pile of litter is located just a short distance south of Tandy Falls. Where did it come from and who left it at this location? The two metal chunks of litter looked like they'd be heavy and cumbersome to carry.

Green is beginning to re-appear on that which has been brown for months. It being March wildflowers should soon be blooming. To my eyes, the best Texas ever looks is when the wildflowers are blooming.

Chesapeake Energy's Weed Infested Welcome To Woodhaven

Every time I take a walking tour of my neighborhood I walk by the increasingly eyesore-ish scene you see in the picture.

This is a Welcome to the Woodhaven neighborhood installation.

Chesapeake Energy uninstalled the original Welcome to the Woodhaven neighborhood installation when Chesapeake Energy dug up this location as part of their installation of an underground pipeline carrying non-odorized natural gas from my neighborhood Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale Natural Gas Extraction Fracking Site.

When Chesapeake Energy installed a new version of the Welcome to the Woodhaven neighborhood installation it was not an eyesore.

Now, a few months later, the welcome to the Woodhaven neighborhood installation is a weed infested mess.

Is this some sort of visual metaphor representing the ongoing damage Chesapeake Energy has done and is doing to Fort Worth and the surrounding area?

The City of Fort Worth used to get cranky with soon to be former Fort Worther, soon to be Marfian, Don Young, because of his natural landscaping. Is the City of Fort Worth going to get equally cranky with Chesapeake Energy over the mess Chesapeake Energy has made at the northwest corner of Boca Raton Boulevard and Bridgewood Drive?

I suspect not. And that is sort of perplexing....

Thorns On The Sidewalks Of Fort Worth

Continuing on with my popular Fort Worth's Sad Sidewalk Situation Series.

This morning I went hiking, again, in the new, to me, Canyon Creek zone. To get to the Canyon Creek zone I walk on something somewhat rare in my neighborhood.

A sidewalk.

This particular sidewalk is on the north side of Boca Raton Boulevard. The south side of Boca Raton Boulevard has no sidewalk at this location.

I only walked a short distance on Boca Raton Boulevard, before getting to the Canyon Creek zone. And yet in that short distance I came upon two instances of what you see in the pictures.

Vegetation with rather prickly looking thorns sticking out over the sidewalk.

This seems a bit hazardous to me. Particular at night with no street light in sight.

Or to someone wheeling along in a wheelchair.

I have seen people wheeling along in a wheelchair on Boca Raton a time or two.

Seeing something like a thorn obstructing a sidewalk is something one might expect to see in a town few have ever heard of, like Dallas or Seattle or Denver.

But seeing something like a thorn obstructing a sidewalk in Fort Worth?

A town known all over the planet as one of the Greatest Cities in the World?

That really is just unacceptable.

And very perplexing...

Rockin' The Trinity River Is Blocked In Some Foreign Countries

This morning I learned, via what you see above, that one of my YouTube videos is being blocked by some countries.

I don't know what countries are doing the blocking.

The video being blocked is one I made of Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's very first Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Float.

There may be a few females in skimpy attire in the video.

Maybe a Muslim nation, or two, found that objectionable.

The video depicts seemingly sane people floating in a river, that being the Trinity River, that is regarded, by many, as being much too polluted to be floating in, where ones bare skin touches that water.

Maybe a really pristine country, like Holland, found it objectionable to see so many people getting in water so dirty.

One of the songs playing on the radio, that you can hear in the video, had something to do with whiskey and women, or maybe it was whiskey and one woman, or was it whiskey and a river? I don't remember.

Maybe the video is blocked by a country that still prohibits the use of alcohol. Are there any of those?

Below is the blocked YouTube video.....

J.D. Granger Thinks TCC's Watersports Have Changed A Mysterious Game Somewhere On The Trinity River

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle and its executive director, J.D. Granger, really are goofy gifts that just keep on giving.

On the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's website, in an article titled TCC adds watersports to its list of offerings we learn, from J.D. Granger that a TCC watersports course  offering is a "game changer in how local educators approach physical education."

Congresswoman Kay Granger's son also said, in regard to this new use of the Trinity River that “We have a wonderful recreation opportunity right in our own backyard, and it’s time that we start using the Trinity River to its full capacity.”

Tarrant County College's Watersports class is an 8 week course where students will learn how to operate a paddleboard, wakeboard and kayak.

The wakeboard lessons will take place at one of the few completed Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's projects, that being the Cowtown Wakepark, site of the world's premiere urban wakeboard venue.

Cowtown Wakeparpark is just one of the many reasons Fort Worth is known world-wide as one of the Greatest Cities in the World.

I can not help but be curious as to why J.D. Granger thinks adding a watersports class to the TCC curriculum is some sort of game changer. What game is being changed? And who is playing this game?

A Sunday Walk With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts & Lots Of Litter

I somehow missed most of last night's North Texas Thunderstorming.

I heard only one clap of thunder.

And that clap was not close.

I somehow did not hear the rain pouring down in what I've been told were copious amounts.

By daylight there were some storm indicators on the ground in the form of water puddles and debris.

Some of the debris was in the form of items like tree limbs.

Other storm debris was in the form of litter. Like the litter you see in the picture that I saw when I went walking with the Indian Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington today.

All that litter piled up behind a dam/bridge does not seem all that natural in a Natural Area.

It was in the 60s, I think, when I went for a cool pool dip this morning. We have lost about 15 degrees since then.

Tomorrow I begin 5 days of catsitting Miss Puerto Rico's extremely neurotic cat. I hope I don't forget that I am supposed to check in on that neurotic cat...

A Five Decade Old JFK Speech He Could Have Given Today

JFK's words, five decades later, sadly, really sadly, are still applicable.

Where, oh where, is a Lincoln, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy or any political voice of reason in America today?

Listening to JFK passionately advocate for doing all we can to help all our citizens live lives to the best of their ability, with part of that help being government's ever, hopefully, expanding role of helping Americans create the best America that America can be, is just depressing, compared to the political discourse that coarsely erodes civil discourse in the 2013 slip sliding version of America that I am pretty sure JFK would be totally appalled by.

I know I am.

Appalled.