Tandy Hill Hiking Unsuccessful Finding Texas Wildflowers Blooming

Yesterday I read somewhere that a couple species of Texas Wildflowers had been spotted blooming on the Tandy Hills.

So, today I went hill hiking on the Tandy Hills, covering mile after hilly mile, looking for the couple species of Texas Wildflowers that had been spotted blooming on the Tandy Hills.

To no avail.

By the time my illusive Texas Wildflower search came to the Tandy Amphitheater zone I felt the need to sit for awhile.

And so I did.

Texas Wildflower hunting is exhausting.

I wonder if reservations are going to be required to secure a seat for the Tandy Amphitheater shows during the Power to the Prairie 2013 Prairie Fest, Saturday, April 27?

Despite my Texas Wildflower finding failure, I got in some good hill hiking endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation, in perfect temperature conditions, not too hot, not too cold. A Goldilocks type day.

I had myself a good bout of cool pool hot tub cycling early this morning. I think that activity also induces some endorphins.

With the temperature currently being 67, heading to a potential high today somewhere in the 70s, tomorrow's cool pool bout may not require any hot tub interaction. I will know for sure in the morning, about one minute after getting in the cool pool.

Big Thorns Landscaping One Of The Greatest Cities In The World

The focus in the photo is not my neighborhood Jack in the Box, in the background.

What we are looking at in this photo is the biggest thorn type weed I have ever seen growing in an ostensibly landscaped venue.

I needed to find myself some vinegar if my lunch plan of Sweet and Sour Chicken Veggies was going to work. So, I walked the short distance from my abode to Albertsons to find myself some vinegar.

Leaving Albertsons, after successfully finding vinegar, I decided to take a walk around the Albertsons "strip mall" before heading back to my abode.

In front the Metro PCS part of the "strip mall" I came upon the gigantic thorn.

What you can not see, and what first caught me eye, was the astonishing amount of litter mingling with the weeds in this "landscaped" area in front of a "strip mall" in what we now know is planet-wide known as one of the World's Greatest Cities.

I guess growing gigantic weeds in a "landscaped" commercial business area is one of those things one expects to see in one of the World's Greatest Cities.

Walking With The Indian Ghosts Across Flotsam Free Village Creek In Arlington

Yesterday I took a rare day off from getting any endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation, due to the outer world being too cool and too windy.

Today, by noon, the outer world was warmed into the relatively balmy mid 40s, with only a slight breeze blowing.

So, I drove to Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area to walk with the Indian Ghosts who have haunted this zone ever since their evictions and exterminations courtesy of incoming Texans.

The last time I was in the location of the above picture, machinery was removing the flotsam that was stuck up against the dam, stopping a massive litter pile up from making its way to its Trinity River destiny.

Today I was pleased to see the dam bridge is totally flotsam free, with the pile of litter merrily on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Today I was freshly wondering where have all the Village Creek armadillos gone? Ever since I learned armadillos are also known as Hoover Hogs, and were an edible East Texas delicacy, I've not seen a single one of these possibly tasty morsels.

Speaking of lunch, the lunch bell just rang. Chicken with oven-fried (in olive oil) spud chunks and salad with yellow pepper. And lemonade. All natural and homemade with no high fructose corn syrup.

Palm Sunday Windy Chill In Texas Has Me Housebound

Today, the view of my cool pool is a bit different than the rainy view from my patio I blog posted yesterday.

The cool pool was really cool this morning. At the pool point in time, soon after the sun rose, the temperature was 36, with a very strong wind making the outer world really feel like 23.

23 is cool. But I still got in the pool. Three cycles in and out of the cool pool in to the not cool hot tub.

The time is currently a couple minutes before noon. The wind is still blowing hard. The temperature has climbed to 41, but that wind blowing still has the air really feeling like it is freezing.

I thought we were done with big chills til sometime next October. I thought we were at the time of the year when I could easily have myself a reliably long endorphin inducing, aerobically stimulating swim.

I braced myself against the wind and the cold and drove up to Hurst, to ALDI, this morning. I should have worn a coat. I got gas at the Fast Trac across the street from ALDI. Seven gallons in the tank and I could not take the shivering a gallon longer, and so I stopped the pumping.

It is rare for a day to pass without me getting myself some endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation via some fast walking or hill hiking.

I am not going to bundle up and go on a walk or hike today. I would need to wear gloves, lest frostbite set in. Seems more sensible just to stay inside and throw another log in the fireplace....

If Texas Secedes From The Union Will I Be An Illegal Alien?

The graphic on the left comes from Sunday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram, showing Texas slip sliding away from the Union.

The article accompanying the graphic, titled "What if Texas really did secede?" has me worried.

If Texas secedes from the Union will transplanted Yankees, like me, be deported due to being illegal aliens?

A sampling of what is in this news story that has me worried...

Some 177 years after a violent divorce from Mexico, some unhappy Texans are again touting separation from the motherland, this time after a presidential election didn't favor one of the reddest states in the country.

Perhaps it's no surprise. Texas is the only state that has twice tried breakaways, experiencing the spoils of victory in 1836 but the torment of defeat in 1865.

What if Texas really did secede?

Pros and cons
Plentiful resources could be the difference
Texas is uniquely positioned to survive because of resources and population. It has one-fourth of U.S. oil reserves and one-third of the natural gas. The state's gross domestic product was $1.2 billion* in 2011, which would make it the world's 14th-biggest economy.

The challenges would be immense

The uncertainties are overwhelming: How would Texas manage healthcare and Social Security? How would it retire its share of the national debt? How would it repay federal loan guarantees for infrastructure and transportation projects?

*$1.2 billion? I suspect the correct figure is $1.2 trillion.

In Search Of Fosdick Lake Wildflowers While Wondering About Vegetable Fungus

Prior to my regularly scheduled Saturday visit to Town Talk I stopped at Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdick Lake.

The only flower type color I saw today in the Fosdick Lake zone was the pink color you see in the picture.

With the end of March rapidly approaching I grow concerned that the Texas Wildflowers might not be putting on their regular reliable colorful show this year.

My memory is not to be trusted, but I think I remember wildflowers already coloring up the outer world at this early Spring point in time, in years past.

Have we not had enough water drop from the sky to cause the sprouting of wildflowers?

This morning's storm did not drop much water at my location. All was dry by the time I walked around Fosdick Lake.

All the electrical zapping this morning seems to have had a cleansing effect on the air that I breathe. Mother Nature's negative ionizer did a good job.

My house in Mount Vernon had a negative ionizer as part of the ventilation system. This made for an extremely low level of dust in that house, unlike my current dusty abode with no negative ionizer, except for that occasionally provided by the aforementioned Mother Nature.

This morning I was in the mood to make Chinese food for lunch. My in-house vegetable supply was non-existent. I told myself if I found something at Town Talk that seemed to empower Chinese food, then I'd go with the Chinese food for lunch mood.

Well, I walked into the Town Talk warehouse and what do I find? Bok Choy, yellow peppers, onions and mushrooms.

So, it was Chinese food for lunch. A pork stir fry with the Town Talk veggies. Are mushrooms a vegetable? I guess I should ask if a fungus is a vegetable? Is it?

Wondering About Missing Popabrella During A Texas Thunderstorm

As you can see, via the view of the cool pool from my patio, this next to last Saturday of March started off dark, well after the sun arrived to try and light up the outer world.

Those white spots in the photo are big raindrops, illuminated by the camera's flash.

Before the dark break of dawn, excess electricity was in the air, causing bright flashes of light, followed by loud booms of thunder.

I like swimming in the rain, but this morning, due to that excessive electricity zapping out of the sky, I decided to opt out of getting in the cool pool, thus exercising extreme electrical caution.

Now, coming up on mid-morning, the sky has lightened, with no more lightning or thunder booming at my location.

I suspect I will go to Oakland Lake Park, today, to walk around Fosdick Lake before joining the throngs of treasure hunters at Town Talk.

Changing the subject from one thing to another.

This morning to take a photo in the rain I stuck my camera to my Popabrella. A Popabrella is this umbrella like thing that keeps one's camera dry, or blocks the sun.

The inventor of the Popabrella won many awards, over the years, for his Popabrella invention. Years ago I made a website for the inventor. That website was hosted on a server of the owner's choice, not my server, so, unless asked to make a change, I had no reason to check out the Popabrella website.

Until this morning.

The Popabrella website is no more. The domain has been taken over by some Japanese entity. After last week's shocking news about the Unstoppable Woman, I can't help wonder what's happened with Popabrella.

To find a Popabrella image I went to my Popabrella files to find, to my horror, that the Popabrella images folder has been deleted. How did that happen?

I then remembered where I've got another, undeleted, Popabrella photo.

In the slideshow, on this very blog, located on the column on the right, there is a photo of me, standing in the pool, holding my camera with Popabrella attached.

I must try and find out what's become of Popabrella. How I am going to do that I currently do not know....

Perplexed By Disenfranchised Voters In The Tarrant Regional Water District

I do not know which Saturday in May the Tarrant Regional Water Board election takes place.

I do know it is very odd that elections take place, in Fort Worth, on Saturdays, in May.

I also know it is very odd that this particular election was arbitrarily postponed a year, even though those elected are elected to four year terms.

I also know it is very odd that not all the voters who live in the Tarrant Regional Water District are allowed to vote for Water Boarders.

For instance, I am allowed to vote in this election because I live in Fort Worth. If I lived in Haltom City I would not be allowed to vote in this election, even though I live in the Tarrant Regional Water District in a town which has deadly flash floods, indicating Haltom City is direly effected by Tarrant Regional Water Board policies, but can not vote on those who make the policies.

And the locals accept this bizarre situation. Why the disenfranchised locals accept this bizarre situation is perplexingly bizarre to me.

This morning I got a blog comment from Dannyboy to a blogging yesterday where I verbalized my perplexation regarding the lack of public participation in proposed public works in Fort Worth that sheds light on the Fort Worth elections in May anomaly and a couple other things....

Dannyboy has left a new comment on your post "Wondering About The Effect Of Fort Worth's Citizen's Minimalist Public Participation In Proposed Public Works": 

There is a huge lack of public participation on any Fort Worth local government issues. Look at the city council elections this year. Everyone is unopposed. And they hold local elections on a Saturday in the spring. Because the local stuff is the only thing on the ballot, turnout is very low, rarely above even 10 percent. Many cities throughout the country put their local (council, transit, library funding, road building) on the ballot in November, and they obviously get more people engaged and a turnout that is usually over 50 percent. The reason Fort Worth does it this way is that 1) low turnout helps incumbents, and 2) Fort Worth doesn't think any public participation is good. An example: when I moved to Fort Worth from up north many years ago, I asked a neighbor why there weren't any public pools on the near west side of FW. I was told that 1) public pools draw the wrong kind of people, and 2) join a country club if I wanted a place to swim for my daughter (all this is moot now, as FW has gotten rid of its public pools). That sums up FW in a nutshell. If you tell people you would hope the mass transit system gets improved, they ask you if your car is broken down or if your lost your job. And this goes from the young trendies up to the I-hate-everything-old-people. 

UPDATE: I have been informed the Tarrant Regional Water Board Election is Saturday, May 11.

Helping Make The World A Better Place One Weed At A Time

Today I was not in the mood to drive anywhere to have myself a long walk, and so I walked around the block that surrounds the location of my abode.

A week or two ago I noticed and blogged about the weed infestation that was turning Chesapeake Energy's Welcome to Woodhaven re-installation into a bit of an eyesore.

Chesapeake Energy re-installed the Welcome to Woodhaven installation because Chesapeake removed the original so pipeline could be inserted underground to carry non-odorized natural gas to a processing location.

Today when I walked by the Chesapeake Energy Welcome to Woodhaven re-installation I noticed that a lot of the weeds had been pulled. Below is what the Welcome to Woodhaven re-installation looked like the last time I blogged about it.

Did me blogging about this eyesore cause the weeds to get pulled? I doubt it, even though I do like to think I am making the world a better place, one weed at a time.

Wondering About The Effect Of Fort Worth's Citizen's Minimalist Public Participation In Proposed Public Works

Last night I was lost on the Internet, going from link to link, and at one point I ended up at Wikipedia's article about the Sound Transit Link Light Rail system. Sound Transit is a light rail mass transit system similar to the Dallas DART train system.

Sound Transit moves people in the Western Washington counties of King, Pierce and Snohomish. King County is where Seattle is located, Tacoma is in Pierce County, Everett is in Snohomish County.

Previously, on more than one occasion, when I've compared something in the D/FW zone to the Seattle zone I've heard simplistic comments, like all you need to know about me is Seattle good, Fort Worth bad. I have explained, previously, the Seattle zone and the D/FW zone are the metro areas with which I am most familiar and so when something strikes me as sort of profoundly different, I  tend to notice it and comment on it. If that makes Fort Worth sound bad and Seattle sound good, well, when one holds up a mirror one can't complain about what one sees, if one is being honest.

So, I have long noticed that when an election takes place in Texas there is very little to vote on. No initiatives, referendums, few bond issues, few issues of any sort. I think there may have been some sort of road building bond issue since I was in Texas, but I don't remember being motivated to vote on it, one way or the other.

I have also noticed that HUGE public works projects can happen in Texas with no public vote. Such as the billion dollar Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Now, of the west coast cities Seattle was late to adding light rail to its transit mix, lagging way behind San Francisco, Portland and Vancouver. At the same point in time, in the late 1960s, (or was it early 1970s?), that San Francisco approved building the BART rail system, the Puget Sound zone rejected the light rail part of a bond issue called Forward Thrust, that being the vote that gave Seattle the now gone Kingdome, among many other things, including new water treatment installations to clean up Puget Sound and Lake Washington.

Decades later, in the 1990s, with traffic getting really bad, voters finally approved light rail, currently up and running and expanding.

Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, little gets voted on. How is it this town can not replace the decrepit Will Rogers Memorial Center, where rodeos are held during the Stock Show? How can the town known as Cowtown, that claims to be Where the West Begins, not figure out how to build a replacement for a seriously outdated facility?

Fort Worth built the Will Rogers Memorial Center way back in 1936. Since 1970 Seattle built the Kingdome, Safeco Field, the Kingdome replacement Seahawk football stadium, expanded Key Arena and is about to start construction on a new basketball arena for the incoming new Seattle Supersonics.

Since 1970, near as I can tell, Fort Worth has built nothing of the sort of things I've seen built in Seattle.

Oh, I forgot, Fort Worth built the now very run-down La Grave Field where Fort Worth has a professional baseball team playing in leagues with teams from towns with populations in the 20,000 range, give or take a few people.

Why such a difference between two towns, with one of them being known as one of the Greatest Cities in the World?

Well, I think I know what causes one key difference between Seattle and Fort Worth, that being public participation in proposed public works.

Read the following three paragraphs from the Wikipedia article about Sound Transit Link Light Rail and see if you can spot differences between how things are done and come to fruition in progressive, liberal, Washington, and think about how public works projects come about, or don't come about, in less progressive, less liberal Fort Worth and environs...

In November 1996, voters in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties approved increases in sales taxes and vehicle excise taxes to pay for a $3.9 billion transit package that included $1.7 billion for a light rail system, including Central Link and Tacoma Link. Over the next several years, debates raged over various issues surrounding the Central Link line.

Sound Transit's Phase 2 plan, under the name of ST2 (Sound Transit 2), is the plan for the second phase of Link Light Rail expansion. ST2 was put before voters in November 2007 as part of the "Roads and Transit" measure, which included hundreds of miles of highway expansion along with the light rail, but failed to pass. Sound Transit then put another ST2 plan on the ballot in November 2008. The measure passed by large margins. The plan will extend light rail to Lynnwood Transit Center in the north, S. 272nd St. in Federal Way to the south, and Downtown Bellevue and Overlake Transit Center to the east.

In November 2008, voters approved the construction of an East Link light rail line connecting the city of Seattle to Mercer Island and the Eastside communities of Bellevue and Redmond as part of the Proposition 1 measure. This line will split from Central Link just south of the International District/Chinatown Station in downtown Seattle, extend across the I-90 bridge express lanes through downtown Bellevue and serve the Overlake Transit Center, including Microsoft headquarters.

___________________________________

Voters voting on a public works project. What a concept. Debates raging over various issues. What a concept. Connecting towns by light rail. What a concept.