A Quanah Parker Park Mantis & Snake Encounter With Wenatchee Cherries At Town Talk

Today, this last Saturday of May, I parked at the Quanah Parker Park parking lot to commune with nature before making my weekly treasure hunting trek to Town Talk.

Quanah Parker Park was blooming a lot of wildflowers today.

There were the ubiquitous Indian Blankets and others whose names I do not know, such as the pink tulip-like wildflower you see in the picture.

I briefly knew a woman once who had a Hello Kitty pink color fixation. I saw this wildflower pink patch and thought of that particular person.

Today whilst walking the Quanah Parker Park paved trail I had myself a snake encounter. The snake was a high speed slitherer, so I had no chance to get a picture before it disappeared.

My other wildlife encounter was with a Praying Mantis. Or is it Preying Mantis? Whatever the correct name these have to be the oddest insects in the world of insects. For some reason at the moment I spotted the Mantis I did not feel like disturbing it by taking a picture.  Maybe that reluctance was partly due to not wanting to get all that close to the thing whilst take a picture in macro mode. Or maybe I did not want to intrude upon its praying. Or preying.

At Town Talk today I found myself Tillamook white extra sharp cheddar cheese, some really good mangoes, acorn and hubbard squash, plums and cherries from this place in the state of Washington called Wenatchee.

Wenatchee sounds more like an Indian name than Quanah Parker  does.

Spencer Jack's Uncle Joey Safely Crosses One Of The Remaining Skagit River Bridges To Possibly Visit Betty Jo Bouvier In Sedro-Woolley

Apparently Spencer Jack's Uncle Joey needed to get to the north side of the Skagit River. With crossing the river on Interstate 5 currently not doable, Joey took Skagit River Alternative Route 2 to cross the river.

Joey recorded his safe crossing of the river and then emailed me with the video documentation of his successful river crossing.

It has been a few years since I have used this particular bridge to cross the Skagit River. This is known as the Sedro-Woolley Skagit River Bridge.

Joey lives in Clear Lake, a little town situated on a clear lake, a mile or two south of the Sedro-Woolley Skagit River Bridge.

Betty Jo Bouvier lives in Sedro-Woolley and is currently home on a long Memorial Day weekend. I do not know if Joey was driving to Sedro-Woolley to visit Betty Jo Bouvier.

Today's Bike Ride Had Me Thinking About Riding Fort Worth's Light Rail Public Transit All The Way To Panther Island Pavilion

I took my two wheel bi-pedal transport mode to Trinity Park today to have myself some endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

I can not think of a nicer Fort Worth park than Trinity Park. I know it is the only Fort Worth park with a statue of Mark Twain. And I think it may also be a rare Fort Worth park with modern restroom facilities.

Though, now that you are making me think about this I don't know if I have actually seen Trinity Park's modern restroom facility or why I think they exist.

Fort Worth's light rail public transit runs through Trinity Park, hauling people back and forth across the Trinity River between Trinity Park and the Fort Worth Zoo.

As I watched the Fort Worth light rail public transit pass by it appeared to me that the train was running at full capacity.

With the Fort Worth light rail pubic transit running at full capacity methinks maybe additional trains need to be added to the system. And maybe extend the line all the way into the heart of Fort Worth's fabled Cultural District and all the way to Fort Worth's fabled music venue, Panther Island Pavilion.....

This Morning I Woke Up To Shocking Bridge Collapse News From Washington

Spencer Jack's Dad With Collapsed I-5 Bridge

This morning when I woke up my computer, among the incoming email I saw two from Spencer Jack's dad, that being my nephew Jason, and one from Connie D, that being the Fort Worth Connie D, not the Tacoma version.

The subject line in the Connie D email was "Did you see this?" I clicked on the link in the email and was more than a little surprised by what I saw.

But the details were a bit sketchy (MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) Authorities say there were no fatalities when an Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed. The Thursday evening bridge failure dumped vehicles and people into the water), so I was not totally sure exactly what I was looking at.

Go Skagit On-Line's Bridge Collapse on I-5 Info

There are several bridges over rivers on Interstate 5 north of Seattle. The MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) part of the article had me thinking this could not possibly be the I-5 bridge between Mount Vernon and Burlington. Could it?

Then I opened Spencer Jack's dad's email to see the picture above to realize it was the I-5 bridge in my old hometowns of Mount Vernon and Burlington that collapsed.

I remember when that bridge was built. If that bridge is old enough to have such a failure, for no apparent reason, like an earthquake, well, America, methinks our infrastructure really is in trouble.

UPDATE: I later learned the bridge collapse was caused by a truck with too wide a load hitting the bridge trusses, which was a known vulnerability of an outdated bridge design.

Losing the I-5 bridge is going to make for some Skagit Valley traffic nightmares til it gets fixed. In Mount Vernon there are now only two bridges across the river, with one taking you to West Mount Vernon, with a long detour to get yourself back to I-5.

The other remaining bridge across the river in Mount Vernon is a short distance to the east of I-5, with it being a new bridge built this century to replace the old bridge on Highway 99, that being the highway that I-5 replaced. If I remember right, the new Highway 99 bridge is 4 lanes wide. I think I've only been over it once.

Fort Worth locals reading this, whose only river they've ever seen is named Trinity, in the pictures you are looking at a full size river, not a big-sized creek. At the location where the bridge collapsed the Skagit River is contained by dikes that are not nearly as massive as the levees that keep the Trinity River from going over its banks as it passes past downtown Fort Worth.

You can safely eat any fish you catch in the Skagit River. But, apparently, you do not want to be standing in the shade of a Skagit River bridge when you do your fishing.

UPDATE: After blogging this morning I checked my phone to see that last night I had voice mails about the bridge collapse, including one from Spencer Jack's dad and one from my mom telling me to turn on CNN.

Then I checked in on Facebook to see what some of my friends up in the Skagit Valley had to say about the I-5 debacle...

Martin is the first husband of one of my best friends from high school. Martin is a Skagit Valley farmer and best selling author. Martin is a bit profane, so please excuse his extremely foul language...

And then there was this first hand account of the Skagit Valley's bridge collapse traffic woes from one of my best friends from high school, Bev....

And this from one of my friends from high school, Bruce....

To those reading this in Texas who are unfamiliar with such things, in the photo above, that bluish item under the clouds, in the background, is known as a mountain. Well, actually, a Cascade Mountains foothill. If I remember right this particular "hill" is called Cultus Mountain.

Fishing In Fosdick Lake While Hunting Endorphins With A White Swan

Wednesday was a day with zero endorphins peacefully calming me after a bout of aerobic stimulation.

Thursday started out with a bout of pool based aerobic stimulation and its resultant endorphins.

The noon time frame had me getting myself some more endorphins via aerobic stimulation acquired via fast walking around Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

The fisherman you see in the picture perplexed me.  Did he gain greater fish access by putting on a pair of hip boots and wading out 3 feet from shore?

And why do people bother trying to catch fish in Fosdick  Lake, what with all the warning signs letting you know you don't want to be eating fish you catch in this lake?

The Fosdick Swan was still in residence, at the same location I saw the Fosdick  Swans days ago. Today the Fosdick Swan seemed to have lost his duck followers, replaced by a flock of doves. Along with the little bird, you see sitting next to the Fosdick Swan, who seems to have adopted the Fosdick Swan as a parental figure.

The Fosdick Swan has some kind benefactors, well at least one. I watched a lady scatter food on the ground near the White Swan, after which the White Swan awkwardly waddled to the food source to do some eating.

Swans look very graceful whilst floating on water. On ground swans do not look so graceful.

I did not think rain was in the forecast for the noon time frame today. However, some precipitation precipitated whilst  I was doing my fast walking. The precipitation precipitating felt real good, a nice antidote to the oppressive humidity.

Ennui Has Me In Its Evil Grip

I do not know why the picture of the view from my patio looks  so dark. Does my camera have some sort of sensor that detects  my mood? Maybe I accidentally put the camera on the bad mood setting, causing the picture to look moody.

I was able to go swimming this morning for the first time in 2 days, but the pool is still about a foot short of being full. It takes a long time for one garden hose to fill a big pool.

Yesterday I did not realize I had not done my usual daily blogging thing til I started getting emails and blog comments asking if I was okay. Or still alive.

I think Elsie Hotpepper was the first to inquire about my well being, which sort of confused me because I thought I'd done something at Elsie Hotpepper's request that very morning. But, I may be a day off in correctly remembering when I'd done something at Elsie Hotpepper's request.

Yesterday morning, (or was it the day before?), I found myself consumed with a bad case of ennui.

The ennui bout may have been precipitated by the fact that it seems I have gone days without my regular aerobically induced endorphin stimulation.

There have been a variety of causal factors that have caused my endorphin shortage. Bad weather, a waterless pool, a doctor visit.

Combine the endorphin shortage with a sort of sense of doom, some doom sense tornado related, some doom sense due to feeling that too much of the world, locally, nationally, globally, is totally nuts, and I find myself coming down with a bad case of ennui.

I'll probably get over it.....

I Am Now In Tornado Watch Mode With All My Hatches Battened Down

My computer based weather monitoring device is telling me to be in "TORNADO WATCH" mode.

A minute ago I learned via my TV based weather monitoring device that the predicted storm is now entering the D/FW Metroplex and will be at my location in about 25 minutes.

Rain is already falling. The wind has grown stronger. The sky is getting darker.

All my hatches are battened down.

A Vote Recount Keeps Mary Kelleher From Joining The TRWD Board Today

I was so looking forward to watching Mary Kelleher  be sworn in this morning to be a member of the Tarrant Regional Water District Board, followed by lunch with Fort Worth's favorite self-entitled, pearls clutching dowager heiress, Marty Leonard.

As so often happens when I look forward to something, something goes wrong.

The Tarrant County Elections Office is recounting the votes cast in the May 11 TRWD Board election.

The swearing in of Mary Kelleher is postponed until the election results are validated.

I have heard of multiple impropriety allegations which may be why the recount has been ordered.

I have heard there are provisional and military ballots which were not counted. I don't know what a provisional ballot is. I assume a military ballot is a vote cast by someone in the military.

I have heard there was some dubious behaviors at a couple of the polling places. I don't have any idea if those dubious behaviors are one of the reasons for the recount.

I have also heard that there were some shenanigans at the Tarrant County Elections Office the day of the election that may have created some concern as to the accuracy of the original vote count.

If I remember right John Basham was 92 votes short of unseating one of the incumbents. I will not be shocked if this recount results in that incumbent being unseated, with John Basham joining Mary Kelleher as a newcomer to the TRWD Board.

Monday's Deadly Oklahoma Tornado Reminded Me Of Ma McMeganoodle's Oklahoma Tornado

This next to last Tuesday of May of 2013 got off to a bad start with my pool not being doable due to the water needing to be lowered to repair a light.

And then we have the distressing news from a few miles north, in the Oklahoma City zone, of yesterday's monstrous killer tornado.

Today the storm predictors are predicting North Texas will be having a few thunderstorms, along with downpours, large hail, damaging winds and possibly a tornado.

Currently none of the above predicted calamities is occurring.

Regarding yesterday's Oklahoma tornado. Way back late in the last century, when I moved to Texas, one of my best friends from Washington moved to Oklahoma, to the town of Ada. Soon upon my arrival in Texas I drove up to Ada to visit Ma McMeganoodle (real name altered due to shyness issues).

Ma McMeganoodle arrived in Oklahoma soon after a massive killer tornado did massive damage in the same area as yesterday's tornado. The McMeganoodle clan checked out the damage, which left Ma McMeganoodle pretty much totally freaked out at the idea she and her family were now living in Tornado Alley.

Ma McMeganoodle was convinced their #1 priority had to be building a tornado proof storm cellar.

A couple years go by and what happens? A tornado strikes down a very short distance from the McMeganoodle home, eventually heading right up the McMeganoodle driveway before the twister decided to take a turn before hitting the McMeganoodle home.

So, what does Ma McMeganoodle do while this tornado rapidly approaches?  Does she get in the storm cellar? No. Because no storm cellar was built. Does Ma McMeganoodle get in an interior closet? Or a bathtub? No.

Ma McMeganoodle stays outside, taking pictures of the tornado. I later webpaged those photos, along with pictures taken later of the aftermath, in a webpage titled Tornado Touchdown in Ada Oklahoma.

Ma McMeganoodle and family, left Oklahoma in 2008,  moving back to the Skagit Valley of Washington, an area which is fairly reliably tornado free.

Two Nephews And A Niece In Danger From A Tacoma Tiger

A few minutes ago I was surprised to find myself looking at photo documentation of my nephews, David & Theo and niece, Ruby, having a close encounter with a tiger.

Years ago I had a mostly undeserved reputation for putting my Nephews in Danger. This was pre-Internet, thus pre-websites, pre-blogging, and yet I remember some sort of computer produced production titled Nephews in Danger. If I remember right, when the Internet came along I did eventually webpage Nephews in Danger.

I do not remember ever putting my nephews in a dangerous situation involving a tiger.

There was a Nephews in Danger incident, or two, where the nephew in danger agreed to not tell his parental units the details of a particular incident.

I remember one nephew in danger incident that I still have nightmares about every once in awhile. It was late October, nephew Joey and I decided it sounded like fun to hike up Sauk Mountain. This is an easy hike accessed from the Skagit Valley, about 30 miles upriver from our home zone of Mount Vernon and Burlington.

The drive to the Sauk Mountain trailhead is a twisting turning series of switchbacks and other mountain road type fun. The temperature was below freezing. There were some patches of ice on the road, but we easily got to the trailhead and started our hike.

The hike to the top of Sauk Mountain is mostly long switchbacks, going back and forth, gaining elevation. The higher we climbed the more ice covered the trail. I remember telling Joey we had to be real careful, and that if we slipped, try and enjoy the slide down the mountain, while trying to stop the slide.

As we neared the top of the mountain the solid ice became problematic. That may have been the point when I realized the extent to which I had put my nephew in danger.

And then it began to snow. Hard. Real hard.

I told Joey we needed to head down the mountain as quickly as possible, but slow enough to not slip.

Visibility diminished as the snow increased in volume. As the elevation got lower the trail became less icy. At the end of the switchbacks we pretty much ran back to my motorized vehicular transport, which, if I remember right, was a Mazda pickup.

Joey and I were a bit cold, under dressed in shorts and t-shirts. I recollect shivering while waiting for the vehicle's heating system to heat up.

I remember Joey's teeth clattering as he said that this was the most fun thing we've ever done.

The last time I saw nephew Joey was early August of 2008. At Bay View State Park, on Padilla Bay, in Skagit County. Joey's mother was there. The subject of the Sauk Mountain Nephews in Danger incident came up that day, but after Joey's mother left.

Last year I was surprised to open an email to find photo documentation from Joey's mom, she being my favorite ex-sister-in-law, with the photos documenting Joey's mom's hike to the top of Sauk Mountain!

I figured enough time had passed, statute of limitations type thing, that it was okay for me to suggest to Joey's mom that she ask Joey about the last time he and I hiked to the top of Sauk Mountain.

I don't know if Joey's mom asked Joey about hiking to the top of Sauk Mountain. I know when such an incident has been revealed in the past, I was usually the recipient of a very heartfelt scolding. But, like I already suggested, I think the statute of limitations has run out on this incident.

Now, I must try and find out who is responsible for putting David, Theo and Ruby in Danger with a Tiger....