North Texas Is Chilling Into A Wet Deep Freeze On This 50th JFK Assassination Anniversary Day

A cold wind, with an outer world chilled to barely above freezing, prevented the acquiring of any endorphins this morning via the swimming method of getting aerobic stimulation.

By the time my regularly scheduled mid-day aerobic activity arrived, rain was falling in copious amounts, rendering the nearby Walmart as my dry, fall back, endorphin-free, walking location.

As you can see via the photo documentation of my drive to Walmart, looking east on John T. White Road, all is wet, with my windshield wiper slapping time to the incoming drops of wetness and the song playing on my radio.

Today North Texas is being very much like a stereotypical Western Washington winter day, reminding me of one thing I don't miss all that much about my old home zone.

I am guessing today's 50th Anniversary of the JFK Assassination, in Dealey Plaza, is not being nearly as pleasant, weather-wise, as the anniversary I attended, ten years ago.

Right now, in the middle of the afternoon of this next to last Friday of November, the outer world is being chilled to 34, with, as you can see below, via the graphic generated by my computer based weather monitoring device, the wind is making the outer world feel like a very chilly 16 degrees. Brrrrrrr.....

Looking, above, at the temperature forecast for Sunday, a high of 32, low of 30, with clouds dripping, I am guessing this is the day we may go into heavy sleet, ice storm mode.

Ice storms are the one weather phenomenon I'd not experienced prior to moving to Texas that I really do not like.

Last Night's Thunderstorm Followed By A Near Freeze Renders Me Swimless In Texas

Last night's predicted storm arrived after the sun left for the day, delivering at my location the first loud, rollicking thunderstorm in quite some time. Along with copious amounts of downpouring rain.

Prior to the rain and thunderstorm's arrival a strong wind showed up, facilitating the rapid movement of downpour and lightning empowering clouds.

At some point in the middle of the night I woke up to realize I was cold and in need of additional blanketing.

By this morning, when I woke up my computer, I was not too shocked to have my computer based temperature monitoring device informing me that the outer world at my location was only a degree or two above freezing, with that still blowing wind making it really feel as if the temperature was below freezing.

So, I have not left my abode, yet, today. Which means there was no attempt to test how cool the pool is this morning. It is highly unlikely there will be any testing of the pool coolness Saturday morning, either, or the morning after that.

Looking at the temperature predictions in the graphic above, through Tuesday the daily average is going to be well below 50. I do not know what is predicted after Tuesday.

I strongly suspect my morning swim ritual will be taking a sabbatical of unknown, currently, duration.

In the meantime, I am going to Walmart today for my daily walkabout.

Why Can't I Go To Dealey Plaza Today For The 50th JFK Assassination Anniversary?

In the picture I am standing on the infamous Grassy Knoll in Dealey Plaza, in Dallas, on November 22.

That would be November 22, ten years ago, on the 40th Anniversary of the Assassination of John F. Kennedy.

I recollect this event, ten years ago, as one of the more memorable experiences I have ever experienced.

I recollect thinking at the time that there was no way I would still be in Texas when the time of the half century anniversary rolled around.

And yet here I am.

But, today I will not be driving to Dallas, unlike ten years ago.

Back then, in 2003, a more innocent time, only two years after the 9/11 Attacks, any riff raff who had the energy to do so could go to Dealey Plaza, unmolested by any sort of police state security apparatus.

Today, if I wanted to go to Dealey Plaza I would have needed to obtain a permission ticket by emailing a request to a website titled The 50th Honoring the Memory of President John F. Kennedy where if a lottery deemed I was worthy I would have been sent notification that this morning I could bring a couple pieces of ID to wait in a line at American Airlines Center to get my ticket to then wait in another line, going through, I assume, airport type security to be admitted to Dealey Plaza.

4,000 tickets were available.

I can not imagine 4,000 people going through this process to be able to attend this event. And even if one did go through the process I am thinking this morning's temperature being barely above freezing might have one changing ones mind about heading to Dealey Plaza to wait in lines to then stand outside waiting for the moment when gunshots blasted through the air a half century ago in Dallas.

Below is my video from that more innocent time, ten years ago........

With Limited Visibility I Took A Foggy Walk In My Neighborhood In Search Of FW Weekly's 2013 Turkey Awards

To the left you are looking west, past the iron spears which form a barrier protecting me from possible onslaughts of intruders, at the massive fog bank which is currently covering much of North Texas and rendering impossible seeing any of the snow capped mountain peaks which would be visible, if they existed, on a clear blue sky day at this particular location.

The temperature is currently 68 degrees, well above the freeze that is scheduled for the coming days.

With the temperature in the 60s, this morning, when I had my regularly scheduled swim, I had myself a fairly fine time in a not too cool pool. With two heat up bouts in the hot tub.

Rather than drive anywhere for my daily nature walk I decided to take one of my semi-regularly scheduled walking surveys of my neighborhood, with Albertsons as my destination so as to acquire this week's FW Weekly 2013 Turkey Awards edition.

I have not yet looked to see who won this year's coveted FW Weekly Turkey Awards. I can make some guesses. Jim Oliver comes to mind.

Before I left my abode to seek FW Weekly I saw that my sister who lives in Chandler, Arizona had been to my Eyes on Texas website where she clicked on the link to this very blog you are reading now.

I had not talked to my Arizona sister since she returned from Trick or Treating in Tacoma, so I called.

No answer.

I'd not called my mom and dad for over a week, so, even though I had not gotten gas, I called.

No answer.

I hope this means mom and dad are out and about having themselves some fun. And not at a doctor's office.

Battening Down My Hatches In Preparation Of Possible Incoming Hazardous North Texas Weather Conditions

When I saw my computer based weather monitoring device had switched to its red warning color I clicked on it thinking it would likely just be a warning about that of which I was already aware, as in the outer world is currently foggy.

However, though mention is made of fog in the area of the weather info detailing current conditions, the Special Weather Statement is about much more dire incoming weather than just a little fog.

As in possible ice storm conditions with heavy sleet are heading towards North Texas.

Below is the Special Weather Statement from the National Weather Service, all in capital letters, because these people love to shout about the weather...

...WINTER STORM OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS...

A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTH TEXAS TONIGHT AND BRING MUCH COLDER AIR TO THE REGION BY FRIDAY. AT THE SAME TIME A SLOW MOVING UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL APPROACH THE REGION FROM THE WEST AND PROVIDE FOR A GOOD CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION THROUGH MONDAY. WE EXPECT TWO ROUNDS OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION OVER PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS...WITH THE SECOND ROUND POTENTIALLY CAUSING MORE IMPACTS.

THE FIRST ROUND OF WINTER PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON FRIDAY NORTHWEST OF A GAINESVILLE...WEATHERFORD...COMANCHE LINE. LIGHT RAIN IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE TO LIGHT FREEZING RAIN DURING THE DAY FRIDAY AS TEMPERATURES DROP BELOW FREEZING. THE CHANCE OF FREEZING RAIN SHOULD COME TO AN END SATURDAY MORNING. SINCE GROUND TEMPERATURES ARE STILL VERY WARM...ONLY LIGHT ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED ON ELEVATED SURFACES SUCH AS BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES...WHICH MAY CAUSE HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS.

THE SECOND AND MORE SIGNIFICANT ROUND OF WINTER PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED SUNDAY. A LARGE AREA OF PRECIPITATION MAINLY IN THE FORM OF SLEET IS EXPECTED TO MOVE IN FROM THE WEST SUNDAY MORNING. SLEET MAY BE HEAVY AND ACCUMULATE NORTHWEST OF PARIS...TO DALLAS TO LAMPASAS LINE WHERE TEMPERATURES SHOULD DROP TO NEAR FREEZING. SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OF SLEET AND ICE ARE POSSIBLE EVEN FARTHER NORTHWEST...OR NORTHWEST OF A GAINESVILLE...WEATHERFORD... COMANCHE LINE WHERE SURFACE TEMPERATURES WILL BE EVEN COLDER. THE CHANCE OF SLEET IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY EVENING...BUT BEGIN TO CHANGE OVER TO RAIN BY MONDAY MORNING AS TEMPERATURES WARM ABOVE FREEZING.

THIS WINTER WEATHER EVENT IS STILL EVOLVING...AND AS MORE WEATHER DATA IS ANALYZED DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS...THE FORECAST MAY CHANGE. AT THIS TIME RESIDENTS SHOULD PREPARE FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS...ESPECIALLY ACROSS NORTHERN AND WESTERN PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS.

A Colorful Hike With The Tandy Hills Fall Foliage Before Town Talk Treasure Hunting

Rain is predicted to possibly fall, tomorrow, so I thought today would be a mighty fine time to haul myself to the Tandy Hills to do some communing with the natural world.

As you can see, the Tandy Hills are currently being a colorful wonderland of  the non-wildflower type of colorful.

I do not recollect the Tandy Hills fall foliage being as deeply colorful in falls past. I'm likely just not remembering correctly.

Or, have conditions been such, what with the Great Texas Drought, recording breaking temperatures and who knows what else, that more saturated coloring is the result?

I should inquire of renowned Fort Worth Horticulturist, CatsPaw, if she knows the answer to this colorful question.

This morning the outer world temperature was above 50 when I woke up my computer before the sun arrived. Being above 50 had my averaging 50 or above over a 24 hour period criteria met for a morning swim. The water was a bit chillier this morning than yester morn, requiring three hot tub cycles.

After hiking up a hill or two or three I drove to the Beach Street Walmart, since it is the Walmart closest to the Tandy Hills and I needed to get a Walmart product I forgot to get yesterday. My route back to my abode from the Beach Street Walmart takes me past Town Talk, so I had myself a semi-rare Wednesday Town Talk treasure hunt.

Today I did not find much Town Talk treasure, other than some extra sharp white cheddar, rye tortillas, chipotle sirloin burgers and another pre-cooked beef product.

Town Talk on Saturday should be a busy zoo, what with it being the last Saturday before Thanksgiving. So, on Saturday I should be having myself a mighty fine time at Town Talk.

It takes so little to entertain me.....

A Walk With The Oakland Lake Park Turtles Around The Mysterious Fosdick Lake Fountain

It seems like it has been weeks since I've driven to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdick Lake.

Even though I had myself a mighty fine endorphin inducing time, albeit a bit cooler than yesterday, swimming this morning, I decided my delicate constitution would benefit from some additional fresh air exposure.

As you can see, the mysterious Fosdick Fountain is still blowing up water.

It has been a month or two since this fountain started spraying. I have yet to learn how this came to be, a fountain blowing water in the middle of the lake where one day there was no fountain, then three days later it appears, with absolutely no sign of any lake side, fountain related, construction.

Just like yesterday, at the Village Creek Natural Historical Area, today there was a higher than the norm number of people enjoying the outer world's perfect conditions.

That perfect weather condition is currently scheduled to come to an end this coming weekend with freezing air once again arriving in North Texas.

As you can see below, today the Fosdick Lake turtles were enjoying the semi-warm temperature, lounging by the dozen on their proprietary log.

By the time I got my camera turned on a lot of the Fosdick turtles had dived into the lake, unusually skittish for Fosdick turtles, unlike the regularly skittish Village Creek turtles, who posed for me yesterday, without their regular skittishness.

Hiking The Grand Canyon Of Village Creek With Turtle Power & Indian Ghosts

That is the Grand Canyon of Village Creek in Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area you are looking at on the left.

This morning, due to the now ended November Tropical Heatwave, I had myself a summer-like long swim in the not too cool pool.

By the time the mid point of the day arrived I was in the mood for breathing some outer world air.

That and I was in need of some groceries which could be attained at Walmart, which is near where the Village Creek Indians had their village before being evicted by incoming Texans.

I was surprised by the large number of people who also felt the need to breathe some of this currently pleasant air. All the usually bad air indexes are currently being about the best I've ever seen them. The Pollen Index is low. The Air Quality Index is good. The UV Index is moderate.

One of those who were walking with me and the Indian ghosts today was a cute little kid with a t-shirt which advertised "TURTLE POWER" on its front.

I asked his mom if they'd seen the Village Creek turtles who I'd already discovered were being unusually un-skittish today, hence my ability to get take the below photo without the turtles jumping into the water....

Is The Texan Accent America's Most Attractive?

This morning I learned via that well known, extremely reputable news source, the FOX News website, which North American accent is the most attractive.

The first sentence of the Which North American Accent Was Voted the Most Attractive? article answers that question...

If you hail from the Lone Star state or the Heart of Dixie, then chances are you won’t have any problems in the dating department.

Those of you who do not know what state the Lone Star state is, well, the Lone Star state is also known as Texas.

I pretty much agree with this most attractive accent conclusion. I have, multiple times, found myself totally charmed by a dripping honey Texas accent.

Years ago I made a website for a Texan named Ann. I usually try to get people to use email to communicate about website issues, due to that being much more efficient than talking on the phone. However, with Miss Ann, if she'd email me with a question, I'd call her, just to get to hear her dripping with honey accent.

Elsie Hotpepper is a native Texan. I would not describe the Elsie Hotpepper Texas accent as dripping with honey. The Elsie Hotpepper Texas accent is perfectly pleasant, just not a honey dripper. With Elsie Hotpepper her Texas accent comes in two versions. There is the professional spokeswoman Elsie Hotpepper Texas accent, which is subtle and understated.

And then there is the Elsie Hotpepper in informal mode Texas accent, which I characterize as Elsie Hotpepper being in Cowgirl mode, with her Texas accent much more twangy and peppered with barnyard vulgarisms spoken with that peppery twang.

Gar the Texan is another native Texan with his own spin on the Texas accent. Gar the Texan's Texas accent was acquired in West Texas, so I guess his version would be known as the West Texas accent variant. I would definitely not characterize Gar the Texan's Texas accent as dripping honey. It is more of a slow drawl with the Texas accent part of the drawl being very understated.

Understated, that is, until Gar the Texan has one of his bouts of the vapors. At that point his Texas accent gets extreme, to the point of being difficult to understand as the drawl starts dropping word endings, almost to the point of getting into slur mode.

Speaking of a hard to understand Texas accent, my best example of that variant is a neighbor all the neighbors call Crazy Greg. If you have yourself a Crazy Greg encounter you usually find yourself in a conversation which makes no sense, spoken in a twangy drawl that is very hard to comprehend.

Susan is another native Texan neighbor. Susan's Texas accent is another honey dripper. I particularly like talking to Susan because many of her sentences end with the word "Hon" which never fails to make me feel all cozy.

I don't know if it is what is known as a guilty pleasure, or just a regular pleasure, but one of the things which pleases me is to wander around Walmart hearing snippets of dialogue in multiple variations of Southern accents, including when the loudspeaker makes an announcement, like "Clean up on aisle 12" spoken with a Texas twang.

I have attempted to affect a Texas accent a time or two.

I have had a Texan, a time or two, tell me I fail at this effort.

Apparently my faked Texas accent, to a Texan's ears, sounds like an annoying Yankee trying to sound Texan.....

We Are Having Ourselves A Mid November Tropical Heatwave In North Texas

We're having a Heatwave, a Tropical Heatwave, a mid-November Tropical Heatwave in North Texas.

I did not drive to any of my regular haunts for one of my regular excursions today. Instead I prowled my neighborhood, eventually making it to Albertsons where I found this week's DFW.com Ink Edition.

Post-lunch I was starting to over heat in my abode.

I refuse to indulge in a mid-November re-igniting of the air-conditioner to abate the overheating.

Instead I opened all my windows and went for a rare Sunday afternoon bout in the pool, followed by poolside lounging, documented in the above photo.

I had not noticed what knobby knees I have til I saw them photo documented. They look like bulbous tumors.

Last week Miss Sampson documented her beachside lounging in Maui with a picture similar to the above photo, only Miss Sampson was wearing an itsy bitsy bikini and she made it look like she was lifting a palm tree with her left foot.

There are no palm trees anywhere in my vicinity, so I was not able to replicate Miss Sampson's photo with a Texas version.

When I was a youngster, decades ago, and I would go on a roadtrip, I would buy these things called postcards on which I would write something and then mail the postcards to lucky recipients.

How primitive.

I think it is both interesting and a little bizarre, that nowadays, one can easily keep any number of people instantly posted, via words, photos and video, of what you are doing on a trip, pretty much in realtime.

Currently Miss Sampson and entourage have returned to the mainland, so that insta-trip documentation has ended.

But an even more interestingly high-tech trip documentation continues with daily updates from the ongoing voyage of a boat called Daybreak. This particular Daybreak boat trip started in San Diego and is currently docked in Cabo San Lucas. The updates are via the Google Blogger method, with the link to that particular blog found on the list of blogs on the right column of this very blog you are currently reading.

I have inquired, via Facebook, as to how the Daybreak Adventures blogger is doing the blogging whilst floating in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico, but have yet to have my query answered. I suspect Facebook is being ignored while floating in the Pacific. I know I would.

I rather enjoy going on these virtual trips.

Speaking of Facebook. And who isn't? This morning I got an invite, via Facebook, to a reunion of my high school class, to take place the day after Christmas in a place called The Train Wreck in my old hometown of Burlington.

I strongly suspect I will not be at this particular Train Wreck at that particular time.

And now, back to the weather.

D/FW Record Temperature Update from WFAA-TV via Twitter.....