I Am Already Shivering Just Thinking About The Incoming Ice Storm

I am not liking that 16 degrees I am seeing in the forecast  for Friday. Followed by two days of not going above freezing, with sleet and an ice storm currently scheduled for Saturday.

The predicted pre-Thanksgiving ice storm failed to materialize as predicted. I have a bad feeling that the current ice storm prediction is going to materialize as predicted.

The outer world was heated to nearly 60 when I exited my abode to make my regularly scheduled daily morning trek to the cool pool for a bout of cold and hot stimulation.

Tomorrow morning I suspect I may be deciding not to to be making my daily morning trek to the cool pool, due to being too cool.

Walking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Before Lunch At An ALDI Grand Opening

After the first fall freeze the Village Creek Natural Historical Area totally changes its decor. Gone is the lush jungle that arrives in the spring and thrives through summer and into the fall, until that aforementioned first freeze.

I like the de-jungled time of year at the Village Creek Natural Historical Area. It is far less claustrophobic without all that foliage blocking the sun.

Speaking of the sun.

Today the outer world at my location in North Texas is being heated to the temperature of a cool summer day, as in currently the outer world is being heated to 74 degrees at my location.

The outer world was heated to 61 this morning when the sun showed up and I exited my abode for a bout of cycling from the cool pool to the hot tub to get myself some water-based endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

Apparently another potential ice storm is being predicted for our near future, with the current return to summer soon to return to winter-like cold, with the predicted potential ice storm currently scheduled for Saturday.

I do not like ice storms. I have never been hit directly by a tornado or a hurricane, which makes ice storms my least favorite weather event that I have experienced.

After having myself a mighty fine time walking with the Village Creek Indian ghosts I drove a short distance north to the Grand Opening of my new neighbor.

An ALDI Food Market.

As you can see via the photo documentation, the ALDI Grand Opening filled up the ALDI parking lot.

That is not my new HUMMER in the foreground.

I'd not been to an ALDI Grand Opening before.

It was a really grand Grand Opening. My mom would have loved it, what with more free samples available than any sane person could possibly consume, including a lot of chocolate products, a variety of chip and cracker products, hot off a grill quesadillas and other stuff I am not remembering.

I had my ALDI recyclable bags with me, but they were not needed. ALDI people loaded up my stuff in new ALDI recyclable bags and upon exiting I was given an ALDI canvas recyclable bag that was stuffed with freebies, like microwave popcorn, oatmeal, candy bars, granola bars, cookies and more stuff I am not remembering.

The layout of this ALDI was different than the other two ALDIs I have been to, those being the one in Hurst and the one in Pantego. I suspect I will never be in those other ALDIs ever again. This new ALDI is bigger, with the store layout in reverse from what I'm used to. Which confused me momentarily upon entry.

I am easily confused....

Should The Paddock Viaduct Be Closed While Fort Worth Is Working On Re-Opening Heritage Plaza With An Inclinometer?

On the left what you are looking at is a brick paved curvy sidewalk that is called the Heritage Trail.

The Heritage Trail, when I first walked upon it, sort of reminded me of a pedestrian version of San Francisco's Lombard Street.

Many of the bricks that make up the Heritage Trail have names on them, which would seem to indicate that people donated money to this Heritage Trail project so as to have their name walked on.

Well, the Heritage Trail has seen better days. I would think those who paid money to have their name bricked might have some sort of fraud case to be made against whoever or whatever it was that conned them out of their money, what with the Heritage Trail now a rundown eyesore.

The Heritage Trail leads to Heritage Park Plaza, which is also an eyesore, a blocked off by a cyclone fence eyesore, which has been closed for years.

About at the point where the Heritage Trail reaches Heritage Plaza a sign has been installed since I was last at this location. This sign purports to explain why Heritage Plaza is a boarded up eyesore, with this explanation being yet one more example of local governmental propaganda presuming that none of the locals have any memory of the actual history of what takes places in this part of the planet.

Below is the text from the above Heritage Park, I mean, Heritage Plaza, sign....

PRESERVING OUR HERITAGE
Heritage Plaza is closed....and we're working to re-open it.

Heritage Plaza sits atop the 1 1/2 acre Heritage Park. This location on the bluff above the Trinity River is part of the site where the original Fort Worth military outpost was located. The Plaza was designed by renowned landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, and was our city's critical contribution to America's Bicentennial Celebration in 1976. Halprin's unique landscape designs stretch across America from the FDR Memorial in Washington, D.C. to Ghiradelli Square in San Francisco. In 2010 Heritage Plaza was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This plaza is part of a larger, more exciting vision for Downtown Fort Worth and reopening it is a priority. Time and weather have taken their toll, creating public safety issues that must be addressed. However, repairing, reopening and restoring this historic site requires much thought and care. In time drainage, electrical work and structural improvements will ultimately be made.

In 2009, the Fort Worth City Council announced its intent to collaborate with public and private partners to reopen Heritage Plaza. Staff from the City of Fort Worth and Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives, Inc. have been working with the public to move forward with a deliberate approach to re-open the plaza. In 2011 funding was raised to begin Phase 1 analysis of the Plaza.

WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?
Phase 1: Today and for the next couple years, we are measuring the stability of the slope to determine if and how ground movements might influence restoration decisions. The monitoring period is 2 years.

We are using site survey and inclinometer measurements to determine if structural elements and the subgrade soils are moving laterally - if at all. There are indications of movement and we are trying to get a better sense of this condition. The inclinometer readings will determine if the movement is purely a superficial issue or if it a symptom of a deeper instability problem which will require a more intensive effort to prevent future subsurface movements. For a more detailed summary of the findings, please visit www.dfwi.org.

_______________________________________

Where do I start? Inclinometer measurements?

Yes, let's start with those inclinometer measurements. Back when this park was closed the excuse had nothing to do with ground shifting. I webpaged and blogged about being appalled about this closure. And the bogus, stupid reasons given for the closure.

The webpage and blog mention the actual reasons given for the park closure at the time of its closure, with the closure having nothing to do with structural problems. Or ground shifting.

My webpage about Fort Worth's Lost Heritage generated an email from the guy who actually designed this extremely well designed park, Junji Shirai.

I'll repeat what Junji had to tell me...

I came across the web site of yours that told me about the closure and deterioration of the Heritage Park, Fort Worth.

My name is Junji Shirai, a Japanese architect, and I am the one who designed that park. It was commissioned to Lawrence Halprin and Associates San, Francisco to design, and Don Carter (passed away), Satoru Nishita and myself were assigned to do the work. All 3 of us are truly nature-loving, easy going designers but we were dead serious about the representation of the great heritage the city of Fort Worth possesses in our design of the park. We were focusing our attention mostly to the spacial experience of the visitors when they stroll through the semi-enclosed space, walkways, water temple, streams along the walk among trees and shrubs, over looking the Trinity and enjoy the expanse of scenery, etc. One of the design features we made realized was the lighting system for the entire park. You might not have noticed it but all lighting for the night illumination are fully integrated into the walls. This was done in order to avoid ordinary light posts lining along the walks otherwise, for we did not want night visitors lit by overhead ramps. We are so proud of the final product when it was dedicated to the city and the citizens of Fort Worth, but I am so saddened to hear about what has happened to it today.

From the saying in the script on the wall, I believe those who do not regard their heritage right, would be regarded lightly in the days after they are gone.

Junji Shirai (currently reside in Tokyo.)

__________________________________

Fort Worth closed Heritage Park/Plaza after four people drowned in one of the Water Garden's water features. Fort Worth had to pay out a lot of money due to those tragic Drowning Pool drownings. Followed by spending a lot of money to make the poorly designed Drowning Pool drowning-proof.

Some numbskull, seeing that Heritage Park/Plaza also had some water features, albeit totally danger-free water features, deemed it fiscally prudent to close the park, lest Fort Worth get hit with another expensive law suit, even though there was no structural problem, no electrical problem, no real problem at all, unless you consider a homeless person, or two, taking a bath in one of the safe water features, to be a problem.

One of the excuses made for the closure was that the public did not feel safe in Heritage Park/Plaza. I'm part of the public. I always felt safe there, even when I saw some sad souls taking a bath there.

If ground shifting is actually a problem presenting a danger, what caused the ground shifting? The next door construction of Tarrant County College digging into the Trinity River bluffs?

If the ground shifting is causing a potential safety problem with the concrete catwalks in Heritage Park, a park built in the 1970s, what about that bigger concrete structure right next to Heritage Park, as in the Paddock Viaduct, also known as the North Main Street Bridge, a bridge which was built long before Heritage Park?

Wouldn't a ground shifting structural failure be more dangerous with a bridge carrying heavy vehicular traffic than concrete catwalks carrying a few humans?

I really think the Paddock Viaduct needs to be closed, blocked off by cyclone fence until a study can be conducted to determine if the bridge is safe.....

Finding A Smoking Machine On A Walking Tour Of The Industrial Wasteland I Call Home

I'd not taken myself on a walking tour of the industrial wasteland I call home for awhile.

And so I did not do my usual drive to some place to walk, hike or bike and instead walked myself to Albertsons.

The route to Albertsons takes me by my closest Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling Operation, located a few hundred feet from my abode.

A month, or so, ago, the piece of equipment you see in the center of the picture showed up. Today I walked onto the forbidden danger zone of the property for a closer look.

I am assuming this is a compressor or a pump, either compressing or pumping, either the fracking fluid that fracks the shale or the resulting natural gas that the fracking sets free.

What I do know is that this machine, whatever it is it is doing, emits some type of exhaust, clearly visible, spewing above the machine.

This spewage of exhaust had me wondering what was being spewed into the air and if this spewage is the explanation for the burning eyes problem I've been experiencing lately.

With the burning eyes experience being something I've only experienced in extremely bad smog, like I experienced as a kid when my parental units took me and my siblings to Disneyland and Universal Studios.

At Disneyland the air did not make my eyes burn, but the smog at Universal Studios caused a bad burning sensation, worse, but similar, to what I have been experiencing of late in Texas.....

I Am Not Pardoning The Lack Of Trinity River Improvement Progress By The TRWD

If you visit the downtown Fort Worth campus of Tarrant County College's non-Radio Shack related iteration you may find yourself drawn to the Trinity River via a long, inviting staircase.

At the bottom of those stairs you will find yourself looking at the sign you see here.

This signage is brought to you by the fine folks at the Tarrant Regional Water District, who ask you, via this sign, to "Pardon our Progress" while they improve the river one project at a time.

If I remember right I have used the word "hubris" is association with these TRWD people previously.

The sign additionally informs us that...

"The Tarrant Regional Water District is working hard to make the connection between you and the Trinity Trail system as easy as possible. With this new trail extension not only TCC students, but all of downtown Fort Worth will have even more trail access for that morning run or evening bike ride!"

This new trail extension, which this sign proudly trumpets, is actually the covering with asphalt of the pre-exiting dirt path connecting the Trinity Trail to that aforementioned TCC stairway.

And why does this short trail of asphalt require this self-serving bit of propaganda? Really, why?

I have been appalled by the bizarre TRWD and Trinity River Vision Boondoggle signage for years now.

How much has all this superfluous signage cost the taxpayers?

What is the purpose of these sign advertisements? Is it to try and convince voters that the TRWD and TRVB are actually getting something done?

But, there is no need to convince voters of anything, because voters do not get to vote on any of the TRWD/TRVB projects.

But, voters do vote for the Tarrant Regional Water District board members.

Is that the purpose of the signage? To propagandize positively for the TRWD, making voters think they need to vote for these people to continue this amazing progress with even more short distances of trail covered with fresh asphalt?

Quite perplexing.....

Yesterday's Tandy Hills Mystery Was Easily Solved Today

Today I returned to the Tandy Hills, determined to solve yesterday's Tandy Hills mystery.

I wish all my Tandy Hills mysteries were as easy to solve as today's was.

I was barely on the summit of Mount Tandy when I spied what I thought may have created yesterday's odd illusion, that illusion being two people standing on top of a hill, who turned out not to be people when I removed them from my camera.

What I thought were two people was actually the top of the Scott Avenue Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale drilling operation that taints the western end of the Tandy Hills.

One would have thought that this would have occurred to me, yesterday, due to the fact that I'd driven by that drilling operation on Friday, surprised to see so much equipment returned to that location. And also noting that the drilling rig did not say Chesapeake Energy on it, instead sporting the name of some other driller.

Now that that mystery is solved, let's continue on with today's hill hiking.

Yesterday my hiking route on the Tandy Hills did not take me by Tandy Falls.

Today's route did take me by Tandy Falls.

I was surprised to see and hear water roaring over the falls. Surprised because no rain has fallen in amounts copious enough to explain this volume of water flowing.

I suspect a water pipeline has broken, again, somewhere in the vicinity. I suspect that would explain the crystal clear-ness of the water.

I immensely enjoyed the Tandy Hills again today. Perfect hiking conditions. I am overflowing with endorphins right now. I could get addicted to feeling this good. I suspect I may do some hill hiking again tomorrow.

Finding A Ripley Arnold Revisionist Historical Marker At One Of Fort Worth's Boondoggle Confluences

On my walkabout in the downtown Fort Worth zone the day after Thanksgiving, near the area where the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle encourages people to go float in the Trinity River, I came upon the historical marker type installation you see on the left.

Due to the sun being too bright, and the text contrast on the sign being too slight, I was unable to read this sign til I got it off my camera and onto my computer.

The text was unreadable in the bright sun, but I was able to tell that this historical marker was about the Ripley Arnold public housing development which I thought had been destroyed by eminent domain abuse by the City of Fort Worth and Radio Shack, so that Radio Shack could have land to build a new corporate headquarters Radio Shack could not afford, which eventually became the new downtown Fort Worth Tarrant County College campus in an amazing Fort Worth boondoggle confluence.

I'll copy for your reading pleasure what is written on this historical marker....

RIPLEY ARNOLD PLACE

Fort Worth's first public housing development completed in 1940, was named to honor Major Ripley Arnold, commanding officer of the fort on the bluff overlooking the Trinity River that became Fort Worth (1849).

Six local architects designed the apartments in 1938  to provide affordable housing for low-income white tenants. Butler Place, several blocks east, was built at the same time for African-American residents. Funding for the 252 modernistic brick and concrete dwellings came from the United States Housing Authority and the sale of City of Fort Worth Housing Authority Bonds. Twenty-eight new homes were added in 1962. Units were racially integrated in the 1960s and air conditioning was added in 1996.

Ripley Arnold Place was sold in 2001, its proceeds provided seed money for mixed income developments in neighborhoods throughout the city. This new housing created better environments for residents and their families.

_____________________________________

Air conditioning was not added until 1996? When was indoor plumbing added, I can't help but wonder?

That last paragraph on the propaganda, I mean, historical marker, does not match my memory.

No mention is made that this public housing development was removed so that Radio Shack could build its headquarters.

I do not remember mixed income developments developing as a result of this "sale".  What I do remember is a big controversy erupting when an apartment complex was bought to which to move the displaced public housing residents, with people in that apartment complex's neighborhood objecting to low income people moving in amongst them.

This new housing created better environments for the displaced residents? Really?

Well, I am guessing that the new location of their public housing is much closer to grocery stores and other big city amenities than what they had closely available to them when they lived in downtown Fort Worth....

Finding Bliss & A New Tandy Hills Mystery Before Town Talking

 In the picture you are looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth. A zoomed view from the end of the View Street trail on the Tandy Hills.

Yesterday whilst walking about downtown Fort Worth I actually thought to myself that downtown Fort Worth actually is looking good.

Real good.

So much better than when my eyes first saw downtown Fort Worth, well over a decade ago. At that point in time I recollect being both a bit perplexed and a bit appalled.

If I remember right, part of the being perplexed thing was wondering what Sundance Square was. Or where it was. The appalled part came when someone told me that Sundance Square was all the downtown parking lots. That turned out not to be true,  though many thought it to be. And now that confusion has been sort of rectified by the goofily named Sundance Square Plaza.

I had myself a mighty fine time hiking the Tandy Hills today. I was almost overdressed in long pants and short sleeve t-shirt.

What Is That Standing On A Tandy Hill?

The past couple mornings I have had myself a little endorphin inducing via quick bouts in the cool pool followed by bouts in the hot tub.

Walking all over downtown Fort Worth yesterday was a bit aerobicizing, to the point where I did feel a little endorphin bliss.

Today's hill hiking had me totally in endorphin bliss mode. So much so that a feeling of contented happiness replaced my usual melancholy gloomy operating mood.

At one point I thought I saw a couple humans a couple hills to the west. I got out my camera and snapped a few photos of the rare Tandy Hills human sighting.

But, when I got the photos off my camera and on to my computer the humans no longer looked human, but instead looked like some sort of structure. Is this yet one more Tandy Hills mystery which warrants additional investigation? Possibly tomorrow? Methinks so.

Soon after spotting the faux humans I came upon the Tandy Natural Auditorium, with its comfortable benches. And so I sat down so as to enjoy my endorphin happiness bliss and the bucolic scene, before continuing on.

What with it being Saturday after finishing with the hill hiking I was off to Beach Street and Town Talk where I got myself come giant cracked pepper New York deli style wraps, something called bleu cheese brie, flame-broiled burgers, Alaskan pollock, Matzoh crackers and my usual supply of rabbit food of the salad making sort.

I am still feeling the endorphins, but the melancholy gloom should soon return, likely after lunch, which I need to consume right now.

UPDATE: Lunch caused me to remember the best thing I found at Town Talk today, two gallons of all natural apple cider. Best apple cider I've ever tasted. One dollar per gallon. Case of six for five bucks. On my next Town Talk visit if the cases of apple cider are still in the cooler, I will be getting one.

A River Runs Through Fort Worth's Other New Downtown Plaza

Yesterday, Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, I was walking on a newly asphalted trail on the south bank of the Trinity River, when a short distance past the Paddock Viaduct, also known as the North Main Street Bridge, I came upon the flight of stairs you see to the left, rising from the banks of the Trinity River to one of the downtown Fort Worth Tarrant County College campuses.

Back when this particular campus was under construction, before it became one of Fort Worth's more infamous boondoggles, a controversy arose from someone named Ed Bass over something that was known as the Sunken Plaza.

If I remember right the Sunken Plaza sank as a result of the Bass interference.

So, I was a bit surprised when I reached the top of these stairs to find myself looking at what looked to me to be a very big plaza, situated between two big buildings which formed a sort of canyon, which I imagine provides good shade on a HOT day.

What follows is a look at the Tarrant County College downtown campus plaza from the top of the stairs til exiting the plaza at street level.

Above we are looking south from the north end of the plaza. Below we do a 180 and look north, with a view of the Trinity River flowing below.

A river-like water feature runs the length of the plaza, beginning at the south end with a waterfall falling from street level to the plaza.

The water in the water feature is shallow, with multiple cement "benches" in the water which look like they'd be a pleasant place to sit on a HOT day of summer, spring and fall. Below is another look at the TCC Plaza's river and its "bench" islands.

Below we are looking south at the aforementioned waterfall cascading down into the plaza.

Below we are at street level, looking down on the TCC Plaza waterfall and south end of the plaza.

After seeing what looked to me to be a very well designed plaza I can not help but wonder what this would have been like if the Sunken Plaza had been allowed to be built.

In addition to being surprised by the TCC Plaza I was also surprised by the size of the buildings that make up this college campus.

Surprised and confused.

It has been a few years, but the way I remember it the price tag for this college campus escalated to horrific heights, the project was behind schedule, what with it being a complex engineering task, building above the banks of a river.

And then the Army Corps of Engineers would not sign off on the plan to build a bridge across the Trinity with more campus buildings on the north side of the river.

At some point in time after Radio Shack found it could not afford its new corporate campus, located a short distance to the west of the then under construction new TCC campus, Tarrant County College decided to amp up the boondoggling by spending a few hundred million dollars more for some of the Radio Shack space to turn into its downtown campus.

With the original new campus turned into some sort of medical training facility.

Yesterday it looked to me that the original new downtown Fort Worth TCC campus is a completed structure. A very large completed structure.

Is this building being fully utilized? What is the current status of this particularly bad Fort Worth boondoggle?

I could not help but notice that I did not notice a single other person, anywhere, in the TCC Plaza zone yesterday.

But, Fort Worth's downtown did not have a lot of people on the streets yesterday, what with it being Black Friday, maybe the TCC plaza sees more activity on a school day....

I Did Not Get Lost In The Black Friday Crowd At Fort Worth's Sundance Square Plaza Today

I finally made it to the goofily named Sundance Square Plaza today for the first time since its Grand Opening hoopla a month or two ago.

From photos, previously seen, I thought I had a fairly good idea of what this plaza was going to look like.

That and last April I saw the space under construction, so I had an inkling as to the size of the space.

Well.

Did I like what I saw today? The answer to that question is YES.

Sundance Square Plaza is a HUGE improvement over the parking lots which previously occupied this piece of prime downtown Fort Worth real estate.

I have liked the Chisholm Trail mural, you see in the first photo, from the first I ever saw it. But, at that point in time the mural looked out over parking lots.

Now the mural looks out over a much more aesthetically pleasing view.

However.

I know today was Black Friday. Black Friday is a day when downtown Fort Worth is pretty much a ghost town during the day, coming alive Black Friday night, as we previously discussed, earlier today.

So, today, Sundance Square Plaza was not sporting much human activity.

But I can sure see where this space could come alive at night, particularly during the HOT days of spring, summer and fall.

Currently, due to the excesses of the holidays, the plaza is looking at bit cluttered.

I suspect the plaza looks much nicer holiday clutter-free.

I can see how the water feature of the spouting fountains variety is going to be HUGE hit come the HOT times of the year.

That is the fountain water feature in the photo at the top, with a couple kids being a bit tenuous about walking out into the water zone. At one point the fountains did erupt, but not as spectacularly as what was portrayed in a photograph taken by the persnickety Mr. Galtex, which I feloniously purloined and used on this blog.

Maybe the fountains were operating at low pressure today.

My biggest surprise today came from another plaza which I had not previously seen  That previously unseen, by me, plaza, well, I give that plaza a total double thumbs up.

Impressive.

And big city plaza worthy of any big city.

Anywhere.

I don't think I can say that about Sundance Square Plaza.

I will blog photos of my favorite downtown Fort Worth plaza in a subsequent blogging.....