In Fort Worth Learning Why Austin's Cedar Fever Makes Me Sick

I finally have a name for that which has vexed my breathing apparatus this past week.

Cedar Fever.

I learned this via Mrs. Galtex via a posting and link on Facebook.

Mr. and Mrs. Galtex returned to D/FW on Wednesday from one of their frequent Portugal visits.

This is what Mrs. Galtex had to say, in part, about their return to Texas...

"Mr. G is not doing too well right now, as the cedar pollen count was sky high on Wed when we flew back to Texas. He immediately started sneezing and sniffing once we landed at DFW and went outside."

Mr. and Mrs. Galtex moved from Austin to the North Texas zone of Fort Worth to escape the dreaded annual Cedar Fever attack.

The link Mrs. Galtex Facebooked went to Jeffee Palmer's Now and Thenadays blog to a blog post titled  Austin Makes Me Sick!!! which gave me a lot of info I lacked about this Cedar Fever from which I have been suffering.

Below is a blurb from Austin Makes Me Sick!!! Read the blurb then click the link to read the rest of the story about this living hell known as Cedar Fever....

The number one reason not to live in Austin is CEDAR, specifically the pollen that cedar trees produce resulting in the truly abominable cedar fever. “Cedar is juniperus ashei,” allergist Dr. Eric Schultz told a local television reporter recently, “It’s one of the worst allergens, or most potent allergens on the planet. Here in central Texas it’s rampant, especially in Austin.”

You might think I’m talking about a runny nose or some sneezes here and there. Again, you’d be wrong. It’s far beyond that.  For weeks you can be plagued by sore throat, amazing phlegm production, a nose that won’t stop running, watery, itchy eyes, intermittent sneezing attacks, and ultimately a hacking cough. 

White Arrows On The Tandy Hills Point Me To A New Hoodoo Before Going To Town Talk

On Monday I shivered my way through a frigid Tandy Hills hike, not adequately attired for the extreme cold.

Today, the final Saturday of the first month of 2014, I returned to the Tandy Hills adequately attired in shorts and t-shirt.

Adequately attired I still managed to get quite warm with the high speed hill hiking, what with the temperature being nowhere near freezing, more like 30 degrees above freezing.

For the first time in a long time I parked on View Street and hiked the west side of the View Street trail. I soon came upon an arrow on the ground made from a white chalk substance.

The white arrow was soon followed by big white chalk dots. By the time I came to the second arrow it occurred to me that I was likely on the marked path of the recent Manly Men Wild Women hike.

I was pleased to find all the west side trails to be in better shape than I'd ever experienced them. And for the first time I managed to not need to backtrack after a trail petered out. This discovery today greatly increases my hiking range when I'm on the Tandy Hills.

In addition to finding new trails to hike I found a new Tandy Hills Hoodoo. That is the new Hoodoo that you see above. This new Hoodoo is in a more isolated location than the Hoodoo at the north end of the View Street trail which has been destroyed and resurrected several times.

Soon after finding the new Hoodoo I came upon that which you see below which looked to be a Hoodoo in the making, with what looked to be a stick cross sticking out of the pre-Hoodoo rubble.

I guess it is fairly obvious that I had myself a mighty fine time hiking the Tandy Hills today. And then it was on to my regularly scheduled Saturday visit to Town Talk.

I had some good yogurt luck at Town Talk today. Got a case of Chobani black cherry and a case of Cascade Fresh marionberry, hubcap-sized whole wheat tortillas, a giant bag of cabbage already chopped up for cole slaw, two bags containing a total of 24 whole wheat hamburger buns, six big avocados and other stuff I am not remembering right now.

Fort Worth Weekly's Late To Class & Off To Court!

It seems like every month or two Fort Worth Weekly will publish a story about something taking place  in Texas on a scale matched by no other state in the union which is so appallingly, obviously wrong, that my reaction to the information is to think that this is so bad that FW Weekly shining a light on it will surely bring a swift fix.

I can be such a naive optimist.

This week's Fort Worth Weekly expose by Peter Gorman needs to be read all over Texas. And the rest of America.

The article of which I speak is titled Late to Class? Off to Court!

Below are the first two paragraphs. Read them and then go to FW Weekly to read the rest of Late to Class? Off to Court!....

When high school sophomore Brandon Jefferson’s parents split up and his mother’s rheumatoid arthritis worsened to the point that she couldn’t get out of bed, Brandon took on the job of getting his two younger brothers to school. That chore often made him late getting to his own classes at Lakeview Centennial High School in Garland and later at North Mesquite High School and Mesquite Academy, both in the Mesquite school district. No big deal, right? Just explain that you were doing what you had to for your family, and that would be that.

Not in Texas. Instead of being applauded for stepping up, Brandon soon found himself at one of five special truancy courts set up in Dallas County. For his first offense, he was forgiven, but during his junior year he had to continue to help with his brothers and racked up five more appearances at the court for being late to school, each one representing 10 late days — and fines totaling $2,400. He ended up with five Class C misdemeanor convictions on his record, was sentenced to community service, and had his driver’s license suspended. Losing the license meant losing his fast food job, and without his job he had no way to pay his fines. His mother, living on about $700 disability monthly, couldn’t help much, nor could his father.

Tandy Hills Hoodoo III Has Been Destroyed With A New Hoodoo Rising From The Ruins

I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to make an extremely frigid return to the Tandy Hills today to discover that Tandy Hills Hoodoo III has collapsed.

A forensic examination of the area surrounding the collapsed Hoodoo revealed no clear clues as to what brought about this latest Tandy Hills Hoodoo's demise.

There was a wire hanger leaning on the Hoodoo ruins which seemed a bit out of place.

Slightly to the southwest of the collapsed Hoodoo a new Hoodoo has risen, it being a baby-sized Hoodoo that you can see in the photo above, on the upper left side of the Hoodoo III ruins.

The outer world temperature had dropped to below freezing by the time I drove to the top of Mount Tandy. A strong wind made the outer world temperature really feel as if it was way below freezing. I had not attired myself in sufficient layers of outer wear for the outer world's cold condition, I quickly discovered upon my vehicular exit.

The low tonight is currently scheduled to get as low as 17. This North Texas winter habit of being in the 70s to 80s one day and then sub-freezing and then back in the 70s to 80s again, over and over again, really does where on a delicate person's nerves.....

A Quick Recovery From Allergic Misery Has Me Heading Towards Fort Worth's Tandy Hills

In the picture you are looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at the hot tub where this morning I had myself a mighty fine hydrotherapy session.

Having a myself a mighty fine hydrotherapy session would seem to indicate that I am feeling much better, with my allergic woes no longer making me so woefully miserable.

For today and tomorrow the Pollen Level Predictors had predicted that the Pollen Level would be EXTREME.

However, by early evening, yesterday, I found myself suddenly feeling much less plugged up.

I do not remember such a quick turnaround from a woeful misery since early in the last decade of the last century when for about two weeks I thought I was right on the edge of being a flu fatality, when I woke up one morning to find myself back feeling totally okay.

I remember that flu recovery morning as if it were yesterday. I had not eaten much for two weeks, had lost a lot of weight. The recovery morning I phoned my favorite feeding crew and arranged to drive 30 miles north, to Bellingham, to the Dickinson's Buffet, that being the location of the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had the pleasure of being pleased by.

This latest recovery morning I won't be driving up to Bellingham to a buffet, or anywhere else for a buffet. Although allergic woes do do some appetite stifling, it only lasted for a couple days, not long enough to require a buffet to make up for lost calories.

With this latest temperature drop to barely above freezing I am thinking I would greatly enjoy doing some fast hill hiking on the Tandy Hills today.

So it is written, so will it be.....

Mary Kelleher Takes Legal Action To Obtain TRWD Documents

This morning in the Star Telegraph (please note that is Star Telegraph, not Star-Telegram) blog I was surprised to learn that Tarrant Regional Water District Board member, Mary Kelleher, has still not been able to view TRWD documents which she requested access to soon after assuming office.

In the Star Telegraph blog post titled The records belong to THE PEOPLE, part of what we learn is...

Tarrant Regional Water District Board Member Mary Kelleher has begun legal action in her continuing effort to obtain documents detailing business operations at the agency.

Kelleher has filed a petition in district court in Tarrant County seeking to depose key TRWD officials and force them to turn over an extensive list of documents.

How can a public agency stonewall one of its board member's request to view agency documents?

I have no idea what documents Mary Kelleher is wanting to see.

I long ago opined that the TRWD Board documents that I would be curious to read would be the discussions with took place which lead to the hiring of an assistant Tarrant County district attorney named J.D. Granger to be Executive Director of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle....

Suffering From Extreme Texas Tree Pollen Pollution Waiting For Relief On Sunday

According to the AccuWeather graphic above the stifling pollen pollution is going in to Extreme mode tomorrow and Friday, before reverting back to Very High on Saturday, followed by relief on Sunday when the pollen pollution is scheduled to be Moderate.

I am  currently being drugged  every four hours with a little white pill containing something called Chlorpheniramine Maleate. This particular anti-histamine seems to have somewhat abated my respiratory woes.

I did not have myself a mighty fine time last night when it was time to get horizontal. I tossed and turned til way past 3 in the morning. Eventually I successfully passed out for an hour or two.

The outer world was freezing when the time arrived for my regularly scheduled hot tub hydrotherapy session this morning. I skipped the hydrotherapy again.

What I am currently wondering is how come when I lived in Western Washington, a location where there is a lot more foliage of a much wider variety, than my location in Texas, I had no allergy woes?

It's very perplexing.

I Am Being Allergically Mr. Miserable Today In Texas

I did not have myself a hot tub hydrotherapy session this morning.

An extremely intuitive person might intuit from this minimal amount of information that I am not having myself a mighty fine time today.

That intuitive person's intuition would be correct.

I am being Mr. Miserable today.

Allergically miserable.

I thought a walk in the cool air might make me breathe easier. It did not. It was during this futile walk I walked by the hot tub and snapped  the photo you see above.

My breathing function deteriorated throughout the day, yesterday. By the time of the day when the sun does its daily setting I drove myself to Walmart in search of allergy meds. There were a lot of fellow sufferers seeking relief. We all agreed that whatever it is that is making us miserable had arrived in the past 24 hours.

My most horrific allergic misery occurred in October of 2012. So far, this January of 2014 allergic misery is not being as miserable as the 2012 misery.

My current misery includes a headache, stuffed up nasal tubes, itchy eyes, sneezing, coughing along with an overall grumpiness that is the only part of this misery that I am sort of enjoying.

Is The Tandy Hills Thin Man Suffering From Mountain Cedar Pollen Air Pollution?

On the left you are looking at the Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man on this 3rd Monday of 2014, also known as Martin Luther King Day.

I had myself a mighty fine Martin Luther King Day time with an hour, give or take a minute or two, of high speed hill hiking.

Today after the high speed hill hiking had me feeling good due to the aerobic stimulation stimulating endorphins I wondered to myself why some pharmaceutical company doesn't come up with an endorphin pill. I think it would be a big seller, but the FDA would likely prohibit its sale due to it being more addictive than heroin.

A couple days ago I read that the then low level of pollen pollution in the air was about to end with the arrival of Mountain Cedar pollen blowing in from the south.

Mountain Cedar pollen blowing in from the south?

Where are these mountains, south of my location, from whence (sorry Miss Julie) this Mountain Cedar pollen blows?

I do not know if it is Mountain Cedar pollen which is the culprit, but some culprit has got my breathing system in allergy mode, stuffed up bad. The high speed hill hiking and its resultant heavy breathing temporarily abated the stuffiness, but now it has returned.

I think I need to move back to a location more suited for my respiratory architecture, that being the evergreen-scented air of the Pacific Northwest, with its naturally moisturized, naturally saline-ized air blowing in from the Pacific.

If I still had a house to move back to in Washington I think I'd move back tomorrow, what with how I am feeling at this particular moment....

Apparently The Seattle Seahawks & Their 12th Man Make A Nice Super Bowl Villain

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's sports columnist, Gil Lebreton wrote a column that showed up in this morning's Star-Telegram, titled Seahawks make a nice Super Bowl villain that I found amusing.

Part of what Lebreton had to say about the Seahawk villains....

Ladies and gentlemen, the Seattle Seahawks.

Most dislikable Super Bowl team ever?

A cheerleader head coach. That “12th Man” thing, clearly stolen from Aggieland. Five drug suspensions since 2011, and a sixth that was overturned on a wimpy technicality.

And in the early minutes following Sunday’s victory in the NFC title game, there was Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, the first postgame FOX interview ever to bite the head off a live bat.

The Seahawks also won’t have their notorious homefield advantage in the Meadowlands. Let me suggest that without the constant din of their home crowd — their so-called “12th Man” — the Seahawks on a neutral field would have lost either of their two final games. So there’s that.

Just as every Super Bowl needs someone to embrace (Manning), it also needs a villain.

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for Richard Sherman and the Seahawks.

Well. Where do I start?

Every Super Bowl needs someone to embrace? And a villain? I did not know this. Who got embraced at last year's Super Bowl? Who was the villain?

Most dislikable Super Bowl team ever? Is dislikable a word? My spell checker is flagging dislikable as a non-word.

The 12th Man thing was clearly stolen from Aggieland? Didn't Aggieland embarrass itself with a lawsuit claiming Aggie ownership of the 12th Man concept? Didn't Aggieland learn from that lawsuit that the 12th Man concept is not unique to a relatively unknown Texas agriculture college?

I do agree that Seattle is totally overdoing the 12th Man thing. Does it not occur to anyone that giving your home team some sort of advantage by making so much noise it triggers earthquakes, while discombobulating your opponent, is sort of like admitting your team is not good enough on its own? That the team needs the constant din of a roaring crowd, like an additional 12th, player, to help the team win.

However, that rambunctious Seattle Seahawk crowd does make for an energetic lively scene, quite different from what one sees inside the Dallas Cowboy stadium during a Dallas Cowboy game.

The Seattle stadium itself seems to add a colorful element lacking in the Dallas Cowboy stadium.

Is it better designed lighting in the Seattle stadium that explains the difference?

Does the difference come from being an open stadium looking out on the skyline of downtown Seattle? While the Dallas Cowboy stadium looks out on nothing. Well, there is that Super Walmart.

Is it the "warm" feeling of the Seahawk blue color scheme, represented well by the ESPN graphic you see here, that makes the Seattle Seahawk stadium seem so much more appealing, to my eyes, than the sterile, bright silver and gray look of the Dallas Cowboy stadium?

Anyway, I guess I am betting on Denver to beat Seattle to win this year's Super Bowl, what with Seattle not having its 12th Man in the Meadowlands stadium.....