Seeing Blooming Daffodils Has Me Wondering Where The Texas Bluebonnets Have Gone

I saw what you see on the left on my old hometown newspaper online this morning.

Daffodils blooming. Lots of daffodils.

Apparently spring sprang on schedule in my old home zone, with the Skagit Valley in multi-color mode with acres upon acres of fields of daffodils, tulips and other bloomers.

Meanwhile, at my location in Texas, where spring has also sprung, we are currently over two-thirds through the month of March, with nary a colorful wildflower to be seen.

Where have all the bluebonnets gone?

On The Tandy Hills With A Growing Hoodoo Plus Mysterious X's

I could not determine, for certain, if today's Tandy Hills Hoodoo was the same Hoodoo I saw on Wednesday, or a newly rebuilt Hoodoo.

I could tell, for certain, that additional rocks had been added at the base of the Hoodoo, perhaps for future Hoodoo construction when the current Hoodoo collapses.

I wonder if whoever it is who is doing the Hoodoo is going to do a Hoodoo construction demonstration at the Prairie Fest  next month? I suspect this would draw a crowd watching the precarious balancing act that results in a Tandy Hills Hoodoo.

The Tandy Hills Hoodoo was not the only work of art or mystery or combo of both I came upon today whilst doing my high speed hill hiking, photo documented below.

The weather is near perfect for hiking today. I  doubt I will be doing any hill hiking tomorrow, what with the current weather menu having thunder booming in some time after midnight, along with rain.

I saw one other hiker today. A young German brunette in very short shorts. I am fairly certain this young German brunette was not one of Gar the Texan's ex-wives. For one thing, this young German spoke fairly easy to understand English.

Below is one of the new art installations I came upon today on the Tandy Hills. A re-imagining of the Tandy Bamboo Tepee, laying on the ground in the Bamboo Tepee Grove.

The mystery of how these sticks of bamboo came to reside in the heart of the Tandy Hills has never been solved.

I came upon a big white X marking a spot in three locations today.

The first big white X I came upon, you see above, on the Tandy Escarpment above Tandy Falls. The other two big white X's were at other locations along the Tandy Highway. And then I came upon the inexplicable white marking below, also on the Tandy Highway..

Is the above supposed to represent a pair of eyes? Or another part of the human anatomy which comes in pairs? In addition to the big white X's, and whatever that is above, big dots of white were also marking spots along the trails.

Yet one more Tandy Hills mystery.

And then we have the scene below.

Once a year a  group of prairie aficionados get together and spend a day doing what they call 'bashing brush' on the Tandy Hills. Above you see the result of this year's brush bashing.

An area of the hills is selected and then de-nuded of anything that is not native to a Texas prairie as it existed pre-human  interference.

Or maybe it is pre-Texan human interference.

I doubt the pre-Texan Indian population introduced a lot of non-native vegetation to the pristine prairie they called home before they got their eviction notices from the incoming Texans....

Today I Felt Introvertish Watching The Village Creek Turtles Welcoming Spring Celebration While Texting Elsie Hotpepper

Apparently the Village Creek Natural Historical Area turtles got the memo that today Spring began, and so the turtles were out of the water having themselves a mighty fine time basking in the springtime sunshine.

I have rarely seen turtles in the Village Creek Blue Bayou. Usually dozens of them hang out on logs further upstream.

But today there were about a dozen turtles in the Blue Bayou, lolly gagging in the sun, totally impervious to me observing them, unlike the usual excessive nervousness with which the Village Creek turtles greet me, as opposed to the non-nervous, extrovertish Fosdick Lake turtles, who at times almost act as if they are waiting to get petted.

I had no idea extrovertish is not a word til I typed it and saw extrovertish get red flagged. Well, it should be a word. As should introvertish be a word.

Used in a sentence...

Elsie Hotpepper is very extrovertish, while I am extremely introvertish, which is why I have myself such a fine time when I go saloon hopping with Elsie Hotpepper and is also why I engage in that saloon hopping behavior so seldom.

Anyway, today marked the first time in a long time I've rolled my wheels through the Village Creek zone without wind being an issue. I do not like wind being an issue when I roll my non-mechanized wheels.

Speaking of Elsie Hotpepper (and who isn't?).

Elsie was the first person I observed up close being a texting maniac on her cell phone. I recollect being at a public meeting type event and being amazed as I watched Elsie clack her phone keyboard at high speed sending text messages to someone on the other side of the room.

And now, just seconds ago, I found myself suddenly realizing that I'd become a text messaging maniac as I sat here exchanging text messages with the aforementioned Elsie Hotpepper.

Progress comes slowly to me, but eventually I catch up. Even if I am a decade behind.....

Hot Tub Hydrotherapy Prior To Today's Springing Of The Vernal Equinox

As you can see, via the view from my patio overlook on the outer world, with just a few minutes left in Winter, my hot tub is back full of water and thus providing me much needed hot tub hydrotherapy, of which I availed myself early this morning whilst Winter was still providing a wintry chill.

The hot tub back being hot afforded three semi-lengthy bouts in the still sort of cool pool.

My previously semi-aching arthritic joints are really feeling the benefits of this morning's hydrotherapy. My joints are feeling so good I think I will take them on a bike ride today with the Indian ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

If my sources are correct, and they usually are, we may have already reached the Vernal Equinox, or will soon, like within the hour, beginning the period where the sun is ever higher in the sky til it reaches the Summer Solstice part of the cycle to begin its long Fall back to Winter.

With the arrival of Spring we should soon see the regularly scheduled arrival of wildflowers, with that arrival being the most colorful time of the year in Texas.

I saw one outbreak of wildflowers on the Tandy Hills yesterday, but they were not colorful enough to motivate me to photo document them.

A Tandy Hills Hoodoo Eiffel Tower Homage Looking At The Best Downtown In America & France

The latest iteration of the constantly iterating Tandy Hills Hoodoo looks to me, sort of,  to be a rocky version of the Eiffel Tower, that being a tall metal structure in a town called Paris in a country called France.

More on Paris and the Eiffel Tower in a bit.

This latest Tandy Hills Hoodoo appears to be the most precarious one yet.

And the tallest.

I wonder if Superglue is being used to help facilitate Hoodoo stability?

I did not make note of whether or not it was a record, but yesterday the temperature as measured at the official temperature measuring station at D/FW Airport measured the air to be heated to 87 degrees.

At my old home location in the state of Washington, 87 degrees  is considered quite HOT. Here in Texas, not so much.

However, I figured those 87 degrees would have heated my swimming pool back to being doable after its recent chilling. I figured wrong. Overnight the temperature plummeted 40 degrees, apparently quickly chilling the water in the pool.  I lasted about 10 minutes before deciding to abort.

My hot tub is finally repaired and is in the process of being refilled. So, I will be able to have myself a much needed hot tub hydrotherapy session tomorrow morning.

This is not my hot tub getting refilled you are looking at on the left. What you are looking at is Tandy Falls roaring over the Tandy Escarpment.

Due to the volume of water flowing over the Tandy Escarpment, today crossing over the rapids required a long leap of maybe four feet.

Continuing on past Tandy Falls I headed west up the trail that leads to the Hoodoo you see above.

Looking west from the Hoodoo I had my first look at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth since I, and the rest of America and the world, learned that an extensive scientific study had determined that Fort Worth has the Best Downtown in America.

It has long puzzled me why the wonder which is downtown Fort Worth seemed to not be on America's radar screen, what with what anyone could clearly see is a one of a kind, extremely unique innovative downtown, the likes of which really exists nowhere else.

Anyway.

Above I mentioned I would mention more about the Eiffel Tower later.

Well, later is now.

Yesterday, on Facebook, I saw photos of Spencer Jack's dad, he being my favorite nephew, Jason, and Spencer Jack's grandma, she being my favorite ex-sister-in-law, Cindy, on a plane, flying where, I did not know.

I thought the plane photos might have been from last month when Spencer Jack flew his dad, uncle Joey and grandma to Disneyland.

However, this morning  I did my daily check on Facebook to see that Jason and his mom had flown to Paris. That would be Jason standing in front of the Eiffel Tower in the picture.

Paris is a town in France. A highly regarded town. I do not know if a scientific study has determined that Paris is the Fort Worth of France, with Paris having the Best Downtown in France.

I do know one thing for certain. When summer comes to Paris, the Seine River Vision does not hold Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats on the Seine River, because that would be tres gauche.....

Finding Excess Endorphins On Fort Worth's Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trails

On the left you are looking at my handlebars pointing at a rolling river of mud known as the Trinity River, as seen from the mountain bike trail in Fort Worth's Gateway Park on this next to last day of  the first bout of Winter of 2014, currently not scheduled to return til December 21.

Gateway Park was heated to 68 degrees when I rolled my wheels there in the noon time frame. Now, three hours later, we have hit 81 at my location on the planet.

The pool was too cool for too long of a pool bout this morning. Tomorrow morning the pool should be more doable.

My hot tub is still in repair mode. So, I am really beginning to feel the bad effects of not getting my regular hot tub hydrotherapy session.

However, today's mountain bike ride sort of overdosed me on endorphins. Though the trails were almost completely dried up from Saturday's deluge, the rain made the trails a bit soft, hence harder to pedal, hence the excessive endorphins and getting a bit winded a time or two.

Tomorrow I'm thinking some fast hill hiking on the Tandy Hills should be on the menu. I like to check on the Tandy Hills Hoodoos at least  once a week...

America Is In Deep Trouble If Fort Worth Is The Best Downtown In America

On the left you are looking at a screen cap from the website of an entity which calls itself Livability. The specific screen cap is from a livability.com webpage sharing with the world the Top 10 Best Downtowns 2014.

It really should not come as a shock to anyone that after Livability's extensive scientific investigation it was determined that Fort Worth, Texas has the Best Downtown in America.

Even though this news really should shock no one there seems to be sort of a collective huh? among those who have been to downtown Fort Worth.

And the downtowns of other American towns.

I first learned Fort Worth is America's Best Downtown when Elsie Hotpepper sent me a link to an article in Fort Worth Weekly titled Downtown Fort Worth Is America’s Best. Fort Worth Weekly took a sort of tongue and cheek approach to this surprising accolade, listing in order the other Top Ten Downtowns in America, as in #2 Providence, (Rhode Island), followed by Indianapolis, Provo, Alexandria, (Virginia), Frederick, (Maryland), Fort Lauderdale, Bellingham, (Washington), Eugene, (Oregon) and Birmingham, (Alabama).

Yeah, I know nothing of several of those towns, either. Except I was born in Eugene and lived several years in Bellingham, both, in my opinion, with much more lively downtowns than Fort Worth's.

Fort Worth Weekly opined that "This is like winning first place in an ugly baby contest." And advises, "So, eat our dust, Eugene, OR!"

I suspect whoever wrote that Eugene should eat Fort Worth's dust has never been to Eugene. Eugene has a downtown with these things called stores, very pedestrian friendly, with sidewalks lining streets all over town.

So, how does this Livability thing explain the inexplicable? I shall quote from their website...

But numbers alone can’t tell you what makes a downtown great. For that you need to see the skylines, hear the street sounds and talk to people who've been there. We took a look, talked with our well-traveled staff and made our picks.

It takes decades of careful planning, political alignments and dedication to create downtowns that attract new residents and visitors. We gave considerable weight to population growth and the ratio of residents to jobs in a downtown area because urban center experts suggest these are the most telling signs of how a downtown is doing.

"The way to have a really vibrant downtown is to have residents there who can support the businesses and provide that life on the street to make the area seem more lively and safer," says Sheila Grant, editor of Downtown Idea Exchange and Downtown Promotion Reporter. "We think they are the most vital part of the city. They give everyone in the outlying areas a sense of community and heritage."

Skylines? Fort Worth has a recognizable skyline? Livability talked with their well-traveled staff to make their picks? Their staff traveled to Fort Worth and still thought it to be the Best Downtown in America?

The ratio of residents to jobs in a downtown area?

Did no one on Livability's well traveled staff notice how few people populated the streets of downtown Fort Worth? Did they not notice there is not a single grocery store in downtown Fort Worth? Did they not notice there is not a single department store in downtown Fort Worth?

As recently as the day after Thanksgiving of 2013 I wandered the streets of downtown Fort Worth to document how lifeless it was on the busiest shopping day of the year. The best downtown in America is a ghost town on the busiest shopping day of the year?

And then there is this paragraph...

"The way to have a really vibrant downtown is to have residents there who can support the businesses and provide that life on the street to make the area seem more lively and safer," says Sheila Grant, editor of Downtown Idea Exchange and Downtown Promotion Reporter. "We think they are the most vital part of the city. They give everyone in the outlying areas a sense of community and heritage."

Oy vey. How does Ms. Grant explain how it is that if downtown Fort Worth has all these residents making the downtown lively and safe, why do all those downtown residents not have access to a downtown grocery store?

A sense of heritage? Oy vey, again. The Best Downtown in America has a boarded up eyesore on the north end of its downtown, called Heritage Park. Did those well traveled Livability staff people not notice this?

And then there is what the Livability article had to say, specifically, about the Best Downtown in America...

A collection of 13 parks provide residents, visitors and downtown workers with spots to soak in some sunshine, eat lunch and unwind. The city's 35-block entertainment and shopping district, Sundance Square, attracts millions of visitors and national attention for its innovative design.

Innovative design? What innovative design? Really, I'm not just being snarky here, I am totally baffled.

A collection of 13 parks in the downtown Fort Worth zone? Is Heritage Park counted among the 13?

Shopping district? If this is a shopping district why is it a ghost town on the day after Thanksgiving?

Attracts millions of visitors? Millions? This count must come from the same mysterious calculator which calculated that the Cabela's sporting goods store in North Fort Worth would draw millions of visitors making it the #1 tourist attraction in Texas.

I can not help but wonder, will Fort Worth be having a city wide celebration celebrating being the Best Downtown in America, such as what happened when a D.C. lobbying group put Fort Worth on some Top Ten Most Livable City list, a list more sophisticated towns, like Tacoma, knew was bogus, politely thanking the lobbying group, but having no city wide celebration.

This is all very perplexing....

Today I Got Myself Stocked With Asian Goods From Saigon Cho In Arlington's Chinatown

No, that is not the Fosdick Fountain in Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park in Fort Worth you are looking at here.

This body of water and its fountain is located in Veterans Park in Arlington.

I stopped at Veterans Park for a short walking commune with nature before continuing on to Arlington's Chinatown to go get myself some much needed Asian grocery supplies at my favorite Asian grocery store, Saigon Cho.

Or is it Cho Saigon? One would think I could remember.

Today I got a lot of bottled sauces, including fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce and chili sauce.  In addition to a lot of sauce I got a big bottle of siracha. Oh, I think that is a sauce too. A really hot sauce. I also got a big bottle of sesame oil, a big bag of vermicelli rice noodles, garlic and other stuff I am not remembering right now.

So, I am now well stocked with Asian sauces, which tomorrow will render cashew chicken over those aforementioned rice noodles. But, right now, enchiladas are baking in the oven. Apparently I am very multi-cultural, spanning the globe for the various cuisines which spew from my kitchen.

The lunch bell is gonging. Talk to you later.....

An Extremely Cold Walk Around Fort Worth's Fosdick Lake On The Last Sunday Of 2014's Winter

Fosdick Fountain in Fosdick Lake in Fort Worth's Oakland Lake Park

Once again cold has creeped south from the north and once again I found myself at one of my outdoor recreational locations without sufficient outwear to keep some semblance of warm.

This morning when I went swimming the outer world was only 10 degrees cooler than the morning before, when I had myself a nice long swim.

Yesterday's deluging added a couple inches of previously frozen water to the pool.

I did not have myself a nice long swim this morning.

As the minutes of those morning marched on towards noon the temperature continued to drop. A strong wind blows, at times gustily. Currently a few minutes after my return to interior comfort I see the outer world is now chilled to 44 with a 26 mile per hour wind making it really feel like 33. I thought it really felt more like 23 when I was out in it.

You can sort of tell the wind is blowing Fosdick Fountain's water to the south, in the picture above.

I only saw one other person foolish enough to be out in this frigidity today, that being a properly attired jogging woman jogging across Fosdick Dam as I tried to make a 360 degree video. I did not like the result of my attempt to make a 360 degree video using a phone, so you won't be seeing it.

We start to warm up again tomorrow. I don't think I will be making a swim attempt in the morning though. The first day of Spring arrives on Thursday. I hope with the arrival of Spring we can put this Arctic madness behind us...

An Aborted Gateway Park Bike Ride Before Treasure Hunting At Town Talk

On the left you are looking out my computer room window through a pane of glass dripping water from today's eagerly anticipated downpour which tardily arrived a short while before four on this Ides of March Saturday afternoon.

A few minutes ago I saw my computer based weather monitoring device turn red, so I clicked it and learned that currently we are being advised to watch for a severe thunderstorm.

A few seconds after getting the watch for a severe thunderstorm notification I heard my first boom of thunder. As of right now, that one clap is the only clap I have heard so far.

Prior to the predicted precipitation precipitating I was preparing to go for my second swim of the day. That particular preparation has now been aborted. My second aborted plan of the day.

Computer Based Weather Information

Around noon when I left my abode to drive my mechanized mobile device to Gateway Park to pedal my non-mechanized mobile device on the mountain bike trail drops of rain were moistening the windshield. The rain was not falling anywhere close to downpour mode, but nonetheless I assumed it might whilst finding myself on a dirt trail turning into mud.

So, I aborted today's mountain bike ride and continued on to Town Talk.

As it turned out, during the time frame allotted for a bike ride the rain never fell in amounts copious enough to have ruined a pleasant bike ride.

I guess I did what is known as erring on the side of caution. Better that than have bike tires with three inches of clay-like mud stuck to them.

Town Talk treasure hunting was a success today. Orange peppers, a big box of frozen shrimp, dozens of bananas, jalapeno bacon, chick peas, rice and other stuff I am not remembering right now.

Unlike the past three Saturdays, today Town Talk was not suffering from a jammed parking lot and long checkout lines.

Just got a text message from Elsie Hotpepper asking if I want to go see a Dud and a Prince tonight. I have no idea what this means, except that somehow wildcatting is involved....