Walking With Arlington's Indian Ghosts Perplexed By Litter Mudslides & Kissing A Leggy Ex-Waitress

Today I had myself a mighty fine time taking a Sunday walk with the Indian ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Soon after the Sunday sun arrived, lighting through a cloudy sky, I had a long hot tub hydrotherapy session combined with a long bout in the not too cool pool.

Decades ago I knew a nurse who was known as The Fat Lady. The Fat Lady had a thing about hugging trees. I remember being in Olympic National Park with The Fat Lady with her hugging the biggest tree in the world of some particular type. Was it cedar? I don't remember. I do remember the Fat Lady would only hug a very small part of that particular tree's circumference. The tree hugging sent The Fat Lady into some sort of religious like reverie that was sort of creepy to be an eye witness to.

So, today, with The Fat Lady in mind, I came upon the tree you see above. I think it is an oak. I gave the oak a hug.

I'd like to say I felt the spirit of an Indian ghost pass through me as I hugged the oak. But, I felt nothing.

Spencer Jack's dad, my favorite nephew, Jason, emailed me this morning regarding the massive mudslide that slid down in my old home state of Washington, destroying several homes and killing several people.

More on mudslides below, but first I have to point out the "mudslide" I came upon today in the Village Creek Not So Natural Historical Area. That to which I refer you can see below.

How can a little rain wash this much debris into Village Creek? I am almost 100% certain that Village Creek flows out of the Lake Arlington reservoir. A short distance away. How can this much litter  accumulate in such a short distance?

Continuing with the mudslide subject.

In the same batch of email as the one from Jason regarding the Washington mudslide there was a blog comment from someone named Bulletholes mentioning a Texas mudslide.....

Bulletholes has left a new comment on your post "Illuminating Luminarias in Fort Worth": 

I started working there as a busboy in May of 1975, the day after I graduated High School. I ended up Head Chef a few years later.

Every time the millionaire owner would fly in from California I would tease him that he out to know better than to build a California restaurant on the side of a Texas hill. And he'd laugh at me. Then two years later, I came in one morning after it had been raining for days, got my cup of coffee, went over to the window to look at downtown before starting work (which I did every day) and I got to the window, looked down and the patios were covered up in a mudslde and half the hill was gone.

I just had to laugh.

Somewhere, there is a leggy ex-waitress with a branding iron in the shape of a heart I pulled off the wall. If you see her say hello, kiss her once for me.

The restaurant to which Bulletholes refers used to exist on the west side of the Tandy Hills, at the north end of Ben Street. The first time I was in Fort Worth was in August of 1980. At that point in time I stayed at what was then a Ramada Inn on the north side of I-30 and Beach Street, a short distance from the aforementioned restaurant. I remember seeing that restaurant back then and thinking it looked to be an interesting location. By the time I moved to Texas the restaurant had become an abandoned ruin, but was still standing. Then at some point in time, after that, the remains were razed to the ground, leaving only the cement foundation.

As for kissing a leggy ex-waitress. The only leggy ex-waitress I can think of is Elsie Hotpepper. But, Elsie is unbranded.

Speaking of Elsie Hotpepper, and who isn't? Today whilst walking with the Indian ghosts Elsie Hotpepper texted me with the cryptic message "No Comment?"

I had no idea what "No Comment?" meant so I texted back, verbalizing my perplexation. This turned into multiple textings back and forth. Each time the text noise happened I'd have to sit down at a picnic table or bench in order to text back a reply.

My needing to sit down in order to text a message had me wondering how and why there has been a problem with people texting whilst driving. I don't see how it would be possible to fumble out a message on a phone whilst driving.

At my location I have seen none of the rain that was predicted to be falling this weekend. Nor have I heard a single clap of the predicted thunder. The only part of the weather prediction that has come true is the temperature has been dialed back down to the chilly zone.

I am looking forward to that time of the year when the temperature is reliably, predictably, HOT....

No Thunderstorm Impeded Biking Gateway Park Today Before Town Talking

Apparently I misunderstood the forecast for today's weather. I thought that more than once I heard that thunderstorms were scheduled to rumble in some time after midnight, along with rain.

With an electric wet forecast I figured I would not be swimming or getting any hot tub hydrotherapy this morning, let alone a bike ride in the noon time frame.

I figured wrong. No thunder, no rain, at least so far, coming up on two hours past noon.

So, this morning I was able to have my second long swim of the new year, and then later, a long bike ride on the Gateway Park mountain bike trails.

At one point whilst rolling my wheels today I stopped at a point high above the Trinity River and saw the view you see above. I thought the giant twig stuck in the middle of the river was interesting. How did it get there?

And then I found myself being perplexed by the water rolling down the river.

Where does all this water come from, what with very little rain falling on North Texas, what with the upriver reservoirs  pretty much drained almost dry.

There are no mountains with snowpacks in Texas, melting, and flowing water into rivers.

So, why is there so much water still flowing in the Trinity River?

Anyway, I had myself a mighty fine time bike riding today. I have to say, the Gateway Park mountain bike trails are very well designed. Who figures out where to make a trail like this? The Gateway Park trails are more challenging to me than the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails that I roll on. I stay off the challenging River Legacy Park trails that are beyond my biking ability, like the EKG loop and Fun Town.

Maybe I should give EKG and Fun Town a try. How much harder than the Gateway Park trails can they be I can't help but wonder. Part of the Gateway Park trails could be called Fun Town, because, well, it's fun. Like a twisting and turning roller coaster ride of sharp ups and downs.

I had a successful Treasure Hunt at Town Talk today. Two bags of California mandarins, dozens of Tyson all natural chicken legs, broccoli, extra sharp white cheddar cheese, prickly pear syrup, whole grain Belgian waffles and transmission fluid.

I am fairly certain the transmission fluid is not edible....

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.....