Dodging Deluges While Hunting Tea Bobbers At Walmart & Target

In the stormy view on the left you are sitting with me in the driver's seat, looking west over the steering wheel at a stormy sky and a wet Target parking lot.

Apparently I mis-read the weather menu. I thought rain, along with thunder, was scheduled to arrive from the west sometime after midnight tonight.

Instead, soon after I was done getting wet in the pool this morning, drippage from above began to drop.

The drippage has pretty much been dropping ever since.

With all my hiking and biking locations rendered wet I opted to go to Walmart to hunt for Mary Ann's friend, Ginger, and a new tea bobber thing to make Ginger tea in.

I was able to find Ginger at Walmart but the only tea bobber thing Walmart had was the same type one which malfunctioned when last I bobbed it.

So, I went across the street, well, freeway, to Target to continue my tea bobber thing search.

I could not find a tea bobber thing at Target.

When a Target employed deduced I was looking for something she was of no use when I said I was looking for a tea bobber thing.

Tea bobber thing is likely not the correct name for that which I sought.....

Not Rolling Over A Mallard Cove Cactus Patch While Texting About West Texas Roughnecks With The Queen Of Wink

Today I decided to use my motorized vehicular transport device to take my non-motorized transport device to Mallard Cove Park to roll my two in-line wheels for a few miles.

In the picture, as you can see, my handlebars have screeched to a halt before running into a huge cactus patch.

My handlebars, well, actually it is the brakes and the wheels which do the screeching, screeched to a halt multiple times today, pretty much every time I came to a sit down shade opportunity.

Multiple times my phone made its incoming text message noise, hence the use of the sit down shade opportunities, in order to get my phone out of its safe keeping container, that being the black bag you see attached to the handlebars.

The multiple text messages were from the Queen of Wink regarding a Gar the Texan-like West Texas Neanderthal who had been engaging in a one-sided sinkhole-like Facebook debate over the history of fracking.

I say one-sided debate because I think it was only the West Texas Neanderthal who was in the debate, with the Queen of Wink and me having realized we were not qualified to engage in this debate, due to the fact that we are not beer swilling, tobacco chewing, gun toting, rough neck workers in the oil drilling industry.

Anyway, this brief respite from the HEAT is being mighty fine. Only 71 degrees this morning when I went swimming. This made the pool seem disturbingly as if it was a heated pool. Currently, coming up on the middle of the afternoon, the air outside is only 88 degrees. This cool state is scheduled to disappear tomorrow, with incoming humidity delivered by potentially heavy rain. And thunder booms.

TRWD BOARD IGNORES JUDGE’S ORDER: Director Kelleher To Not Attend Meetings Until Board Complies

A few minutes ago interesting email arrived in my inbox from Mary Kelleher. TRWD Board judicial defiance has resulted in a serious consequence.

The press release in its entirety....

Director Kelleher To Not Attend Meetings Until Board Complies

No Legal Quorum Without Kelleher

Fort Worth, Texas — July 15, 2014

On February 27, 2014 United States District Judge Reed Charles O’Connor handed down a ruling regarding a suit brought by citizens concerned with TRWD board members violating the Texas Constitution by extending their terms to five years. The Federal Court’s ruling stated in part: "Accordingly, the Court finds, from the text of the pertinent authority, that the Texas Legislature did not intend the TRWD to call an election this year but did intend Section 49.105 to address the interim period between the expiration of Lane and Leonard’s terms and the election in May 2015. Because Section 49.105 states vacancies will be filled by appointment,” In contradiction of this Federal Court ruling, the TRWD ;board has taken no action to address the terms of Jim Lane and Marty Leonard which ;expired in May. In spite of their expiration Lane and Leonard continue to serve, vote, and attend executive session.

Director Mary Kelleher stated, "I represent the people and do what I believe is in their best interest. But how do I explain that if I attend board meetings knowing that two of the board members' terms have expired and there has been no attempt made by the board to appoint successors I would be violating Judge O'Connor's order? I have respect for the law and this is a real conflict for me. "

Director Kelleher went on to say, “This behavior could have serious consequences. By allowing unqualified (unelected or appointed) people (Leonard & Lane) to vote and participate in executive sessions the remaining members of the board could be violating the law and once again, be betraying the public trust.” says Kelleher. "I remain ready, willing, and able to faithfully represent the people of Tarrant County once the board agrees to address this issue."

A Temperature Tour Of Four Towns: Fort Worth, Mount Vernon, Phoenix & Tonasket

Well, the cold front blew in to town just as predicted, which has been very refreshing, yet for some reason my air-conditioner still feels the need to cool the air.

Tomorrow is predicted to be even chillier, with a high of 89, then on Thursday I am thinking I won't be running my A/C, what with the outer world being naturally cooled to a high of only 80.

Brrrrr.

I thought it'd be interesting, well, interesting to me, to check in on the temperatures right at this point in time, coming up on 7 in the evening, Central Time, at some of my favorite locations, where some of my favorite people live.

While I am being heated to 92 right now, in my old hometown of Mount Vernon, Spencer Jack and my favorite nephew, Jason, are being cooled to a pleasant 81 degrees.

In Phoenix, where it should be over 100 degrees, it is only 95, with lightning and flash floods. I hope my mom and dad, sister, brother-in-law and favorite nephews, CJ and JR are keeping dry. I would include my brother and sister-in-law in my keep dry hope, but they are currently not in Arizona.

And then we have the temperature winner, Miss Alice, also known as Tootsie Tonasket, overheated at 103. On the map below you don't see Tonasket. You do see Seattle and Spokane. Well, Tonasket is located in the middle between Washington's two biggest towns, only up near the Canadian border.

So, there you have it, a temperature tour where we basically learned it is pretty much HOT all over the place....

Walking With Arlington's Indian Ghosts Spooking The Village Creek Turtle Tribe

I figured yesterday's 101 degree downpours may have rendered the Tandy Hills and Gateway Park a bit muddy, so today for my regularly prescribed bout of vertical aerobic activity I opted to walk with the Indian Ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

As you can see Village Creek is nowhere near flash flood mode, though I could tell via the fresh collection of litter behind the dam bridge that yesterday's rain had raised the creek level for awhile.

Prior to getting to the location you see above I tried to take video of the easily spooked Village Creek turtle tribe. I had to abort that attempt because the turtles jumped off their home log before I focused on them.

Later I made a second attempt to video the turtle tribe. This time they were not easily spooked. In fact, I had to resort to somewhat desperate measures to get them off the log, which you can see, and hear, via the video below....

Feeling Like 106 In Fort Worth But Looking Much Younger

Yesterday the local official temperature monitoring monitor monitored a temperature which hit 100 for the first this year in Fort Worth and environs.

Yesterday my computer and phone temperature monitoring devices did not indicate we'd  hit the 100 mark.

That has changed today, with my computer based temperature monitoring device telling me we are being heated to 101, with those 101 degrees really feeling like 106.

That's HOT.

My old home zone is also having a heat wave, on both sides of the mountains, with the east side of the mountains, as in east of the Cascade mountain range, the temperature being hotter than I am in Texas, with Tootsie Tonasket reporting sweltering at 104 yesterday.

Tootsie Tonasket's air-conditioner is currently not working up to its usual cooling capacity.

Eastern Washington is different from Western Washington in many ways, one of those ways is most people in Eastern Washington have homes cooled by air-conditioning, while most in Western Washington don't.

Western Washingtonians, such as Sampson and Delilah, in Kent.

Kent is a suburb, southeast of Seattle. Sampson and Delilah spent the day yesterday cooling in their neighbors above ground emergency pool. And then with the interior of their house too HOT, Sampson and Delilah spent the night in their RV, which has air-conditioning.

Sampson and Delilah have vowed to have their house converted to being air-conditioned by the time next summer's short heat wave hits Western Washington.

You always hear a lot of Western Washingtonians make that  "I am getting air-conditioning" vow, and then three days later when the heat wave causes a cooling mass of marine air to blow in from the Pacific, the HOT misery is quickly forgotten.

Til the next time.

With The Temperature Nearing 100 I Took A Cooling Walk Around Fort Worth's Fosdick Lake's Fishermen

I have been overdoing the exercise thing a bit of late, maybe, so today I decided to take an easy walk around Fosdick Lake in Fort Worth's Oakland Lake Park

When I arrived at Oakland Lake Park and exited my motorized means of transport my phone based temperature monitoring app indicated the temperature was only 95, yet somehow the fisherman you see here felt the need to cool off by sitting in the lake.

The breeze blowing off the lake is actually quite cooling, along with the built-in Fosdick Fountain cooling mister, both of which amount to creating a wind chill type effect which has the real feel of the temperature seeming to feel way below 95.

None of my temperature monitoring devices indicated anything special happened yesterday. But, this morning I read that yesterday the National Weather Service had measured our first 100 degree day of the year.

Apparently a cold front is heading our way, dropping the temperature into the chilly 80s by tomorrow.

I will believe that when I start to shiver.

In the video below you get a more active look at the Fosdick fishermen, along with a look at the Fosdick Fountain...

Sunday Wheel Rolling River Legacy Park With Fun Town Slow Pokes & Turtle Traffic Jams

I biked Arlington's River Legacy Park's mountain bike trails today, along with a lot of other wheel rollers.

In the picture on the left I have stopped for a hydration break at a trail junction. Usually at this location I opt to go left on the North Loop. Today I opted to take the bypass to the right.

Rather than riding all the loops today I decided to bypass the loops that are not all that much fun and re-loop the loops that are fun.

In the open zone of the Prairie Loop, where the trail is not very treacherous, I steered single-handed for a short distance whilst my other hand held the camera. In the video I mention having spent some time stuck behind a slow poke. At the point where the video ends a trio of new slow pokes passed me as I put the camera back in its protective cover.

The lack of rain has large sections of the trails cracking into pieces.  Those pieces make for an increased chance of suddenly losing control. It has been awhile since I've had a bike wreck. I'm due for one.

I had no problems today with a speed demon coming up behind me. Today I had multiple incidents where I found myself behind a slow poke, or a group of slow pokes, like the aforementioned trio consisting of two guys and a girl. I was an unnoticed 4th for quite some time,  listening to them chatter. Then one of them noticed me, apologized for holding me up and let me by.

About a mile later I was at the entry to Fun Town, contemplating the fact that I have yet to find the courage to enter  Fun Town, even after I was told by a pair of reliable sources that Fun Town really is a fun town, and without expert level difficulty, for the most part. It is the red arrow, meaning experts only, entry option to Fun Town which causes me hesitation. It is virtually vertical.

So, I'm standing there, hydrating and thinking about my Fun Town cowardice when suddenly the aforementioned trio of slow pokes showed up, rolling fast, with the two guys zipping down that vertical Fun Town entry, whilst the girl opted for the more sedate blue arrow entry.

Even with a demonstration of Fun Town's doability, I still opted out and continued on my way.

A couple miles later I was zipping along at high speed, made a tight corner, than had to slam the brakes. A dad with three kids were blocking the trail. The dad apologized for blocking the trail. I asked what they were looking at, which had one of the kids  moving out of the way of a BIG turtle, so I could see it.

Soon additional bikers showed up and halted. What's going on one asked. I said we have a wildlife in danger situation with a HUGE reptile blocking the trail. And none of us is brave enough to lift the turtle off the trail and send it on its way back towards the river.

So, this very muscular, heavily tattooed lady in colorful mountain bike regalia said something like clear the way, I'll take care of the problem. She proceeded to pick up the turtle and not too gently send it on its way.

All in all I had myself a mighty fine time rolling my wheels today....

Rolling Along Arlington's Village Creek With Indian Ghosts Picking Up Litter & Copperheads While Overlooking The Green Bayou

With today being Saturday, weather permitting, usually I end up at Town Talk after hiking up and down some Tandy Hills or rolling my wheels in Gateway Park.

Well, yesterday I Tandy Hill hiked and the day before I rolled in Gateway Park.

Today I opened my food cooling device to see I needed some vittles that I usually acquire at ALDI.

So, I decided to go biking with the Indian Ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Above that would be my bike's handlebars next to a picnic table over looking the Village Creek Green Bayou Overlook.

Below you can walk with me to the Green Bayou Overlook via video.

Today's bike ride began with a little drama. As a young lady rolled towards me I could see she was a bit agitated. She stopped me due to thinking she needed to warn me that a large copperhead snake was slithering on the trail a short distance ahead of me.

I thanked her for the warning, then continued with my rolling. I saw no snake.

Earlier in the month I had a snake encounter on the middle of the Village Creek dam bridge.

Today on the dam bridge a man and woman were using a long pole with a gripper on its end to grip some of the litter that has piled up behind the dam bridge. I'd  never seen that happen before. The pair had filled a pair of large garbage bags with litter.

Since I have been in Texas I have rarely seen anyone but myself pick up litter. And today it happened twice.

As I exited the Albertsons parking lot to turn on to Boca Raton Boulevard I saw a woman picking up some of that litter I mentioned a couple days ago that was littering the route I walk to Albertsons. The woman seemed to be selective about the litter she was selecting, as in it seemed from what I saw that it was cans and bottles which were being selected.

In the below video, in addition to my James Earl Jones-like narration, you can hear cicadas make their jungle drum noise. Is there anyone who does not like the singing cicadas?

Water Returns After Drying Up In Dalworthington Gardens Pappy Elkins Lake No Thanks To XTO Energy

Last night I got around to reading this week's Fort Worth Weekly.

This week's Fort Worth Weekly cover story is about a subject about which I have had some in person experience, and about which I have blogged multiple times.

That subject is the XTO Energy gas drilling site on the shores of Pappy Elkins Lake in Dalworthington Gardens.

The cover article is titled DRYING UP IN DWG with a sub-title of Water and facts have a way of getting lost in Dalworthington Gardens.

The "facts have a way of getting lost" part of the title and the fact that one key fact was not factual, according to what I saw with my own eyes last month, is a bit ironic.

The drying up referred to in the title is in reference to the claim that Pappy Elkins lake had shrunk from being a lake to being a puddle.

Well.

Friday, June 27 I was in Arlington, walking around Veterans Park. An extremely loud noise was coming from the direction of the XTO Energy site by Pappy Elkins Lake. So, after I was done walking I drove to Pappy Elkins Lake to the site of the XTO Energy site to turn off my engine and listen.

No noise.

And Pappy Elkins Lake looked no different than the first time I saw it way back on Sunday, October 24, 2010.

I assume the heavy rains last month re-filled Pappy Elkins Lake

Many Dalworthington Gardens locals believed the missing water was due to XTO Energy sucking the water out of the lake to frack its well. Well, wells.

The FW Weekly article claims there have been 11 wells drilled at the Pappy Elkins location. How is that even possible? I recollect the original drilling and a followup appearance of the drilling rig, just like what happened when Chesapeake Energy moved into two locations in my neighborhood.

Those who blame XTO Energy for a host of woes, including missing water, formed an organization calling itself Pappy Elkins Restoration Group, aka, PERG.

Among the many things which upset PERG is the apparent fact that when the permission was first granted to poke a hole in the ground beside Pappy Elkins Lake XTO Energy said they would not be asking to use the lake's water. Then after the hole was drilled XTO changed its mind and asked DWG's city government for a water sucking permit, with the expected approval of TCEQ.

Permission was granted to remove 3.2 millions gallons for the first well. By 2010 XTO Energy claims to have used 10.8 million gallons to frack three wells.

I do not do well at math, but if by 2014 there have been 11 wells drilled at this site does this mean that over 33 million gallons of water have been used to do the fracking?

On the left you are looking at the first XTO Energy Pappy Elkins drilling operation, with the tower hovering above the apartment complex to the east of Veterans Park.

I remember when I first saw this I was appalled, because it looked as if this was right amongst the apartments, which is what led me to find out where it actually was. That had me walking through the apartment complex, which had me meeting some upset residents, which I then wrote about in a blogging titled Finding Wildscapes Under A Barnett Shale Drilling Operation In Pappy Elkins Park In Dalworthington Garden.

If you go to the Finding Wildscapes link above you will see what the XTO Energy Pappy Elkins site looked like back in 2010. At that point in time, adjacent to the drilling tower was a Dalworthington Gardens Wildscape garden. That garden is now totally gone, covered over by the XTO operation.

The FW Weekly article makes mention of other things that don't match what I have seen. For instance mention is made of a baseball field and park on the north side of the lake, which the city allowed XTO to take over to install wastewater storage tanks. Back in 2010 I did not notice a baseball field or park and in June I did not notice any storage tanks.

Then again, at that point in time I had no reason to look for storage tanks or a missing baseball field.

I used Google Earth to do a closeup flyover of the site and could not find anything which looked like an old baseball field or storage tanks. I'm not suggesting FW Weekly made a mistake, I'm just saying I never saw these things, just like I never saw the lake looking like a puddle.

Mention is also made of a nearby school. I do not know where that nearby school is. I have not seen it.

In the Fort Worth Weekly article there is absolutely no mention made of the residences closest to the XTO Energy Pappy Elkins drilling operation, that being the apartment complex I previously mentioned.

Why in the world did Dalworthington Gardens allow drilling to take place at this location? No wonder the locals are upset and have PERGed.

11 wells drilled at that location? Can anyone make sense of that for me?