Scam Business Posing As City Agency At Large In Tarrant County

I do not know what to make of that which you see here, sent to me a few minutes ago via email.

In addition to that which you see here, all the email said was "Too Funny".

I believe Panther Fest is a Trinity River Central City Panther Island Vision Boondoggle product.

I know for certain Panther Fest is scheduled to take place this coming Saturday, June 6. And that part of the Fest is a long water slide sliding from the north end of downtown Fort Worth over the Main Street bridge over the Trinity.

I also know that some business entity has sold this slide concept to other towns across America, including Seattle.

The Fort Worth Panther Fest slide version, what with it being associated with America's Biggest Boondoggle, also includes beer.

Near as I can tell this scam warning is coming from the City of Fort Worth.

Is the scam business the city is warning us about the people bringing the slide to town?

Or is the scam business, posing as a public agency, that the city is warning us about, the Trinity River Vision Authority?

Has the city finally come to its senses?

After all, many believe America's Biggest Boondoggle to be a scam business, posing as a public agency, dawdling along, getting little done, taking four years to build three simple little bridges over dry land, wasting money on all sorts of tom foolery, like drunken inner tubing beer parties in the polluted Trinity River, ice skating rinks, paying double market value to buy some contaminated land from a bankrupt friend, followed by building the world's first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century, along with a ridiculous amount of propaganda, in signage and print publication touting the wonders of a public works project the public has never voted for, which has accomplished little in well over a decade of boondoggling...

First Day Of June Biking Around The Evergreen State Of Texas

The  flooded month of May greatly hampered my outdoor activities. No Tandy Hills hiking, one or two bike rides, a walk with the Village Creek Natural Historical Area Indian Ghosts, with way too many walks around my neighborhood, mostly up the hill to Albertsons.

Even going swimming was affected by the May rains.

A consequence of all this slothfulness has been rapid weight gain, with my pound total zooming back over 190.

Well, all that slothfulness changes as of today, the first day of June and the first blue sky, wind-free day, at my location in Texas, for what seems a long time.

So, I took my bike on a post flood inspection tour of my neighborhood. The only thing I saw that was storm related was a lot of mud at a low point on Canyon Creek Drive.

Where my handlebars are pointing at, above, is my neighborhood golf course, the Woodhaven Country Club. As you can see, the golf course has greatly benefited from the copious rain, consequently sporting a lush emerald shade of green.

My old home state, Washington, is known as the Evergreen State. Seattle is known as the Emerald City. With the entire state of Washington in severe drought mode I wonder how brown the landscape will get before some nickname changing takes place?

The last time I flew north, summer of 2008, Washington was in drought mode, with the brown landscape surprising me as I descended from the clouds expecting to see the multi shades of green I was used to seeing in Washington.

With all this climate change drastically going on, is Texas going to need to change its nickname from Lone Star State to Evergreen State?

Dallas & Fort Worth's Dueling Photo Propagandists & Other Nonsense

I saw that which you see here this morning on Facebook. At first glance I thought Fort Worth's most renowned photographer had ventured east to aim his special brand of photo propaganda at Dallas.

Then on second thought I realized this photo looked too realistic, with the colors not exaggerated and saturated enough to be the work of Fort Worth's renowned photo propagandist.

Upon reading the text I learned that this Dallas photo was taken by an ex-Grateful Dead roadie named Warren Harris.

I do not know if Warren Harris has been hired to be the photographer for the Dallas version of the Trinity River Vision.

Fort Worth's renowned photo propagandist and the Fort Worth Trinity River Central City Panther Island Vision Boondoggle are a perfect fit, both so artfully able to exaggerate reality creating false impressions, which bear no relation to what most people's eyes see.

Signatures bridges, Panther Island where there is no island, 90+ user requested amenities, biggest urban water development project in North America, best urban waterfront music venue in Texas, world's premiere urban wakeboard park (currently badly flood damaged) and other exaggerated propaganda I am not remembering right now.

Speaking of the flood damaged Cowtown Wakepark. And who isn't? Who was the genius who thought it a good idea to invest in a pond a few feet from a river which is prone to serious flooding when Mother Nature decides to deliver a lot of water?

A couple months ago I blogged about a wakeboard lake in Phuket, Thailand, in a blogging titled Phuket's Anthem Is No Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Cowtown Wakepark.

Whoever was behind the Phuket River Vision had the vision to have the Anthem Lake not adjacent to a flooding river, or, I assume, accessible by an incoming tsunami.

I suspect no local Thai congresswoman's son was in charge of how Phuket's Anthem wakeboard lake came to be....

The Trinity Continues To Rise With Inadequate Levees Threatening Downtown Dallas

I saw that which you see here a few minutes ago on Facebook, via Elsie Hotpepper.

Apparently downtown Dallas is in danger as the Trinity continues to rise, straining levees which long ago were deemed inadequate to handle a massive flood.

I have never been in Dallas when the Trinity is running a lot of water. I've only see it when the big flood plain is dry with a little thing that looks like a ditch running through the flood plain.

That little ditch in the flood plain is currently a gigantic Lake Dallas.

Elsie Hotpepper asks a good question. As in "Does Dallas not know they are downstream??"

As the Trinity passes downtown Fort Worth the Clear Fork and West Fork join together and make a bigger river as the water continues its journey east. By the time the river gets to Dallas the East Fork and Elm Fork join Clear and West to make one unified river.

Currently one big unified river  threatening one big town's downtown with getting the New Orleans Katrina treatment.

I don't quite understand how breeched levees could threaten downtown Dallas with catastrophic flooding.

But that is what I am hearing.

Then again, like I've already suggested, when I've been in downtown Dallas I have never had any awareness of where the river was, unlike downtown Fort Worth where the river is quite noticeable, all the time, not just during those times when hundreds of dementos are having themselves a mighty fine time floating in the river, drinking beer and listening to music at an imaginary pavilion by an imaginary island at an imaginary world class water front music venue.

I sure hope the Dallas levees hold. I have seen what happens when a dike breaks during a flood. It ain't pretty.

UPDATE: From the Dallas Morning News----"All that stands between downtown Dallas and its near-total submersion are a pair of very old, deteriorating earthen levees that have been judged dangerously inadequate for a generation."

Gateway Park's Boarded Up Boardwalks Are Not Being Torn Apart By The Flood

Yesterday on my way to Town Talk, after walking with the turtles who live in Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park, I took a detour into Gateway Park to get a look at the flooding Trinity River as it passes one of Gateway Park's boarded up boardwalks.

Where this Gateway Park boardwalk is located the Trinity River is in its natural state.

No levees.

At this point the river has carved itself a bit of a canyon, with the river narrow and running fast, with rapids at this location.

Upon arrival I was surprised to see part of the boarded up boardwalk deconstructed and piled up near the parking lot.

That is that pile you see below.

In  the picture above you are looking at a stairway that used to be boarded up, but now there is nothing blocking one from walking straight down the stairs and into the flooding Trinity River. Not long ago a teenager drowned at this location at a time when the Trinity River was in drought mode.

Since what one could see of the boarded up boardwalk was all intact I assume the debris you see above came from the part of the boardwalk that is now under water. I suspect the deconstruction process was underway when the flood hit.

The Trinity River Center City Panther Island Vision Boondoggle is, supposedly, building two new river overlooks. I assume that is why the boarded up boardwalk is being deconstructed.

I also assume that the new boardwalk overlooks are going to be built above where the river floods, so as to prevent what happened to the current boarded up boardwalks.

But, with America's Biggest Boondoggle one can never assume common sense will prevail....

Were A Mom & Son Picking Up Fosdick Lake Litter To Deliver To A Fort Worth Solar Powered Trash Compactor?

Due to flooding I thought my only nearby walkabout option today was Oakland Lake Park, walking around Fosdick Lake.

After doing so I soon found Gateway Park open, not flooded, and later saw Quanah Parker Park open, also not flooded.

A lot of people were enjoying the rain respite. Along with the cheerful turtles you see here, straining their necks looking for the sun.

Fosdick Falls was not falling as thunderous a volume of water as I had expected to hear, but the roar was louder than Fosdick Falls was roaring on Memorial Day.

Today I found myself marveling anew at Oakland Lake Park's solar powered trash compactor.

Why have a solar powered trash compactor next to two non-solar powered trash barrels?

I think the blue can on the right is intended for cans and bottles to be inserted in the hole in the lid. The green barrel has no lid. I have seen litter blowing out of lid-less Fort Worth litter barrels, which is why most parks, such as those in Arlington, have litter receptacles with lids.

Way in the background you can see Oakland Lake Park's sole outhouse.

I've asked before, but I will ask again, why would you have something ultra-modern, like a solar powered trash compactor, in a park without running water or modern restroom facilities?

And then, on the opposite side of Fosdick Lake I came upon the mom and her son you see below.

As I got closer to these two I saw mom fishing something out of the lake's edge and tossing what she fished back towards her son, who then put what was fished in the bucket.

I stopped and asked what they were fishing for.

Litter was the reply.

Show him, mom said. Which had the boy showing me the contents of the bucket of litter.

A lot of litter.

The mom told me they were on their 4th litter bucket of the day.

When I got to the bluff above the lake I snapped the picture you see above.

Very commendable, I thought. Cleaning up Fosdick Lake.

Also sort of futile.

I did not ask if they were disposing of the litter in the solar-powered trash compactor.

Town Talk was a bit of a bust today.

The Latest Texas Storm Saved Me From Boarding An Ark-Like Cruise Ship

I was having a nightmare about floating away in the ark-like cruise ship you see here when I got an early morning wake up call in the form of strong wind gusts, followed by thunder booming and then rain downpouring.

I am assuming this latest deluge has flooded Quanah Parker Park and Gateway Park, if they were not already closed due to too much water.

Tandy Hills has been out of commission for what seems like weeks, due to excessive wetness.

That leaves only Oakland Lake Park available for a walkabout today, pre going Town Talk treasure hunting.

I imagine Fosdick Lake, in Oakland Lake Park, is in overflow mode, with Fosdick Falls vibrating the ground as it roars over Fosdick Dam.

Today is supposedly the last day we will be subjected to storms, for a few days.

I'll believe it when I see blue sky....

New Blogger In Town Blogging The Fort Worth Way

There is a new blogger in town, with that town being Fort Worth, with that blogger being Mary Kelleher, with Mary Kelleher being the only representative of The People among the directors on the TRWD Board.

As you can see this new blog is titled The Fort Worth Way.

As you can also see, the first post on The Fort Worth Way is titled Devastated!

A blurb from Devastated!

We lost by 10,000 mail-in votes....smh!  How could it be?  We worked so hard!

Naturally, foul play is suspected but proving foul play is another thing. Maybe there were actually 10,000 people so interested in the TRWD election they took the initiative to request a ballot and mail it in.  

The fact of the matter is we lost and we lost big; but you know what.....we have another shot at it again in 2017, then 2019, then again in 2021.  The TRWD is no longer the best-kept secret in town.

____________________________________________

With foul play in the recent election being naturally suspected, I don't understand why an election which seemed so outrageously out of whack with previous TRWD Board elections, with pre election polling which so drastically did not match the results, with something so far out of the norm as 10,000 absentee ballots, that some automatic investigation is not triggered by some sort of election oversight entity.

Then I remember I am in Texas. where often that which makes no sense prevails.

In the two years since Mary Kelleher was elected the public had become aware of TRWD shady deals, loans to bankrupt friends, paying double market  price for contaminated land, an embarrassing boondoggle which is one of the slowest construction projects in history.

Yet somehow in the first election since Mary Kelleher got elected with the highest vote total in TRWD election history, two TRWD incumbents get re-elected with about double the previous record number of votes.

Marty Leonard seems to me to be a nice lady. I would think her conscience would bother her. I would think she must struggle with whether or not she should speak out and blow the whistle on the TRWD's shady shenanigans.

Buck the Fort Worth Way, Marty Leonard.

Expose the truth.

You'll be hailed as heroic.....

Mallard Cove Park Is Underwater With Some Mysterious Bubbles Burbling

A few days ago I blogged A New Cove Has Been Added To Mallard Cove Park.

Today I returned to Mallard Cove Park to find a river now runs through it.

A noticeable current was flowing along, moving debris with the flow, no litter, just river flotsam, like twigs and such.

The noticeable current surprised me, what with the current location being a bit distant from where the Trinity River flows by the north end of the park.

When I got to the edge of the flood I saw something a bit disturbing.

Bubbles burbling to the surface.

Natural gas pipelines run under this park, with multiple signs pointing out that fact. A fellow flood watcher walked up and I pointed her towards the burbles with her initial reaction being the same as mine.

A gas leak.

Eventually a less excitable type walked up and opined that the burbles were likely coming from a deep air pocket of the sort snakes live in.

I'm sticking with gas leak.

The leak was to the right of the view you see here, looking at a forlorn park bench currently mostly submerged.

I took some video of the flood and the burbling leak. You can watch that below.

Below are a pair of flood watchers who are near the aforementioned burbling.

Leaving Mallard Cove Park I continued east on Randol Mill Road, past the flooded Mary Kelleher farm, to find the road flooded and closed just past the River Bottom Bar. I turned around and headed back to Cooks Lane to head to high country and ALDI, where I got myself some Texas sweet onions, among other things.

Below is the aforementioned video....

Fort Worth Should Exile The Lawn Whisperer To Washington To Help With The Drought

Incoming Weather Humble Bragging from Spencer Jack's dad, my Favorite Nephew Jason...

May be currently violating lawn watering ban.  All Western Washington citizens were advised last week by the governor, who declared a state wide drought, to contact their local water supplier to learn of ways of conserving water.

In the meantime Skagit County is in the midst of harvesting strawberries which just like the tulips showed up three weeks early.

Hope my FUD is enjoying the sun and dry late spring weather too.
FNJ

A statewide drought in Washington? Get advice about conserving water? Maybe Fort Worth could send the Water Whisperer to Washington, now that he is no longer needed in Texas.

Yesterday, on Facebook, I saw the Skagit Valley's #1 strawberry grower, renowned author and owner of the Ole & Sven Berry Patch, Martin B., sharing a photo of a desert concoction consisting of several of his giant, deep red, ultra sweet strawberries, on top of peanut butter ice cream and a dark chocolate fudge brownie.

I read that and wondered why would anyone ruin a perfectly fine strawberry in this manner.

I also wondered why strawberries were already available for picking.

Below is the other piece of Weather Humble Bragging my Favorite Nephew Jason added to his email...

Well, FNJ, here in the Deep South we are shivering at 73 under a cloudy sky with some drippage dripping after a night of deluging with thunder booms.