Sunday Running With Arlington Indian Ghosts

Til today the last couple of weeks I had not indulged in the jogging habit I acquired last summer.

I think it was the abrupt change to winter type temperatures which put the temporary stay on running.

But, today, with the outer world not being too cool, currently at a relatively balmy 61 degrees, but a little cooler when I hauled myself to Arlington to go running with the Indian Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

I was not alone with the Indian Ghosts today. More people than is the norm were having themselves a mighty fine time enjoying the crisp, clean air.

My intention today had been to run a three mile loop. But when I got to the location you see above I found the loop was not doable due to water flowing over the dam bridge I use to cross over into the Interlochen neighborhood.

I don't like backtracking, but with the loop not doable, backtracking is what I did.

And now, a couple hours later, I am still enjoying the endorphins that came my way today via aerobic over stimulation.

I think I will make sure I don't fall off the salubrious jogging wagon again....

Quickly Building A New Fort Worth Bridge Over Water

Yesterday, after leaving Gateway Park I eventually found myself heading east on the road which morphs from being East 1st Street into Randol Mill Road.

This road crosses the Trinity River on an old bridge which will soon become part of a new paved trail running east all the way to Quanah Parker Park.

I stopped my vehicle prior to crossing that aforementioned old bridge in order to snap a photo of the new bridge which will replace the old bridge.

The new bridge over the Trinity River looks to be a four lane bridge. Only a month ago the bridge's support piers were under construction. That phase of the project is finished with the road bed now being installed.

This new bridge over the Trinity River is being constructed over water, obviously. Water which has caused some construction problems, like back around Thanksgiving when the Trinity quickly went into flood mode, stranding, under water, a heavy piece of construction equipment.

This upgrade to East 1st Street/Randol Mill Road includes two other bridges, in addition to the one over the Trinity. The other two bridges are already completed.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Fort Worth, America's Biggest Boondoggle is currently boondoggling along building three simple little bridges with a four year construction timeline, building the bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

A couple months ago America's Biggest Boondoggle made a big deal over one of its three bridges having the wooden forms for its V-piers able to be seen. Has concrete now been poured in those forms? Is the bridge deck under construction like the above Fort Worth bridge?

How is it that one public works project in Fort Worth seems to be being built in the efficient manner I have witnessed such things in other locations in America, at the same time another public works project in Fort Worth ambles along in slow motion with very little to show for an effort which has spanned most of this century.

Very perplexing.

I suspect a local congresswoman's unqualified son is not directing the road/bridge building project on East 1st Street/Randol Mill Road. I suspect actual qualified adults with engineering degrees are in charge of building that bridge over the Trinity River.....

Looking Over New Gateway Park Overlook Before Town Talk Dud

For a long long time Saturday's were my day to go mountain biking the Gateway Park Fort Worth Mountain Bike Association trail prior to going treasure hunting at Town Talk.

For many a month now Gateway Park and Town Talk have not been my Saturday norm.

Til today.

First off let's get Town Talk out of the way. TT was a dud today. Crowded. All I could find to put in my cart were giant tortillas. With that being all I could find, I bailed, and vowed not to return unless I happened to be in the area. Town Talk has gone downhill under its new owner, I've concluded, after having such suggested by Mr. Stenotrophomonas.

The Gateway Park part of today turned out to be interesting. That and I had myself a mighty fine walk. The photo above is looking at the currently closed entry to the FWMBA trail. Closed due to work being done in Gateway Park by, I think, the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision.

Some of what is being done to Gateway Park I could understand, some of what I saw perplexed me, such as that which you see below.

Every where I walked I saw orange mesh, such as you see above, acting like a flimsy fence around trees. To what purpose I could not figure out.

I have no idea when the Gateway Park mountain bike trail will be fully doable once more, with part of the problem clearly visible below.

When the Trinity River went into flood mode it flooded all the low lying areas where the mountain bike trail trailed. And then when the river receded lakes of water were left behind. I assume the only way this water will drain is via the slow evaporation method.

I will need to explain what you are looking at below.

On the left that big chunk of gray is a dangling chunk of the old Gateway Park paved trail that succumbed to a long ago flood. The blue on the right is a slice of the Trinity River, well below being in flood mode. In the center of the photo you see splashes of white. The camera did not quite capture the astonishing array of litter left behind, stuck in tree limbs, when the river receded.

Today's Gateway Park inspection did not take me to the location of the new Trinity River Overlook on the west side of the park.  Today's inspection did take me to the location of the new Trinity River Overlook on the east side of the park.

When I last saw this location, late last year, I saw that the decayed, water damaged boarded up boardwalk overlook had been removed. I was sort of surprised to see the new west side overlook looking good and nearly completed. Above we are looking west at the south part of the new overlook. That would make that slice of blue on the left the Trinity River.

The mud you see in the foreground was frozen solid, so I walked over it to walk over the new overlook.

Above we are standing on the new overlook, looking northwest, with the Trinity River behind us. This new overlook looks to be much more solidly built and better designed than its ill-fated predecessor. Wood is not a construction element. And the entire structure appears to be above what a flooding Trinity River can reach.

Today's walk around Gateway Park had me thinking that the improvements being made may bring this park a lot more visitors. I've long thought Gateway Park was under appreciated by the locals, due to seeing so few people making use of the park's many miles of shaded  paved trails.

Van Williams Cousin's Ex Thanks Durango & Elsie Hotpepper For The Memory

Earlier in the week I blogged about an Elsie Hotpepper nightmare which I thought may have been caused by a Rawhide episode, which led to someone suggesting I watch Surfside 6 starring Fort Worth's Van Williams, which led to me blogging about Surfside 6, which led to the following interesting comment from someone named Anonymous who had been married to a cousin of Van Williams...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "On Rat Patrol Looking At Fort Worth's Surfside 6 Van Williams With No Calamity Nightmares":

Van was the son of Blackie and Priscilla Williams. He went to Arlington Heights and was famous for driving his jeep through the old fountain in front of the main building... long since removed. 

Bernard " Blackie" was a great guy and was on the TCU National Championship football team of 1938. He married Priscilla Jarvis and had 2 sons. Van and the older Bernie, who lived his life as a monk in California. 

Van was a looker. He was discovered by Mike Todd and Elizabeth Taylor as he walked the beaches of Waikiki. He was the cousin of my ex who was a Jarvis. He used to come to visit and had a beautiful family. Gorgeous wife and daughters. 

The Jarvis and Van Zant families were founding families of The Fort. 

Blackie introduced my mother to her second husband, though I never held it against him. 

My little sis was a burn victim when she was little and Van came to see her in the Carswell burn unit. She has never forgotten it. 

Van had a beeper company in LA back when that was hot. He took parts as he could to be able to keep his SAG insurance plan.

Fun to see him brought up again. Thanks Durango and Hotpepper. 

Feeling Guilty When Anything Helps While Having Nothing To Give

A few months ago, back when the outer world air was warm, well, actually, HOT, I was leaving the Target/ALDI shopping zone on Eastchase Parkway in far east Fort Worth, waiting in a line of vehicles for the light to turn green when I saw a pan handler person sitting on the ground.

As I got out my camera the light turned green, so no photo was taken of that sad scene at that point in time, last year.

And now today, I was once again leaving the Target/ALDI shopping zone on Eastchase Parkway in far east Fort Worth where I found myself driving by the same pan handler person sitting in the same location.

Only this time the light turned red before I could make the turn on to Eastchase. So, I got out my phone and took a photo of the pan handler as reflected in the side mirror of my vehicle.

What you see the man holding is a sign which says "Anything Helps".

The man holding the sign looked to be healthy, in his 20s, darkly suntanned, likely from way too much outdoor exposure.

Is this guy at this location every day? Seen by thousands of passing people over the passage of time? I did not think to turn around, park, and then walk over to talk to the guy to find out what has him in this seemingly dire situation.

Fort Worth police must drive by this guy every day. As do the people who operate the stores in this shopping zone.

I felt guilty taking a photo of the guy, and not offering anything to help. But, in my defense, the only actual money I had on me was the quarter I use to unleash an ALDI shopping cart. I doubt he takes debit or credit cards. I did buy a jar of peanuts at ALDI. I suppose handing the guy a jar of peanuts would qualify as help.

Could this guy be one of the army of homeless veterans left injured in ways unseen by the infamous Bush Wars? He is not the first young man I have seen in my neighborhood zone, seeming to be homeless, who had me wondering if he was yet one more abandoned veteran.

A couple years ago I came upon a guy who I thought might be an abandoned veteran living in a home made of cardboard under cover of brush near my neighborhood defunct Kroger store. I saw that guy over and over again for about a year, always looking ever more haggard. And then he disappeared.

Why isn't the veteran suicide epidemic a HUGE issue? All that Repugnant warmongering that would create more traumatized veterans, but no mongering about fixing the problems that plague the army of veterans.

Well, there is Donald Trump, who does say he will fix the disgraceful treatment of the veterans, but, well, it's Donald Trump, so the words are pretty much meaningless....

Fort Worth Weekly Static Over Confederate Battle Flag Ku Klux Klan Parade Infiltration

This week's Fort Worth Weekly Static column reflected on last Saturday's Fort Worth Stock Show Parade in downtown Fort Worth, opining the parade resembled a backwoods Ku Klux Klan rally.

Fort Worth Weekly made a good case as to what made the Stock Show Parade resemble a Ku Klux Klan rally, and before any Yankees reading this prejudge Fort Worth and its signature parade, you need to read in its entirety what Fort Worth Weekly's Static had to say.....

Stock Show Parade or Klan Rally?

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo officials are barring people from displaying the Confederate battle flag at official events from now on. The ban included participants at last Saturday’s downtown parade that drew thousands of spectators. One participating group has long displayed the flag during previous parades. A local branch of the Sons of Confederate Veterans protested by carrying flagless poles with black streamers. The group, founded in 1896 in Richmond, Va., by descendants of Confederate soldiers, sent out volunteers to distribute Confederate flags to 1,400 spectators, ensuring that the parade resembled an inbred, redneck, backwoods, Ku Klux Klan rally.

Afterward, on the Facebook page for “R.E. Lee Camp 239 Sons of Confederate Veterans,” administrators bragged about polluting the parade: “Most of the crowd loved us, and all went pretty well with only the occasional sarcastic comment,” read a post from Sunday, Jan. 17, the day after the event. “Of course, the media went to great pains to edit and crop their shots to try and not show the flags in the crowd. A couple of the flaggers were hassled by police and parade marshals for getting too close to what they determined to be private property; but conversations with Fort Worth’s finest let [sic] us to believe that they were with us but couldn’t speak out for fear of job reprisal.”

You know who wasn’t with you? People who equate the flag with pro-slavery sentiments. Waving it in public, putting a decal on your truck, or wearing it on a t-shirt are ways of saying, “I support people who fought to own slaves.”

Supporters say the familiar red flag with the blue X and white stars stands for states’ rights, independence, freedom, and preservation of history. Others see it as a fashion statement or a harmless homage to the Dukes of Hazzard. Whatever. If a huge group of people sees the flag as a grand insult, why would you want to flaunt it? The swastika was considered sacred for thousands of years. In the early 20th century, the symbol was thought to be lucky and was often engraved on flammable items such as space heaters as an added safety precaution. And then Hitler came along.

Who among you wants to walk around town waving a swastika flag today? You could explain to each person you meet that it’s really a religious symbol or that it means luck. But why would you want to? If you wear a swastika or a Confederate flag in this day and age, you look like someone who supports racism. If you flew the flag in battle 150 years ago, power to you. If you’re flying it now, you’re just an ass hat.

Sure, Americans enjoy personal freedoms and can display that flag if we wish. Freedom of expression is a wonderful thing. And, wonderfully, Texas Rep. Ramon Romero of Fort Worth didn’t curb his expressions. (Romero rode in the Stock Show parade, took photos of people waving Confederate flags, and posted them on his Facebook page. One photo showed baby carriages adorned with the controversial flags.)

“Hate was front and center today!!” Romero posted shortly after the parade. “What a shame that our city is so full of hate and ignorance that Confederate flags were distributed to Stock Show parade watchers all along the route…! Who gives Confederate flags to kids????! Racists! Our city deserves so much better!! Teachers teach, parents teach, elected officials speak out against this small minority of people that shamed our city today.”

_______________________________________

I thought I read somewhere that the yahoos who infiltrated Fort Worth's Stock Show Parade with Confederate Battle Flags were based in Weatherford. Weatherford is the county seat of Parker County, located on the far west end of the D/FW Metroplex.

This morning I was looking for a photo of being snowed in at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon when I came upon the photo you see at the top of a group of what appear to be Rebel troops assembled under the Confederate Battle Flag.

This photo was taken at a Civil War Battle Re-Enactment taking place at a location a few miles west of Weatherford.

This took place way back at the start of this century. In recent years I have not noticed announcements of Civil War Battle Re-Enactments. I was extremely impressed by what a HUGE deal the Weatherford re-enactment was. There was a Union Camp and a Confederate Camp. You could visit both. In the camps you could get yourself period appropriate vittles, like giant smoked turkey legs.

Watching the battle take place were women and other spectators in period garb. Even the "hospital" was very realistic, with limbs being sawed off and left in a pile where rats and dogs added to the realism.

As you can see the now notorious Confederate Battle Flag was part of this re-enactment. I thought nothing of it at the time. I am sure those hoisting that flag were doing so for authenticity, with doing so having nothing to do with making any sort of ugly racist statement.

Which I don't think was maybe the case with those yahoos who distributed Confederate Battle Flags at last Saturday's Fort Worth parade....

2016's Third Thursday Drips Wet & Noisy At My Texas Location With Sarah Palin

I stepped outside to take an outer world photo on this third Thursday of the new year to find myself surprised by water dripping from above.

Just minutes prior I heard on the radio that the drippage was not scheduled to arrive for several hours, coming in from the west, along with some thunderstorming.

Does the fact that water is already dripping portend that the incoming storm may be more severe than predicted?

I hope not. But before we find out if the incoming storm is going to be a bad one.

A knock on the front door.

Incoming plumber, replacing bathroom faucets.

Speaking of dumber than a plumber.

Yesterday I watched as much as I could stand of Sarah Palin's Trump endorsement  speech.

Yikes!

It is terribly troubling that apparently there are some Americans, including Donald Trump, who are unable to tell that there is something seriously unhinged in this woman.

Blaming Obama for her drunken son Track's assault on his girl friend? Shamefully embarrassing.

Yesterday I also watched the British Parliament's debate on banning Trump from entering the UK. Words like idiot, imbecile, embarrassing, ridiculous, bigot and a mugwat sounding word I'd not heard before were used, all sounding very elevated with a British accent.

The plumber is making a lot of noise with his plumbing. I do not like a lot of noise. Must escape....

On Rat Patrol Looking At Fort Worth's Surfside 6 Van Williams With No Calamity Nightmares

Yesterday, after I blogged about a Calamity Hotpepper Nightmare in which I mentioned the nightmare may have been caused by watching a Rawhide episode from a half century ago, someone calling him or herself Anonymous made an interesting comment...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Elsie Hotpepper Becomes A Nightmare Calamity":

You could watch Surfside 6 which features famous Fort Worth actor Van Williams in one of the starring roles. Van Zandt Jarvis Williams had another role as TV's Green Hornet. His sidekick was none other than Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee attended the University of Washington and is buried in Seattle. The Fort Worth - Seattle connections keep a comin'. And now you know the rest of the story. Good day. 

I checked to see if Surfside 6 is available via my YouTube ancient TV show provider. It is not. All there is is a video of the Surfside 6 opening credits and theme song. A very catchy theme song with a bit of cha cha cha.

Reading the Wikipedia article about Surfside 6 I learned that in addition to Fort Worth's Van Williams, this is the show which turned Troy Donahue into a temporary star. Surfside 6 was to be pretty much the high point of Troy Donahue's life. I remember Troy Donahue, but til reading the Wikipedia Troy Donahue article I did not know how pitiful the rest of his life was after his heyday in the early 60s.

As for Fort Worth's Van Williams, he is still among the living and according to the Wikipedia article about Van Williams, his life has had a much better trajectory than his Troy Donahue co-star.

Does Van Williams ever return to his old hometown? I do not recollect a visit being noted since I have been in this location.

As for Van Williams Green Hornet co-star, Bruce Lee being buried in Seattle. I can remember visiting a grave in the cemetery that is adjacent to Seattle's Volunteer Park. But was it the grave of Bruce Lee? Or Jimi Hendrix.

Back to Wikipedia to find out who is buried where.

Okay, it was Bruce Lee who is buried in Lakeview Cemetery on the north side of Volunteer Park on Seattle's Capitol Hill.  Jimi Hendrix is buried at the location of his mother's gravesite at Greenwood Cemetery in Renton, Washington.

Last night I did not watch Rawhide or Route 66. Instead I went the World War II route and watched Rat Patrol.

About Rat Patrol I will say this show from half a century ago is not up to the quality level of Combat, Rawhide or Route 66. Rat Patrol is so bizarrely plotted and badly dialogued that it is sort of a comedy.

I wonder why watching a TV show called Rat Patrol did not trigger another Elsie Hotpepper nightmare?

Elsie Hotpepper Becomes A Nightmare Calamity

Last night I had a bad dream, well, nightmare, that sort of involved Elsie Hotpepper.

Lately I have been watching an old TV show from way back near the middle of the last century known as Rawhide. This is the Western which made Clint Eastwood a star, playing a character named Rowdy Yates.

The episode which inspired the Elsie Hotpepper nightmare was titled, I think, Incident of the Careening Creek.

Most all Rawhide episodes are named Incident of this, that or the other thing.

In Incident of the Careening Creek Rowdy Yates comes to the rescue of a tough cowgirl who is trying to run a ranch pretty much by her lonesome. She has a few head of cattle and a creek running through her property. An adjacent rancher, he of the cliche evil badman sort, wants the tough cowgirl's land, using tactics like fiddling with the creek that runs through her property. Damming the flow, then letting it go, causing floods, that type thing.

Well, the tough cowgirl, with Rowdy's help, fights back, after her property is badly flooded, eventually putting the evil badman in his proper place, letting the tough cowgirl live in peace with her creek.

So, in my nightmare, last night, the tough cowgirl somehow morphed into Calamity Hotpepper, pictured above. In my nightmare version Calamity Hotpepper uses her pistol and rifle and sharpshooter skills to wreak havoc with the evil badman who is doing her harm.

There was a lot of bloodshed.

Calamity Hotpepper was sort of a Django Unchained Wicked Wreaker of Havoc.

The nightmare was unsettling.

Obviously in my nightmare I morphed the Rawhide tough cowgirl with the Texas tough cowgirl known as Elsie Hotpepper and turned Elsie into Calamity Hotpepper, the Avenging Gunslinging Gal from Hell, whose wrath no one should ever risk raising, lest one wants to tangle with a well armed sharpshooter with good people skills.

I suspect last night's nightmare will have me ceasing with watching Rawhide. I think I will switch to watching another classic TV show from a half century ago, Route 66. I don't see how either Elsie or Calamity Hotpepper could ruin Route 66 for me....

Words Of Wisdom From Mr. Spiffy About Martin Luther King Day

What with it being Martin Luther King Day, I have seen many expressions of sentiments of tolerance in various forms in various locations today.

Elevated sentiments speaking to the good, optimistic, hopeful side of humankind.

One of the best, if not the best, that I have seen today, was on Facebook, via Mr. Spiffy.

I screen capped what Mr. Spiffy had to say above and will copy it below....

MLK day should be a day set aside to stop making snap judgements about people. But I'm going to make one here. If you think a person's skin color, birthplace, religious beliefs (or lack of religious beliefs), or gender preference automatically makes them a bad person, then you are a racist, bigot and/or homophobe. That's a bad lifestyle choice. But there is an upside: Hate and irrational fear can be unlearned if you open your mind and heart. Love everyone today and every day. It's possible.

Mr. Spiffy practices what he espouses. A couple months ago when I realized I'd somehow acquired a Facebook "Friend" who was an outrageously despicable racist hate speaker, saying things about our president which was of the sort that no decent, moral, patriotic, ethical, clear-thinking, intelligent person would tolerate in any way, I verbalized my disgust in various venues, including this blog.

As far as I can tell, Mr. Spiffy, among my Facebook "Friends", was the only one with the moral rectitude to remove this particular racist traitor from his list of Facebook "Friends".

I was appalled by others on this issue, going through twisted moral gymnastics to rationalize not ostracizing this particular racist hate speaking traitor.

If racist hate speaking traitors are tolerated by people who like to think of themselves as decent human beings, how can we expect to wise up the racist idiots if people who purport not to be racists tolerate the racist hate speakers?

It really perplexes me and I would be lying if I did not admit that those who continue to tolerate hate speaking racist traitors, in any way, lose face with me.

I see it no different than someone who was a Nazi collaborator who excused going along with evil because all they were doing was following orders, as if they did not have the free will to do what is right.....