Still In Texas Walking Keller's Bear Creek Trail Finding A Castle, Palace & Sphinx

I needed to ship something to someone from a UPS Store today. Looking for UPS Store locations I saw one in Keller near the Bear Creek Park trailway.

So, it was to Keller a package or two and I went.

When I lived in Haslet, a short distance to the west, I frequented this park frequently, usually to roller blade. This was the location where I learned to roller blade. Walking a couple miles of this paved trail today it sort of surprised me to realize I used to roller blade this narrow, somewhat hilly, curvy, busy trail.

Bear Creek Park has been greatly upgraded since I last walked this part of the planet. A large part of the park is currently closed due to even more renovations.

One of the new additions is what you see above. Soon I came upon two more of this type thing.

All together three of the coolest things I have come upon in a long while. The person walking with me wondered how much these clever abstract sculptures cost, what with Fort Worth spending about a million bucks on a piece of kinetic art which has moved few. The person walking with me opined that if that piece of junk in Fort Worth is worth a million these Keller works of public art must have cost several million.

Next to each of these works of abstract art is an explanation of what you are looking at. The one you are looking at here is inspired by a medieval castle built for King Ludwig II of Bavaria in honor of opera composer Richard Wagner

King Ludwig's castle was the inspiration for Disneyland's Magic Kingdom castle.

To see King Ludwig's castle, as envisioned by the clever abstract sculptor, you had to look through the viewing portal which directed you to look at the metal in a way which pulled all the pieces together into a recognizable image.

My favorite of the three is the one below. Can you guess what the twisted gold metal turns into when you look through the clarifying viewing portal?

The face of the Egyptian Pharoh Khafra, also known as the Sphinx.

The Sphinx was my favorite because it was the most difficult to see. In all three you had to move your focus around as you looked through the viewing portal til you eventually find the sweet spot which makes the vision clear. With the Sphinx I thought it to be amazing how all those chunks of metal could come together like this and looked solid, with shading and color tone changes, giving it a three dimensional look.

The third piece of abstract sculpture was inspired by Russian bad boy, Ivan the Terrble (Tsar Ivan IV).

Ivan got his terrible reputation by doing things like blinding the architect who designed this palace so that he could never create anything so beautiful again. Ivan the Terrible had this palace built to commemorate the capture of Kazan and Astrakhav.

The reason the above was my least favorite of the three was only due to the fact that it took no effort to see the random chunks of metal looking like what you see above. The Sphinx took a bit of effort.

Anyway, quite impressed with Keller today. That town has really grown since I first came to town late in the last century.

Below is a YouTube video I made when I came upon the first of today's works of public art...

Spencer Jack Flies To Portland To See The Wreck Of The Peter Iredale

I found out this morning that a couple days ago I erroneously blogged Spencer Jack Flies His Dad Over Mt. St. Helens On The Way To The Grand Canyon because I thought that was where Spencer was flying his dad.

Instead Spencer Jack flew his dad from Bellingham to Portland. I learned this this morning via email. The email included several photos, along with text from my Favorite Nephew Jason.

In the first photo Spencer Jack is in Astoria. Behind Spencer Jack is the Columbia River. That ribbon of steel above the river is the Astoria-Megler Bridge. The Astoria-Megler Bridge was built in around four years. Built over swift moving water with frequent depth changes called tides. Built while accommodating shipping traffic heading out to the Pacific or upriver to various ports.

Spencer Jack also sent me a video, via the phone which I turned into a YouTube video. The text message included no description of what we are looking at in the video. My best guess is the plane is coming in for its landing in Portland. I will copy Jason's email message below the photos and below that I will stick the video.

(UPDATE: Email from Spencer Jack's dad corrects uncle's errors. Email copied in its entirety at end of post.)

Below Spencer Jack is on an Oregon Coast Pacific beach. I don't know if this is at Fort Stevens State Park, Seaside or Cannon Beach.

The next two photos I did not expect to see this morning. In a case of extreme coincidence, something yesterday caused me to look up the Wreck of the Peter Iredale. Something caused that subject to cross my mind and have me wondering if the remains of the wreck still existed. So, I Googled Peter Iredale to find out.

How could I know I did not need to Google this because within a day Spencer Jack would provide the answer, including photo documentation.

And how did Jason and Spencer Jack come to have the below photo? A photo I do not have.

That is my dad and me, standing in front of the Wreck of the Peter Iredale.

And now the email message from Jason and below that the aforementioned video....

FUD --

Spencer Jack and I just returned home to the Skagit Valley tonight.

Sorry for the delay in providing you with photos of your greatest nephew's first visit to one of the great wonders of the world---that being the Grand Canyon.

Those photos are not provided in this e-mail.  

Spencer Jack and I postponed visiting such, for reasons not discussed in this e-mail, and flew out of our favorite airport, that being Bellingham International 38 minutes south to a town called Portland.   We have learned that air transport abbreviates unnecessary road time.  

Anyway....

We managed our way to Portland.

From Portland, we took turns driving our rental car to many tourist spots.  We visited Astoria, stopping at the school were Kindergarten Cop was filmed, attempted to see the old 'Goonies' house, before making our way south.   Had a blast at Fort Stevens.    Saw what is left of the Peter Iredale.   Spent the night in this tourist town called Seaside.   This town is so fun and so grown up from what I remember as a child.

Visited Canon Beach, and further south....the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and Spencer even talked me into going to Multnomah Falls.  

Hope all is well, and I hope you enjoy the photos, FNJ.



Update from Spencer Jack's dad....

The video was Spencer looking out the window, seeing his mother's house, and all of Skagit Valley whilst the airplane was descending into Bellingham.  I'm surprised FUD didn't recognize this.

Also, I believe that is your twin sister Fancy in the photo with your papa.

Are you feeling okay?   You appear to be displaying early onset of dementia. 

Today I Found Something In A Park I Don't Often Find In Fort Worth Parks

No, that is not Fosdick Lake in Fort Worth's Oakland Lake Park you see here with a strange twisted pipe rising from the water.

This pond is in North Richland Hills in a park called Linda Spurlock Park.

I am currently staying in North Richland Hills near several parks, including Linda Spurlock's.

I tried to find Doctor Pillow Park because it sounded interesting, with some sort of Texas missions theme and trails through the wooded zone of Bear Creek. I followed the directions to Doctor Pillow Park, but when I reached where it should be I was at a dead end.

Both Google and my Microsoft Streefinder could not get me to Doctor Pillow Park.

As for Linda Spurlock Park, that one was easy to find. The was a pretty basic park. A paved trail runs around the perimeter. But, this small park did have something one usually does not see in a Fort Worth park, but do usually see in parks in modern parts of America.

An indoor restroom facility, complete with running water. And the sink inside had hand sanitizer lotion at sinkside.

Now, how come a little park in a little town is able to manage to have modern restroom facilities, whilst most parks in Fort Worth do not?

Perhaps Fort Worth could send a task force to North Richland Hills to try and find out.....

Spencer Jack Flies His Dad Over Mt. St. Helens On The Way To The Grand Canyon

Yesterday I blogged A Photo Of My Grandpa & Grandma Takes Me On A Detour Down Memory Lane in which I said something like "Jason if you are reading this you need to have Spencer Jack take you north to see if that Grandpa Porter memorial plaque still exists.

Well, Jason did read that and emailed that the going north to Lynden would have to wait til next week's agenda, because currently Spencer Jack is on Spring Break, which has Spencer Jack and my Favorite Nephew Jason flying to Las Vegas, I believe, unless the plan has changed since I last spoke to Jason.

From Las Vegas Spencer Jack is driving his dad to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Jason's dad, my Favorite Brother Jake, took Jason to see the grandest canyon in the world for the first time a month or two ago.

Jason was very impressed when he first saw the Grand Canyon. I remember my similar reaction a long long time ago. I can understand why Jason was eager to show Spencer Jack the Grand Canyon.

The email included a couple photos.

In the photo above I don't know which mountain is outside Spencer Jack's window.

Part of Jason's email said "Captured some great photos of two volcanoes on our way out of town. Apparently one of them erupted almost 36 years ago."

Well, I can tell the volcano in the foreground is Mount St. Helens. I don't know which volcano is in the distance. Adams? Hood? I don't think it's Mount Rainier.

How can it be 36 years since Mount St. Helens blew up? I recollect that day like it was yesterday. A little after 8 in the morning I was peacefully having myself a soak in the tub when I head loud concussive noise, like a bomb exploding. Soon a neighbor knocked on the door to tell us that the mountain had blown.

A Photo Of My Grandpa & Grandma Takes Me On A Detour Down Memory Lane

Emptying out a chest of drawers today I came upon yet more photos that I'd long forgotten I had.

In this photo you are looking at Laverne and Vera Wilder.

Laverne and Vera had a daughter named Shirley.

Shirley is my mom.

Which would make Laverne and Vera my grandpa and grandma. And my mom and her dad Laverne and Shirley.

I am currently trying to figure out what do to with several afghans Grandma Vera gave me over the years.

I never knew my Grandpa Laverne. Laverne and Vera divorced when my mom was five, give or take. Laverne had epileptic seizures which were not understood as such at the time, which ended up with my Grandpa hospitalized for a time in a mental hospital.

I am not sure at what point Grandma divorced Grandpa. After he was hospitalized or before.

What I do know is Grandma Vera always said Laverne was the love of her life. Even though Grandma had a very good marriage to the guy I thought was my Grandpa, Dr. Jim Porter. Grandma Vera later married Mr. Lee.

During all this time I did not know my real Grandpa was still alive, til one day my sister Jackie, she being the sister who now lives in Arizona, knocked on my Mount Vernon door, unsettled, due to the fact that she'd just learned from Grandma Vera that she had a Grandpa who was still alive, and in a Bellingham hospital. Jackie went to see our Grandpa, before knocking on my door.

Jackie talked me into going up to Bellingham to see our Grandpa in the hospital.

We walked in his room and he looks at me and says something like "Nice to see you, Jack." Jack is my dad. I look like my dad. Turns out that, via Grandma Vera, my real Grandpa had kept up with his grandchildren who he never knew.

Now, when did I find out that Grandpa Porter was not my Grandpa? Well, that is a good story.

Grandma Vera and Grandpa Porter had a 25th wedding anniversary party at the swank Camel's Club in Lynden, Washington. At that party my brother and I noticed our mom acting very unsettled when Grandma Vera sort of pushed mom to talking to someone. Who that someone was we did not know. Not til the next morning.

That night, when we were back home in Burlington my brother and I lay awake, unable to sleep, troubled by the anniversary party. As we talked suddenly we realized something we could not explain, as in how come Grandma and Grandpa have been married only 25 years, while mom is 32?

I told my brother in the morning, at breakfast, I would ask.

And so I did.

Mom instantly understood our confusion. And the fact that we did not know a key part of our family history. Mom said something like "Did you notice that older man your Grandma and I were talking to?'

Yes, said we.

Well, mom then drops the bombshell that man was her father, and our Grandpa. Mom explained that when she was little she was scared of him because of the seizures. And that when Grandma married Grandpa Porter, Grandpa Porter quickly became the guy mom thought of as dad.

Grandpa Porter was a cool guy. I remember him fondly. And was very sad when he died. His was the third funeral I attended. His was the biggest funeral I've attended. It over flowed the church.

Grandpa Porter was a veterinarian. As such he was a wheel in a lot of things. Such as the Northwest Washington State Fair, in Lynden. And then there was the annual fish derby in Fishtrap Creek. Grandpa Porter made sure his grandkids got a prize from the derby. I remember getting a real cool fishing pole that I used for years. After he died a memorial bridge was built over Fishtrap Creek, with a plaque dedicated to him. I wonder if that is still there.

Favorite Nephew Jason, if you are reading this, you and Spencer Jack need to go to Lynden and find the park through which Fishtrap Creek flows. I have forgotten the name of that park. Spent many hours playing there. It's a wooden pedestrian type bridge with a metal plaque type thing on the south side.

I tell you, these trips I have been taking lately down memory lane are exhausting....

Overheating With Maxine In The Mojave Desert

Yesterday I mentioned Discovering A Curly Perm Mount Baker Hike With Maxine after I discovered long forgotten photos of myself with an embarrassing curly perm.

Soon thereafter I discovered another photo with Maxine.

I think we were trying to emote being overheated while over dressed in California's Mojave Desert.

Or this may have been in Death Valley.

All I remember for sure is this photo was taken at some point in the 1980s.

And that we'd road tripped to California in a tiny Ford Pinto to go to Disneyland, Universal Studios and other Southern California attractions prior to heading east to Las Vegas and then the aforementioned Death Valley.

Discovering A Curly Perm Mount Baker Hike With Maxine

Emptying a file cabinet today I came upon yet one more treasure trove of long forgotten photos, including these two you see here, with me in a hair phase even more ridiculous than Gar the Texan's mullet.

I have no memory of the details of getting a curly perm. I remember doing such was a fad for a short period several decades ago.

My curly perm did not look all that bad at first, but as it grew out it grew into being Sideshow Bob long before The Simpson's.

Skipping along with me is Maxine. That white thing you see in the distance is the Mount Baker volcano. This was the first time I hiked the Schrieber's Meadow access to Mount Baker. I hiked that hike countless times since that first time. Maxine had hiked that hike for the first time way back in high school, which made her our trail guide.

The last time I was at Schrieber's Meadow did not involve hiking up Mount Baker.

Rather it was a wild blueberry picking session. Wild blueberries are plentiful and free for the picking in late summer at Schrieber's Meadow.

In the second photo I am clearly in full Sideshow Bob mode.

The gray plaid flannel shirt I am wearing was my favorite shirt for a long time. It may have made the move to Texas.

I am recently being freshly surprised by things that made the move to Texas which I have long forgotten about.

Like I'd forgotten that long ago, after the arrival of computers, but prior to the Internet being a big deal, I was publishing a new type thing called an E-zine. I called it Dean's World. I had a laser printer at the time, and printed Dean's World on both sides of the paper, just like a real magazine. Apparently early on I had a very primitive scanner, which I must have replaced with a better scanner.

Today I also found my original digital camera, a Casio that I bought at Costco way back in 1996, for $599. Paying that much for a digital camera, way back then, seems totally bizarre to me now. My phone takes way better pictures than that antique Casio did. And it ate up batteries. I don't think rechargeable batteries were yet available way back then.

But, my antique Casio did have one feature that turned out to be futuristic. The lens rotated. Meaning I could spin it around and aim the camera at myself, taking a thing now known as a selfie.

I used that antique Casio after the move to Texas, before I replaced it in early 2001 with an Olympus. Some of my favorite pictures were taken with that primitive Casio digital camera. When the light was just right it could manage to take a good picture.

The Texas Hills Are Alive With Color

I have been vertical since around five this morning. Lots to do, lots to get done.

Earlier today I blogged about the Skagit Valley being in full technicolor mode with the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival underway.

Around noon I felt the need to commune with nature, so I drove to Arlington to the Village Creek Natural Historical Area to have what may be my last walk with the Indian Ghosts who haunt this location.

As you can above, the bluebonnets this wildflower season in North Texas are being quite healthy, unlike during drought times.

The April Prairie Notes #112 showed up in my emailbox this morning.

The April Prairie Notes is titled Science Nerds, Nature Mystics & You. Click the link and you'll see Don Young's photos documenting the currently colorful status of the Tandy Hills.

A Texan Tip Toeing Through The Skagit Valley Tuilps On Facebook

This morning on Facebook a Texas local brought me back to my old home zone with photos from the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

On Facebook the past week or two or three I have been seeing photos of the Skagit Valley tulips via Skagit Valley locals.

This is also the colorful time of year in North Texas, with the wildflowers starting to provide some color.

The Texas wildflowers are a natural thing, while the Skagit tulips are basically a farm product, with a lot of flower bulbs shipped all over the world.

I do not remember the last time I saw the Skagit Valley tulips. This century?

I don't know.

I do remember late in the last century my mom and dad talking me into going to Roozengarde for an Easter sunrise service. Roozengarde is the show garden for the Roozengarde flower bulb operation.

A couple of the above images look as if they be from the Roozengarde garden.

I do not think I will be doing any tiptoeing through tulips today. I may go on a walk with Arlington's Indian Ghosts.....

A Visit With A Lonesome Square Before A New Gateway Park Overlook

I had to venture to downtown Fort Worth this morning to do a title transfer thing at the tax office.

After that taxing matter was taken care of I decided to enjoy the sun in Sundance Square Plaza to have myself a mighty fine time doing some people watching at the bustling plaza.

Well, that was the plan, but people did not cooperate, as in there was very little bustling going on.

Leaving the downtown zone I decided to exit at Beach Street to check out the current status of the Gateway Park Trinity River Overlooks.

Above is the completed Overlook at the west side of the park. I assume the Overlook at the east side of the park is also completed. This Overlook is a vast improvement over the old boarded up boardwalk that had been an embarrassing eyesore for many years.

I believe the Overlook upgrades are a product of the Trinity River Vision Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision.

Speaking of America's Biggest Boondoggle. And who isn't? Continuing on with my trek eastward I headed north on Beach Street, turning right onto 1st Avenue East/Randol Mill Road.

I was curious to see how the road and bridge construction was going.

Well, unlike the aforementioned Boondoggle, the three bridges for the new road appear to be completed, built in about a year's time, with one of the bridges actually built over water known as the Trinity River, which can flow fast and wild at this location.