A Critical Look At Spencer Jack's Grandma's Big Lake

What you are looking at is a photo taken yesterday at a location in my old home zone.

The body of water you see here is known as Big Lake.

Big Lake really is not very big. I have never known why Big Lake is so named, unless it is because Big Lake is so much bigger than nearby Clear Lake.

Big Lake is located a couple miles east of the Mount Vernon location I lived in prior to my exile in Texas.

Spencer Jack's Grandma, my Favorite Ex-Sister-In-Law, Cindy, is home based at Big Lake.

Texas has no natural lakes. Washington has countless such lakes. I don't know why Texas has no natural lakes. Big Lake is a natural lake. No dam is involved in its creation.

When I saw the above photo I thought of an infamous Fort Worth photographer who makes hyper-realistic enhanced photos of various scenes in Fort Worth, Fort Worth locals, who have no clue as to how one can digitally enhance a photo, gush over this photographer's manufactured images.

I have long opined, regarding these manufactured photos, ever since the photographer got all bent out of shape because the Amon Carter Museum commissioned a photo documentary by a legit photographer, depicting realistic, honest images of Fort Worth, that this particular Fort Worth photographer was doing Fort Worth a great disservice, misrepresenting Fort Worth, showing a version which does not exist.

I have also wondered what this particular photographer would do if he was in a location where the photos did not need digital manipulation to look beautiful. You know, towns like New York City, San Antonio, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, well you get the drift. Or scenic wonders like Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Hawaii, Mount Rainier, well, again, you get the drift.

Or Big Lake.

Just take an ordinary camera and aim it at Big Lake and if the light is right you get that which you see above. An honest photo reflecting a beautiful reality....

Elsie Hotpepper Takes Me To A TRV Boondoggle Encore

A couple days ago Elsie Hotpepper sent me a link to some fresh propaganda from The Boondoggle on the TRVA's (Trinity River Vision Authority) website, with the propaganda titled New 300-Unit Riverwalk Apartment Community Announced for Panther Island.

I read the article and thought to myself, "When will this madness ever end?" and then proceeded to forget about it til now

Three paragraphs from the Riverwalk Apartment article, apartments which you can see via the above artist's rendering, which were named  Encore Panther Island, at the time the artist did his rendering, with that name likely to change several times before ground is broken, if ground is ever broken, which is The Boondoggle's naming modus operandi.

The three paragraphs....

LLC, a subsidiary of the Dallas-based Encore Enterprises, Inc., is officially under contract to break ground on the first private development on Panther Island. The thoughtfully designed 233,198 square-foot multi-family community will feature creative solutions to connect the streetscape to the Riverwalk environment planned for the district. Residents will be able to enjoy exceptional amenities including waterfront balconies, an infinity pool with cascading waterfalls, a state-of-the-art fitness facility and a top floor lounge that will feature the most dynamic views of downtown. Located at the intersection of 4th Street and North Main Street, residents at the 300-unit community will be walking distance to Panther Island Brewing, Coyote Drive-In and Panther Island Pavilion. 

This community will be the first development to break ground within the Panther Island District – a vibrant waterfront mixed-use development located in the heart of Fort Worth. The more than 10,000 residences planned and 12 miles of active urban waterfront - including flowing canals and corridors that create uniquely-walkable spaces – will give rise to new businesses, trendy restaurants and a booming nightlife.

Construction for Encore Panther Island is slated to begin Summer 2017. Encore Multi-Family anticipates a grand opening date of Summer 2018.

_________________________

Sounds good, doesn't it. Operative word. "Sounds".

A couple weeks ago there was another choice piece of propaganda from The Boondoggle. I blogged about that propaganda in Rerouting Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Propaganda To The Truth.

A paragraph from that propaganda piece which is germane to this latest propaganda from The Boondoggle....

“Frankly, looking back, I don’t think it could have been done any other way,” J.D. Granger says. “We could have done it faster and cheaper, but the project would not be as good as it is today.” The majority of the infrastructure work should be completed by 2023, if all goes according to plan. “We couldn’t speed up the process, even if we wanted,” he says.

_________________________

I love that line from  J.D. saying they couldn't speed up the process, even if they wanted to. Why couldn't they? I think the answer to that question is The Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, is one of the most ineptly engineered public works projects in the history of American civil engineering. Currently The Boondoggle has been stuck for over half a year with the construction of the only one of The Boondoggle's bridges under construction, being built over dry land to connect Fort Worth's mainland to an imaginary island.

J.D.'s slow motion process is not the item I am focused on it relation to this Encore Riverfront Panther Island Apartment deal. What I am focused on is J.D. saying the majority of infrastructure work should be completed by 2023.

2023.

Five years after the Encore Riverfront Panther Island Apartments are supposedly scheduled to be completed, the majority of the infrastructure should be completed, according to Granger.

The second paragraph in this article about the first private development, which "may" break ground on the imaginary Panther Island, touts 12 miles of active urban waterfront with flowing canals.

So, people moving into these Encore Panther Island Riverfront apartments in 2018 get to wait at least five years before they get to enjoy those flowing canals? That is if those flowing canals are part of the majority of the infrastructure which J.D. Granger says should be completed by 2023.

The Boondoggle's propaganda about its "developments" reminds me of an old Rockford Files episode. Rockford came upon a real estate development scheme somewhere near California's Salton Sea. At one point one of the potential buyers is being shown the property with the salesman touting the lake, the large lots, the beautiful clubhouse. All we see is bleak desert landscape.

Later Rockford's co-hort, Angel, is marveling at the audacity, convincing buyers to pay a premium price for a lot near the imaginary clubhouse with a premium view of the imaginary lake.

No mention was made in the episode of imaginary bridges connecting to an imaginary island in the imaginary lake....

No One Will Harvest Washington's Tootsie Tonasket's Vote

Yesterday I blogged about Washington's Betty Jo Bouvier Missing Old-Fashioned Texas Style Voting.

Betty had verbalized wonderment regarding the fact that Texas still had polling places where voters voted.

Washington has long gone to a polling place free method of voting.

Apparently, somehow, Washington has figured out how to manage mail in ballots without the fraud problems Texas is currently experiencing with a crime called Vote Harvesting.

I suspect Washington has enacted strong penalties of the felony nature for any sort of  Electoral Fraud, while in Texas one can commit outrageous Electoral Fraud, such as harvesting thousands of bogus absentee ballots to ensure the re-election of candidates paying for the Vote Harvesting Service, with doing so being considered a misdemeanor level crime.

You know, like jaywalking.

So, in Texas if you are desperate to maintain control of something like the Tarrant Region Water District Board, because losing control would likely mean a flood of corruption exposure and crony firings and the ending of nepotism, well you have a real strong motive to take advantage of that special Texas election advantage and pay a specialist to harvest you the absentee ballots you need to win.

I know, you reading this in modern democratic parts of America, this seems hard to believe, but it has been happening for multiple election cycles in Tarrant County, currently the focus of the biggest Electoral Fraud Investigation in Texas history.

Meanwhile up in the progressive, modern American state of Washington, yesterday Aunt Alice, also known as Tootsie Tonasket, found her 2016 General Election Ballot in her mailbox and took a photo of it to share on Facebook.

Aunt Alice can vote in the peaceful comfort of her home and then either stick the ballot back in her mailbox to mail, or drop it in the Tonasket town Ballot Box.

What a concept....

Washington's Betty Jo Bouvier Misses Old-Fashioned Texas Style Voting

Lately, problems with voting in Texas has made an appearance on the list of things wrong with Texas.

A few days ago I blogged about this Texas problem in Evidence Corrupt Tarrant County Political Machine Steals Elections.

On Monday, September 26 I mailed a Voters Registration Form to the Wichita Falls County Clerk. Weeks later I still had not received my Voter Registration Card.

This morning I emailed the Wichita Falls County Clerk, Lori Bohannon, asking if I am registered. Ms. Bohannon quickly got back to me with the news that no Voters Registration Form from me had been received.

I will be in Fort Worth next Wednesday. I have already checked to make sure I am still registered in Tarrant County, so I will be doing some early voting at my old voting location.

Changing the subject back to Tarrant County voting corruption, that being the harvesting of votes via absentee ballots.

This harvesting absentee ballot votes has perplexed since before I even knew it was a thing, way back in the last TRWD board election when the two incumbents won with a record vote number, with more than half the votes being absentee ballots.  The stench from that obvious corruption was so strong I figured immediate corrective action would be taken.

I figured wrong.

Ever since I have been in Texas I figure things wrong, usually due to seeing Texas through eyes which grew up in Washington.

I don't remember the last time I went to a polling place in Washington. I think I switched to permanent absentee ballot sometime in the early 1980s. Even then it was easy for a voter, any voter, to vote via absentee ballot.

Unlike Texas.

A couple days ago, after reading on my blog about the Texas voting scandal, Betty Jo Bouvier, resident of Sedro-Woolley, Washington, asked about voting in Texas with the following...

"Do they have actual voting locations in Texas?  We don't have that option anymore. I miss going to the polling place and seeing all our neighbors. It was kinda fun."

See how far Texas is behind a modern location in America? Washington voting is via mail in ballots. Or you can drop your ballot in a ballot drop box.

Now, how is Washington able to use such a method without the type fraud which in Texas has elected people, such as Jim Lane and Marty Leonard, and others, due to thousands of bogus absentee ballots voting for them?

I'm think it likely is not rocket science that explains how Washington figured out how to make mail in voting work. I suspect any sort of tampering is a serious crime. Not a simple little misdemeanor like it is in Texas.

Why is it so easy to register to vote in Washington? I only remember doing so once. I do not remember moving to a new Washington location being any issue requiring mailing in a form to get a new Voter Registration Card.

In Oregon one is automatically registered to vote when one reaches voting age. In Oregon you have to opt out of voting if you do not want to be sent a ballot.

Again, why is Texas so backward and difficult with something which is so simple in advanced, progressive modern American states?

Why is Texas so backward that something as malevolent as Vote Harvesting is apparently an accepted practice? Accepted, apparently, up til  now....

After Final Debate Spencer Jack's Thumb Points Donald Trump Down Hillary Clinton Up

Spencer Jack has been intensely following the presidential election process for well over a year now.

Spencer Jack began the election undecided as to who he would vote for, if he could.

Last summer Spencer Jack attended a Donald Trump rally at the fairgrounds in Lynden, a  few miles south of the Canadian border.

Last week Spencer Jack attended a Hillary Clinton rally in Seattle, which is a few miles further south of the Canadian border.

By the time Spencer Jack met Hillary he had figured out something was not quite right with Donald Trump. Even so, as you can see above, Spencer Jack watched the final presidential debate whilst wearing the MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN cap he got at the Lynden Trump rally.

As you can see, the debate was making Spencer Jack feel a bit nauseated.

Spencer was shocked at Trump's claim that Hillary wanted to rip a baby from a mom when it was time to be born. Spencer Jack's dad then had to try and explain that Donald Trump was talking total idiotic nonsense.

By the end of the final debate Spencer Jack visually indicated who he thought won.

Trump spewed a lot of inarticulate nonsense during the course of the debate. At one point Trump caused giggling when he claimed, yet again, that no one has more respect for women than Trump. Later in the debate the respecter of women said of Hillary, "Such a nasty woman."

This morning I came across someone who went to the bother of transcribing Trump's answer to the Chris Wallace question about Aleppo. Reading the mixed up gibberish is just as confusing and stupid sounding as hearing it come out  of Trump's mouth.

In its entirety, Trump's answer to the Aleppo question...

Well, Aleppo is a disaster. It's a humanitarian nightmare. But it has fallen from any standpoint. I mean, what do you need, a signed document? Take a look at Aleppo. It is so sad when you see what's happened. And a lot of this is because of Hillary Clinton. Because what has happened is by fighting Assad, who turned out to be a lot tougher than she thought, and now she is going to say, “Oh, he loves Assad.” He's just much tougher and much smarter than her and Obama. And everyone thought he was gone two years ago, three years ago. He aligned with Russia. He now also aligned with Iran, who we made very powerful. We gave them $150 billion back. We give them $1.7 billion in cash. I mean cash, bundles of cash as big as this stage. We gave them $1.7 billion.

Now they have aligned, he has aligned with Russia and with Iran. They don't want ISIS. But they have other things because we're backing, we're backing rebels. We don't know who the rebels are. We're giving them lots of money, lots of everything. We don't know who the rebels are. And when and if, and it's not going to happen because you have Russia and you have Iran now. But if they ever did overthrow Assad, you might end up as bad as Assad is, and he is a bad guy.

But you may very well end up with worse than Assad. If she did nothing, we'd be in much better shape. And this is what has caused the great migration where she has taken in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who probably in many cases, not probably, who are definitely in many cases ISIS-aligned. And we now have them in our country and wait until you see this is going to be the great Trojan horse.

And wait until you see what happens in the coming years. Lots of luck, Hillary. Thanks a lot for doing a great job.

_________________________

How many bits of disinformation did Trump spew during the debate that scared children and child-like adults?

On bit of disinformation was Trump's Aleppo answer claim that thousands of bad ISIS-aligned Syrians are in America, constituting a Syrian Trojan Horse. This and the scary abortion rhetoric were among multiple other bits of alarmist, paranoid nonsense frightening children whose parents made the mistake of letting them listen to Trump's vile verbiage.

Verbiage frightening children and those aforementioned child-like adults.

Anyway, I hope Spencer Jack was eventually able to get to sleep last night and his nightmares of being chased by a creepy orange monster with a haystack on his head weren't too upsetting...

Wichita Falls On High Alert For Incoming Rattlesnakes

This morning I saw this disturbing bit of news via the Wichita Falls Times News Record.

The City of Wichita Falls has issued a snake alert.

This is the first time I have found myself living in a town issuing a snake alert.

The warning warns to be particularly careful to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes.

Apparently an increase in the local rat population is the reason snakes have been moving to Wichita Falls.

I have yet to see a snake, rattle type or otherwise, since I have been in Wichita Falls.

I had numerous snake encounters during my years in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Snakes of various unidentified types in Fort Worth's Gateway Park: copperheads, cottonmouths and others in Arlington's River Legacy Park and Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

My one and only rattlesnake encounter occurred in South Dallas on the Cedar Hills State Park mountain bike trail. It was a big one. I had been to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Festival the weekend  prior, so I was well attuned to the distinctive sound of a rattlesnake rattling.

A few weeks ago someone mentioned to me that the rat population of Wichita Falls has increased.

I remember wondering if the town takes some sort of rat census to know such a thing.

I assume an increase in the rat population, if such has actually occurred, is due to the end of the drought and the increase of green foliage and other edibles.

I have not seen a rat, or, like I already said, a rattlesnake slithering about since I have been in Wichita Falls. I hope such continues to be the case....

Evidence Corrupt Tarrant County Political Machine Steals Elections

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Windy Walk To Lake Wichita With Whitecaps & Fish Tales

I had myself a might fine ultra windy power walk  today, leaning against the incoming gale from my abode to Lake Wichita via the Circle Trail.

I do not recollect seeing whitecaps on waves rolling on Lake Wichita on any previous visit to the lake.

The waves had the bridge to the floating dock swaying so much that the handrails were of use.

And the dock itself reminded me of being on Washington Ferry during a big tidal change.

The dock was rocking so much I asked the fishermen and woman if they needed seasick pills. Only one had something to say to that question, that being the fisherwoman, saying no, that the motion got relaxing after about an hour.

That is the aformentioned fisherwoman you see below.

The fisherwoman reminded me of my Grandma Vera. Grandma liked to fish. Often we'd go up to Lynden to visit Grandma to find a "Gone Fishing" note on the door. We knew Grandma's fishing holes on the Nooksack River, and eventually, usually, were able to find her.

The fisherwoman above is also a grandma. Said she been fishing ever since her granddaddy taught her. Charming lady. Told me all about her kids and grandkids and showed me the cool new fishing pole she'd ordered from TV.

The wind pushed me quickly back to my abode, eventually.

This evening I am expecting to see Elsie Hotpepper at a meeting in the D/FW zone. Trouble is a-brewing in the D/FW zone, with the Hotpepper at Ground Zero, as usual.....

Wichita Falls Wood Memorial Park Tornado Art & Cloud Gatlin Poetry

Yesterday, on my way to ALDI, I rolled my mechanized wheels where they had not been rolled before.

At some point in the rolling I realized I was at the south end of Sikes Lake, with a buffer of homes between Sikes Lake and the road on which I was driving.

As I neared Maplewood Street I came to a park,  which I thought odd, what with this park seeming to be adjacent to the trail around Sikes  Lake, which to me seems like a park, and should maybe be named Sikes Lake Park,

But, I digress.

Let's digress further and back up a few months. Well before I began my Texas exile I was aware that Wichita Falls had been hit by two notorious tornadoes, one in 1964, again in 1979. I clearly remember when the 1979 tornado was a big deal, news-wise, nationally.

A few weeks after my move to Wichita Falls I found myself curious as to where the infamous 1979 tornado hit in Wichita Falls. For some reason I thought it was in the downtown area, a thought reinforced when I explored the downtown Wichita Falls area and saw unusual numbers of vacant lots, some turned into large parking lots. As if at some point in time buildings stood on these empty spaces.

Well, imagine my surprise when I learned the infamous 1979 tornado did its damage a short distance north of my abode. After learning this I wondered if that was the reason for the large, block sized area, grassed and surrounded by fence, at the southwest corner of Taft and Midwestern Boulevards.

I wondered why there was no Texas Historical Marker in the area. I thought, maybe there was, but I just had not seen it. Texas seems to love to stick Historical Markers to mark things that often do not seem all that historic to me.

The F4 Tornado, known to locals as Terrible Tuesday, struck late in the afternoon of April 10, 1979. This was one of 30 some tornadoes which touched down in the Wichita Falls region.

42 people were killed, 1,800 were injured. 20,000 were left homeless. The tornado caused $400 million worth of damage, a record not surpassed until the equally infamous Moore-Oklahoma City tornado of May 3, 1999.

So, back to today.

The park I mentioned earlier is called WOOD MEMORIAL PARK.

What is memorialized in this park?

Well, if you guessed the 1979 Terrible Tuesday tornado, you guessed correctly.

Ever since I began walking around Sikes Lake, months ago, I have noticed the orange thing you see here. I thought it looked like some sort of playground thing, but at the time that made no sense, since I did not know there was a park there.

Today, up close, this looked like a tornado themed work of sculptural art.

In Wood Memorial Park, a short distance from Miller Street, on a grassy knoll overlooking Sikes Lake, there is a small memorial. That is what you see at the top. The memorial has plaques attached to all sides, imparting various bits of information. All of which is hard to read, because, like I said, this is one small memorial.

The side facing east has a list of all who died in the tornado.

On the side facing south there is the following poem....

WOOD MEMORIAL PARK

At Maplewood and Miller Streets
A Memorial Plot Recalls,
Forty-Five Tornado Victims
Who Died in Wichita Falls

It was Chosen for Its Setting
Where the Storm had Vent Its Rage,
And Left the City's Name Impressed
Upon the History Page.

Dedicated to a Couple
Much Acclaimed for Doing Good.
As Pioneers, Philanthropists:
The Beloved Frank and Bea Wood.

And Should One Sapling Wither
Or by Nature be Defaced,
Another One of Stronger Build
Will Quickly Takes Its Place.

So that Future Generations 
Passing By May Stop and See...
Each Lovely Face Reflected
In the Beauty of a Tree

Mrs. R.E. Cloud Gatlin

I like that name, R. E. Cloud Gatlin. Was Mrs. Cloud Gatlin Native American? Or married to a Native American?

I wonder why Wood Memorial Park is not on the directional signage one finds all over Wichita Falls which helpfully directs people  to that which they are looking to find? There isn't even a sign pointing to Wood Memorial Park off heavily traveled Maplewood Street.

Wood Memorial Park has multiple picnic tables, and, as is the norm for Wichita Falls, unlike the Texas town I used to live in, modern restroom facilities.

Washington Wind Storm Reports From Linda & Jason Including Hillary & Batman

Yesterday afternoon, with yesterday being Friday, Little Miss Linda called me from my old home zone of Mount Vernon in the Windy State of Washington.

When I saw an incoming call from Little Miss Linda I figured she was calling to tell me about the Big Blow blowing in from the Pacific.

I figured correctly.

Yesterday's high wind and rain was a prelude to what is expected to happen today.

Forecasters have been comparing the potential of this current storm with the infamous Columbus Day Storm of 1962. That storm was one of the most powerful measured since the days of measuring storms began.

Anemometers, the wind speed detectors, were wiped out in northwestern Oregon and southwest Washington, the location of the strongest wind.

Wiped out before the wind reached maximum velocity.

While I was talking to Little Miss Linda the incoming call indicator indicated an incoming call from Little Miss Linda's neighbor, two blocks distant, with that neighbor being Spencer Jack's dad, my Favorite Nephew Jason.

I assumed Jason was also calling to tell me about the storm. I am technically challenged, phone-wise, so I don't know how to switch from one call to another without losing both. I figured Jason would leave a Voice Mail. But he didn't.

But, later in the day I received an email from Jason with the above photo and the only text telling me "Sent from my iPhone".

Via the photo I could tell Jason was in Seattle. I could tell this because through the wind and rain I could see the marquee of the Paramount Theater behind him. I knew Jason was planning to attend the Hillary Clinton Rally in Seattle. I am assuming this took place in the Paramount.

Above is a screen cap gleaned from the Seattle Times of Hillary's Seattle Rally. I do not see either Spencer Jack or Jason in the picture.

Even though Hillary was in the midst of a potentially historically powerful storm I hope she took some comfort in being in extremely friendly territory, a territory with way fewer Deplorables than my current location.

However, I do know some of the muy estupido ilk in Western Washington who are voting for the Orange Menace. I am embarrassed for them and have no understanding how we could have attended the same schools.

Then again, I do remember all those Washingtom Trumpettes, who I know, as being, well, not top tier students, maybe not even middle tier.

D Students for Donald.

That should be a slogan.

Another screen cap from the Seattle Times.

I do not know where in Puget Sound the above wave is crashing. The caption underneath the photo says "Spray flies over Beach Drive Southwest and douses storm watchers Friday". I do not know where Beach Drive Southwest is.

And then the below, seen yesterday via Skagit Breaking News, on Facebook. I thought this was mildly amusing.

Actually, Robin is asking Batman a perfectly sensible question. Umbrellas are of use in a normal Washington rain. However, to speak Washingtonian Robin should have asked if he should bring a Bumbershoot.

What Batman should have said to Robin, rather than abusing Robin with a slap, would be to tell Robin that Bumbershoots are of no use in hurricane level winds, Unless one is hoping to be able to hold on and be airborne....