This Sunday morning I took myself on what I hoped to be a salubrious walk on the Circle Trail which circles by my abode.
A short distance from my abode I came to the scene you see here.
A bench overlooking a collection of pillars rising out of Holliday Creek.
Somehow this scene triggered a traumatic memory of a disturbing nightmare from last night.
Shortly before getting horizontal last night I was disturbed by a disturbing video Elsie Hotpepper put on Facebook.
In that video, for about what seemed a half hour, a guy with a thick British accent screamed vitriol, with about every other word being that infamous word known as the F word.
From what I could make out of what the guy was screaming, apparently he felt that Americans, and, I assume, the rest of the world, would be better off if we learned to communicate politely with those with whom we disagree.
The thinking behind such a sentiment seems sound, even when loudly and vulgarly expressed.
However, in actual practice I have found that trying to reason with those with whom I disagree to be extremely frustrating and fruitless.
Usually because there is some underlying bit of misinformation which is the foundation of the person's erroneous belief.
Like where do you start when someone tells you that the Democrats want to impose Sharia Law and ban beer and make all women wear scarves covering their faces?
What do you say to such?
I try to be reasonable, but the responses go even more sideways and impossible to fathom, let alone reason with.
So, this Elsie Hotpepper caused me a disturbing nightmare where basically every person I transacted with spoke ignorant nonsense based on nothing that I was able to relate to.
Eventually the nightmare ended with me sitting alone on a bench muttering to myself.
This morning I did not see that Elsie Hotpepper video still playing on Facebook. Elsie probably got in trouble with her mother for that excessive F-word thing.....
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It has been awhile since I have been on the Tandy Hills on a Saturday, or any day. I can not imagine what would keep me from being on the Tandy Hills tonight for a Prairie Sky Star Party.
But I must admit, my imagination is very limited.....
I had not gone on a long salubrious walk for a few days, so today I decided to follow the yellow brick road to Midwestern State University, also known as MSU, to check out something I've been seeing whilst driving by on Taft Boulevard.
An odd collection of various installations, which on a quick drive by seemed possibly Christmas themed, with some confusing anomalies, like robots and pirate ships and lions.
Upon a walk through inspection it soon became sort of obvious this is a Holiday Season installation.
The WELCOME under giant candy canes was a good clue. As was Santa riding a train.
Not sure where lions fit in as part of a Holiday Season theme. The caged lions seemed tame.
No Happy Holiday location is complete without a robot.
The Jolly Roger pirate ship is a short distance from the robot. I think the lead pirate may be aiming his pistol at the robot.
I think the camel was carrying one of Three Wise Men, visiting a baby in a manger surrounded by sheep.
A Ferris Wheel full of happy Elves is also a must have at a well stocked Happy Holidays theme park.
I do not know how many miles I walked today. I do know the walking took about two hours, with the only non-walking being when I stopped to take pictures.
I wish the pink pumpkin was offering rides so as to return me to my abode without having to walk back.
The MSU Happy Holidays theme park looked to have multiple moving parts and various elements of illumination. I suspect if I drive by this location after the sun goes down all comes to life with a lot of bright lights and noisy merry making.
I must remember to return, after dark, before the Happy Holiday Season leaves for another year...
That would be Spencer Jack's Favorite Uncle Joey you are looking at here.
Today is my Favorite Nephew Joey's 35th birthday.
Happy Birthday, Joey!
Seems like only yesterday I drove from Bellingham, where I was living at the time, to United General Hospital, in the Skagit Valley, to meet my new nephew.
35 years ago.
Joey is the only one of my relatives I have seen in person for over four years. Joey had a job to do in Dallas last year. If I remember right that was in October of 2015.
That is the Mount Baker volcano behind Joey in the photo. On a late August day back in the 1990s.
Long ago I made multiple webpages titled Nephews in Danger. I did not remember those webpages still existed, til this morning.
Last Friday I experienced my first adult spelling bee.
Tomorrow, which is also Friday, I may be having myself a Taste of Africa. Unlike the adult spelling bee this would not be the first time I have had a Taste of Africa.
My final college year, at what is now known as Central Washington University, I took an African history class.
For some reason I remember the course being called African Safari. But, African Safari may have been the name given that course's Taste of Africa.
I don't remember who prepared that African Safari Taste of Africa. Were we each assigned a recipe?
What I do remember is Miss Chris and Linda R. drove over from the west side of the mountains, unexpected, uninvited (by me) to participate in that Taste of Africa. I do not remember how they knew about this, but I do remember they somehow contacted, via letter, the teacher who taught the class.
And he invited them.
Tomorrow's Taste of Africa is not at Central Washington University. Tomorrow's Taste of Africa takes place at Midwestern State University in the Legacy Hall Multipurpose Room. I do not know where on the campus this particular room is located. I do know rooms are easy to find at MSU.
Last Friday my spelling bee co-cheerleader was the librarian at MSU. Naturally she is a good speller. I know where the MSU library is. I suppose I could go ask the librarian where the Legacy Hall Multipurpose Room is located.
Spencer Jack's dad called me last night. During the course of that conversation I was informed Spencer Jack was going to be voting in his first presidential election in the morning, and that I would be receiving documentation documenting Spencer Jack voting.
It did not occur to me that this documentation would be in video documentary form which you can view below via YouTube.
The text accompanying the video documentation...
Spencer and I were up before the sun this morning excited to cast our ballot. We know that to make a democracy work we cannot just be observers. We voted!
Texas voters, stuck in some point in time in the last century, may be surprised to learn that in Washington there are no polling places. One does ones voting from the comfort of ones home, or wherever one feels comfortable voting. And then you cast your vote by dropping your ballot in an Official Ballot Drop Box.
No Photo I.D. required.
However, in Washington, unlike Texas, there are no absurd electoral fraud issues, such as the vote harvesting currently being investigated in Tarrant County and other Texas counties.
Watch the YouTube video below and see Spencer Jack voting and then drive to deliver the ballot, followed by a real good clue for whom Spencer Jack (and his dad) voted....
This morning of the day before I hope the 2016 election comes to its merciful end the outer world at my current Texas location is being like a stereotypical winter day in my old home zone of Western Washington.
Rain.
But, looking out my bedroom window this morning I see something I doubt anyone in Washington sees looking out any of their windows.
The Lone Star Flag of Texas, blowing in the wind under the more well known flag of the United States of America.
This election has taken a toll. During the course of the past year I have learned things I did not know before about so many people.
So much ignorance, bigotry, racism, downright stupid idiocy has been cluelessly, I assume, been laid out bare for anyone to clearly see, by way too many people who, prior to this election causing previously undetected slime to rise from the swamp, I had assumed were not ignorant, bigoted, racist, stupid people.
Tomorrow starting around 6pm I will be having myself an Election Party. I am hoping the party ends early with me going to bed feeling secure that my country has not descended into utter madness.
If the party does not end early I will have a pot of coffee brewed, hoping to be perked up enough to remain vertical until I get the news that I can get horizontal feeling secure my country has not descended into utter madness....
I saw this photo on Facebook yesterday via Skagit Breaking News.
Seeing this photo sort of made me homesick for my old home zone. On a clear day I was able to look out the window of my Mount Vernon kitchen and see Mount Baker. Not quite the zoomed view you see in the photo, but impressive nonetheless.
If I remember right the last time I hiked up Mount Baker was with Spencer Jack's Favorite Uncle Joey.
To say I hiked up Mount Baker, which sounds like I hiked to the summit, would be more accurately stated that I hiked up Mount Baker as far as is feasible, to the point where going further gets a bit tricky.
And dangerous.
If, or when, Mount Wichita gets a snow cover I wonder if anyone will attempt to hike to the summit carrying skis to attempt a short run of downhill skiing?
Last summer I was on the summit of Mount Wichita where a guy regaled me with a tale of watching a foolish person push his mountain bike to the summit. Many were watching when the mountain biker attempted a fast descent. The attempt lasted about 20 feet before the biker lost control, was tossed over his handlebars and proceeded to tumble down the mountain, along with his sliding bike.
I recollect asking if the guy was hurt by this embarrassing debacle. The reply was that when his tumble came to a halt the guy stood up and gave the assembled watchers an I am okay thumbs up type signal.
I suspect a skiing attempt down the steep snow-covered slopes of Mount Wichita would meet a similar fate to the mountain bike attempt...
Friday, November 4, 2016 I had the pleasure of attending my first Official Spelling Bee.
I may have been in a Spelling Bee or two or three during my school years, but those Spelling Bees were not of the sort I experienced at the Wichita Falls Spelling Bee.
The Wichita Falls 20th Annual Spelling Bee, a production of the Wichita Adult Literacy Council, had all sorts of Spelling Bee twists I had not experienced before.
Such as before the spelling started a buffet provided a food boost to the spellers and spelling watchers. A buffet with multiple barbecue items, along with the usual barbecue suspects, such as potato salad, cole slaw, beans and a couple type peppers. Plus iced tea and ice cream.
And cake.
A BIG cake celebrating "Spelling For 20 Years!" With bees flying out of hives in trees.
Bees and their hives were one of the themes of the evening.
Above we see a Bee Woman letting us know "ALL HIVES MATTER".
I really think such goes without saying. Anyone with any sense of decency knows All Hives Matter.
Spelling Bees can be a rowdy affair, I assume.
But I did not experience too much rowdiness. But it is always reassuring to see a police presence at any event.
Including a Spelling Bee.
Though the photo above sort of seems to indicate one had to go through some sort of security check before entering the Spelling Zone, such was not actually the case.
The above photo and the one which follows were taken from the vantage point from whence I watched most of the Spelling Bee.
Myself and a lovely young lady named Andrea were the designated cheerleaders for the spelling team which called itself The Misfits.
Andrea and I did not know why our team called itself The Misfits. We speculated the reason might have been because of the team member's remarkable resemblances to Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Thelma Ritter.
Andrea and I took seriously our cheerleader duties. Other teams may have had noisier cheerleaders and larger groups doing the cheerleading, but Andrea and I really did a bang up job of cheering on The Misfits.
When the spelling finally began, about half an hour later than we thought it would, the first round was easy words, such as one might find in a first grade Dick and Jane book. Even so, Andrea and I were a bit concerned when Team Misfit got their first word, but, to our relief, they spelled it correctly.
I should have written down the words The Misfits were tasked to spell, but it did not occur to me to do so. So, I have forgotten all the words The Misfits spelled correctly. All I remember is the word, to the horror and shock of myself and Andrea, which The Misfits misspelled, knocking them out of the competition in the fourth round.
As The Misfits struggled to figure out how to spell what turned out to be their last word I zoomed my camera in for a closeup of Alex, she being the lady on the right, looking at Big Ed trying to figure out how to spell the word which ended up spelling The Misfit's doom.
Azimuth.
Andrea and I both wrote down the correct spelling when we heard the Spellmaster say the word.
And then Andrea and I recoiled in horror as we heard Dana, she being the third member of The Misfits, spell out A S I M U T H.
Like I said, Andrea and I were mortified.
With this type high level, highly sophisticated, complex type Spelling Bee there are all sorts of twist options.
Such as, for $100 you can save your team, buying their way back into the Bee.
Andrea was ready to pay for the save, but I objected, opining quite determinedly that The Misfits did not deserve a save from their Cheerleaders after so shamefully misspelling a relatively simple word. az·i·muth
ˈazəməTH/
noun
the direction of a celestial object from the observer, expressed as the angular distance from the north or south point of the horizon to the point at which a vertical circle passing through the object intersects the horizon.
the horizontal angle or direction of a compass bearing.
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All things considered, the Wichita Falls 20th Annual Spelling Bee was an enjoyable evening. But, I was sort of relieved when I heard Dana spell azimuth with an 's'. The time was fast approaching my regularly scheduled bedtime...
