Relative Arizona Check From Spencer Jack's Dad

Yesterday I mentioned my Favorite Nephew Jason took a Look At A Snowy Mountain On Way To Check Aging Arizona Relatives.

Today I got a report on Jason's aging Arizona relatives check...

Photo after your dad's daily morning physical therapy session. Not photographed, by choice, is your mother, who arrived via middle sister taxi. The taxi driver is also not pictured, as she is the photographer.

We left shortly after noon when your dad's pot roast lunch arrived, and your mother insisted he eat the food while it was hot.

I most likely will check back in again tomorrow to see the pair.

I have been informed that your younger sister is arriving this afternoon.

Overall, your Pa seems to be where he needs to be, and appears to be in excellent care.

_________________

A few minutes ago I blogged about a Call From Rabbi Linda. In that blogging I did not mention the first thing Rabbi Linda asked me about, before asking about today's storm, was to ask how my dad was doing. I told Rabbi Linda I'd received a photo documented  report from Jason, which I might get around to blogging about later.

Later is, apparently, now.

Call From Rabbi Linda Calmed Today's Texas Storm For A Few Minutes

Sometime near the noon time frame my phone rang with an incoming call from my favorite Rabbi, Miss Linda Ann.

Soon upon establishing our phone connection Rabbi Linda asked if the storm was being real bad.

How could Rabbi Linda know I am being pummeled by lightning strikes and balls of hail, I thought to myself, and then asked Rabbi Linda if our storm was on the news.

No, was the reply from Rabbi Linda, I read about it on your blog.

Oh.

I'd forgotten I'd made mention of today's hellacious storm this morning regarding Wichita Falls Rocking & Rolling With Icy Striking Lightning Booms.

When Rabbi Linda called today's storm was at its worst, up to that point. Bolts of lightning bolting near and far, left and right. Loud booms. Off and on downpours.

And then during the course of talking to my favorite Rabbi the storm seemed to abate, significantly ratcheting down, almost calm, but with the sky still dark and threatening.

But, I was not soon off the phone with Rabbi Linda when the storm amped up again with the return of lightning bolts and the heaviest downpour, so far, in this storm.

Coming up on the late afternoon part of the day the rain ceased, at least for awhile.  I decided to try and make my way through the flood to see if Holliday Creek was in raging torrent mode.

I sort of expected to hear the roaring of rapids. But when Holliday Creek came into view I could see it was moving more water than the norm, but nowhere near being in Colorado River rampaging through Grand Canyon mode.

In the photo above you are looking north at a menacing sky hovering above the aforementioned, less sedate than normal, Holliday Creek.

To the west I am currently seeing a dark wall of clouds. I suspect that wall will be bringing the next storm wave. So far, I have heard no tornado sirens...

Wichita Falls Rock & Roll With Icy Striking Lightning Booms

What you are looking at here is the stormy Friday May morning view north via one of my living room windows.

Yesterday, by the time the sun exited, Mother Nature started up with one of her light shows, along loud sound effects and water and ice displays.

She calmed down a bit after a few hours, and remained calm until the sun decided to return this morning.

And now lightning bolts are striking in any direction I look. One just flashed and momentarily blinded me, followed by an earthquake-like shaking roll of thunder.

The wind is whistling, pounding rain against the windows, along with what sounds like occasional small pellets of hail.

So far I have heard no tornado sirens.

I suspect I will not be venturing outside today, unless, maybe, via a quick dash to a vehicular interior under cover of an umbrella....

Look At A Snowy Mountain On Way To Check Aging Arizona Relatives

You are looking out a window here at something I do not see out of any of the windows I look out of at my current location.

The closest such thing to my current location is Mount Wichita, about 3 miles to my southwest.

So, what is this fluffy mound of white we are looking at here?

The text accompanying the photo is explanatory...

Attached photos taken this evening of a snowy Mount Rainier and Glen Canyon Dam with Lake Powell in the distance. I am currently in the Phoenix zone for a couple nights. Tomorrow's plans may include a welfare check on aging relatives who reside in Arizona year round.

The emailed photos are from Spencer Jack's dad, my favorite nephew, Jason.

The last time I saw Mount Rainier out of a window was way back in 2008, on July 20 and August 20 of that year, coming and going from the Puget Sound zone. Since my last look at Mount Rainier was in summer, it was not quite as white as Jason's view from yesterday.

If I remember right the last time I saw Lake Powell was in October of 1997. The last time I saw Glen Canyon Dam and the section of Lake Powell we see in Jason's photo was back in October of 1994, which was the first time I Houseboated on Lake Powell, from much further east, launching from Bullfrog Basin, floating as far west as Rainbow Bridge, before careening down the Moki Dugway on the way to the San Juan Inn in Mexican Hat and Monument Valley.

The aging Arizona relatives who live in Arizona year round, on whom Jason may do a welfare check, would be Spencer Jack's grandpa, who is also Jason's dad, and my brother, plus Spencer Jack's great grandma and grandpa, who also are Jason's grandma and grandpa and my mom and dad.

I assume Jason conveniently flew south from Bellingham International Airport. This airport has full sized commercial jets operated by entities such as Alaskan Airlines flying out of town. Bellingham is about 30 miles north of Mount Vernon.

Bellingham is a smaller town than the Texas town I currently live in. Bellingham is way closer to Vancouver, B.C. and Seattle, Washington than Wichita Falls is to Dallas/Fort Worth, Oklahoma City or Amarilla.

But, Wichita Falls does not have an International Airport with full sized commercial jets operated by entities like Alaskan Airlines. Not even Texas-based Southwest Airlines operates out of this town.

This town's lack of a real airport perplexes me. When I moved here such a primitive possibility did not occur to me. American Airlines is the only commercial airline way out of this town. And that is via an American Airlines off shoot called American Eagle, which flies you to D/FW International Airport, where you then get on an American Airlines plane to get to where you want to go.

I am eagerly awaiting Jason's report on the welfare check on his aging relatives...

Midnight Thunderstorm Followed By Texas Flintstones This Morning

Last night, at some point around the midnight time frame, bright flashes of light began to disturb my peaceful slumber.

Thinking the bright flashes of light might be an un-predicted thunderstorm I removed the earplugs which I use to block any annoying noises and soon heard booms of thunder rolling in from the distance.

Ironically I do not like unwanted annoying noises, yet I find the sounds of a storm to be soothing.

Soon I was soothed by thunder booming quite close to home, along with rain pounding my windows, with hail in the mix. And then the wind arrived.

I anticipated hearing the tornado sirens, but that sound did not join the cacophony.

I do not know how long last night's storm lasted. I must have passed out during the storm, hence not knowing how long it lasted. By morning a totally blue sky had arrived and the only reminder of last night's storm was puddles of water. That and my patio furniture was still wet when I sat outside to enjoy my morning coffee libation.

About 12 hours after the arrival of last night's storm I left my abode to inspect the damage and to see if Holliday Creek had been turned into a raging torrent.

Upon Holliday Creek coming into view I quickly saw the water was not moving in raging torrent mode. Looking to the east side of the Holliday Creek Gorge I saw that which you see above.

What looked to be vehicles of the Flintstone sort motoring on the expanse of green grass which extends for what seems to be miles on the side of Holliday Creek opposite the Wichita Falls Circle Trail. The Flintstone cars motor for a short distance and then the Fred and Barneys driving the Flintstone cars stop, get out of their cars, swing a stick, and then start driving again. It seems to be a primitive stone age type behavior to my modern era eyes.

Last night's wicked storm was not predicted. However severe storms are on the prediction menu for the next several days.  More often than not the predicted storms do not seem to arrive as predicted at my current location.

I suspect that will not be the case this time, so I am prepared to batten down the hatches on a moment's, or a  tornado siren's, notice....                    

Anonymous TRWD Voting Revelations Outside Fort Worth's Narrow Confines

A few days ago I mentioned being surprised to learn that I was among the few allowed to vote in a TRWD Board of Directors Election because I was a Stakeholding TRWD Founder.

I learned this via a Facebook posting where multiple people verbalized their puzzlement regarding being a Tarrant County voter, yet not allowed to vote in a Tarrant Regional Water District Board of Directors Election.

I blogged about this puzzlement which then had someone with the extremely common name of Anonymous making a perplexing comment....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Apparently I Got To Vote Because I Am A Stakeholding TRWD Founder":

You write--; "It seems outrageous, and wrong, to me, that all the Texans affected by the TRWD are not included in who votes for the TRWD. Such as people who live in Haltom City..."

Here's a link to the most recent election for members to the TRWD board of directors. It lists 130 election precincts with early voting at 51 of them as well as voting by mail. On page 21 it lists polling location #32 in >>Haltom City.<< Other polling places far outside the confines of FW (Keller, Mansfield, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Euless, Watauga....even Westlake (Alliance Airport area).

Can you explain why these polling places exist if the people there are denied the right to vote? What am I missing? 

__________________

The link to which Anonymous refers goes to a long Full Legal Notice of Election PDF, signed off by ex-TRWD President, Vic W. Henderson and TRWD Secretary, Martha V. Leonard.

I had no idea that elected TRWD Board Director, Marty Leonard, was also a TRWD Secretary. No wonder she finagled with Jim Lane to secure thousands of bogus absentee ballots to ensure she kept her secretary job.

As for the question from Anonymous. I am assuming that this document Anon ymous cited is listing all the voting precincts in Tarrant County, as in all the voting precincts. I could not make it through all 21 pages but I did look closely at page 21, to which Anonymous referred. That page appears to be listing Early Voting locations for Tarrant County.

It has been a rather large big issue that the voters of Haltom City do not get to vote on who sits on the TRWD Board, with Haltom City voters annoyed at this exclusion because their town has seen dire consequences resulting from inept TRWD mismanagement of deadly Haltom City flood control issues.

Let's ask a question of two of Haltom City's most vocal critics of the TRWD's shenanigans, Elsie Hotpepper and Layla Caraway. Why did you ladies not know that all along you could have been voting in the TRWD Board Elections, even though you are registered to vote in Haltom City?

Let's ask former TRWD Board Director, Mary Kelleher, if she knew she could have done some campaigning for votes in Haltom City, Keller, Mansfield, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Euless, Watauga....and even the Westlake (Alliance Airport area)?

What Stalled World's First Bridges Built Over Dry Land Connecting To An Imaginary Island?

I saw that which you see here in the Sunday Seattle Times online, and it seemed to fit the category of things I read in west coast online news sources which I would not be expecting to read in a Texas news source about a similar thing in Texas.

Or, in this case, Fort Worth and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The Seattle Times article titled World’s first light rail on a floating bridge: For I-90, Sound Transit had to invent ‘a brilliant solution’ is something one would likely not read in the Star-Telegram about something happening in Fort Worth for a variety of reasons.

Has Fort Worth ever been the world's first at anything? Or invented a brilliant solution for anything? Or built a big bridge over a deep body of water?

I guess the Fort Worth Star-Telegram could have an article with a somewhat similar headline to the Seattle Times headline, something like this...

World's first bridges built over dry land connecting to an imaginary island: Stalled because Fort Worth can't invent 'a simple solution'.

How can one part of America manage to build multiple massively big floating bridges over deep water, in a time span of less than four years, whilst another part of America (Fort Worth) can't manage to build three simple little bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island?

With a four year project timeline.

That is no longer in existence because the project has been stalled for over a year.

Stalled for over a year. With no explanation as to what the problem is. And no local newspaper able to task journalists with the job of investigating what is causing a relatively simple pseudo public works project to become known as America's Biggest  Boondoggle?

Those floating bridges you see above connect to an actual island.

Mercer Island.

Site of some of the world's most expensive real estate. Fort Worth's bridges were being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, which is currently an industrial wasteland, not an island.

Read the article about engineers figuring out how to build the world's first light rail over a floating bridge. Make note of the open transparency. Ask yourself why you never read an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about the stalled bridges which has any semblance of the detail you read in this article in the Seattle Times.

I'll copy a few paragraphs from the Seattle Times World’s first light rail on a floating bridge: For I-90, Sound Transit had to invent ‘a brilliant solution’ article to illustrate what I am talking about...

Sound Transit will soon try something unprecedented — building and operating train tracks on a floating bridge.

The work begins June 3 in the center express lanes of Interstate 90, after carpools, buses and Mercer Island motorists are kicked out to make room for light-rail contractors. Passenger service between Seattle, Bellevue and Overlake is scheduled to begin in 2023.

The technical challenges are daunting.

Engineers have to ensure the bridge will remain buoyant when a pair of 300-ton trains pass each other, and that the high-voltage current that powers the trains won’t stray into the bridge’s pontoons and corrode its steel rebar. They spent $53 million just to design the section across Lake Washington.

The most difficult task is adapting the rails to the movements of the bridge.

___________________

Okay, Fort Worth Star-Telegram readers, in the above few paragraphs you have read more detailed facts about a bridge being built than you have ever read in the Star-Telegram about those three simple little bridges which have been stalled, with no explanation as to why, for over a year.

Pitiful. just pitiful....

Mother's Day Visit With Wichita Falls Mothers In Prairie Dog Town

A long time had passed since I'd last visited my neighborhood Prairie Dog Town.

And, so, what with it being Mother's Day, and what with Prairie Dog Town having a lot of mothers in residence, I decided to pay them a visit today.

I did not arrive at Prairie Dog Town empty handed. I had a bag full of flour tortillas, corn tortillas and whole wheat bread.

Upon arrival I quickly saw that Prairie Dog Town has expanded since my last visit, with many new burrows sprouted at locations quite a distance from the walled city which makes up Prairie Dog Town proper.

As I pulled into a parking space multiple Prairie Dogs scurried for home from their sunning location on the pavement. I was not quick enough with my camera to photo document the Prairie Dogs on the road.  But I did manage to do some photo documenting of the Prairie Dogs inside Dog Town.

Above you are looking at a couple Prairie Dog babies.  They came out of their home hole when they heard their relatives making their "there's food"  squeal.

Eventually I was able to toss some bread product to a pair of the babies. Their mom was not evident. Unless she was one of the Prairie Dogs who did not fear getting close to me in order to get vittles.

Below we see one of the potential Prairie Dog Mother candidates, securing a chunk of flour tortilla with her left paw. Maybe she is contemplating taking the chunk to her babies.

No. She decided to have it all to herself.

Has anyone ever domesticated one of these cute critters?

The little Prairie Dog feller below seems to be quite devout, praying before he partakes of a chunk of whole wheat bread.

I do not understand why Wichita Falls does not make a big deal out of its Prairie Dog Town. Such as promoting it as the Biggest Prairie Dog Town in the World (in an urban setting) or some such thing.

Make the wall around Prairie Dog Town more attractive. Not a Donald Trump type wall paid for by the Mexicans, but a real wall serving a real purpose. And somehow wall off the Prairie Dog Town suburbs which have sprung up on the town's outskirts.

There is not even signage pointing people to Prairie Dog Town. One has to know Prairie Dog Town is located in Kiwanis Park, on the north side of Southwest Parkway, with the entry a short distance west of McDonalds and the Post Office, to know where to go to visit the Wichita Falls Prairie Dogs.

I think the next time I visit Prairie Dog Town I'm bringing brownies. I'm thinking those little critters will really like brownies...

Happy Mother's Day To All My Favorite Mothers

That would be my mom you are looking at here, holding her first born baby boy, which would be me. I am pretty much 100% certain this photo was taken in Eugene, Oregon, since that is where I was born and in the photo it does not appear I am big enough to be doing much traveling.

I hope all my favorite moms will be having themselves a mighty fine Mother's Day today.

Such as my #1 Mom, currently in  Arizona, who I will be calling later today.

And, also in Arizona, my favorite sister, Jackie, mother of my favorite nephews, Christopher and Jeremy.

And all my favorite moms in Washington, such as Aunts Arlene and Alice. My favorite ex-sister-in-law, Cindy, who also happens to be Spencer Jack's grandma and the mother of my favorite nephews, Jason and Joey.

And then there is Jenny, the mother of Spencer Jack.

And my other favorite sister, Michele, along with Kristin, the mothers of my favorite nephews, David and Theo and my one and only favorite niece, Ruby.

I almost forgot the Washington mothers of Macie, Chris and Sheila.

In Texas the only mother I can think of (other than Kay Granger) is Alma, mother of Viggo. Happy Mother's Day, Alma, hope you and Viggo have yourselves a good day....

UPDATE: I am shocked and appalled that when I was thinking of Texas mothers whose mothering I have been privileged  to witness that I forgot that regular Mother of the Year candidate, Miss Martha. Sorry Martha. Happy Mother's Day!

Feeling Safe From Ransomware Wanna Cry Surrounded By Pillars Of Holliday

Today for my regularly scheduled salubrious Saturday outdoor excursion I opted to walk to my favorite neighborhood art space, which always puts me in a good mood, which you see documented here in a rare selfie photo documenting me being in a rare good mood.

I call this art installation the Pillars of Holliday, what with Holliday Creek being that water you see reflecting behind me and multiple Pillars.

The Pillars of Holliday are located under the Southwest Parkway bridge over Holliday Creek.

A short distance north, maybe half a mile, on the campus of Midwestern State University, visible as one drives by on Taft Boulevard, one sees the Pillars of Hercules art installation.

I prefer the Pillars of Holliday to the Pillars of Hercules for several reasons.

Such as there are only four Pillars of Hercules, while Holliday has way more Pillars, both behind me and in front of me, from the vantage point of the above photo.

The Pillars of Holliday are shaded,  whilst the Pillars of Hercules are out in the open, with no shady protection.

The Pillars of Holliday are more easily accessed than the Pillars of Hercules, what with the Circle Trail running under the bridge, between the Pillars, with a comfortable swinging bench upon which one can sit and admire the Pillars of Holliday.

Today I had a good reason to put myself in a good mood by surrounding myself with art due to the stress I have had getting my new computer to cooperate in updating itself to protect it from the nefarious Ransomware Wanna Cry attack.

I am almost 100% certain I am now somewhat safe from having my computer held for ransom. I probably should not be tempting fate by making such a claim...