Shadow Of The Sikes Bike Thin Man Getting Goosed

This morning I rolled myself on a long bike ride, wearing sweatpants to keep out the semi-cold.

This evening, when the sun was in set mode, I rolled myself on a shorter bike ride, wearing my warm weather biking attire.

By morning the chill will likely have returned.

As you can see, via the photo documentation, the late in the day setting sun casts a golden glow in North Texas.

When I stopped to take a picture of the Sikes Bike Thin Man no other people showed up in the photo.

Accurate photo documentation of Sikes Lake this evening would have documented the throngs of people out having themselves a mighty fine time in the extremely pleasant weather.

Accurate photo documentation of Sikes Lake this evening would also have documented the throngs of geese behaving much more actively than they behave in the morning.

Hundreds of birds, mostly geese, make Sikes Lake their home. At times the flocks of geese act very territorial, like they resent sharing the paved trail. Some will make a stand, waiting til the last second to flutter away from the incoming bike.

There are often fishermen and women fishing in Sikes Lake. Evening seems to attract a lot more line casters, hiding in the shadows of the trees and bridges, I assume so as to better trick the fish to bite their hooks.

The paved trail around Sikes Lake is illuminated. There are multiple emergency alarms posted around the lake. Along with multiple gazebos with drinking fountains. And a modern restroom facility. In other words, not every town in Texas is as backward as that Texas town I lived in prior to moving to Wichita Falls...

Thinking About Riding My Bike To Mount Vernon To Visit George Washington

My handlebars at the location you see here may have you guessing I flew my bike to Washington, D.C. and then pedaled the short distance from downtown to visit George and Martha's famous house named after the town I lived in in Washington before arriving in Texas.

Now that you're making me think about it, George and Martha's last name is the same as the name of the state I lived in prior to arriving in Texas. What a  pair of coincidences.

I used to live in Mount Vernon, Washington, and George and Martha Washington also lived in Mount Vernon, only in a state called Virginia.

Anyway, that is not Mount Vernon, in Virginia, my handlebars are pointing towards. That is Sikes House in Wichita Falls, on the MSU (Midwestern State University) campus. Sikes House is where the university's president resides, not the American president.

I took a roll around Sikes Lake this morning, which is adjacent to Sikes House, then crossed Midwestern Boulevard to the MSU campus, eventually leaving the campus to head east to a big neighborhood with dozens upon dozens of big mansions, many of which mimic other famous American homes, such as Jefferson's Monticello, Madison's Montpelier, Jackson's Hermitage and Trump's Mar-a-Lago.

I made that last one up.

I should photo document some of these mansions. It's the biggest collection of such I have ever seen outside of Beverly Hills in the Los Angeles zone. One or two of them have State of Texas Historical Markers.

My favorite mansion I roll by looks as if it was inspired by, or designed by, if such were possible, Howard Roark. One would have to be familiar with something called The Fountainhead to understand what I am talking about.

Well, enough about that. I wonder if it easy to ride ones bike from downtown D.C. to Mount Vernon? To be clear, I'm talking about biking to the Mount Vernon in Virginia, not the one in Washington...

Lake Wichita Dam Drink Discovers Misbehaving Utility Box

Today in the noon time frame, with the outer world chilled, or heated, depending on ones temperature expectations, to a degree somewhere in the high 50s low 60s range, with the air in pretty much dead calm no wind mode, I decided rolling my wheels on the Circle Trail to the Mount Wichita mini-volcano seemed like it would be a mighty pleasant mighty fine time.

And it was.

Near the Lake Wichita Dam's spillway I opted to stop to hydrate.

This stop was at the cyclone fence enclosure you see above. The cyclone fence enclosure encloses a manhole type thing which is an access to what looks to be a device which opens a giant valve, likely to release excess water from the lake should the need arise.

Someone, likely bratty children, has tossed dozens of large rocks inside the enclosure. But those rocks seemed to do no harm.

However, there is a box mounted to the fence inside the enclosure which was wide open, exposing the switches and electronics which reside inside the box. This did not seem like an intended steady state for the status of this box.

I doubt one of those aforementioned rock throwing brats climbed inside this cyclone enclosure, what with such entry blocked by the three rows of barbed wire you see in the photo at the top. So, misbehaving brats is not a likely explanation for the open utility box.

I hope someone re-secures this box before some dire act of Mother Nature somehow zaps it and causes the electronics to open the valve that drains the lake, with Wichita Falls waking up to find a dry lake.

Then again, an accidentally drained Lake Wichita might speed up the seemingly stalled Lake Wichita Revitalization Project, which seems to be doing its revitalizing real real slow...

1956 Fort Worth Trinity Floodway Vision

Yesterday my favorite D/FW ditzy dame, Elsie Hotpepper, directed me to that which you see here.

The caption accompanying the photo...

Dedication of Fort Worth Floodway Project of the West and Clear Fork of the Trinity: Estil Vance, Joe Hogsett, Jim Wright and Col Harry D Fischer (April 5, 1956) 

Does this photo document the fact that what we now know as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision actually began way back in 1956, well over half a century ago, rather than a more recent starting date, early in the beginning of this new century?

In other words, has America's Biggest Boondoggle been boondoggling along since 1956, in various ever changing forms?

In its current form, when it began, before evolving into being a sponsor of river floating beer parties, what used to be called the Trinity River Vision touted itself as being a much needed flood control project combined with being a much needed economic development project.

One would think the 1956 version of the Fort Worth Floodway failed. Thus requiring this "update" of the Fort Worth Floodway.

But there has been no floodway failure in the downtown Fort Worth zone ever since those levees were built and paid for by the rest of America, way back in the 1950s.

However, downtown Fort Worth does regularly flood in the West 7th zone. But what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle does nothing about that particular flooding problem...

Wichita Falls Blue Sky Leads Me To Fort Worth Boondoggle's Signs To Nowhere

What you are looking at here is one of the bluest skies I've seen since I've been in Seattle.

Used to be, reliably, the bluest skies I ever see are in Seattle, and the hills the greenest green.

But this last visit, not so much, til my last day in Washington when the sky cleared of smoke and the deep blue sky returned along with the mountains. But, with the lowlands not all that green due to a lack of incoming water.

My local blue sky is scheduled to darken later today with a cold front arriving along with lightning strikes.

Prior to the incoming frigidity I decided to go on one more HOT bike ride, rolling my wheels around Sikes Lake to MSU and Hamilton Park.

MSU (Midwestern State University) accommodates me quite politely. With special signs marking spots reserved for parking my bike. I don't know why they use my middle name rather than my first name. I suppose fewer letters makes the signs cheaper to make.

Speaking of wasting money on signs. And who isn't?

Couple days ago Elsie Hotpepper told me she spotted a bizarre big directional sign on Interstate 30 south of the Fort Worth downtown, directing drivers to "PANTHER ISLAND PAVILION".

Where there is no island and the pavilion is a sad shack stuck on the banks of the Trinity River.

Why would America's Biggest Boondoggle waste even more money on even more senseless signage, one can not help but wonder?

Are those big billboards still up touting PANTHER ISLAND BRIDGES IN MOTION, near where American's Biggest Boondoggle installed that bizarre million dollar homage to an aluminum trash can at the center of that roundabout near where The Boondoggle has been struggling to build one of those bridges for years?

Progress in motion. Apparently The Boondogglers have no sense of embarrassing irony.

I took the above photo way back in February of 2015 and blogged about all the bizarre Boondoggle signage I came upon whilst walking in the area of the imaginary pavilion on the imaginary island and the imaginary world class urban music venue. I blogged about this at that point in time in a blogging titled Taking A Look At The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Products.

And now, apparently The Boondoggle has installed a sign on the I-30 freeway directing people to that non-existent pavilion on that non-existent island.

American's Biggest Boondoggle has been boondoggling along for most of this century.

Does anyone know, or care, how much money The Boondoggle has spent on all its propaganda? The signage, the websites, the quarterly mailing. Who has the contract to produce all this useless propaganda? I suspect the culprit is a crony of J.D. Granger or one of the other members of the nepotism riddled gang whose fingers are in this public trough.

Anyway, nice bike ride today. Thanks MSU for the reserved parking...

Mr. Prickley Finds Grandpa Simpson On Facebook

This morning when I checked in on that bastion of highly evolved social interaction known as Facebook I was amused to see a comment from one of my pseudo Friends, who I refer to as Mr. Prickley, making reference to my irascible nature, telling me in my old age I have become a left wing Trump version of Grandpa Simpson.

What a horrible thing to say about the lovable father of Homer and Grandpa of Bart, Lisa and Maggie.

I really don't know what possible reason Mr. Prickley had to suggest such a thing.

I may have suggested that Mr. Prickley's Dudley Do Wrong persona wore on my nerves with the relentless detailed debating of subjects where it seems sort of obvious the debaters had not the slightest real clued understanding of the subject being debated. With opinions firmly anchored in stone, not to be sculpted free with any amount of informed reasoning.

But Grandpa Simpson? I can not remember the last time I have been so offput. Okay, that's not true, I do remember the last time I was so offput. It was last night.

Anyway, this morning was the first I've been called Grandpa since last summer.

I was having myself a mighty fine time in Tacoma's wave pool in, I think the name was Kindle Park. Maybe spelled different than the Amazon book reading device.

So, Theo was going all over the pool with me, hanging on as we dodged waves whilst waiting for the Big Kahuna to come crashing towards us.

About an hour in to the wave pooling a classmate of Theo's started tagging along. I forget her name, but it was obvious she had a first grade crush on my nephew Theo.

During one of the respites when the big waves ceased for a short duration Theo's girlfriend asked him if I was his Grandpa. Theo said no, he's my Uncle, not my Grandpa, Theo said with a you silly girl tone.

If I knew then months later the subject would come up I would have asked Theo's girlfriend if I reminded her of Grandpa Simpson...

The Long Shadow Of The Mount Wichita Thin Man Witnessing Possible Duck Genocide

That is the Long Shadow of the Mount Wichita Thin Man you are looking at here.

Yesterday during that time of the day when the sun begins to make its slow exit to the west I decided to roll my motorized wheels to Lake Wichita Park to park in the shadow of Mount Wichita prior to climbing the grueling hike to the summit, where the long shadow photo was taken.

The mosquitoes seemed to be more active at this time of the day, with several of the critters invading the interior space of my vehicle. I do not know yet if any successfully got a blood donation from me.

It should not be too long now til the outer world temperature dips below freezing, thus putting an end for the year of the biting insects terrorizing the population with stealth attacks.

This early evening visit to the top of Mount Wichita was the first time I have seen a motor boat motoring over Lake Wichita. And that motoring was done at high speed, looking, at times, almost like a hydroplaning level of high speed.

Above, that spot of white out in the lake is that aforementioned hydroplaning fast boat zooming east on Lake Wichita. This photo was taken soon after I was mortified to see the boat aiming at a flock of ducks, collected together like an island. The boat plowed right into the heart of the duck island. When the wake cleared I saw no ducks.

Like I said, I was mortified.

But, I think the ducks may have ducked, literally, in time, with the boat, I hope, not killing any. A short time later, a distance to the east of where the flock had been hit, a new duck island appeared. Had the ducks transited under water to emerge safely at a new location? I don't know. But that's what I told myself happened. But, I would not be shocked to find a collection of duck corpses washed ashore in the coming days.

What sort of monster would plow a boat into a flock of ducks peacefully minding their business? I suppose it's a derivative of the same type monster who does the same murerous behavior to humans collected on a city street, with the murder weapon a truck or van or car.

And now, some minutes later after the boat assault on a flock of ducks, let's look westerly from the summit of Mount Wichita.

It might be scenically interesting to view the sun actually setting whilst viewing such from the Mount Wichita summit. But, one would definitely need a flashlight to illuminate the treacherous descent back to ground level.

Or a full moon...

Is Indoor Plumbing An Imaginary World Class Fort Worth Luxury?

When one goes out for lunch at a restaurant in a modern American city one expects such restaurant in such city to have indoor plumbing.

One does not expect, in a modern American city, to see an amenity, such as indoor plumbing, touted as a feature, along with hamburgers and hotdogs.

And then there is that modern world class city of Fort Worth, implausible future home of Amazon HQ2..

I have been asked a time or two from people from other locations, well, west coasters, if Fort Worth is really as backwards as I describe it.

As in is Fort Worth really a town with city parks without running water or modern restrooms? With no public pools? With miles of streets without sidewalks? With a downtown ghost town? With no real newspaper? With wanton corruption and bizarre lunacy in instances such as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, more commonly known as America's Biggest Boondoggle?

When I am asked such questions, I have to be honest, and tell the asker that yes, Fort Worth is as backwards as I describe it.

For instance, there really is only one location in Fort Worth which is remotely unique and remotely tourist attraction worthy. That being the Fort Worth Stockyards.

And in the Fort Worth Stockyards one finds multiple examples of Fort Worth's backwardness in the indoor plumbing area which gives one a good idea as to why Fort Worth is known as the Outhouse Capital of America.

I am not sure, but I think maybe BIG BALLS OF COWTOWN may no longer be in business. But, while those BIG BALLS were in business, and if they still are, BIG BALLS lets its customers know they can expect to find Indoor Plumbing inside instead of an outhouse out back.

And the Cadillac Cantina is proud to let you know they have Indoor Restrooms in addition to drink specials.

For the final two examples I do not remember the names of the establishments. One of which features the Indoor Restrooms feature and drink specials, along with some special air conditions.

And another which proudly features Indoor Plumbing along with fried potatoes and hot dogs.

Is there any other town in America where one can find this type thing in one of the town's tourist attractions?

Even downtown Fort Worth is sadly lacking in modern public facilities to facilitate the comfort of the few tourists to visit that underdeveloped space. Even when the impossible to find Sundance Square finally appeared as a plaza, after decades of confusing the town's few tourists with its non existence, Sundance Square Plaza has no modern restroom facilities.

Sundance Square Plaza does not even have that Fort Worth standard non-modern world outhouse option.

So,  is it any mystery why Fort Worth's favorite son, J.D. Granger, uses any form of outhouse he finds, when the need strikes, no matter how primitive it may be... 

J.D Granger Wears T-Shirt Anonymous Finds Incomprehensible

A couple days ago I mentioned I had suffered a Multiple Blog Comments Publishing Faux Pas.

Among those blog comments was one from way back in early August from someone named Anonymous...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Heading North To The Smoky Pacific Northwest Without Elsie Hotpepper":

There's a Star-Telegram pic of J.D. Granger at the final Rockin' The River event of 2017. 

Granger is in pic #32 wearing a stupid tee shirt that is incomprehensible to me.

Rockin' the River at Panther Island Pavilion, August 5, 2017

Well.

I think I can read, for the most part, what is written on the tee shirt which Anonymous finds incomprehensible...

OF COURSE

I DON'T GET OUT,

IT ALL GOES

TO DALLAS

ANYWAYS

I think what Anonymous may be finding incomprehensible is the fact a grown man in an imaginary position of authority, being the pseudo Executive Director of a quasi public agency known as the Trinity River Vision Authority, would wear a tee shirt which basically informs us he does not get out of the Trinity River when he needs to relieve himself after excess beer consumption, because that of which he relieves himself flows to Dallas anyway.

J.D. Granger is talking about urinating in the Trinity River whilst floating on an inner tube, drinking beer, listening to music emanating from a shed propagandized as a pavilion on a chunk of land propagandized as being an island.

In other words, Rockin' the River at Panther Island Pavilion.

Now, if J.D. were to decide to exit the river when he feels the need to urinate he could avail himself of one of the lovely outhouses his agency has installed on the banks of the Trinity River. These may be the most luxurious outhouses in all of Fort Worth. They are surrounded by concrete enclosures, which almost disguises their outhouse reality.

As I scrolled through the photos to which Anonymous directed me, searching for the one of J.D. Granger's tee shirt, I also saved a few other photos for documentation purposes to show people in other parts of America, and the world, and Amazon, that which passes for a mighty fine time in Fort Worth.

Above is the first photo one comes to in the Rockin' the River at Panther Island Pavilion, August 5, 2017 article. In the foreground a couple heading to the river, with the male half proudly sporting a tank top properly paying homage to the American flag, with the message "BACK TO BACK WORLD WAR WINS".

Behind the couple we see throngs of floaters contributing to the flow of polluted river water making its way to Dallas.

A closer look at some of the River Rockers, in the not crystal clear water of the Trinity River, many with future Dallas river water in hand.

And above we get a look at that stunning architectural wonder known as Panther Island Pavilion. I do not know which world renowned architect designed this iconic symbol of Fort Worth.

That is the imaginary island, known as Panther Island, upon which the beautiful pavilion sits. Currently the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, more commonly known as America's Biggest Boondoggle, is struggling to build three simple little bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to that imaginary island.

One day, far in the future, a ditch may be dug under those three bridges, with the Trinity River diverted into the ditch, creating what Fort Worth propagandizing illusionists pretend will be an island.

I am fairly certain it would be accurate to say the majority of the people who live in Fort Worth are appalled at the idea of using the Trinity River for water recreational purposes of the float on an inner tube sort. Multiple times the Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats have had to be cancelled due to dangerously elevated e.coli levels, among other pollutants.

One would think, if Fort Worth had actual city leaders, actually leading the city in some semblance of sanity, that those city leaders would see it as a sad commentary on Fort Worth's lack of fun, outdoor recreational opportunities, what with so many locals willing to inner tube on a polluted river while drinking beer listening to music emanating from a river side shack.

And here we have one of those aforementioned supposed city leaders, J.D. Granger, working on helping contribute to the flow of water heading towards Dallas...

Joining Throngs Of Mountaineers Braving Almost Frigid Cold To Conquer Mount Wichita

Yesterday, if I am remembering correctly, and sometimes I do, I made mention of the fact that it seems there is a temperature sweet spot where Texans are much more prone to outdoor activity than when the temperature is not being so sweet.

We are currently in that temperature sweet spot. Not too hot, not too cold.

Hence today upon arrival I saw multiple people making their way to the summit of Mount Wichita. By the time I got out of my vehicle and in photo taking mode, the first group had conquered the summit.

That temperature sweet spot today was 76 degrees when I made my way to the summit of Mount Wichita. From that summit viewpoint I could see a lot of people enjoying the Circle Trail in various ways, just like yesterday, walking, jogging, biking and skateboarding. I saw no roller bladers today

I did see two recumbent bikes. I have never ridden one of those. Sometimes they look fun, sometimes not. On the Circle Trail a recumbent bike might be fun. Where one deals with hills and traffic, not so much.

The North Texas temperature is currently scheduled to get not so sweet. As in tonight's low is predicted to be 46, tomorrow's 44.

44 degrees is only 12 above freezing. That's cold.

This seems earlier than the norm to be tempted to switch the temperature control device from cooling mode to heating mode.