Nurse Canecracker's Mount Vernon History Took Me To America's Fort Worth Boondoggle

I found that which you see here in my mailbox this morning, sent by Nurse Canecracker, aka, Miss Linda.

A history of the town I lived in before moving to Texas, titled Images of America: Mount Vernon.

I have always liked learning about the history of this, that or any other thing.

This book from Nurse Canecracker answered several questions about Mount Vernon, and the Skagit Valley, which I have wondered about.

Such as when was the bridge across the Skagit connecting downtown Mount Vernon with West Mount Vernon built? I now know it was 1954 that cars first drove across that new bridge.

And when did the two malls in Mount Vernon open? One would think I could remember this, since I was living in the neighborhood at the time.

Well, it was 1971 when the Mount Vernon Mall opened on the north side of College Way, with the Skagit Valley Mall opening two years later, across the street on the south side of College Way.

Those two malls wreaked havoc with downtown Mount Vernon. And then a modern mall opened a couple miles north, on the other side of the Skagit River, in Burlington, eventually causing the two Mount Vernon malls to be demolished, replaced with modern type strip malls.

And now that mall in Burlington, the Cascade Mall, is having trouble staying open, losing all its anchors.

I have wondered what the flooding history of the Skagit River was, before dikes were built to contain the river when it left the narrow valley and entered the delta flood plain.

Well, there were some hellacious floods, photo documented in this book from Miss Linda. I have eye witnessed some hellacious Skagit floods post dikes being built, hence wondering what it was like before those dikes were built.

The Texas town I lived in before moving to my current location, Fort Worth, has had a multi-decade pseudo public works project underway to supposedly address imaginary flood issues which were long ago fixed by the construction of massive levees.

This Fort Worth "flood control" project is known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision. But more commonly known as America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Fort Worth has long wanted to be the best or biggest at something.

And now the town proudly hosts America's Biggest Boondoggle, with an embarrassing mess of a project with three simple little bridges under construction now for years, being built over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

With the current state of those bridges being badly engineered seesaws in teeter totter mode, with locals referring to the eyesores as the Yeehaw Seesaws.

A Fort Worth congresswoman's totally unqualified son was put in charge of this ill conceived ineptly implemented plan, paid around $200K a year, plus perks and benefits, to motivate his mother to secure federal funds, with little luck, hence a recent bizarrely corrupt ballot measure conning the ill-informed locals that they were approving a quarter billion bucks for flood control and drainage issues.

And somehow in Texas this type ballot subterfuge is perfectly kosher.

Reading about Mount Vernon's flood history, and how intelligent Americans dealt with flood issues, I amused myself thinking what if someone in Mount Vernon came up with a brilliant plan to take down the Skagit River dikes, then build a flood diversion channel to divert a flooding Skagit around an imaginary island, with canals, creating a sort of San Antonio Riverwalk type venue.

Well, I don't think there is anyone stupid enough any where in the Skagit Valley to come up with something so idiotic, and to amp the idiocy by claiming it was a flood control plan, and an economic development scheme.

Selling such an idea, the economic development scheme, in a town with is already doing quite well, economically, would be laughed at. But, in Fort Worth, those who decide such things, don't laugh. they think it makes sense to create an imaginary island with canals.

And to remove levees which have prevented flooding for decades.

Oh, I almost forgot.

Without any corrupt political shenanigans, with no hiring of a local congresswoman's son to do a job he has no clue how to do.

Mount Vernon has built a Riverwalk type attraction on the Skagit River as it passes past downtown Mount Vernon.

A Riverwalk type attraction with a flood wall which can be put in place quickly when the Skagit goes rogue. A Riverwalk type attraction with a plaza.

And, unlike what is the Fort Worth norm, no outhouses.

All done in a fraction of the time Fort Worth has been boondoggling along with little to show for the effort.

Well, to be fair, those Yeehaw Seesaws have become a bit of a tourist attraction, to the few tourist attracted to Fort Worth. That and the giant million dollar homage to an aluminum trash can, stuck in the center of America's Biggest Boondoggle's roundabout.

Has the Star-Telegram ever looked into how that million dollar homage to an aluminum trash can came to be? Installed years before any other aspect of what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle came to any sort of fruition?

What is J.D. Granger's connection to whoever it was who got the million bucks for that imaginary work of aluminum art?

Is there an Images of America: Fort Worth book? I suspect not...

Father's Day

This morning I woke up to soon realize it has been a year since my Dad's Last Father's Day McDonald's Buffet.

And that this is the first Father's Day where I won't be calling or seeing my dad.

Sad.

Father's Day

Wichita Bluff Nature Area Saturday Sunflower Shade

If you guessed that what you are looking at here is a giant sunflower blooming alongside the Circle Trail in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area you would be guessing correctly.

This third Saturday of June I decided to give my bike a break and check if I am still able to walk a long distance, with some of that distance walking up and down inclines.

I had previously thought that next month when I am in Arizona I might do some hiking. And then Sister Jackie reminded me that I would be in the Valley of the Sun in July and that hiking is not doable by anyone with any degree of good judgment and relative sanity.

Today there were only four other vehicles in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area's parking lot. I don't understand why more locals do not find themselves enjoying this venue. It's scenic, with the bluffs overlooking the Wichita River. There are plenty of benches on which to take a rest. And shaded covered areas, with a couple of those including picnic tables.

Three Saturdays from today I will be finding myself moving fast high above the planet, heading west to Phoenix. It seems like I was just there...

Jones Boys B-EHS Graduation With Mom & Dad In Burlington

A day or two ago I did a rare check-in on one of the online news sources sourcing news in my old home location of the Skagit Valley.

On that news source I saw that which you see here, a blurb from a graduation speech at one of the high schools in the Skagit Valley.

I thought in these troubled times this excerpt from this speech was repeat worthy...

"Even though there are 7.6 billion people across the globe, 122,000 residents in Skagit County, 1,048 students at B-EHS, and 226 graduates sitting among you this evening, it’s easy to feel alone. You’re not. You are not alone."

B-EHS, also known as Burlington Edison High School, was the high school from which I graduated way back in the previous century. I was sort of surprised to read there are now 1,048 students at B-EHS. And that 226 graduated this year.

I was surprised to learn the school had grown that much since I matriculated there. Then again, it has been so long I don't know if I accurately remember how big the school was. Seems like our graduating class had about 170, give or take.

I long ago lost my high school annuals, so I have no way of counting.

Mention was made in that graduation speech blurb of the population of Skagit County. 122,000 sounds like about the same population as when I was still residing in that county.

I think the last B-EHS graduation I attended was when David, Theo and Ruby's mom graduated and gave one of the graduation speeches. I do not remember any blurbs from my little sister's graduation speech. I do remember the graduation was held in the Skagit Valley College auditorium, in Mount Vernon, because the B-EHS venues at that time were too small to accommodate a graduation.

Ooops. Just remembered. I have been to a B=EHS graduation since my little sister's.

I went to Spencer Jack's dad's graduation. It was held in Burlington, on the football field. We sat in the visitor's grandstand. I think I have photos of the post graduation party from that day, with that party held in the backyard of the house I grew up in in Burlington. Let me see if I can find the photos on this computer.

Okay, it took some hunting, but I found the photos I was seeking on another computer, including some I don't remember taking, such as a close up of my favorite nephew Jason in graduation mode...

I do not remember the weather being threatening for this outdoor graduation ceremony, but the above photo makes it appear such was the case.

For those of you reading this in Texas, those things in the background are mountains, well, actually known as foothills of the Cascade Mountains. In Texas these hills would qualify as mountains.

And then we have all the Jones Boys in that aforementioned backyard of the house I grew up in in Burlington. That would be Spencer Jack's grandpa, my favorite brother Jake on the left, next to Jason, then me, then Spencer Jack's uncle, my favorite nephew Joey.

And Jason with Grandma and Grandpa Jones, also known as Shirley and Jack. Mom and dad are looking happy in this photo. And young. It does not seem all that long ago. But it was in the final decade of the previous century the above photo was taken.

I was riding my bike today, and at the point where I was rolling through the MSU campus my phone rang. I managed to get the phone out of its holder whilst still rolling, and answered. It was Nurse Canecracker calling from a location in the aforementioned Mount Vernon.

The call went screwy. Nurse Canecracker called back. It went screwy again. And then on the third try I was stopped in the shade near the MSU fountain, sat on a bench and had a long talk with my favorite nurse.

Nurse Canecracker is going to be in Arizona for a long weekend at the same time I am there in October. I last saw Nurse Canecracker last summer, in August, when she and Betty Jo Bouvier drove up to Birch Bay to take me out to lunch.

Yesterday I booked a flight to Arizona, leaving Texas July 7, returning July 21.

I think the October return to Arizona will be via mechanized personal transport. Backroads to Phoenix....

Circumventing Geese Guards Seeing What Is Live At Sikes Lake

It is a year ago, give or take a day or two, since I made the mistake of driving to Arizona instead of doing the sensible thing by winging it.

At that point in time I had not yet learned how easy it is to fly out of the tiny Wichita Falls solo terminal airport.

In the year since driving to Arizona I have flown to Arizona multiple times, and will be doing so again sometime in July after the 4th.

On the year ago drive to Arizona on the second day of that roadtrip I found myself totally traumatized about 10 miles east of Flagstaff when my vehicle decided to come to an unwanted stop. That was one long day, eventually finally able to relax when my little brother successfully guided me to his place in Scottsdale.

Oh, I forgot what I was blogging about before I diverted down bad memory lane.

So, today I rolled my bike's wheels to Sikes Lake. The geese there are always up to something. Today's strange behavior consisted of most of the geese being in the lake in flocks of various sizes, all floating along in a single file. The biggest flock had several dozen in the single file formation. Was it something about today's weather which caused this behavior?

And then when I got to the location of the above sign a flock of four geese were among the few not in the lake. This flock of four was arranged like guards across the sidewalk. They honked menacingly in unison when I rolled towards them. They did not act as if they were gonna do the usual backing off thing, so I opted to go around this hissing honkers to make my way to a spot where I could read the sign.

The sign was an informational type deal informing those who want to know of the 2018 concert schedule of Live on the Lake.

Three of this year's concerts are already history, including the May 24 Live at the Lake concert which I accidented upon on that date and blogged about it in Rockin' Sikes Lake At Wichita Falls MSU Priddy Pavilion.

It was the Jay Hollis Band I came upon on May 24.

On May 10 I missed Cousin Fuzzy.

On June 7 I missed WFSO presents Gypsy Cattle Drive. I am guessing WFSO is Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra. I did not know this town had such a thing. I have no idea what Gypsy Cattle Drive is.

Coming up on June 21 I can roll my wheels to see Walkin Johnny.

On July 12 the James Cook Band will be making music at Sikes Lake, and on July 26 it will be Rock, Paper, Scissors.

It is highly unlikely I will be hearing and seeing the James Cook Band or Rock, Paper, Scissors, because at that point in time I will be in Arizona...

Sleepy Downtown Fort Worth Opens A Drug Store

Well, that which you see here is the type thing I have seen in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ever since I first became aware of that pseudo newspaper, almost two decades ago.

Fort Worth is a town approaching 900,000 in population.

With the deadest downtown I have ever seen in a town of a population over a half million.

As witnessed by this indicator of such, a When will that new CVS Pharmacy open in downtown Fort Worth? headline on the front page of the Star-Telegram.

Would a legit newspaper in a big town wearing its big boy pants be front page speculating regarding when a drugstore might open in its downtown?

One would think if such was a noteworthy item one might think this to be indicative of maybe there might be something wrong with the town.

The first three paragraphs in the article also makes one think such...

FORT WORTH - Seventeen years have passed since downtown Fort Worth had a drug store within walking distance of most hotels and offices.

That long wait is just about over.

A two-story, "urban-style" CVS Pharmacy is on the verge of opening at Fifth and Houston streets, just outside the city's Sundance Square. A handwritten sign on the window of the store tells customers the CVS will be "opening June 24, 2018."

________________

Now why is the Star-Telegram continuing to go along with this ridiculous labeling of the town's downtown as Sundance Square? This re-development zone should never have been given such a misrepresenting name in the first place. The Sundance Development Project, or some like name would have been much better, and would not have confused the town's few tourists for decades, looking for a non-existent square, until finally a couple parking lots were turned into a tiny square and then named Sundance Square Plaza.

Seventeen years since downtown Fort Worth had a drug store? How about some journalistic type investigating as to the reason for this. And why downtown Fort Worth is the only downtown of an American town with a population over a half million with zero downtown grocery or department stores.

With public transit provided by a re-tooled Australian bus named Molly the Trolley.

Read the entire When will that new CVS Pharmacy open in downtown Fort Worth? article and see how many head scratching bits of info you can spot which one would think a town's only semblance of a newspaper of record would find sort of embarrassing to be reporting about its town...

Is Mount Wichita Lake Wichita Beach Revitalization Underway?

A week or so ago I was Rolling Wheels To Lake Wichita to See a Big Caterpillar Dredging Lake Sludge, finding myself perplexed, wondering why a big piece of heavy excavating equipment was scooping out mud from the shore of Lake Wichita, with that mud being deposited in dump trucks to be hauled who knows where.

And now, this Sunday morning of June 10, rolling my wheels once again to Lake Wichita I find the Caterpillar and dump trucks gone.

And in their wake the Caterpillar and dump trucks appear have left behind what looks to be a beach in the making.

Above you see my bike parked at the Lake Wichita homage to a Flying Fish, on the west end of the new"beach" looking east.

And above we have headed east a short distance for a look west at the new Lake Wichita "beach".

At this location Mount Wichita hovers over the landscape to the right, or north of this location.

Seeing this possible "beach" in the making has me wondering if this is an early stage in the planned Revitalization of Lake Wichita.

I loaned of the plan to revitalize Lake Wichita soon upon my arrival in Wichita Falls. One could hardly miss knowing about such due to the multiple signs cheerleading the effort.

On those cheerleading signs one sees a link to a Support Lake Wichita website. On that website I learned, when I first perused it, that the plan to revitalize Lake Wichita was supposedly supposed to get underway by 2018.

However, I had not made note of much revitalizing underway until I saw this possible "beach" building.

The above illustrative graphic was gleaned from that aforementioned Support Lake Wichita website, illustrating what the revitalized Lake Wichita beach, at the location we have been looking at, may look like if the lake ever does get revitalized.

So, is what that Caterpillar was doing the start of revitalizing this section of Lake Wichita to being an actual sandy beach? With boats? And people in the water?

I hope so. I think the actualized vision of a revitalized Lake Wichita would be a HUGE plus for Wichita Falls and the surrounding area.

If only the majority of the voting locals saw the same revitalized vision...

Unpredicted Storm Wreaks Foliage Havoc On Wichita Falls Circle Trail

Yesterday, soon after the sun finished its daily lighting duty, rain began to drip, even though such a phenomenon had not been predicted by those who predict such things.

Soon after the rain began to drip it went into downpour mode.

And then wind began to blow.

And blow.

And blow stronger.

And then lightning began striking, with thunder booming, though not too close.

This storm lasted a couple hours.

When the sun returned this morning to begin its daily lighting duty the havoc wreaked by last night's storm became visible. As in a plethora of garbage receptacles had been moved to new locations, set on their sides, and emptied of their contents.

Multiple instances of foliage separated by wind from tree and bush littered the landscape.

And then, a few hours after sunrise I rolled my bike on the Circle Trail to Lake Wichita. As I neared Mount Wichita I suddenly had the need to pull the brake levers because the wind had blown a tree on to the Circle Trail.

It was not too difficult to get around the windfall, first making sure no incoming traffic was coming in from the opposite direction, what with seeing such made difficult by the windfall blockage.

After so much rain downpouring I expected to be seeing Holliday Creek in rampage rapid mode today. And copious amounts of water spilling over the Lake Wichita Dam Spillway.

Instead, judging by the calm creek and the dry spillway one would think no rain fell last night.

Is This The Long Lost Clancy & Fancy Wedding Photo?

A day or two ago one of my nephews sent me that which you see here, with that nephew telling me what we are seeing here is possibly the wedding photo of his former aunts, Fancy and Clancy.

Which would make that Fancy on the left, with Clancy on the right.

I have not seen Clancy and Fancy in almost a decade, except for an extremely disturbing brief exposure early in 2018 at a concentration camp in Mesa, Arizona, where it appeared inmates, including Clancy and Fancy, were being housed in narrow metal clad edifices, like jail cells with TV and internet connections, and other utilities, such as running water and electricity.

Visiting this incarceration location, myself, and my tour director, easily got past the guard guarding the concentration camp.

Upon locating the location of Clancy and Fancy security went into bizarre alert alarm mode, which soon had both Clancy and Fancy demonstrating the type behavior which has them incarcerated in these type incarcerations, with both demonstrating a level of neurotic paranoia of the sort which results in these type incarcerations.

I have no way of knowing what specific particular bad behavior caused Clancy and Fancy to be housed in this particular Mesa, Arizona concentration camp.

General crimes against humanity, human decency and common sense would be a logical guess, just judging from numerous reports reported over the years, with some personally experienced.

I have trouble believing this is a legit wedding photo of Clancy and Fancy. What with it appearing that Fancy is in some sort of dress. There is no known record of Fancy ever wearing something as fancy as an actual dress.

Close examination of this photo renders it impossible to determine if Clancy is also attired in some sort of dress. There are known historical records of Clancy being attired in a dress, though not in the current century.

UPDATE: It was brought to our attention it has been referencing to Clancy and Fancy as such which has been their excuse for some of their bizarre bad behavior, and that the continued referring to the pair as Clancy and Fancy prohibits any sort of reconciliation with those who refer to the pair as such.

What a loss...

Wichita Falls Sunbathing With Turtles At Sikes Lake Bayou

I always find the spot on Sikes Lake I call the Sikes Bayou to be a bucolic stop when I find myself rolling my wheels at this location.

Today the ducks and geese were out in full force, including multiple ducklings following their mama duck.

I was intending to photo document the ducklings on my second trip around the lake, but they were no longer making an appearance at that point in time.

In the photo documentation I did manage to document some geese flocking to the left of my handlebars. To the right, on that small sandbar glowing golden in the sun, there were two large turtles sunbathing when first I stopped.

When the sunbathing turtles heard my camera make its turning on noise they panicked and dove into the bayou.

Today marked the first time I have seen turtles in Sikes Lake. There were two other turtle instances addition to the pair I caught sunbathing.