Skagit Valley Homesick With Zachary Jack

I saw that which you see above a few minutes ago, this Sunday August afternoon in Texas, and quickly found myself feeling a bit homesick.

The photo is from Andy Porter Photography. The photo was posted on Skagit Breaks Facebook page.

The Skagit Breaks caption above the photo tells you that you are looking at "Clear Lake under clearer skies". I suspect the use of the "clearer" word was made because of late the skies of the Skagit Valley and most of the west coast have been smoky, due to massive wildfires.

Near as I can tell this photo was taken from atop a monolith known as Big Rock. Big Rock is located about a mile to the east of my old abode in Mount Vernon.

I used to regularly hike to the summit of Big Rock. A hike the likes of which I have never experienced in Texas.

Nor have I ever seen a view in Texas the likes of that which one sees from atop Big Rock.

Due to such a view being impossible in Texas due to the fact there are no volcanoes in Texas.

That is the Mount Baker volcano one sees in the background, hovering above the Cascade foothills and the Skagit Valley.

There are five active volcanoes in Washington.

If I remember right the last time I hiked up Mount Baker was with Spencer Jack's Uncle Joey, also known as my Favorite Joey Nephew.

Joey lives in Clear Lake, the little town named after the lake by which the town sits, in the above photo. Also living with Joey in Clear Lake is his newlywed wife, Monique.

Joey and Monique are currently scheduled to be having a baby boy arrive in late September, or early October. I last talked to Joey when his grandma and I called him the last time I was in Arizona, which was last month.

Today whilst I was riding my bike for a short while I amused myself trying to think of a good name for Joey and Monique's baby boy. It is hard to top Spencer Jack as a cool name.

But, I think I thought of one.

Zachary Jack.

Just say that name.

Zachary Jack.

Zack Jack for short.

Or just Zack.

Or ZJ....

Farmers Market Salsa Day With Original Wichita Falls Mosquitoes

At today's Downtown Wichita Falls Farmers Market it was Salsa Day.

No, not the dance or music version of Salsa.

Today was the dip a chip in it version of Salsa Day.

I arrived too late for the sample Salsa Dipping.

But, since I was in the neighborhood I thought a walk on the Circle Trail to the location of the original Wichita Falls might be salubrious and enjoyable on this mid-August Saturday.

I thought wrong.

By the time I reached the location of the Original Falls I was finding myself in a losing battle with mosquitoes. And thus I moved quickly with a lot of endorphin inducing aerobic arm movement swatting buzzing biters.

Above I stood still long enough to snap a photo of what I think is right were the original Wichita Falls fell. The Wichita River goes slightly into rapids mode at this location.

I have not yet made a count of how many mosquito bites I acquired today. I have a supply of itch abating lotion, should such be deemed needed.

In the meantime it is time for lunch.

With some fresh Wichita Falls Salsa on the menu...

Garbage From Booming Texas Pot Industry Is Not Clogging Gutters

I saw that which you see here on Friday in the Seattle Times.

It has been awhile since I have written one of my patented bloggings about something I see in a west coast news source which I would not expect to be seeing in a Texas newspaper, such as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, about a similar thing happening in Texas.

Can you imagine a story headline such as this in a Texas newspaper?

Garbage from booming Texas pot industry clogs gutters, sewers and landfills

First off, Texans, from what I have seen, do not much concern themselves with something as mundane as garbage clogging anything.

Texas is a state with towns which actively encourage citizens to go floating in the neighborhood e.coli polluted river.

Such as Fort Worth's Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats in the regularly poop polluted muddy waters of the Trinity River.

Second off, does Texas have any booming industry? Other than extracting oil and gas? Let alone a booming industry involving something like growing and selling marijuana.

Last month, after returning to Texas from Arizona, I made a comment or two about having been in modern America and it being a bit unsettling to be back in backwards America, which had me asked, a time or two, to what I was referring.

Texas continuing to criminalize marijuana, whilst modern America has realized the stupidity of such, is not what I had in mind at the time I made mention of leaving modern America to return to backwards America.

Maybe in the coming days I will get around to making mention of the things I refer to when I make mention of modern America, and backwards America...

Wichita Falls Rain Deluge Returns Sikes Lake To Full Pool

Today my handlebars took me back to Sikes Lake for the first time since the Monday deluge.

All that incoming water raised the Sikes Lake tide to overflowing, spilling over the Sikes Lake dam's spillway.

The ducks and geese were happy quacking and honking today, enjoying their freshly rain refreshed lake.

The green algae of recent weeks has been washed away, for now. Sikes Island is underwater, again, for now.

And this most recent, record breaking deluge did not cause a deluge of litter to make its way to Sikes Lake. The Wichita Falls zone of Texas is much more litter free than other zones of Texas with which I have been familiar in the past.

Such as the possible Litter Capital of America.

Fort Worth....

Lake Wichita Lily Pads Enjoy Record Breaking Rain

On Sunday, after eye witnessing their drought parched misery, I blogged that Wichita Falls Lily Pads Desperately Need Rain.

The next day, as in yesterday, which was Monday, the lily pad prayers were answered with a record breaking amount of rain falling on Wichita Falls and much of North Texas.

Record breaking, as in five inches, give or take a fraction of an inch, depending on where you were getting downpoured on.

Today my bike and I returned to Lake Wichita to see how those parched lily pads were fairing after yesterday's deluge.

As you can see, above, the lily pad creek again has water.

Muddy water.

The flood of water appears to have taken the lily pads by surprise. This appeared to be the case because the lily pads are in a state of disarray, coated with mud, and floating a bit cockeyed.

Enough rain fell to raise the level of Lake Wichita, but not enough to cause water to spill over the Lake Wichita dam's spillway.

Wichita Falls Downpour Floods Moat Around My Location

After day after day of rain predicted, with few drops dripping, this morning, on this second Monday of August, multiple downpour episodes have resulted in a moat surrounding my location, as you can sort of see via the view from one of my living room windows, with my bike managing to stay dry, due to zero wind blowing rain sideways.

This August morning is reminding me of what a typical winter day is like in the Western Washington Puget Sound zone.

Day after day of a gray sky with water dripping, at times, all day long.

Day after day.

I had a horrific bout of insomnia last night. First time such has happened in a long time. No clue as to the cause, but I am exhausted, with this gloomy weather being a perfect fit for my mood.

If, or when, the rain stops, and the moat subsides, I may venture out to the Circle Trail to see if Holliday Creek is running a lot of water. The turtles, egrets and fish should be happy...

Wichita Falls Lily Pads Desperately Need Rain

Sunday morning I joined 56 other walkers, joggers and bikers on the Circle Trail to circle around Mount Wichita and cross Lake Wichita Dam.

Lately every day has rain and thunderstorms in the forecast, with every day passing without any rain, except for the drip of a drop or two.

And no thunder booming.

A couple days ago I heard a weather reporting person on one of the local TV stations say the Wichita Falls zone is back in drought mode.

As you can see it does look as if Mount Wichita has not been being irrigated lately, with brown now the dominant color, along with the grassy field which surrounds the only mountain in Wichita Falls, also mostly brown.

And then there are those lily pads I've made mention of a time or two.

The creek from whence those lily pads bloomed is now totally dried up. And yet one lily blooms, at the bottom of the group of lily pads you see above.

The lily pad roots must go deep to manage to keep being green after the creek's water has disappeared.

I may have to go visit my mom in the Arizona desert if I want to get wet in a rainstorm. Lately whenever my mom calls me she tells me the night before she experienced the biggest downpour ever. Along with thunder and lightning...

Raindrops Falling On Day Full Of Inspirational Messaging

My mailbox was full of cards this week, well, maybe not totally full, but the two you see here I particularly like.

One from my sister, with what may be a new McDonald's burger, with black and green olives, in addition to all the regular condiments.

And a card from my mama, with my mom writing a note in the card, which takes mom a bit of effort, what with mom's eyesight not making for easy writing, or doing much of anything.

In the coincidence department, just as I was typing about mom writing a note on a card the phone made its incoming call noise. I looked at the phone and saw it was mom calling. Told mom I was able to easily read what she wrote, and that she could write a letter if she wanted to and the recipient would be easily able to read it. Mom did not seem to believe that this was true.

Anyway, off the phone and back to what I was saying...

After opening and reading what was inside all the incoming envelopes I decided to brave the possibly inclement weather to go on a sun-free cloudy bike ride.

I originally intended to ride the Circle Trail to Hamilton Park, then exit that trail to roll through the Wichita Falls version of Beverly Hills, eventually reaching Midwestern State University with a drink break at my favorite neighborhood fountain.

Well, incoming drips from the sky caused me to exit the Circle Trail prior to Hamilton Park to take the short cut to MSU and that aforementioned fountain, where I stopped for a drink and took the photo you see above.

See that plaque to the right of my handlebars? I'm sure you are curious what the message is on this plaque...

"AS WATER REFLECTS A FACE SO A MAN'S HEART REFLECTS THE MAN".

I guess that makes sense.

Soon after taking the above photo the drippage picked up in intensity, so I made a beeline back to my home base, with one roll around Sikes Lake, since the drippage had lessened by the time I reached that location.

Lake Wichita Dead Calm For Elsie Hotpepper's Birthday

For days now the forecast has been for possible rain and thunderstorms.

So far no such booming wet thing has happened, that I have noticed.

Today's stormy weather, so far, has consisted of dead calm, as in no wind, no rain, no nothing remarkable.

Unless one considers that dead calm thing remarkable in this usually windy location on the planet.

Today is Elsie Hotpepper's latest birthday. Last year, if I remember right, was the last year in which Elsie Hotpepper celebrated her 29th birthday. I am no good at math, so I don't know if this makes Elsie 30 or 31 today.

I decided riding my bike to Lake Wichita was a perfect way to celebrate Elsie Hotpepper's birthday. I have never seen Lake Wichita look so wave-free as it looked today. Like it was frozen. A lake of ice on a HOT August day.

It appears the paddle board purveyor who sets up shop, almost daily, in the parking lot which sits under the shadow of Mount Wichita in Lake Wichita Park, had a couple customers today, paddling boards on the mirror smooth Lake Wichita, whilst a pair of egrets try and decide whether or not to wade out to the paddle boarders.

Lake Wichita is shallow, real shallow. Which is why the lake quickly dries up when North Texas goes into drought mode. And is yet one more reason the lake needs to be dredged.

Switching the subject back to the most important event of the day, that being Elsie Hotpepper's birthday.

This morning Elsie asked me if I would participate in day three of her annual month long birthday celebration by making the chicken fried steak she has requested as part of her Sunday Birthday Buffet.

I am having trouble coordinating with the rest of the Birthday Buffet Chefs, so it remains in doubt whether or not I will be able to actualize this particular Elsie Hotpepper chicken fried birthday request...

Return To Wichita Bluff Nature Area Finds Circle Trail Extension Well Underway

Last Saturday I found bluff hiking at the Wichita Bluff Nature Area to be so salubrious that I thought maybe I have been overdoing the bike riding and not doing enough of that natural activity known as walking.

So, yesterday, what with the outer world being chilled to somewhere in the 80s, with a wind blowing in from the north, and clouds blocking the sun, I returned to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area and, unlike last Saturday, I hiked all the way to the current end of the trail.

Where I found a pleasant surprise.

Above what you are looking at is the view from near the current east end of the trail, from one of the covered rest areas, looking at the Wichita River flowing between the trees.

At this location the sound of heavy equipment machinery operating wreaked havoc with the nature area sounding natural. Continuing on to the current end of the trail it soon became apparent what was making the noise.

The new section of the Circle Trail is well underway!

How is this coming about, I wondered? What with the voters last May not approving the funding to complete the three missing sections of the Circle Trail. Maybe the funding for what I saw yesterday was already in place.

A few months ago when I biked to the location you see above, where the trail is blocked on the other side of the sidewalk closed sign, all one saw was scoured earth where a paved trail might eventually be. And so I was surprised yesterday to see that that paving has now taken place.

You can not tell it via the above photo, due, most likely, to my poor photographer skills, but this new section of trail looks steep enough to provide a high speed thrill when one is going down the bluff, and some endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation when one is going up this section of the bluffs.

Above you are looking at more of the newly paved trail, far below the photo taking vantage point. A bulldozer and a mechanized dirt scooping device were what was making all the heavy equipment noise.

When I eventually made it back to my motorized means of locomotion I decided to drive to where Loop 11 crosses the Wichita River to see if this new trail making effort has reached that location.

Crossing the river I was pleased to see the trail makers in operation. I then wondered how the trail was going to get across Loop 11. Turning around and re-crossing the bridge I was able to see that the Circle Trail is going to go under the bridge.

I do not know how far it is from Loop 11 to Lucy Park, or by what route the Wichita Bluff section of the Circle Trail will reach Lucy Park. I assume the trail will be running beside the river.

When the Wichita Bluff Nature Area section of the Circle Trail makes its connection to Lucy Park this will likely greatly increase the number of people enjoying the Circle Trail in what is likely going to come to be known as its most scenic, most adventurous section of the trail.