Where In The World Are David, Theo & Ruby?

That was the question I saw myself being asked this Friday morning when I checked email.

Where in the world are David, Theo & Ruby?

Well, it took me a moment or two to figure out the location of the trio.

Solving this mystery required zooming in on the building in the background, and then Googling some words I found on the building, such as "Davidson Building" and "Scott Rollins State Farm".

So, I now know the answer to that where in the world are David, Theo & Ruby question.

Ellensburg.

That is a town in Eastern Washington.

I suspect David, Theo & Ruby took their parental units to the location known in Washington as East of the Mountains, which is how those who live in Western Washington refer to the part of Washington on the east side of the Cascade Mountains, in order to escape the smoke filled air which has been choking the Puget Sound zone.

I lived in Ellensburg for a few years way back in the last century, whilst attending the school in Ellensburg now known as Central Washington State University.

I was last in Ellensburg in late August of 2001. I had driven solo from Texas back to Washington to attend my mom and dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary party. For the return to Texas I opted to take a different route than that which I had driven to get to Washington, with that route back to Texas being Interstate 90 across the Cascades, through Ellensburg and on to Montana where eventually I left I-90 to head south on I-25 to the Highway 87 connection to Highway 287 in Amarillo.

I wonder if I will ever be in Ellensburg again....

Not In Seattle Today Smoking 7 Cigarettes

This morning I saw that which you see here, on Facebook, posted by KIRO 7 in Seattle.

Apparently the smoke in the Seattle air today is so bad it is like smoking 7 cigarettes.

I know the smoke is coming from wildfires up north in British Columbia.

I do not know how nicotine is getting into that smoke making it like a cigarette.

Have Tobacco Farms been added to Canadian agriculture since I last lived in the neighborhood?  I know there are now Pot Farms across the Canadian nation, but I have not heard about any Tobacco Farms.

For at least a week I have been hearing from Pacific Northwesterners regarding the smoky haze which has covered most of the west coast.

Below is a dialogue from Facebook this morning of people commenting about the state of Washington's air....

Kimberly Ann Johnson: This smoke is crazy. Just drove home from Bow Hill. Headlights have an orange glow. It looks like October fog out there.

Bruce Forrester: I went to Marysville today and you can see how socked in the valley was from star bird road. I see according to Wa St air quality, that Bellingham and Lynden are worst. I know I smell it in my house, and don’t feel the best.

Kimberly Ann Johnson: I have asthma. My lungs are tight! I hope this goes away sooner than they're predicting.

Bruce Forrester: Lets hope so for you and your asthma.

Sandy Brooling: Bruce even over here in Port Townsend, we have orange suns. And I have started coughing more.

Christina Stockholm: The smoke is so awful!

George Hespe: Ruth & I were headed up to your area today, but by the time we got to Conway we were afraid we'd probably be lost in the smoke and drive right by your place if we went much further north. Glad we left bread crumbs to find our way home.

Tess Sakuma-dunlap: Smog?

Bruce Forrester: Smoke! Forest fires from Canada.

_________________

Now, Miss Tess asking if what these people are talking about is smog is a bit ironic, what with Miss Tess currently in Redding, California where she has been surrounded by wildfires for weeks, along with smoke filled air.

Miss Tess, like me, grew up in the Skagit Valley.

Just yesterday Miss Tess and I spoke of being homesick for our old home zone.

But I do not think either of us would want to head north right now, what with neither of us being smokers....

Great Things Headed My Way Thanks To Nurse Canecracker

Yesterday I had fun outrunning mosquitoes chasing me on the Circle Trail whilst walking beside the Wichita River to the location of Wichita Falls original waterfall.

That original "waterfall" was actually more of a short, three foot drop in the river, wiped out for all time by a flood, but not before it inspired a name for a mighty fine Texas town.

Today I avoided all mosquitoes by going on a bike ride, eventually stopping for a water break at my favorite neighborhood fountain. Located on the campus of Midwestern State University.

When I reached for my drink I looked down to the ground and saw something turquoise which looked to be out of place. That to which I refer is located in the above photo above the center of the handlebars, on the ground at the bend in the brick wall which surrounds the fountain.

A close up look at that turquoise item.

Now, this was just the sort of inspirational message I was needing today.

"Great things are headed Your Way".

I can't wait.

I am a little hazy on this, but aren't these type message rocks some sort of fad? Was I supposed to take the rock and place it somewhere else? Or do what I did, as in leave it where it lay?

Anyway, today's inspirational bike ride began in slow motion in ultra low gear motivating Rafael Edwardo Plodz to waddle all the way to Sikes Lake. I left Rafael behind at Sikes Lake to make my way further north, where eventually that turquoise rock was found.

I woke up feeling real good today. I think due to the medical advice of Nurse Canecracker who called me after she read about my recent bout of debilitating insomnia. Nurse Canecracker was on her way to Boston to hop the Amtrak Noreaster to Portland, Maine, but she took the time to advise me to try Melatonin.

I had tried this type sleep aid previously, years ago, to little salubrious effect. But last night, the Melatonin did wonders.

And now, apparently great things are headed my way...

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...