Rare Ghost White Thistle Lily Haunts Today's Wichita Bluff Nature Area Hike

A raindrop or two dripped whilst taking a nature walk in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area this third Thursday of the 2020 version of May.

And on that nature walk I came upon the rare wildflower you see above. A ghost white thistle lily.

This 2020 version of the spring season seems way greener than the North Texas norm of recent years.

I find myself surrounded by jungle-like foliage vegetation frequently of late. Or so it seems.

Above we are looking at one of the swinging benches one finds in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area. This particular bench is found on one of the side spurs of the main Circle Trail which meanders through the Nature Area.

The view here is from what may be the high point on the Wichita Bluffs. That spot of orange you see in the center left of the picture is the Wichita River, currently running a bit high due to last weekend's rain.

Make note of the jungle of green you see above.

Years ago, whilst I lived in the DFW zone I recollect blogging some photos of the Village Creek Historical Area in Arlington. This Historical Area is also naturally green, like the Wichita Bluffs, though not as hilly.

I recollect Betty Jo Bouvier seeing those photos of the Village Creek zone and then asking me if it really is that green there, because she thought all of Texas was dusty brown desert. I disabused Betty Jo of that erroneous assumption.

Years before disabusing Betty Jo regarding her Texas landscape stereotyping, I was back in Washington, soon before moving to Texas, in a movie theater in North Seattle with Wanda to watch The X Files movie.

The X Files movie opens in Dallas. When I saw what was being shown as being the outskirts of Dallas I leaned over to Wanda and whispered "it's not really like that, it's not all flat brown desert, it's slightly hilly with a lot of green and trees".

Wanda made some disparaging remark indicating she did not believe me. A short time later, about four months after I made the move to Texas, Wanda made her one and only visit. I do not remember reminding her of her skepticism regarding the North Texas topography when she saw it for herself. I have never been big on doing the 'I told you so' thing.

In July of 2017 when I drove myself to Arizona, having a bad vehicular breakdown on the way, stranded a few miles east of Flagstaff, I was a bit nervous when it came time to return to Texas, what with record breaking high temperatures and still feeling traumatized by coming to an unwanted halt on a freeway which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.

So, my little brother suggested following me back to Texas, to make sure I made it back without any more vehicular nightmares traumatizing me. I did not think that was a good idea, due to having experienced many a time previous the pain of traveling with more than one vehicle. Way too easy to get separated, along with all sorts of other issues.

That drive back, by the time I got to West Texas, to the Van Horn, Pecos, Wink, Odessa, Midlands zone I was tired, but could find no place to stay with a vacancy. Eventually I gave up, made it to a rest area between Sweetwater and Abilene, managing to rest for a few hours before driving the final leg back to Wichita Falls.

That morning the sun began to rise by the time I got to Seymour, about 50 miles southwest of Wichita Falls. I was so surprised at how beautiful that sunrise was, and how, as the illumination grew brighter, the landscape became greener and greener.

I had been in the monochrome desert of Arizona for almost a month. The landscape stays that same monochrome well into Texas. I recollect thinking it would have been so amusing if my little brother had followed me, with him being totally shocked at the jungle of green he was seeing, no longer in a desert...

Swimming Sunday In Lake Wichita

Yesterday, on the day of the week known as Sunday, in the late afternoon time frame, my bike rolled me to Lake Wichita where, eventually, in the shadow of Mount Wichita, I saw something going on in Lake Wichita I had never previously seen.

People swimming.

Last year the city park people cleared out a section of the shore of Lake Wichita, ridding it of vegetation of the brushy sort. This made a beach, of sorts, a section of which you see above.

Just as I stopped rolling to get out my phone to snap some photos the Skagit Valley's Linda Lou called. During the course of that half hour phone call I missed several good  people swimming photo ops, but the one I managed after Linda Lou stopped talking to me serves as adequate photo documentation.

I do not know why, as part of the supposed Lake Wichita Revitalization Project, a designated swimming area has not already been built. I assume some dredging, some sand and some floating dock type structure would make for a mighty fine playing in the water opportunity.

I think such a thing would be extremely popular. Even with the primitive beach which now exists the Mount Wichita parking lot was fuller than I have ever seen it, with multiple people ascending and descending Mount Wichita, along with all the people sunbathing along the shore, or fishing, or those actually in the water.

As inviting and cooling as it looks to be I don't see myself getting wet in Lake Wichita anytime soon. I've developed an aversion to snapping turtles and water snakes...

Sunday Church Walk With Sikes Lake Geese Before McDonald's Cheeseburgers

This Sunday morning, with going to church not an option, unless I wanted to go to the Cowboy Church on Jacksboro Highway, a reality I learned later in the day, I opted to join the throngs of former churchgoers enjoying one of God's local outdoor temples, that being the trail around Sikes Lake.

The Sikes Lake geese seem to have found a new level of liking the humans, what with so many of them visiting their Sikes Lake home due to the COVID-19 increase in visitors.

In the first of today's photo documentation I had just joined the promenade of walkers following the biggest goose family living at the lake. Mom and dad hatched 17 babies this birthing season.

Mother goose has become so used to the humans she no longer does her threatening hissing if you get too close to her babies.

Above we have stopped for a closer visit.

And closer.

And even closer.

That first goose family was walking the trail near the parking lot on the east side of Sikes Lake. The above, much smaller, goose family was on the south side of the lake. These babies were closer to being newborns than the first ones we saw. And their mother was a bit more protective, doing some distant hissing when my co-walker reached out to pet one of the fuzzy goslings.

After walking around Sikes Lake the hiking crew returned to the motorized means of transport so I could drive us to the nearest McDonald's drive-thru to acquire a bag of cheeseburgers to munch on during a drive which ended up driving by that aforementioned Cowboy Church on Jacksboro Highway, south of Wichita Falls.

And now, what with the outer world seeming still, as in not windy like it has been for days, methinks I will go on a bike ride to Lake Wichita and join the throngs social distancing there...

Wichita Falls Hotter'N Hell 100 Goes Virtual Due To COVID-19 Pandemic

I attended the final day of the Wichita Falls Hotter'N Hell 100 event my first year in this town. I was impressed by what a HUGE deal it was, and how well executed and entertaining it all was. But, I have not returned. I do not remember what caused the non-returns, but I had planned on returning this year.

As recently as a week ago I saw HHH officials indicating the event was still on track, despite the ongoing COVID-19 nightmare.

And then this morning on the front page of the online Wichita Falls Times News Record I saw the following article headline...

In-person HHH canceled for this year

I had already used up my month's clicking allotment so I just had to sit and wonder what it meant that "in person HHH" had been canceled. What other option could there possibly be for a bike race and its surrounding events if not in-person?

And then I went to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where I do not have a monthly click allotment and saw another front page online headline about the Hotter'N Hell 100, with the Star-Telegram providing more clarifying info about this year's HHH than the local paper provided on its front page.

From the Star-Telegram we learn "The HHH is offering a virtual event that allows participants to ride or run their HHH event in their hometowns and receive a 2020 HHH ride t-shirt and finisher's medal via mail."

Well, now, that sounds sort of pitiful. A virtual event? Is this some sorta scheme to avoid refunding entry fees to those who have already paid? The actual bike ride races of their various iterations are only part of the HHH event.

I have seen multiple new hotels under construction in town, and have assumed they are aiming for an open for business date for late August when the town is flooded with thousands of people attending the HHH.

I don't think those new hotels are going to be getting much virtual business from the 2020 version of the Hotter'N Hell 100.

Of course our Dear Leader may be right, and not the Uber Idiot the majority thinks he to be, and the Coronavirus will have gone bye bye by August and all will once again be normal in the world, with the Hotter'N Hell 100 able to take place in the real world, not the virtual...

Wichita Bluff Nature Hiking With Snakes & Socked Sandals

For today's pre-noon hiking I opted to join the throngs communing with nature on the Wichita Bluff Nature Area section of the Wichita Falls Circle Trail.

I had my first snake encounter of the year soon after beginning today's hike.

It was a large snake, parked on the center of the trail, a location on which I did not like to be seeing a snake.

But before I could get my photo taking device out of my pocket the snake slithered off the trail, heading towards the river.

Continuing on I eventually made it to the high point on the bluff where I sat on one of the swinging benches which swings at the end of one of the side trails. I decided to take that bench swinging as an opportunity to show you one of my new hiking sandals, with matching hiking socks.

It is a Pacific Northwest thing to wear socks with sandals. Sometime this is absolutely a necessity due to the chilly climate. Years ago when I first wore sandals with socks in Texas I had some locals acting like this was some sort of outrageously embarrassing fashion faux pas.

Not one to easily cave to peer pressure I have continued to wear socks with sandals, some of the time.

Today I would have likely been more comfortable sans socks, due to a high temperature combined with high humidity making the outer world seem extremely HOT.

Speaking of the Pacific Northwest, it is seeming increasingly unlikely I will be making my planned trip there this summer.

Sister Jackie just got back to Arizona after flying to and from our old home zone. She did not make the new style of flying seem like something I want to be doing. And road tripping the over two thousand miles back to Washington has its own set of Corona worries.

We live in such vexing times with so many perplexing vexations...

Mayor Betsy Price Tweets Cali Is So Yesterday While Fort Worth Is So Last Century

It has been a couple decades now I have found myself bemused and, at times, appalled by something I read in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about something to do with Fort Worth.

It started off with making note of the fact that over and over again in an article in the Star-Telegram the claim would be made that some dumb thing would be making other towns, far and wide, green with envy.

There were multiple iterations of what I came to call the Star-Telegram's Green with Envy Syndrome.

And then, years ago now, I guess someone figured out how dumb making such claims came across and that particular Star-Telegram propaganda ceased. Or at least I have not eye witnessed such in a long time.

Other instances of Star-Telegram propaganda, not of the Green with Envy Syndrome sort, would also seem bizarre to me.

Such as claiming what turned out to be a small, lame, soon to fail food court type thing was modeled after public markets in Europe, Seattle's Pike Place Market, and was to be the first public market in Texas.

None of which was even remotely true.

And then there was that Sunday morning, early this century, when a banner headline on the Star-Telegram front page touted "TRINITY UPTOWN TO TURN FORT WORTH INTO VANCOUVER OF THE SOUTH".

I remember reading that headline and thinking what fresh moronic nonsense is this going to turn out to be. Never imagining that the Vancouver of the South project would turn into the Trinity River Vision, eventually becoming the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

Eventually what became America's Biggest and Dumbest Boondoggle hired Fort Worth Congresswoman Kay Granger's son, J.D., to be the Executive Director of the public works project which the public did not vote for. Son J.D. had zero qualifications to direct such a project, a fact which many believe is one of the reasons this ill-fated vision has become such a boondoggle, currently with three simple little bridges being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

And with those three pitiful bridges now in year six of slow motion construction, with the start of construction marked by a TNT exploding ceremony back in 2014, with a then astonishing four year project timeline. To build little bridges over dry land, a project of seemingly simple engineering compared to an actual feat of bridge engineering, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, built in less than four years over actual deep swift moving water.

Fort Worth mayor, Betsy Price, was at that TNT exploding ceremony celebrating the start of construction of those pitiful bridges.

And now, in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram, on the front page, we see Betsy Price suggesting Tesla move to Fort Worth, tweeting to Elon Musk that "Cali is so yesterday".

Well.

If "Cali is so yesterday" I would suggest "Fort Worth is so last century". With zero chance of luring Tesla to relocate.

Back a year or two ago when Fort Worth leaders embarrassed themselves by acting like they thought Fort Worth had a chance to lure Amazon to Fort Worth for its HQ2 I recollect iterating all the reasons I could think of why Fort Worth is unable to lure a corporation to move from the parts of our country I refer to as Modern America.

You know, those towns in America where the streets have sidewalks, the parks have modern restrooms, and zero outhouses, where there is well designed public mass transit, where voting is easy via mail-in ballots, where urban planning is sophisticated, thoughtful and intelligently implemented.

What does a corporate re-location investigating team think when they check out a town with antiquated type public transit? Or when they drive something like Fort Worth's Tarrant Parkway and find roads which were not upgraded when a mall and multiple other retail developments where allowed, with Tarrant Parkway's western terminus being a tacky little roundabout intersecting with a beat up, un-upgraded entry to the Highway 287 freeway, which appalls and disgusts me every time I see it.

What does a corporate re-location investigating team think when they visit Fort Worth's downtown and find the park celebrating Fort Worth's heritage is a boarded up eyesore? What do they think when they learn Heritage Park at the downtown's north end has been in this sad state for over a decade?

What does a corporate re-location investigating team think when they come upon the mess on the landscape which has become America's Biggest & Dumbest Boondoggle? How do you explain those three bridges stuck partly built. How do you explain that ridiculous homage to an aluminum trash can at the center of the un-finished roundabout which is part of the Boondoggle's bridge mess?

What does a corporate re-location investigating team think when they see Molly the Trolley?

What does a corporate re-location investigating team think when they learn the town allows Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats in the polluted Trinity River, which is one of the few projects actually actualized by the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision Boondoggle.

If Fort Worth really wants to be serious about attracting a major corporation to move to Fort Worth the town should send a task force to towns which do attract corporations. Visit a couple towns in Arizona, like Tempe and Chandler, both way smaller than Fort Worth, both with multiple corporate headquarters or corporate presences, such as the sprawling INTEL complex in Chandler.

You won't find any outhouses in Chandler or Tempe's parks. Or streets without sidewalks. You will find multiple public swimming pools, huge pool complexes, the likes of which one can not find in Fort Worth.

Or visit Seattle and find out why it is Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, Costco, Boeing and others are located in the area.

Or just stay in Texas and visit Austin, which is a modern American town. I do not know what the voting situations is in Austin though, if they have joined modern America with the mail-in ballot method, or not...

Wichita Bluff Nature Area Padlocked Social Distancing After Library Checkout Success

This morning I social distanced unmasked for about an hour on the Circle Trail.

I parked in the Circle Trail parking lot located off Loop 11, slightly north of Loop 11's intersection with the Seymour Highway.

From that parking lot's location it is about a half mile on the Circle Trail before the trail enters the Wichita Bluff Nature Area.

I walked as far as the overlook you see here. This overlook, with its two rocking benches looks over the Wichita River from this high point of the Wichita Bluffs.

Late last year I blogged about finding padlocks locked to a railing on a side trail off the Circle Trail in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area. Multiple people told me that this was a French thing, with a bridge across the Seine River in Paris hosting thousands of padlocks.

Then late last month I found this padlock phenomenon had spread to Lucy Park when I found padlocks locked to the Lucy Park suspension bridge over the Wichita River. I blogged about this discovery in Wichita Falls Lucy Park Suspension Bridge Coronavirus Lock Down.

And now today I found padlocks locked to the railing you see above.

At about the center point between the two benches there are now three padlocks locked to the railing.

Due to the evidence written on the padlocks we can reasonably guess these were installed two days ago, on Mother's Day, as you can see, via the closeup look at one of the padlocks.

So, that has been my exciting day, so far, this second Tuesday of the 2020 version of May. I am beginning to tire of social distancing.

But, I have developed some level of fondness for being a masked man whilst in a location requiring such, like Walmart, or like I experienced yesterday when I finally was able to get some new books from the Wichita Falls Public Library.

The new book checkout method is efficient, but a bit bizarre, like one is finding oneself in a stark dystopian future.

To checkout a book now you log into your library account, put the books you want on hold, the hold is then pending til the notice changes to ready for pickup.

You then drive to the library, park in the now almost empty parking lot, then enter the library via a designated entry marked with arrows and fencing separating the entry from the exit.

You pass through the first door, and then once you go through the next door, which actually enters the library space, you are greeted by a greeter on a stool to whom you inform you are here to pickup books. The greeter on the stool tells you to follow the green arrows.

A secondary greeter helps you follow the green arrows when you become confused. Soon you are at a window where you tell the librarian your name. Within a few seconds the librarian returns with the books. You then self checkout the books by the nearby self checkout terminal.

I forgot to mention, as soon as you enter and begin following the green arrows you see that the vast majority of the library interior has been blocked off by tall fencing on which some sort of cloth material, like canvas, has been hung. This creates an odd looking space, with the oddity amplified by the fact everyone in this space was masked.

I guess being able to checkout books is a small step back to some sort of normal.

A small step, with a long ways to go.

Normally that library parking lot is almost full in the morning, with a lot of people in the library, and a lot of people on the floor above the library, which is a huge 55 and over activity center, where all sorts of activities take place, like yoga, pickle ball, dancing, movies.

I have never been to this activity center above the library, but it sounds like loads of fun and I look forward to finally looking old enough to be active there...

Mr. Forrester Cools Down Washington Heatwave Via Mount Baker

The past couple days I have been hearing from my old home zone of Western Washington that the Puget Sound is experiencing a record breaking heatwave.

A couple days ago I found myself explaining to a Texas local how different the landscape is at my current Texas location than the landscape at my old home zone.

As in, in Mount Vernon on a hot day, or any old day, I could drive a few miles to the west and be at a saltwater beach, with multiple choices as to which beach at which one wanted to be.

Or, on a hot day, or any old day, I could drive a few miles to the east and be in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

I screen capped that which you see above last night, from Facebook, via my Facebook Friend, Mr. Forrester.

Yesterday Mr. Forrester and his wife escaped the 85 degree heatwave and headed a few miles northeast, eventually ending up at the location you see above, a view from the Mount Baker ski resort.

I do not know if the record still holds, but at one point in time the area of the Mount Baker ski resort had the world's record for deepest snow.

As you can see via the words Mr. Forrester posted "It was 85 degrees and 15 minutes ago."

That is about how fast one can go in Western Washington from being HOT to being cooled. The final ascent to the Mount Baker ski resort is rather steep, going from the Nooksack River valley, up and up, with the temperature dropping as the elevation rises.

Patches of snow remain at the Mount Baker ski resort through the summer, with the road to the final parking lot sometimes not opening til late August or September. From that parking lot, when it finally opens, one has a direct view of the Mount Baker volcano. and an excellent trail of switchbacks to the summit of Tabletop Mountain.

Or, from that final parking lot, one can hike the trail up the north side of Mount Baker. I have only done the Tabletop Mountain hike. I have hiked up Mount Baker, multiple times, from the south side.

And at my current location, for hundreds of miles in any direction I can not find a saltwater beach, or a mountain with snow. I can currently find a lot of colorful wildflowers, and sneeze provoking pollen from various sources...

Happy Hoodoo Mother's Day

This 2020 Mother's Day morning took me to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area where I saw what you see above, the latest natural iteration of the Wichita Bluff Nature Area's natural Hoodoo, today paying Hoodoo homage to Mothers everywhere.

Today is the first Mother's Day in decades where I can not call my Mother to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. I do not remember last Mother's Day call to mom. I know it took place, but I don't remember it.

I doubt I will be calling any mothers today to directly wish them a Happy Mother's Day. Though, I still do have a lot of relative mothers I can wish a Happy Mother's Day to.

So, Happy Mother's Day to my relative mothers, Jackie, Michele, Kristin, Cindy, Jenny, Monique, Arlene, Ruth, Judy, and other relative mothers I am currently not remembering.

And then there are my special non-relative mothers to wish a Happy Mother's Day to, such as Martha, Aunt Alice, Betty Lou, Beth, Lori, Hannah, Greta, and other non-relative mothers I am currently not remembering.

To one and all, Happy Mother's Day!

Wholotta Takeout Not Muy Bueno In Wichita Falls

About a month into the COVID-19 lockdown I went along with doing what many recommended doing, as in supporting a shuttered restaurant by getting a takeout order to go.

Well.

I do not remember if I have made mention before of the restaurant aversion I developed after watching too many Kitchen Nightmare episodes.

That and my first ever case of food poisoning happened after a burger at a cafe on the Parker County courthouse square. It was that poisoning episode which enlightened me as to what the term "projectile vomiting" meant.

Now, I have had the pleasure of enjoying many Texas restaurants since that food poisoning incident happened. But, til this Coronavirus thing happened I had not eaten at a Wichita Falls restaurant since I moved to town.

I think it was early on reading in the Facebook Wichita Falls Rants & Raves page a posting about cockroaches infesting a local Sonic Drive-In that made me wary.

Totally irrational, I know, but I really do prefer my own cooking, or the home cooking of someone I trust, particularly in Texas. I could not name all the Arizona restaurants I have been subjected to the past few years. Most of those have been franchise chains, except for Fiesta Burrito in Scottsdaale, and Big Wa Chinese in Tempe. Both excellent, with no Kitchen Nightmare issues.

So, the first of my COVID takeout experiences had me driving the crew through the McDonald's drive through and ordered a lot of cheeseburgers. I have always liked McDonald's cheeseburgers. I do not know why. Maybe they have always reminded me of a Kow Korner cheeseburger. Only Skagitonians will get the Kow Korner reference.

For the second takeout week I agreed to phone in an order to a Mexican restaurant, non-franchise, which is a stone's throw from my abode. Prior to the lockdown this restaurant was always real busy, and I figured it had to be real good, that the locals were likely excellent judges of good Tex-Mex.

Well. Worst Mexican food ever. Horrible. The big bag the food was stuffed in was a mess of containers. My choice was Lunch Combo #1, because it included a chile relleno, my go to favorite Mexican food, and by which I judge a Mexican restaurant. Blindfolded I would not have been able to guess this was a relleno. Disgusting is not a strong enough word to describe it. And nothing else in the combo was good either. Horrible taco, stale chips, dried out rice, runny beans. Horrible.

So, the next week I did not give the crew a choice. It was the McDonald's drive through or I opt out.

And that takes us to this week's takeout woe. One of the crew had an advertisement which advertised something called a Wholotta Box, from a chain restaurant called Taco Bueno. I don't think this is a national chain. I looked at the advertisement advertising fresh ingredients, special recipes and the photo of the Wholotta Box looked okay.

So, I drove the crew through the Taco Bueno drive through, ordered two Wholotta Boxes, and then drove to Lucy Park to have lunch at a covered picnic table overlooking the Wichita River.

I sat a Wholotta Box on the picnic table, opened the box, and saw that which you see above. Extremely blah tacos, extremely blah bean burritos, containers of rice, re-fried beans, salsa and bags of chips. The salsa was okay, the chips were stale. All in all it was a Wholotta awful.

And so this week I am not gonna be democratic with the takeout choice. It will be where I wanna drive to takeout, or I don't drive to takeout anything.

On a lighter note, after a Wholotta aggravation, a long walk along the Wichita River put me in a Wholotta better mood.

That is the Wichita River you see on the right, with the color of the river pretty much the same color as the trail though the Lucy Park forest, which explains where the river color comes from.

A Wholotta land must regularly be eroded to to provide the Wichita River its signature color...