Theo & Ruby Say Hi Under Mountain Above Crystal Clear Water

 

That which you see above showed up in my email last night. Theo & Ruby saying Hi.

There was no explanatory text in the email. So, I do not know where big brother, David, was during this photo opportunity. 

I can tell the twins are on Harstine Island, a location in south Puget Sound where the Tacoma trio and their parental units have a getaway cabin to escape to when they want to get away from Tacoma.

That water you see behind Theo & Ruby is a rarity at my current location. First off, it is saltwater. I would need to drive a couple hundred miles to see some saltwater.

Second off, that water behind Theo & Ruby is crystal clear. There is no water anywhere near my current location that is crystal clear, other than bottled water. Even the tap water here is a bit murky most of the time.

And just like it taking a long drive to see some saltwater, an equally long drive could take me to crystal clear water in Texas, such as the water which flows from the San Marcos Spring to make Aquarena Springs and the 75 mile long San Marcos River. I have seen this water one time only and at that point in time I remember thinking I had never ever seen such crystal clear water. The San Marcos River terminates when it joins the Guadalupe River, which I have never seen, but also has a reputation for having clear water.

Also behind Theo & Ruby, in addition to the crystal clear saltwater, is Mount Rainier, which looks to be sporting a fresh coat of snow.

Mount Rainier is known by many names, most frequently simply as The Mountain. Most commonly used in a sentence like "The Mountain is out today". Which means the sky is clear and you can see Mount Rainier, a volcano which one can see from almost all over the state of Washington, hence the reason The Mountain is the prominent feature of Washington state vehicle licenses.

The Puyallup Indian name for Mount Rainier was Tahoma, hence the name of the town David, Theo & Ruby live in.

Mount Rainier is also known as Crystal Mountain, which is why the Mount Rainier ski area is called Crystal Mountain Ski Resort.

I just looked up at the calendar on my computer room wall and saw that this month's calendar photo is the aforementioned Crystal Mountain Ski Resort. Wait a second, I'll find my phone and snap a photo of the calendar...

It is difficult not to take a cockeyed photo of something rectangular using a phone. The caption on the lower right, below the photo, says "Milky Way over the Crystal Mountain Ski Resort".

I do not remember when last I saw the Milky Way the way one sees it where there is little competing light and little air pollution. Houseboating, long ago, on Lake Powell, is my most recent memory of being amazed at gazing at the Milky Way.

I also do not remember when last I was at any sort of ski resort. I do not believe any such thing exists in Texas. Or next door in Oklahoma. A couple hundred miles west and northwest, in New Mexico and Colorado I could find some ski resorts.

I drove through Ruidoso, in New Mexico, the last time I drove back to Texas from Arizona. Ruidoso is known for having a ski area. But, I saw no sign of such as I drove on by.

On this next to last Sunday of the 2020 version of November I am 100% certain I will be doing no skiing today, nor will I be gazing at any crystal clear water. Or a mountain....

Biking Wichita Falls Yellow Brick Road With Dorothy And Toto

The MSU (Midwestern State University) Holiday decorating is nearing completion. Today I rolled my bike's wheels north on the Circle Trail, eventually making it to MSU and the Yellow Brick Road.

The Emerald City, Toto, Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tinman and Cowardly Lion do not quite look like the Wizard of Oz movie version.

But, the Yellow Brick Road is a dead ringer.

A couple days ago whilst driving by the MSU Holiday decorating in progress, one of the riders in the vehicle wondered if this year the Polar Bear Express would be tramming its way through the Beverley Hills of Wichita Falls light show, what with the COVID nightmare rapidly worsening.

Today I think I have an answer to that Polar Bear Express question.

Soon after leaving Dorothy and Toto I came to that which you see above, sitting on the parking lot at the north end of the MSU campus, near where the Polar Bear Express trams park awaiting passengers.

And then by the time I got to the south end of the MSU campus I saw another indication the trams will be rolling this Holiday season.

Perhaps masks will be required, with social distancing enforced, with only every other row of seats on the trams having occupants.

Maybe I will ride the Polar Bear Express this year. It does look like it might be fun...

Shadow Of Wichita Bluff Thin Man At Trail's End

What with wind gusting at low hurricane strength I opted not to ride my bike today. And instead returned to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area to hold on to my hat whilst walking from the Wichita Bluff Nature Area's west parking lot to the east parking lot, and back. This makes for a few miles of hilly hiking.

In the above photo you are looking at the Shadow of the Wichita Bluff Thin, also known as me, standing above the ruins of the Wichita Bluff Hoodoo. I suspect the rock sculpture was blown over by the wind.

And here we are at the high point on the Wichita Bluffs, looking northwest at the Wichita River. Many times at this location I have seen a roadrunner. I assumed it must reside in the neighborhood. But I the little paisano of late. I have never been fast enough to photograph the notorious speed demon.

And now we are the current end of the Circle Trail, looking east, towards downtown Wichita Falls. I thought this new section of the Circle Trail was supposed to be completed by now. It links this current termination point with the Circle Trail in Lucy Park. 

When I was first learning my way around Wichita Falls I came upon an area under stalled construction, which I was soon to learn was a new section of the Circle Trail, which would be known as the Wichita Bluff Nature Area.

That project appeared to be stalled. A year or two later I learned the original contractor had not lived up to what was contracted, and so a new contractor had to be found. After that new contractor was hired the project soon resulted in finishing what I think is the best section of the multi-mile Circle Trail.

So, one can not help but wonder what is going on with the new link. Did another dud contractor fizzle out?

I was looking forward to this new link, bike ride wise. This town seems to do a lot better job at getting things done, like building bridges, than that Texas town I used to live in, Fort Worth. But there does seem to be a Fort Worth-like problem with the building of a simple trail in this town...

Walking With Wichita Falls Lucy Park Naked Trees

That is the Wichita River you are looking at above, as viewed from a side trail of the main primitive trail which meanders around the backwoods part of Lucy Park.

This was the first time at this location since fall has fallen most leaves from the trees. I always think naked trees look more interesting than when they are fully dressed in a thick leaf covering.

Above you are looking at a section of the aforementioned primitive trail, surrounded by naked trees.

Some of the trees in the backwoods section of Lucy Park are quite tall. Not nearly a Sequoia level of tall, but tall, nonetheless.

The wind is blowing strong today. I do not like riding my bike this time of year when the wind is blowing strong. Hard stuff gets blown at high speed which can hit with a hard sting when rolling along on a bike. Such happened the last time I rolled my bike's wheels.

One can get hit by something blown from a tree whilst walking, but that somehow is not as annoying, or painful, as when hit when biking along at a much faster than walking speed.

So, that has been my excitement for this third Wednesday of the 2020 version of November...

Friday the 13th Nature Communing Via Wichita Bluff Nature Area

It has been many months since I took myself to the Wichita Bluffs Nature Area to commune with nature and get some endorphins from aerobic stimulation gained via hiking fast up semi- steep hills. 

And so, this morning I drove to the west entry to the WBNA, attired in layers of insulative clothing material due to the near freezing, well below 50 degrees, which felt like freezing and had myself a mighty fine time doing that nature communing thing.

I wonder if someone is still building hoohoos on the Tandy Hills. I never did catch the Tandy Hills hoodoo builder in the act of construction.

Did the Tandy Hills hoodoo builder move to Wichita Falls around the same time I did, and is the culprit who builds the Wichita Bluffs Nature Area hoodoos, such as you see above?

So, that has been my excitement for this Friday the 13th. Hiking and listening to the idiotic right wing nut job filling in for Rush Limbaugh today. I can not understand how even relatively stupid people can listen to this stuff and not experience it as wackydoodle nonsense totally detached from reality.

And how is spouting what amounts to anti-American inflammatory propaganda not the same type violation of the free speech concept as the fact one can not scream "FIRE" in a crowded theater and then claim no liability for causing the ensuing stampede because its a free country with free speech where any fool can say and fool thing they want, not matter the circumstance.

So perplexing...

Merry Christmas Comes Early In Wichita Falls

My bike rolled me north on the Circle Trail this morning. I exited the Circle Trail at Hamilton Park to pedal through what I refer to as the Beverly Hills of Wichita Falls.

The road one crosses when exiting Hamilton Park is appropriately named Hamilton Boulevard. I head west from this location on Berkley Drive. 

At the exit from Hamilton Park, due north of the intersection of Hamilton and Berkley I saw that which you see above.

A house totally in holiday decoration mode. The photo only shows part of the display. There was much more to the right and left. And installers were busy installing additional installations.

I'm thinking this holiday decorator was wisely getting the job done whilst the weather is so pleasant and conducive to doing so. The temperature is rising into the low 80s today. Under a clear blue sky, for the most part.

As I rolled through Beverley Hills, and beyond, I saw no other holiday decorations already installed.

Well, do we count Halloween?

I guess we do, it is part of the holiday season. So, I did see some Halloween holiday decorations which have not yet been retired to a hidden location...

Cutthroat Hiking With Maxine Makes Me Homesick With Wild Mountain Blueberries

I made mention a day or two ago of the fact that of late I have been hearing from multiple people whom I have long known opine that it is time for me to move back to the Pacific Northwest. These opinion expressers always include verbalizing wonderment as to how I can possibly stand to live in a backward state like Texas.

I always reply to that backward state question by saying Texas is not all that bad, Texans are not all right wing nut jobs, even though such may be in the majority in the rural parts of Texas. I have basically enjoyed living in Texas, for the most part.

But, during this COVID nightmare of limits and restraints, I have been feeling homesick. Someone will send me a photo of something in Washington, and the homesick feeling surfaces. Like yesterday, Maxine emailed and in the email were three photos, one of which you see above.

Part of the text describing the photos...

"We had our last high country hike October 3rd. Hiked up to Cutthroat Pass and then down to Cutthroat Lake and out that trailhead. OMG-Fall colors were in their prime."

The scene you see above is located not far east of the location of my former abode in the Skagit Valley.

At my current location I would need to drive hundreds of miles to see anything like that which you see above.

The Washington Trail Association webpage about Cutthroat Pass via the Pacific Crest Trail.

Many decades ago, way back in the previous century, it was Maxine who led me on my first hike up the Mount Baker volcano. That hike begins at a trailhead at a location called Schriebers Meadow. If I remember right the last time I hiked up Mount Baker from Schriebers Meadow it was with Hank Frank's dad, my Nephew Joey.

And the last time I was at Schriebers Meadow was soon before moving to Texas. I drove myself and two others to that location to do some late summer wild blueberry picking. I am fairly certain I have photos of that wild blueberry picking expedition.

Just a sec, I'll go see if I can find them...

The photos were easy to find, cleverly filed in a folder labeled "Blueberry". Way back in the 1990s I got myself a Casio digital camera. Such a thing was quite unique back then, way before smart phone cameras came to be. That now antique Casio had the ability to rotate the lens to aim the lens at the photo taker, allowing the easy taking of what are now known as "selfies". 

I have long been way ahead of my time in things like this. So, in the selfie above we are at that aforementioned Schriebers Meadow. That splash of white you see behind my right side is part of the Mount Baker volcano. I was probably trying to get the mountain in the selfie.

And then in the above selfie one of my co-blueberry pickers appears to be standing on my shoulder. That is only an illusion.

Now off my shoulder, the above person, who we will refer to as Nurse Ratched, and the person below, who we shall refer to as Big Ed, moved to Texas at the same time I did. 

I remember Big Ed was inept at picking wild blueberries. Doing such requires a high level of dexterity. You can see the bluish tint in the green meadow. That which is blue are wild blueberries.

And the above is that aforementioned volcano named Mount Baker. It is a several mile hike to get from this location to hiking up the slopes of the mountain to the point where you can see and smell the steam venting from the volcano crater.

After I saw those photos from Maxine today I asked her what she used to take such good photos. Turns out Maxine has the same Samsung phone I have. That had me trying to figure out what setting I needed to set different so as to take good photos like Maxine takes.

Maybe it's a change of scenery which makes for improved photo quality...

Sunday Circle Trail Cypress Walk

Today, on this second Sunday of the 2020 version of November I had myself a windy walk on the Circle Trail, which makes this the second day in a row I felt at peace with no worry about enduring another four years of having a mentally ill moron pretend to be the President of the United States.

The Fall foliage has amped up the past couple days. The view you see above is a slight distance from my abode, looking north on that aforementioned Circle Trail. 

Yesterday I was told by someone acting like a horticultural expert that those orange trees you see on the left and right side of the trail are Cypress trees.

I always thought Cypress trees grew in swamps. But, I have no personal pretensions of being a horticultural expert, so I defer to the pretensions of someone who does.

Yesterday I was talking to a Washingtonian who made a strong case that it is time to move back to the Pacific Northwest. I can see the logic in their case. I do sort of miss living where the majority of humanity is of the well educated, liberal, progressive sort.

That and I miss living in a scenic wonderland, with mountains, saltwater beaches, free fresh produce for the picking, like blackberries, and other natural wonders. 

One of my favorite things to do when I lived in Washington was to leave the U.S. and go north to Canada. That is no longer doable. Canada won't let us Americans cross the border, due to the disaster our inept fool of a leader caused with his mishandling of the COVID crisis. 

Has Mexico banned us too? I don't remember hearing such, and one would think I would, what with currently being way closer to the Mexican border than the Canadian border.

I feel like doing something adventurous this coming week, something I have not done in a long time, not since this COVID nightmare began, as in go on a long drive.

Maybe north to Oklahoma, or southeast to DFW. I have not been to DFW for over a year...

Linda Lou Declares Biden Win While Colorfully Celebrating In Lucy Park

 

Soon after I got a text message from Linda Lou saying "Biden Declared President! Thank God!!!" I decided to take that good news with me to Lucy Park for a salubrious communing with nature.

Til walking the Lucy Park trails I had not realized last week's freeze had brought Fall a month late, with the leaves in the trees going into full color mode, with many leaves shed, covering the ground at various locations.

I got back to my home location precisely at noon. I woke up my computer and soon saw something on Facebook which sort of mirrored some of what I was thinking whilst walking in Lucy Park...

"Idiot trump voters. For the next 4 years educate yourself. Take classes in civics, psychology, and logic. If you claim to be Christian do studies in Jesus's teachings so you know how to treat immigrants and people of color, like Jesus was..."

The next couple months are going to likely be disturbingly interesting.

But it sure is nice to finally see some light ahead after such a long time spent in such a dark tunnel...

No Luck Fishing In Sikes Lake Today

 

Today I thought it might be relaxing, and a nice break from waiting for Trump to embarrass himself some more, to take my pole to Sikes Lake to do some fishing.

But, by the time I got to the lake, someone had already taken my one and only favorite fishing spot, which is what you are looking at above.

So, I opted to roll my bike's wheels for a few miles to get some of those endorphins I was hoping to get from fighting with a big fish.

Today is the second day in a row we are having perfect bike riding weather. Clear blue sky, pleasant temperature, and no annoying wind.

And less than three weeks til Taco Thanksgiving...