Hank Frank & Linda Lou Take Me On A Skagit Valley Sunday Drive

That is FGNHF (Favorite Great Nephew Hank Frank) you are see above, smiling at you and looking cute. Hank Frank texted that selfie to me, with the text saying "Howdy FUD".

I do not like being technical regarding these type matters, but shouldn't that be "Howdy FGUD"?

I texted Hank Frank back, asking if he was taking good care of his mom and dad, and making sure they are behaving themselves. I also asked if he'd had any snow yet in the valley.

Hank Frank replied back "No snow so far this year. They took me for a drive this morning and there was fresh snow in Clear Lake hill. I really like drives. I point out at every stoplight from the backseat at an outside voice level what color I observe. Red, green or the occasional yellow."

Sometimes I think I may be a bit of an old fuddy duddy. Like finding it makes me feel outta sync with the times regarding the fact that all my nephews, and one niece, have smart phones. The older nephews, that does not seem too hard to understand, but the younger ones, ranging from 13 to 2, well, I will just say that when I was their age I did not even have my own dumb phone. I shared a phone attached to a cord attached to a wall. And I couldn't send photos thousands of miles. Or videos.

And then, whilst I was exchanging text messages with Hank Frank, another text message came in from the Skagit Valley, from Hank Frank's cousin, Spencer Jack's neighbor, Linda Lou. 

The text message from Linda Lou also included a photo along with text.

The Linda Lou text said "Descending from Conway Hill, view of the Valley, and the San Juan Islands in the distance."

It has been a few years since I have driven down steep Conway Hill. At the bottom of the hill one soon comes to Interstate 5. We are looking west in this view. I think I can make out Mount Erie on Fidalgo Island, sticking up on the horizon to the left of the middle. That may be Orcas Island sticking up above the horizon on the far right.

There are a lot of islands in the Skagit Valley neighborhood. Real islands, surrounded by real water. Not imaginary islands surrounded by a cement lined ditch, which Fort Worth has been trying to build for most of this century, currently stuck trying to build three simple little bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland with that aforementioned imaginary island.

If Linda Lou croseed I-5, drove through the little village of Conway, then continued over the bridge over the South Fork of the Skagit River, to Fir Island, to another bridge leaving Fir Island, crossing over the North Fork of the Skagit River, back to the mainland, Linda Lou would be aiming directly towards where Hank Frank lives and operates his apple orchard. 

Next summer maybe I will get to go on a drive with Hank Frank and Linda Lou...

Thick Cloud Cover Prevents Seeing The Mountain From My Location

 

Yester morning Elsie Hotpepper asked me how I was doing.

Not so well, in way too many ways, was the short version of my reply.

In the longer version I said I felt in dire need of being on an ocean shore with mountains, due to slowly going stir crazy due to being stuck due to COVID, barely having left this town for over a year, let alone leaving this flat, scenery challenged state.

So, yester morning had me lamenting wanting to be on an ocean shore gazing at mountains, and then yester afternoon brought me, via incoming email, three scenes of both saltwater and mountains.

The incoming was from Washington, from Harstine Island, located in south Puget Sound. Sent by little sister Michele. 

The text in the email said "The colors of the sunset against The Mountain were amazing last night."

I think I have mentioned previously that when you are a Washingtonian when you refer to The Mountain you are talking about Mount Rainier, it being the biggest of the state's five active volcanoes.

I cropped one of the tree photos to get a closer look at The Mountain. That is what you see above. The uncropped version is what you see below.

Next summer, if the current COVID situation improves, I expect to see the above view with my own eyes.

In the meantime I gaze out my window at a gray sky dripping drizzle, with downpours and thunderstorms on the menu for later today. And no volcanoes, mountains or oceans no matter which direction one looks...

Saturday Nature Communing In Lucy Park With Linda Lou & Elsie Hotpepper.

With the outer world chilled to a comfortable 40 some degrees, with a slight drizzle foggily drizzling, I decided to put on my Sherlock Holmes sleuthing cap to venture to my favorite Wichita Falls location, Lucy Park, to do some nature communing.

Linda Lou called just as I put the period on the previous paragraph.

Linda Lou told me she's cold at my old home location of Mount Vernon. 

How cold, asked I?

40 degrees said Linda Lou.

That is about how cold I am here, way down South, said I.

Linda Lou then asked who Elsie Hotpepper is.

I get asked that question regarding Elsie Hotpepper with some regularity. This is a difficult question to answer.

Linda Lou is a nurse, which makes her a valuable resource regarding anything to do with the medical business.

 And now we have a cloudy cold look at part of the Lucy Park forest of naked trees.

In a couple months the above will return to being in jungle mode, with me on the lookout for snakes and other reptiles as I do my nature communing. No alligator worries, though. Alligators don't make it this far north.

I made Chile Verde in the Instant Pot today. Super easy. And super tasty if you like the New Mexican version of Mexican food.

And super warming when the weather outside is frightful...

Dead Calm Descends Upon Wichita Falls As Biden Era Begins At Sikes Lake

This first day after the magnificent end to the ridiculously absurd Trump Era, as in today, I took myself on a rare late afternoon walk around Sikes Lake.

The temperature being a relative balmy in the 60s zone being outdoors did not require excessive outerwear.

As you can see via the photo documentation above we are currently in dead calm mode, after way too many days in a row of being way too windy.

The last time I sat at that gazebo you see above was years ago, with Elsie Hotpepper, and her then leading new husband candidate. That candidate eventually won the coveted Hotpepper husband position with the first anniversary of those nuptials recently celebrated.

The following two photos show you exactly how dead calm we are here today, with Sikes Lake in mirror mode.

Which of the two following photos is the upright one? Which is the vertically flipped one?

If you chose photo number two as the upright photo, with photo number one as the vertically flipped photo, you chose correctly.

I think rain may be on the menu at my location. It has been awhile since such has fallen in copious amounts.

Changing the subject from mirror images to the end of the Trump Era, beginning of the Biden Era,

I naively turned on right wing nut job talk radio today, thinking, maybe, some modicum of decency, non-idiocy, non-stupidity, non-lying, non-propaganda might in some small way be noted.

Instead it seemed worse. The moron who pollutes the airwaves for two hours on WBAP, outta DFW, the slot before Rush Dimbulb, has never seemed stupider than he seemed today. I could take only a couple minutes of that airhead's nonsense. I did not hear Dimbulb today. Is there no one who can educate these idiots as to what democratic socialism actually is? Or do they just play being stupid so as to placate the morons who listen to them who are too dumb to know they are listening to boneheaded nonsense?

Tomorrow is the second full day of the Biden Era. Happy Days are here again. Me hopes thus remains so...

Sunday Swaying In Lucy Park With Dumas Demons

On this third Sunday of the new year of 2021, which is also the last Sunday with America having the worst president in its long history, and with this Sunday at my location being a wind-free, cloud-free blue sky day, I took myself to my favorite Wichita Falls park, which is Lucy Park, to do some nature communing, along with disc golf dodging.

As you can see I used my phones recently installed un-patented Elsie Hotpepper selfie app to take a photo whilst swaying on Lucy Park's Wichita River suspension bridge.

I used the app's distort the size feature to make me way smaller. I do not know why one would want to make oneself way smaller, but now I know how to do so should the need arise.

Last night Linda Lou called and amongst the many subjects talked about one was being in Cabo San Lucas on May 1 for my third oldest nephew's first wedding. Linda Lou did not get an invitation, and mine did not include the "plus one" option, so I guess Linda Lou won't be attending this nuptial event with me.

Changing the subject back to America's worst president ever. Yesterday I drove to Sikes Lake for a walk around the pond. Upon arrival I saw that which you see below, parked on the parking lot...

Upon seeing this my first thought was wondering if this was a busload of Trumpers heading to Austin to do something disruptive on Wednesday. That orange color scheme seemed Trumpy. And not knowing there needs to be a 'B' in DUMBASS also seemed Trumpy. 

But would a group of Trump cultists accurately name themselves "DUMBASS DEMONS"?

Such seemed unlikely.

And then I remembered there is a town called Dumas, near Dalhart, north of Amarillo. A soccer game was being played on the field behind the bus. Googling Dumas Demons I quickly learned the town's high school is known as the Demons.

Demons seems an odd mascot/nickname for a school.

The high school from whence I graduated is known as the B-EHS Tigers. That seems a rather ordinary, common, nickname.

And an odd choice since there are no tigers running loose in the state of Washington.

Now that you have me thinking about this there are a lot of demons running loose in Texas. Ted Cruz comes to mind, among many others...

Save May 1 For Cabo San Lucas CJ & Carissa Weston Wedding

A day or two or three ago I made mention of the fact that so far this new year of 2021 seems to be full of new experiences I have not previously experienced.

Such happened again yesterday when I opened my mailbox to find an invitation to a wedding in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

I have never been to a wedding in Cabo San Lucas previously. Or a wedding anywhere in Mexico.

Late last year I was told I would be receiving a "Save the Date" card in the mail, telling me to save May 1, 2021 so I could be in Mexico for the nuptials of my Favorite Nephew Christopher and my soon to be Favorite Niece-in-Law, Carissa.

I never did receive that "Save the Date" card.

But yesterday's invitation told me everything I need to know, including the formal dress code's color scheme for the actual wedding, and the dress code and color scheme for the pool party after the actual wedding.

I won't need to be buying any new clothes for the actual wedding because the color scheme is earth tones. Earth tones have been my clothing color scheme for decades. The color scheme for the pool party is tropical colors. I have a swimming suit which could pass as tropical, along with an Hawaiian style shirt.

So, I am all set for the color scheme part of this Big Event.

It has been 14 years since I have been to a wedding. That one was in April of 2006. Favorite Nephew Jason's first wedding. That wedding took place in the United States, in the town of Burlington. A passport was not needed. Attending that wedding simply required flying a couple thousand miles.

You can visit the Carissa Mott & CJ Weston Wedding website and see photos of the beautiful soon-to-be bride and my nephew, along with a plethora of details about the wedding...

Dodging Flying Acorns In Lucy Park Naked Tree Forest

 

So far almost every day of this new year brings a new experience I had not previously experienced.

Yesterday's new experience was driving a patient to a clinic for a colonoscopy. That new experience began only a couple hours past midnight.

This morning's new experience came after delivering that same patient to another clinic for another procedure. 

Since the patient delivery location was in the neighborhood of Lucy Park I thought I might be able to have myself a mighty fine time communing with nature and the forest of Lucy Park's naked trees.

A section of the Lucy Park forest of naked trees is what you see photo documented above.

Any leaf which remained stuck on a Lucy Park tree was removed by the time I arrived today, due to the strong wind gusting over 40 miles per hour. Over and over again.

The high velocity wind made for a fun walk, dodging various natural items flying at high velocity.

And thus, yet one more new experience. Dodging flying acorns, among other foliage related airborne material.

I think the Lucy Park forest of naked trees might possibly be the most scenic thing to see in this town in which I am temporarily located. In a couple months all those trees will again get dressed, turning the currently naked forest into a lush looking jungle.

I prefer the Lucy Park forest when it is not in jungle mode.

I wonder what exciting new experience I will be experiencing next? I await it with eager anticipation...

Hiking The Dry Falls Of Wichita Falls

Today marks the second time I have successfully used the un-patented Elsie Hotpepper Selfie phone app. I was at the location you see photo documented above due to dropping off a patient at a clinic on the north side of Highway 287. South of that location is the Falls of Wichita Falls, so I walked the Circle Trail under Highway 287, which quickly takes one to the location of the Falls which Wichita Falls is not named after.

Several days ago whilst driving south from nearby Oklahoma I noticed the Falls of Wichita Falls were currently in Dry Falls mode.

Such was still the case today.

It seems, to me, just a bit ironic, that a fake falls built so the locals could finally have an answer for incoming visitors who ask where is the location of the falls this town is named after, that this falls is turned off, and into a dry falls, for long lengths of time.

This seems to happen frequently.

Thus seeming to negate the purpose of having a fake falls to point to when someone asks where are the Falls of Wichita Falls.

One would think that it might have been worth it to make the original design such that the falls falling was not dependent on factors, such as the Wichita River into which the falls falls, running a bit high and dirty, necessitating turning off the Falls..

Anyway, I had myself a mighty fine brisk chilly walk today in the zone of the Wichita Falls Dry Falls.

 Above you are looking at the bricked serpentine trail switchbacking to the summit of the currently dry Falls at Wichita Falls.

And here we are are at the summit of those currently dry falls, looking north, at the traffic on Highway 287 with people in vehicles driving by wondering why no water falls from Wichita Falls...

Successfully Using Elsie Hotpepper Selfie Style App At Sikes Lake Before Seattle Seahawks Football

What you see above is me looking at my phone, with Sikes Lake behind me.

I used the newly installed Elsie Hotpepper Selfie Style app to take this photo.

I was sent the beta test version of this app to see if I liked how it worked, and if I could even get it to work.

I do not know if or when this will be available on Google Play, or other app providers.

The photo was taken during yesterday's walk around Sikes Lake. At that point in time the temperature was well above freezing, but still quite chilling.

Right now, a couple hours before noon on this second Saturday of the new year, the temperature is below freezing.

I do not yet know if I will be getting any salubrious endorphin inducing aerobic activity today. 

I am scheduled to watch the Seattle Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Ram this afternoon on their way to winning another Super Bowl. The football viewing party will include lasagna and fried chicken.

Elsie Hotpepper Has Me Looking At Mary's Plight & Fort Worth's Blight

 

A couple nights ago a late in the day text message came in from Elsie Hotpepper telling me "You should blog about Mary's Plight".

The next morning I texted Elsie asking "How can I blog about Mary's Plight if I don't know what Mary's Plight is?"

To which the Hotpepper replied "Look at Mary's Facebook".

And so I did as the Hotpepper suggested, which is always the wise course to take whenever the Hotpepper suggests anything.

Well, turns out I already knew about Mary's Plight. But I was not aware of the current status of Mary's Plight.

Years ago Mary Kelleher's Plight first came to my notice when Fort Worth Weekly did a cover story about Mary's Plight. Which at that point in time the plight was flooding of her property caused by a mismanaged shale fracking site. The inability of Mary to get the city of Fort Worth to do anything about the fracking causing flooding eventually morphed into Mary winning election to the board of the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Once she was on board that board Mary soon found herself stonewalled as she attempted to get something done about the flooding. Soon it became apparent this was a hopeless cause, with the fact becoming clear that there was an institutional lack of concern about the damage being done by bad urban planning which resulted in serious flooding issues, often of the deadly sort.

But all that was years ago. Let's move to 2021 and the current status of Mary's Plight.

Well, Mary's Plight remains a flooding issue. And the city of Fort Worth's inept inattention to what is known as urban planning in modern towns in America. But, sensible things like intelligent urban planning is just not the Fort Worth Way of doing things. Prime example being the ultra embarrassing Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, which has been Fort Worth's Blight for most of this century.

Let's let Mary's own words describe her current plight. These words are from the Facebook post I was directed to by Elsie Hotpepper...

This is a photo of our farm after LGI Home Builders clear cut about 100 acres on the hill above us (outlined in black).  It goes underwater like this every time we get a hard rain.  We were underwater for more than a year!  Our neighbors’ properties suffered flooded acreage, workshops, barns, washed out driveways, and cracked floors and retaining walls.  We have filed a lawsuit against LGI and need financial help in paying for our legal fees.  LGI should be held responsible for their actions. Any amount will help us!  Thanks in advance!

The photo referred to is that which you see at the top.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money to help Mary and her neighbors with the legal fees resulting from their lawsuit against the perpetrators of the damage to their property.

On that GoFundMe page you will find additional verbiage describing Mary and her neighbor's plight...

Have you ever had a bad neighbor?  A really bad neighbor?  We have one, LGI Homes.  We've tried to do what good neighbors should and expressed our concerns and issues directly.  We've incorporated the media, the city, and our government representatives in our efforts.  We have exhausted our options and run out of time.  At this juncture homebuilder LGI can continue their homebuilding practices without conscience for the neighborhoods and families that they impact.  We are going to hold them accountable. We are neighbors banding together in a  lawsuit against LGI Homes.

________________________

Over the years I have been asked a time or two why it is I have, a time or two, verbalized disdain regarding various issues I have eye witnessed in Fort Worth which I have found difficult to understand, appalling, embarrassing, downright stupid, or a combination of various elements of disdain.

But, it is an issue like Mary's Plight which is the Fort Worth type thing which appalls me the most. A well run modern American city would not allow a clear cut on a hill above an area already known to be flood prone. 

If a well run modern American city somehow made the mistake of allowing a damaging clear cut to take place, which then resulted in damage to citizen's property, that well run modern American city would be who initiates a lawsuit against the perpetrators of the damage, in behalf of the damaged citizens.

If Mary and her neighbors lived in a well run modern American city they would not have to hire a lawyer to help them recover from the damage, that well run modern American city would take up the cause in the damaged neighbor's behalf.

And thus, this is just one more example of why I have long said Fort Worth is a blighted backwards backwater pretending to be something it is not, in so many ways...