Return Of The Headache Free Shadow Of The Wichita Bluff Thin Man

An almost cloud free sky made for a well lit shadow of the Wichita Bluff Nature Area Thin Man today.

I had camera, well, phone, in hand, having removed it from its storage location on my cargo shorts, hoping to be able to get a photo of the roadrunner which had run across the Circle Trail about 50 feet ahead of me.

But, the illusive bird was not seen again once I had the phone ready to take a picture.

So, when I saw my shadow looking so dark I switched from looking for the roadrunner, to taking a picture of the Shadow of the Thin Man.

I look as if I have lost an arm. 

I think the winds which have been blowing strong from the west have blown away the allergens which were causing me to be in constant sinus headache mode.

Being in constant sinus headache mode is extremely tiresome. Even after taking a medication which lessened the severity of the misery, there was still a constant dull ache.

That is now gone.

Today I hiked as far as the highest point in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area before turning around.

At the highest point on the Wichita Bluffs there is a covered picnic pavilion with two picnic tables. 

In the view above we are looking east at the Wichita River and the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Wichita Falls in the distance.

There were a lot of people enjoying the Nature Area today, having fun with the strong gusts which seemed to make it a challenge at times to remain vertical. 

I had planned on going on an early evening bike ride today, what with pleasant temperatures and extra daylight, but the sky has clouded up in the last hour, and possible thunderstorms are now on the weather menu.

Tiptoe With Me Through The Skagit Valley Daffodils

I saw that which you see screen capped above this morning on Facebook, via the "You Know You're From Anacortes When..." Facebook page.

The caption says "Daffodils are beginning to pop up around Skagit County. This is a field located across from Christianson's Nursery in Mount Vernon".

To which someone commented saying, "That's what I miss the most since I moved away..."

The Mount Vernon town referenced is the town I live in before moving to Texas. For Flatlander Texans reading this, that big wall of blue in the distance, behind the daffodils, are what are known as foothills. In this case, foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

Anacortes is not part of the Skagit Valley, but the town is in Skagit County. Anacortes is on Fidalgo Island, and is the location of my nephew Jason's Fidalgo Drive-In.

The flowers blooming in the Skagit Valley every spring is not what I miss most since I moved away. I think fresh produce, readily available, along with fresh seafood, also readily available, I miss more than seeing fields of colorful flowers.

This century I have been back in the Skagit Valley only one time during the tulip blooming time of the year. That being April of 2006, when I was in the valley to go to the aforementioned Nephew Jason's first wedding. That time I was in the valley for only part of one day, and during that day we did not drive out to the Skagit Flats, where the flowers bloom.

When I lived in Mount Vernon, particularly when I lived in West Mount Vernon, before moving across the river to East Mount Vernon, I was not all that fond of the tulips and the throngs of visitors the flowers brought, from all over the world, to the Skagit Valley.

The month long Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is an extremely well done operation. The festival began several decades ago, and created massive traffic problems from the start. Which is why I was not all that fond of this event, whilst living in West Mount Vernon.

But over the years multiple fixes have greatly exacerbated the traffic congestion. Things like directional signage, alternative freeway exits to keep Mount Vernon from getting clogged up by people exiting via the Mount Vernon exits. Tour buses were added, where people could park at one of the valley's mall's parking lots and ride a bus to tour the tulips. And venues were added, like Tulip Town, to spread the visitors all over the Skagit Flats.

The Skagit Valley is pretty much one BIG tourist attraction. It's the gateway to North Cascades National Park. La Conner is the valley's top tourist town. Anacortes is where you find the gateway to the San Juan Islands, via ferry boats, which will also take you to Victoria, British Columbia.

Where I currently am located, in Texas, there is not a single tourist attraction, remotely tourist worthy, for hundreds of miles in any direction you choose to go. No foothills or mountains. No ocean waves waving within hundreds of miles. No tourist towns.

However, this month something starts to happen in Texas which I never saw happening in Washington. That being wildflowers appearing and coloring up the landscape. It really is sort of spectacular to see, particularly down in Texas Hill Country.

Just a sec, I shall see if I can find the link to the webpage I made years ago of the Texas Wildflowers.

Found the link to that wildflower webpage, which is what you see via clicking the last two words in the paragraph above...

Balmy Bluff Bench Sitting With Minimalist Sinus Headache

Today is Day Five of having a constant headache, to varying degrees of aching.

Yesterday I learned this was a sinus headache. And so suitable medication was acquired and so now the constant headache only throbs distantly, barely noticeable.

Feeling better I thought getting some natural medicine, via aerobic activity generating endorphins, was a good idea. My best go to place for such, other than riding my bike, is to hike the hills in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area.

The second Saturday of the 2021 version of March at my location is a relatively balmy temperature in the 70s. Clouds are beginning to build for the predicted possibly severe thunderstorms later today.

A constant wind was blowing whilst I was on the Bluffs, with gusts causing me to repeatedly grab my hat to prevent it from flying away.

I stopped for a bit of a linger on the bench at the location you see in the above photo documentation. The view is slightly to the northwest.

I made note of that house you see across the ravine from my first time seeing it from the Bluffs. It looks to be in the same style as my old home in Mount Vernon, Washington. Sort of. 

A couple times I have tried to find the road which leads to that house, to no avail. I think it is at the end of a long driveway, with a gate blocking access from the main road.

It is now time for a late lunch, and to take my sinus headache medication...

Returning Again To My Old Washington Home With More Detail

 

A few days ago my Favorite Nephew Jason caused me to virtually Return To My Old Home In Mount Vernon Washington.

In blogging about my return to my old home I made mention of some of the changes that sort of unsettled me for inexplicable reasons.

And I mentioned wondering what was done to the bathrooms, specifically mentioning wondering about the first floor bathroom and its heavy metal blue fixtures.

Well, this morning the aforementioned Nephew Jason emailed me a link to a different realtor's listing of my old home.

And in that listing there are 38 photos, giving me a much better idea of the changes made to my old home, including the downstairs bathroom, which you see above. I'm guessing no one could figure out an easy way to get that tub out of there. Additionally I was surprised to see the tile I installed all those years ago is still there. 

The photo of the upstairs bathroom, that being the one which was mine, surprised me with the new sink. One of those trough type things which became trendy a few years back.

After I blogged about my old home zone, after that first listing which Nephew Jason sent me, Elsie Hotpepper texted me saying she was only able to see one photo. I guess the Hotpepper was curious to see what's been changed, familiar as she was with the original version, due to frequent visits...

Yellow Wildflower Harbinger Of Coming Texas Spring

Overnight one of the harbingers of spring arrived on the landscape outside my abode. Spring is scheduled to be sprung in 10 days, March 20.

I don't know the name of the colorful yellow wildflower you see above. Dozens  bloomed overnight. This wildflower does not have a pleasant fragrance. I would say it instead has an unpleasant fragrance.

Soon my favorite Texas wildflowers should be blooming, as in the Evening Primroses.

This morning the reason I exited my abode, and saw the newly arrived splashes of yellow color, was because I was driving to Lucy Park to have myself a salubrious communing with nature via walking the Lucy Park backwoods zone.

The Lucy Park nature communing went well. But, I saw none of the colorful yellow wildflowers coloring up Lucy Park. 

What with the temperature warming, as in yesterday we got into the 80s, this time of year, whilst walking a backwoods zone, one must be on the lookout for frisky snakes enjoying the return of warmth to their slithery cold blooded selves.

The Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup should be happening next weekend. If memory serves that Roundup is always the second weekend of March. Maybe it has been cancelled due to COVID...

Washington Ranked Best State In Union With Texas Ranked 19th Worst

I saw that which you see here this morning on the front page of the online version of the Seattle Times, some Local News that Washington named the best state in the union for the second year in a row.

Clicking the link to see who or what it was which named my old home state as the best in the union brought me to a article titled...

Best States Rankings--Measuring outcomes for citizens using more than 70 metrics

Where it was easily seen that it was US News & World Report which was doing the ranking of the American states, from best to worst.

The first paragraph of this ranking article explains how the ranking was done...

Some states shine in health care. Some soar in education. Some excel in both – or in much more. The Best States ranking of U.S. states draws on thousands of data points to measure how well states are performing for their citizens. In addition to health care and education, the metrics take into account a state’s economy, its roads, bridges, internet and other infrastructure, its public safety, the fiscal stability of state government, and the opportunity it affords its residents.

As one expects with these type rankings the usual suspects are at the top, as well as the bottom.

Texas came in as the 31st Best State, or looked at a different way, the 19th Worst State. 

The first three paragraphs of the Seattle Times Washington named the best state in the union for the second year in a row article amused me due to triggering the memory of something which started bugging me soon after I moved to Texas, that being a tendency of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to tout this, that or the other perfectly mundane thing as being something which would cause other towns, far and wide, to be green with envy. 

I found the Star-Telegram's green with envy verbiage and its various iterations to be so bizarre. It was several years later when a lifelong Texan explained this type bragging was born of Fort Worth's civic inferiority complex. I don't know if that explained it, or not. 

So, the first three paragraphs of this Seattle Times article about something legitimately brag-worthy...

Everyone knows the Pacific Northwest is the best and Washington is the best of the best, especially compared to other states.

But that seems kind of mean and elitist, so we don’t talk about it too much among our friends from other states, right? Right?

U.S. News & World Report, however, has no such compunction, boldly naming Washington the best state in the union for the second time in a row — the only state to be so named twice — and unapologetically identifying the worst.

Anyway, this extremely comprehensive analysis of the American states sure does explain to me why I experienced such culture shock when first exposed to many things in Texas. I came from progressive liberal Washington, to a state not known for being progressive. Or liberal. Or well educated.

I did not know til reading this US News & World Report that Washington has the fastest growing economy in the nation. I know when I am up in Washington I sure do notice it appears to be way more prosperous than my current location. 

If you listen to right wing nuts jobs, a peculiar breed of which Texas has many, Washington should not be doing too well economically. It has been several years now since Seattle (and many other west coast locations) raised the minimum wage to $15.

Just last week I read in the Seattle Times that 19 new restaurants were opening this month.

During the pandemic slowdown...

Wichita Bluff Nature Area After Falling Into Bathtub Hoodoos

I had what I think must have been a sleep walking incident last night. I was in my bathroom, apparently asleep, and went to get back in bed, except I was still in the bathroom, where there is no bed.

Instead I lowered myself into the bathtub, eventually crashing down on my tailbone, real hard. I awoke to find my legs draped over the edge of the tub, with me unable to pull myself up. Thrashing around I somehow turned the faucet on, cold water. That woke me up fast, with me quickly swinging around and getting vertical.

What a living nightmare.

I thought I would end up badly bruised, with a big blotch of purple. But, no sign of such. 

So, to unkink my aches and pains I decided a salubrious walk with nature via the Wichita Bluff Nature Area would be a mighty fine thing to do.

I figured right.

I sat on the bench you see above for a few minutes, pondering my multiple miseries and woes. And then started walking again.

Eventually I came to the location where I usually find a Wichita Bluff Hoodoo. Or two.

 As you can see via me standing on the Mars-like landscape, there is only a pile of rocks at Hoodoo Central.

I hope last night's sleep walking incident does not portend a return to this happening multiple times. I already have sufficient aggravations. I do not need a new one...

Return To My Old Home In Mount Vernon Washington

Yesterday both my little brother Jake and little brother Jake's eldest, my Favorite Nephew Jason, text messaged me a link to a house for sale which both thought I might be interested in.

That being my house in Mount Vernon, which I left to move to Texas soon before the start of the new century.

That house was built in 1985 for a measly $65, 000. And then sold in 2002 for what seems now a measly $135,000. 

And now it is for sale, again, for almost a half million bucks.

Which seems totally nuts.

The link to the listing had some photos of the current state of the house I built 35 years ago. The kitchen has been totally re-built, now with modern stone countertops of granite or marble. The cabinets are now black. And the wall painted orange. I liked the upgrade to the appliances, but not much else. I think the original version looked much better.

One of the photos showed the flooring in the upstairs living room area. It was carpeted when I left it. Now it is a dark hardwood floor. 

None of the photos showed the tile flooring I had fun installing, in the kitchen and the upstairs entry. I suspect it likely has been replaced. The tile in the kitchen had a long crack caused by a small earthquake. I liked that crack due to knowing its history. 

I had planted multiple rhododendrons which my mom and dad gave me. From the above photo I can see the one in the front of the house has been removed. 

The most disturbing upgrade, which I do not like at all, is the open carport has now been turned into a garage, with a garage door which does not match the look of the house exterior.

I long ago made a webpage of my old home in Mount Vernon. Click that to see what it looked like way back in the previous century.
 
You will also see Hortense, who used to read the morning Seattle P-I with me. Hortense made the move to Texas, and died a year later at 21 years old. Hortense is buried in Haslet, a suburb north of Fort Worth.

Wichita Falls Winter Storm Impact

This informative information you see above showed up yesterday. Right at this moment I am not remembering where it showed up. Probably Facebook.

When the snow began to pile up last month I was surprised to see snowplows plowing the snow. I wondered why this town which gets so little snow would have snowplows.

I do not remember my old hometowns in Washington having snowplows plowing snow when snow created a problem. And snow in the Western Washington lowlands happens more frequently than my current location.

And from the above info we learn that not only does this town have snowplows, those snowplows plowed 876 miles of snow. 

It does not surprise me too much that the temperature going below zero is the coldest it has been here in over 50 years. Apparently by some accounting this was the first ever statewide disaster. I thought that was electing and re-electing creepy Ted Cruz was considered by many to be a statewide disaster.

I was not here in 1985 to know that the recent snow covering was the most since 1985.

My current abode is a short distance south of the infamous Wichita Falls 1979 Tornado known locally as Terrible Tuesday. I did not know til reading it that the recent power outage was the largest since Terrible Tuesday.

Millions In Toxic Relationship With Texas

Yesterday we asked If The Texas Governor Is A COVID Idiot?

In addition to asking that question we answered the question by making mention of the Facebook reaction of many Texans to their governor declaring Texas back opening 100% and lifting the mask mandate.

And now on this 4th day of March, when many similar type idiots think that Trump will be re-installed today as president, Facebook provides additional reaction to the Texas governor's latest embarrassing idiocy.

We have gleaned some of what we have seen on Facebook today.

The comments to these various postings on Facebook are sort of alarming. Alarming in that it is alarming how cluelessly idiotically ignorant way too many people are.

Such as no understanding of the actual concept of freedom of speech, or freedom in general. The reality that one is not free to shout "FIRE" in a crowded theater is lost on these sorts. 

And their concept of government, in that government has no business telling citizens what to do. That a person can process the data themselves and decide for themselves whether or not to wear a mask, with no thought given to the fact that another citizen might understand the need to wear a mask, and the threat posed by those who refuse to wear a mask.

Taking these type idiot's logic to its logical conclusion why should the government decide on an arbitrary speed limit? An idiot should have the freedom to decide how fast to drive. These type idiots can apply their idiot logic to any law. 

And these same type idiots are the most ardent in demanding the government put an end to abortions.
 
Anyway, scroll down for a sampling of Facebook memes regarding Texas Governor Greg Abbott ending the mask mandate...