Fort Worth Opens One Of Its Bridges To Nowhere Over Dry Land

 

Yesterday a text message from Elsie Hotpepper pointed me to a video clip of a news segment on NBCDFW.

The news was that one of Fort Worth's pitiful bridges to nowhere is finally connecting vehicular traffic from Fort Worth's mainland to Fort Worth's imaginary island.

As you can see, via the photo above, the bridge was built over dry land. With construction beginning way back in November of 2014, with an even then astonishing four year project timeline, longer than it took to build the Golden Gate, which we have mentioned multiple times, and is also mentioned in the NBC story.

The above screen cap is from the Fort Worth Business Press article about this epic accomplishment.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram also had an article about the bridge opening. And in typical Star-Telegram fashion reading it caused my eyes to roll.

For instance the first paragraph...

With no fanfare, the White Settlement Road bridge near downtown opened to traffic Friday, more than six years after Fort Worth dignitaries gathered for an explosive ceremony to kick start construction of Panther Island.

So, the first paragraph mentions there being no fanfare to mark the bridge opening. And then several paragraphs later we read this...

When Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger and others gathered to celebrate the official start of the project in November 2015 with a ceremonial explosion, the bridges were expected to open between 2017 and 2018, according to Star-Telegram archives.

First off, I must be extremely clairvoyant because on Tuesday, November 11, 2014 I blogged the following a year before the Stat-Telegram thinks it happened...

A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late.

I have on multiple times verbalized one of the reasons for my disdain for Fort Worth's sad excuse for a newspaper is the fact that I was not long in Texas, not all that familiar with Texas, or Fort Worth, when I would read something in the Star-Telegram which I knew was not correct. It happened so many times I got tired of pointing out the errors.

And I have mentioned multiple times that in all my years reading the Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Skagit Valley Herald, Burlington Journal and Bellingham Herald, covering an area with which I was quite familiar, I do not ever recollect reading something I knew to be an error.

Someone needs to purge those referenced Star-Telegram archives. Apparently they are worthless. According to this Star-Telegram article the reporter learned from the archives that the ceremonial explosion was in November of 2015, with the bridges expected to be open between 2017 and 2018.

Nope, way back in 2014, when that start of construction explosion ceremony was already three months late, the project timeline was four years to complete the three simple little bridges being built over dry land.

The rest of that paragraph with the erroneous timeline information...

Design issues held up construction and their opening was pushed to 2019. Then project officials said the White Settlement bridge would be finished by late summer 2020, but the date was pushed back again to the end of last year. COVID-19 and construction delays pushed the date into 2021 with speculation during Trinity River Vision Authority board meetings that White Settlement would open in February or March. TxDOT put the opening date in “early 2021.”

Now that you can see a photo of one of these bridges completed, it must puzzle anyone living in modern parts of America, or the world, how in the world this could take so long to build.

Design issues? The Star-Telegram has no investigative journalists doing what is known as investigative journalism, so we have never learned what these design issues are, and why they caused such an epic slowdown of construction.

The Star-Telegram has also never investigated what it is that Kay Granger's son, J.D., actually does for the Trinity River Vision Central City Panther Island District Vision which warrants paying him over $200K a year, plus perks, plus also paying his wife a healthy salary.

Looking at that completed bridge, am I the only one who wonders how a ditch can now be dug under the bridge, lined with cement, and then Trinity River water diverted into the ditch, thus making the imaginary island?

You in the rest of America, the more prosperous parts of America, did you know Fort Worth has been begging for federal funds for years now, for this ill begotten, ill conceived, ineptly implemented project?

The Army Corps of Engineers has told Fort Worth they will not be a part of this project, or approve of any funding, until Fort Worth pays for a feasibility study.

Which Fort Worth refuses to do.

Refuses, most likely, because some saner heads know such a study will determine the project is not feasible, and is certainly not needed for flood control in an area which has not flooded for well over half a century...

David, Theo, Ruby & Aunt Jackie At Ocean Shores

The Skagit Valley's Linda Lou called today whilst I was checking out at Walmart, buying bread making supplies, and during the course of the conversation Linda Lou asked if Arizona's Aunt Jackie was still in Washington.

I answered that I did not know for sure, that the last I heard Aunt Jackie was going to spend several days this week at Ocean Shores.

And then a few hours later a text message arrived from David, Theo & Ruby's Mama Michele with three photos along with text saying something like "I'd ask where in the PNW they are, but I think you were already told!"

The water of the Pacific Ocean at Ocean Shores, or anywhere on the Washington coast, is cold, even in summer. Though in summer the water does warm up a bit and one can do a quick dip and wave dodge. And people do do that surfing thing like one does in Southern California. Or Hawaii. But whilst wearing a wetsuit so as to keep warm.

I do not know if those are wetsuits Ruby and Theo are wearing above, so as to keep warm during a quick dip in the cold Pacific.

When I was a kid, about the age of David, maybe a little older, one summer we were at Ocean Shores and there was a fad of people sand surfing on big round disks. Sliding along on the wet sand freshly coated by incoming waves.

Us kids thought that looked fun, so when we got back home dad made my little brother and me big round sand surfing disks. I recollect returning to Ocean Shores and trying to sand surf. I do not recollect how successful we were at it.

Above we see the aforementioned Aunt Jackie, still in Washington, with bare footed Ruby, David and Theo. It looks like Theo has found himself a kelp whip.

Way back when I was a kid one could find a lot of sand dollars on the Ocean Shores beach. And sometimes Japanese fishnet glass floats. I doubt Japanese fishermen still use those type floats, and so they no longer wash up on Washington beaches.

Yup, that definitely is a kelp whip Theo is holding. It looks like David may have one too.

As you can see, the beach at Ocean Shores is wide and flat. You can drive on the beach, within precise parameters. As in you can not drive out as far as the clam beds, unless you want to incur a large fine. In summer the traffic on this beach is quite busy. Miles and miles of vehicles driving back and forth. You can see some vehicle tracks behind the kids.

During a low tide, in clam digging season, behind David, Theo and Ruby you would be seeing throngs of people digging for razor clams. As in thousands of clam diggers. It is quite a spectacle.

Mom and dad, and I think Mama Michele, were razor clam digging the Sunday morning Mt. St. Helens blew up. This created quite a panic scene as it became known what had caused the big boom. Ocean Shores is closer to Mt. St. Helens than my Mount Vernon location, where I was in a bath tub when I heard three concussive booms that seemed like nothing I had heard before.

If I make it to Washington this summer it sure would be a mighty fine thing to visit Ocean Shores. My cousin Linda now lives there...

Tulip Bloom Boom In Washington's Skagit Valley

 

Apparently NBC Nightly News had a news story last night about the tulips blooming in my old home zone of the Skagit Valley. I learned this this morning, via Facebook, as you can see, screen capped, above.

The Skagit Tulips seems to be in the news a lot of late. Awhile back I saw a news story about the 20 things you need to add to your bucket list. The Skagit Tulips were #20 on the list.

I had been to several of the other things on this bucket list. Places like Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Las Vegas.

Maybe due to having had the Skagit Tulips part of my reality for just about as long as I can remember, I can't quite see them in the same league as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone or Las Vegas. 

Then again, I suppose someone who grew up in Flagstaff or Sedona might not think the Grand Canyon was all that grand, but if they saw the Skagit Tulips they might think, now this is something I would never see in Arizona.

This may be the type thing where the cliché "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder" comes from.

Well, I'm out of here now, taking a senior citizen to a doctor appointment.

No, the senior citizen is not myself...

Finding My Long Lost High School Senior Annual With Linda Lou & Others

Years ago, whilst packing for a move, taking books off a bookshelf, I came upon my ancient high school annuals. Four of them. Freshman through Senior year.

I had not looked at these annuals in years. I saw them and thought to myself why in the world am I hauling these things all over the world?

And so, on impulse, at that point in time the four annuals were put in the discard pile, left behind as I moved to a new abode.

A few years later I came to regret that discarding decision, a couple times, when someone would mention someone and I would find myself not remembering the person. And me no longer having high school annuals as reference books.

And that brings us to today. In this morning's email was one from something called Classmates.com, with the message in the email telling me there was "1 new note posted by a fellow schoolmate from Burlington-Edison High School for Durango Jones!"
 
I clicked the link, figuring pointless scam. I never found the note. But I did find a link to a digital version of the final annual, that being the senior class one.

I was sort of surprised that anyone would go to the trouble of scanning an entire annual. And yet, there it was. All viewable, page after page after page. With an offer to send a hard copy for 99 bucks.

So, clicking through this, I found photos of myself I had not seen in a long time. So, I copied some of them for blogging purposes.

In that photo at the top you are looking at Linda Lou on the left, and me on the right.

And above we have me studying hard on something. If I remember right, that is Sandy Coons sitting next to me. It has been so long I can't quite remember my hair ever being so long. And so dark.

And above we have a color photo. I recollect this was a big deal at the time. That some pages in the annual could be in color. That is me holding Janice Jackson above a trash barrel. I have no idea why. If I remember right the last time I saw Janice Jackson was in April of 2006, at nephew Jason's wedding, where Janice played the organ.

Okay, now the above photo looks to be a bit precarious. That would be me at the top. I can tell this was at the south side of the gym. The aforementioned Janice Jackson is directly below me on this totem pole. Were we standing on a ladder? Is that Beth Scheuerman below Janice? And Miss Lori Mason below Beth?

That would be me and my mop of hair sitting across from the aforementioned Beth Scheuerman. Martin Urbs Barnes should be shown sitting next to Beth, but this digitalized version of the annual cut Urbs off. That would be Wendy Newman sitting next to me. We are at the Broaster Cafe in Mount Vernon. 

Do most people still have their high school annuals? Or are most people like me and the annuals have fallen into the dustbin of history?

Hot Hiking Windy Wichita Bluff Nature Area

With the temperature nearing 80 and with an extremely strong wind blowing I felt the need for walking speed today.

And so I took myself to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area to enjoy trying to stay vertical whilst the wind tried to knock me over.

As you can see, it was so windy I had trouble holding the phone steady to take a picture.

I thought in this selfie that I was aiming at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Wichita Falls. 

Clearly my aim was off.

But, in non-selfie mode I was able to take a photo of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Wichita Falls, from the vantage point of the highest of the bluffs.

That is the Wichita River you see in the center of the photo, looking brown. And that which you see sticking up on the horizon, that's that aforementioned stunning skyline.

No, that skyscraper near the center of the horizon is not Wichita Falls' famous World's Littlest Skyscraper.

The World's Littlest Skyscraper is too little to show up on the horizon...

My High School Class Reunion Membership Is Pending

I have a high school class reunion coming up this summer.

I doubt I will be attending.

A week or so ago I was talking to one of my former classmates and she mentioned thinking she had seen a Facebook page devoted to this upcoming reunion. I opined that I thought I remembered seeing such also.

We were discussing this serious subject because we thought that by now the details of this important event would be determined and known, with the information widely disseminated, what with the need to make travel plans well in advance of the actual traveling. 

After that phone call I looked on Facebook to see if I could find that Facebook reunion page we thought we had seen. It did not take long to find. Part of that webpage is what you see screen capped above.

Apparently, after this Facebook group was created I was sent a membership invite. Apparently I asked to be a member. And now, all this time later, I see my "membership is pending".

I told this to the person with whom I had been discussing this and she checked and saw the same pertained to her, with her membership also still pending. 

By the time my fellow classmate found her membership still pending she had also found out details of the current high school reunion plan. 

A two day event. With the first day taking place at a classmate's home.

YIKES! 

That begins at 2 in the afternoon and lasts til the last person leaves. This is a BYOB affair where you are also asked to bring yourself an appetizer.

YIKES! again.

On Day 2 of this reunion the gathering shifts from someone's home to the Skagit Country Club. We assume this will be a dinner and dancing type deal. But, those details have not yet been gleaned.

From this apparently defunct Facebook page about this upcoming reunion, I copied the following...
 

About This Group

Private

Only members can see who's in the group and what they post.

History

Group created on September 14, 2020 

Members  · 48

Margaret is an admin.

Okay, someone named Margaret apparently is the administrator of this group. It must be Margaret who must approve someone's membership in this group. I can only remember one Margaret who was in my high school class. I think she lives somewhere in the upper Midwest. Minnesota or Michigan or some such state.

I had previously heard that the reunion might take place at one of the Skagit Valley's casino resorts. That would be convenient, what with both having big event spaces and big hotels attached. That and when the reunion became boring one could go play the slot machines.

Well, in the end it matters not to me where or when this reunion takes place. If I make it to the Skagit Valley this summer I will be reunion-ing with multiple people with whom I went to high school. But I really do not have much interest in reunion-ing with people with whom I have had no contact for decades.

To a couple of my high school classmates I explained my thinking about this serious subject in an extremely hyperbolic way by saying if I graduated from Berlin-Edison High School in 1911, and in 1941 there was to be a high school reunion, I would have no desire to attend, knowing a third of my class were Hitlerite Nazis, another third were Democratic Socialists persecuted by the Nazis, and the final third were those clueless to what was happening, or Jews, who for reasons we all know all too well, would not be able to attend...

Texas Easter Bunny Hopping Longhorn

Earlier this Easter Sunday, in a blogging about a Happy Easter Look At North Cascades National Park, I mentioned that someone from Washington, regarding Easter, had verbalized the hope that Texas still lets the Easter Bunny come hopping through, because with Texas you just never know what's what...

Well, the above photo showed up on Facebook this Easter afternoon, indicating that Texas is allowing a Texas version of the Easter Bunny to be seen in public on this special day.

Not hopping, of course, but instead riding a Texas Longhorn...

Linda Lou's Happy Easter Giant Shrimp Without Alligator Nuggets

Above is the result of a recipe the Skagit Valley's Linda Lou directed me to last week. The completed project is in its final stage of resting for an hour, to let the various ingredients merge as one, before being consumed as this year's Texas Easter Dinner. 

The only recipe ingredient I could not find at my backwoods backwards grocery store challenged location was Italian flat parsley. The recipe also called for fresh dill which I thought I would have trouble finding, but Linda Lou gave me directions which proved fruitful, well, dillful.

The recipe called for prawns. Those also were not to be found. So I substituted extra large shrimp. When Linda Lou asked if the seafood section at my Walmart had prawns, I told her I doubted it would, but that there are frog legs available in the Walmart seafood section.

And when I found the giant shrimp, next to the frog legs, I saw something I had not seen before in the Walmart seafood section, that being what you see photo documented below.

Alligator Nuggets and Filet of Alligator.

I was experiencing a buffet in Las Vegas once, I think it was at the Rio Casino, touted as the world's biggest buffet, and frog legs were among the items being buffeted. I did not try them.

I do not think I have ever eaten anything reptilian. I saw lots of people eating deep fried rattlesnake my one and only time experiencing the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup.  

Well, it is now about time for that aforementioned Happy Easter dinner. At an hour past noon...

Happy Easter Look At North Cascades National Park

 

That which you see above fits in with our current ongoing theme of people in the Pacific Northwest sending me things via various means which tend to make me homesick for my former land of scenery, clean air, clean water and a well educated progressively thinking population.

I found the above in my mailbox this first Saturday of the 2021 version of April. An envelope with a postcard inside.

The photo on the postcard is a mountain peak in the North Cascades National Park. It looks like it may be a peak ones sees on the Cascade Pass hiking trail. The photographer is Andrew Porter of Sedro Woolley, Washington. Andrew Porter is not the sender of the postcard, his name was on the postcard's back indicating is was he who had taken the photograph.

Part of the message written on the back of the postcard...

Happy Easter, Durango---

I hope Texas still lets the Easter Bunny come hopping through. But you never know about Texas...

There were several paragraphs following the above two sentences, but they had nothing about Texas which was amusing. The paragraphs following the above two sentences were about March Madness and the finals being dominated by Pac-10 teams, particularly Washington's Gonzaga.

There was also mention made of the wild Washington weather day which ended March, that, and getting COVID shots.

I have yet to make any effort to get a COVID vaccination. I probably should quit procrastinating on that.

Hope one and all have themselves a might fine Easter today...

Aunt Jackie With David, Theo & Ruby Before Seeing Some Ocean Shores

Yesterday, whilst mentioning David, Theo & Ruby's First Good Friday Easter Bunny Visit, I also mentioned that David, Theo & Ruby's Aunt Jackie was currently in Washington and that I had not yet heard if Aunt Jackie had seen the Tacoma Trio and their parental units.

Later that same day a text message with a photo arrived, from Aunt Jackie, confirming she has seen the Tacoma Trio, with the photo above documenting that fact.

Apparently, for the coming few days, Aunt Jackie will be staying at Ocean Shores. I assume with the Tacoma Trio, their parental units, and others. 

If I remember right, the last time I was at Ocean Shores was in August of 2004. Previous to that 2004 Ocean Shores visit it would have been some time in August of 2001 I was last at one of my favorite locations in Washington. I had driven to Washington, from Texas, for mom and dad's 50th anniversary party. A couple days after that dad drove myself and mom to Ocean Shores, where Aunt Jackie, her first husband Jack, and several others were staying at a ocean front hotel.

I recollect that being a fun visit to Ocean Shores. Who could have known, at the time, that this would be the last time I would ever go to Ocean Shores with mom and dad. Growing up in Washington, going to Ocean Shores happened frequently.

Let me see if I can find a photo of that 2001 visit to Ocean Shores...

Now that took way too long to find.

That is the Pacific Ocean behind dad and mom. This is at the south end of Ocean Shores. To dad's right, out of the photo's view, is a big barrier of giant rocks at the entry to Grays Harbor. When I was at this location in 2004 we spent a few minutes watching whales blowing off steam.

At this same location, many years earlier, I was here with David, Theo & Ruby's Mama Michele.

Michele was 4 or 5 years old. It was a Sunday. There were a lot of people on the beach. Suddenly a rogue wave rolled in. I had never experienced such a thing before. People further out began to run away from the wave. Soon I realized I needed to run too. I picked up Michele and made it to a big driftwood, got up on it, but the wave still knocked us over, getting us soaking wet.

I had some explaining to do when we returned to mom and dad.

Here's another photo from that same day. With the aforementioned Aunt Jackie, and first husband, Jack, sitting on that also aforementioned big barrier of giant rocks...

I do not see scenes such as you see above at my current location. 

It is beginning to look ever more bleak the prospect that I will be seeing this type scenery in a few months. I hope I am wrong about this...