Lucy Leaves Turning Color Before Severe Thunderstorm

With a Severe Thunderstorm impending, along with a strong wind blowing, I opted out again of the bike ride option for acquiring my daily dose of endorphins via aerobic activity.

And instead, once again, drove to Lucy Park for some nature communing, along with multiple other communers, including disc golfers throwing into the wind and pecan pickers dodging the flying discs.

The above photo is making the sky look way less threatening than it actually looked. Just remembered, at this point in the long walk the sun burst through the clouds, quickly amping up the temperature.

Today was the first day that leaves changing color has been seen by my eyes, as witnessed by the tree above.

A half hour past noon, the sky is darkening. I suppose the afternoon thunderstorm can start up any time now. The prediction is strong winds, severe thunderstorms, rain, hail, and possible tornadoes...

Senior Citizen Chauffeuring Selfie Practice With McNutty Guidance

This morning I did my semi-regular good deed of driving an elderly senior citizen to a doctor appointment.

Whilst that doctor visit was going on I remained in the driver's seat, reading.

And when I took a break from reading I worked on perfecting the art of taking a smiling selfie photo.

Thelma McNutty has been regularly critiquing the photos I take, regularly generously offering unsolicited advice.

The smiling selfie you see here was the best of today's training session.

So, my regular morning routine got a bit messed up today. I am sure I will eventually recover.

The elderly senior citizen returned from his visit with his doctor in a much better mood than before the doctor visit. Apparently a lab test showed his AC1 number was good. That is some sort of diabetes measurement.

After the doctor visit it was off to another part of town, to a pharmacy, to pick up a new prescription.

My Arizona sister provided this type chauffeur service to my mom and dad for years. I don't think her siblings have thanked their sister enough for having done this.

Rare Hike To Summit Of Mount Wichita With Big Surf

With wind strongly gusting I did not feel like rolling my bike's wheels anywhere. Instead I rolled my motorized motion device to the base of majestic Mount Wichita.

It had been well over a year since I climbed to the summit of Mount Wichita. I thought maybe I might be in better shape than the last time I climbed this mountain, and that the climb might be easier.

Well, it wasn't. Easy, that is. I don't remember when last I had myself breathing so hard and my heart pumping so fast. Plus size was the big dose of endorphins which quickly arrived.

In the above view from the summit of Mount Wichita we are looking southeast, towards the Lake Wichita Dam.

The trail I took to the summit is thick with foliage. The above photo is looking south down another of the summit access trails. The photo does not do justice to how steep this is.

No, that is not me in a long distance selfie heading down the trail I just showed you. 

You can see via the tall waves crashing to shore that a strong wind was blowing. When the McNutty woman next visits she should bring her surfboard with her and show the locals how to ride the waves.

So there you have my exciting second Monday of the 2021 version of November. The new month is already almost a third gone...

The Shadow Of The Lucy Park Thin Man Finds No Pecans

I was over dressed for this morning's Sunday walk in the park.

By the time I got to my Lucy Park parking spot I took off one upper layer.

When the temperature is in the 70s one should not be wearing sweat pants is the lesson of the day.

For today's Lucy Park walk I opted for the backwoods unpaved option.

That option is the only location in Lucy Park where I have had a snake encounter. And it was a BIG one, the type of which I could not determine before it slithered out of sight or camera range.

I think with the temperature in the 70s that may be warm enough for the cold blooded monsters to slither. But none were seen slithering today.

Eventually the unpaved trail takes you to the location above. What looks like some sort of double cross, Or a gallows, is actually, I think, part of an old, long gone, suspension bridge across the Wichita River. There is a similar structure on the other side of the river.

You can sort of make out the unpaved trail in the above photo.

I don't know what type trees these are, other than to assume they are not pecan trees. Because this time of year you see people busy harvesting pecans that have fallen to the ground. Today there were multiple pecan pickers in the more developed part of Lucy Park. Yesterday I saw a couple pecan pickers picking pecans off the ground by Sikes Lake.

All this pecan talk makes me want to have a slice of pecan pie...

Saturday Bike Ride With Dorothy & Other Fond Memories

Again with a look back at my memories from this day that Google seems to think I remember. This time I remember three of the four memories. I have no idea why I am remembering Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I thought this was a photo I took at the MSU Fantasy of Lights, but my bike took me to that location and found that Dorothy, Toto, Tinman, Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow have now arrived outside the Emerald City.
 

As you can see, the MSU Fantasy of Light's Dorothy bears no resemblance to the Dorothy I allegedly remember.

The memories I do remember are the one in the upper left, which is me high above my residence at the time, the houseboat you see docked on Lake Powell.

My antique Casio digital camera took that photo. Smart phones had not yet been invented. But, the Casio camera had a swivel lens which enabled the taking of that which in the next century came to be known as a selfie.

The photo on the upper right is Big Ed in the Rocket Garden at the New Mexico Museum of Space History, in Alamogordo, New Mexico. We happened to be there on the day several astronauts were being inducted into the Space Hall of Fame. While Big Ed wandered the Rocket Garden I watched an IMAX film shot in the International Space Station. This was so impressive. It felt like you were in the Space Station.

Below Big Ed, next to Dorothy, I think that is the Fiery Furnace Hike in Arches National Park. I think that is Wanda climbing up a rock, with either Big Ed or Wally behind her, offering no assistance, with me in the foreground looking at that aforementioned Casio camera.

Was nice being back on the bike on this first Saturday of the 2021 version of November...

Blue Sky Friday Walk At Lucy Park

The recent SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) bout ended today with the return of a bright blue sky, with nothing wet dripping to earth.

And so I rolled my motorized motion device to Lucy Park for a couple miles of communing with nature.

Above we are at the northwest side of Lucy Park, looking at a picnic table sitting on a bluff overlooking the Wichita River.

I have had a picnic only once at Lucy Park. Early on during the COVID quarantine era I bought a Wholotta Box from Taco Bueno and drove it to Lucy Park. The Wholotta Box turned out to contain a whole lotta awful. Worst tacos, worst burritos, and worst chips ever.

After yesterday's Taco Bell experience I am done with fast food Mexican joints.

That is, until I am up north in Washington where I can go to Taco Time and get one of their giant burritos filled with healthy ingredients, rolled inside a whole wheat tortilla, or Taco del Mar for the best fish tacos I have ever had.

I would not trust a Texas fast food fish taco to not be using catfish as the main ingredient. 

It is almost 60 degrees coming up on 2 in the afternoon. Perhaps I will go on a bike ride in a couple hours. It's been awhile since I have rolled my bike's wheels....

Storm Free Visit To Dead Calm Lake Wichita Before Stealing Taco Bell Taco

In the first photo you see here it almost looks like I am at an ocean beach with waves crashing to shore behind me.

Sadly, such was not the case.

I do not know why this looks so stormy, because it was not. Total cloud cover, yes, but zero wind, dead calm, Lake Wichita turned into a motionless mirror.

As you can see I am making a lot of progress with the selfie taking under the kind tutelage of Janatee Largo, also known as Thelma McNutty. 

Janatee is a master at offering constructive criticism, which she offers without hesitation, not caring if the constrictive criticism was solicited, or not.

Today's chilly endorphin inducing aerobic activity took place at the Lake Wichita Dam location.

Usually a strong wind blows here, necessitating signage warning to beware of such. But, as you can clearly see, dead calm was what was happening today.

In the above photo documentation we are on the Lake Wichita Boardwalk, looking west across the lake to Mount Wichita looming tall on the distant horizon.

Off the boardwalk now, heading to the Lake Wichita Floating Dock. When a strong wind blows, making waves, this floating dock can feel like being on a carnival ride.

Now we are on the floating dock, looking south at that boardwalk we were on moments ago. 

And now we are back on the Circle Trail, on top of Lake Wichita Dam, heading north.

It was nice today, being outside without being buffeted by strong wind gusts.

Completing today's nature commune it was a short drive to Taco Bell to pick up lunch. Today was Taco Bell's "Steal a Taco Day". Apparently if anyone stole a base during the recently completed World Series, today, nationwide, Taco Bell was giving away a free Dorito taco. 

I also got a Supreme Burrito. My dad learned to like Taco Bell after mom and dad moved to Arizona. But, me? I do not understand how Taco Bell, or any of the taco fast food joints, stay in business...

Was That A Seattle Seahawk Today At Chilly Sikes Lake?

Coldest day today since last winter's dip below zero. Or so it seems. 

46 degrees.

Cloudy.

With a slow drizzle drizzling down from the sky, making my current location's outer world seem like a stereotypical winter day in my old home zone of Western Washington.

And so I layered on the layers of outerwear and drove to Sikes Lake for a fast walk with the Sikes Lakes geese, ducks and hawk.

As you can see from the photo evidence above, my selfie photo taking is improving. I have been getting selfie instructional input from Thelma McNutty, also known by her stage name of Janatee Largo. Why would you take a stage name when your real name is already memorable? I do not know the answer to that question.

Behind me, besides part of Sikes Lake, you are seeing one of the sculptural works of art stuck on the ground by the Wichita Falls Museum of Art. 

Above we are standing on the bridge at the west end of Sikes Lake, looking east. If I were on my bike this is a location where I stop for a hydration break. No need for hydrating today. Mother Nature was providing a steady stream of hydration.

And now we are on the bridge at the north end of Sikes Lake, looking at the aforementioned hawk, perched on the bridge's railing. The hawk did not seem to mind a human passing by. Having recently watched Hitchcock's The Birds, I was wary of getting too close to the hawk. Even though the attack birds in The Birds were not hawks. 

Was this hawk a seahawk? I don't know if there actually is a bird known as a seahawk, or just a made up name in order to be alliterative with Seattle. I suppose I could Google to find out the answer to this serious question. But I've got other stuff to do right now that is more interesting than investigating seahawks.

Chilly Fall Walk To Wichita Falls Waterfall

The outer world was chilled to 50 degrees when I left my abode this morning. With the windchill factor making those 50 degrees feel somewhere in the 40s. 

I left my abode to drive an elderly gentlemen to his pharmacist to pick up some prescriptions. 

After that I asked the elderly gentlemen if there was anything else he would like to do. It's been awhile since I've walked to the Wichita Falls waterfall, said he. But, that's a bit of an incline to get to the falls, no matter which access point you use, are you sure you are up to such a challenge, asked I?

Yes, was the reply.

And that is why you are seeing a photo of the Wichita Falls waterfall on this second day of the 2021 version of November.

From the Circle Trail a serpentine brick paved trail takes you to the top of the falls. 

The steepness of the trail to the the top of the falls was too much for the elderly gentleman, so he opted out and just meandered slow motion down the Circle Trail, whilst I went to the top of the falls.

Above I am at the top of the waterfall. That person you see below the waterfall is not the aforementioned elderly gentleman.

So that has been my thrilling excitement for today. Doing something I've done many times previous...

UPDATE: Day After Halloween Trying To Find David, Theo & Ruby

 

I was hiking the backwoods area of Lucy Park when my phone made its incoming text message noise. Checking the message I saw a photo with text asking "Can you find your niece and nephews?"

When I got back to my home zone and my computer, I plugged in the phone to extract the photo and check email. In the incoming email was the same photo that was on my phone, with the same text, but with the addition of "Happy Halloween".

Is Ruby holding the green light saber? Is that Theo the green light saber is pointing at? Or is that Theo being Einstein? Is that David behind Ruby, with the red eyes?

And on the ground that looks like a poodle in a Halloween costume looking like my poodle nephew, Blue, who is currently residing in Doggy Heaven with his brother Max.

Late this afternoon of the first day of November another photo arrived in the email, asking if I guessed right. Below is that photo and below that we will see if I guessed which ones were David, Theo and Ruby...

Well, I got Zero right. When I replied to the email I had not looked at the original again and quickly assumed I guessed correctly with Ruby. But, Ruby is not holding the green light saber. Ruby is the one in blue to the left of the light saber. David is way in the back, the redhead. And Theo is in red, behind the green light saber.