These Shoes Are Made For Walking & Walking They Are Gonna Do While Mourning Cousin Scott

As you see via the above photo documentation the outer world today at my location is heated to a shorts wearing temperature. That would be the left side of the aforementioned shorts at the bottom of the photo documentation, with the shadow of the shorts filling up the middle of the scene.

My shoes were walking me in Lucy Park again. Arrived about a half hour before noon. 

As I was consuming lunch I got a sad text message telling me Cousin Scott had passed away. Scott had a stroke about a year ago and has been trying to recover ever since. A few months after Scott had a stroke his first grandchild, a boy, was born on Maui, with the mother being Olivia, Scott's only child.

Olivia recent brought the baby to the mainland to meet his grandpa.

It was via a rather poignant Facebook post by Olivia that it was learned Cousin Scott's long battle was over.

Olivia included several photos with her Facebook post. Below is a screen cap showing some of those photos of Scott and Olivia over the years...

Whole Lotta Lucy Park Walking With Bad Taco Bueno Memories

After a morning of dealing with the relative insanity, along with oodles of annoying Nutty whining, I found myself in Lucy Park about an hour before noon. The temperature at the Lucy Park time of the day was in the 60s, with no wind.

T-shirt temperature, so off came the sweatshirt.

Lucy Park has miles of trails, part of which is the Circle Trail which trails all around Wichita Falls. There are multiple other trails in Lucy Park, so one can take a variety of routes to get in a few miles of fast walking. 

Today I opted for what I call the Whole Lotta Loop. I call this loop thusly because way back during the lockdown period of the quarantine, when we were encouraged to help local restaurants stay afloat by buying takeout, I went through the Taco Bueno drive thru and got what they call a Whole Lotta Box. 

I then drove that Whole Lotta Box to Lucy Park to enjoy the worst Mexican food, ever, whilst sitting at the covered sheltered you see above, overlooking the Wichita River.

Someday I am hoping the painful memory of that Whole Lotta Box will fade and I can be at this location without thinking of stale tortilla chips, runny salsa, coagulated refried beans, blah burritos, and flavorless tacos...

A Very Merry Christmas Card From Granny McNutty

The above e-card showed up in my email this morning after I returned from a brisk walk in Lucy Park.

I do not recollect getting a Christmas card previously in e-card mode.

I have not seen Granny McNutty in person in decades.

If this Christmas photo is a recently taken one, I must say Granny McNutty has barely aged a day since I last saw her.

I am currently scheduled to see the current version of Granny McNutty in person next summer...

Back To Lucy Park With Fallen Trees

On this second Saturday of the 2021 version of December it was back to Lucy Park for a chilly commune with nature.

A cold front blew in yesterday, extremely hard, blowing leaves like projectiles, creating a dust storm, along with sparking wildfires, one of which caused the evacuation of part of the town of Electra, a few miles west of Wichita Falls.

By this morning almost dead calm prevailed, with a temperature a few degrees above freezing.

Soon upon arrival at Lucy Park wind damage was obvious, as witnessed by the above photo documentation of a blown over tree.

The trees look so odd without their leaves, like that fellow you see above, basically all trunk with maybe two limbs.

Lucy Park has such a large variety of trees. Only a few of which I know their brand. For instance, I can tell a pecan tree is such, due to the nuts on the ground and all the nuts harvesting the nuts. I can tell an oak tree via both the acorn nuts and the shape of the leaves. 

Methinks it would be a mighty fine addition to Lucy Park to put identifying signage by the various trees. This would be quite educational.

I do not know if there will by any nature communing tomorrow. If past history is any indicator, there likely will be some nature communing...

Wichita Falls Riverside Cemetery Walk After COVID Booster

Around 11 this fine Friday's morning I had successfully been injected with a COVID booster shot. Even though I was dressed for a doctor's visit, not in my regular outdoor exercise garb, I decided, since I was in the neighborhood I would head toward Lucy Park for some nature communing in long pants.

But, before one gets to Lucy Park one comes to Riverside Cemetery. The biggest graveyard in Wichita Falls. Riverside Cemetery is on a bluff above the Wichita River and adjacent to Lucy Park. It is from Riverside Cemetery that the manmade Wichita Falls flows. We will get to that further along.

But, first let's take a walk around this huge cemetery. There are multiple historical markers in this cemetery, the first being that which you see above, near the Riverside Cemetery entry. This historical marker explains the historical nature of this cemetery and the many local notables buried here.

As you can see there is a wide variety of final resting places, including many of the above ground crypt sort.

The above historical marker for Felix L. Lindsey is an interesting one. Born in Kentucky to a mulatto mother and full blooded Creek father, Felix was sent to live with a white family named Meeks when he was seven. In 1882 Felix joined the army and became a Buffalo Soldier. His unit was involved in the pursuit and capture of Geronimo. In those Apache battles Felix suffered several wounds, which eventually ended his army career at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, a few miles north of Wichita Falls. So, Felix moved to Wichita Falls, got married, had nine children. Felix began a couple business, earning the respect of his customers. 

This historical marker ends poignantly with "Felix Lindsey is a testament fo the passion and perseverance of African Americans after the Civil War to prosper and earn respect during a turbulent time in Texas and our nation."

No details, other than the photograph, were seen in the above what must be a recent burial.

A historical marker about Joseph Kemp. One of Wichita Falls' founding fathers. You see the Kemp name all over town.

A couple of the above ground crypts, above and below.

Do people have a key to the door in these crypts and come and visit?

 I tried to get a photo showing how large Riverside Cemetery is. The above is the best I came up with.

And here I am looking through the chain link fence which separates Riverside Cemetery from Wichita Falls. If you look close you can see the top of the falls at the center left of the photo.

It was rather an enjoyable walk today meandering around Riverside Cemetery. I only walked a few of the roads. I suspect the grand total is many miles of road to walk in this cemetery.

Warm Endorphin Collecting In Lucy Park With Suspension Exposure

With the outer world back being at a shorts and t-shirt temperature level, as in the 80s, it was back to my current go to place for endorphins gained via aerobic stimulation.

Going to my current go to place for endorphins would indicate that the above photo was taken in Lucy Park.

With the leaves mostly gone from bushes and trees, as one walks the Circle Trail you get views of the Lucy Park Suspension Bridge over the Wichita River that one does not see when the foliage is in full cover up mode.

Which is what you are looking at in the above photo.

Tomorrow is scheduled to be another warm day, but I don't know if I will see Lucy Park. Tomorrow I am scheduled to get a COVID booster shot.

Jason & Spencer Jack's Snowy Visit To Our Only Lynden Aunt

Yesterday, that being the day known as Wednesday, my Favorite Nephew Jason, also known as FNJ, sent my phone two photos. The first, that being the one above, is a classic look at Washington's one and only town which is Dutch themed, namely Lynden. 

The majority of my relatives used to live in Lynden and the area surrounding Lynden. A short distance east of town one comes to Slotemaker Road and the Slotemaker Farm. The Dutch name Slotemaker translates into English as Jones.

When I saw the above photo I could not quite make out who it was looking at the camera. So, I zoomed in and cropped out the camera looker.

As you can see, it was Spencer Jack standing in front of Lynden's most famous windmill. It has been quite a few years since I roamed the main street of Lynden. If I remember right the windmill is one of the access points to a sort of underground mall type thing in Lynden's downtown. I think I remember playing miniature golf in that underground mall. And roller skating and maybe bowling. The memory is hazy.

In the text that came in with the photos Jason did not mention that he and Spencer made a visit to Spencer Jack's great grandpa and gteat grandma. If you look closely you can see where Spencer got his middle name.

Jason did mention that being up in Whatcom County, and Lynden, they were experiencing the first lowland snow of the year.

That and they paid a visit to one of our few relatives still living in Lynden. That being my favorite 79 year old aunt. Jason said they had a nice visit. I have always had fun teasing that particular aunt. She usually took the teasing good naturedly. 

Jason said during the visit they discussed various relative's medical diagnoses. Along with discussing one of the relatives in relative need of a psychiatric exam. And possible behavior modifying medication such as Prozac or Zoloft or maybe Wellbutrin...

Fiery Tuesday Sunset Before Wednesday Morning Lucy Park Nature Commune

What you see above is what the sunset sky looked like last night, looking west, when I was getting in my vehicle in the Walmart parking lot.

The temperature yesterday started off below freezing. By the time I walked around Sikes Lake I had too many layers of outerwear on, necessitating removal as I began to heat up. The outer world was warmed to somewhere in the 40s by that point in time.

It froze again last night. But I did not make the same outerwear mistake for this morning's Lucy Park nature communing. I left the insulating long underwear at home. The temperature was a bit warmer than it was for yesterday's walk, heated into the semi-balmy 50s.

In the above Lucy Park view we are standing on the Circle Trail, looking north at the Lucy Park undeveloped zone, currently leaf-free. In a few months, well, about four months, the scene here will return to being jungle-like with green the predominant color.

But, before green returns we have a long, hard, cold winter to make it through. Hopefully without a state-wide blackout with the temperature below zero...

Snowy Merry Christmas From Joey, Henry & Monique

 

The above arrived in my mailbox yesterday. The first Christmas card to arrive during this getting Christmas cards in the mail time of year.

The card says "Merry Christmas Love, Joey, Henry and Monique."

Which would make that Hank "Henry" Frank holding a snowball.

Joey, Henry and Monique's abode is in the Skagit Flats, near Roozengarde. I don't think snow has hit the ground on the Skagit Flats yet during this snow is possible time of the year.

That looks like a big snowman standing behind Hank Frank. 

UPDATE: This morning I learned via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that snow has fallen of late in the lowlands of Western Washington. Which would seem to render it possible that Hank Frank's snowman and snowball are recent productions. I remain skeptical though...

Sikes Sunset With Good Shepherds Joining Three Wise Men

Yesterday, that would be Sunday, for some reason that day's morning multi-mile walking at Lucy Park did not fill my aerobically induced endorphin needs. 

So, about an hour before the sun was scheduled to set I took off on a bike ride, heading north on the Circle Trail to Hamilton Park, then through the festively decorated Beverly Hills of Wichita Falls to the equally festively decorated campus of MSU, and then on to Sikes Lake where I saw that which you see above.

A few days ago I mentioned discovering what appeared to be an abstract hoohoo rock sculpture installation which appeared to possibly be an homage to the Three Wise Men awaiting the arrival of Baby Jesus. 

Last night, as you can clearly see, it appears some Good Shepherds have arrived to join the Three Wise Men to await the arrival of Baby Jesus later this month.

 A short distance from the abstract hoohoo rock sculpture installation I stopped my bike again to take another photo when I realized the sun was quickly leaving for the day. The sun sets fast at this location of the world.

I took the photo and then skedaddled at high speed the approximate mile back to my home base. There was still some ambient light when I arrived at that home base. But not much...