Today I Did Not Get Shanghaied On The Way To Lucy Park

It was back to Lucy Park I went today on this next to last Friday of the 2022 version of February.

Yesterday was so cold and windy I did not feel like layering on sufficient layerage to facilitate keeping warm.

So, I went to ALDI instead.

On the way to ALDI I got Shanghaied by a croaky voiced, semi-elderly great grandmother, with a penchant for telling long, complicated narrations, which are sort of like listening to an audio book, as read by Granny Clampett.

Eventually, after sitting in my vehicle parked on the ALDI parking lot, with the engine off, hence no heat, listening for almost an hour to what was yet one more chapter in a soap opera I've been listening to for what seem to be months, I finally had to tell the croaky voiced great grandmother that I had to terminate the tale and head into ALDI so as to put an end to my shivering.

Anyway, that photo above illustrates why I like going to Lucy Park for some fast walking. So many trails going so many directions.

I do not remember previously showing the Lucy Park attraction you see photo documented above. The Lucy Park Log Cabin. Available to be rented for a birthday party, or other event of the sort which a log cabin would be a useful venue.

I have seen the Lucy Park Log Cabin in event mode many times. Including today. Preparations were under way for something.

Due to little wind, the disc golfers were back disc golfing the Lucy Park disc golf course. And pecan pickers were back picking pecans off the ground.

The outer world chilled to around 23 degrees last night. Warmer air is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

I'm ready to watch this winter disappear in the rear view mirror...

Windy Wednesday Walk In Lucy Park

Rain and thunderstorms are scheduled to arrive at some point on this next to last Wednesday of the 2022 version of February.

So, with a steady wind blowing around 20 miles per hour, with gusts gusting over 40 miles per hour, this morning I drove to Lucy Park for a windy commune with nature.

Due to the wind there were zero disc golfers tossing discs today. I don't remember when last I was at Lucy Park and saw no disc golfers.

There were a couple pecan pickers. I think the pecan pickers show up when it is windy thinking the wind will be knocking some new pecans to the ground.

The above photo documentation does not do justice to documenting how windy it was. A gust knocked my hat off, at one point.

I did not have too much trouble retrieving the blowing hat...

Cupid Valentine's Day Card From That Special Someone

Tootsie Tonasket, also known as Aunt Alice, sent me the sweet Valentine's Day card you see above.

Tootsie Aunt Alice enjoys the annual Cupid outing, getting in costume and shooting love arrows at the unsuspecting.

Happy Valentine's Day to one and all...

Warm Walking Lucy Park With No Knead Bread

That is the Side Shadow of the Lucy Park Thin Man you are seeing here.

The temperature returned to being pleasant on this 2022 version of Valentine's Day, and so it was to Lucy Park I drove to have a commune with nature and to acquire some endorphins via aerobic stimulation.

The shadow does not accurately reflect the fact that it was warm enough to be in shorts and a t-shirt.

Last week Linda Lou sent me a link to a YouTube video instructing how to make no knead bread.

Last night, before the Super Bowl, I mixed up a bowl of no knead bread and let it fester overnight.

This morning I baked the load of no knead bread and tested it for lunch today.

It was whole wheat and good. Really good. And easy to make. However, I have not often made anything with flour, or requiring sprinkling flour on a flat surface for dough rolling purposes.

So, I learned flour can turn into a bit of a white dust storm. I'll likely make no knead bread again. But, not today, and probably not tomorrow.

Continuing on from no knead bread to walking around Lucy Parik.

 With that clear blue sky and the brown grass, the above Lucy Park view looks warm.

And so it was...

No Cold Walking Past Local Crime Scene Tape

Too cold to go on a pleasant outdoor walk today. So, I went to ALDI and Walmart instead. Prior to leaving my abode, looking out the kitchen window, I saw police car lights flashing a short distance south, at the intersection of Southwest and Taft Boulevards.

I figured there had been a wreck, hence the multiple police cars.

An hour or two later I returned to my abode via the Southwest Boulevard route. That stops me at a stoplight for the turn left onto Taft. 

When I reached that location I was surprised to still see multiple police vehicles. And yellow crime scene tape strewn all around the perimeter of the property.

I suspect it will be tomorrow morning via reading the local newspaper online that I will learn what happened. A robbery gone bad? A shooting? Something else?

Oh, and it is my little sister's birthday today.

Happy Birthday, Jackie!

UPDATE: After hitting the publish post button I went to the Wichita Falls Times New Record. Turns out I did not have to wait til Sunday morning to find out what happened...

Not Too Painful Walk Around Sikes Lake With No Goose Attacks

Tomorrow it will be a week since I had myself a bruising crash to the icy snow covered ground on the MSU campus. 

Yesterday it was painful walking the backwoods zone of Lucy Park.

I was going to take a break from doing anything strenuous whilst vertical, but by mid-morning I was feeling cooped up and in need of fresh air.

So, it was to Sikes Lake I drove to take a leisurely walk around the lake. It was less painful than yesterday's walk.

What you are looking at above is part of the dam which backs up incoming creek water, causing Sikes Lake to be a lake. As you can see, a fence keeps walkers from falling into the dam spillway abyss. 

The geese were well behaved today. None chased me, unlike the previous Sikes Lake visit.

The geese appeared to be enjoying the warmth. There were no goose flotillas in the lake.

All the geese were in sitting mode, no waddling, no honking, just sitting, like the birds in Hitchcock's The Birds, acting all peaceful before going into attack mode...

Bruising Lucy Park Walk With Tyrannosaurus Rex

It was back to Lucy Park I took my aching self this morning for a semi-fast waddle through the Lucy Park backwoods.

It was way back last Saturday I slipped and fell on hard ice. I saw no bruising in the aching area til this morning.

I would take a photo of the bruise for photo documentation purposes, except the bruise is in an area where my shy modesty prohibits me from sharing it.

It is on the left side of my upper hip zone where the bruise is located. But it is the opposite side, the side that did not hit the ground, that hurts bad whilst walking. 

I've always known falling is hard on the elderly. Now I have first hand experience confirming that fact.

By the time I got back to where I started I sat on a bench for a moment or two, looking at the Lucy Park dinosaur bones from a side I had not looked at before.

It was from this view, above, I realized, for the first time, that this is a partially exposed dinosaur fossil. 

Tail, midsection and head.

Looks like a Tyrannosaurus Rex to me.

I think I will take a break from walking, hiking, biking and roller blading til the bruising abates...

Warm Walking With New Mountain Bike Gloves Making German Burritos

These shoes are made for walking, and walking they are going to do, and if you get in their way, they'll walk all over you.

This morning these shoes walked all over Lucy Park, including crossing the Lucy Park suspension bridge over the Wichita River, where my shoes stopped so I could take a photo, photo documenting we are back enjoying sunny warm weather.

Shorts and t-shirt temperatures and, unlike yesterday, not at all chilly due to wind.

Gel padded mountain bike gloves arrived from Amazon in today's mail. So, now I can resume mountain biking if the mood to roll wheels strikes me. 

A few weeks ago I noticed one of my mountain bike gloves was missing. No amount of searching turned up the missing glove. I figured if I ordered a new pair that would cause the missing glove to show up.

So far that missing glove remains missing.

I used my new found burrito rolling skills creatively for lunch. I boiled some bratwurst, squirted mustard all over a tortilla, put the bratwurst on the tortilla, with sharp cheese and sauerkraut. Then rolled them up like a burrito. In the oven for 10 minutes and out came a tasty German-themed burrito.

Tomorrow the Instant Pot is making wonton soup. Don't be late for lunch or it will likely be all gone...

Tuesday At Sikes Lake With Hoodoos, Joggers, Walkers, Waddlers & Mad Geese

With the ice and snow almost completely gone, except where snow plows piled it into lingering mountains of snow, I had myself a slip free fast walk around Sikes Lake on this 2nd Tuesday of the 2022 version of February.

I was in shorts and t-shirt mode for the walk around the lake. A strong wind made for a chill which made for extra fast walking in order to warm up.

The deep freeze appears to have sprouted some new Hoodoo Cairns at Sikes Lake, such as the balancing acts you see above, and below.

The above Hoodoo Cairns sprouted near the dam which blocks the flow of water and created the lake.

There were a lot of people enjoying the return to a pleasant temperature at Sikes Lake today. Several joggers, lots of walkers, a few waddlers.

I was chased by an aggressive goose today. I do not know what triggered the attempted attack. The monster was honking loudly and making that weird goose hissing noise whilst sticking out its tongue. I was able to quickly run away from the beast.

Tomorrow is scheduled to be warmer. Maybe it is time for my first bike ride of the new year...

Back To Lucy Park Finding Some Snow & Not Falling

That last time I went on a long walk was last Saturday. During that walk I slipped on icy snow and fell hard on hard cement. I thought I would end up with multiple bruises in multiple locations, but, that did not happen.

This morning Doctor McNutt diagnosed that pain from a fall such as this sometimes shows up a day or two later. I scoffed at the doctor's suggestion, and said I was pain free.

And then, an hour or two later I was doing my regular, usually pain-free yoga routine, to quickly find out I have a few sore hotspots.

I decided a walk would be extremely salubrious in my current painful condition. And so it was to Lucy Park I drove.

You can tell via the photo I took of myself that I am in pain. I can barely muster a slight gigglemug.

Lucy Park must have been plowed during the recent unpleasantness, as evidenced by multiple mountain-like piles of snow, such as you see above.

Little ice or snow remained on the paved trails. There are still patches of white in various locations. In a day or two there should be no remaining evidence that this unfortunate coating of white cold happened.

Now it is time for another dose of ibuprofen...