Rolling By Dry Desert Drought Of Sikes Lake

My bike rolled me a few miles north on the Circle Trail this morning. A bike ride seemed like a possibly fun thing, what with the temperature barely in the 80s, and some cloud blockage of the sun.

Eventually I rolled to Sikes Lake, which, as you can see via looking over my bike's handlebars, the drought is drying up Sikes Lake.

So far, as far as I know, unlike Lake Mead, no bodies have been revealed resting in the shrinking Sikes Lake.

A possible thunderstorm, with possible rain, is on the weather menu for this afternoon. But, this will likely fizzle out, like most such predictions have fizzled out, of late.

After the dry desert of Sikes Lake it was refreshing to bask in the mist emanating from the MSU (Midwestern State University) fountain.

This current drought is the worst since I have been at this Texas location. Holliday Creek is no longer moving any water. Just a series of isolated ponds remain. What becomes of the fish one sees in Holliday Creek when conditions get this dire?

Hot Humid Hike Through Lucy Park Jungle

Last night a thunderstorm dropped a few drips of rain. By dawn's early light, most of those drips had dried up.

However.

Even though a cold front dropped the temperatures a few degrees, into the low 90s, those raindrops dropping last night amped up the humidity. So, 92 degrees feels way warmer than the relatively chilly 92 degrees should feel.

So, thinking the cooler temperature, and not yet cognizant of the humidity, I drove to Lucy Park for what I thought would be some pleasant nature communing.

I thought wrong. It was HOT.

I walked the Lucy Park undeveloped backwoods jungle section, warily with an eye for anything slithering. I saw zero reptilian activity, not even little lizards.

The photo at the top was taken deep into the Lucy Park jungle.

I have not yet seen a single snake slither this year. Maybe that ultra-deep freeze, below zero, two winters ago, killed off the snake population.

Possible thunderstorming is on the weather menu for today. So far I have heard no rumbles, and the sky is mostly blue.

Cheaper Gas Fills Tank For First Time In Months

Today, on this first Sunday of the 2022 version of August, I filled my gas tank to the fully filled level, for the first time in what seems a long time.

As you can see it took 19.71 gallons to fill the tank, for a total of only $68.18. That works out to being $3.45 per gallon.

I think the last time I got gas it was about a dollar more than $3.45.

A year ago, $3.45 a gallon would have seemed absurdly high, and now, with just a few months of psychological conditioning, $3.45 seems like a bargain...

Mom & Dad's 71st Wedding Anniversary With All Their Children

The photo you see here was taken July 27, 2002, at the fairgrounds in Lynden, Washington. We were there for a BIG family reunion.

Around ten years later I opened a Christmas package, and among what I found in the package was an enlarged, framed copy of the photo you see above.

At some point mom had realized this was the last time all mom and dad's children, grandchildren, and current spouses were together at the same time.

In the years that followed the closest mom came to having all her children and grandchildren in the same location was in March of 2018.

That March of 2018 I was in Arizona, when at my sister Jackie's house a pool party erupted, with brother Jake, me, Jackie, brother-in-law, Jack, sister Michele, and five of mom's grandchildren, Christopher, Jeremy, David, Theo and Ruby.

That was a fun day. I don't know why Jason, Joey and Spencer Jack weren't there. Hank Frank had not yet been born.

In that photo of the last time mom and dad had all their kids at one place, that is mom and dad sitting. From the left you are looking at Jeremy, Michele, Christopher, me, Nancy, Jack, Jackie, Jake (Jake's wife at the time, Jill) Jason and Joey.

Who would have thought, way back in 2002, that the majority of those in that photo would no longer be living in Washington, with eight in the photo moved to Arizona, including mom and dad.

I hope mom and dad are having a mighty fine happy anniversary, wherever they are today....

Revisiting Sarah Palin & The Confederacy Of MAGA Dunces

The above is a screen shot of part of a blog post from way back in 2010. Back then "Confederacy of Dunces" is what we now refer to as MAGATs. Or Right Wing Nutjobs.

Yesterday someone named Anonymous commented regarding this old blog post. I found that comment to be amusing. Which then caused me to read that blog post, again, to find there were several amusing comments made, way back then. And that blog post includes a video full of right wing nutjobs, giving us a fair warning of the utter nuttery to come in six more years.

First yesterday's comment, then the comments from way back in 2010. And click the link to the blog post to watch the video. It's worth the bother...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Sarah Palin & The Anonymous Confederacy Of Dunces":

Popular for hateful people to HATE Sarah Palin. And to hate anyone that is right, true , loving and good. After all, she’s a healthy, hardworking, God loving MOTHER , and leader. Oh, and of course she’s not on the pro abortion slaughter Campaign. She actually respects life. Loves children. Wow. The venom on this site is horrific. All to cover up the God bashing and immoral culture of the Democratic Party. I pray for you all that are so far from God. He is our only hope. We could all learn a better lifestyle with Sarah palin as a role model. For the love of God our creator—STOP THE HATRED AND SLANDER. GET ON your KNEES AND PRAY.

And now the comments from way back in 2010....

Anonymous said...

At least Ms. Palin chooses to identify herself and stand behind what she says, be it right or wrong.

Most unliike yourself, who seems to be afraid or ashamed to let your identity be known.

Of course, now you will dismiss my statement as I have chosen not to identify myself.

Identify who you are, and I will do likewise. Of course I know you won't as people like you like to hide in a cloud of anonymity so that your silly little ego trip can go on and on.

You really are a moron!

Calamity June said...

Where do you find them, Durango? These dunces like Anonymous, I mean? And he/she/it calls you a moron? This Anonymous moron is so moronic it can't figure out your identity? What is it? Two clicks to reading your name, phone number and address? That and how many people who read your blog have you met in person, thus know your identity?

Why do you publish comments from stupid people like this? I'll hazard to guess it's because you find it funny that someone as moronic as those in the Sarah Palin video is making a similar clueless comment.

Durango said...

CJ---You guessed correctly as to why I hit the publish button on Anonymous. She/he/it is too stupid to see the irony.

I also love how I'm anonymous, with how many pictures of me floating about and how many times saying where I'm gonna be at a particular time?

This particular Anonymous has been making pretty much the same comment over and over again for a few days. I think I have hit the publish button on only one.

Do you have any desire to know the identity of this Anonymous? Me neither. You can just tell he/she/it is a creepy troll. There will likely be another Anonymous comment to this comment, telling me again what a moron I am. I likely won't hit the publish button on that one. Unless I find it amusing.

Anonymous said...

Durango, you shouldn't indulge trolls like that Anonymous creep. They are a plague on civil discussion everywhere and acknowledging them only gives them attention they are craving. You probably already knew that, because I do see what you mean by the irony of this Anonymous person commenting as stupidly as all those stupid Palin lovers. I'm commenting as Anonymous. But I'm not the stupid Anonymous.

 

Drifter said...

Why the phony picture? Sarah wouldn't be caught with a BB gun...

106 Degrees Walking Walmart With FNJ & Linda Lou In La Conner

My Favorite Nephew Jason, also known as FNJ, went walking with me in Walmart, late, this afternoon. Jason had multiple items of interest to me to impart. 

One item of interest is that Spencer Jack has his learner's permit and is currently learning to drive, but finds the relentless heavy traffic to be daunting.  The Skagit Valley is no longer the laid back low traffic zone it was when I was Spencer Jack's age.

And then there is Linda Lou, who sent a text to my phone today, asking "Where in the PNW is Linda Lou?" with a photo included as my PNW clue.

Well, this one is easy. Linda Lou is at the park, with tall evergreen trees, under the shadow of LaConner's Rainbow Bridge, part of which we see through the trees.

La Conner is the Skagit Valley's number one tourist town.

La Conner's Rainbow Bridge is one of three bridges connected to Fidalgo Island. One is the Highway 20 bridge, a few miles north of La Conner. The other is the Deception Pass Bridge, which connects Fidalgo Island to Whidbey Island.

These are real islands, not imaginary islands like one finds in Fort Worth, Texas. And these three bridges were built over actual water, with one of them, the Deception Pass Bridge, built over fast moving, deep water.

Built in less than one year, almost a century ago.

Fort Worth builds bridges over dry land, taking many years to do so, and then hope to one day dig a ditch under the bridges, and fill that ditch with Trinity River water and then pretend they have created an island, and a tourist worthy waterfront attraction.

People reading about Fort Worth's bridges and imaginary islands in saner locations in America, and the world, think I make up this stuff, but no, it is totally real. Hard to believe, but true...

Hank Frank Visiting Grandpa Jake In Washington

I text messaged my little brother this morning, wondering if he was still in Washington, enjoying that zone's heat wave, or back in Arizona enjoying that zone's heat wave, and recent dust storm.

Quick came a reply telling me my little brother is still up in Washington, and is in no hurry to return to the Valley of the Relentless Sun.

I then asked if my little brother was somewhere in the Skagit Valley, or elsewhere.

The reply to that probing question was an address on Beaver Marsh Road, in the Skagit Flats.

Seeing that address I then knew my little brother was staying in the Jones Family Compound, in nephew Jason's house, next to nephew Joey's house.

Which is also where Hank Frank lives.

After I replied saying, oh, you're currently living next door to Hank Frank. And asked if he was having fun playing with Hank Frank, who is my little brother's youngest grandson, the next text informed me that Hank Frank drives over for a visit, frequently.

That final text message included the composite photo you see above, with on the left we see Hank Frank doing the aforementioned driving to visit grandpa, followed by his walking mother, Monique. 

I do not know where Hank Frank is in the photo on the right. Inside grandpa Jake's temporary domicile, or at home in his own domicile. I suspect the answer is the latter....

David, Theo & Ruby In Washington, D.C. National Harbor With Big Hands & Marilyn Monroe

Final photos from the Tacoma Trio's visit to the Washington, D.C. area. In the first photo they are climbing on some sculptures in the sand, near National Harbor.

Here the Tacoma Trio is walking with some National Harbor Street Art. In this example, Marilyn Monroe getting her dress lifted by a gust of air blowing out of a New York City subway.

Above Ruby and Theo are standing in the Gaylord Hotel pool. I don't know what they have done with David.

Above Theo, David and Ruby are the rooftop bar deck of the Gaylord Hotel.

And here they are riding on the Capitol Wheel, with the Gaylord Hotel in the background.

I assume the Tacoma Trio and their parental units made it back to the other Washington, without delay, and are currently back home in Tacoma...

Inside Mount Vernon Staying Cool In Lucy Park

On this first Tuesday of the 2022 version of August I drove to Lucy Park for a cool late morning walk in the shade. The temperature was in the 90s. Cooling gusts of wind blew. 

If I were up north in my old home zone of Western Washington I would also be sweltering in extreme heat, with most people not having air-conditioning. However, several of the people I know up in Washington do have air-conditioning, including the Tacoma Trio, David, Theo and Ruby, who are currently flying back home after several days of exploring the other Washington.

A couple days ago when I asked Where In D.C. And/Or Surrounding States Are David, Theo & Ruby? we saw a photo of the trio in front of Mount Vernon, the one in Virginia where George Washington when he wasn't fighting Indians, or the British, or living in the White House.

I asked the Tacoma Trio's Mama Michele if they got to tour George's home. In reply I got two illustrative photos and interesting explanatory text, which we shall see below with the two photos...

Yes, we got to go inside and through the first two floors. It was weird to think about George Washington walking up the same stairs, touching the same handrail, etc.

I only took two pics inside - the first room we got in because I thought I could get the fam reflected in the mirror (didn’t work) and one of the last rooms, his study. He built the desk in the middle and the thing hanging down was a fan operated by his feet! The green color of the first room is notable because the color came from copper and signified wealth. 

They say the rooms look as they did when he died in 1799. Perhaps the most notable thing to me was that the rooms (bedrooms, parlors, dining rooms) were all quite small, even though the mansion appears grand, and that there were no bathrooms. Most old homes have been retrofitted, but not this one!!

Also interesting was that the exterior is wood made to look like stone, so that it appeared grander and more expensive than it was. They applied sand to the wood to give it the feel of stone!! There were also lots of outbuildings with signs that told you what it was back in the day. And we saw slave quarters, the Washington’s tomb, and the enslaved workers burial area, which was originally unmarked, but people have tried to right that wrong.

To get to George Washington's house we took a Lyft (my first time using a ride service because I like taxis, but there aren’t any at National Harbor) to old town Alexandria and then boarded a boat for Mount Vernon.

________________________

More photos arrived in the email this morning. We shall be seeing those tomorrow...

Where In D.C. And/Or Surrounding States Are David, Theo & Ruby?

That was the question I was being asked about seven photos emailed to me last night.

"Where in D.C. and/or surrounding states are David, Theo and Ruby?"

As made mention of previously, the Tacoma Trio, Ruby, Theo and David, are currently in the other Washington, Washington, D.C., where they are taking their parental units on a tour of iconic Washington, D.C. locations, and, apparently, locations, in states surrounding D.C., such as the above visit to Virginia, to the namesake of the town I lived in before moving to Texas, Mount Vernon, George Washington's home.

Above, I believe Ruby, David and Theo are visiting the memorial to our 3rd president, Thomas Jefferson.

And this looks like Mama Michele has joined the Tacoma Trio at the Vietnam War Memorial. 

This one is totally a guess. Are they in the Smithsonian Institute? Looking at some famous piece of jewelry? A Jackie Kennedy pearl necklace? Or some such thing?

The Albert Einstein Memorial Statue. Nice that Einstein got sort of a whimsical tribute for someone so serious, you know, figuring out all sorts of possible things, like atom bombs, among many works of physics, like the Theory of Relativity, and other things I don't understand.

The above is known in Washington, D.C. as the Love Wall, designed by Lisa Marie Thalhammer, located in Blagden Alley.

And now we have headed a bit north and east, to Maryland, and what is known as the National Harbor, with the Ferris wheel known as the Capital Wheel in the distance.

So, how did I do, figuring out where in D.C. and surrounding states, David, Theo and Ruby were?

UPDATE: I missed seeing the following two photos when I first saw the incoming email...

My guess would be that, above, the Tacoma Trio are in the Smithsonian standing by a World War II torpedo.

And, the I Love You sign is likely near that aforementioned Capital Wheel and National Harbor...