Welcome To The World Cade Christopher Weston

As I walked into Walmart, an hour before noon, my phone made its incoming text message noise.

I had my hands full at the time of the text message noise.

A few minutes later I remembered my phone had made its incoming text message noise.

So, I woke up the phone and found the following text message from my Sister Jackie, in Arizona...

"It's official. I'm a granny. 4 lbs 13 ounces 18" with strawberry hair 10 fingers and toes!"


 When I saw the message I quickly called Granny Jackie. No answer. Then I figured Sister Jackie must be at the hospital, which meant I would need to call her cell phone, not her landline.

Just as I was about to hit the call button on Jackie's cell phone number, Jackie's landline number popped up.

Jackie was home, not at the hospital. So, Jackie has not yet gotten to see her first grandson. The hospital has strict visiting rules. One visitor at a time. Something to do with COVID. 

The newborn baby boy's dad is my Favorite Nephew Christopher. The newborn baby boy's mom is my Favorite Niece-in-Law, Carissa. 

And the name of the newborn baby boy?

Cade Christopher Weston

I have now been a great Great Uncle three times. Spencer Jack, Hank Frank, and now, Cade Christopher.

I probably should mention that that is not a photo of Cade Christopher you see above. Sister Jackie is going to text me a photo when she gets to see Cade Christopher for the first time.

I Googled "newborn baby boy" and the photo above was the only one I found with what I thought might be strawberry colored hair.

At Sikes Lake With No Parade Or 4th of July Firecrackers Cracking Yet

I did not get horizontal til way too late on 4th of July Eve.

So, I got up this 4th of July morning too late to make it to downtown Wichita Falls for the 4th of July parade.

With the temperature barely 90, at 11 am, with a cooling breeze busy blowing, I drove the short distance to Sikes Lake for some 4th of July nature communing.

This was my first return to Sikes Lake since learning that 343 Sikes Lake geese had been exterminated, with a small population of around 40 geese left alive by the executioners.

Some of those survivors of the goose holocaust are what you see above, peacefully lounging in the shade of a gazebo and a couple trees.

This 4th of July I have yet to hear a single firecracker crack.

When I moved to Texas I figured Texans would be way more gungho exploding things than I was used to in Washington. My Mount Vernon location turned into a war zone on the 4th of July. 

Fireworks stands are plentiful in Washington, mostly on the Indian Reservations. Texas only has a couple Indian Reservations. And thus, few fireworks stands.

And thus Texas is not nearly as loud on the 4th of July as my old Washington home zone.

I suspect, though, before today is done, I will have heard at least one firecracker cracking...

Hot Sunday Under The Blue Sky Above The Lucy Park Pagoda Remains

With the temperature a relatively cool 90 degree, with humidity and a little wind making those 90 degrees really feel like 93 degrees, it was back to the shade of Lucy Park I ventured on this first Sunday of July.

Which would make that the ruins of the Lucy Park Pagoda you here. Inside the remains of the Pagoda, looking up at the clear blue sky

It has been a few months since the Lucy Park Pagoda went up in flames. Methinks the metal remains need to be painted with a rust-proof paint, in a pleasing color, before Mother Nature oxidizes that which remains.

My usual Lucy Park parking location by the log cabin was full today. Not due to anything going on at the log cabin, but instead due to the fact that the Lucy Park swimming pool, located on the opposite side of the parking lot from the log cabin, is now open, with a lot of screaming kids getting wet and shouting Marco Polo over and over again.

The current temperature predicted for the 4th of July is a high of 99 degrees. The 4th of July parade starts at 9 am. The air should be way cooler than 99 degrees at that point in time. And my parade viewing location is under the shade provided by a tall building. 

Shady Lucy Park With Geese Mass Murder Protestors AT MSU

The temperature in the outer world was cold enough this morning to motivate me to drive to Lucy Park for some shady high speed walking. On the way to Lucy Park, on Taft Boulevard, on the Midwestern State University campus, I saw the lady you see above, protesting the mass murder of 343 Sikes Lake geese.

On the way back from Lucy Park I slowed up when I came upon the protesting lady, hoping to take a picture, and read what the sign said.

"HONK FOR The GEESE Who CAN'T"

I added the much needed apostrophe to CANT.

I recognized this lady. I have made mention of her, previously, as recently as a week ago in More Details About The Mass Murder Of Sikes Lake Geese.

When I saw the Goose Extermination Protestor on the way to Lucy Park she was protesting solo. When I saw her on the way back from Lucy Park she had been joined by another protestor. A bearded man holding a sign. I did not get a photo of him, nor do I remember what his sign precisely said, but I do remember the phrase, "GEESE MURDER" was part of it.

Now, on to shady Lucy Park.

The Lucy Park suspension bridge over the Wichita River was looking hot today. The temperature when I arrived at Lucy Park was 93, with a strong wind blowing, but the humidity supposedly making those 93 degrees really feel like 99.

I did not overheat.

But, by the end of the walking I was no longer wearing a shirt.

As you can see, the Lucy Park trees provide a nice cover of shade. The temperature is pleasantly cooler under the shade.

Lucy Park is the only one of my various walking locations which provides a lot of shade.

Tomorrow a cold front arrives, with the temperature scheduled not to go over 100, instead only heating into the 90s.

I am hoping Tuesday is another semi-cool day, so I can comfortably go to the 4th of July parade in downtown Wichita Falls. This parade was cancelled a couple years due to COVID. It is a fun parade....

Remembering Archer City, Deception Pass & Skinny-Dipping With Cybil Shepherd

I had not, of late, made note of the daily Microsoft OneDrive memories which show up in my email.

Today I learned the reason I had not, of late, made note of the daily Microsoft OneDrive memories, was because those memory emails have been going into the Promotions folder, which I tend to ignore, instead of the Primary folder, which is the folder where the email I pay attention to goes.

Today's OneDrive memories from today are of Archer City, here in Texas, and Deception Pass, in my old home zone of Washington.

It may have been in June that I drove from my old former location, in Fort Worth, to Archer City, during the period of time I was making my Eyes on Texas website.

It was a long drive from Fort Worth. From my current Wichita Falls location Archer City is about 20 miles to the south.

Archer City was where The Last Picture Show was filmed. The Last Picture Show was based on a book with the same title, by Larry McMurtry.

Archer City was Larry McMurtry's hometown. Eventually he opened a Booked Up bookstore in Archer City which became a destination tourist attraction.

I made the Archer City webpage in Black and White because The Last Picture Show was a rare, at that point in time, black and white movie.

There is a scene in The Last Picture Show which takes place at a pool party, an indoor pool party.

This scene was filmed in a Wichita Falls house which is in the area slightly to the north of my location, which I refer to as the Wichita Falls Beverly Hills.

I have never learned which of the Wichita Falls Beverly Hills mansions is the one in which Cybil Shepherd did her famous skinny-dipping scene.

As for this June memory of Deception Pass. I have zero recollection of being in Washington, in June, since I moved to Texas. So, a June memory of Deception Pass would have to be from some point in time in the previous century...

Most Of Texas Hotter Today Than 99% OF The Planet

Saw that which you see here, this morning, on Facebook. Apparently, most of Texas, along with an area of northeast Africa, and a large area of the Middle East, are scheduled to be HOTTER than 99% of the Earth planet today.

Are we actually HOTTER today, here in Texas, than the Valley of the Sun in Arizona? And Death Valley in California?

My heat pump air conditioning system is keeping the temperature a relatively cool 78 degrees in my interior space. I drove to ALDI and Walmart yesterday around 5 with the temperature a sizzling 111. 

Walmart will be my air conditioned endorphin inducing via walking fast venue today...
 

107 Deadly Degrees Roasting My Texas Location

107 degrees is the predicted high today at my North Texas location. The humidity remains high, but a strong wind will be blowing today, making those 107 degrees really feel like a relatively chilly 106 degrees.

I won't be going on a walk in the outer world today. At my advanced elderly age doing such risks a heat stroke.

So far that predicted strong wind has yet to blow a single gust...

The Ongoing Spread Of Deadly Texas Heat

Saw that which you see here a couple minutes ago on the online version of CNN. 

Apparently deadly Texas heat is spreading and is going to get hotter.

Three paragraphs from the CNN article...

Parts of Texas have been roasting for more than two weeks and flirting with the state’s record high temperature, and now, temperatures could get even hotter and expand to other areas across the South.

“Many areas outside south and south-central Texas (will) experience their most significant heat of the season thus far,” the Weather Prediction Center said on Friday.

More than 90 record high temperatures could be broken this week from Texas to Missouri to Florida, with the majority of those occurring Wednesday through Friday.

____________________

I no longer have hot and cold running water. I have hot and lukewarm running water.

I did my endorphin acquiring aerobic stimulation today in the air-conditioned comfort of Walmart.

If the Texas grid collapses, like it did during a deep freeze a couple winters ago, I am escaping to the north, to Oklahoma...

More Details About The Mass Murder Of Sikes Lake Geese

 A couple days ago I blogged about the Mass Execution Of Sikes Lake Geese By MSU & Texas Wildlife Services.

At time I knew only a few details about the Goose Executions. I now know a lot more.

From one local news source I learned many locals are not okay with the goose mass murders...

Rumors of the removal of the geese from Sikes Lake began circulating on social media prior to Monday, June 19, leading to overwhelming backlash from many community members.

Many residents of Wichita Falls continue to express outrage and sadness over the decision to remove and euthanize almost all of the geese at Sikes Lake, and our newsroom continues to field questions from viewers and outraged comments on social media.

_______________________

334 geese were killed.

The flock of geese was concentrated using something called "funnel nets" directing the birds into a trailer. Carbon dioxide was then pumped into the trailer, killing the geese.

I do not know what was done with the 334 dead geese. I also do not know when this mass execution took place, as in what time of the day. There are always people at Sikes Lake during the day. How is it not photos have shown up of this happening?

Since the original story about this appeared in the Wichita Falls Times Record News, with that article saying the reason for killing all thoses geese was due to the damage they were doing to the MSU campus. This was said without explaining what that damage was.

Subsequent articles in other local news sources have elaborated on what the geese were doing that was so damaging. Such as grazing on lake side vegetation which supposedly destroyed ground cover, leading to erosion and siltation.

I have walked around Sikes Lakes many times over the years and have seen zero evidence of ground cover destruction.

Also, it is claimed that goose poop contains a high level of salmonella, which presented a danger to kids who came in contact with it.

It is also now claimed that a lake with a high population of birds can cause a botulism outbreak.

The plan to keep the Sikes Lake goose population under control seems a tad bizarre. Apparently something called an "egg-addling" program is going to be implemented.

To addle an egg means you cover a fertilized egg with vegetable oil. This cuts off the oxygen supply to the goose waiting to hatch. The mama goose then continues to sit on the egg, which will never hatch. As long as the mama goose is sitting on some eggs, she won't lay any new eggs.

This really makes little sense to me. How long does the poor mama goose sit on those eggs, waiting for them to hatch? And how are the egg nests found? I have never seen a nesting goose at Sikes Lake. I have seen dozens upon dozens of newly hatched goslings, but never a nest.

That photo at the top I took months ago. Two ladies were creating a goose frenzy, feeding the goose flock birdseed. I talked to the two ladies. They daily delivered birdseed to the Sikes Lake geese. The geese recognized the lady's vehicle upon arrival causing the flock to flock towards the vehicle. 

The lady in the photo, surrounded by geese, told me she had rescued an injured goose a couple days prior. Had taken the goose to a veterinarian, who was fixing the injured bird. The lady was getting the goose later that day to return it to the lake.

I suspect those two birdseed feeding ladies are among the many upset about the execution of 334 Sikes Lake geese...

Texas Today Starts A Prolonged And Extreme Heat Wave

Apparently my location on the planet is under a Heat Advisory from June 24, which is today, the final Saturday of June, til August 7.

That is a lot of way too HOT days.

Today the Heat Index will have 104 degrees feeling like 107 degrees.

107 degrees will have me not feeling like being outside.

I do not recollect previously seeing a warning like the one in today's weather forecast, "Hotter with plenty of sunshine, breezy this afternoon; start of a prolonged and extreme heat wave."

Yeah, a heat wave lasting from today til August 7 seems legit to describe as a prolonged and extreme heat wave.

We are being asked to try and cut back on electricity use.

I hope the Texas grid does not melt down...