The Return Of The Original Watermelon Festival At Downtown Wichita Falls Original Farmers Market

A year, or so, ago, a dispute at the downtown Wichita Falls Farmers Market caused a rogue group to split from the existing Farmers Market to start up a new Farmers Market a few blocks north of the original Farmers Market.

The rogue Farmers Market is not in a nice facility, with an outdoor plaza, such as exists at the original Wichita Falls Farmers Market. 

Last week this town's only newspaper, the Wichita Falls Times News Record had a headline saying Watermelon Festival returns to Wichita Falls Farmers Market.

The Watermelon Festival is the funnest festival I've experienced in this town. So, seeing that headline made me happy.

And then I read the article.

The Watermelon Festival took place this past Saturday at the rogue Farmers Market, not the original Farmers Market.

So, I did not go get myself some watermelon on Saturday.

Then yesterday I got an email which included that graphic you see above. Make note of "The Original" part of the graphic.

Here is the text from the Watermelon Festival email...

12th Annual Watermelon Fest

The Original Watermelon Fest returns to the Downtown Wichita Falls Farmers Market on Saturday, July 29th from 9am - 1pm, hosted by the Board of Directors of Downtown Wichita Falls Development.

Entertainment:

FREE Watermelon Slices - 10AM - 1PM or until we run out

Melon Bar

Seed Spitting Contest - 11AM

Watermelon Eating Contest - 12PM

Fruit Carving by Earl Carter

Watermelon volcanoes and Mini Catapults by CrashWorks

Live Music by TriFikeda

Shopping:

Watermelon margaritas by the Traveling Tavern

Frozen watermelon wine drinks by OG Cellars

Watermelon pie by Pies on the Side

Watermelon soap by The Front Porch Farm

Watermelon earrings by Wildflower Clay Co.

and more watermelon inspired handmade goods!

_____________________

Watermelon pie? That does not sound good to me. Watermelon margaritas and frozen watermelon wine drinks might be tasty.

COVID killed the Watermelon Festival, along with other festivals, like the Blackberry Festival, which was another fun one, with real tasty blackberry cobbler.

The watermelon seed spitting contest is amusing. I do not remember seeing a watermelon eating contest at the previous Watermelon Festivals I've been to. I have zero clue was a watermelon volcano might be, or mini catapults.

Next Saturday is currently scheduled to be HOT, over 100. If I remember correctly the interior space at the Farmers Market is air conditioned. That or it has multiple ceiling fans. 

Chill In The Air Takes Me Back To Lucy Park With Grasshoppers

We are having a brief break from the outer world being heated to over 100 degrees. So, today it was not to the air-conditioned comfort of Walmart I ventured for some high speed walking, it was back to Lucy Park I drove.

After day after day after day being heated over 100 degrees, being outside with the temperature only in the 80s, with a strong wind blowing, it felt relatively chilly.

Tomorrow is scheduled to be even chillier. And then on Sunday we are back in the HOT frying pan.

I have zero clue what type flowers the yellow blooms are, you see above. Lucy Park has a lot of flowers blooming.

With the temperature almost chilly I figured cold blooded slithering things would not be moving too fast.

So, I hiked the Lucy Park backwoods jungle today. I saw no snakes. But did see a lot of grasshoppers. 

Grasshoppers are annoying. But, not as annoying as the crickets that have somehow been invading my interior space.

A couple days ago I made mention of a circus arriving in town, in a blog post titled The Portugal Circus Comes To A Wichita Falls Mall Parking Lot.

In that blog post I made mention of the fact that I'd heard nothing of this circus via local media, not in print, on TV, online or the radio. 

I also made mention of the fact that it seemed like it would be unlikely this circus would have elephants, lions, tigers and bear, or other critters on associates with a circus. 

Well, this morning I heard a radio advertisement for the Portugal Circus. No mention was made of any critters. Just some mention of circus acts, and I think clowns. And that admission is free for those 2 years old and younger.

I can't imagine many toddlers waddle up to the admission gate to get in free....

The Portugal Circus Comes To A Wichita Falls Mall Parking Lot

A couple days ago, driving by the Sikes Senter Mall, I made note of some odd structures being constructed on the mall's east side parking lot, by Maplewood Drive. Yesterday, driving by, I saw that the odd structures were something called the Portugal Circus. Actually, upon closer perusal, the name appears to be DO Portugal Circus.

A circus from Portugal? On a Texas parking lot? In Summer? At over 100 degrees?

Today, after my regularly scheduled walk, currently taking place in Walmart, due to the extreme heat, I drove onto the Sikes Senter mall's parking lot for photo taking purposes.

I saw a sign saying the next show is tomorrow, Thursday, starting at 7:30 pm.

The temperature should still be a bit HOT in tomorrow's early evening. 

Where are the animals being housed for this circus? I assume there are animals involved. Doesn't a circus usually have an elephant, some lions, maybe a tiger or two?

I have seen no mention made of this circus coming to town in this town's rather pitiful newspaper, the Wichita Falls Times News Record. Nor have I heard any mention make of the Portugal Circus whilst listening to local radio.

One thing I do know, for sure, there is no way I am going to a circus on a Texas parking lot during an extreme heat wave...

Mostly Sunny Breezy With Hot Dangerous 109 Degree Heat In Wichita Falls

I won't be doing any extended outdoor aerobic activity today. Walmart will be my likely air-conditioned walking venue.

My outdoor exposure will be just the walk from my front door to my vehicle in the carport, and then from the vehicle parked on the Walmart parking lot, walking into Walmart, a half hour later walking back into the HEAT to my vehicle, driving back to the carport, and then walking back to my front door and cool air-conditioned comfort.

I do not recollect previously reading the day's weather at my Wichita Falls location described as "Mostly sunny, breezy and hot, dangerous heat."

I do not like my HEAT to be dangerous...

Remembering Getting Misty At Six Flags While Smiling In Waco

 It is rare I remember all the memories in one of the OneDrive Memory emails I get from Microsoft, daily. 

Three of today's memories are remembering Six Flags Over Texas, in Arlington. Upon first glance I thought I was looking at Parker County Peach Festival photos, and the multiple cooling misters one finds at that festival.

But, upon closer examination I realized those are Six Flags misters misting people.

The two photos on the lower right are me, smiling like a crazed monkey.

There is this annoying gaslighter I know who is constantly gaslighting me about smiling. It is so annoying, and offputting. I shan't name the offending gaslighter, suffice to say she is real nutty.

I think the photo of me lifting up my sunglasses is from Lucy Park, here in Wichita Falls.

The photo below that I believe was taken on the Cameron Park mountain bike trails in Waco, Texas. I can tell that photo was taken with my now antique Casio digital camera. Whilst the other photo was taken with my phone.

I can not help but wonder what memories Microsoft will bring me tomorrow...

American Hero: Ian Prescott--U.S. Army Sergeant First Class

It is not often at my ripe old age that I read or hear something that manages to jerk a tear. Today was one of those rare exceptions.

Way back late in the previous century, after I had moved to Texas, I got a call informing me that one of my longtime friends, going back to early grade school, was moving to Oklahoma, to a town named Ada. The call was from the friend's husband. He was calling to say hello, and that he was having trouble convincing Chris, the wife, to make the move, with their three kids, the oldest two, boys, in high school, and their girl, in grade school.

Well, they made the move. And it was not long thereafter I drove up to Ada for the first of many visits.

A couple years later I had returned from Houston, dead tired, when I got a call from a tearful David, Chris's husband. Their younger boy, Ryan, had died in a car crash. David said Chris needed me, so I drove to Ada the next day. I arrived thinking I would find Chris in bed. Instead, I arrived to find a house full of people, with more coming and going constantly. With Chris meeting and greeting.

I drove back to Texas that night, saying I'd come back in three days, for the memorial. I did so. I had never been to such a memorial. It was held in a high school high tech auditorium. The school was wealthy due to having oil wells on the property. There were over two thousand people at the memorial, for Ryan and the other boy who died in the crash.

A couple days prior, David and Chris had been asked for photos, for part of the memorial. They did not know how these photos were to be used. Well, it was a slide show, set to music, projected on a HUGE screen that hovered above the stage. I tell you this was not easy to watch, so many scenes of Washington, including the Prescott family on the Deception Pass bridge. There was so much sobbing, able to be heard above the soundtrack.

I first met Ryan and his big brother, Ian, when they were just little kids, the oldest probably not more than four years old. Chris had come for a visit with them to my new house in Mount Vernon. I did not see the boys again, until I saw them in Oklahoma, now with a 12 year old sister.

I do not remember when it was, maybe in 2004, when I met up with Chris at the WinStar Casino, when she told me that one of the things that made her okay with the move to Oklahoma, was knowing I was nearby, if needed. 

In 2008 the Prescotts left Oklahoma, moving back to our old hometown of Burlington. Ian got married to a nice Okie girl named Carrie, and they proceeded to have four or five kids. Whilst Ian joined the military, eventually becoming a U.S. Army Sergeant First Class. 

I do not remember how I first learned that Ian had been badly wounded. At some point in the last couple years I learned that the Gary Senise Foundation was helping Ian. I called Chris last winter, got updated on Ian's current condition, the house Ian and family are getting thanks to the Gary Senise Foundation, and confirmation of reports I had received telling me she had become a bit of a hermit.

The jerking of tears happened when reading the Gary Senise article about Ian, seeing a current photo of him, and remembering that little boy who visited me in Mount Vernon with his mom and brother, all those years ago.

And then I found a TV news article titled "Combat wounded Crestview veteran to be give mortgage free home."

In that TV news article you see photos of the house under construction, details about it being a smart home. Along with a photo of Ian and Carrie's kids, and Chris and David's grandkids, photos of whom, I had never before seen.

War and guns really need to be banned from the planet...

Relatively Cool Lucy Park Saturday Kayaking

On this third Saturday of July the outer world at my location has been chilled to well under 100 degrees. And so it was not to Walmart today for my daily fast walking communing with nature. It was to Lucy Park I drove.

Total cloud cover, gusts of wind, and 82 degrees made for the most pleasant outdoor activity in weeks.

I walked out on the Lucy Park suspension bridge today to see something I'd not seen before. A kayaker kayaking down the Wichita River.

I would think kayaking on the Wichita River would get a bit dicey at times, what with the river getting shallow at some locations.

And then there is a mile or two downstream where the kayaker would come to the location of the original Wichita Falls, which is now not even close to being a waterfall but is a location where the river drops elevation enough to create what looks like rapids.

With rocks.

Tomorrow is predicted to be another chilly day, I hope with wind gusts and lots of clouds. And then Monday we return to getting baked over 100 degrees...

Miss Chris Takes Us To Mount Rainier This Morning

Saw that which you see here, this morning, on Facebook, via Miss Chris, she being one of my favorite Washingtonians.

Miss Chris and Miss Sheila built themselves a new home in the Washington town named Lacey. Lacey is a short distance east of Olympia.

At Chris and Sheila's previous location in the Seattle suburb of Kent they did not have a direct view of Mount Rainier.

As you can see, at their new location, Mount Rainier is an easily seen close by neighbor.

It looks like Mount Rainier has lost most of its snow covering. Seems a bit early in the melting time of the year for the Mountain to be this bald.

At my current flat location, no matter which direction I look, for hundreds of miles, there is nothing like Mount Rainier to be seen on the horizon...

Puget Sound Sand Castles With David, Theo & Ruby

Incoming email from sister Michele, with several photos and the following explanatory text...

"We had a beach day recently, which always means an attempt to thwart the tide. Sadly, the tide won, again."

I assume the beach day was at Harstine Island, located at the south end of Puget Sound, and not Birch Bay, located way to the north, almost to Canada.

David, Theo and Ruby have become adept at sand castling, having received professional training on a Pacific Ocean beach in San Diego.

Above we are seeing the result of the sand castling, awaiting the incoming tide.

 And now the tide has arrived, with David, Theo and Ruby waiting to see if their sand walls can keep out the tide.

And now we see photo documentation documenting the fact that the tide won, washing into oblivion the Tacoma Trio's construction.

I have not seen a saltwater beach since summer of 2017. I have seen seagulls since then, though...

Minestrone & Cereal For Cute Residents Of Kiwanis Park Prairie Dog Town

Well over 100 degrees on this second Thursday of July. Making Walmart my air-conditioned location to go on a nature walk of the anthropological sort, observing the interesting various iterations of humans pushing carts around Walmart.

On the way to Walmart I visited the nearby Prairie Dog Town in Kiwanis Park. It had been a long time since I last visited the neighborhood Prairie Dogs.

I had some minestrone that had been in the fridge for a week. And a couple boxes of unopened cereal that a neighboring diabetic no longer could consume.

A couple years ago a rather dire effort was undertaken to restrict the Prairie Dogs to living inside a walled enclosure. The dozens of Prairie Dogs which had made homes outside the enclosure were evicted, or entombed when their underground dens were crushed.

Upon arrival I saw no Prairie Dogs.

I walked to the Prairie Dog wall and scooped the minestrone into the compound, which did not attract any interest.

Then I started tossing out cereal. Soon I saw what you see above and below.

The above is only a fraction of the Prairie Dog action that suddenly erupted. There were a lot of Prairie Dog puppies. They are cute.

That is a pair of the puppies that you see at the lower left of the first photo, munching on cereal.

The Prairie Dogs, mostly the puppies, did a lot of play fighting between food munching. They remind me of Meerkats.

Since it was so HOT, my visit to Prairie Dog Town only lasted about 10 minutes.

My high speed walking visit to Walmart lasted about 45 minutes.

I suspect tomorrow Walmart will again be my walking location, due to the temperature again being well over 100...