The Return OF Blue Sky & Warm Air To North Texas

On this final Sunday of the first month of 2024, it was back to Lake Wichita Park I ventured today for some fast-paced endorphin acquisition via aerobic stimulation.

Yesterday, walking around Sikes Lake, I was totally under dressed. I was in shiver mode by the time I made it all the way around the lake.

Today, even knowing the outer world was much warmer than yesterday, I layered on too many layers, some of which I peeled off upon arrival at Mount Wichita.

So, today is short sleeved t-shirt and shorts weather, not two layers of sweatshirts on top of a t-shirt, and lined sweatpants weather, which had me overheated by the time I was done, even after taking off the two sweatshirts upon arrival.

Texas weather is so unstable. Goes from super cold to not super cold and back to super cold, then mixes in some rain, and then returns to a bright blue warm sky, like you see today.

Sadly, the recent day long deluge of rain did not raise the level of Lake Wichita much. The new floating dock, which was installed last summer, has yet to have the opportunity to float.

The day may come when this dock floats. It might not be this year, might not be the next year. Wichita Falls has long droughts.

When the new Lake Wichita dock finally floats methinks there should be a city-wide celebration to celebrate the occasion...

Remembering Princess Nancy Of Burlington's Berry Dairy Days Parade

The Microsoft OneDrive Memories of the Day is a gift that just keeps on giving and giving, causing me to think about things I've long not thought about.

Such as Burlington's Berry Dairy Days Parade.

For several years mom and dad, well, mostly dad, would build a float so me and my siblings could be in the parade.

I think the last float was a giant strawberry, with my little sister, Jackie, on top of the berry, and dad inside the berry, pushing it the length of Burlington's Fairhaven Avenue main drag parade route.

I remember the giant berry got stuck going across railroad tracks. Multiple people watching the parade realized what was happening and helped dad get the berry over the tracks. 

The parade float you see above is one of the earlier ones, with my little brother, Jake, helping me pull big sister, Nancy, sitting regally on her throne, in one of the few documented cases of Nancy wearing a dress.

We were fans of The Flintstones. The year before the giant strawberry dad built a replica of Fred Flintstone's car. I wish I had a photo of that, but, I do not think I do.

We did not ride in Fred's car in the parade. Jake and I pulled it, with me done up like Fred Flintstone and Jake done up like Wilma Flintstone, complete with a red wig.

I am not likely going to be obsessed with finding a photo of the Flintstone car and Jake being Wilma...

Saturday Sikes Lake With Swans

With the temperature in the 40s, with a slightly slow wind blowing, on this final Saturday of the first month of 2024 I ventured to nearby Sikes Lake for some nature communing and endorphin acquisition.

As you can see, blue sky has not yet returned. Rain dripped all day yesterday. 

I only saw two birds on Sikes Lake today. Which you see photo documented above. These birds looked to be a pair of white swans. I do not recollect seeing Swans at Sikes Lake previously.

I think I was not the only person who had grown tired of being cooped up, housebound by bad weather, because there were a lot of people enjoying the semi-brisk air today.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to get heated into the 60s. That should render tomorrow a more pleasant outdoor experience than today's...

Final January Friday With Rain Dripping & Thunder Booming

On this final Friday of the first month of 2024, the view out of my computer room window is dripping with precipitation. Along with occasional thunder booming.

This looks to be another day I won't be getting any endorphins via aerobic stimulation at some outdoor venue. 

The forecast is for the outer world to be dripping off and on all day long. And again tomorrow.

This is being like a stereotypical Western Washington winter day. The temperature well above freezing, a total cloud cover and fog. 

I have yet to succumb to being SAD. As in Seasonally Affected Disorder. Two more days of this and I will likely start feeling SAD.

Melancholy Memory From Long Ago

A few minutes ago, on Facebook, I read a posting from the fellow former Skagit Valley-ite, known as Madame McNutt, lamenting the passing of an aunt she held in high regard.

After that I checked email and found the daily Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day.

Today's photos look to be photos of various family reunions of various sizes.

I remember none of these, though I see myself in some of the photos, such as the one above.

That would be me, in the front, on the far right, standing in front of my dad, who looks to be holding my little sister, Jackie, who lately became a grandma for the first time. Standing next to me, wearing what looks like a MAGA hat, is my little brother, Jake. 

Behind Jake is our mom. I cannot tell what mom is holding, or who.

The next person in the lineup, the only one in shirt and tie, I think is Uncle Les, which would make that Cousin Scott, in a white shirt, in front of his dad. Behind Scott is his mom, Aunt Arlene. That may be Uncle Mooch, next to Aunt Arlene. I do not think Uncle Mooch had met Aunt Jane by this point in time.

Back to the front row, that looks to be my eldest sister, Nancy, on one of the rare occasions where Nancy is wearing a dress.

Next to Nancy, in orange pants is Cousin Scott's little sister, Cousin Linda. Cousin Linda has always been my favorite cousin.

I think that must be Aunt Judy I barely see behind Cousin Linda. I think that because next to the one I think to be Aunt Judy is Uncle Mel. Uncle Mel looks to be holding a baby. I would guess that baby to be Cousin Jeff.

Almost half of those in this photo are no longer with us. Mom, Dad, Aunt Arlene, Uncle Les, Cousin Scott and Uncle Mel.

Today's is a Melancholy Microsoft OneDrive Memory....

Grumpy Photo From My Haslet Hamlet Past

The photo you see here showed up in my email this Tuesday afternoon. Every day I get an email from Microsoft allegedly showing me a OneDrive Memory from this Day.

I have no clue what I am supposed to be remembering in the photo. 

But I do remember where this photo was taken, as in this was my living quarters at my first Texas location, that being a 10 acre ranch in a little hamlet called Haslet, a northern suburb of Fort Worth.

My quarters at this location consisted of a bedroom, a bathroom, a computer/TV room, a little kitchenette, and a big walk-in closet.

I am frequently told, by some, that I always look grumpy when photographed. That photo you see here would have been taken by my long gone Casio digital camera, with a rotating lens allowing for the taking of what are now known as selfies, which were a thing not yet invented when this photo was taken.

I spent most of my time at that first Texas location feeling grumpy, so this photo likely is reflecting my mood at that point in time.

Now, back to the present version of Tuesday, the 4th instance of this day in the first month of the new year of 2024.

Today started off with a thick fog of the sort I associate with being near an ocean. I don't know where a thick fog comes from in this ocean-less part of the planet. Rain has been dripping down all day.

So, I have not ventured into the outer world. I may do so later...
 

Rainy Days & Mondays Don't Get Me Down

What you are seeing here is the noonish view from my kitchen window. The forecast for last night and today was for icy temperatures with precipitation precipitating, possibly in the form of sleet, with conditions of the sort which can result in a slippery coating of ice.

Well, that view from my kitchen does look a bit slippery. But it is not, not at all. The precipitation which began arriving before dark, last night, remained unfrozen, even whilst the temperature hovered around freezing.

So, we dodged another Ice Storm.

We are now coming up on 2 on this Monday afternoon. Rain continues to fall and not freeze, due to the temperature currently being a balmy 39 degrees...

Microsoft OneDrive Memory Takes Me Back To Mountain Biking In Texas

Arriving in my email this morning is another Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day that I actually remember.

Though, not on this day, it being a January day. January is not a warm month. 

I appear to be sweating in this selfie photo taken with my antique, long gone, Casio digital camera.

I don't think I have done any sweating in Texas in January, especially at the location of this photo.

With that location being the mountain bike trail that begins in Rockledge Park on Lake Grapevine, in the town of Grapevine.

I have not been on a mountain bike trail since moving to my current Wichita Falls location.

When I moved to Texas I thought my mountain biking days were behind me, what with Texas being a bit scarce in the mountain department.

I soon learned I was once again erroneous.

A couple months after moving to Texas I took a long drive to far east Texas, known as the Piney Woods Region. I was quite surprised to see that the Piney Woods Region looked a lot like the forested zones of Western Washington.

I drove in a park called Tyler State Park. This is a big park. I soon was seeing people on mountain bikes.

And then I came to a big parking lot, located where there were multiple trailheads for multiple mountain bike trails.

I was looking at a big sign with a map of the trails. A couple other guys were also looking at the map. I remarked to them that I was surprised to find mountain bike trails of this quality in Texas, that I thought I was not going to be mountain biking in Texas due to the lack of mountains.

One of the guys asked where I was from. I told him. He then asked where I was located in Texas. Haslet, said I, a tiny suburb of Fort Worth.

Fort Worth? Says the guy. So, you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Well, there are many real good mountain bike trails right in the Metroplex, some of the best you can find anywhere. The guy told me to go to a Bicycle Inc. store where I could get a map showing where all the trails are in D/FW.

I did so, the following week, and was amazed to see the number of mountain bike trails in D/FW. Over the years I think I biked each of them, at least once. And some dozens upon dozens of times, like the Rockledge and Horseshoe Trails on Lake Grapevine.

Another favorite was what are known as the DORBA trails in Cedar Hills State Park. Great biking and hiking trails are in that huge park.

Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association is where that DORBA name comes from. There are three loops to the DORBA trail in Cedar Hills State Park, with the third loop labeled as EXTREME.

Because it was not easy. I only biked the EXTREME trail once. On that EXTREME trail I had my one and only in the wild rattlesnake encounter in Texas. A big rattler, off the side of the trail. I heard it shaking its rattle before I saw the snake curled up, ready to strike.

The week previous to that rattlesnake encounter I'd been to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup, so the rattle noise was fresh in my memory. I think I almost overdosed on adrenalin when I passed that snake, and soon thereafter the trail entered a sort of marsh-like, tall grass section, which greatly heightened my snake anxiety.

But, I saw no additional reptiles that day.

Fort Worth has a couple mountain bike trails. The Gateway Park mountain bike trail was close to my abode, so I biked that one frequently. The Gateway Park trail is a fun one. It has a sort of roller coaster feel to it, in places.

Arlington's River Legacy Park has miles upon miles of mountain bike trails, some marked difficult, which were too difficult for me to master.

In River Legacy Park I had multiple snake encounters, but never with a rattlesnake. Several copperheads, though. And bobcats. Lots of bobcats. And armadillos. Including baby armadillos, If memory serves me accurately I think I put at least one photo of baby armadillos on the River Legacy Park webpage I made years ago.

All this mountain bike talk and remembering how much fun I had in those various D/FW parks, it is making me a bit nostalgic. 

There is a mountain bike trail here in Wichita Falls. I have hiked part of it, accessed by crossing the suspension bridge in Lucy Park. Soon after crossing that suspension bridge one comes to a section of the mountain bike trail called Alligator Alley.

When one Googles Wee-Chi-Tah Mountain Bike Trail in Wichita Falls one finds a lot of websites with information about this trail, including a Facebook page.

A short description of the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail from one of those aforementioned webpages...

"Explore this 12-mile loop in Wichita Falls along the Wichita River. Generally considered a moderately challenging route. This is a popular trail for mountain biking, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime".

I think when Spring arrives I may take up bike riding again, maybe even braving Alligator Alley and the rest of the Wee-Chi-Tah Mountain Bike Trail...

Frozen Icebound Washington Weather Report From Nephew Jason

 My old home zone of the Skagit Valley, and Whatcom County, have been iced over of late, making vehicular travel treacherous. 

Incoming email from my Favorite Jason Nephew, that I did not see til this Saturday morning, but arrived in my email inbox on Thursday. I do not know why I did not see this email til this morning. 

The explanatory text in the email...

FUD -

I took this shot off the TV yesterday afternoon.    

And then checked on our above ground living Lynden relative.

She reported 7 inches of snow in the front yard and 3-to-4-foot drifts between her apartment and the garage.    Jeff came by and cleared her front steps and walkway.

Back here in the valley the ground and air are still frozen. Schools were cancelled yesterday as well as today.  I kept my restaurant closed both days as very few people are out and about.   And as I type this, it is currently snowing in Mount Vernon.  We only have a few inches—but enough to virtually shut down the city.

Temps have been below freezing for a week now.

-FNJ

_________________________

FUD is the abbreviation of Favorite Uncle D. FNJ is the abbreviation of Favorite Nephew Jason. Lynden is a Dutch dominated town a few miles south of the Canadian border.

At my North Texas location we are also freezing, with the arrival of a new Arctic Blast, yesterday. The current forecast for my location predicts possible frozen precipitation precipitating on Monday... 

Green Free Lucy Park Walk With Icy River & Frozen Waterfall

This third Thursday of the new 2024 year I was back in Lucy Park for, I think, the first time this year.

With the temperature in the upper 40s, and little wind blowing, it made for a pleasant bout of communing with nature.

As you can see, what I used to refer to as the Lucy Park Backwoods Jungle, is now totally deprived of anything green, making for a forlorn looking barren landscape.

That is the Wichita River you see above, as it passes through the former Lucy Park Backwoods Jungle. The patch of white you see on both sides of the river is ice. 

That ice ought not last long, what with the temperature this afternoon getting into the 50s.

No, that is not frozen Wichita Falls you see above. The manmade Wichita Falls is a short walk from Lucy Park. When the temperature drops to near zero I assum Wichita Falls is turned off, thus not having the opportunity to freeze over.

The frozen waterfall you see above is Snoqualmie Falls, located a few miles east of Seattle. If you were a Twin Peaks fan, Snoqualmie Falls was the waterfall you saw on that TV shows opening credits.

If you visit the Snoqualmie Falls viewing lookout whilst the Snoqualmie River is in flood mode, Snoqualmie Falls is HUGE, spewing a big wall of mist and shaking the ground like an earthquake.

It is quite a thing to see. And feel...