Happy Birthday To Half Century Plus Baby Sister Michele

On today's date, April 13, over half a century ago, after a long day at Burlington-Edison High School, I drove my 65 Mustang, with Linda Lou onboard, to United General Hospital to meet my new baby sister.

I remember this like it was yesterday.

The arrival of our new sibling was eagerly anticipated. Back then one did not know if the new arrival was going to be a boy or a girl. A long family discussion regarding what to name the new sibling resulted in it being Joey if a boy, Michele if a girl.

That would be Grandma Slotemaker-Jones holding Baby Michele. Michele, being the baby of the family, never got to experience the arrival of a new sibling. I do not remember the arrival of my two oldest siblings. But, I clearly remember the arrival of the sibling that arrived before the arrival of Michele, she being sister Jackie.

Michele liked to go for rides in my aforementioned 65 Mustang.

Michele also liked to drive her own car.

And here we see Michele on a horse with aforementioned sister Jackie. I have zero memory of a horse being in our Burlington yard. No clue where the horse would have come from.

Via the candles on the cake I think I can intuit that the above was from Michele's 4th birthday party. I recognize sister Jackie at the upper right. And next to Jackie, in blue, is Barbara Brown. I do not know who the others are.

The last time I saw Barbara Brown was back in July of 2019, I think. It was at my mom's in Sun Lakes, in Arizona.

I knew Barbara and her husband Dave were visiting Jackie, a stop on a long roadtrip. Jackie did not know if a visit to mom's was going to happen. So, that day I brought up the subject of Barbara Brown, so she'd be fresh on mom's mind, if a visit did happen.

And then around five that afternoon Jackie texted me that they were on their way. I did not let mom know. Barb, Dave, Jackie and Jack arrived. I went outside to greet them.

They walked into mom's house, to the living room, where mom was sitting. I said, "You have some visitors".

I don't know if I have previously mentioned mom had macular degeneration and was thus pretty much blind.

Mom said "Who is it?"

Barbara then said, "Shirley, it's me!" 

To which mom said, recognizing the voice, "Barbara"? 

"Yes, Dave's here too".

Mom then said something like we were talking about you just today.

I don't know if I told this tale very well, but it was a memorable visit. Made mom real happy.

Anyway...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELE!!!!!

Friday Lake Wichita Park Walk With Windy Waves

The second Friday of the 2024 version of April is another totally clear blue-sky day at my location in North Texas.

It was to Lake Wichita Park I drove this morning to do some high speed walking in order to get me some endorphins.

Recent rain has made Lake Wichita not quite as dried up as it has been for months. But, insufficient rain has made its way to the new Lake Wichita dock which has been waiting a long, long time to float for the first time.

I think the purpose of this dock is to serve as a kayak launch pad, if the lake ever gets enough water to float a boat.

A steady strong wind was a-blowing today. You cannot tell it via the photo documentation, but the wind was whipping up waves with whitecaps. 

No one was seen trying to surf the waves...

Endorphin Acquisition At Sikes Lake With No Geese, Swimming Or Boat Floating

It has been a day or two since I have gotten myself an endorphin fix via aerobic stimulation. I get grumpy when I don't get some endorphins.

Yesterday rained and thunderstormed til late afternoon. When the rain finally stopped I drove downtown to the library, to refresh my reading material.

Today, Thursday, the 11th day of the 2024 version of April, the sky at my location is totally free of clouds.

So, it was to Sikes Lake I drove today to get me some endorphins. The rain did not drip enough to flood Sikes Lake to more than a drizzle drizzling over the Sikes Lake Dam Spillway.

Every time I see that NO SWIMMING sign, at this location, it causes me to wonder if they actually had a problem with people trying to swim at this not appealing to swim at location.

And NO BOATING CANOEING OR KAYAKING WITHOUT UNIVERSITY APPROVAL also causes one to wonder. I've never seen anyone floating in a boat, canoe or kayak on Sikes Lake. Does mean the university universally denies approval for anyone asking to go floating? 

Or, more likely, no one has ever asked to get approved by the university to go boating on Sikes Lake.

The multiple installations of coyotes around Sikes Lake seems to have greatly reduced the bird population. I saw no geese or ducks today. I saw one seagull. 

Where have all the birds gone?

Thunderstorming On Terrible Tuesday Tornado 45th Anniversary

The view is stormy, looking north from one of my living room windows, on this second Wednesday of the 2024 version of April.

Lightning is striking, thunder is booming, wind is blowing, rain is downpouring.

I shall stay dry inside today. I don't even think I will try to venture out in it to drive to Walmart for some salubrious indoor fast walking. I'll just try and get by today without my regular endorphin fix.

Today is the 45th anniversary of the deadliest tornado to twist its way through Wichita Falls.

I learned this when I clicked on this morning's edition of the Wichita Falls Times-Record News, That would make the above a screen cap from today's local newspaper.

The tornado known locally as Terrible Tuesday struck on April 10, 1979.

My current abode is a short distance south of the path of that tornado.

I have seen three tornadoes since I have been in Texas. All have looked like the above photo of the Terrible Tuesday tornado. I have never seen the stereotypical twister type tornado.

Madame McNutt & Miss Carol Visit Fidalgo Drive-In & Grandpa Jake

The photos you see here arrived a few minutes ago. I am related to one of those in the photos.

The gigglemugging blonde in pink is the entity known as Madame McNutt, currently visiting Washington, but usually located in Virginia.

The other gigglemugger, who looks like a blonde, but used to be a Lucy-esque redhead, is not visiting from Virginia, but is a lifelong resident of the Skagit Valley, known as Miss Carol BD. 

All of these people, except the one I am related to were high school classmates of mine. The one seated, who is semi-gigglemugging is named Steve Henery, nicknamed Clyde. I think he is the president of an Anacortes bank, or some such thing.

Whilst in Anacortes Madame McNutt and Miss Carol stopped in at the Fidalgo Drive-In to see my Favorite Nephew Jason, who refused to be photographed. I do not know if the girls bought a Fidalgo Drive-In Tulip Field visiting ticket, for $4.50, which included a hamburger.

The one in the photo to whom I am related is Jason's paternal parental figure, the grandpa of Spencer Jack and Hank Frank.

Grandpa Jake lives next to Hank Frank. I do not know if the girls also visited Hank Frank. Or who the photographer in these photos was...

Tuesday Morning Post Solar Eclipse Sunburn Neck Ache

That is me at the lower left, craning my head skyward. Even though the sun was being blocked by the moon, enough sun rays managed to hit my face to cause the first mild sunburn I have had in years. 

It did not occur to me that I should lather on some sunscreen before gazing at the disappearing sun for well over an hour.

Gazing skyward for over an hour has also resulted in a slight neck ache this morning.

Seeing The Sun Eclipsed By The Moon In Wichita Falls

Well, the eclipse of April 8, 2024 is over, for me, at my location. I walked the short distance to a rocking bench on the Circle Trail around half past noon.

When I got to the bench I put on my eclipse viewing glasses to find myself surprised to see the eclipse was underway.

For well over an hour I watched as the moon covered up more and more of the sun. There were odd lighting effects, sort of glowing orangish-red at the sun's edge.

I took photos with the phone, with the photo not showing the eclipse. I then put one of my eclipse viewing glass lenses over the phone's camera lens, thinking that might make the eclipse show up. 

It did not work. That is the best result, what you see above.

The eclipse viewer you see here shared the rocking bench with me. Daylight noticeably darkened as more and more of the sun was blocked by the moon. The temperature noticeably dropped. The wind picked up. Birds got noisy.

The moon shadow phenomenon I have seen pictured before, did happen as I walked back to my abode after the total eclipse part of the show was over.

So, in conclusion, I have to say the solar eclipse was more interesting than I thought it would be....

Remembering Jason & Joey At Lake Grapevine

That which you see above showed up in my Microsoft OneDrive Memories from this Day, this morning.

I do not remember if this memory actually happened in April. But, I think the year was 2005.

FNJ1 and FNJ2, also known as Favorite Nephews Jason and Joey, had been on a cruise with their then girlfriends. I think, if I remember right, the cruise launched from Florida.

Jason and Joey's mom, my Favorite Ex-Sister-in-Law, Cindy, had told me the boys would be landing at DFW with a couple hour layover before continuing on the journey back to Washington.

Somehow the info was relayed to Jason and Joey that I would be at the airport if they wanted to exit the security zone to see me.

And so they did.

Soon after seeing them, Jason's then girlfriend showed me a ring on her finger. On the cruise Jason had made a marriage proposition. In April of 2006 I was in Washington for the wedding. Jason's future wife and mother of Spencer Jack's name is Jenny.

I forget Joey's girlfriend's name. I know it was not Monique, who became Joey's wife and mother of Hank Frank many years later.

Jason and Joey had not been to Texas previously. I coaxed the quartet to follow me to my vehicle, then I drove them out of the airport to Lake Grapevine, which is where the above photo was taken. I think I used a self timer to take the picture.

And then it was back to the airport, because Jason was getting a bit antsy about making sure they got back in time...

Killer Whale Orcas Enjoying Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

Amusing photo on Facebook, this Sunday morning of the 7th day of the 2024 version of April.

The photo was posted by KOMO #SoNorthwest Photography's Facebook page.

KOMO is the call letters for Seattle's channel 4 ABC network TV station.

The attempt at humor here, with the text, "Seems the Skagit valley had some heavy rain..." is suggesting that so much rain fell that Orcas, also known as Killer Whales, made it to the tulips.

Those who have never seen the Skagit Valley tulips, this photo is what it actually looks like, other than the Orca. You can see the Mount Baker volcano hovering above the Cascade mountain foothills.

It is not too far fetched to think an Orca might make its way to the Skagit Valley, via leaving Puget Sound, by entering the Skagit River. Orcas like salmon. The Skagit River is host to a lot of salmon. 

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival has an excellent website. This festival is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, to take place annually in Washington. And is the biggest tulip festival to take place in America.

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival runs from April 1 to April 30. In other words, the entire month of April.

There are tulip events and attractions all over the valley. The traffic jams are horrendous. A bird's eye view of the tulip fields can be had by driving to the summit of Mount Vernon's Little Mountain.

Fully Prepared Ready To Be Almost Totally Eclipsed

Eclipse viewing glasses arrived from Amazon on Friday. Which would make that me modeling a pair of the eclipse viewing glasses superimposed on a graphic showing how close Wichita Falls is to the total solar eclipse.

Apparently, I am in the 95% of total coverage zone. 

The eclipsing begins sometime after 1 tomorrow afternoon. The total eclipse only lasts a couple minutes, but the entire eclipsing from start to when the moon finally relents and lets the sun go back to full shine mode, is a couple hours.

At least, that is my understanding of how this epic event will unfold.

I have decided I am not driving anywhere tomorrow to view the eclipse. I am just going to walk the short distance to the Circle Trail and find a bench to sit on as my observation platform.