Remembering Pooling With Nephew David In Arizona

The Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day, arriving in my email a few minutes ago, was definitely not from this day in July.

This particular memory happened one day in March of the year 2019.

Over five years ago.

That would be me lifting nephew David out of my sister Jackie's pool in Chandler, Arizona. I think David is 15 years old now, which would have made him 10 when I was able to lift him. I doubt I could do that now.

I can not remember when last I got wet in a swimming pool. I do not like the pool at my current location. No shade and the water gets way too warm.

The cold snap, which last week was predicted for this week, never much materialized. I think one day this week managed to stay in the low 90s at the hottest. 

My Friday walking venue was once again Walmart.

The Walmart anthropological observations are particularly interesting when the temperature is way too HOT, and way too many attire themselves in way too skimpy, ill-fitting clothing, revealing way too many garish tattoos, and other things best not seen in public.

Do some people not own mirrors?

Flying Google Earth From Texas To Visit My Old Washington Home Zone

Last night I flew Google Earth from my current home zone to my old home zone of Washington state. It had been a few years since I had flown home via this method.

I first checked out the town I grew up in, Burlington, going down Fairhaven Avenue, that being the main drag through town. Much had changed, including what looked to be a lot of new landscaping at the area train tracks intersect with, I think, Highway 20, that being the rode which takes you to North Cascades National Park.

When I got to my old home, across from Maiben Park, I saw something which clued me as to why I find a certain aspect of Texas to be a bit appalling.

That being the sad state of sidewalks in the Lone Star state.

The sidewalk in front of the house I grew up in is wide, with a grass median between the sidewalk and the road. A feature I rarely, if ever, have seen in Texas. And now a sidewalk has been added on the park side of the street.

The house I grew up in is the one in the middle. Seeing the sidewalk, with the median between sidewalk and road, I understand why I find the Texas sidewalks so appalling.

After several minutes in Burlington I headed south to Mount Vernon. The first thing I checked out in Mount Vernon was the Riverwalk along the Skagit River.

The Mount Vernon Riverwalk was built as part of a flood control project. Previous to this new flood control method sandbags were used to build a walk to keep downtown Mount Vernon from being flooded. Now a temporary wall can be assembled quickly by just a couple wall builders, not the hundreds of volunteers it took to build a sandbag wall.

The Texas town I used to live in, Fort Worth, has been trying to build a new flood control method in an area which has not flooded since the 1950s, because flood control levees already prevent such from happening. Fort Worth's slow-motion project, limping along for most of this century is known as the Trinity River Vision, purported to be a vitally needed flood control and economic development plan.

So vitally needed that, so for, the only major part of that Vision which can be seen is three simple little freeway overpass type bridges, built over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

The river that flows through Fort Worth is the Trinity River. This is not a Skagit River type river. As you can sort of see in the above photo, the Skagit River looks like it is flowing clean, clear water. The Trinity River looks like flowing mud, and in flood mode that flowing mud is covered with litter.

That photo at the top is the house I lived in before moving to Texas. Built in 1985 for only $65,000. Sold in 2002 for $132,000. And recently I saw the house has been sold again for a little under a hall million bucks. 

Such seems so bizarre to me. That anyone would pay that much for that house. Only three bedrooms, two bathrooms. And no walk-in closets. The decks in front and back were rather nice, there is that. I had a great roof top garden in the front patio, with two big blueberry bushes, among many other vegetative things, including a lot of basil.

I'm appalled to see a garage door has been added to the open carport, not matching the look of the rest of the house. I see the stairs leading to the front door have been totally re-done. And why is there what looks to be a big plastic tarp above where my bedroom was?

I guess it really is true, you can't go home again. And expect all to be the same as you remember it...

Cool Lake Wichita Visit To America's Third Dirtiest Lake

A cold front blew in overnight, dropping the high today to somewhere in the 90s.

It was in the 80s, with a strong wind making it feel cooler, when I ventured to Lake Wichita this morning for the first time since some American federal agency designated Lake Wichita with the honor of being the 3rd dirtiest lake in America.

Lake Wichita is a shallow lake, and not a natural lake, but a reservoir created by a dam, which is what I walked on to get to the long fishing pier boardwalk you see above.

At the end of the long pier boardwalk I came upon the little guy you see here, holding a fishing pole. I asked how many fish he'd caught. His dad, sitting to the left of the kid, replied, not a bite, and we've been here over an hour.

I did not feel like asking if they knew they were fishing in the third dirtiest lake in America.

Another guy was fishing on the other Lake Wichita dock, a short distance away. I did not get the chance to ask him how many fish he'd caught.

It is being a nice relief having clouds back, well, a few, blocking some of the sun...

This Morning Finding Aunt Alice Surfing With Abraham Lincoln

Yesterday, on Facebook, I enhanced a photo Aunt Alice had posted, which was a tad faded. Aunt Alice always appreciates it when I do this type thing.

This time Aunt Alice commented with...

"Thanks sweetheart. Miss pictures you used to make me into. Probably some on MySpace still."

Hard to remember back when MySpace was a thing. MySpace sort of deserved to die. Nowadays I find myself thinking the same fate should befall Facebook.

Anyway, way back when MySpace was a thing I had fun making photos of Aunt Alice and sticking them on her MySpace space.  

After Aunt Alice made mention of those long gone photos I found that they still exist on Microsoft's OneDrive. So, this morning Aunt Alice has been seeing photos she likely long forgot about, like the one above, or one where she is biking in the Seattle Fremont Naked Bike Ride Parade, or being a Cowgirl at the Omak Stampede, or being the only celebrator of Naked Gardening Day in Tonasket, or auditioning on America's Got Talent with Aunt Alice's Dolly Parton rendition.

There are dozens of these photos, I had long forgotten about them, as likely also has Aunt Alice. I only remember making a few of them. Like the one where Aunt Alice is surfing. Or on a date with Abraham Lincoln.

Aunt Alice was always to totally onboard and good-natured about the photos, not matter how outrageous. I like that sort of free-spirited spirit....

Microsoft Takes Me To Weatherford's Parker County Peach Festival To Get Misted

The Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day is a memory I remember well, and fondly.

The Parker County Peach Festival, taking place this month in Weatherford, Texas.

It was earlier this century I last visited the Parker County Peach Festival and webpaged the experience.

The Parker County Peach Festival is huge. The biggest festival I have been to in Texas.

An outdoor festival anywhere in Texas, in July, is guaranteed to be HOT. The Parker County Peach Festival, the day I got festive was under 100 degrees, but still plenty HOT. 

One could cool off with the many peach themed refreshments, or walk through the many cooling misting stations, which is what you see photo documented above.

It was way back in March of 1999 or 1998 I first visited Weatherford. This was part of a two-week trip to Texas, checking out if moving to Texas was something doable. Weatherford was the first experience I had with a Texas county courthouse square. Weatherford is the county seat of Parker County.

There is, or was then, a Confederate Memorial Statue in the Parker County Courthouse square. Seeing that memorial was the first I realized, yikes, we are currently in the location of the Confederacy.

I can not remember when I last had me a good peach. I need to rectify that shortcoming soon...

Jason Virtually Takes Me To Jones Family Reunion With Clancy

A month or two or three ago I learned via my Favorite Nephew Jason, aka FNJ, that a sort of Jones Family Reunion had been proposed for some date in the, then, upcoming July.

Uncle Mooch, his lovely first wife, Aunt Jane, their daughter, Amy, and grandson Kwan were expected to be in the PNW, flying west from their Boston home zone.

That is Kwan leaning on the Jones sign.

But, the biggest attraction, to reunion with, was incoming, back to live in Washington, after years living on Maui, with her husband, two stepsons and the youngest member of the extended Jones family, Iv, with that being Iv's mom, Olivia, with her right hand on the Jones sign, with Iv behind her.

I do love a good run-on sentence.

Olivia is my cousin Scott's one and only daughter, whilst Iv is my cousin Scott's one and only grandson. Scott sadly passed away whilst we were going through COVID, but not from COVID. Scott was the oldest of the Jones cousins. Scott's sister, Linda, Iv's aunt, is now the oldest of the Jones cousins. With me being the second oldest.

Only one of my branch of the Jones family were in attendance at this reunion, that being Clancy, in blue, to the right of Kwan in the photo.

Iv's Aunt Linda also was not at this reunion.

Jason had this to say about it....

"Clancy was the sole representative of the Jack Jones branch of the family. Your brother, my brother, your littlest sister and myself opted not to join her company yesterday afternoon for a multitude of reasons."

I suspect the rest of the Jack Jones branch of the family will be seeing Olivia and Iv soon, along with Kwan. Niece Ruby and Kwan have a mighty fine time playing together. I remember the pair building a massive blanket/pillow tent on my bed in the condo we were staying in at Birch Bay, way back in August of 2017. 

As for me, I do not know when next I will ever attend any sort of reunion. I have another one coming up later this month, July 27 to be precise. It is highly doubtful I will be there, but, you never know....

Pondering Giant Alligators Arriving In Wichita Falls This HOT Summer

Saw that which you see here, yesterday, via the Wichita Falls Times Record News Facebook page. A report of a large alligator showing up in Coppell, Texas.

Coppell is one of the many towns which make up the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The town is northwest of Dallas, near Lake Grapevine.

I have had me a reptile encounter a few times at Lake Grapevine, Copperhead and Cottonmouth snakes, and Snapping Turtles. But never an alligator.

I did know alligators show up every once in a while. I remember a few years back, a big alligator got run over and killed on Trinity Boulevard, slightly north of the Trinity River. This was not far from my abode in East Fort Worth.

If you visit the Fort Worth Nature Preserve, in far northwest Fort Worth, you may find yourself startled, whilst in the bayou area, seeing Alligator Warning signs.

I do not think alligators ever make it as far as my current location. However, on the section of the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail on the opposite side of the Wichita River from Lucy Park, one comes to a section of the Wee-Chi-Tah Trail mountain bike trail named Alligator Alley, which includes an alligator replica which can be startling to see whilst one is pedaling fast.

I have seen mini-alligators many times in Lucy Park. Cute little lizards which move too fast, making it impossible to take a picture of one.

I wonder if the unusually long bout of unusually high temperatures is causing alligators to venture to areas they usually do not venture, including as far north and inland as my current Wichita Falls location...

Another HOT Texas Friday Frying In The Heat

Currently, on this second Friday of July, it is only 91 edges in the outer world, at my location, with the humidity making those 91 degrees feel like 99 degrees.

So, for the rare second day in a row I opted not to venture out to the outer world for some salubrious endorphin acquiring activity.

I also opted not to go to Walmart, my fallback location in bad weather, for anthropological observations and some high-speed grocery cart pushing.

The weather is wearing me down, way more than previous summers in this HOT location on the planet.

I could escape Texas for cooler climes. But where? My old home zone of Western Washington is in what they think to be a heat wave, with highs in the 80s, overnight lows in the 60s. I have experienced a Washington heat wave after being acclimated to the Texas HEAT. I shiver at those low Washington heat wave temperatures.

There is a high school class reunion, of sorts, the final Saturday of this month. I wish I felt motivated to attend and get well chilled.

I read today that only two American states have never recorded temperatures over 100.

Alaska and Hawaii.

Alaska and Hawaii being the most recent states added to the union, numbers 49 and 50. If I remember correctly, and sometimes I do, Hawaii is state number 50.

Currently I have my A/C set at 78 degrees. I am contemplating going lower...

With Linda Lou Going Back To Arizona & South Mountain

What a coincidence. This Thursday morning the Skagit Valley's Linda Lou called me for our semi-weekly discussion about the current sad state of affairs in this world we live in.

Whilst talking to Linda Lou I saw an incoming email from Microsoft. 

The daily OneDrive Memories from this Day.

Today's Memories have several photos of Linda Lou. Photos taken way back in October of 2018, in Arizona. Today's Thursday is a day in July, not October. Microsoft's Memory is faulty.

In the above photo Linda Lou is befriending a little dog on the summit of South Mountain, in Phoenix.

Before petting the puppy Linda Lou bought some jewelry type trinkets from Native Americans who had their wares laid out for perusal on blankets.

Above Linda Lou is staring at me at the dining room table of the Airbnb we were staying in, in Sun Lakes, a Phoenix suburb, where my mom's house was located.

Apparently, I was sitting in front of my laptop, a now dead Dell product, with a touch screen which I liked, whilst taking photos. There were seven photos of this scene in today's Memories. I do not know why I took multiple photos of this one scene.

I have known Linda Lou since we were little kids, starting in first grade, through high school, and the first two years of college.

There is a reunion next month of my high school class. It is highly unlikely that I will be in attendance...

Getting Hot Endorphins At The Lucy Park Natural Sauna

It was back to the Lucy Park natural sauna, to get me some endorphins, I ventured on this second Wednesday of July. As you can see via the photo documentation, the Wichita River is running slightly higher than its norm, due to the recent precipitation we have had precipitating. 

Last week the weather forecast for this week predicted several days of clouds, rain and thunderstorms.

Well.

Now that that week has arrived none of that weather relief happened. Instead, the sky is a clear bright blue, the temperature has risen into the 90s.

Humidity is high, hence Lucy Park being a natural sauna today.

My old home zone of Western Washington is having what they think is a heatwave, with the high being in the 80s.

At my current Texas location, at this time of the year, if the temperature is in the 80s during the day, that feels like a refreshing chill after day after day after over 100.