Spencer Jack, Hank Frank, David, Theo, Cade & Ruby's Upcoming New Cousin & Sister

Incoming happy news from Arizona, this second Sunday of February.

In the photo above, that would be my niece-in-law, Carrisa, holding my great or grand nephew (not sure of these relative terms) Cade, with Cade's proud papa, my nephew, Christopher, on the right, with all looking at that cake on the table.

With the "Birthday" cake telling us "It's a Girl!".

We learned, on Christmas, that Cade was going to be having a sibling, arriving, if I remember correctly, in August.

And now, we learn Cade's incoming sibling is going to be a sister.

Which will render Niece Ruby no longer being the only girl offspring of any of my siblings, or my sibling's offsprings.

In other words, my nephews, Spencer Jack, Hank Frank, David, Theo and Cade, and niece, Ruby, will be seeing a new girl cousin this coming Summer!

Freezing Deep To 5 Degrees In Wichita Falls In Two Days

Day after day, the upcoming predicted Deep Freeze appears to be being predicted to be Freezing Deeper, as those frigid days draw closer.

The latest has the day after tomorrow, the day known as Tuesday, getting down to a low of only 5 degrees, as measured by the Fahrenheit method.

5 degrees is getting perilously close to the temperature which knocked out the Texas power grid during a February earlier this decade.

This time, if the Texas power grid collapses, I am heading north, across the Red River, to Oklahoma, calling ahead to the Kiowa Casino Hotel, hoping to book a room. And, if that fails, continuing north til I find room at an Inn, of some sort.

That rain, on Tuesday, predicted to turn to ice, may make driving a bit hazardous.

I'll take it real slow...

The Wichita Falls Next Week Deep Freeze

Of late, every morning's checking of the weather forecast seems to be forecasting increasingly colder days, where, previously, the forecast had been for increasingly warmer days.

This morning, I see that next Tuesday we will be experiencing a real temperature low of 10 degrees, as measured by the Fahrenheit method, with the prediction not predicting how cold the wind will make those 10 degrees really feel.

The following day, Wednesday, is predicted to be even colder, with a low of 8 degrees, again, not predicting how cold wind might make those 8 degrees really feel. 

I suspect the wind, next week, on Tuesday and Wednesday will make the temperature really feel near zero, or below.

I am looking forward to March and the Spring arrival...

Wichita Falls At 8 Degrees Fahrenheit Has Me Housebound

It seems like only a week ago, because it was only a week ago, that the long-range weather forecast indicated no more freezing, all the way til the start of Spring.

And then a week later, North Texas, and Wichita Falls, freezes.

Deeply.

As in, today, the day known as Thursday, the second Thursday of the second month of 2025, the temperature in the outer world is 17 degrees, as measured via the Fahrenheit method.

With the wind blowing with sufficient strength to make those 17 degrees feel like 8 degrees.

Really feeling like 8 degrees has me opting to remain in my heated interior space today and forego bundling up in the multiple layers needed to make the outer world feel less frigid.

On the plus-side, weather-wise, clouds look to have moved on, returning the local sky to its regular clear blue mode...

Happy February 12 Remembering Sister Jackie's Birthday

On this date, February 12, in the year 1962, a Monday, if memory is serving accurately, both regarding the year and the day, on that day's morning, I found myself, along with my two other siblings, sitting on the curb on the south side of Fairhaven Avenue, in Burlington, Washington.

Why were my siblings sitting with me on that curb on that day at that time?

Well.

On the other side of Fairhaven, the north side of the street, the town of Burlington's multi-story hospital was situated, a block north of our familial home on Washington Avenue, across from Burlington's Maiben Park.

My siblings and I had been instructed, by our dad, to be so sitting at that particular time, so that he could show us something.

That being our freshly arrived new baby sister.

Jackie. 

We sat there until dad held our baby sister up to the window.

We waved.

Neither dad nor Jackie waved back.

The fact that this happened well over half a century ago, and that I remember it so vividly, is testament to how big a deal this was to me and my siblings, at the time.

Little did we know, at the time, (how could we?), that at the end of the decade our final sibling would arrive, to even bigger fanfare, almost, than the Jackie arrival.

Happy Birthday, Jackie.

Hope you have yourself a mighty fine happy birthday!

UPDATE: Informed sources have informed us that the correct happy birth year of Sister Jackie is 1961, not 1962, as previously erroneously indicated...

Another Windy Wet Freezing Wichita Falls February Tuesday

What you are looking at here is the drippy view through the Levolor blinds covering the window of my computer room view of the outer world.

An outer world currently wet and cold.

Cold as in 37 degrees, with a strong wind making those 37 degrees really feel like 31 degrees.

I won't be communing with nature in the outer world today.

Unless a miracle happens, with the return of a clear blue sky, along with a temperature a couple dozen degrees above freezing.

Tomorrow is scheduled to be even colder, with a low of 17 real degrees. I do not know if wind is currently predicted to make those 17 degrees feel even colder.

And then the next day, Thursday, semi-warmth returns, with the temperature only going three degrees below freezing.

And then on Friday the low is predicted to be nowhere near freezing, with that day's low being predicted to be a relatively balmy 48 degrees.

Unfortunately, Friday's heat wave is short-lived, with sub-freezing returning on Saturday and Sunday.

Spring is only a little over a month in the distance. I look forward to my interior space's climate control system not needing to be in either heating or cooling mode for that short duration before the arrival of extreme HEAT...

Post Super Bowl Party Musings With Appomattox Visitor

I am almost recovered from yesterday's Super Bowl.

Yesterday is the last time I ever have a Super Bowl Party.

I think I may say that every year.

No adult beverages were involved in causing this year's Super Bowl Party hangover.

It was too much of things like macaroni and cheese, fish sticks, fried mozzarella sticks, pizza, chicken wings, barbecue brisket, cherry pie, lemon bars, pecan pie.

I forget what else.

And then there were the virtual Super Bowl Party visitors.

During yesterday's Super Bowl Party, I took a short break and woke up my computer, and saw the current visitors to my main blog, looking, I assume, to see what was happening at my extremely interesting Super Bowl Party.

Apparently, someone from Appomattox, a town in Virginia, dropped in several times during the brief time I checked in. 

Do I have myself some sort of online stalker?

From Appomattox.

Along with another one, from some place in the U.S. called Boardman, who, apparently, is interested in insomnia caused by scary, ugly, fat women.

I have searched my feeble memory bank, trying to remember if I know anyone from either Appomattox or Boardman, and draw a total blank.

Perplexing...

Sikes Lake Windy Nature Communing Way Colder Than Predicted

Above you are looking at the Brownish-Blue lagoon of Sikes Lake.

With the temperature predicted to be 71 degrees, with zero wind making those 71 degrees feel warmer, it was to Sikes Lake I ventured on this second Saturday of the second month of 2025, hoping for some pleasant nature communing.

Instead.

Upon arrival at Sikes Lake, an hour before noon, the temperature was 56 degrees, via the way Fahrenheit measures the temperature. And that zero wind was gusting at speeds around 36 mph, according to the updated weather info provided by my phone.

I do not remember when I last felt so totally chilled as I did today. That and feeling the need to hold onto my hat lest it get blown away.

One gust, which had to be well over 36 mph, almost knocked me over, causing me to stumble, almost losing my balance.

I knew a cold front was scheduled to arrive.

Tomorrow.

Not today.

Today's big chill, with super gusting winds, was totally unexpected, due to being unpredicted.

I think I shall forego going for an outer world nature commune tomorrow, with Sunday predicted to get to only 46 degrees, for the high, again via that Fahrenheit measuring method. I suspect, what with today being way colder than expected, the same will happen tomorrow.

I just hope we are not heading to an unpredicted sub-zero deep freeze, such as what happened in Texas a couple Februarys ago...

Flipping Over A Scenic Lucy Park Photo

Yesterday, I blogged about a Foggy Thursday Start Turning Into Clear Blue Lucy Park, with the above photo documentation, documenting, via a photo, the view, looking south, from the middle of the Lucy Park suspension bridge over the Wichita River.

I thought, upon seeing the photo off the phone, and on to my computer screen, that this looked to be a rather scenic photo of a rather mundane scene.

Then, last night, at some point in time, looking at that photo on the computer's big secondary screen, I opted to opt for something I'd never opted for before.

Flipping a photo.

With the below result.

The river makes for a more menacing sky, when flipped, whilst the river looks to be a much more pleasant, bluish, color, than its actual look of being rolling reddish mud.

I do not think I can make an ongoing theme of flipping photos; due to the fact I do not think I see many scenes which would work to be flipped.

Perhaps I shall try such the next time I am at Lake Wichita, or Sikes Lake, if no wind is blowing, thus rendering the lake surface to a mirror-like quality...

Foggy Thursday Start Turns Into Clear Blue Lucy Park

When the sun arrived this morning, on the first Thursday of the second month of 2025, also known as February, I was surprised to see that a super dense fog had arrived overnight, rendering visibility to be pretty much non-existent.

By the time in the morning when I left my abode, heading to my favorite drug dealer, also known as a pharmacy, and then on to the library, before arriving at Lucy Park, the outer world was still foggy, but not quite to a zero-visibility level.

Upon arriving at Lucy Park, I saw the fog was no longer to be seen. The sky was then a totally overcast gray.

The photo documentation you see above is today's view from the middle of the Lucy Park suspension bridge across the Wichita River. A scenic view of the ruddy muddy river.

By the time my Lucy Park nature communing was over, the clouds had totally lifted, returning to the clear blue-sky norm of which I have grown so fond.

We are now heading into several clear, warm days, heated into the upper 70s and 80s. I do not think anymore fog is on the current weather menu...