HOT 101 Degree July Walk Around Sikes Lake

What you are looking at here is the third Friday of the 2025 version of July view from the rocky east shore of Sikes Lake.

With nary a cloud in the sky, just a slight white wisp which hardly qualifies as a cloud, you might accurately intuit that the outer world at my location is hot, with a little wave action on the lake indicating maybe a slight cooling wind was blowing whilst I walked around the lake.

Today is the first of what is predicting to be day after day over 100, with the first predicted day under 100 being a predicted high of 99 on August 4, with that cold front lasting just that one day, then going back over 100.

Here's screen cap of today and tomorrow's temperatures...

The current long-range forecast for the foreseeable future has the hottest day being the final day of July, hitting 109 on July 31.

How did people live in this climate before the invention of air-conditioning? 

HOT Lucy Park Backwoods Jungle Obstruction

Today, the third Thursday of the 2025 version of July, the outer world is predicted to get heated to a degree shy of 100 degrees, as measured by the Fahrenheit method.

The long-range current temperature prediction, day after day, starting tomorrow, is we will be being heated to over 100 degrees. Some days nearing 110 real degrees, feeling even hotter due to the humidity.

So, to enjoy this last semi-cool day before the heat waves hit, I opted to drive to Lucy Park, intending to hike the Lucy Park Backwoods Jungle for the first time in months. I have stayed out of the jungle due to rain making the trail muddy, and then a flood making even a worse muddy mess.

I do not recollect the Lucy Park Backwoods Jungle being so lushly overgrown, previously, as is currently the case. At some locations the vegetation made the trail so narrow one could not avoid being slapped by grass.

A few years ago I saw a huge snake near the location you see photo documented above. So, the excess vegetation had me being hyper vigilant looking out for snakes.

Once I got to where the trail was wider, with no blowing grass slapping me, I enjoyed hiking the jungle.

 I was about 3/4 of the way through the jungle when the trail ahead looked possibly problematic. You can sort of see the problem in the photo. We'll get a closer look.

A log jam blocking the trail. With no way around the blockage. Tall grass on the left and right. It did not look doable to climb over the log jam. This log jam must have developed during the flood a couple months ago. One would think this would have been cleared by now.

So, I had to backtrack, making for a way longer hike than I'd intended. It was fun though. I'd missed getting my endorphins the past couple days...

Remembering Oklahoma's Turner Falls Park

A Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day, which I do remember, and also remember that this memory could have happened on this day.

I know it was an extremely HOT summer day, near the start of the current century, or near the end of the previous century.

This photo was taken my first time visiting Turner Falls Park, in the Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma.

That is me on the left, Big Ed on the right. I think we are sitting on stone benches outside the structure known as the Castle of Turner Falls.

Using the search function on the blog, I entered "Turner Falls" and found out I have blogged multiple times about the Turner Falls location, with the most recent a blog post posted Friday, August 30, 2013, titled Pondering A Labor Day Weekend Visit To Turner Falls Park In Oklahoma With A Stop For Coffee At WinStar World Casino.

I see in the various blog posts I have links to webpages on my now long dead Eyes on Texas website. Ironically, whilst that website was still alive the Turner Falls Park pages, got the most hits and generated the most AdSense revenue.

I do not know how close I currently am to Turner Falls. Oklahoma is only about 20 miles to the north. Turner Falls is northeast of my current location. When I lived in the DFW zone Turner Falls was due north, and it was way more than 20 miles to the Oklahoma border.

I would not mind taking a day trip to Turner Falls. It has been several years now since I have seen any scenic mountain scenery....

Microsoft OneDrive Memory Of Gar The Texan At Booger Red's With A Buffalo Butt

The photo you see here showed up in my email this morning, purporting to be a Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day.

I do have some memory of what is in the photo.

Other than this photo was from a couple decades ago, my memory cannot be more precise as to something as specific as the day, or year, this particular memory occurred.

I may not remember when this photo was taken, but I do remember on the right that is the West Texas entity I took to referring to as Gar the Texan, due to his lazy laconic style and thick Texas drawl.

Sitting behind Gar the Texan, puffing on a cigarette, I believe that is Gar the Texan's German soon wife-to-be. If I remember right her name was Madaline or Madchen, or something similar.

The location of this photo was in Booger Red's Saloon, at the Buffalo Butt Bar. Or maybe it was having Buffalo Butt Beer at Booger Red's Saloon. 

This was a Fort Worth Stockyards hotspot at the time.

Figuring there was a good chance I may have blogged about Booger Red's and its Buffalo Butt association, previously, I entered "Buffalo Butt" into the blog's search function.

The first thing the search popped up was a blog post from 2017, with the same photo you see above, with my memory, at that point in time, not as faded as it now is.

The blog post was titled Throwback Thursday To Gar The Texan's Buffalo Butt Beer Swilling Smoking Hot German.

Reading that blog post, from 8 years ago, I see my writing skills have deteriorated. I'm not nearly as verbose in 2025.

Or as funny.

 I suppose such is a to be expected age-related malady...

Back To Sun Lakes Arizona

It does not happen often that the daily Microsoft OneDrive Memories from this Day emails are a memory I remember as possibly being from this day.

But, such may be the case with one of today's Memories from this Day.

Those are my feet, aimed at the swimming pool at the Sun Lakes clubhouse, a place I visited every morning whilst visiting my mom in Arizona.

July of 2019 was the last time I have been to Arizona, to visit my mom. I do not remember the exact dates. I suppose I could look at blog posts from July of 2019 and be able to determine if the above photo is precisely a memory from this particular day of July 11.

It does not seem possible that it has been six years since I was last in Arizona. I do remember that last flight to Arizona had me feeling like I never wanted to fly anywhere ever again.

Storms on the east coast made a 10 hour, give or take an hour or two, delay in flying out of D/FW. It was exhausting.

I did not make it to Phoenix til after midnight. With my mom insisting she be there, with my sister, to pick me up, when I finally arrived. I remember mom looked so totally exhausted....

Thursday Back HOT At Lucy Park Roller Blading

On this second Thursday of the 2025 version of July, it was back to shady Lucy Park I ventured, as evidenced by the photo documentation of the Lucy Park Suspension Bridge over the low flowing, slow moving Wichita River, for some much-needed nature communing and that behavior's endorphin acquisition result.

Upon arrival at Lucy Park my phone's temperature monitoring application indicated the temperature, as measured by the Fahrenheit method, was 90 degrees, with the humidity making it really feel like 99 degrees. There was no sufficient wind blowing to provide any cooling wind chill factor.

Today at Lucy Park I saw something I do not recollect seeing, previously, in Wichita Falls.

A roller blader.

A young female roller blader, rolling along fast, making doing so look easy.

Seeing such caused me to think that maybe taking up roller blading again might be fun.

The paved trails in this town, along with the mostly flat topography, would make for some fun rolling.

My old roller blades broke the first time I attempted to use them after moving to this town. I threw them away. I do not remember if I kept the roller blade elbow, knee and hand pads. 

Thunderstorms are on the local weather menu for the next several coming days. I hope with no flooding downpours...

Tuesday Nature Communing With Sikes Lake Sunflowers

On this second Tuesday of the 2025 version of July it was back to nearby Sikes Lake I ventured for some naturally heated HOT nature communing.

According to my phone, whilst I was at Sikes Lake, the temperature, as measured by the Fahrenheit method, was 84 degrees, with the humidity making those 84 degrees really feel like 93 degrees. There was not much wind blowing, thus not much of a wind chill factor to factor into how HOT it really felt.

Since my last visit to Sikes Lake a patch of what I am assuming to be sunflowers decided to go into blooming mode. Maybe the blooming sunflowers were there on my last visit, and I did not notice. That seems likely, as it does not seem likely that such a big bright patch of yellow would have sprouted up since a couple days ago.

We are heading into a period where day after day the temperature prediction is over 100 degrees. Am not looking forward to that.

Not much of a fan of having to retreat from the heat, or rain, to do my daily nature communing in Walmart, or some similar location, like the nearby Sikes Senter mall.

Any time I type Sikes Senter it causes me to wonder how anyone could have thought it clever to spell 'Center' with an 'S', because of the Sikes name, even though 'Senter' and 'Center' are pronounced the same in the American English version of pronouncing those words, it really makes no sense, since I do not think 'Senter' is even an actual word in American version of English...

First July 2025 Monday Getting A Texas Suntan

This first Monday of the 2025 version of July I decided I needed to start working on getting some suntanning happening, hopefully thus not getting so easily sunburned whilst future frolicking on the beaches of the United States Virgin Islands.

It has been a few years since I bothered trying to get an overall suntan. Pre-COVID would have been the last time I browned myself. 

My almost daily nature communing, frequently under a clear blue sky, has some parts of me adequately suntanned.

I am not much of a fan of broiling under the hot sun. Jumping in the pool to cool off is not a good idea, as that washes off the suntan lotion, which can then lead to a sunburn. 

I lasted about 45 minutes before I could take it no longer and retreated to my interior space's air-conditioned comfort....

Sunday Sikes Lake Nature Communing Mushrooms With No Local Texas Flooding

On this first Sunday of the 2025 version of July, it was to Sikes Lake I ventured this morning, for some salubrious nature communing.

The temperature was a relatively pleasant 80 degrees, as measured by the Fahrenheit method. But the Heat Index, measured via factoring in the humidity and wind, had those 80 degrees really feeling like 90 degrees.

But, it really did not feel all that HOT, to me. I suspect the clouds blocking the sun helped mitigate the HOT feeling.

Since my last Sikes Lake visit, a couple days ago, mushrooms have sprouted from the ground, which is what you see photo documented above.

Big mushrooms.

I harvested a few to possibly turn into Beef Stroganoff this week.

I have been asked by answer seekers, living in my old home zone of the Skagit Valley in Washington, if the Texas floods they have been seeing on the news are flooding where I am located.

No. I am far north of the area being catastrophically flooded.

From the Skagit Valley perspective, distance-wise, it'd be like a bad flood happening south of Portland, Oregon. In other words, around 300 miles south of my Wichita Falls location.

However, rain, and possible flash flooding, is on the weather menu for my location today. Along with possible thunderstorms. So far, not a drop, nor a thunder boom...

Humid Hot Lucy Park 5th of July Walk

Saturday, the day after 2025's 4th of July, it was to Lucy Park I ventured for some much-needed nature communing and endorphin acquisition.

You can almost see, via the photo documentation, how steamy HOT the outer world is being at my location.

The weather forecast indicated thunderstorming was likely to be encountered during my time today in the outer world. Along with possible flash flooding.

However, though clouds blotted out the clear blue sky, I saw no lightning striking, heard no thunder booming, felt no rain dripping, whilst I had me a mighty fine time overheating in the ultra-humidity.

That ultra-humidity had me sort of overheating for the first time this HOT time of the year. So much so I overcame my usual bashful modesty and removed my shirt to avail myself of some potential cooling.

This worked a little.

But, I never truly felt cool til back in the air-conditioned comfort of my mechanized means of motion.

Yesterday, on Facebook, I replied to someone's posting about the lack of hearing any firecrackers cracking in the Fort Worth zone. This was during the day. The poster wondered if such was due to the population feeling a bit subdued, patriotic fever-wise, due to, well, you know.

I commented that Wichita Falls was also being firecracker-free, along with the 4th of July Parade being cancelled.

Well.

Last night, about an hour before midnight, firecrackers began exploding. This continued, at various levels of loudness, for a couple hours.

I hope by the time next year's 4th of July arrives America is feeling happier than the current sad state....