Wichita Falls In A Fog Final Day Of August

This final day of the 2025 version of August dawned foggy, as evidenced by the photo documentation of the view from my kitchen window.

The weather forecast for this morning had been for rain, with possible thunderstorming.

No weather forecast mention was made of thick fog reminiscent of being in an ocean-side city.

The nearest ocean to Wichita Falls is several hundred miles away.

The outer world temperature is currently only 71 degrees.

Brrrr.

That is seven degrees colder than I have my air-conditioning set to.

I suppose I should try and find where I stored my long underwear...

Final August Friday Chilly Drizzling Sikes Lake Walk

On this final Friday of the 2025 version of August, the start of Labor Day weekend, it was to Sikes Lake I ventured for some salubrious endorphin acquisition acquired via high-speed walking.

The photo documentation is the view from the rocky shore of the east side of Sikes Lake, looking southwest.

As you can clearly see, clouds have obliterated the regular clear blue sky. 

Whilst walking around Sikes Lake those clouds were delivering some cooling light drizzle, making the relatively chilly 72 degrees feel even chillier.

Later yesterday afternoon the weather delivered a surprise, unpredicted thunderstorm, with heavy rain, for about a half an hour.

Does this seeming early arrival of cooler temperatures portend an upcoming extra cold fall and winter?

I hope not...

Robust Chilly Return To Wichita Bluff Nature Area

Today marked day 11 since I came down with my first cold in many many years. Most of the cold symptoms have now abated, and so, almost feeling back to normal, starting yesterday, I sort of reverted to my regular routines.

Including the daily salubrious endorphin acquiring aerobic stimulation gained via fast walking.

Yesterday it was walking around Sikes Lake. Today it was fast walking the Circle Trail hills in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area.

As you can see via the view looking northwest from the summit of the Bluffs the outer world at my North Texas location remains green. It is almost September, and we are still green. The norm, past years, would be for the color scheme to be multiple shades of brown, by now.

The outer world was almost chilly, at 78 degrees as measured via the Fahrenheit method when I did my hill climbing. Even though the air was relatively chilly I still somehow ended up being a sweaty mess by the time I got back to the air-conditioned comfort of my motorized means of motion.

Today's semi-chill portends for what is to come in a month, or two. The yearly end of artificial air-conditioning....

A Relatively Annoying Relative Being Relatively Annoying About Orcas

A relative of mine, who has always been relatively annoying, texted me multiple photos yesterday, telling me this is the type thing she sees on the rare times she checks in on Facebook.

An Orca having fun in Washington's Hood Canal.

I texted back to the relatively annoying relative saying I would be blogging this tomorrow, and claim it was something I saw in Lake Wichita, thus confusing the locals.

To which my relatively annoying relative replied that these were not my photos to share.

Wait? What?

Did not this relatively annoying relative just say she saw these Hood Canal Orca photos on Facebook?

And shared them with me.

Would not the normal person response be something along the line of "Have fun with it". Or "You really think a local will think Orcas were somehow in a Texas lake?"

I have long had a policy of avoiding contact with relatively annoying relatives. This rare breech in that policy reminds me of why I have that particular policy.

Years ago, a cousin of mine opined to me that in our family most are extremely bright, while there are others in the family who were severely struck with what this relative called "The Dumb Stick". 

It really is best to avoid my relatives who were struck with the dumb stick. No good comes from contact...

Arizona Sister Jackie's Haboob Report

This Tuesday morning, upon reading and seeing the news about the massive haboob dust storm wall which yesterday blew into the Valley of the Sun, I texted my Arizona sister who resides in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler asking....

You kids okay after that horrible haboob?

Sister Jackie replied with....

It was a crazy one. We just have some messiness, and some water made it into the back door. CJ had a tree come down out front, snapped at the bottom, just barely missing the front window of his house. Have not had one like this in years!
 
The photo documentation you see here came with the text message, showing us the tree which blew over at CJ's house. 

For those not familiar with my relatives, CJ is my eldest nephew living in Arizona. The eldest son of sister Jackie and my favorite brother-in-law, Jack. CJ is the proud father of Cade and Cambri, married to the lovely mother of Cade and Cambri, Carissa. 

A second after I texted sister Jackie this morning I realized I'd forgotten the time difference.

I texted about 8 this morning, my Central time.

Arizona is the only state in the Union which does not do daylight savings time, south of the Grand Canyon. So, the time difference is either one or two hours. Since sister Jackie got right back to me I am assuming we are at that time of the year when the time difference is only one hour.

Additional note about the photo. For some reason photos sent to my phone, from sister Jackie's I-phone, don't always work. Clicking the thumbnail just opens a big black screen. Using preview mode and the screencap button, I am able to capture a small version of the photo.

Seattle's New Waterfront Takes Me To Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision

The photo you are seeing here I saw on Facebook today. The best look I have seen, so far, of the new Seattle Waterfront.

According to the Facebook post, which accompanied the photo, the curving mass of concrete is a new walkway leading to and from Pike Place Market. I think that is the Seattle Aquarium on the right, which would make this new Pike Place walkway towards the north end of the Pike Place Market.

Ten years ago the above scene would have seen a double decker viaduct, which was like a wall, separating downtown from the waterfront. 

The rebuilding of the Seattle Waterfront began in the second decade of the new century. Mostly completed by the end of that decade. The project was complicated, and costly, involved the removal of that aforementioned viaduct, digging a new transit tunnel under downtown Seattle, and multiple new constructions along the waterfront.

Changing the subject, slightly, to something seeing this caused me to wonder. As in, what is the current state of Fort Worth's bizarre Trinity River Vision? A pseudo public works project the public never voted on, propaganda-ized as a vitally needed economic development scheme and flood control project, where there had been no flooding for well over half a century.

The Trinity River Vision's main fixation was on creating an imaginary island, called Panther Island, so named for reasons that are head shakingly embarrassing.  This imaginary island was to be created by diverting the Trinity River into a cement lined ditch.

Three freeway overpass type bridges were built, years ago now, over dry land, anticipating that one day that cement lined ditch would be dug under them, with water added, creating that imaginary island.

It is now over two and a half decades since this pathetic project began. One hears or reads little about the Trinity River Vision anymore.

The troubling Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats on the polluted Trinity River no longer happen. The partying aspects of the Trinity River Vision seemed to abate once Congresswoman Kay Granger's son, J.D., was removed from the executive directing job he was totally unqualified for.

Was there ever any sort of investigation into the obviously doomed to fail, Wakeboard Park, which J.D. Granger helped promote, which was one of many costly mistakes made by what eventually became America's Biggest Boondoggle?

Anyway, seeing that photo of the new Seattle waterfront had me freshly wondering how it is one town can be so dynamic, whilst another town can be so mired in being a woeful dud.....

Seeing Nephew David For The First Time In 6 Years

I have not seen my Tacoma nephew David since March of 2019.

Over six years ago.

David is currently 16 years old.

Which would seem to indicate David was 10 years old when I last saw him.
 
Way back in March of 2019 I remember picking David up at the Phoenix Airport.

David's aunt Jackie was driving mom's van, with mom in the passenger seat.

David and me in the backseat.

At some point, as we were heading away from the airport, I asked David if he was staying tonight at Grandma's or at Jackie's.

David's reply was "I was not aware I had a say in the matter..."

I found this quite amusing, coming from a 10-year-old. A level of wittiness I surely did not possess at that age.

Those photos you see above are semi-recent photo documentations of David.

David and his girlfriend, whose name I was told, but have already forgotten.

David still looks like the David I remember from six years ago. But in dire need of a haircut...

Remembering Roadtripping To Taos New Mexico & More

Microsoft's One Drive Memories from this Day's email brought a fond memory back to mind, this next to last Saturday of the 2025 version of August.

But, I am fairly certain this memory took place in October, not August.

It was part of the second longest roadtrip I've ever tripped on. The last roadrip before moving to Texas.

This roadtrip sort of began with four days of houseboating on Lake Powell.

When we got off the boat it was to the treacherous Moki Dugway, we trekked, on the way to Mexican Hat and the San Juan Inn.

From Mexican Hat we took a daytrip south to Arizona, across the San Juan River, to the Navajo Nation and Monument Valley, before heading back north to Moab.

We spent several days in Moab, going to Arches National Park, where, among other trails, the infamous Fiery Furnace trail was hiked. And also, to nearby Canyonlands National Park and Islands in the Sky.

After Moab, half the group headed back to Washington, whilst two vehicles trekked on, memorably staying one night at the high, breath-taking elevation of Silverton, Colorado, staying, if I remember the name correctly, in the Grand Imperial Hotel.

After Silverton, the second vehicle broke off from roadtrip, to head back to Washington. It was just me and Big Ed, then, heading on to the highlight of this entire roadtrip, which was about the halfway point.

Taos, New Mexico.

I have been to many well-known tourist towns. Taos, New Mexico and Leavenworth, Washington are the best I have been to.

Riding mountain bikes, we explored all over Taos, including north of town to the Taos Pueblo, taking the tour.

I had the best Mexican food I remember ever having, in Taos, at a place called Fred's. In New Mexico, in a restaurant, virtually anything you order comes with green salsa. 

After Taos, it was on to Alamogordo, White Sands National Monument, Bisbee, Tombstone, Yuma, Las Vegas, then a beeline back to Washington.

It really has been way too long since I have roadtripped. The last semi-roadtrip was way back in October of 2018, driving to Arizona....

August Microsoft OneDrive David, Theo, Ruby Plus Memories

This morning, I talked to my great grand nephew, or grand great nephew, Cade's, grandma, also known as my little sister, Jackie, for the first time in quite a while.

My little sister, Jackie is also the grandma of my great grand niece or grand great niece, Cambri.

The subject of some of my other sibling's offsprings came up, those being my Tacoma nephews and niece, David, Theo and Ruby.

And now, right when I am feeling melancholy about it being so long since I have seen any of these relatives of mine, along with those two new entries, in Arizona, whom I have never seen, along with one in Washington, Hank Frank, whom I have never seen, what do I get in my email, via Microsoft's OneDrive Memories from this Day?

Photos from August of 2017, the most recent time I have been in Washington, with multiple photos of David, Theo and Ruby, along with one of my eldest nephew, Spencer Jack.

In the photo above, that is me in back of nephew, David, on the beach at Birch Bay. Daivd is 16 now, and quite a bit taller than he is in this photo documentation.

A few days after the above photo was taken, David, Theo & Ruby took me back to the airport to send me to Arizona to see their grandma.

On the way to the airport David, Theo & Ruby brought us to Pick-Quick Burgers because they knew this popular fast-food joint in Fife made real good blackberry milkshakes, and they knew how much I liked anything with blackberries.

If the year currently is 2025, and the above took place in August of 2017, is that not 8 years ago? Which means, if David is 16 now, he was 8 then. And the twins, Theo and Ruby, who are 14 now, were 6 then.

From sister Jackie today I learned that just a couple days ago Theo returned from two weeks in Tokyo, flying there with two of his best friends from school, one of them being the other kid in school named Theo. 

The trio flew with no adults accompanying them. One of the trio's dads is some sort of military contractor, currently stationed in Japan.

Can't imagine myself, as a 14-year-old kid, flying to Tokyo.

Then I remembered a time, way back late in the prior century, taking nephews Christopher and Jeremy to Sea-Tac, to put them on a plane to fly to Los Angeles, to meet up with their parental units, and their grandparental units, also known as my mom and dad, to go to Disneyland, among other things.

I remember it seeming so strange to put those little kids, solo, on a plane. I recollect talking to one of the stewardesses who told me she'd keep a close eye on them.

And now, what seems like only a few short years later, little nephew Christopher is now the proud papa of Cade and Cambri.

Sometimes the elderly favorite uncle of Jason, Joey, Christopher, Jeremy, Spencer Jack, Hank Frank, David, Theo, Ruby. Cade and Cambri does not much like how fast time seems to fly...

In & Out With Cade In Arizona Video Gaming

Yesterday, after blogging Lost Birthday Gift Arrives From Arizona With Grandma Jackie & Baby Cambri and texting my little sister, Grandma Jackie, to tell her I'd not seen, til yesterday, the text and photo she sent me the week prior, Grandma Jackie, texted me two photos of Cambri's big brother, Cade.

When I saw the first photo, that being the one above, I thought, well, they sure are starting Cade early in the family business, thinking I was seeing Cade at one of his Grandpa Jack's McDonalds. 

But, upon paying closer attention it looks to me like Cade is at one of McDonald's Arizona rivals, In-N-Out. 

My first In-N-Out burger experience was at a Phoenix location, back near the start of this century. At that point in time, I thought the In-N-Out Double Double Cheeseburger was the best burger I'd ever had.

Then an In-N-Out opened in Fort Worth. My superlative praise caused someone to agree to go with me to the Fort Worth In-N-Out. Like so much about Fort Worth, it was a HUGE disappointment. Not like what I'd had in Arizona.

A couple years after that I was back in Arizona where I once again had a good In-N-Out experience. A couple times.

The second photo sent to my phone was a bit problematic. 

On the phone I could see the second photo. But, when downloaded to my computer, the photo disappeared.  All that remained was a big black square.

The photos were high resolution. So, I was able to take the file manager preview pane view and screen cap the second photo and enlarge it. This explains why the photo looks a bit fuzzy.

In the photo it looks like Cade is already being a video game master. His dad was one of those when he was a kid, though not starting out as young at it as Cade.

I recollect back when Cade's dad, my nephew Christopher, was about 10 years old I got to take him to the Kingdome in Seattle for a giant video game competition. One of the most bizarre things I have ever eye witnessed. What looked like thousands of kids competing on thousands of video screens.

I was sure, whiz kid that he was, that Christopher would easily win in his age category. I don't remember the results, other than I do remember Christopher was not the Grand Champion. 

Cade looks to be a dead ringer, looking like his dad looked when he was a little kid.

So weird, that in my memory, that does not seem all that long ago.

 And yet, it is. A long time ago....