Finally Able To Drive And Forage For Food In Texas With Broken Pipe Disasters, White Zinfandel & Snowman Sculpturing

Just when I was about to run out of food, the sun appeared and did some snow and ice melting. By 2 in the afternoon I was able to easily navigate roads without sliding.

Miss Puerto Rico, she being from an island without snow, does not like driving on the white, slippery stuff. She was desperately in need of something called White Zinfandel.

So, I told Miss Puerto Rico if I made it out of here I would get her some of that White Zinfandel stuff she needed.

That is my hand on the wheel, heading east on John T. White Road to my local neighborhood Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Ironically, the week began with me driving to that same Wal-Mart, last Monday, to see the store thronged with panicked people stocking up on supplies. Had I known it would be clear til Friday that I could make it back to Wal-Mart I would have been one of the panicked people stocking up on supplies on Monday.

Today I learned, via his blog, that Gar the Texan, has been snowbound all week in Flower Mound. He too did not stock up on supplies and was running low on vittles by today. I don't know if he made it out today. He lives very close to the Flower Mound Sprouts Farmers Market.

When I got back from Wal-Mart, I delivered to Miss Puerto Rico's abode her White Zinfandel. I then took a picture of the melting snowy view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony. Then I headed back to Miss Puerto Rico's office to tell her the delivery had been made.

I was in Miss Puerto Rico's office when a lady ran in, crying, sobbing that water was flooding into her apartment. There were several people in the office. I asked Miss PR if there was anything I could do.

She asked if I'd go check and see how bad the flood was.

And so I did. It was real bad. Several inches of water all over with a waterfall of water running down the bedroom wall with the ceiling collapsed. I ran back to Miss Puerto Rico to tell her it was real bad, as in a disaster.

Soon I found myself helping move stuff to a display apartment. After awhile I felt I was of no more use, so I walked back to the office zone and saw a guy looking perplexed. I asked if he needed help. He told me he'd been trying to call the Emergency Number, to no avail.

He told me that the laundry was flooding and the ceiling collapsed. I went to tell Miss PR. We then drove to check that out. I'd never seen anything like it. A flood of water running out of the laundry room, with chunks of ceiling falling.

Then we opened the door to the boiler room to see about a foot of water rushing like a river. With chunks of the ceiling falling. Miss PR turned off the hot water somehow, but that only stopped part of the flood.

Then several phone calls took place to plumbers.

Soon after that a call about another break.

And now the water has been cut off at the main, with about a 3 block area without water. Including me.

Miss Puerto Rico says this is the worst disaster in all the time she has been in Texas managing these type disasters.

On a happy note, in the middle of all this I saw a guy making a snowman. Using a novel method. He was filling a bucket with snow, packing it down, and then building the snowman from the resulting pile of cylinders, which he then sculpted.

I stopped and complimented the guy on his impressive snowman engineering technique. He told me he'd never made a snowman before and wanted to make one with his son. Because, he said, who knows when we'll see snow in Texas again.

Well, according to the current forecast, I believe we are scheduled for more possible snow next week.

More Snow On Day 4 Of Being Snowbound In Texas

Around 11 the snow stopped falling. While it was falling I was out in it. That is one of my motorized vehicular devices you see covered with a thick white substance.

The white substance was very powdery, so I easily removed it.

Walking in the 6 inches of snow was a lot easier than dealing with walking on ice. But, I had an incident or two where I nearly slipped into falling mode.

I took several pictures to take you on a virtual tour of my latest Texas Snow Day.

Looking out at the pool it is hard to believe I used to swim in that thing. It looks very cold currently.

The icicle I showed you yesterday now is surrounded by a ring of snow.

Above I'm up by Albertsons, looking down on Boca Raton Boulevard. The van on the right is stuck.

To the left of the view of the stuck van is a couple rows of parked, snow-covered cars. I don't know if they are stuck.

That is the Super Bowl Buffet on the right, with a truck and a car going slow on the Loop 820 Interstate. It does not appear that the Super Bowl Buffet is open today.

On the south side of the Super Bowl Buffet looking across the parking lot at Albertsons, which is open.

Currently it is 22 degrees out there. I think that's the warmest it has been for days. The sun seems to be trying to break through the clouds. Some sun might help warm things up a bit. And cause melting, which will then freeze again into a slippery, icy mess.

It is days like this that cause me to miss the temperature, moderate, easy going weather of Western Washington.

I called my mom this morning while I was out playing in the snow. Mom politely listened to me whine about the weather and then told me it was me who chose to move to this place. Phoenix froze last night, down to 26, according to my mom.

Miss Puerto Rico just called to tell me she is out of essential groceries. I told her I'd go on an emergency essentials hunt at Albertsons this afternoon.

Weather Alert With Snow Falling Again In North Texas 2 Days Before The Super Snow Bowl

I was hoping today, the 4th day of the 2nd month of 2011 would bring some relief from the ice and snow and cold.

Maybe as this Friday progresses we will get above freezing. But right now, coming up on 8 in the morning, it is 19 degrees with some form of frozen precipitation falling.

The frozen precipitation is being like icy droplets of fog. Not snow. But, snow did fall overnight, coating every surface once more in white.

Early this morning the National Weather Service had this to say...

"A localized band of heavy snow has developed over the eastern parts of the DFW metroplex with snowfall totals reaching 4-5 inches over Dallas. Snowfall through the next few hours is expected to be light to occasionally moderate, but additional totals of 1 to 2 inches are possible."

Below are some blurbs from the Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram about our latest day of  freezing in North Texas...

Great. According to the above forecast by 6pm today we  are still well below freezing. Which I guess means the roads will remain nothing I want to be out driving on. I should have stocked up on more food when I saw so many people doing so on Monday when I was in Wal-Mart. Apparently the longtime locals knew more than I did.

I wonder how many decades it will be before the NFL decides to play another Super Bowl in Arlington? I suspect that may never happen until all sorts of new facilities are built around Cowboys Stadium so that all the Super Bowl activity can take place in one location, rather than spread out over a very large area.

ESPN probably will never return to downtown Fort Worth. Such a sad turn of events. Large crowds were expected, instead the opposite has happened, with that reality captured by a picture and a sentence in this morning's Star-Telegram, with the caption under the picture of a single person standing on an empty parking saying, "A lone fan wandered through the winter wonderland that was Sundance Square as snow fell early Friday."

Still Icebound In Texas & Now Thinking Of Going Swimming With The Icicles

A long long time ago I used to be able to go swimming in what is now my ice pond. The fountain that spouts water into the pool has caused really big icicles to form.

I am really hoping that the icicles begin to melt tomorrow.

Right now it is the hottest it has been here in days. 19 degrees.

Snow is predicted to be possible from now until tomorrow.

Up in my old hometown in Washington, right now, it is 48 degrees. The Scrabble Queen of Washington is escaping those frigid Washington temperatures tomorrow by going to Hawaii.

Meanwhile down in Port Aransas, on the semi-tropical Texas Gulf Coast, Alma has had to give up her regular flip flops and put on real shoes due to it being 40 degrees in Port Aransas. Houston is scheduled to possibly get some snow. I have not heard if the snow is predicted to make it all the way to Alma.

Back here in the D/FW Metroplex the usually hot Elsie Hotpepper turns into Elsie Coolbean in this icy misery.  I've heard from Elsie erratically ever since we went into the DEEP FREEZE. Usually I have heard from Elsie Hotpepper several times by this time in the day. I hope she did not try and do some saloon hopping in these dire conditions and suffer some icy woe.

Al Gore has been in the news explaining how the worst winter weather in decades is just one more sign of Global Warming. I think I actually voted for him.

Rush Limbaugh Weighs In On The Texas Super Bowl Week Ice Storm, Rolling Blackouts & Getting Power From Mexico

I listen to Rush Limbaugh for a few minutes every once in awhile while I do yoga. Getting aggravated listening to someone be aggravating is entertaining at times. And might be salubrious for ones blood pressure.

Somehow I often manage to be listening to Rush Limbaugh during one of his episodes when he says something that catches flak. And due to having heard what he actually said I find myself on Limbaugh's side, as I hear how badly out of whack the flak is from what he actually said.

Anyway, I just heard Rush do a little rant about our current frozen situation in Texas. According to Limbaugh, Mexico is helping Texas out of its power problem by sending electricity to Texas.

I did not know the Texas grid is connected to Mexico.

Rush also mentioned the havoc the Ice Storm and freezing temperatures have wreaked on Super Bowl week, mentioning, in particular, the pathetic ESPN scene in downtown Fort Worth where broadcasters broadcast to an empty Sundance Square parking lot while enveloped in the vapor caused by their hot air meeting the frozen air.

Limbaugh also said that nothing like getting power from Mexico ever happened back when J.R. Ewing was running Dallas.

Typing this is not as amusing as it was hearing it.

I've still got him on and he's now taking a phone call from someone in Dallas who is telling Rush how bad the ice situation is here, with freezing pipes breaking, closing down power plants. The caller is now telling Rush that Texas drivers don't know how to drive on ice.

Rush is now defending the Texas drivers, saying no one can drive on solid ice.

Next caller is complaining about the Rolling Blackouts being due to no new power plants having been built in Texas in years.

Rush is continuing to speak well of Texas, most prosperous state in the Union, having to get power from Mexico. And how this must be embarrassing to a lot of Texans.

I'm a transplant. I'm not finding it all that embarrassing to get some electricity from Mexico.

Okay, I've reached my Rush Limbaugh limit for the day.

According To Dolores The Super Bowl Will Be Played In Cowboys Stadium In Arlington

The weather info and countdown to the Super Bowl is a screencap from this morning's Dallas Morning News.

Note that the countdown is titled Super Bowl XLV - Arlington, TX.

Meanwhile, over in Fort Worth, in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, there was an amusing letter to the editor this morning, written by a resident of Arlington who feels Arlington's honor is somehow being besmirched by the media and Jerry Jones.

Below is that letter, complete with the Star-Telegram's title for the letter...

Arlington's honor

Why is it so difficult for the media as well as Jerry Jones to acknowledge the fact that Cowboys Stadium is indeed in Arlington, where, I might add, the Super Bowl will be played? We, as residents of Arlington, voted to raise our sales tax to help pay for the stadium. Give us the courtesy of recognizing the city as the host of the Super Bowl. Our mayor, Dr. Robert Cluck, worked very hard to secure the honor of the stadium being built in Arlington. Please, give credit where credit is due.

-- Dolores Bielby, Arlington

I Am Still Freezing In Texas With No Rolling Blackout So Far Today

It was nice to wake up this morning to not find that another Rolling Blackout had rolled in.

It is still well below freezing on this dawn of the third day of the second month of 2011.

I read this morning that the Rolling Blackouts were caused by the freezing temperatures knocking out some key pieces of equipment at many of the Texas generating facilities.

I was hoping to drive up to Hurst today.

To see if this was possible I went on a test drive yesterday around 5.

I failed the test drive, so I won't be going up to Hurst today.

I had visually checked the road in my immediate vicinity and it seemed fairly clear of ice. I was not too long on the road when I discovered the clear road, in my immediate vicinity, was an anomaly. I was not long into driving north on Bridgewood Street, heading to Randol Mill, when the road became ice covered. Bridgewood, on its way to Randol Mill, goes down what amounts to being a steep hill in these parts.

I crawled down the steep hill at a speed my speedometer was not able to register. Eventually, before it got dark, I made it back here.

I am really really ready for the Texas Temperature Pendulum to swing back into the 70s or 80s. And stay there.

I Slipped & Slided My Way To The Super Bowl Buffet & Found It Closed

That almost looks like a mountain range in the background rising above my neighborhood Super Bowl Buffet.

But, there are no mountain ranges within 100s of miles of the location of my neighborhood Super Bowl Buffet.

In the picture, I am standing in front of Albertsons, looking northeast, across an iced over parking lot, with trucks sliding around helter skelter.

It appeared that the Super Bowl Buffet is not open today. No big surprise, all things considered. But it is sort of ironic that the Super Bowl Buffet is closed on Super Bowl week, with the Super Bowl being played just a few miles to the east in Arlington's Jerry Jones Palace, also known as the Temple of Greed and sometimes referred to as the Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

I wish the Super Bowl Buffet was open today. Now that I've established that I can bi-pedal my way to it, via simulated cross country skiing, I'm in the mood for some good Chinese food.

I probably have ingredients in my refrigerator with which I could simulate a good imitation of Chinese food. But it would not be all that good. And it sure would be no buffet. With shrimp. Come to think of it, I do have shrimp in the freezer.

I've got a few hours of power before the next Rolling Blackouts roll in. I am prepared for it now. Sort of.

Day Two Way Below Freezing In Texas Waiting For The Next Rolling Power Blackout To Arrive

Looking out my viewing portal at a little bit before 11 on the second day of the second month of 2011 you can see I have some icicles forming on the window.

I keep hearing the screeching of tires spinning on ice.

I do not handle being immobile very well.

When the power was out this morning I went out in the 9 degree heat for awhile to see if I could see how widespread the outage was. Or if it was being worked on.

This was before I learned we were having an Electrical Emergency in Texas requiring rolling blackouts. My blackout rolled way longer than the 15 minutes the power people claimed the blackouts would roll.

The State of Texas is cut off from the electric grid the rest of the country is connected to. Except for, I believe, the El Paso zone. I have no idea how this works in Texarkana which spans the border of both Texas and Arkansas.

I've not yet heard what is causing the power shortage, besides the West Texas windmills not spinning. It would seem the power use during this cold snap would not be as bad as when it is 111 and ACs are running hard.

I think I'll bundle up and go watch some tires spin.

Texas Power Emergency Knocks Out My Electricity This Morning In Rolling Blackout

Around 6 this morning I sensed something was not right. A few minutes later I saw a light blinking on my computer that usually is not blinking.

A few seconds after that I realized the power was out.

Having no power, in the dark, when it is 11 degrees out makes for an interesting morning.

I figured the power would quickly come back on.

After an hour and a half of getting ever more cold I called ONCOR.

Busy signal.

That was encouraging. A busy signal indicated to me that this must be a REAL big problem.

When the sun finally arrived to provide me some illumination I found my propane camp stove, a teapot and some green tea.

I was suffering though a cup of green tea when the power came back on. I am now suffering through a cup of hot coffee.

After I was finally able to re-connect with the outside world I looked at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and learned that the entire state of Texas is having a power emergency. With rolling blackouts, or "Planned power outage" as the Star-Telegram put it in the screen cap below.

Apparently the cold and the lack of wind has brought wind power generation to a halt in West Texas.

An ONCOR spokesperson told KXAS Channel 5 that the emergency measures were instituted shortly before 6 am in North Texas.

Great. My neighborhood got blacked out in the first wave.

The spokeswoman also said ONCOR was selecting feeders to go out for 15 minutes at a time.

I don't know what a feeder is, but, what ever feeds me electricity went out for over an hour and a half.

I am really ready for an end of the Global Warming problem.

Icy Weather Raises Questions About Dallas Super Bowl Travel

The above is a screen cap from an article in today's CNN online. With a picture of the Cowboy Stadium. In Arlington. With snow on the stadium and snow on all the stuff that has been erected around the stadium for the Dallas Super Bowl.

I am not sure, but I think maybe some local umbrage might be expressed over the caption under the photo which says....

"Officials in Dallas, Texas, say the city will be ready to host the big game on Sunday."

I wonder when, or if, the big game takes place, if the talking head is going to say, "Live from Dallas, Texas, the 2011 Super Bowl."

Variations of this have already occurred at previous events in the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium. In Arlington.

I imagine the same type thing used to occur at the old Dallas Cowboy Stadium. In Irving.

Big difference is you could actually see the Dallas skyline from the stadium in Irving. And Irving actually borders Dallas. And is in Dallas County.

I have seen the Dallas skyline from the top of the Oil Derrick in Six Flags Over Texas. Six Flags is just a short distance east of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium. I don't think the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium has any vantage points high enough from which you can see Dallas.

Jerry Jones should build a Seattle Space Needle-like structure next to his new stadium. With a revolving restaurant and viewing level on top. A futuristic structure, like the Space Needle, would be a good match with that futuristic looking stadium. You could market the ride to the top with something like "Take the Ride to the Top of the Cowboy Needle Where You Can See the City the Team is Named After."

I'd not thought of it before, but Fort Worth actually does border the town in which the Dallas Cowboy Stadium sits. Dallas doesn't, Fort Worth does.

I think it had occurred to me before that the Dallas Cowboy Stadium is in Tarrant County, that being the county of which Fort Worth is the county seat. Dallas sits in Dallas County. But, the Dallas Cowboy Stadium does not sit in Dallas County.

And someone at CNN. And likely elsewhere, thinks Sunday's Super Bowl is going to be played in Dallas. Where the city is ready to host the game. In another town.

The Great Fort Worth Freeze Of 2011 Has Me Shivering & Not Driving

I have had myself a successful venturing in to the Great Freezing Fort Worth Outdoors.

Currently 18 degrees, with the Wind Chill Factor causing it to feel like -12.

I do not recall ever shivering like I was shivering out there. The shivering was caused by taking off my gloves so I could  take pictures.

I was surprised to find people out driving on the thick coat of ice. Including the Fort Worth buses known at the "T".

Most of the vehicles, including the buses, were having serious sliding issues. Which the following photos will sort of show you.

You are looking east on Boca Raton Boulevard, at a car trying to slide up the hill. I doubt the Super Bowl Buffet is open, but, if it was, it would be up this hill, and on the right, where I would go for Chinese food today.

Right after I took this picture I looked across the street and saw Miss Puerto Rico. It was a very slippery crossing to the other side. Then when I got there I realized I'd dropped one of my gloves back where I'd come from.

At these temperatures you can not go long without gloves, so I had to do some more sliding, back across the street. The roads have a very thick coating of ice, but the sidewalks much less.

Miss Puerto Rico and I watched, in semi-horror, as the jack-knifed Dr Pepper delivery truck driver tried over and over again to straighten out his rig at the intersection of Boca Raton and Bridgewood Street. Cars and trucks were sliding down and up Bridgewood, barely missing Dr Pepper. Miss Puerto Rico was out watching when the Dr Pepper truck drove by, fast up the hill, and then went in to a skid as the driver tried to turn left, then going into jack-knife mode.

In the above scene I am right at the aforementioned intersection, after the Dr Pepper truck had de-jack-knifed. The pickup truck, aimed at that guy walking, was sliding down the hill with its wheels against the curb. If you look closely you can see the stop sign that a sliding vehicle took out.

Soon after all those cars cleared out in the previous picture of the downed stop sign, the #21 Fort Worth bus showed up, sliding down the hill, not able to come to a stop, then making the left turn on to Boca Raton, coming to a stop next to the Fort Worth bus that had been stopped ever since I'd been watching the jack-knifed Dr Pepper truck.

I am assuming those buses are still sitting out there, with the drivers realizing it is not safe to be on the roads right now.

I was not able to get a look at the freeway to see if it is moving traffic. I assume it must be. I am also assuming there are a lot of wrecks out there right now.

I've yet to hear anything about how well the Super Bowl temporary buildings are handling this wind, cold and ice.

Are 58 MPH Gusts, Snow, Ice & 8 Degrees Wreaking Havoc With The Temporary Super Bowl Buildings Surrounding The Dallas Cowboy Stadium?

The sun has now arrived, lighting up the icy morning of the first day of the second month of 2011.

As you can see, looking at the view through the bars of my patio prison cell, a layer of white has descended on my zone of North Texas.

The Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex is covered in white. I don't know about the rest of North Texas.

Small snow pellets are now falling. Landing on top of a layer of ice.

The National Weather Service WINTER STORM WARNING is in effect until 4 in the afternoon tomorrow.

The low today is scheduled to get down to 8. Tomorrow the low will supposedly be 4. If it gets down to 8 it will be, by far, the coldest since I've been in Texas. The only time I've experienced colder temperatures was one winter while going to college in the Eastern Washington town of Ellensburg. I came back from Christmas vacation to see a bank's temperature sign say it was -18.

Wind gusts are blowing the snow into little drifts. AccuWeather is reporting gusts as high as 58 mph.

I wonder how all those temporary tent-like Super Bowl structures are faring down by the Dallas Cowboy Stadium? How much snow and ice can those roofs handle before collapsing? What level of wind are they engineered to be able to handle?

Is Mother Nature meting out some sort of Divine Retribution for the Worst Case of Eminent Domain Abuse in American History?

The Faith Tabernacle Church by the Dallas Cowboy Stadium is canceling Super Bowl Sunday's church services so they can sell parking spaces to football fans.

I'm not what one would call religious, but I think God might get you for that type behavior.

Ice Storm Freezes Dallas/Fort Worth To A Stop 5 Days Before The Super Bowl

The above is a screen cap from the Dallas Morning News, taken a few minutes ago.

It is currently 19 degrees with a Wind Chill Factor of -7.

I started hearing ice hitting my windows at around 3 this morning, right when the National Weather Service predicted it would arrive.

The sun has not yet arrived but I can see the ground is white, covered with ice.

I do not know how extensive the Ice Storm is, but I do know that the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex has shut down. It is likely no Super Bowlers will be arriving today.

This is either the 3rd or 4th Ice Storm I've experienced since I have been in Texas. My first Ice Storm arrived my second week in Texas. It was a shock. The temperature plummeted overnight to around 15 with the ground covered with a couple inches of ice.

When I moved here I did not realize it could get so cold in this zone of Texas. I remember upon arrival thinking it odd that the house had a fireplace. Why would you want a fireplace in hot Texas?

Last night I saw a guy selling firewood down by Wal-Mart. Little piles of big sticks. I don't see firewood for sale here of the sort you see in Washington. Which makes sense, because you don't see trees here of the sort you see in Washington.

Tonight Battling Wal-Mart Grackles While Thinking Of The Super Bowl Buffet If The Ice Storm Gets Real Bad

The Grackle takeover of the Eastchase Wal-Mart and Sam's Club continues.

I was at Wal-Mart just as the light of the sun was dimming for the day.

Around 6.

Wal-Mart was super busy with what looked like panicked people stocking up on supplies due to the incoming Arctic Blast which starts arriving sometime in the wee hours.

I believe rain is expected at first, followed by sleet by the time the sun returns, Tuesday morning, followed by snow.

So, tomorrow may be a Snow Day in North Texas. I know I won't be going to school. That's for sure.

I did not do any panicked food buying in anticipation of an Ice Storm. I can walk to an Albertsons and a Krogers across the street from my abode. And several restaurants, including the best Chinese buffet I've been to in the D/FW Metroplex, with the very odd name of Super Bowl Buffet.

I do not know if the Super Bowl Buffet is having anything special on the buffet for the Super Bowl.

On The Tandy Hills Looking At A Smoggy Fog Enveloping Downtown Fort Worth As Locals Go Nuts Over The Pittsburgh Steelers & ESPN

I don't know if that is fog or smog dimming the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth today when I looked west from the Tandy Hills.

Of the four short skyscrapers that you can see through the fog/smog, the one on the left is the Omni Convention Center Hotel. This is where one of the NFL teams is staying that is in North Texas for the Super Cold Bowl next Sunday.

I don't know if Fort Worth gets the Pittsburgh Steelers team or the New Orleans Saints. I know the buildings in both the downtowns of Dallas and Fort Worth have been color-cordinated to match the conference colors that town's team.

I know I've read which town is which color, but I forget. I believe one is blue, one is red. I also know I could likely get the answer to this probing question with about 5 seconds of Googling.

I just went to the Star-Telegram to see if I could easily find out what team is in town.

Well, apparently the Pittsburgh Steelers arrived today and were greeted by a big crowd of screaming football fans. An ESPN person said they'd never seen this level of excitement so early in Super Bowl Week.

The Star-Telegram said Fort Worth has never seen anything like ESPN.

Below is a blurb from the article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, titled A Texas-sized howdy for ESPN on 'opening day' ...

The TCU band blasted its music across Sundance Square, and the cheerleaders rocked the crowd. Mayor Mike Moncrief meted out some inspirational words, and Ed Bass shook more than a few hands. And that was all before 5 o'clock in the morning, all before ESPN even began broadcasting Monday from downtown Fort Worth.

ESPN folks said they never had seen such enthusiasm, not this early in Super Bowl week anyway. And, of course, Fort Worth never has seen anything like ESPN. 

This is all starting to seem somehow sad to me. Maybe I would understand if I were a football fan.

The Non-Freezing Last Morning Of The First Month Of 2011 With An Arctic Blastl Heading To North Texas With A Wind Chill Below Zero

Looking out my viewing portal at the dawn of the last day of the first month of 2011 which has arrived 6 degrees above freezing.

If the weather prognosticators are to be believed this will be the last morning, for awhile, that will not be well below freezing, as we are heading into one of the most significant cold spells in North Texas in many years.

Just in time to greet football fans arriving for Sunday's Super Bowl.

Thunderstorms may be booming later today.

Strong winds will be blasting in Tuesday night, bringing the Big Chill, with the wind chill plunging to below zero.

Yesterday, when I saw all the temporary Super Bowl structures built on the former parking lots that surround the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, the first thing that crossed my mind was what if those things get blasted by a windstorm.

If it gets windy during daylight hours I think I'll go hang out on the Stadium Wal-Mart parking lot to watch what happens live.

In the meantime I am not going swimming this morning.

Finding Mutant Trees With Elsie Hotpepper Today Walking Around Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake

I got back here around 11 this morning, after walking all around the Dallas Cowboy Stadium to check out what the Super Bowl has done to that ultra-modern structure.

Well, it has been tarted up like a cheap one of those types that a big flashy billboard warns you not to employ, that you see when you exit I-30 to try and check out the stadium.

So, I got back here, feeling like I'd had done plenty of walking for the day, when I got a call from a forlorn Elsie Hotpepper.

My one longtime reader may remember of late I have turned down  a couple Hotpepper hike requests. And I also turned down last night's Hotpepper saloon hopping request.

When Elsie called me around noon, sounding forlorn, and asking if I would go walking again with her around Fosdic Lake, I figured I was already tired of walking, so doing the slow Elsie Hotpepper walking would not bug me too bad.

So, I went walking with Elsie Hotpepper today.

I'd noticed the tree at the edge of Fosdic Lake that you see above previously. But not til Elsie saw it and said it looked mutant did I wonder if it was. For years fish that live in Fosdic Lake have not been safe to eat.

It seems possible that a tree who's roots sucked its water from Fosdic Lake might grow up to be the mutant tree you see here.

Maybe I should be more agreeable to doing some more Elsie Hotpepper hiking. Apparently when you walk slow you see things you do not notice when you are moving fast.

I should have taken Elsie Hotpepper with me to check out the Super Bowl today. Who knows what she would have noticed that I didn't?

Warning: DEEP FREEZE & SNOW AHEAD IN NORTH TEXAS JUST IN TIME FOR THE SUPER BOWL

This afternoon the National Weather Service issued one of their "SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENTS" all in CAPITALS, which in Internet speak indicates one is shouting.

Apparently our recent bout of balmy warm weather in North Texas will be coming to an end by Monday night with the arrival from cold Canada of an Arctic cold front.

Snow is possible on Wednesday, with a chance of significant white stuff falling on Friday. Friday is the day of some of the Super Bowl Parties that I have not been invited to. With many more on Saturday. That I have also not been invited to. Followed by Sunday's biggest Super Bowl Party of all. The actual game. Which I may watch on TV.

Methinks Mother Nature is conspiring with the Powers That Be to deliver an icy punch that probably was not what the NFL was looking for when they agreed to come play a game in Jerry Jones' shiny new stadium.

Below is the National Weather Service message in its shouted entirety....

...WINTRY WEEK AHEAD FOR NORTH TEXAS...

AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO NORTH TEXAS MONDAY EVENING... AND SWEEP THROUGH ALL OF NORTH TEXAS BY MID-MORNING TUESDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL FALL THROUGHOUT THE DAY TUESDAY...WITH AFTERNOON READINGS DROPPING INTO THE TEENS IN AREAS NORTHWEST OF FORT WORTH. ALL OF NORTH TEXAS IS EXPECTED TO BE BELOW FREEZING BY TUESDAY EVENING. THE NORTHWESTERN HALF OF NORTH TEXAS MAY REMAIN BELOW FREEZING UNTIL FRIDAY.

FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET WILL IMPACT MUCH OF NORTH TEXAS ON TUESDAY. THE ACTIVITY MAY TRANSITION TO SNOW LATE IN THE MORNING NORTH OF I-20. A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM BRECKENRIDGE...TO MINERAL WELLS...TO GAINESVILLE...WHERE ACCUMULATIONS OF SLEET MAY EXCEED 1/2 INCH. ADDITIONAL ICE AND SNOW ACCUMULATION MAY OCCUR JUST SOUTHEAST OF THE WATCH AREA AND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES WILL BE ISSUED TOMORROW FOR MORE OF THE AREA.

GUSTY NORTH WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH THE FRIGID TEMPERATURES TO PRODUCE WIND CHILLS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. WIND CHILLS MAY FALL BELOW ZERO TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING ACROSS THE NORTHWESTERN HALF OF NORTH TEXAS.

SNOW FLURRIES WILL BE POSSIBLE ON WEDNESDAY...WITH A CHANCE OF MORE SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ON FRIDAY.

DURING EXTENDED OUTBREAKS OF COLD WEATHER...IT IS ALWAYS ADVISABLE TO BE PROACTIVE AND PROTECT EXPOSED PIPES WITH INSULATING MATERIAL...AND TO LEAVE A WATER FAUCET SLOWLY DRIPPING OVERNIGHT. OUTDOOR PETS SHOULD BE PROVIDED APPROPRIATE SHELTER...AND RESIDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO DRESS IN LAYERS TO AVOID THE IMPACTS OF COLD TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILLS. ANYTIME TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO FALL BELOW FREEZING...TURN OFF AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS. SPRINKLER SYSTEMS RUNNING IN SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES CAN CREATE HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS.

A Visit To The Dallas Cowboy Stadium A Week Before The Super Bowl

With a week to go til Sunday's Super Bowl game I figured today would be a good day to check out what's been done to the Dallas Cowboy Stadium zone.

I figured Sunday morning there would be few people, no traffic, easy to find a place to park.

As I am way too often, I was wrong on all counts.

The first bit of Super Bowl signage that you see here is not on the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, it is on the Ballpark in Arlington, facing the Cowboy Stadium.

Last week I'd read a letter to the editor in either the Fort Worth Star-Telegram or Dallas Morning News where the letter writer opined that he was appalled at the effort Arlington had gone to to spruce up the town in anticipation of visitors coming for the Super Bowl, and then to find that effort negated by all the tackiness that the NFL has sprung up around the Cowboy Stadium.

Texas does a good job of tacky at times. I had to see it for myself.

I don't know that I would call what I saw today tacky. But I can say that what is going on around the Cowboy Stadium may be the strangest thing I've seen since I've been in Texas.

And that covers an awful lot of strange things.

That letter writer mentioned the big fence/wall that has been erected on the east end of the stadium. I have no idea what that wall is stopping us from seeing. I thought maybe it was surrounding the $200 a ticket Party Pass Plaza zone, but it was not located directly outside the east end zone, which is where you get to pay $200 to stand out in the cold for 4 or 5 hours.

Speaking of cold. The National Weather Service has just issued a Severe Weather Warning. We are scheduled to get as low as 12 degrees by Wednesday. Five days before the Super Bowl.

See that long line of white? It is stretching across the former parking lot on the east end of the stadium. I had no clue what this was.

And then I met this nice gentleman named Ludlow Ruckmaker (name and gender changed at the gentleman's request).

Ludlow told me that this long white tent line is how Super Bowlers will enter the stadium. It is where they will go through security.

Ludlow told  me he'd been following the progress of the stadium all the way back to the initial destruction of dozens of homes and apartment complexes, with the displacement of 1000s, in what many consider to be the Worst Case of Eminent Domain Abuse in American History.

When I told Ludlow I'd also been following the Dallas Cowboy Stadium progress, eventually he remembered meeting me before. On my website.

I had wondered why the Party Pass Plaza was only at the east end zone, when there are Party Plazas outside both end zones. Today I saw the reason. On the west side of the stadium the parking lots have been covered by the biggest temporary buildings I have ever seen.

HUGE things that look as if they must have multiple levels. In the picture above you can see what looks like a glass barrel roof between two white temporary structures.

Above I am standing across from the stadium, on Collins Street, looking east at those temporary buildings I just showed you. The pictures do not do justice to how big these are.

Now, what I'm thinking is North Texas tends to have rather dramatic weather. I have been involved with 2 balloon festivals that were destroyed by windstorms.

The Dallas Cowboy Stadium sits in the Buckle of the Bible Belt. There are a lot of people who think that the way the land was taken to build this stadium was all sorts of wrong.

I'm not one who believes there is a vengeance seeking God looking to right wrongs and punish evildoers.

But.

If I were, I would be a bit nervous that a weather disaster might make mayhem of all the temporary stuff that has been erected to worship at this particular temple, next Sunday.

God may likely already be a bit cranky with the Super Bowl, due to the fact that one of the churches near the stadium has cancelled next Sunday's services and is, I believe, selling parking spaces.

That football that you see above, with the Dallas Cowboy Stadium behind it, is in the Stadium Wal-Mart Supercenter's parking lot. That Wal-Mart has a lot of footballs and baseballs stuck on it.

A Mexican TV Station was broadcasting from the Wal-Mart parking lot. The broadcast truck that was powering the equipment had Mexican plates. The guy on the left was interviewing the guy on the right. I figured this might be a Univision show.

Some of the locals seemed quite familiar with the guy who was on the right, taking turns having their picture taken with him. I figure he must be a Mexican TV celebrity. Not til I got the picture off the camera did I realize one of the guys in the picture was wearing a cheese hat.

See the elaborate graphics that have been added to the stadium? Again my pictures do not do justice to how big this is. The end zone graphic is equally impressive.

The parking lots on the east end are covered with a lot of media vehicles, sort of like a combination of an RV and a train boxcar. An elevated catwalk has been built for the media, in this area to the east of the Party Pass Plaza. I guess so pictures can be taken of the people freezing, while standing outside the stadium during the Super Bowl.

The north bound lanes on Collins, by the stadium have been closed off. As have the eastbound lanes on Randoll Mill. This is making for some slow traffic. I've no idea if this is a temporary thing while all the stuff on the parking lots is getting worked on. Or what. The road that you can usually drive on at the east end of the stadium is completely blocked off.

Is this all normal for a Super Bowl? Or has Texas gone and done the Everything is Bigger in Texas thing for this particular Super Bowl?

And what takes place in all those temporary buildings on the west parking lots?

It is all very perplexing. And I've still not been invited to any of the dozens upon dozens of Super Bowl Parties.

If you live in the D/FW zone, trust me, it is worth it to venture into the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Zone to see what happens when a Super Bowl comes to a Texas town.

Last Sunday Of First Month Of 2011 Visiting Dallas Cowboy Stadium Week Before Super Bowl & Monitoring Egypt Via Twitter Tweets

The last Sunday of the first month of 2011 dawned with a temperature of 61. Yesterday we got into the 70s.

I'm thinking I will be a pool boy this morning.

After that I think I'll go check out the Dallas Cowboy Stadium zone this morning. It is a week to go before Super Bowl Sunday.

I read a letter to the editor a few days ago from a man in Arlington complaining about the irony of the fact that the City of Arlington has spruced itself up for the Super Bowl, and then the NFL came to town and totally tackified the area surrounding the stadium.

I am a big fan of all things tacky, so I figure it's worth a look.

Yesterday, in various cities around the country, there were protests in support of those protesting in Egypt. I don't know if there were any support rallies in the D/FW zone. I know several west coast cities had rallies, including Seattle.

When the Egypt type events occur, like when Iran went into upset mode, is about the only time I somewhat get the utility of Twitter. Reading the Twitter Egypt Tweets is sort of like instant news. Within minutes thousands of Tweets show up.

Like right now apparently the Egyptian Air Force is buzzing protesters with jets.

Below is an example of the Tweet flood from a minute ago...

@emptywheel Audible on AJE: Two jet fighters just flew overhead #Egypt

@Di438 #Egypt Protesters shouting over noise of Jets flying overhead @AlJazeera #Freedom

@KristoferKeane Egypt deploying fighter jets against protestors? What outcome do they even expect from that? Are they planning to bomb them?

@TheNewsBlotter #egypt protesters in #Tahrir Square writing “Down w Mubarak” in Arabic in big white letters 

@jhagel RT @nolanjazeera: Aljazeera Cairo bureau has been shut down. Just visited by plain clothes govt security, TV uplink is now closed #Egypt

@JodyField Egypt protests: U.S. advises all Americans to leave and 30,000 Brits are stranded

That's enough Egypt Tweeting. Time to go swimming now. Talk to you later.

HOT Saturday Tandy Hills Hiking With The Queen Of Wink & Elsie Hotpepper Saloon Hopping While Betty Jo Bouvier Ponders Stripping For The Super Bowl

Due to the nature of my hiking attire worn today whilst hiking the hills of the Tandy Hills Natural Area you might guess it is warm in North Texas this last Saturday of the first month of 2011.

You would be guessing right. It is currently a balmy 76 degrees.

Until my phone holding arm started to go numb the Queen of Wink went hiking with me today.

The Queen of Wink has hiked on the Tandy Hills with me previously. The first time she got a bad case of the vapors and required hiking assistance.

I tell you, the details of what goes on in the Queen of Wink's Realm would give a prime-time TV Soap Opera plenty of material. Or just film the Queen of Wink 24 hours a day and you'd have yourselves something fit for Bravo TV.

The Real Housewife of Wink.

Separate from the Wink Soap Opera material the Queen of Wink may be heading for a visit to New York City due to her widespread reputation as a Sinkhole Expert.

I thought we long ago established Gar the Texan as the Go To Expert Guy for anything to do with sinkholes. I may be remembering wrong.

Before I took off from here to do some hill hiking I called Elsie Hotpepper to see if she wanted to enjoy the great outdoors with me.

She didn't.

But, Elsie asked me if I wanted to go saloon hopping with her tonight. I am not a very big fan of saloon hopping, so I politely declined.

Maybe a little saloon hopping with the Hotpepper would be good for what ails me. I don't know. What I do know, for sure, is the last time I went saloon hopping with Elsie Hotpepper it took me about a week to feel as if I was totally recovered.

And then there is Betty Jo Bouvier. I know she is known as the Wild Woman of Woolley, but, even so, her most recent question surprised me. Betty Jo asked me if it was true that the D/FW area is in need of 10,000 extra strippers for the Super Bowl. I asked if the reason she wanted to know this was she was thinking of flying in to earn some quick, easy money. To which Betty Jo replied, "It may be quick, but not easy."

I had no idea Betty Jo Bouvier did stripping as a sideline. I knew she was a Zumba dancer, though, which I guess must somehow lead to an interest in being a stripper.

I think maybe I need to close my windows. It feels like HOT air is blowing in here....

Up Late On The Last Saturday Of January In A Dark Mood Waiting For An Invitation To A Super Bowl Party

Somehow my digital mood capturing device accurately recorded my dark mood when I looked out my viewing portal this morning at the blue sky dawn of the final Saturday of the first month of the new year of 2011.

Apparently, if I am understanding correctly, today pretty much kicks off Super Bowl Week here in my zone of Texas.

In the coming week there are BIG parties all over the D/FW Metroplex.

Mark Cuban is hosting, along with HDnet, a Super Bowl XLV party at Victory Park the day before the Super Bowl. This party is only open to those who receive an invitation. I have not received mine yet.

Pamela Anderson is hosting a party called the Dallas Super Bash 2011 at the Fashion Industry Gallery in downtown Dallas. There will be some Playboy Playmates on view. I do not know what the Playmates degree of clothing will be. Tickets are only $500 if pre-bought, $750 at the door.

Apparently, Playboy and Maxim magazines are known for hosting the best Super Bowl parties. Totally separate from the Pamela Anderson party the Playboy party will be on Friday the 4th at the Aloft Hotel in downtown Dallas. The day after that Maxim will have its party at Centennial Hall at Fair Park in Dallas.

Sports Illustrated is also having a B4 party at Fair Park, in the Tower Building, on Friday, the 4th, with the Super Bowl halftime performers, the Black Eyed Peas, being the hosts.

At the same time the Black Eyed Peas are busy at Fair Park, the singer known as Prince will be singing at an event called The Event, at the location formerly occupied by Reunion Arena.

Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, ESPN's The Next Bash is a private, by invitation only party at River Ranch on the north side of the Fort Worth Stockyards. I don't know what day The Next Bash takes place. I do know I have not been invited.

Also in The Stockyards, at Billy Bobs's Texas, Coors Light is throwing its annual Super Bowl Party. It is on Friday, the 4th. It is also an invitation only event to which I have not been invited. Blake Shelton will be singing to the invitees.

So many parties. What is a Party Animal like me to do?

Probably just stay home and brood in my dark mood. Waiting for an invitation.