Running Around Crystal Canyon Searching Shiny Objects

In the picture you are looking at the Shadow of the Crystal Canyon Thin Man, today, around noon.

The sun was shining around some clouds whilst I was doing some salubrious endorphin inducing aerobic activity running around the Crystal Canyon Natural Area's trail a few laps.

I thought maybe with the sun shining on the canyon that the illusive crystals might be doing some glistening.

I saw no glistening. Except for the sweat beads glistening on my personal epidermal layer.

My computer based weather monitoring device just started flashing red. When I clicked on SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT I read the following...

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT

in effect until Monday, Oct 22, 2:30pm.

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR... WESTERN COLLIN COUNTY WESTERN DALLAS COUNTY EASTERN DENTON COUNTY EASTERN TARRANT COUNTY

AT 124 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED THE LEADING EDGE OF GUSTY THUNDERSTORM WINDS EXTENDING FROM PILOT POINT TO FLOWER MOUND TO FORT WORTH...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

WINDS WILL SHIFT ABRUPTLY FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHWEST BEHIND THIS LEADING EDGE OF GUSTY WINDS. WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 MPH FROM THE NORTHWEST WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH 230 PM. THE WIND SHIFT WILL PRECEDE THE ONSET OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BY 20 TO 30 MINUTES.

THE BRIEF PERIOD OF GUSTY WINDS WILL AFFECT DFW AIRPORT BY 145 PM... ARLINGTON BY 150 PM...AND MCKINNEY...PLANO...AND DALLAS LOVE FIELD BETWEEN 200 PM AND 215 PM.

Well, it is almost 2:30pm, so the above WEATHER STATEMENT is about to become ineffective. I have seen some wind gusts and a little bit of rain has fallen. But, no thunderstorm action.

Enough about the weather, now back to Crystal Canyon.

The above info is gleaned from one of the informative signs in the Crystal Canyon Natural Area. That verbiage sure makes it seem as if one should expect to see some crystals whilst one traverses this natural area's topography.

The next time I go running around the Crystal Canyon Natural Area maybe it would help if I brought my magnifying glass with me.

Today The Fort Worth Space Needle Looked Like It Was Falling On Me & A Field Of Tandy Hills Broken Glass

That is the Fort Worth Space Needle high atop the summit of Mount Tandy you are looking at in the picture.

Today when I looked up at the Space Needle the clouds being blown fast past the Needle creating the illusion that the tower was falling towards me. This caused a very strong vertigo dizzy type reaction to my sense of balance.

Those of you who are familiar with Space Needles in other towns in America who are wondering if there is a revolving restaurant and observation deck at the top of the Fort Worth Space Needle.

Well, the answer to that question is no.

There no elevator to the top of the Fort Worth Space Needle. There is a ladder that reaches the top and I have seen a human climb all the way to the top of the Fort Worth Space Needle. Looking at that also made me dizzy.

According to the local air environment reports there are a lot of allergens blowing in the North Texas breeze, making for conditions where asthma sufferers may be doing some heavy duty suffering. I have not made note of any increased problem with my respiratory system. When I read that the allergen level had gone real high I was a bit concerned I was in for a repeat of my recent bout of allergic misery.

A couple weeks ago I came upon a red branched bush in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area that had me wondering why I'd not noticed it before. Today, whilst hiking one of the Tandy Hills' trails, that I've hiked too many times to count, I came upon a large field of broken glass just a few feet off the trail.

That is the field of broken glass you see above. How is it I never noticed this before? All the broken  glass did not look as if it were a recent arrival to the Tandy Hills

I am really beginning to think I am not a very observant wanderer.

Swimming was very pleasant early this morning. It was so warm last night that in the middle of the night I turned on the A/C. A warm night made for a sort of warm pool.

Midway through this next to last Sunday of October it is 85 degrees with the humidity making it really feel like 89. Methinks I shall go for a rare Sunday afternoon swim and try and work on my exercise deficit.

Pedaling The Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trail Concerned About Official Square Dancing In Washington

What you are looking at in the picture is my handlebars atop a steep drop off, also known as a cliff, above a green body of very slowly moving water called the Trinity River.

I pedaled the Gateway Park FWMBA mountain bike trail for my Saturday salubrious endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation, before going to Town Talk, next door to Gateway Park.

Soon after the sun arrived, this morning, I got my first endorphin boost of the day via a long swim in very pleasantly temperatured water, water that was just slightly warmer than the air.

Last night, at some point real early this morning, my slumber chamber had chilled to the point that a blanket was required for additional slumbering. I don't think tonight there will be a similar chill level because currently the temperature is 83 midway through the afternoon.

Yesterday, in a blogging titled Running River Legacy Park Mountain Bike Trails With An Armadillo I mentioned that the Armadillo is the Official State Small Mammal of Texas. In that blogging I wondered if my old home state of Washington had any official this, that or the other thing, further wondering if the Orca was the Official Mammal of the State of Washington.

Well, one of my fellow Washingtonians in exile in Texas, Steve A, made a couple amusing comments, one of which informed me that the Orca is the Official Marine Mammal of Washington.

And that the Square Dance is Washington's Official Dance.

Square Dance? The Official Dance of Washington? That is just disturbing.

So disturbing I need to walk away from the computer and go feed a Puerto Rican's hungry fat cat.

Running River Legacy Park Mountain Bike Trails With An Armadillo

Shall I Bike? Or Shall I Hike? Neither. I'll Run.

Today my means of acquiring endorphins from aerobic stimulation was to go running on the mountain bike trails in River Legacy Park.

I am being a bit surprised at how easily and quickly I've transitioned into running after years of only running when circumstances warranted that behavior, circumstances like being chased by a dog, running for cover in a downpour, that type thing.

I have biked the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails dozens of times. I have walked the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails a couple times. Walking these trails seemed to take a long time, likely it seemed that way because my locomotive means on these trails had usually been bi-pedaling.

Well.

Today I was surprised by how quickly I was covering the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails in running mode. It was being fun, but I think I may have overdone it, a bit. So far nothing seems to be sore.

At one point one of my favorite type critters quickly crossed my path. I stopped and grabbed my camera.

The Armadillo is the Official State of Texas Small Mammal. I don't know what the Official State of Texas Large Mammal is. I know I could quickly find out. My guess is that it is the Longhorn.

Just a sec, I'll see....

Yes, the Longhorn is the Official State of Texas Large Mammal.

I don't remember if my old home state had official this that or the other things. If Washington did have an Official State of Washington Large Mammal I would guess it would be the Orca.

Big Tex Burns Up Today At The State Fair Of Texas

This morning I was driving in Hurst, listening to the radio, when I heard the shocking news that the iconic symbol of the State Fair of Texas, Big Tex, had burst into flames, with Big Tex totally destroyed in the conflagration.

I later learned Big Tex met his end due to an electrical short in his neck that sparked the fire that quickly consumed Big Tex.

Why was Big Tex made out of what must have been very flammable material I can not help but wonder?

I also heard reports that the past few days Big Tex had been talking a little funny, suggesting that this electrical problem had been festering for awhile.

Big Tex was something like 60 years old. I suspect by the time the 2013 version of the State Fair of Texas is ready to open a new Big Tex will be ready to greet fairgoers.

If you never got to meet Big Tex and hear his booming voice, in his classic Texas accent, watch the video below that I made from my most recent visit to the State Fair of Texas. In the video I visit with Big Tex before wandering through the noisy State Fair of Texas Midway...

Kids On The Prairie With Science-Based Fall Field Trips At Tandy Hills Natural Area

Moments ago I got an email from Don Young marked urgent with a red exclamation point. Attached to the email was a PDF document, which is what you see on the left.

In that PDF document we learn that the "Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area (FOTHNA) are pleased to announce the first ever Fall edition of Kids on the Prairie, a program that will bring two-hundred FWISD students to one of the few remaining examples of native prairie in north Texas. Master Naturalists will lead the 4th grade classes from our Fall Scholarship Schools, Meadowbrook and Eastern Hills Elementary, in a day of field investigations in science, math, creative writing, art and ecology."

Where:
Tandy Hills Natural Area
3400 View Street
Fort Worth, TX 76103

When:
Tuesday, October 23 @ 10 a.m.
(Meadowbrook)
Wednesday, October 24, @ 10 a.m.
(Eastern Hills)

For More Information

Mountain Biking Through The Dark Gateway Park Jungle With Indian Soul Food

In the picture you are looking over my handlebars deep in the dark jungle of Gateway Park on the Fort Worth Mountain Bike Association (FWMBA) mountain bike trail.

It has been awhile since I've bi-pedaled on a mountain bike trail. I think it is well over a month since I got a flat front tire on the River Legacy Park mountain bike trail.

The flat tire happened around the time my allergy respiratory woes went into high gear.

Today was the first cool day I've been biking since I got a new bike. By cool day I mean cool in the sense of the word that refers to the temperature, although it being a cool day, temperature-wise, is making this particular Thursday a cool day in the other meaning of the cool word.

Whilst biking the air was cooled to a cool 60 something. Now, an  hour later, a couple minutes past one in the afternoon, the air is still relatively chilly at 70 degrees.

Swimming was very refreshing, early this morning, at 52 degrees.

Enough with the temperature reporting. It is time for lunch. Chicken Samosas with Cilantro Chutney, plus Collard Greens and Re-Fried Beans with a lot of Cilantro added. Basically lunch today is Indian Soul Food.

What Is Going On Behind The No Trespassing Signs In Fort Worth's Gateway Public Park?

In Gateway Park, on the south side of the paved trail one exits to enter the Gateway Park Mountain Bike Trail there is an old roadway that heads south towards the Trinity River.

Years ago I pedaled a short distance on this particular trail and found that a goathead had flattened my flat tire.

For months now I have been seeing big trucks hauling what looks like rocks, from behind the Gateway Park ball fields. The road these trucks are exiting from has two NO TRESPASSING CITY EMPLOYEES ONLY signs. I climbed up on the berm that surrounds the ball fields and could see heavy equipment in the distance.

The heavy equipment made me curious. Gas drilling operation? In the park? What?

Road Through The Gateway Park Backwoods

So, I jogged down the aforementioned road, past the point where I'd been flattened years before. I was surprised by the distance I was running, by how much undeveloped space I was seeing in Gateway Park that I'd not seen before.

After awhile, on my right, I saw chain link fence on top of a levee type berm.

There is a long abandoned sewage treatment plant in Gateway Park. Years ago I climbed through the cyclone fence and explored around the old cement structures.

The area previously explored was a distance to the west. When I climbed up the levee type berm to see what I could see, today, I saw a lot of abandoned cement structures and a lot of heavy equipment.

The abandoned sewage treatment plant is way bigger than I previously realized.

My best guess as to what is going on with the heavy equipment is the cement structures are being broken up and removed.

Then I remembered years ago reading of a strange proposed development that I think later became part of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle after the Boondoggle was expanded to include Gateway Park.

That strange proposed development was to turn the abandoned sewage treatment area into an outdoor amphitheater that could sit thousands.

Is that what is now underway?

The entire abandoned sewage treatment plant is surrounded by a high levee berm. I assume this was installed to keep a flooding Trinity River from flooding into the treatment plant. Or to keep an out of control sewage treatment plant from flooding sewage into the Trinity River.

Not that anyone would notice.

Paperwork Drives Me To Village Creek Walking With Re-Fried Beans

I had myself a very pleasant swim this morning with the water again being a little warmer than the air, which was chilled to somewhere in the high 50s or low 60s. It's been hours since I was in the pool and my memory is failing me in the remembering this morning's temperature department.

After swimming, several hours this morning were spent filling out paperwork. Pages of paperwork. I don't like filling out paperwork. I no longer write very legibly, with printing numbers with a pen in my left hand, being particularly difficult. More than half of the paperworking involved printing numbers.

Miss Puerto Rico flew to her home island this morning. I did not drive her to the airport. I've not driven Miss Puerto Rico to the airport since the incident on Obama's Inauguration Day way back in January of 2009, which had Miss Puerto Rico locked up for hours in the airport's jail.

I guess I am blessed in that in my long life I have only known 2 criminals who have done jail time. Miss Puerto Rico's airport jail time was for the relatively innocuous crime of over medicating on alcohol to fortify her flying courage. The other criminal I have known committed the crime of stealing 100s of thousands of dollars. That is a bit more serious crime than being drunk at the airport. Miss Puerto is not a convicted felon and thus is able to vote. The other criminal is a convicted felon and thus not allowed to vote.

During her absence I have agreed to check in on Miss Puerto Rico's very ill-behaved feline named Tasha. I'll do that sometime after 6 this evening.

In the picture above you are looking at the trail that winds around Village Creek in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington. That was my go to place today for my daily dose of endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

I guess I am looking forward to tonight's debate. Til then I've got some beans that need to be re-fried. With cilantro.

The Old Man & The Fosdick Sea Fishing With Turtles

The Old Man and the Fosdick Sea were back together again today. Along with a cute puppy.

I've seen the Old Man and the Fosdick Sea together many times, but I've not seen the Old Man hook a fish.

I don't know what the Old Man would do with a fish he caught in the Fosdick Sea, what with the warning signs informing potential Fosdick fish eaters that the fish is not safe to eat.

Would you not think that a city, like Fort Worth, which regularly makes the rest of the world green with envy, because of its absolute awesomeness, would be just a little embarrassed by the fact that there are bodies of water within its city limits which are so polluted they render fish a danger to eat?

Both the turtles and the ducks who live on Fosdick Lake were being really frisky today. I think they may have been being happy due to the fresh infusion of fresh water from the rain that fell over the weekend.

Today the turtle population on Fosdick Lake's biggest log was the largest number of the shelled reptiles I have ever witnessed congregating in one spot.

When I eventually got too close for comfort the mass turtle exit from the log looked like an Esther Williams synchronized swimming routine, with the turtle on the far right being the first to dive off the log, followed, one by one, til the turtle on the far left was the last to hit the water.

This mass turtle exit happened so quickly I was unable to photo document the event.

I was able to get a picture of some Fosducks acting ducky.

The two boys on the right had been feeding the Fosducks, with the ducks coming out of the water, then up the hill towards the boys, with the boys backing up from the approaching ducks.

Then the boys ran out of duck food. The quacking became very demanding. The boys quickly walked away as the Fosducks seemed to be conferring to decide what next to do, as in, continue to chase after the boys, hoping for more food, or head back to Fosdick Lake?

Eventually the near riot conditions abated, with the ducks slowly calmed down, ceasing with the loud quacking.

I tell you, walking around Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park is starting to become way too stimulating for an easily excitable person like myself.