The Smoggy Sunday Skyline Of Beautiful Downtown Fort Worth From The Top Of Mount Tandy

The plan, when I left my abode at noon, was to go to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake and feed the ducks.

I figured the Tandy Hills had not dried out from our most recent deluge.

As I drove towards Fosdic Lake and the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth came into view, I was surprised by how smoggy the view was.

I'd been oblivious to the state of today's Fort Worth air, til I saw the FW skyline through a thick haze and then looked in the other directions, where I could see into the horizon, and saw a thick foggy smog had descended over the D/FW Metroplex.

I decided I wanted to take a picture of the Fort Worth skyline. That required going to the top of Mount Tandy. I figured I'd take my picture and try to hike, but if it was muddy, I'd go back the short distance to Fosdic Lake.

Well, the Tandy Trails turned out to be dry. So I got in some good, salubrious, aerobicizing hiking.

Due to the humidity and the temperature nearing the 90 zone, by the time I was done I was a totally wet mess. Wettest mess I ever recollect getting whilst hiking on the Tandy Hills.

I am ready for this ultra-humidity to go away.

Although, the ultra-humid wet wool blanket type air does make getting in the pool very refreshing.

Two Weeks Til The 2011 Prairie Fest On The Tandy Hills Hopefully With Lots Of Wildflowers

Two weeks to go til the 2011 Prairie Fest, with the Tandy Hills Wildflowers needing to get serious about amping up their bloomage.

It was in the low 80s when I hit the hills today. And windy. Very pleasant.

I saw several of the wildflowers you see in the picture today. Each day there are more wildflowers, but some areas, like Lost Sunglasses Ridge are still bloom free.

A lady with a little kid was flying a kite on top of Mount Tandy today. The little kid had rolled the toy stroller, that is part of the Tandy Hills Shrine, over to where his mom was flying a kite, in case the Tandy Hills Shrine Keeper wonders why the stroller moved.

The top of Mount Tandy does not seem, to me, to be a good kite flying location, due to all the cables anchored to the ground from all the towers. I guess the worst that could happen is the kite gets tangled in a cable.

Tomorrow we are currently scheduled to get heated to a high of 92, with a strong Thunderstorm. I don't know at what time Sunday the T-Storm is expected to arrive.

A pushy lady on Weight Watchers convinced to buy a big loaf of gingerbread at Town Talk today. She had several people chiming in on how good this gingerbread is. Having never had gingerbread I would not know good from bad.

I'll let you know what I think of gingerbread when I get around to trying some.

In the meantime, I am going swimming again.

A Yellow Flower Blooms On The Tandy Hills While The Paradise Center Re-Opens

Today there was pretty much nothing wet that would make one think it rained an inch or more on the Tandy Hills during Monday's Thunderstorm.

Monday's short bout of wetness seems to have activated some new wildflower activity. Like the yellow wildflowers you see in the picture, that appear to grow out of a rock.

These particular yellow wildflowers may be my favorite. The blooms are relatively large, wildflower-wise, about 3 or 4 inches across.

I mentioned yesterday that I might soon have good news to report regarding the Paradise Center. I got the go ahead to spread that good news this morning. And so I did on The Paradise Scandal blog. You can read the long version there. Short version, they have found a new location for the center and are moving in.

I called the Phoenix zone whilst driving to the Tandy Hills today. I called my sister in Chandler. My mom and and were at my sister's. I got an email a couple days ago, from my sister, because they'd had their first 100 degree day and my mom wanted me to make it there by early May at the latest.

Or wait til September or October. I think my mom remembered I live in Tornado Alley and spring is tornado season.

The plan is for me to fly to Phoenix and then drive back to Texas.

Did I mention that that bright yellow wildflower, at the top, is a perfect metaphor for my currently sunny disposition?

Well, it is.

On Top Of Fort Worth's Mount Tandy Thinking About Hiking Washington Cascade Mountain Trails

We are on top of Mount Tandy, in the picture, looking west at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

Looking at this view it seems unlikely that this setting is in a town of over 700,000, with beautiful downtown Fort Worth being only about 3 miles distant.

Just to the north of the top of Mount Tandy, on the other side of the I-30 freeway, sits Gateway Park. Gateway Park is where J.D. Granger is busily planting 80,000 Magic Flood Stopping Trees in his personal mission to save Arlington from any excess flooding  brought courtesy of J.D.'s Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Has anyone seen any of the Gateway Park Magic Trees that J.D. says he's planted?

I heard a "peep" from a fairly reliable source this morning regarding the Paradise Center. I think we may be hearing some good news about this scandal soon. Real good news. Non-profit organizations doing good works are always grateful when what is known as an "Angel Donor" comes along. I believe such an "Angel" has appeared in Fort Worth.

Let's leave the Paradise Center and go back to the Tandy Hills.

Someone Anonymous asked me a question in a comment to my April Fool's Day blogging.

I said, "Today is the day that in the past I've announced I am moving out of Texas. And then at some point in the day someone realizes this is my idea of an April Fool's joke. Well, this year it is no joke. I am moving out of Texas. I just don't know exactly when."

To which the Anonymous commenter asked...

"Are you really going? Have you hiked the Tandy Hills enough that you need some new terrain? will the next blog be durangocolorado?"

Yes, I believe I will be leaving Texas, likely sooner than later. I do not believe I will be moving to Colorado. I don't think I could have a Durango Colorado blog, as that name is likely taken because there is a town called Durango in Colorado, just like there is a town called Durango in Texas, which I did not know when I got my durangotexas.com domain. I did know there was a town in Texas called Durango, by the time I started my Durango Texas blog.

As for hiking different terrain. I was wondering just yesterday how well I'd handle the Cascade Mountain trails that I hiked when I lived in Washington. I lived pretty much at sea level when I lived in Washington. In Texas I think I'm around 500 feet above sea level most of the time. Has this made my lung power slightly stronger? I have no idea.

I don't know which of my favorite Washington hikes I'd choose to go on if I had time for only one. Maybe Green Mountain, due to the cool firewatch station at the top and the amazing view of the sea of peaks and the views of Washington's least seen volcano, Glacier Peak.

Hiking up Mount Baker from Schrieber's Meadow is the Washington hike I've probably done more than any other. In the fall you can pick wild blueberries on Schrieber's Meadow.

Must cease thinking about Cascade Mountain hikes now or I'll slip into a state of melancholy homesickness.

I think I'll go swimming and lounge in the sun.

Sea Shells On The Tandy Hills With Shotgun Shells Blasting Fish

Today I almost stepped on a Tandy Hills Beach Trail seashell. I've seen clam shells on the shore of Lake Grapevine. I think today was the first time I saw a seashell on the Tandy Hills.

Swimming was good this morning, with the water heated up quite noticeably, due to the 90 degree April Fool's Day high.

It is currently only 83. I think I will go for another swim and some lounging.

I need to work on my tan if I'm going to the Valley of the Sun. I don't want to be pasty whilst out and about on a 100 degree plus desert.

Elsie Hotpepper called this morning. Elsie has way too much going on. At times it is difficult to figure out if we are talking about the same thing. Today Elsie was taking her shotgun to a shooting range to practice her bear hunting.

Shotguns scare me. I've only shot one once. I was scrawnier then than I am now, so maybe it would not be quite so jolting to shoot a shotgun now. I aimed the shotgun at a tree limb, braced myself because I was warned to do so, pulled the trigger, was knocked backwards, with the tree limb blasted from the tree.

Another shotgun horror was brought to me by the dumber half of the Goober Twins. He'd caught a big scrap fish in Lake Samish, stuck the shotgun into the head of the fish and pulled the trigger. Fish parts blasted all over the place. I regularly have nightmares that are variations of this horrifying incident.

Well, now that I've put that lovely image in your head, I think it is time for me to go swimming and cool off.

Today I Was Stranded On The Tandy Hills Causing Me To Walk To My Home Base

Well. I have had me a day. And it's not even 5 yet.

Monday started off fine, going swimming with the air heated to about 46, with the water a lot warmer than 46.

Then around noon I headed to the Tandy Hills.

Interstate 30, westbound, was still backed up due to the explosion earlier today of a tanker truck that was hit by a car going the wrong way on the freeway.

I just learned from Cat's Paw that the drunk driver of the car that hit the tanker survived.

This had the freeway closed at Beach Street. The Beach Street freeway exit is what you are looking at in the picture, in a zoomed view from the Tandy Hills.

If I had planned to go to Town Talk today I would have changed that plan due to Town Talk being on Beach Street.

When I was done with my hill hiking I got back in my vehicular transport to find that it would not start. I flipped open my phone to call for help to find my phone dead.

After a few minutes of pondering what to do, the only option I could think of was to walk the 4 miles to my home base. So, that is what I did.

Walking the mean streets of this town is a real eye opener. Does Fort Worth have the fewest miles of sidewalk in any major America city? It is real annoying to have to walk on the street. Or like you see above, the skinny sidewalk ends, turning into a dirt path. I remember walking all over Tacoma. I never saw any street without a sidewalk. With the sidewalks being of the wide variety.

In the above picture I am looking back towards the sidewalk's end you saw in the previous picture. What I'm trying to show in the above picture is the astonishing amount of litter.

I also saw one of my favorite Texas wildflowers for the first time this year. I believe these are called Evening Primroses, but I am not sure about that. We had a little bit of rain yesterday. I think that may have prompted the appearance.

The first time I saw these pink wildflowers was when I came to Fort Worth in May of 1998 to see if it was remotely possible that I would want to move here. Barely east of Amarillo I started seeing these delicate looking pink flowers along the road. After about 100 miles of seeing them I had to stop and check them out up close.

I have made arrangements to have my vehicular transport towed to a fix-it place. This will take place tomorrow. I hope.

A Dark Dreary Raining Last Sunday Of March In North Texas

In the picture you are looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, looking west from the Tandy Hills, today around noon.

As you can see it is a bit overcast. An extremely light slight drizzle dripped on me while I did my hill hiking today.

And now, coming up on 3 in the afternoon, the first big drops of rain I've seen this month are falling. Currently not in copious amounts. I don't know if this rain is hitting the official measuring station at D/FW Airport. Or if it will add up to enough to bring the total above the current record low for North Texas, set back in March of 1926.

I just heard a big BOOM of thunder. That's the first thunder boom I've heard in a long time.

It is now raining hard enough that it will quickly accumulate more than .1 of an inch, and then go on to break the .2 record low.

It has not gotten above 50 today. Right now it is colder than when I went swimming this morning. At that point in time the water was warmer than the air.

I don't see myself swimming tomorrow morning. And if this rain keeps up there will be no hill hiking tomorrow either.

Which means by about 2 in the afternoon I will be being cranky from extreme endorphin withdrawal.

Okay, we are now in downpour mode. But there have been no more thunder booms.

Have I ever mentioned I really like a good storm?

It has now let up. That was a rainstorm of very short duration. And the only thunderstorm I remember that had only one boom.

Hot Tandy Hills Hiking In Fort Worth With My Mom & Dad Gone Missing In Arizona

I remembered my camera today when I went hiking on the Tandy Hills. My co-hiker also remembered her camera, hence the picture of me hiking.

You can sort of tell from the picture that it is a warm day on the hills.

I think with all the hill hiking I do and all the swimming I do that I am eventually going to get myself in good shape and eventually lose all my unsightly weight gain.

I think I may go for an afternoon swim. It is 80 something out there right now, with a clear blue sky, which should make for some good sun lounging.

I called my mom and dad on Wednesday when I got gas in Hurst. My one longtime reader may remember I call my mom and dad whenever I get gas. They were not home when I called. Usually my mom then calls me back later in the day.

I'd forgotten about the Wednesday gas call when I got gas again today and called my mom and dad and again got the answering machine.

I guess I shall call my sister who lives in Chandler to find out what's up with my mom and dad. My mom and dad live in Sun Lake. About 8 miles, I think, from my sister's house. Chandler and Sun Lake are Phoenix suburbs.

I will likely hear from Betty Jo Bouvier now, harping about me going to Arizona to see my mom and dad.

In the meantime I'm going to go swimming and lay on a lounge chair for awhile.

Missing My Camera On The Tandy Hills Looking At The Stunning Skyline Of Beautiful Downtown Fort Worth

You are looking at a rare middle of the afternoon view through the bars of my patio prison cell.

As you can see it is yet one more nice blue sky day in North Texas. Heated, currently, to 83 degrees.

More often than not at this time of the day I have downloaded a picture taken on the Tandy Hills, Veterans Park, Village Creek Natural Historic Area, or some other park.

I went hiking on the Tandy Hills today. The hike went much longer than the norm. Longer than the norm because of my picture taking camera.

I was at the western most part of today's Tandy Hills hike, looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth. I reached into my pocket to get my camera to take a picture of the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

But.

There was no camera.

Earlier on today's hike, heading down a steep trail, I had a bit of a stumble. I did not fall. But I stumbled enough that I thought the camera may have fallen out of its pocket.

So, I backtracked to the scene of the stumble.

No camera.

When I got back to my current location I was not too shocked to see my camera sitting in its usual location on my desk.

I am pleased to report that overnight the wildflowers have suddenly grown more numerous. I saw several large patches of bluebonnets along the freeway. Indian paintbrush is sprouting out in large numbers on top of Mount Tandy. I think it is going to be a good wildflower season after all.

On The Tandy Hills With A Gorilla & No Answers Blowing In The Wind

That is today's new Tandy Hills wildflower you're looking at on the left.

I was late to the hills today, due to a lot of distractions.

When I don't get my usual aerobic stimulation and its resultant endorphin fix, I get cranky.

Today Elsie Hotpepper sent me an invitation to go saloon hopping next Wednesday. Saloon hopping in the middle of the week seems borderline decadent to me.

The Paradise Center Scandal continues to astonish me with the amount of comments and level of vitriol. The people commenting who associate themselves with the MHMR-TC agency come across as so incredibly dumb, logic and grammar challenged.

While the proponents of the Paradise Center sound so reasonable.

Today one of the dumb Anonymous MHMR-TC con comments had a double-negative that rendered it amusing, meaning the opposite of what the commenter intended. I'll go see if I can find the double-negative sentence.

Okay, there have been a lot of comments from Anonymous today along the theme that MHMR is moving on and will no longer be commenting on the Paradise Center issue.

Anonymous said, "Well, Folks the Grownups are not feeling a need to no longer speak with you."

Not feeling a need to no longer speak? Which means you are now feeling a need to speak.

Anyway, it's been a day. Started off good with a nice soothing swim.

Driving back from the Tandy Hills I saw something on top of my neighborhood Firestone store, next to my neighborhood Chevron that appeared to be a perfect visual metaphor for the MHMR Bullycrat thugs.

A big gorilla waving a shark in the air.

I have no idea why the big gorilla is there. Or how it got the shark. But it sure looked weird blowing in the wind.

I wish there was an answer blowing in the wind to all that perplexes me.

But there isn't. Windows open. Wind blowing. No answers.

Looking At The Tandy Hills Periwinkles Thinking About The Paradise Center Scandal, Jesse James & Elsie Hotpepper's Murderous Worrying

I saw several new wildflowers for the first time this wildflower season, starting to work at coloring up the Tandy Hills.

I believe the blue wildflowers I saw today are known as periwinkles.

The Hills needs to amp up its coloring operation because it is one month to go til the 2011 Prairie Fest.

Hiking the Tandy Hills at noon today was overcast and windy, just like yesterday.

And now, just like yesterday, a couple hours later blue sky returns.

The Paradise Center Scandal, also known as MHMR-Gate, keeps giving me blogging fodder.

Go to today's blogging on The Paradise Center Scandal Blog to read an interesting email from the man who has been behind all the Paradise Center woes, Jim McDermott.

I just got email from Doug Bigelow asking for my assistance in finding out if a relative of his, Charlie Bigelow, might have been a Jesse James alias.

It's always something and it's usually perplexing.

Meanwhile, Elsie Hotpepper wants to know who I murdered in my nightmare. I don't really know. But I am fairly certain the victim was not Elsie Hotpepper.

The Tandy Hills Sprouts A New Wildflower With Me Pondering Fort Worth's Various Scandals

A couple wildflowers made their first appearance of the year on the Tandy Hills today. With one of the two being the pink wildflower you see on the left.

It was very cloudy and windy when I hiked the hills around noon. There was no Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man today.

But now, 3 hours later, shadows have returned, with the removal of most of the clouds.

Change of subject.

The Paradise Center Scandal is wearing me down. I thought when I made a blog, just for the Paradise Center Scandal, that the comments would go there. Instead there are a lot of nasty con and nice pro comments still coming to this blog. As well as the new one.

Yesterday someone called Jessie Girl commented on the the Paradise Center Scandal blog, to a blogging titled "Scandal Madness Fan is Appalled at the Lack of Civility and Decency of the MHMR Cons," asking "Just one quick question. What is the scandal? I'm confused."

I thought way back on March 4 County Commission Gal did a pretty good job of breaking down the MHMR-Gate/Paradise Center Scandal.

In many ways the Paradise Center Scandal is a worse scandal than Watergate. No one was actually hurt in Watergate, except for the perpetrators of the break-in and those who tried to cover up the crime. In the Paradise Center Scandal you have actual victims who have suffered damage due to the perpetrator's bad, likely illegal, behavior.

Unlike Watergate, the city where the Paradise Center Scandal took place has no real newspaper of the Washington Post sort.

And Fort Worth definitely has no Woodward and Bernstein in town doing any sort of investigative reporting regarding the wanton wrongdoing perpetrated by MHMR of Tarrant County.

Maybe the Washington Post could send a reporter or two to Fort Worth. In addition to learning about the Paradise Center Scandal the rest of America would likely find it interesting that Fort Worth has a mayor who has made millions of dollars from the Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers poking holes all over the town of which he is mayor.

Maybe the Washington Post could find a way to explain to the people of Fort Worth what a conflict of interest is.

After telling the story of Fort Worth's corrupt mayor the Washington Post might want to tell the rest of America about Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision and explain what nepotism is to the people of Fort Worth.

I would think the rest of America would be a bit surprised to learn that their tax dollars are helping fund a huge, unneeded public works project.

And that Fort Worth's Congresswoman Kay Granger's son, J.D., was given the job of running this huge public works project, a job for which he had no qualifications.

But those who practice what is known as 'The Fort Worth Way" figured it would make the congresswoman beholden to them if they gave her son a job, with Ms. Granger getting behind sending some earmark money to help fund Fort Worth's unfunded Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Unfortunately for the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, that earmark funding method is not working out too well.

Meanwhile, J.D. Granger has been having himself a real fine time on the public's dime, with fine dining, junkets, parties, expensive hotel rooms, a steady supply of liquor and all sorts of other perks.

I wish my mom was a congresswoman so she could get me a cool job with lots of booze and broads.

Not really.

Hiking The Tandy Hills With Tootsie Tonasket On The First Day Of Spring

Tootsie Tonasket, the #1 Squaw of the Tonasket Tribe in Washington, hiked the Tandy Hills with me for over an hour, this fine First Day of Spring Sunday.

In the picture we are looking west from the top of Mount Tandy at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

Now this is amusing. I tried to put (sarcasm) stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth (sarcasm/), but since using <> is HTML, it was removed, because (sarcasm) is not legit HTML code, I'm guessing. 

As you can see, it is a semi-cloudy blue sky day in North Texas. What you can not see is the air is currently heated to 76 degrees.

I have heard no reports of earthquakes, ultra high tides or any other calamities caused by the Super Moon.

I am expecting some personal calamity later this afternoon when I go over to Miss Puerto Rico's to book a flight for her off the mainland, back to her home island. It seems like I just did this. Miss Puerto Rico is out of here, April 13. April 13 falls on a Wednesday, not a Friday.

With Miss Puerto Rico's history of flying woes, I do not think it would be a good idea for her to fly anywhere on a Friday the 13th.

I am growing a bit tired of my Fire Ant caused diseased looking arms. I never had much of an acne problem during the years some people did. I feel like I'm sort of getting to experience that which I missed during my formative years. Maybe I need to go get myself some Clearasil.

That is Tootsie Tonasket, on the right, in her formal tribal attire. I think this may have been at the annual Tonasket Days Celebration, but I'm not sure.

I think I'll go for another swim.

And then go over to Miss Puerto Rico's for some aggravation.

Today The Tandy Hills Beer Tree Popped Out Its First Beer Bud Of The Year

The Tandy Beer Tree near the top of Mount Tandy has sprouted its first bud of the new year.

The Tandy Beer Tree is within a few feet of where I was attacked by swarms of fire ants, yesterday, mad at me for getting on the ground to take a picture of a bluebonnet.

The red sores on my arms are worse today. But they don't itch. I'd forgotten about them and did not notice that I looked diseased til I saw the spots whilst taking a shower, post swim.

Speaking of swimming this morning. The air was heated to 65. I could not tell if the water was colder or warmer than the air. But it was very refreshing, so I stayed in it for a long time.

The air was heated to 74 when I hit the hills at noon, with the Heat Index making it feel like 79. It seems like only yesterday we were shivering with the Wind Chill Factor, here in North Texas. I think I prefer getting hot due to the Heat Index, than chilly due to the Wind Chill Factor.

I was startled by a four legged creature soon after I took the picture of the Tandy Beer Tree. I was kneeled over, tying my left shoe, when suddenly a collie dog ran up behind me. I had my whacking stick with me. I think the dog thought I was about to whack it because it started doing some sort of aggressive dance. Soon its owner came into view and controlled the beast.

It is time for lunch. Spaghetti and shrimp. With corn.

The Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man Takes A Hot Saturday Hike

It was well into the 70s when I hiked the Tandy Hills today. Very pleasant with a minimalist need for outerwear.

The burned log I found laying atop the Tandy Escarpment yesterday was gone today. All that remained was a blackened spot on the Escarpment and ash. Where did the log go?

Yet one more Tandy Hills Mystery to add to the Bamboo Teepee and randomly placed rusted vehicles.

I've got the windows open with absolute minimalist clothing and I am overheating.

I think it is time for the first turning on of the ceiling fan in 2011.

Okay, the fan is spinning. Let's see if it cools me off.

I heard from Mr. Galtex regarding me swiping a couple of his Seattle photos. I mentioned this in a blogging earlier today. He said someone ratted me out. I hate snitches.

Mr. Galtex told me it's raining. In Seattle. That is shocking news.

I need to go attend to some rattlesnakes now. The ceiling fan has done its job.

Admiring Tandy Hills Art Installations While Spotting A Wildfire & Thinking About West Coast Tsunami Damage

I think of all the art installations in the Tandy Hills Natural Area the Rusted Hulk of twisted metal you see in the picture may be my favorite.

The Rusted Hulk seems a more permanent art installation than the recently arrived Tandy Bamboo Teepee. Which still stands.

Near the Rusted Hulk art installation I was appalled to see that someone had drug a log on top of the Tandy Escarpment, above the currently dry Tandy Falls.

And lit the log on fire.

I took a picture of the burned log, but my photo skills did not do it justice.

Why would someone do this? Particularly when Fort Worth and its environs are under a Red Flag Warning. Which means conditions are ripe for wildfires. As I drove away from the Tandy Hills today I heard on the radio that I-287, near Rhome, was shut down due to a wild fire.

From part way down Mount Tandy, looking north, I saw the plume of white smoke you see in the picture. I've no idea if this is the Rhome wildfire.

It does not look like the smoke from previous wildfires that I've seen in Texas. They've all been a big wall of smoke.

Change of subject.

I am being a bit surprised that the tsunami from the Japan Quake has actually done damage on the West Coast. The recent bad quake in Chile brought similar West Coast tsunami warnings. But no damage was done.

The Japan Quake Tsunami has swept 5 out to sea in California and Oregon, with 4 making it back to shore and one still missing, he being a photographer taking pictures near the mouth of the Klamath River in Del Norte County, California.

Crescent City, California has again suffered tsunami damage.

17 people died on the West Coast due to the 1964 Alaska Quake tsunami, with 11 of the dead in Crescent City. Damage estimates in Crescent City are already in the millions. Other coastal towns, like Santa Cruz also sustained damage.

I have never seen a tsunami. But I have been caught by a rogue wave. This was one of the strangest experiences I've ever had. It was in the Ocean Shores area of the Pacific Coast of Washington, at the rock jetty that juts out into Grays Harbor.

The Ocean Shores zone has very wide sandy beaches. It was a Sunday. I was with my little sister, walking on the beach with a lot of other people. Suddenly it was apparent an incoming wave was way bigger than the norm. We were nowhere near the water's edge.

People who were at the water's edge began running away from the ocean. As the water kept coming I picked up my little sister and started running. The water caught up with us. I got up on a big piece of driftwood. The surging water knocked us off and pushed me forward, clinging to my little sister.

Eventually the power of the wave subsided, with insufficient water to drag us back out with it as it receded. Everyone on the beach made it out safely. I will never forget the image of an older lady wearing a big fur coat, totally drenched. And laughing. Like she was counting her blessings that she'd survived something quite phenomenal.

I do not recollect ever seeing scenes like those I've seen coming out of Japan today. Some of the tsunami images look like the tidal waves of tsunami legend.

The Japan Quake has had me on edge all day. Then again, that feeling may have been caused by staying in the pool way too long this morning, thus activating another severe case of the shivers.

It is currently 76 in my zone of Texas. No earthquakes. No chance of a tsunami.

The Shadow Of The Tandy Thin Man Was Late To The Fort Worth Hills Today

As you can clearly see, by the long shadow, I am walking fast and carrying a big stick and wearing a shirt today for a windy short hike on the Tandy Hills.

I do not think I will be going swimming in the morning. It only got in the low 60s today. By morning the water in the pool will have likely cooled to a temperature that may be sufficiently low to induce an unwanted excessive shivering reaction.

I went to Town Talk after I was done Tandying. I have only one thing to say about Town Talk today. I wish people with hacking coughs would not go out in public. God knows what I was exposed to today in Town Talk.

I believe Gail Galtex and her husband are heading to Seattle today for the first time. Transplants to Fort Worth from Austin, the Galtex's are looking for a more cosmopolitan place to live. And are hoping Seattle may be the place.

I just checked the Seattle weather. Rain and temperatures in the 50s. I was afraid this would happen. March is not a good time to go to Seattle and hope the weather gods decide to remove the clouds and reveal the mountains.

Last week Western Washington had a clear day or two that the locals told me were gorgeous. I'm hoping the clouds part for the Galtex's and they get to see what Seattle and environs look like after a fresh scrubbing by Mother Nature, with the air sparkling clean and smelling of evergreens, with mountains and water in all directions. And, unlike here, in Texas, very little litter.

The Galtex's should find taking the light rail from Sea-Tac International to the downtown Seattle transit tunnel, to their hotel, to be a bit more convenient than the convoluted mass transit they had to use to lug their luggage from their downtown Fort Worth abode to the Fort Worth transit center to make their way to D/FW International..

At 63, currently, it is 10 degrees warmer than Seattle is right now. I have now shut my windows. I am not a big fan of getting chilly.

The Shirtless Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man With Some Possible Good Paradise Center News

Yesterday I was under dressed and cold when I did me some hill hiking in the Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Today, at noon, the temperature was in the mid 70s and, as you can clearly see, today it was the Shirtless Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man that went hiking.

It is now around 3 in the afternoon and 83. I think I'll open a window.

Thunderstorms were predicted to be arriving at this point in time. Currently I don't see that happening.

I stayed as long in the pool, this morning, as I did yesterday. But today this did not lead to a bad case of out of control shivering.

I've been told that the owners of the Rainbow Lounge have offered space to the good people at the Paradise Center, so they can re-open in a new location, after Tarrant County, in the form of something called MHMR, kicked them out of their home a couple weeks ago.

The Rainbow Lounge has also been the victim of Fort Worth government hooliganism in the form of a brutal Gestapo-like raid that left many injured and one or two hospitalized.

I don't know if anyone responsible for that bizarre raid on the Rainbow Lounge was ever brought to justice and punished. I also don't know if anyone responsible for that bizarre raid on the Paradise Center will ever be brought to justice and punished.

In America justice would be the eventual outcome. But, unfortunately, America is not where the Rainbow Lounge and Paradise Center are located.

Shivering On The Tandy Hills While The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Talks To Don Young About Barnett Shale Gas Drillers & The Tandy Hills

In the picture we are standing on top of Mount Tandy in the Tandy Hills Natural Area looking west at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

It was in the 50s and windy. I was under dressed. I should have been in long pants with a long sleeved shirt. But I was not.

This was my second bout of being cold today. This morning it was 47 when I went in the pool. The water was quite a bit warmer than the air. So, I ended up staying a long time in the pool.

Too long.

After I got out of the hot shower I had myself about an hour of extreme shivering before that sensation went away. It sort of feels good.

Speaking of the Tandy Hills. I got back from there to learn, via email, that the Tandy Hills was being discussed in today's issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in a 2 part article with the first part titled "Deep in the Heart of the Gas Drilling Controversy."

Part 2 of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article is titled "Natural gas fields have provided a fount of cash for Texas cities"

Part 2 focuses on what drilling in the Barnett Shale has done for and to North Texas. Fort Worth's #1 Watchdog, Don Young, provided input as to the bad stuff done by the drillers. That is Don Young in the photo, standing on the Tandy Hills, in a photo taken by Michael Henninger of the Post-Gazette.

An XTO Energy Gas Site Blows Frac While I See My First Tandy Wildflower Of The Year & Contemplate Taking A Trip To TRIP

The arrival of the first wildflowers coloring up the Tandy Hills was a good indication today that spring is almost here.

Only 15 days until we can say goodbye to the worst winter I've experienced in all the years of my Texas exile.

Yesterday I blogged about a potential gas leak at an XTO Energy Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling Operation next to Pappy Elkins Lake in Dalworthington Gardens.

Today, the source of the potential gas leak information, Kim, followed up with what she's found out about what happened at the XTO site next to a lake and apartments and Veterans Park, in Arlington....

Last night, the Dalworington Gardens XTO site had a failed valve and loudly blew (radioactive?) frac sand all in the air near an apt. complex and never called the incident in to the RRC. Since I called this in (thanks to an email tip), the RRC rep called me back and told me that the choke valve leaked into their cellar and blew frac sand out of the well. XTO shut in the well and made the repair. While there was "wash out" in the area, no chlorides or effluents came off the pad into Pappy Elkins Lake. I do not know if any evacuations of the nearby apartments were attempted.  Also unknown is if any people were exposed to any gas or other effluents that the frac sand was under pressure from. 

On a different incident, the drilling spill at Lake Arlington last summer was reported by the Star Telegram as a small water spill, but a report I received today states that at least 95 barrels of produced water was recovered. The five barrels is what they estimate made its way into the lake which is the drinking source for over 500,000 souls.

My next door Chesapeake Energy drilling site has erupted with loud noises a couple times, loud popping noises. I did not know about the Lake Arlington spill. Lake Arlington is fairly close to my abode.

Change of subject. Back to the Tandy Hills. In the picture we are looking west at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth. As you can see it was a bit overcast in the noon time frame. It has since brightened up a bit.

I may be taking a TRIP to the west side of beautiful downtown Fort Worth in a couple hours.