The Headless Shadow Of The Skinny Dipping Texas Thin Man Up Early The Third Saturday Of March Thinking About Getting Fat

It is 65 this 3rd Saturday of March at a little past 7. I have the ceiling fan spinning and the windows open. Birds are making an awful racket out there, announcing the arrival of the sun.

I intend to have myself a very long swim this morning.

This morning I learned that the people of Tarrant County are too fat. Shocking news.

In something called the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Project, Tarrant County Public Health found that 66 percent of Tarrant County adults are overweight or obese.

I don't know why the county had to go to the bother of conducting some big surveillance project to figure out this is one fat county.

Just park yourself at any random Tarrant County Wal-Mart and count 100 people and you will likely come close to 66% (or more) appearing to be grossly overweight.

I remember the last time I drove myself back to the Northwest. July of 2001. I crossed the border into Oregon at Ontario. That is a town in Oregon, not the Canadian province. I went in the Ontario Wal-Mart. I was immediately struck by the way it appeared the people had had the air let out of them.

That same people appearing deflated phenomenon occurred again when I flew to Seattle in February of 2004. I had not been back to the Northwest since July of 2002. So, that was over 2 years of seeing a lot of fat Texas people.

I got picked up at Sea-Tac and then brought to the Pioneer Square zone of Seattle to go to a gallery. I was struck even more than the time in Ontario, that it appeared the people had had the air let out of them.

There are way way way too many balloon people in Tarrant County.

Change of subject.

I also learned today that Fort Worth city officials are recommending that one of the victim's of the Rainbow Lounge Gestapo Raid lawsuit case be settled out of court by offering the head injury victim $400,000. The man was injured when Fort Worth staged a bizarre Stormtrooper like raid on the Rainbow Lounge, it being a newly opened gay bar. This Gestapo Raid caused Fort Worth international embarrassment.

For, I think, the second. Or third. Time that year.

Change of subject again.

I've not heard from Elsie Hotpepper in awhile. And then this morning I get an email in which Elsie asks, "You have been quieter than usual, I am not the only one who thinks so...are you ok?"

Now, that is just bizarre. How have I been quiet? It is Elsie who has been quiet.

I tell you, sometimes some people just perplex me.

Which makes me want to go swimming. Right now.