Walking Among Giant Yellow Flowers Today In Arlington's Veterans Park Thinking About Bad Girls Like Mother Nature & The Queen Of Wink

The hills were alive with a lot of color today. I'm not talking about the Tandy Hills. For all I know those hills are alive today with a lot of color, but not according to any eye witness account from my eyes.

The hills I saw alive, with a lot of color today, were the hills, well, glorified mounds, of Veterans Park in Arlington.

I was being a bit stir crazy this morning, a blogging and webpage making maniac. It is exhausting for me to spend more than a few hours of heavy duty thinking without a break.

I took off from here to go to Village Creek Natural Historic Area to talk to the Indian Spirits. But, that park was closed today, due to Village Creek being in water overload mode. So, I continued on another couple miles to Veterans Park.

There were some really big flowers being real colorful in Veterans Park today. I think I already said that.

My chronic typo problem continues to worsen. This morning the Queen of Wink humiliated me with a really bad one.

I typed "actua" when I meant to type "actual." The word "actua" totally changed the meaning of what I was saying, changing it from something like "Gar the Texan and I are going to an actual Hooters," to something like "Gar the Texan and I are joining a Canadian Charitable Organization in order to get some charitable attention from Hooters."

I really don't like it when hyper-intelligent people, like the Queen of Wink, use their intellectual advantage over me to make me feel even stupider than I already do. Like I said, it is humiliating. I can barely stand to log in to Facebook anymore, due to seeing that the Queen of Wink has scored yet one more Scrabble Bingo, while I can't even spell actual.

I did not walk for a very long distance today. I was not liking the humidity. I think the humidity was making my right knee hurt. Maybe I have arthritis that is acting up, due to what Elsie Hotpepper told me this afternoon, that being that we may be having a historically bad storm hitting North Texas in a few hours.

The maladies of getting ever more elderly really do get vexing after awhile. Reduced cerebral function manifesting itself in chronic typos. Failing body parts. Weakening vision. We won't talk about the other things that are in semi-fail mode.

I heard on the radio on my way to Veterans Park that I should have an Emergency Kit ready for an incoming emergency. I don't have an Emergency Kit ready. I do have flashlights strategically placed. I have a lantern I can find in the dark by using one of the strategically placed flashlights. I have a gas-powered cooking unit I can use to heat coffee and other essentials. I have water stored in several locations. I do not have much of a food supply. But, two grocery stores are within easy walking distance and could likely easily be looted if I get too hungry.

I am ready, Mother Nature. Hit me with your best shot.

I take that back. I just realized I sounded like George W. Bush telling the Iraqi insurgents to "Bring it on." I take it back, Mother Nature, I am not ready, please don't hit me with your best shot. Don't bring it on.

Up Early The 4th Day Of May Mostly Thinking About Chesapeake Energy's Dirty Dealings In The Barnett Shale

Taking a real close look through the bars of my patio prison cell, this 4th morning of May, at the steaming hot tub.

I usually don't get in the steaming hot tub.

But, yesterday I spent too much time in its nearby cousin and got way too cold. I should have warmed myself up in the hot tub after getting out of the ice tub.

Change of subject from getting cold to locals getting hot over Chesapeake Energy disingenuousness.

This morning the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in an article titled "Chesapeake Energy to make fixes on wells after Arlington gas leak" finally got around to mentioning a Chesapeake Energy gas pad incident that occurred in Arlington in early April.

Last week I opined that the fact of the lack of this incident being reported was a scandal, among other scandals. I'd first heard of the incident from Kim Feil, who verbalized her frustration and the frustration of those who had been affected by the incident, because they could get no answers as to what had been hissed into the air they breathe.

It the Star-Telegram article most of it is devoted to the Chesapeake spin. However, towards the end of the article it is acknowledged that those who were affected by the "incident" aren't buying Chesapeake's fox in the henhouse explanation about what killed the chickens.

And, in the section of the article that does acknowledge that there are those who do not believe Chesapeake, there is one line that stands alone, saying...

The report does contradict what Chesapeake previously reported to the council.

So, what did Chesapeake originally tell the council? Chesapeake's employee, Tony Rutigliano told the Arlington city council that "the safety devices worked as expected and no one was in danger." And that the released gas dissipated quickly.

What Chesapeake originally claimed is rendered very ironic by the first paragraph in this morning's Star-Telegram article about the "incident".......

ARLINGTON -- Chesapeake Energy will make safety improvements to its 1,800 natural gas wells across the Barnett Shale after equipment failures at a southeast Arlington site released a small amount of gas during a power outage last month, officials said Tuesday.

Taking A Hike On A Texas Desert In Arlington

Looking at the picture you might think you are looking at an isolated Texas desert landscape with civilization hundreds of mile distant.

You would be thinking wrong.

In the picture you are in Arlington, looking west, in Veterans Park, in the rugged, hilly area of the park.

The air chilled to just a few degrees above freezing by this morning. It has warmed to 51 now.

Because we got into the 80s yesterday, even though it got near freezing, the water in my swimming pool was at a temperature well above the air temperature this morning. In other words I had a nice long swim.

Being able to be back swimming again has quickly melted away that layer of insulative blubber that I'd grown due to way too much weather caused sloth.

I've gotten multiple reports of snow woes from Washington yesterday and today. People living in the lowlands of Western Washington handle snow about as well as North Texans do. As in not too well.

Ironically, I've gotten way more practice dealing with severe Winter Weather in Texas than I did living way up north near the Canadian border.

As you can see by looking at the flags not waving in front of the soldier who stands guard over the Veterans Park Memorial, it is being dead calm out there today. Absolutely no Wind Chill Factor.

Enduring A Cacophony Of Noise At Arlington's Veterans Park Today Along With Mellow Turtles

I was in Arlington around noon, heading to Pantego. I decided to stop at Arlington's Veterans Park and take a walk through the Texas Wildscape.

A lot of people were having some fun today in Veterans Park, enjoying temperatures in the 70s.

Being in the 70s is a huge difference from a week ago when we were all busy preparing to plunge down to near zero.

Today in the Veterans Park Pond I saw a lot of very happy turtles, with their necks stretched out trying to get as much sun as possible.

The Fosdic Lake Turtles are very skittish. The Veterans Park Pond Turtles are not skittish. I got right to the water's edge and still no turtles got spooked, with none diving under water. Maybe the turtles are so happy to be out of that Deep Freeze that they are temporarily throwing caution to the wind.

Veterans Park Pond is a noisy location due to a fountain. And today due to the return of a Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling Rig that was making an awful lot of screechy, metallic racket. Maybe the Veterans Park Pond Turtles are traumatized by all that noise and that is why they paid no attention to the human intruder.

Above you can see the noisy gas drilling rig in the background. Today the Veterans Park Veteran, who guards the memorial, was hanging his head down a bit lower than I remembered. I think the gas drilling noise is getting on his nerves. Or reminding him too much of being in a combat situation.

Looking at the flags at the Veterans Park Memorial, you can see there is a good wind today, doing some heavy duty flag flapping.

Also adding to the Veterans Park noise today was a large number of screaming brats, I mean, school children. They were in purple uniforms. They looked too young to be going to TCU. An adult male was directing them in a stirring game of Red Rover. I heard him say, "Red Rover, come over," or something like that.

I don't know if I have ever played the Red Rover game. Judging by the squealing and screaming this is a very fun game to play. When you are pre-teenager.

NFL To Refund Thousands More Super Bowl Seat Victims Along With More Bad Super Bowl Blunder News

I don't think the Super Bowl ended up being quite the wonderful boost to North Texas that North Texas boosters hoped it would be.

This morning brought the news that approximately 2,000 more fans will be getting a ticket refund or a ticket to a future Super Bowl. These additional disgruntled fans were disgruntled due to being delayed in getting access to the seats they had paid for.

A research firm, San Diego based Competitive Edge Research & Communication is employed to survey opinions, nationwide, of Super Bowl host cities.

Polling data found that positive opinions of Arlington went from 17.4 percent before the game to 14.9 after the game.

Even worse for Arlington, 73.7 of those polled had no impression of the town before the game, with that number managing to increase to 74.4 percent after the game.

I'm thinking making no impression is better than making a bad impression.

An Oklahoman newspaper columnist, Jenni Carlson opined, "Our good friends in North Texas want the Super Bowl back in five years, want to host the biggest spectacle in sports again, want to be the site of the game's momentous 50th anniversary. Good luck with that. Super Bowl XLV? More like Blunder Bowl. Everything that could go wrong did. Some of it was out of anyone's control -- who could've foreseen not one but two snowstorms rolling through the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Super Bowl week? -- but plenty of other things were man-made disasters."

There were a couple good letters to the editor this morning in the Dallas Morning News regarding the man-made Super Bowl disasters....

Waiting for Super Bowl seats

Much has been made about the displaced fans in the temporary seats who were grossly inconvenienced, and my sympathies go out to them. 

However, little has been mentioned about the thousands of us who waited outside the Blue Entrance for over two hours without moving and with no one telling us what was going on.

Jerry Jones and the NFL cannot get a pass on this, as they had years to plan for all contingencies and severely dropped the ball. Spending thousands of dollars only to be frustrated with an organizational debacle of epic proportions is simply unacceptable.

Gary S. Black, Dallas

Jones disgraced many

Jerry Jones' enormous greed and ego has brought shame to Dallas and disgraced not only himself, but the city of Dallas, Dallas Cowboys, Cowboys Stadium and the NFL. His ego-driven attempt to set a new Super Bowl attendance record created not only safety issues for visiting Packer and Steeler fans, but destroyed what would have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

I can only imagine the grief, humiliation and discomfort these fans suffered, and that doesn't include enormous amounts of money that was spent for seats that weren't even available when they were purchased. 

To those fans, I apologize for the horrible experience, and I hope you don't associate most Cowboy fans and North Texans with Jones. We sincerely hope to see you again under better circumstances. We can and will do better.

Ronnie Smith, Garland

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

Taking A Long Walk Under A Blue Sky On Arlington's Veterans Park Boardwalk

The early morning cloudy gray sky soon gave way to blue. I prefer my sky to be blue and not gray.

I had to be in Pantego today. Being in Pantego gave me a perfect opportunity to take a long walk on the boardwalk in Arlington's Veterans Park.

Ahead of me on the boardwalk, where it takes a left, there was a little kid screaming at his dad because the kid was sure there was a troll hiding under the boardwalk. I think the dad was egging the kid on about the troll.

I told the kid I'd seen no trolls, just snakes.

How was I to know the kid was more scared of snakes than trolls?

There is a lot of work being done on Veterans Park. There was a "Bridge Closed For Construction" sign. But I saw no construction on the already constructed bridge.

The playground equipment has been removed with the new playground construction underway. The previous playground equipment was quite nice, so this new playground is likely going to be spectacular.

Unlike Fort Worth's parks, the Arlington parks have restrooms of the modern sort, with indoor plumbing. Plus picnic facilities, with running water.

If you live within 20 miles, give or take a mile or two, of Arlington's Veterans Park it is worth a look. The park has a variety of hiking choices, a Xeriscape to show you what you can grow in a low water Texas climate. A composting exhibit that shows you what you can do constructively with your lawn clippings. And a disc golf course where you can dodge flying discs.

Flags At Half Staff For Policewoman Murdered In Arlington With Hay Pipes & Elsie Hotpepper Singing

I have seen a lot of fire hoses today. But that is not a fire hose that was laying on the ground in Veterans Park in Arlington today. Instead it is some sort of barrier made of hay-like material held in a hose shape by black mesh.

The "hose" leads to the Veterans Memorial, where, if you look close, you can see the flags are at half mast.

I wondered why, for a moment, and then remembered the rookie policewoman, Jillian Michelle Smith, only 24 years old, murdered Tuesday within 20 minutes of responding to a domestic violence call, where she was trying to protect an 11 year old kids from an armed man, who killed 2 others, in addition to the police officer, before fleeing.

The killer was later caught.

My phone rang as I neared Veterans Park. I had trouble getting the phone out of my pocket. By the time I was successful in that endeavor it had already gone to voice mail.

When I was securely parked I flipped open the phone to get the message. It was Elsie Hotpepper. A long, convoluted message about lies, betrayal and fraud. And then Elsie started singing some sort of jingle, like a parody of the Dr Pepper song. It was unsettling.

I called Elsie back, but I got her voice mail.

Then a few minutes ago Elsie Hotpepper called again. I successfully answered, because my phone was already out of my pants. Elsie sang her Elsie Hotpepper jingle again. It is quite catchy. And then she asked me a question. Or two.

And now let's change the subject to the weather. It is currently 70 degrees out there at 6 minutes before 5. I have my window open. I was overheated after talking to Elsie Hotpepper.

Walking Through Village Creek Natural Historic Area Looking For Indians & Wondering If The Christmas Lights Have Dimmed In Interlochen

I am still in the midst of my personal recession. I am fairly certain my condition has stabilized and I will not slip into a full blown depression. However, I am currently not seeing a recovery in the near term.

Maybe tomorrow.

My therapist, Dr. L.C., told me to get vertical and mobile.

So, I followed Doctor's order and went to Village Creek Natural Historic Area to commune with nature and talk to all the Indian spirits who hover about the location of one of America's biggest Indian Villages, back before Texans started using a brute force version of eminent domain abuse to kick the locals out of their town.

A proud tradition which continues in modern Texas times, what with the new Dallas Cowboy's Stadium, built with the help of what many believe to be the worst case of eminent domain abuse in American history, a couple miles to the east.

As I walked through the remains of the Indian Village, I eventually exited to the Bob Findlay Linear Park. This linear park is on the west side of the Interlochen neighborhood,. Interlochen is usually an extremely popular Christmas display viewing venue.

Today it appeared that many of the Interlochen houses are free of Christmas decorations. It seems like I may have read of there being some problem with Interlochen this year, something to do with the Arlington police not wanting to police the traffic mess.

Or maybe the Interlochen canal dwellers have had to cut back on frivolous spending, like Christmas lights. I know I have cut back.

Actually, now that you are making me think about it, I have never burned any electricity on Christmas lights.