Being a Valentines Day Melancholy Baby Today In Texas Thinking About Washington

I am being a Melancholy Baby today.

In the picture you are looking at my house in Mount Vernon.

Well, actually, what used to be my house in Mount Vernon. It was sold in 2002.

The house was built in 1985. I lived there from then til I moved to Texas in December of 1998.

When I moved to Texas it was to a house I had not seen with my own eyes. I'd only seen pictures.

This morning's melancholy has me feeling a bit homesick for Washington. I think what got me started on the melancholy thing was Betty Jo Bouvier's weekend stay in Leavenworth, an Alpine Bavarian type village set on the eastern side of the Cascade foothills

There are no Alpine villages in a mountain setting in Texas.

There is a town called Alpine, in Texas, in sort of a mountain-like setting, down in the Big Bend Country Region of Texas. But, it is no Leavenworth.

I'm thinking if I still had a house up in Washington, I would move back. Having a place waiting for you to move in, makes the moving thing way easier.

When you live in Western Washington you are close to mountains and ocean beaches. If you're in the mood for a total scenery change it is a relatively short drive over the Cascades to Eastern Washington, with its more desert-like climate, turned green in a lot of locations courtesy of the Columbia River's many dams and reservoirs.

Going over to Eastern Washington in summer and fall you can get yourself all kinds of fresh fruit.

Where I lived in Washington it was about a 20 mile drive, to Anacortes, to get on a ferry to go to the San Juan Islands or Canada.

In Washington I lived about 40 miles from another country. Vancouver was just a bit further north than Seattle was south.

The San Juan Islands is in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains. Meaning the islands get way less rain than you get if you are closer to the Cascade Mountains. The New York Times recently had a list of the 41 places in the world you need to go to in 2011. The San Juan Islands was #2 on the list.

When I lived in Washington I took living in one big theme park for granted, because it was what I'd always known. Only when you move away, and return for a visit, do you really see real clear, for the first time, just how special the Pacific Northwest is.

The scenery, the tall trees, the air smelling like Christmas trees, all the fresh produce, some growing wild, like blackberries and blueberries.

The fresh seafood.

I could drive about 15 miles and catch fresh dungeness crab and dig horse clams. I lived 2 miles from the Skagit River. You can easily catch salmon in the Skagit River. Or any of the Washington rivers. And eat the fish you catch. Unlike the polluted waterway I currently live about a mile from called the Trinity River.

In Texas my big hiking thrill, which I will likely do today, is to hike some short hills. In Washington I could see the Mount Baker volcano from my living room. It was a short drive to hike up a real mountain. It was a short drive to hike up all sorts of mountains.

Well, I better get going if I want to get a hike in on some Texas hilly scrubland called the Tandy Hills Natural Area, so I can make it to my Valentines Day lunch at the appointed time.

I Am Sure I Will Be Having Myself A Happy Texas Valentines Day Today With A Chile Relleno

Looking out my viewing portal, this second Monday of the second month of 2011, I can see that Valentines Day in my zone of Texas is looking to be a very nice day.

Blue sky and already 13 degrees above freezing, heading to somewhere in the 70s.

I was very relieved, this morning, to learn that Betty Jo Bouvier made it back home, to find she had not been burglarized while escaping the drippy, gray Western Washington Winter, for the less drippy, less gray Eastern Washington Winter in Leavenworth.

I am going out for lunch with my Valentine today at my favorite Mexican restaurant.

Esperanza's.

In the Fort Worth Stockyards zone.

Esperanza's is owned and operated by the Joe T. Garcia family. Chile Relleno is my favorite Mexican food. It is via a Chile Relleno I judge how much I like a Mexican restaurant. Joe T. Garcia's and Esperanza's are my favorite Chile Relleno locations.

Wikipedia's info about my favorite Mexican food...

The chile relleno, literally "stuffed chile," is a dish of Mexican cuisine that originated in the city of Puebla. It consists of a roasted fresh poblano pepper (a mild chili pepper named after the city of Puebla), sometimes substituted with non-traditional Hatch green chile, Anaheim, pasilla or even jalapeño chili pepper. It is stuffed with melted cheese, such as queso Chihuahua or queso Oaxaca (traditionally), or picadillo meat made of diced pork, raisins and nuts, seasoned with canella; covered in an egg batter or simply corn masa flour and fried. Although it is often served in a tomato sauce, the sauces can vary. There are versions in Mexico using rehydrated dry chiles such as anchos or pasillas.

The sun has now completely lit up the outdoors. So, it is time to go swimming now. Talk to you later.

I Wandered Around A Windy Fosdic Lake Today Wondering Why Fort Worth Is Not The Most Romantic Valentines Day City In America

I made it to Oakland Lake Park today for a very windy walk around Fosdic Lake.

The wind was blowing from the south. Which seemed odd since we are scheduled to get some very cold air later today from the north.

Right now it is 53 with the wind gusting in the 20 plus mph zone.

The current plan is for tomorrow to get to a low of 6, with a strong wind making it feel way below sub-zero.

With snow.

Will this be a blizzard? I've only experienced one blizzard. In October, back in the 1990s, in a log cabin on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

I am stocked up on vittles. I've got 10 sticks of firewood in case the power goes out again. I've got several containers filled with water in case the water disappears again.

On a totally different note, did you get the news that El Paso is the 5th Most Romantic City in America? And even weirder, that Tacoma is the #1 Most Romantic City in America. The Most Romantic City in America List is a Valentines Day thing.

Why is Fort Worth not on this list? We are very romantic in this town.

Valentine's Day- Saudi Style!

If you are a cynical sort who thinks Valentine's Day is only a money grab for florists and candy makers, and that it often puts more strain a relationship than warms it.....you might have a group of friends out there.

"There" is Saudi Arabia.

And "they" are the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, aka the religious enforcement police in Saudi Arabia.

This morning I was having a leisurely late breakfast while watching RELIGION AND ETHICS on PBS, and the story came up about how the religion cops in Saudi Arabia are going around busting retailers who are selling Valentine cards, hearts, candies...and even warned about selling anything RED this Sunday.

Meris Lutz wrote this story in The Los Angeles Times about the situation. Below are a few paragraphs.

A spokesman for the Saudi virtue commission, Sheik Ali Qarni, defended the ban on celebrating Valentine's Day on the grounds that Muslims know the true meaning of love -- the love of God -- and behave accordingly throughout the year.

"Muslims are people of love, as evidenced by the fact that this word appears in [the Koran] 83 times," Qarni told the newspaper Al Watan.

The newspaper said Valentine's Day is outlawed based on a fatwa against "pagan holidays."

The commission ran ads this week warning shop owners against selling any merchandise related to Valentine's Day, which is Sunday.

Another newspaper, Al Riyadh, ran articles with headlines such as, "A fifth of adults prefer to spend Valentine's Day with their pets instead of their partners," and "Valentine's Day flavored with cocaine in the Netherlands this year."

Well that does it- I was thinking about spending a relaxing couple of weeks in Saudi Arabia....but if I can't bring my extensive Rutgers Scarlet Knights wardrobe, then I'm afraid that's out.

And I used to think that the Republican "purity test" was repressive!

University of Andy- A GUY'S GUIDE to VALENTINE'S DAY

I'm like a lot of guys when it comes to Valentine's Day- a total klutz who never seems to get it right. I was going to do a neat, formal blog entry about Valentine's Day....but it would be bogus.

I don't know what I'm talking about. Take a look at that poem above. I can't even get that right.

But I found somebody who "gets it"....his name is Andy Botwin, also known as "Uncle Andy", "Bill Sussman", and "Justin Kirk".

A true Master of His Domain.

Andy has established a seat of "higher" learning.....The University of Andy.

Below, he'll tell you everything you'll really need to know to have the Valentine's Day of a lifetime with that special someone.....or ask for your tuition back.