Lizards, Hummingbirds and What?

Even though it has been a tad cooler in the mornings than having the 80 degree F temps to start, it's been a couple of mornings of 78 with a that old Texas summertime friend----h-u-m-i-d-i-t--y still stuck in oppressive mode. The biggest problem has been no wind! Nothing to stir the air up. Five MPH just ain't cutting it this time of year.


The good news is that on Saturday, the average daily high temperature begins its descent toward wintertime levels. It starts out with a drop of only 1 degree but by end  of September, the drop will be 13 degrees less than it is now--97 degrees F. So, for us Texans, that Saturday event is always a major mile stone in activities as fall festivals and the like gear up for the State Fair at Fair Park.

With a major section of roadway on both sides of the lake closed, albeit East Lawther's water line work in its present state will not be ongoing much longer, the closed section near Fischer Road and West Lawther is going to take a while. And with that, the East Lawther section from Garland Road (highway 78) is nearing its completion, having been closed to Winfrey Point for almost two years.

The down side of that is that the closures have the bikers frustrated and the park goers that use the park regularly and have the attitudes of some bikers (not all, thank goodness) raising tempers from those that never complain about anything. The pressure on City Council, State Game Wardens, Park Rangers, and Park personnel to start enforcing the codes that are displayed on the signs that the city has posted before the situation gets out of hand. And, the stress is growing much faster than even I had realized.

I try to take it in stride and to tolerate the worse offenders that don't want to share the park with anyone else. It has always amused me that the city spent $42 million on hike and bike trails and 90 percent still use the roadways for both. In fact, posted on the information boards is the little subtle suggestion by city parks:

HAVE YOU OUTGROWN TRAILS?

If your speed or style endangers other users,seek

alternative routes better suited to our needs..

Selecting the right location is safer and more

enjoyable for everyone. 

Bicyclists are required to follow traffic laws---City Code  9

Signs that Stress Is Building with this Sticker on a Stop Sign in more than one place as even the Park publishes the rules that are city ordinances and yet won't enforce those rules and ordinances.

City made a point and tickets were issued for about a week. They stopped and everything has returned to the way that it was before.

Today, I had to laugh. In front of this sign was a Mercedes and a Grand Cherokee  parked  off road, in the grass. The same that got others tickets a few weeks ago, but it seems that the there are those that can pretty much do as they wish and not be held responsible. Oh, My!! Can it be?

As the Tuna says," the circus doesn't stay in town for ever."

Well, yesterday, we can say we saw that come to pass. It was an International Circus with a very big "Big Top". They have played Dallas in Mall parking lots to open fields, to any place that could handle the equipment and the cars and the crowds. This, venue, however, will not host them again, most likely as the entire mall is headed to the scrap dealers!

We will give you a moment to thing that one through. Well, you know what they say----- a picture is worth a thousand words. So, in following that template according to the blog rules, we can only post three images per post. So that,by sheer numbers is a three thousand word post eliminated---NOT. Words, whether they are wordy words or not, is what connects us all as human beings. And, I like to write about my day in the field of photography. Never mind if  all the rules are not observed. It is the thought that counts and I don't worry about what those with degrees in English might say. Years ago, usually on weekends, Milly Benson and I would hash those thoughts out in debate 101. Milly, of course, was one  of the books  ghostwriters of the Nancy Drew Series,  as others were part of that number of authors also. They were published under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene.Milly worked for the Block family, owner of the The Toledo Blade and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I had liked Milly and thought the world of her. There are times, when I miss the banter with her, too. She was good!



So, as this story goes on---I will not. I'll spare you that agony. As they say in the steel biz--- I'll give you a quarter this load, you give me the quarter back on the next one. That's twenty-five cents per hundred weight. A flat bed truck can haul 42, 000 pounds legally and with an aluminum trailer, you might be able to sneak a total load weight of 48,000 pounds. Get your pencils ready. Begin!

Tower Mast Rise 75 feet plus or minus a foot here or there.

Once upon a time, even the traffic signs were upscale like the mall.

Piles and piles of Iconic Upscale Retailers past stores are ready to ship out to the scappie.

Strange Park Sign

This is a somewhat scary sign with the "Beware of Wild Animals"added to the sign.

 

 

The White Rock Trail is a pretty amazing trail in the heart of an urban setting. From this very point you can travel to White Rock Lake which is a distance of some 9 miles. It is approximately 9 miles around the lake itself. That mileage total is now up to 18 miles and of course another 9 miles back to this point  and you have 27 miles walking, running biking. The amazing part,still, is that from White Rock, you can take an offshoot to Fair Park, through downtown and pick up the Trinity Trail on the other side of downtown. And, if that isn't enough, you can travel back to the lake via the Katy Trail beginning at the American Airline Center and cutting through the heart of Uptown, Highland Park,University Park and into Lakewood where you will pick up the White Rock Trail again  Dallas does not fully appreciate the trail system that they have, even though it is very popular by so many already. Atlanta has a new trail on old railroad right aways and they are going nuts. Dallas has had this for sometime and its never been unpopular. Dallas does have some advantage over Atlanta too. In the article about Atlanta's new tail, it shows a beautiful view of downtown Atlanta in the distance. The article talks about that view very much. In the next paragraph, the author talks about the hundreds and hundreds of trees being planted, which in 40 years will block the beautiful view of downtown!  Dallas is a bit more advanced than that, folks but we do have at least one strange and worry some wild animal sign.

 

 

Several times I have wanted to take this 3/4 mile off shoot tail to Hillcrest Park. There is a Greek Orthodox Cathedral that is absolutely in the worst location to shoot. From the angle of Hillcrest park, I am thinking that it would be possible to get a spectacular view of the Cathedral. But, in a city park, I have never seen a beware of wild animals warning on a sign. Wild animals covers a lot of territory. I need to call the Parks and Recreation for a meaning of "wild animals" since I have seen wild animals in the city and in local  nature areas. Those wild animals (raccoons,coyote) are not that scary. To me, wild animals would be bear,moose type and oh,my, bob cats and cougars would be in that wild animal book,too. Bob cats are stealthy and hard to spot. It is a bit strange, don't you agree? I think I will call Parks and Recreation. I'll get back witch ya.