Oh, it got a little scary in Arlington last night

We here in north Texas had a dose of scary weather last night. I saw baseball-sized hail and the weather was bad enough to postpone the Rangers-White Sox game.

A violent thunderstorm and the threat of tornadoes stopped the Texas Rangers-Chicago White Sox game in the fourth inning on Tuesday night and authorities went even farther with their precautions, evacuating fans from the stands at Rangers Ballpark.

With civil defense sirens blaring because the Arlington area was under a tornado warning, fans were directed away from seating areas — many through the ballpark’s dugouts — and were reportedly funneled to underground tunnels inside the park.

Reporters on the scene (and folks watching on TV) tweeted ominous photos of clouds, precipitation coming down and fans filing through any open exit.

Thankfully, the line of storms yielded no tornadoes. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News wondered where all of the fans were going to go, because they all didn’t seem to fit underneath the ballpark where they were being directed.

They finally resumed the game much later, and in the Ranger’s case, probably wished it had been postponed.

Texas Rangers evacuate ballpark after tornado warnings(Big League Stew)

It’s that Reunion time of year!

  The state of Texas is right on the verge of a seasonal change. I can feel it in the air, and there are several indications as to why I know summer is about to end.

The Cowboys are in the pre-season, the Rangers are in the last 1/3 of their season (and still in first place I might add), Wal-Mart is advertising back-to-school and tax-free weekends. Yeah, it’s all shaping up to be a great seasonal change. I took the garbage out earlier and it didn’t feel like I was walking into an oven when I stepped outside. The Grand Prairie AirHogs’ season has a week left on it. So long to all of my friends at QuickTrip Park, and I mean that.

This upcoming week, my old Army unit will be congregating in San Antonio for an Army Reunion. The First Infantry Division will be gathering by the river to welcome back troops that served in that glorious unit. I’m looking forward to it.

Then, in early September, I will be going to my home town to my high school reunion. Hooo Boy. Supposed to be the “greatest reunion in the history of Sweetwater Texas!” Hoooochie momma!!!!

I have to get ready for fall classes. Hope I can afford the books.

There’s one other sign that the seasons are changing here in Texas. High school football starts this week. Looking forward to reuniting with everything that brings fall weather again.

Roughin it, sorta

Saturday May 8, 2010

Cedar Hill State Park

What a night! Thanks to my friend Ben, I borrowed his large tent made by Ozark Trail and it is huge! Probably 15X20 and plenty of room. The nice thing about the tent is it has a screened in top so I looked up at the stars last night before falling into a deep restful sleep in my sleeping bag.

Kristi and I got here yesterday about 6:00 pm and got all set up. When we first got here, a bright red cardinal greeted us to the campsite. It was awesome, especially since this is Mother’s Day weekend!

We threw on a couple of steaks on the open grill and it was plenty good and hearty. We relaxed by the fire before turning in. I kept the Colman lantern burning all night so we could see if we had to get up during the night.

It got down to about 60 and it was chilly, but the sleeping bags kept us warm and cozy all night. We got up this morning and went in to Cedar Hill and had coffee at Starbucks and went by Wal-Mart to get Kristi a long sleeve hoodie to wear in the chilly morning.

I’m still amazed at how technology is everywhere and how I know the Rangers won last night just by checking my phone with internet access. Amazing how I can blog from within my tent with no problems at all. I remember how hard it used to be getting on-line with a dial-up connection when I first started using the internet a mere 10 years ago.

It’s going to be a lazy day today. I had thought about renting a jet ski, but I’m more in the mood of just hanging out and being lazy. I’m more in the mood of taking pictures of the sights and chilling more than anything else. I’m loving it out here. Maybe rent a pontoon later?

Be back later, my cot is calling me for a nap.

Break out the green!

Looks like Mother Nature will be good to the leprechauns on Greenville Avenue this year:

11 a.m. parade: Sunny and mid-50s

Post-parade parties: Sunny and upper 60s

Lucky you, Big D…

Thursday Snow 2/11/2010

Just an amazing day for snow in north Texas.

When it snows in Texas, it’s a pretty big deal

Uh oh, don’t look now, but it’s gonna be pretty bad weather-wise here in north Texas tomorrow. A big chance we will see a couple of inches of snow. That may not seem like much compared to a couple of feet of snow in Philly, but to us Texans, it’s a pretty big deal.

As most of the country knows, we can’t drive on the stuff. We may be pretty good at football, but snow? Forget about it. Why is that? The reason we can’t drive on snow worth a darn is because we are used to driving 55 MPH in school zones. We have lots of ground to cover so we are always speeding. You can’t (or aren’t supposed to) drive 85 in snow.

We Texans think when it snows that it’s an automatic day off from work and school. No wonder yankees laugh at us. It’s pretty rare when it snows here so when we do get snow, it’s like a state holiday.

Oh well. The Saints won the Super Bowl, and Fat Tuesday is next Tuesday. Maybe it will warm up by then.

The Ice Man Cometh

Not sure what kind of plans you have around Thursday, but you might want to get those plans completed by Wednesday.

According to weather reports, a powerful arctic high gathering strength east of Alaska in the Yukon and Northwest Territories will plunge toward the lower 48 by midweek.
The latest computer models (like the National Weather Service version above) indicate the arctic air mass will be in Dallas-Fort Worth by Thursday morning. Bitter wind chills near zero are likely and some precipitation is possible Thursday night.
The cold air could give the Dallas-area two to three days sub-freezing highs and lows in the teens.
Unless it changes course, the cold wave could encompass virtually everything east of the Rockies except deep South Texas and southern Florida by Friday.

Is it time for baseball yet?

Sometimes, it’s just difficult to comprehend it all

I’m sort of in a bizarre mood this evening. Maybe it had something to do with the Rangers game today. Did you know at one point today, the Rangers were in the 9th inning, the score was 9-0, and today is 9-9-09? How bizarre is that?

And the Rangers won yesterday as well. The weird thing about yesterday’s game was Julio Borbon made the biggest impact in the opening victory.

The outfielder swatted two solo homers, and the second sparked a crucial three-run ninth inning as the Rangers outlasted Cleveland, 11-9.

“I’m kind of surprised. I’m not going to lie,” said Borbon, who had only two homers in 96 games this year for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Did you get that? He only had two homers in 96 games in Triple A, but had two homers in one game yesterday! Weird.

Sunday night this and that

I had so much fun last night at the Grand Prairie Air Hogs game, I went again tonight. Heck, it’s only $6.00 admission. I had a hankering for a beer and some peanuts.

It’s a beautiful (Sunday) day

 

I’ve been a little negligent in posting this week, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been a good week.

Just to bring you all up to date, I saw my doctor this week and there was an issue with my cholesterol medicene. With that said, we are adjusting the dosage in the future and right now, I feel great again. Thanks to all of you for your prayers and truly kind words during this transition.

Now, let’s catch up on some sporting news and current events shall we?

I found a great new restaurant and sports bar yesterday. It’s called Hot Bowl Cafe. I love this place because they have several TV’s and I went in yesterday and watched the Ranger’s game and had a healthy dish of Asian food. the service was outstanding too.

So do yourselves a favor if you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and go by there!

They even have karaoke and one day I might find the courage to sing along with the customers at some point.