Bird spotting

We have noticed a couple of unusual birds in the neighborhood recently. Not unusual birds, they are common, but I have never seen them in the neighborhood, They are the type I see in fields and along the highways out of the city.

First there was a vulture, probably a turkey vulture, seen during the day a few weeks ago just across the bridge, along Queen's Way.

Today we saw some sort of hawk or falcon, possibly a Sharp-shinned Hawk or Cooper's Hawk, based on a quick glance and studying the bird book. I'm not too good at bird identification -- you have to know to look at colors, striping, sizes but it seems there is always some key point I didn't notice! I'm sure practice would really help. Here is a link to the North Central Texas Birds website.

Anyway, it is interesting to see these birds out of their usual settings.

Halloween earthquakes!

Just after midnight on October 31, 2008, Bedford experienced a 3.0 earthquake. Epicenter was 4 miles SW of Irving.

According to the KXAS-TV MSNBC reports "The first quake occurred at 11:25 p.m. and was a magnitude 2.5 centered 4 miles north of Grand Prairie. The second and largest quake occurred at 12:01 a.m. According to the USGS the epicenter of the 3.0 magnitude quake was 4 miles southwest of Irving. Jessica Sigala with the USGS reports there were several smaller quakes in the magnitude 2.0 range and the last quake was felt around 3:00 a.m."

Later in the day, around 4pm, two more quakes were reported, according to WFAA. Their article includes a map of the locations.

Satellite view of Hurricane Ike coming to Bedford

This color-enhanced satellite image was captured around 10:20am on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, from NOAA.

Disaster tips

There are some excellent resources online for personal planning for a disaster.

1. Ready America from the US Department of Homeland Security and the Advertising Council
http://www.ready.gov
includes planning tips and suggestions of supplies for a kit.

2. Keeping Food Safe During and Emergency from the USDA
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/keeping_food_Safe_during_an_emergency/index.asp
tells how long frozen food is safe during a power outage and how to clean flood-contaminated cans and countertops

3. This one is also good on food safety
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/topics/foodsec_cons.pdf

Water (source = 1):
Household chlorine bleach and medicine dropper – When diluted nine parts water to one part bleach, bleach can be used as a disinfectant. Or in an emergency, you can use it to treat water by using 16 drops of regular household liquid bleach per gallon of water. Do not use scented, color safe or bleaches with added cleaners. (note one of the sites said 8 drops, the other said 16)

Food safety in the refrigerator and freezer during a power outage (source = 2):
Always keep meat, poultry, fish, and eggs refrigerated at or below 40 °F and frozen food at or below 0 °F. This may be difficult when the power is out.

Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed. Obtain dry or block ice to keep your refrigerator as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic foot full freezer for 2 days.

Hurricane Ike barometric pressure readings

We started reading our home barometer on Friday afternoon.
Our barometer shows 28-29 = stormy, 29-30 = change, 30+ = clear
Here is a chart:

Friday, Sept. 12, 2008
12:25pm -- initial reading was set at 29.9, not sure when that was set
12:30pm -- 29.48
3:10pm -- 29.40
10:10pm -- 29.35

Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008
1:05am -- no change, still 29.35
eye of hurricane in Galveston = 29.09 there about that time, actual eye registered there at 2:10am
6:20am -- 29.25
10:20am -- 29.18 (it is getting gray and DFW Airport shows rain, although our patio is only damp-looking)
11:40am -- 29.15 (currently raining)
12.52pm -- 29.11
3:35pm -- 29.05 (still raining, but no flooding problems)
5pm -- holding steady at 29.05. Not raining, only 0.45" in gauge for today! 76 degrees, just warm and humid.
11pm -- 29.225

Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008
7:11am -- 29.44
3:20pm -- 29.6 and a gorgeous sunny day with puffy clouds, 81 degrees and windy. There is another 0.1" in the rain gauge, which probably happened after 5pm yesterday.

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008
9am -- back to 29.9, the reading from before the storm.

Months later -- Sunday, December 21, 2008
1pm -- 30.2. Yesterday was in the 70s and then a cold front blew in, bringing the low this morning to 25, high in the 30s! Today is a lovely clear blue day with just a slight breeze.

American Red Cross "Safe and Well" website

Neighbors have visitors right now, refugees from Hurricane Ike. If you are from the affected area you can register your status at www.SafeAndWell.org, a disaster service of the American Red Cross. To search for a loved one you must provide either a phone number or address.

You can also call 1-800-588-9822.

Here's a statement from their site:
If you have been affected by a disaster, this website provides a way for you to register yourself as “safe and well.” From a list of standard messages, you can select those that you want to communicate to your family members, letting them know of your well-being.

Civil War memorial moving to Bedford Cemetery

The Northeast Tarrant County Civil War Veterans Memorial has moved to Bedford Cemetery. Mike Patterson's memorial to area Civil War veterans will be dedicated at 10am on Oct. 25, 2008. The cemetery is located at the Bedford Church of Christ, 2401 Bedford Road. Previously located in Colleyville, the monument of huge engraved stones has expanded in scope to list over 400 men from both armies who have Northeast Tarrant County connections. A website provides links to extensive biographies and a description of the project, which Mr. Patterson started 40 years ago as a young teen. History came alive for him through records he discovered in his great grandmother's Bible.

sources: Jessica DeLeon, Fort Worth Star Telegram 9-5-08 p.1B
Mr. Patterson's website http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txtarran/military/civil_war_vets.htm

A way to thank our servicemen

Here is a gesture you can use to express your thanks to the military men and women you see:

http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/fullmovie.php

It is a gesture -- you put your hand on your heart and then rotate your palm out, down and away.

4th of July on Shady Brook

One big advantage of living on Shady Brook is that you can walk to the fire works at the Boys Ranch and not have to drive in the traffic. Part of the show is the parade of car lights as they head home.

Crud Cruiser and Electronics Recycling Opportunity

On Saturday, June 7, 9am to 11am (or until the unit is full) at Meadowpark you can drop off your hazardous household waste and electronics. No charge, just bring proof of Bedford residency such as a water bill, lease or drivers license.

This is a great opportunity since you normally have to go to the city to get a permit, then take your waste to the collection center in Fort Worth. I understand this costs the city a fee even though you are not charged.

Watch out for this plant -- Branched Broomrape

Although pretty, Branched Broomrape is a parasite and endangers crops. It grows 4 to 12 inches tall and has snapdragon-like blooms.
If you see it get a plastic bag and then pull it and immediately seal it in the bag without walking around (to avoid distributing its tiny seeds, as many as 50,000 per plant!). It can lie dormant for decades. It grows by attaching to the roots of other plants to gain water and nutrients. The Fort Worth Star Telegram reported today that Tarrant County is now the furthest northwest that it has been spotted. A botanist at Fort Worth's Botanic Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) recently spotted it in a field along Interstate 20.

Voting time again

We attended the League of Women Voters/ AAUW-sponsored candidate forum on Thursday night at the Senior Center. It was so refreshing to hear generally positive candidates. I personally felt like any of the candidates for City Council or School Board would be worthy additions.

Please be sure to vote on Saturday, May 10. There are numerous City Charter revisions and it does take a while to actually mark a vote for them, but it took a lot of work for the committee to develop them and generally they are just editorial topics to clean up the charter for ease of future use and to make it agree with state law.

Blooming neighborhood

The Shady Brook neighborhood is in bloom!

Earth Hour

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

Google recommends a further initiative to reduce the energy consumption of your home PC by joining the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

Maria Redburn, Mover and Shaker for 2008!

Our librarian, Maria Redburn, has just been named to Library Journal's 2008 list of Movers and Shakers."

"The 50 individuals who are LJ's 2008 Movers & Shakers represent thousands of others across North America who are transforming libraries for the better."

We are currently in the calculating period for the “sewer” fee on your water bill

Have you taken a look at your water bill lately? Have you noticed the line called “sewer”? You are actually charged two amounts relating to water use. One is based on your actual monthly consumption, the “water” charge on your bill. That one includes a set minimum fee to which an additional amount is added based on how many 1000 gallons you used during the recent billing period. The “sewer” charge is actually determined by your water usage during the previous December-February. It includes a set minimum fee plus an amount based on how many 1000 gallons you used during December-February. That amount resets each year and remains constant through the year.

This seems like a fair system to me, but we’ve been routinely paying the water bill for so many years I had not thought about how the “sewer” fee was calculated until recently. Since we are currently in the calculating period you might keep this in mind as you use water.