Well, Maybe Summer Is Here Now

I falsely reported earlier in the week that I thought summer had arrived here in the Concho Valley. I admitted at the time that I was probably a bit premature. But I think summer has now finally arrived, both officially (summer began yesterday, June 21) and in weather.

Darkened clouds from the north and west moved in and met other clouds from the south.

We've now had 3 or 4 straight days of triple digit temperatures, the highest being 106 on Thursday. And even though the rain has disappeared, the humidity has continued to hang around, making a temp of 106 feel like 110 or higher.

As we watched, the clouds began to build.

One evening last week, Donna and I sat out on our back patio -- as we do almost every evening -- and we watched some clouds move through, forming what we thought might be storm conditions. However, they just teased us. Pictures I snapped that evening are decorating today's blog entry.

I guess the clouds in the west finally worked through, as the sun eventually broke through. We did not get anything from these clouds, but I bet someone else did.

The first flowers appeared on Donna's zinnias. They are pretty little flowers, and they are all colors. Donna has always enjoyed a garden over the years; we've had gardens whenever we could ever since we've been married, but I've always done most of the work in them. Yard work and gardening was always therapy for me when I was working. Now Miss Donna has taken the lead, and I think she should have been in charge all these years. I'm happy to pass the tools along to her. Now I can sit back, sip a cold beer, and watch the old woman dig around in the dirt getting hot and sweaty. Life is good!

Donna's zinnias, right front, and her marigolds along brick border. You can see a red rose standing tall along the brick wall in top center of photo. I did not even notice it when I snapped this picture.

We've not done much lately. We've spent some time at the club house playing bingo and attending a birthday dinner. Donna has done a bit of fishing at Lake Nasworthy. We continue going to the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and walking in our neighborhood on alternate days. And we eat out quite a bit, at least two or three times each week.

Donna has a pretty mix of colors here. 

We've tried a number of new places recently, but most do not appeal to us. For example, we've tried Tossed, PCDeli, and Newks. All three are fast food eateries specializing in sandwiches and salads. They are fine, but we found them to be overpriced and pretentious. I'll not go into detail. If you are interested, you can click the links. For sandwiches, we'll continue to frequent our old reliables, like Schlotzsky's and Firehouse Subs.

We continue to return to our favorites again and again. As I've mentioned before, my current favorite in town is Napoli's Italian Restaurant. We can get a wonderful Italian meal there in a comfortable, attractive restaurant -- with full and efficient service -- for the same amount we would pay at those fast food places I mentioned above. For me, that's a no-brainer. The only new place we've tried that I'm willing to return to is Fuzzy's Taco Shop. Prices were reasonable, and it is located only about a mile or so from where we live. We've only been there once, so we need to make another visit or two.