And What Are You Reading?

I've been an avid reader my entire life. I guess my love of literature is one of the things that led to me getting a couple of degrees in English. I can't remember a time when I wasn't reading a book.

Our little library over at the clubhouse is quite good considering it only serves our community. I still use the public library, but when possible, I just grab a couple of books from our RCW library. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, that library is now closed along with the clubhouse. Luckily, I managed to get a couple of books before it closed.

As the pandemic took off, I began Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove. Donna and I gave her father a copy of that book when it first came out. He was also an avid reader, and he raved about the book, so I went out and got a copy for myself. Wow, what a book!

I decided to stay with McMurtry, so I turned to my personal library and rushed through Anything For Billy. I followed this up by reading the first 3 books of the Berrybender Narratives. This is a series of 4 books that follow the escapades of an English family as it romps around the American plains in the 1830s. The first 3 books are Sin Killer, The Wandering Hill, and By Sorrow's River. Well, when I bought the series, somehow I didn't get the fourth and final novel, Folly and Glory, so I'll have to wait a while before I can read it.

I was a big fan of McMurtry in his early writings, such as Horseman, Pass By, Leaving Cheyenne, and The Last Picture Show. But as McMurtry progressed, some of his characters and plots became a bit outlandish for my tastes, and this includes the Berrybender Narratives. He developed a habit of rewriting history in his novels, such as the death of Judge Roy Bean in Streets of Laredo, and this has always bothered me. Still, the man writes an interesting story.

In the Berrybender series, he "borrows" various real persons from history, such as Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, and Jean "Pomp" Baptiste Charbonneau and his father Toussaint Charbonneau. By including the Charbonneaus in the story, there was some mention of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It was, after all, Sacagawea, wife of Toussaint Charbonneau, who is so very important to that expedition.

As a result, I turned to my home library again and pulled out my copy of Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. This great work covers the entire history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in great detail. It begins, for example, by providing a short but thorough coverage of Meriwether Lewis' background.

This is the second time I've read this book, and I am more impressed this time by the efforts of the men of the Corps of Discovery as they followed the Missouri River west to its source in the Rocky Mountains, then over the divide to the Pacific Ocean. What they accomplished is almost beyond comprehension. Until you read a book such as this, you can never really know what a great feat of accomplishment their expedition actually was.

Venturing Out a Bit More

We recently endured another 3-day spell of triple digit temps, with the hottest day hitting 108; gosh, mid-May is just too early for that type of weather. But we have also received some sporadic rains the past few days, with the greatest single total registering three-quarters of an inch in my gauge this past Wednesday night. Unfortunately, storms this time of year in our part of Texas can often turn violent, and we did get some hail and high winds a couple of nights ago (sustained winds in excess of 50 mph). Donna and I only witnessed marble sized hail at our house (if that large), but other areas of town saw baseball sized hail. Local auto dealerships are already advertising hail sales. We managed to collect some rain water and store it in. That rain water really does perk up the plants!

Last week, the hair salon at RCW opened. Donna had not had her hair done in a couple of months, so a very frightening situation was developing. We made appointments and visited the place on Monday. All regulations were followed -- face masks worn by both employee and customer, only one customer at a time was allowed in the shop, etc. I'm fine with these regulations; in fact, they make me feel safe.

Early his past Tuesday, we went inside a Walmart for the first time in about two months. There were a few things we wanted that we just couldn't find elsewhere. I'm talking about specific brands here. We hadn't been in the store since aisles were designated one-way. Donna, ever the rebel, decided that she'd go the wrong way on the aisles. The Walmart police arrested her and roughed her up a bit. I bailed her out and took her home and gave her a good talking to.

We took a drive around the countryside one day. We drove out US 67 west to Tankersley (once a community, but today just an intersection), then turned south on FM 2335. We had hoped to pull into Foster Park (county park) on Spring Creek, but barricades blocked the entrance into this inviting little park with all its trees and water.

We continued on south and began driving through parts of the Dove Creek Subdivision. Sometime in the 1990s, we purchased a 5 acre tract in this subdivision. We had plans that one day we might retire there. However, when we moved from Ozona to Midland several years later, we sold the property. The subdivision consists of acreage ranging from 5 acres up to about 40, as I recall. The subdivision is bounded on the north by Spring Creek and by Knickerbocker Road on the south. Dove Creek also runs through the property. Both creeks drain into Twin Buttes reservoir. The subdivision contains 2 private parks with facilities and boat ramps, so you are able to launch into the creeks and even gain access to the lake if water levels are good. Sometimes I wish we hadn't sold that plot of land.

Back in town, we drove through Spring Creek Park on Lake Nasworthy, then through a couple of neighborhoods. We stopped at H.E.B. to fill up with gasoline. This was the first time I had put gas in the car since March 24, and I still had half a tank. What irony! The lowest gas prices in years and we can't really travel. The joke's on us, I guess. We paid $1.50 a gallon, which was up from the low of $1.43 a week or so earlier.

We then drove through Panda Express. I had been craving some spicy Chinese food, so we thought we'd give them a try. Normally, we don't care for take-out. We just feel the food looses something between the time you pick it up until you get home and can eat it. And that was true this time. Oh, I enjoyed it, but I'd rather dine in when possible. But you do what you have to do.

We've put a bit of work into the yard this week. Donna has done most of the work, but I've helped out a time or two. I realized just how soft I've gotten one afternoon while raking. I was huffing and puffing quite a bit and having to stop often to catch my breath. Even though I walk regularly and probably get in excess of 20 or 25 miles each week, my arms and upper body were sore that night. I don't really care for working in our yard because -- in truth -- we really don't have much control over the yard. RCW hires a service to mow our yards, and sometimes I think they cause more problems by the way they mow. And we have to essentially get approval before we make any substantial changes to the yard, such as clearing new beds, for example. For most people out here, that is fine for they moved here to be rid of yard work. But Donna and I have always enjoyed yard work and have taken pride in having attractive, neat and orderly yards. Sometimes it makes me want to get a real yard of my own. Sometimes . . .

Wash your hands, wear your masks, and social distance. Take care and be safe . . .

Mother Nature Can't Make Up Her Mind

Mother Nature is playing games this spring.

We'll run along with triple digit temps for several days, then suddenly we'll get a cool front. The other morning, I put on a ski cap, gloves, and jacket for my morning walk, when just a day or two earlier I had gone out in shorts.

But I'm thankful. I hate when it warms too early and then stays warm. It surely makes for a long, hot summer when that happens.

Driveway art down the street from our house. Looks like someone had a visit from some creative and talented grandkids. The old people here at RCW aren't able to get down on their hands and knees to do this type of work. And if they could get down, they would need a crane or wench to get back up.

It has really been dry out here lately, and the yards are drying up and the ground is cracking. The sprinkler system in our section of RCW is not working, so we're hoping they will get it repaired soon. We did get a third of an inch a couple of nights ago, but when it is this dry, that little bit just doesn't help much at all. We have a good chance of rain tomorrow (Friday), so maybe we will get lucky.

One of the positive things of this pandemic -- and there are several positives that I see -- is that quite a few people in our neighborhood are walking. People who have never walked before -- at least, not since we've lived here -- are now taking short walks around the neighborhood. Folks are stopping to visit with neighbors during their walks. It has a nice old-fashioned quality about it, sort of like when I was a youngster and people would get out more.

I snapped this photo a few days ago. I love the yucca. I'm not sure of the other plant, but it may be a Mexican Bird of Paradise. We have several of each in the neighborhood. 

Construction on the new medical facility near the entrance to RCW continues. It's a pretty big project. There are days when they are doing a lot of digging and the wind is doing a lot of blowing and the entire neighborhood gets a coating of dirt. You'd think we were up around Lubbock or somewhere on the South Plains.

One section of a cinder block wall rising from the ground. 

I hope you were fortunate enough to see the most recent full moon. It was a real beauty. The picture below does not do it justice. I must get a better camera with a good zoom. I keep hoping Santa will come through, but that fat rascal continues to disappoint. 

Full moon in the morning sky.

The moon has still been fairly high in the sky during my early morning walks, and it has been nice to have it guiding me around the neighborhood. It was down to half this morning, but higher in the sky.

The martins have been a real bother lately. They are each year. They like to roost anywhere they can -- such as on the light fixture above the front door, on the ceiling fan on the patio, or anywhere else they can find -- and they make a real mess. We've tried various tricks to discourage them, especially from building their nasty nests, but they are pretty aggressive little pests. They do a great job of eating insects, but they just make a real mess of things.

I hope all of you are doing well. Stay safe and be smart; there appear to be an abundance of morons out there during these challenging times.

Dog Days of Spring

In my last post, I mentioned that we hit 105 degrees near the end of April. Now it is early May, and we've just endured a stretch of triple digit temps. On Friday (May 1), we edged towards 100 degrees, but fell short. Beginning on Saturday, we surpassed 100 degrees 3 days in a row, reaching 106 on this past Monday. It's simply too early to be hitting those temps. I enjoy warm weather, but I don't care for hot weather. Once it gets over 95 degrees, I become uncomfortable. I've enjoyed the days of sitting on our patio any time of the day, especially in the afternoon, but with warmer temps, we'll only be able to go out early morning and in the evening.

We went shopping 3 times last week, our first trips inside stores in more than a month. We ended up going to Sam's Wholesale Club twice and the Home Depot once.

I felt very comfortable at Sam's. All employees were wearing masks and gloves, and cleaning was going on constantly. We used the self checkout aisles, and clerks there were standing by to wipe everything once we left. Our experience at Home Depot was just the opposite. The only employee wearing a mask was the young lady who greeted us at the entrance. None of the other employees wore a mask, gloves, or anything of the sort. Customers were no better; I only saw one wearing a mask.

I do not plan to return to Home Depot; I find their approach to conducting business at this time to be very irresponsible. I believe we can reopen many of our businesses, but we must all use common sense and good sanitary practices. It appears our local Home Depot doesn't believe in this.

Back to the weather . . .

It has been such a windy spring this year. Normally, wind doesn't pick up until afternoon, but this spring, the wind has been blowing -- and blowing hard -- when we rise in the morning. Yesterday, I planned to walk as soon as I got out. I rose, got ready, stepped out on the patio, then came back in. The wind was blowing steadily at 20 mph and gusting to about twice that. Not pleasant at all. And it has been like that quite a bit this spring.

Today is very pleasant. After our hot streak, I got out this morning to 51 degree weather and walked. I was a bit nippy, but there was no wind. I'll take that any day. I had a pleasant walk, and everyone I met said the same thing: "Isn't it great that the wind isn't blowing?"

I hope things are great where you are . . .