We've Had Rain

Monday was hot and oppressive. The temperature rose to 107 that afternoon.

About 7:00 that evening, we began hearing the distant rumble of thunder. Pretty soon, the wind began to shift, and shift hard. We had gusts up to 60 mph or greater. Then lightning began streaking across the sky. Sporadic raindrops began to fall from the sky, slowly at first. Soon we had a good helping of pea-sized hail. Then the rain really came down.

In all, we received about 1¼ inch of rain in just a short time. I don't know about anyone else, but I was not expecting this at all. I do wish we could have some rain without all the dramatics, though. But, you take what is given you.

Since that rain, it has been very pleasant out here. Yesterday, the temp stayed around 90, and so far today, that is again the case. It's been very nice sitting on the patio. With our normally dry climate, I can comfortably sit in the shade with temps below 95, especially if there is a nice little breeze. But once it gets above 95, I head for the air conditioner.

COVID-19 cases continue to climb here. We've had more in the last 8 days that we have had in all the previous time of the pandemic. I think that certainly qualifies as a spike. Makes you wonder what it will take to get the attention of the "it's just a hoax" crowd. When our country has experienced  twice as many deaths in a little more than 4 months than we did in 2 decades in the Vietnam War, I think that qualifies as something serious.

Donna and I had been getting out once or twice a week to visit grocery stores early in the morning, but I think for now we will retreat to curbside service again with the exception of Sam's Wholesale. I've been impressed with their attempts to adhere to CDC guidelines.

Some places advertise that there is nothing more important to them than the safety and welfare of their customers and that they are putting safety practices into place. I bet you've heard that on TV ads or have seen that on websites or elsewhere. But when you step inside the business, there are no employees wearing face masks, no hand sanitizer available, or other safety practices visible. I don't know about you, but I'm keeping a list of who's being naughty and nice.

I'll leave you with a picture below of a crepe myrtle. I really like its shape and color. It sits outside the front of our bank.

Be safe; be smart!

COVID Cases on the Rise Here

Looks like many parts of the country are having spikes in cases of COVID-19; San Angelo is no exception. We've been fairly fortunate here, I suppose. Our infections have always lagged behind our West Texas neighbors of similar size, like Abilene, Midland, and Odessa. But we seem to be having a higher daily average of infections now than we did a month or two ago. I suppose people are just unwilling to practice social distancing. I'm always alarmed when we go out by the number of people who do not wear a mask. There is just a part of our population who do not take this pandemic very seriously. Now, if they lived in a vacuum, it wouldn't bother me. But what they do impacts anyone they come into contact with. Hopefully, a vaccine will be developed soon, but I'm not holding my breath. And when one is developed, how long will it take to reach the general public.

On to other things . . . .

It looks like we're settling into a summer routine here in the Concho Valley. Daily highs flirt with that century mark, sometimes going over and sometimes hovering just below. But I've been happy with our early morning temps of the low 60s. That is some pretty good walking weather. We really have a nice neighborhood to walk in, and so many folks are walking nowadays. Since ours is a very small community -- probably about 500 people live at RCW -- we know most of the walkers, and that is a very comforting feeling.

Our walks are somewhat marred, though, by the new construction at the entrance to our property. As I reported in an entry a couple of months ago, Shannon (our large hospital) is putting in a long-term care facility at the entrance to our property. It's a pretty big operation and is really just getting started. Several small sections of wall have been erected, and they are now being joined by framing. It's often noisy down there, especially when cement trucks are going and coming. I'll be glad when it is all over, but that is going to be quite a while.

Part of the new construction. Another large area to the right of the picture is just now getting underway.

Donna continues to work the yard. I'm thinking about hiring her out to bring in some extra cash. But she's doing a good job, and the yard is looking better all the time. Unfortunately, we have no control over the sprinklers or the mowing, so we are handicapped in our efforts to some degree. I dabble in the back yard from time to time, but I don't get as enthusiastic as Donna. We have a few tomatoes coming in, and we've been eating some pesto made from fresh basil from Donna's efforts. That's some good eating!

Unfortunately, there are some grass fires going on in our part of the state. Currently, I'm aware of at least 3 wildfires: one to the north in Coke County (near the town of Robert Lee), one to the east in Coleman County (east of the town of Ballinger), and one to the south in Sutton County. There are 3 to the north of Interstate 20 between Big Spring and Abilene, and another out west near the small town of Iraan. When it is as dry as it is now, it doesn't take much to start a fire out here -- a spark from a welder in the oil patch or a discarded cigarette can easily start a blaze that spreads quickly across this dry land.

Be smart out there!

Time Gets Away

Since we aren't doing much these days, time just seems to slip away from me. I'm having a bit of trouble remembering what day of the week it is, for example, and every day seems pretty much like the one before. Of course, it may not be the pandemic causing this so much as it is age.

We're looking forward to the time when we can return to normal, but we realize that may be quite a ways off. We're being pretty cautious about this pandemic thing. With our age and "underlying medical conditions", we are willing to err on the side of caution.

We do continue to venture out here and there. Recently, for example, we made a trip to Sam's Wholesale Club and another to Walmart. Donna had a medical appointment one day recently. I waited in the car and read a book and did some people watching while she met with her doctor. I was glad to see the vast majority of clinic visitors wearing masks. On the way home, we drove through Schlotzsky's and picked up a couple of sandwiches.

We had a week or so of some pretty nice temperatures, and it was nice to get back out on the patio and even do a little yard work. Hot weather has returned the past few days, though, and we expect several triple digit days this week. I'll probably limit my outdoor time to my early morning walks.

And speaking of early morning walks, I hope you had the chance to see the full moon a few days ago. I caught my first sight of it one morning as I walked out the front patio gate about 5:45 AM. It no longer is full, but nearly so. It certainly helps light the way in the last bits of darkness each morning.

We continue to "invent" things to do around the house. Hurricane Donna has been on a cleaning binge. We have a steamer for the carpet and floors, and the old girl has put that device to good use lately. I love how the carpet feels new again; it really fluffed up. I cleaned the car over a couple of days, both inside and out. And we took a big load of recycling to Butts Recycling. We hated loosing our old S.A.F.E. (San Angelo Friends of the Environment) Recycling Center. When they first opened in the 1990s, we lived in Ozona, about 80 miles away, and would take our recycled items there anytime we came to San Angelo. But they closed about 2 years ago. Now we take our items to Butts. It isn't as convenient or as well organized, and they don't take quite as much as S.A.F.E., but it still gives us a chance to recycle, and it keeps items out of the landfill. They only take plastic (1 and 2), aluminum, tin, and cardboard. To my knowledge, there is no place in town that takes glass, and I hate that as we use quite a few items that come on glass containers.

Well, I thought we were rid of the martins. Those little rascals are pretty crafty, though. We are used to their buzzing around our back patio, and that is the area we watch for them. We let down our guard, though, and the little sneaks started building one of their nasty little nests above our front door. I discovered it this morning as I was heading out the door for my morning walk. When I returned home, I removed it. I'll have to keep a sharp eye out for them.

I bet our exciting lives are the envy of everyone who reads this blog. I hope all of you are having fun and staying safe.