Autumn is Teasing Us

I stepped out onto our front patio this morning about 6:40 to slip on my walking shoes and head out for my walk. As usual, I had checked the weather forecast before going to bed last night and saw the expected temp was predicted in the low to mid-60s. That's good walking weather. So, I was wearing my shorts and a short-sleeved shirt when I stepped out the front door. Low 60s is a bit cool, I admit, but normally after a half mile or so of walking briskly, my body warms up and then it's just about perfect.

Yellow bells on our front patio. Nice color!

But this morning, there was a chilly north wind blowing almost 20 mph. I sat down and began putting on my shoes, but it was just too cool. I went back inside, put on big-boy pants, slipped on a windbreaker, and returned to the patio to put on my shoes. It was still cool when walking into the wind. It took about a mile or more before I really got comfortable.

Blooming sage in neighbor's yard.

Most of this week should have highs in the 80s with lows dipping into the mid 40s one night. Autumn just can't decide if it wants to come or go.

I don't know what kind of tree this is, but it may be showing some of the first fall color in the neighborhood. If you look closely at its lower-right side, you can see that a few leaves have begun turning.

This is another tree I can't identify. This one is in the front yard of our neighbors on the north, but our neighbors on the south have one in their back yard as well. There is a little color here, but I'm not sure those are leaves turning or some sort of berry. I can't see that well anymore.

Take a Walk With Us

Donna and I returned to San Angelo State Park on Friday morning for another walk there. We arrived shortly after 8:00 AM and it was still a bit cool, probably in the high 50s. 

We basically followed the same route we did earlier in the week, but this time I snapped more pictures. I thought you might like to see a bit of the route we often walk at the park. We've probably done this same route 40 or 50 times over the years, so it is one we are very familiar with. The map below will help you follow us.

Our starting point was the playground area parking lot shown at center of map with blue. From there, we headed southwest towards the entrance, then in a clockwise rotation, staying on either paved or gravel roads.

We had not walked 100 yards when 4 deer sprinted across the road in front of us. I did not even have time to pull the camera from my pocket. What a good way to start the walk.

We headed southwest along one of the main park roads towards the entrance and park headquarters building. It is about three-eighths of a mile from our parking spot to the headquarters.

Park headquarters and entrance, as seen from within the park.

At the headquarters, we turned west on the main park road. We immediately encountered a group of buzzards gathered in a dead tree off to our left. I think they were expecting us.

Buzzards starting their day with a little meeting.

Along the roadway in front of the buzzards was the remains of this deer carcass. Is this why they were gathered in this area?

From the headquarters to our turnoff, the road is something like a roller-coaster. It consists of some gentle hills with a few curves. Along the way, the Tasajillo Trail crosses the road.

Tasajillo Trail heading north towards the lake.

As we neared the 1 mile mark of our walk, we spotted our turnoff ahead. It once was a paved road, but over time the pavement has deteriorated and the park service has removed any slabs of pavement that remained. Today it is all gravel. It starts out heading northeasterly towards the lake, then swivels along the base of some low lying hills. In the past, we have spotted foxes in this area, but we have not seen any in the last couple of years.

Our turnoff is on the right ahead. We have now traveled about a mile. The park road continues on towards Pulliam Ridge.

We follow this gravel road for about 1 mile. At the hill in the distance, the road curves left towards the lake, then back to the right and heads towards the Chaparral Pavilion.

After almost 1 mile (making our walk thus far 2 miles), we hit pavement again just before reaching the Chaparral Pavilion, which is a group day use area. Lots of activities are held here throughout the year.

At the end of our second mile, we get back to the pavement. You can see the top of the Chaparral Center at upper right. The little white building in right-center background is a restroom with shower.

At this point, we were actually within sight of our car. So, if the weather turned bad or we were just having trouble with our walk, we could have returned to our car rather quickly and clocked about 2½ miles and gone home. But on this day, all systems were go and we continued on.

Technically, we were now in the Red Arroyo Campground area. The camping area extends from where our car was parked on down the road for over a mile. During this time, we walked by several RVs. We always enjoy watching folks camping in their RVs. It reminds us so much of our RVing days, and it always makes us want to go out and do it again. But now is not the time for that.

At the 3¼ mile mark, we left the newly paved surface and entered on an older road which -- like the previous one -- is slowly deteriorating. We stayed on this road for about half a mile.

At the end of the camping area, there is a large circular turn around. But the road does continue, albeit on a paved surface that is not nearly as good. That is the O.C. Fisher dam in the background. You can also walk on it.

You can see sections of the old road breaking up in the foreground of this picture. Right after I snapped this picture and put my camera in my pocket, 2 deer skirted across the road in front of us.

This old section of road connects with the main park road that passes below the dam. When we hit this road, we turned back towards the headquarters. At this point, we had walked about 3¾ miles.

Where we rejoined the main park road. That is a bicyclist on the road coming towards us. He stayed on the main road.

Roadrunner Trail. This 3 mile loop trail parallels the main park road for almost a mile.

If you want to see bison, this is the section of the walk to do so. In fact, I spotted some in the distance. In the picture below, you will see their dark shapes in the bottom half of the picture as they grazed about.

Our home is actually just a little bit beyond this water tower, so you can see why we come out here so much. Can you see the bison in the center of the lower half of the picture?

Buzzard sunning himself in the warm morning sun.

This paved road took us all the way back to the park headquarters, where we turned right to return to our car. Just after turning at the HQ, I saw movement to my left. As I turned, I saw 2 white tails reach for the sky as 2 deer dashed away into the thick brush. For the day, that was a total of 8 deer I saw, but I failed to get a single picture.

Total distance for this walk was 4.93 miles. That's a pretty good morning walk for some old geezers.

As the weather continues to cool and we shift our walking time from early morning to later in the day, we will probably be visiting the park often to walk this route as well as others. Donna suggested that we head to the north gate soon as we have not walked that section of the park in at least a couple of years. Sounds like a plan!

A Walk in the Park

In an attempt to break out of the monotony of our pandemic lives, we decided to visit San Angelo State Park this past Monday for a walk. Our original plan was to hit the park shortly after it opened at 8:00 AM, but we got a little rain that morning. So we gladly postponed our walk until after lunch. Let me emphasize at this point that this was a walk, not a hike. For the entire distance, we stayed on either paved or gravel roads.

Our favorite walk out there begins at the restroom and playground area near Red Arroyo Campground. We then head back towards the park headquarters and take the main road west for about half a mile. We then follow an old gravel road for about a mile back past the Chapparal group area near our starting point, but continue on through the Red Arroyo camping areas. At the end of the paved road, we continue on around by way of a gravel road back to the main park road, then back to our starting area. The route can vary by as much as half a mile depending on any shortcuts or detours we happen to take, but today the total distance was about 4.6 miles. It's a good workout for a couple of geezers.

Obligatory bison picture. State law requires that you take a picture of either the bison and/or longhorns while visiting San Angelo State Park. Those neglecting to do so will be trampled by said bison and/or longhorns.

The sun came out for a while, and during that time it got pretty warm. Overall, though, it wasn't a bad afternoon hike. We plan to go back this Friday, but we hope to get out there early while it is cool. There were probably no more than 10 campsites in use, so there is lots of room available for campers.

The sage in our subdivision has been lovely lately. I love those brilliant purple blooms. 

Blooming sage in a neighbor's yard.

We've finished another puzzle. They help keep us entertained, but I'd rather be traveling or hiking someplace.

"Root Beer Break at the Butterfield's"

We made it to autumn! What a great time of year; it has always been my favorite. Our daily highs have stayed below 90 since the rains a couple of weeks ago, but they should go up this weekend and into next week. 

I hope the weather where you are is pleasant, and I hope you are safe and happy.

The Weather Has Been Delightful

Since my last post just after our wonderful rain, the weather has been great! I do not think the daily highs have reached 90, so we've had a great time sitting out on our back patio watching the Rio Concho West world going by. Turkeys graze through our yard, even when we are sitting there just feet from them, and deer cross the road at the end of the street. Buzzards circle high in the sky keeping an eye on us, and every once in a while, they swoop low over us just to let us know that they are patiently waiting for us to provide them a good meal. The hummingbirds have really been fighting each other for control of Donna's feeders, and it's been fun watching them. It's a good life.

Another beautiful West Texas sunrise

Nightly lows have been in the lower 60s, even dipping once or twice into the upper 50s. When I start my walk in the early morning, it's a bit cool. After a mile or so, I've warmed up. In a few more weeks, though, I may have to put my big-boy pants on and maybe even a light jacket. By November or so, I'll probably shift my walking routine to later in the morning or even the early afternoon. I'll be thankful for the sun then.

Turkeys grazing through our yard after a recent shower.

When summer officially began around June 21 or so, I was able to walk out of the house at 5:45 in the morning with the sun beginning to peek over the eastern horizon. Now I'm leaving at 6:40 or so, and it is still dark out. I finally have good light about 7:00 or a little after. This old world just keeps on revolving, doesn't it?

It's about time for flu shots. We've debated when and where to get our shots. Shannon Hospital, which we use extensively, is providing several days of a drive-through flue shot arrangement. That seems as safe a way as any to get a shot, so we may use it. Donna will call our primary care physician's office and make sure of details. We've been getting our shots at our pharmacy for the last 10 years or so, but we are trying to stay away from people this year as much as possible, so the drive-through looks tempting.

Our latest puzzle is "Ethel the Gourmet"

If our Covid numbers rise as a result of activity around the Labor Day weekend, I expect to see those numbers next week or so. Gosh, it would be great to see them fall instead of shoot up. Regardless, the old woman and I will just keep doing what we are currently doing.

I hope all of you are safe and happy . . . we are.

And the Rain Fell

The local weather people predicted over 2 inches of rain for the week and highs on Wednesday and Thursday around 70 degrees or so. They underestimated things, and I'm glad they did.

Donna and I sat out late Tuesday and watched the clouds moving into the area. To the east, we could see a storm system moving from south to north and a clear line of rain falling. We hoped this was an omen of good things to come, and it must have been.

On Tuesday, clouds began building. About halfway between the light pole and the left edge of the picture, you can see the vertical rain line. From there to the right (south), someone is getting rain, perhaps the farming community of Wall.

Wednesday morning about 2:00 AM, the rain began to fall, sometimes rather heavily. Rain fell steadily all morning and into the early afternoon before stopping. At that time, I measured almost 2¾ inches of rain (see pic below). What a true blessing for this dry country. The high for the day never got above 55 degrees that I was aware of.

Rain gauge showing almost 2.75 inches of rain

Donna and I put on jackets and sat on our back patio for a very long time enjoying the cool weather and the soaking rain. For those of you who live in climates that receive lots of rain, you must think we are odd. But long, soaking rains are a true rarity in this parched land. It's a real treat when we get so much rain.

When we awoke Thursday morning, the temperature was in the low 50s, but it was dry. However, just before 8:00 AM, the rain began again. It seemed to rain throughout the rest of the day and into Thursday night. When I woke this morning (Friday), the streets were wet, and my rain gauge measured about 1¾ inches. Add that to the previous day and we have a total of about 4½ inches of rain. Gosh, that is about a fourth of our total annual rainfall in a little more than 2 days. I wish the folks along the Pacific coast could get this rain to put out those fires.

As the week started, the weather folks predicted less than 3 inches of precipitation for San Angelo, so they were almost 2 inches off there; they predicted highs around 70 each day, but I was never aware of the temperature rising above 55 or so. Does that upset me that they missed the forecast? Not one bit. We loved it. We turned the AC completely off, and the indoor temp never dropped below 73, even with a window or two open.

I'll be watching area lake totals over the next few days to see how they improve, and I'm sure there will be some good improvement. The little town of Robert Lee just to our north received about 7 inches of rain, while Eldorado to our south received about the same amount. Both of those areas are in watersheds that feed area lakes, so I'm optimistic that lake levels will rise impressively.

In addition to the above, Donna celebrated another birthday. I'd tell you her age, but I lost count years ago. I really never learned to count that high. Courtney and her husband gave her an Amazon Prime membership, so we are going to be exploring the possibilities in that soon. Thanks, Courtney and Michael, for the thoughtful and very useful gift; it's perfect for the times are we currently living in.

Be safe out there.

Prairie Dog Town

It was nice out this morning when I left for my walk around 6:35 or so. At the time, it was 69 degrees, and the sky was clear, allowing me to see the stars in the sky just before the sun popped over the horizon to start lighting the day.

About 8:00 last night, I snapped this picture of a sunset.

After snapping the first picture, I waited a while, then zoomed in and snapped this photo. It almost looks like a grass fire is raging in the background, but it's just the sunset.

I had only passed a few houses before I encountered a neighbor standing in her drive. "I'm waiting for the paper," she informed me. A few houses farther up the hill, I came across another neighbor doing the same thing. By the time I had finished my walk more than an hour later, I had come across a dozen or more lost souls wandering dazed around their yards, looking under cars and under bushes for their papers.

Old people are funny. They get into routines, and they don't like those routines altered at all. If I happen to be outside when the mail carrier makes his rounds, it's fun to watch all the old folks come out and head to their mail boxes before the mailman is even pulling away. I guess it's the big event of the day for some of them. The same is true with the paper. They look forward to that cup of coffee and paper when they wake up, and they are lost when that routine is disrupted. They remind me of meerkats or prairie dogs emerging from their dens looking around. Boy, I'm glad I'm not an old person.

"Have you seen my paper?"

"I thought I saw that mail man go by, but my mailbox is empty"

Tomorrow is Labor Day. Of course, the Labor Day weekend began on Friday, or even on Thursday for some. That worries me. I'm concerned that there will be another surge in COVID cases. I know that several events have been scheduled in our area. Lots of folks from all over West Texas usually show up in town to enjoy Lake Nasworthy at this time. I'm sure there will be little social distancing or common sense at any event. If there is a spike, we should see it begin in about 2 weeks or so.

I've more or less given up hope that the folks in this country will learn how to behave. We seem to put greater value on having fun than almost anything else. Our only hope now, I think, is an effective vaccine. We just don't seem to be able to make the sacrifices we need to bring this pandemic under control.

I'm Confused . . . So What Else Is New?

One of the side effects of this pandemic -- at least for me -- is that I lose track of time. Normally, Donna and I have our regular days for doing certain things. For example, we like to eat out on Mondays and Thursdays. We also normally try to do all of our running around during the week and then stay in our neighborhood on the weekends, when people are more likely to be off work and kids are our of school. We normally play bingo at the clubhouse on Saturday, and Donna has her specific days when she plays other games at the clubhouse. 

So, normally we pretty much know what day it is.

Hummer feeding on our patio.

That's no longer true. I seldom know what day it is now. We haven't been in a restaurant since early March, though we have done a drive-thru about half a dozen times since then. And the clubhouse has essentially been closed for most purposes since the pandemic began. We can still go over and check out puzzles and books, but it is not open for much of anything else.

So now on most days when I awake, I spend the first 5 or 10 minutes trying to figure out what day of the week it is. When that fails, then I pick up my smart phone and check the calendar.

Of course, some of you out there -- namely my daughter and eldest grandson, for example -- are probably thinking, "Well, you're just an old man who's losing his mind. Don't blame the pandemic for your mental failures." Okay, I admit that may be a part of it, but I still think this whole alter-normal pandemic bares the bulk of the blame.

There is a bit of a cooling trend going on now. It isn't much, mind you, but it has taken a bit of the edge off the heat. There are no triple digit highs predicted for the foreseeable future, and the early mornings are becoming pleasant for walkers like me. We are still looking for rain, but I just don't see anything moving our way.

Here is our latest puzzle, "Canoe Lake". Wow, I'd like to be there right now. Donna would be out scaring the fish, and I'd be settled into one of those red Adirondack chairs on the pier with a good cup of coffee, or perhaps something a bit stronger, just enjoying the sights and sounds and smells. Perhaps we need to get another RV.

"Canoe Lake"

Before the storm I wrote about in the previous entry, the purple sage in the neighborhood was really pretty. Below is a picture of a couple of plants across the street from us. 

Brilliant purple sage in our neighbor's yard.

It's peaceful at home right now. The holy terror has gone out to the lake to terrorize the fish out there. She was able to get a new license the other day, so she's legal for another year.

Be safe and smart.

Lively Storm

Clouds began moving in about 6:30 or 7:00 last night (Monday). It was 102 degrees when they approached us, and pretty soon the temperature began dipping. The last time I checked, it had dropped to 88, and I'm sure it went a bit lower. We also had some pretty high winds. Online sources said some winds were 55 mph or above. About 10 days ago, we had winds in San Angelo in excess of 85, and quite a bit of damage was done. Fortunately, our neighborhood did not see any winds at that speed.

We enjoyed watching the clouds dance across the sky as day began to give way to night. A bit south of due east, the moon -- almost full -- began rising. After 45 minutes or so, the clouds fell enough and the moon rose enough that it disappeared into them.

We were sure we'd get a good rain out of this, but we received less than a tenth of an inch at our house. But we are supposed to have a repeat tonight. Perhaps we'll get a good soaking, but I'm just not very optimistic. We need something to break this moderate drought.

Below are some pictures I snapped. 

This is the very first picture I snapped. You can see the moon bottom center, dwarfed by all those menacing clouds. It would eventually merge with the clouds above it.

This shot is towards the north east. You can see our clubhouse below the clouds. The street lights are normally not on this time of day.

I moved around front to snap a few pictures facing west/northwest. That's an interesting cloud just above the line of houses.

It didn't take long for things to get dark in this direction.

Meanwhile, back on the east side of the house, the moon was starting to rise towards the clouds.

In a few minutes, the clouds ate up the moon. Will it return tonight?