Street Work

I've let time get away from me again. It's been at least 2 weeks since my last post. I'm just having trouble getting motivated to write anything. After more than 10 years, I seem to be running out of material or steam -- probably both.

Interesting clouds on the horizon during my walk early this morning. As the sun was rising, there seemed to be a long cigar-shaped cloud stretching away to the northeast.

Cigar cloud on the eastern horizon early this morning.

If you've seen Donna's FB page, then you know we ventured down to Conroe last weekend. Donna and her 3 older brothers had a little reunion. It was good to see everyone. There certainly were quite a few old people there. Donna and I felt out of place being around all those senior citizens.

I think I mentioned in my previous post that road work was scheduled for our community. Our street was done the day before we left for Conroe. We thought that was pretty good timing, and that the rest of the community would be done before we returned. However, when we got back home, we saw that no more work had been done. We learned that the machinery had broken down. So, following repairs, the crew came back out this past week and wrapped things up on Friday. It was interesting to watch the entire process.

They started by sealing any cracks in the road. This was the longest part of the entire process, as they spent a couple of weeks doing this before the actual resurfacing began. After this step, then a street sweeper came down the street, making numerous passes to clean the streets as much as possible. Then, on the day that the street was to be resurfaced, workers with mobile fans moved down the streets to blow away any remaining debris. Finally, the big truck made passes down the street to resurface.

Road surface after cracks were filled.

Street sweeper ahead of me early one morning. He started at 6:00 AM so that they could get to work resurfacing early.

 

Workers pushing fans to blow away any remaining debris.

Sealer truck pouring surface. The sprayer at rear of truck is adjustable. They had already made a single pass, getting most of the opposite side of the street. They were just evening it out with this narrow pass. This allowed them to keep one side of the street open while the new surface area dried.

This is the finished product, the street in front of our house.

I really don't know how well this process works. One neighbor commented that all they did was paint the road. It is, in fact, a very thin layer. I guess time will tell. Traffic was able to drive on the new surface in less than 3 hours of it being poured. Seems like these old people out here couldn't wait to test out the new roads. As soon as they were opened, it seemed like a parade of cars were moving up and down the streets.

Other than that, our lives continue to be boring. However, as CDC guidelines continue to relax, Donna and I are starting to make some travel plans. I'm hoping that we can start doing something in July. We'll certainly let you know.

Keep safe out there.

Rain at Last

We finally had some good rain. Over a 3 day period late last week, we were able to get about an inch of rain at our house. The city of San Angelo officially recorded an inch and a half. The rain fell slowly, so most of it was able to soak into our parched ground. I can't tell you how nice it is to have a peaceful rain like this. Usually in the spring and summer, our storms are rather violent, with high winds and hail. 

After the rain, I caught this rainbow. It was a big one that stretched across the sky to the east. This is the left end of it.

Right end of rainbow.

Otherwise, things continue on as always. Right now, the nights are a bit cool, dipping into the 50s, while the days can be anywhere from 70 to 90. It won't be long until those cool nights are gone until late September; I'll miss them. I don't care for cold weather, but the extreme heat from July into early September can be really oppressive out here. 

Donna and I often drive through the Whataburger on Knickerbocker Drive, then head out to Lake Nasworthy to enjoy the views while enjoying our burgers. Last week, we parked in a different location and found ourselves right under the approach flight path to our local airport. Goodfellow AFB uses the airport for training purposes, and plane after plane passed overhead practicing approaches.  It was fun to watch.

Here's a plane as it approaches us over the lake.

Plane almost directly overhead.

A couple of days ago, we parked in the same place, but now the planes were practicing their approaches from the opposite direction. As a result, when they passed over us, they were lifting back up. It doesn't take too much to entertain us.

Twin Buttes on the opposite side of Lake Nasworthy.

The streets in our neighborhood are being resurfaced, so we have to plan when we leave over the next couple of days. It is a bit of inconvenience, but it will be nice to have our streets in good repair. Donna and I will probably ice down a six-pack and sit out and watch them work on our street today. As I said, it doesn't take much to entertain us; I've always been a cheap date.