Stormy Weather, Tuesday Edition

We had some more violent weather last night.

Daughter Courtney, who lives about 2 hours north of us, got hit first. She sent us a picture showing her front porch littered with marble-sized hail. Our weather rolled in about 6:30.

The local weather reported wind gusts in excess of 80 mph. It certainly was blowing. This time, we received almost 1.5 inches. So all told, we have received over 3.5 inches the last 2 days. That is great for us, and it puts us ahead of our average for this time of year, I believe.

I'll be checking web sites the next few days to see if our lake levels have risen at all. It takes quite a bit of runoff to raise the levels in our lakes.

Storm clouds are gathering to the southeast. The storm approached from the west and had a "C" shape that seemed to encircle us from the north, west, and south. 

You can see the wind is blowing from right to left in this picture, especially by looking at the small tree in the center and the larger tree to its left. But look at the poplar type trees in right center. They seem to be standing upright. 

We were getting some good lightning, but I never could capture it. Notice the small streak above the house in right center. Streaks were spreading across the sky. Also notice the tree on left is leaning more to the left in this picture than in the one above. The poplars are slightly tilted now as well.

Now take a look at the poplar trees in this picture and how much they are yielding to the southerly winds.

Rainbow came out to the southeast. Notice the standing water at very bottom of picture. It collects there.

This is the northern end of the rainbow. The colors here are not as vivid.

And then the sun came out. Notice that even the standing water at bottom right has already drained away for the most part. Compare this picture to the one at top.

More Rain

Boy, we had a storm last night.

Clouds began to darken to the west and north about mid-afternoon. I even heard some distant thunder about then. But nothing moved into our immediate area for a while. Weather advisories popped up on the television about storms to our north in the Robert Lee area, but things remained dry here.

Then, about 6:30 or so last night, it was our turn. The storm proper lasted only about 2 hours or so, but during that time we received about 2.25 inches of rain, some marble sized hail, and some very high winds and loud thunder. We had some real flooding on the streets to our south and east.

On my walk about the neighborhood this morning, there was quite a bit of debris strewn about, but no damage that I could see. Lots of gravel and mud had been washed into streets, and leaves were scattered all over. A few benches we have strategically located about the neighborhood were toppled over. But again, there was no damage.

This is precisely the kind of rain that provides runoff that can help area lakes. I'm sure Twin Buttes and Nasworthy benefited from the deluge, and I hope that water pouring into the Concho River will make its way downstream to O.H. Ivie, which supplies most of our municipal water needs.

We have a chance for isolated storms again this evening. We'll see what turns up.

This is what I emptied from the rain gauge earlier this morning. That's right at 2.25 inches. Wow! That is great for this area.

I stuck my camera out the door to catch this picture. The wind was blowing the rain so hard that I was getting pelted as I stood in the door. Note the tree leaning over. Wind was probably 50 mph or so at this point. You can barely make out the clubhouse directly behind the street light, which was already on despite being only 6:30 or so.

This is a terrible picture. it was still pouring, and you can see the drops on the lens. But noticed the white caps. The entire street was flooded.

Happy Mother's Day

I wish all of you moms out there a Happy Mother's Day!

I wanted Donna to have a special day, so I dragged her out of bed early and hauled her to the state park for a 5 mile walk. I don't want her getting soft on me; I have to make sure she stays healthy. After the walk, I took her back home so she could be a good mother and cook me a good lunch. She's one lucky gal.

Seriously, Donna and I don't pay much attention to holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries much any more. Sure, we remember to say something to one another. But local restaurants are always crowded on Mother's Day and Valentine's Day and such, so we avoid them. Instead, we find a time a day or two before or after for our celebration. Donna and I will go out tomorrow to a place of her choice. I'm looking forward to it. I hope she picks a place I like; I don't want to go someplace and have to eat rabbit food, but I will if I have to.

I'll leave you with some more pictures I've taken lately. These were taken either in our backyard or during our latest walk at the state park. What better way to spend a special day than in one of our lovely state parks!

We have a scissor tail that visits often, and it likes to sit atop this same pole by the street.

I've written before about the killdeers that visit every spring and produce a family. A few weeks ago, I was able to watch both parents and 3 babies regularly. Lately, though, I've only seen the chick (left) and parent (right) shown above. I guess something got the rest of them.

We were only a half mile or so into our walk at the park early this morning when we came across this little cottontail. He stayed still until we were almost upon him.

The Highland Range is a subdivision that backs up to the park. The road we walk on in the park passes the backyards of several houses, including the one above. We think this structure is probably a green house. The black thing in front is a cistern to catch water from the roof of the small structure. I would estimate the cistern is 250 gallons or so.

There were quite a few folks at the park this morning. Some were jogging, some were riding bicycles, and some were just relaxing. It was overcast, and that helped hold the temps down, though it was a bit more humid than normal. I snapped these two jogging nearby on Red Dam, a small dam inside the park.

This is one of the campgrounds in the park. The oak trees are a rarity in the park. You can see a bit of the lake on the left as well as the O C Fisher Dam in the background. We often walk on that dam.

I spotted these black vultures sitting in the top of a dead mesquite. That is the O C Fisher Dam in the background and a bit of the lake as well. I think these guys spotted us and expected us to collapse. Buzzards tend to follow us a lot these days. I wonder why?

Can you see the cottontail in this picture? it is dead center. Donna spotted him near the end of our walk. He blends into his surroundings nicely, doesn't he.

This is the campground Donna and I always stayed in when we had a trailer. It lacks the larger oak trees, though it has numerous mesquites. It is also within range of the WiFi on the nearby bathhouse. 

In addition to the animals shown above, we also spotted a large jackrabbit, a road runner, and numerous birds, including a woodpecker and a bird with a yellowish/orange chest.

Picture Odds and Ends

I wanted to share a few pictures I've taken recently from walks and rides. No common theme here, just a few shots that you might like.

We came across this beautiful yucca in bloom during a drive through one of our old neighborhoods. 

This patch of blooming prickly pear was next to Spring Creek Park, just off of Lake Nasworthy. 

The picture above this one came from the patch in this picture. This picture shows how extensive the cacti are in this area, and almost all the plants are sporting yellow roses.

During a recent walk at the state park, we spotted the bison herd off to our left. I never tire of seeing these reminders of the old frontier.

That is Donna walking along the road in the park. In the background is a little bit of OC Fisher Lake as well as the dam. A few entries ago, I wrote about our walk along that dam.

This is one of the campgrounds in the state park. We always enjoy walking through the campgrounds and checking out the various rigs. We still dream about RVing.

I noticed these 4 deer grazing in a neighbor's yard during one of my recent walks. It was still early in the morning, so the light was not that good.

Night at the Theater: Chicago, the Musical

Donna and I went to the San Angelo Performing Arts Campus (SAPAC) this past Friday night to watch Chicago, the musical.

Since retiring to San Angelo back in 2011, we've been season ticket holders to the Angelo Civic Theater. The first play we watched there was Cabaret, and we truly enjoyed it. Since then, however, the quality of the performances have more or less declined, at least for us. About a year ago, SAPAC began operating and we've been watching their schedule for shows we would be interested in. SAPAC brings in professional touring companies for performances. Yes, the tickets are a bit more expensive, but the quality is certainly worth it.

Chicago is currently on a North American tour. The original play was written by Maurine Dallas Watkins. The play is loosely based on real life events involving two women who were charged for murder -- in separate incidents -- and were later acquitted. Since then, the play has inspired 2 movies (1927 and 2002), a 1942 film called Roxie Hart, and the current musical adaptation written by Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb.

The play is set in 1926 Chicago, and revolves around 2 entertainers whose fame seem to ebb and flow around murders of passion they are charged with. The more publicity their cases bring to the public, the greater their draw as entertainers.

There is very little dialogue in the musical version. In fact, the little bit of dialogue is what gave Donna and I the greatest problem. We simply could not understand much of it. I'm not sure if the problem was the microphones being used or our ancient ears. We would notice people around us laughing at the dialogue, but we more or less sat there in a dumb stupor trying to figure out what was said. It really didn't matter, though, for it is the singing and dancing that are the main attractions of the performance.

Everything was perfectly choreographed, and all the performers were excellent. I'm just amazed at the talent of everyone involved. Of course, the highlights of the show, at least for me, were the numbers around the songs "All That Jazz" and "Roxie". I must warn you that there is some colorful language in the show, and there are numerous suggestive lines and situations. But if you like traditional jazz style dance, this is a show worth seeing.

Blessed Rain

We finally received a decent amount of rain.

A front moved through the area late Wednesday/early Thursday morning, dropping almost an inch of rain. A day later, another system moved through, blessing us with an additional half-inch of rain.

Looking east from our patio at the rainbow one afternoon after a brief shower.

Our rain gauge on Friday morning. A little more rain fell shortly after, raising the total to just a bit more than half an inch.

Rains like this are rare for us, but they do a great deal of good. They help green up the pastures for the ranchers. Right now, there has not been a great deal for the livestock to eat. When pastures turn brown and there is little for livestock to eat, then ranchers have to supplement. When they supplement, they lose money. When livestock become too expensive to support, ranchers are forced to sell off some of their inventory. When they sell off, numbers are reduced. When numbers are reduced, prices go up in the grocery stores. When prices go up in the grocery stores, you and I pay more for the meat we eat. Of course, it is not the ranchers who get the increase in prices; rather, the middleman -- who does very little in the overall scheme of things -- gets the bulk of the profits. It's a vicious cycle.

Farmers benefit from these rains as well, as do homeowners who like green lawns.

But rains such as this do little to raise lake levels, and it is largely our lakes that most cities in West Texas rely on for municipal water supplies.

But we are always thankful for whatever the clouds will share with us.

Skunk Invasion

Donna and I were on the back patio last night about half an hour before dark. On the street to our west, a skunk came waddling out of the brush. He explored the area for a while. In fact, our neighbor across the street came out and took a few pictures. I wanted to get a picture as well, but when I stepped off the patio, I saw a doe just outside our yard and froze, hoping she would not run away. Unfortunately, she scampered away. We also watched our Killdeer family -- 2 parents and 3 babies -- run up and down the street. If you read the blog much, you might remember that we had a young family last year as well. (See "The Killdeers Come for a Visit" from June 9, 2017)

This morning, I decided to go for a walk. It was still dark as I stepped outside, but I picked up a slight scent of eau de skunk on the south wind. Less than half a mile later -- downwind, I might add -- I came across a skunk in a yard. 2 of my fellow walkers had stopped to watch him. One of the ladies -- Liz -- warned me that they had just seen a skunk at the end of her street. Sure enough, when I got to that area, I saw the little booger acting like he owned the yard of a fellow we've nicknamed "Cowboy". I don't like all of these skunks invading our neighborhood.

We have some bad weather moving in tonight. We hope to get a little rain from this storm system, but the chance for some large hail and high winds is also possible. We do desperately need the rain, though. The problem with West Texas is that we don't often get rain, and usually when we do, it comes with a violent storm. Those storms that gently drop rain to the ground are rare out here.

We also have a good chance for rain on Friday. Keep your fingers crossed for us.