Heat and Bugs

It's hot and dry in the Concho Valley now. It's been several weeks since our last rain, and I really don't expect much more until September or later. The grass is quickly turning brown, and we are having to hand water our plants regularly now.

Flowers in our front beds. Notice how brown the grass is. That is partially due to lack of rain, but also due to our landscape people who cut the grass far too short for this time of year.

Although the daily highs are now dancing around the 100 degree mark -- one day just below, the next just above -- it is a dry heat, and I'm thankful for that. On our recent trip to East Texas and the Shreveport/Bossier City area, Donna and I suffocated a bit from the high humidity. We'd much rather be in a dry climate.

Zinnias, marigolds, and various herbs in the bed along the garage.

But there are days I wish we lived in a true four-season climate, perhaps some place in the foothills of the Rockies. We do a lot of wishing, but we manage to stay grounded in reality. It's still nice to dream. I find as I grow older, though, that I have more trouble with heat than I do with cold weather. I don't mind cooler weather, though I must admit trouble with true cold weather. Luckily, in our dry climate, we are able to sit out each evening, and we are quite comfortable, especially if there is a nice breeze. And one thing that West Texas has plenty of is breezes.

Zinnias by our front patio gate.

Donna's zinnias are really beautiful right now. I don't know much about flowers, but I do love the varied colors of these flowers as well as the different petals. I guess they are all zinnias; if they aren't, please feel free to correct me. Her tall marigolds have finally started blooming as well. The shorter ones have been blooming profusely for quite a while now, but the tall ones have taken their time. It is so nice to have color in these beds that once were home to those ugly, monotonous shrubs.

I love the variety of color

The flowers have brought an invasion of grasshoppers. As with flowers, I know little about these insects, but the ones we have are quite large, probably measuring about 2 inches or so. And they are everywhere.

Grasshopper looking in our kitchen window. They are everywhere, and they are particularly fond of Donna. They follow her around.

In the pictures of our plants, you may notice a white powder on them. That is baby powder. We read somewhere that such powder deters pests, and we've found it to be rather effective.

We had an interesting visitor the other evening as we sat outside. I noticed something dark on the street behind our house. The street is probably about 75 feet or so from our back patio, and it is down a slope. In all, the street is probably about 6 feet or more lower than our back patio. So, I could clearly see this dark object slowly moving across the street. That I was able to see the object in the late afternoon sun with my old man eyes tells you how large it was.

So, the old woman and I set off to investigate. We discovered that it was a tarantula slowly making its way across the street. Well, we watched the little fellow off and on for the next hour or so, and found him to be quite determined. First, he scaled the curb from street to yard, then headed almost due west and approached our roof mate's patio. (A roof mate is someone we share a roof with; in other words, 2 residences share a common wall and roof.)

Our friendly neighborhood tarantula crossing the street. You can tell something of his size by comparison to my foot, which is roughly a size 9½.

Closeup of my new best friend.

He seemed to have a certain direction in mind that he wanted to go, but the neighbor's home blocked him. So, he turned sharply north, and paraded by our patio as we watched him. At the end of our house, he turned back west, then continued his journey in his original direction. He eventually crossed the street, then scaled the curb and plodded across the lady's yard across the street from us.

This is a view from Google Earth of the route our tarantula took, starting with the red circle at right (east) and moving west, then north, and then west again. That is quite a journey for such a little fellow.

How very interesting! What made him go from point A to point B? What gave him direction? Anyway, I hope he got to where he wanted to be.

And speaking of bugs, we've been invaded by scorpions for the past month or so. Perhaps the heavy rains we had earlier brought them out. Regardless, we've probably killed half a dozen or so in our house the past month. Miss Donna doesn't like scorpions! She's pretty spooky right about now. In fact, I killed a scorpion in our closet just a few moments ago. Donna found him lurking near a corner.

I've not mentioned our other plants. On the north size of our house, we planted several tomato and pepper plants. The cherry tomato plants are quite tall, taller than Miss Donna. And they are producing well. Each one has numerous groups of tomatoes about to turn. The other tomatoes and peppers are just now beginning to set fruit.

Donna also salvaged a hydrangea plant. One of our neighbors thought it was dead and was going to throw it out. We put it in the ground, then Donna carefully trimmed it and has been watering it faithfully. The plant is now looking healthy. There are no blooms yet, but we are hopeful it will survive.

Taller cherry tomato plants are in center. That is the recovering hydrangea at lower left.

What a beautiful red color on this zinnia.

Bloom on one of the tall marigolds. It's a lovely flower.

Final note:

I began writing this on Saturday. There was no rain in our forecast. Sunday afternoon, it began to rain. It rained off and on from mid-afternoon until bedtime. It then rained some more Monday morning. In all, we received slightly more than an inch. How nice! Best of all, the temp never rose above 81 degrees. Today (Tuesday), however, the high is expected to be over 100. That's West Texas for you.

How RCW Celebrates the 4th of July

The longer Donna and I live at Rio Concho West (RCW), the more we like it. We have some pretty good folks out here. There are just over 300 residences and about 500 or so people.

We have a regular schedule of events each month, ranging from dining to games and trips. Donna and I participate in many of these events, and we think that as we age some more and travel less, that we will probably do more things out here. For now, though, we want to continue traveling as much as possible so we are not as involved as we expect to be a few years from now.

One of our big annual events out here is the 4th of July parade. San Angelo is the home of Goodfellow Air Force Base, so there are many retired service personnel that opt to live at RCW. These folks do believe in observing the 4th. Our parade this year was really good. The parade wound its way down the half dozen or so streets of our community, and residents were able to simply step outside their homes to view the parade. Donna and I always sit in our garage in the shade and watch the parade.

This year, we had quite a few old cars, more so than in previous years. We also had fire trucks from both San Angelo and nearby Dove Creek, a small acreage subdivision where Donna and I owned some land about 25 years ago. We even had a clown and some dancing girls this year.

I'll not bore you further with details; I'll just share some pictures with you. All pictures below were taken from my garage. You can also view the Rio Concho West Facebook page for a couple of videos of the parade. Yeah, it's not a big parade, but it's pretty good for a bunch of old geezers! We're certainly happy with it.

Here come the boy scouts. One lad even has a full pack on!

San Angelo FD

Chevy SS and a Camaro

Old pickup and golf carts

Even a motorcycle showed up

 

More old cars

 

Before my time!

Clown running amok

Old Studebaker

Dancing girls with some interesting hair!

End of the parade. Fellow in the red shirt in the cart organized the parade. He is a retired AF colonel.

Short Trip to the Boats

It had been a few months since our last casino, and Miss Donna was having gambling withdrawals. I knew I had to take action fast. We booked a room at the Horseshoe in Bossier City and made an early start last Sunday morning in an attempt to fix what ailed her.

I'm not the gambler that Donna is, so casino trips for me are something to endure. And if we travel through some interesting country and eat at some tasty places, then I'm pretty happy. Yeah, I'll run some money through the video poker machines, especially if the pay tables are good, but I tire of just sitting and staring at an electronic screen. Also, these long trips are getting a bit more challenging for me. My forever young wife has a boundless supply of energy and these travels don't bother her a bit, but they definitely wear me out.

With that in mind, we decided to just make it as far as Palestine, Texas, the first day. We followed one of our normal routes as far east as Corsicana, then took US 287 from there to Palestine. It had been a long time since I had traveled that road, and I wanted to see the country again. But first, we made a couple of pit stops in Corsicana. At the US 287 exit on I-45, we stopped first at Collins Street Bakery. We've stopped at the older location on Highway 31 near downtown numerous times over the years (in fact, I've been visiting that place since I was a wee lad growing up in nearby Fairfield), but we had never stopped at this newer location. To be honest, I didn't care for it as much as the older location. It was just too busy, with pushy travelers displaying bad manners. So, we left and went a bit farther down the street to the Russell Stover outlet. This is a nice store, with chocolates everywhere. It's a nice stop along the way.

Donna turned loose in a chocolate store. 

Stacks of varied boxes of chocolate.

After our brief stop, we drove the final 50 miles or so to Palestine. We crossed Richland Chambers Reservoir, and it looked full to me. That is a big lake!

At Palestine, we filled up the fuel tank to be ready for the next day and then checked into our room. After freshening up a bit, we headed to Little Mexico, a place my family and I have been eating for more than 50 years. I can't tell you how delicious that place has been over the years. It has always been better than just about any other Tex-Mex food I've eaten. But I've been terribly disappointed with the place my last few visits. It's hard to give up on a place you've enjoyed for so long. But with this visit, I may be done with the place. Oh, the food is very decent, I suppose, but it does not have the quality it once did. I made Donna promise that if I ever suggested eating there again, she was to remind me how disappointed I was on this last visit. The food is over priced, and the taste just isn't there for me. But other folks seem to enjoy it. But they are probably not old enough to know how great this place was in its prime.

It rained hard that night, with Palestine receiving almost 3 inches of rain. The rain had moved out by morning, thankfully. After a good breakfast at the hotel, we headed east. We timed it to arrive in Shreveport in time for lunch. We had found a new restaurant online (Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe)  and wanted to try it. Well, for the second day in a row, I was disappointed with my meal. This was not Mediterranean food as we know it; it certainly is not what we remember from our time living in the Middle East in the 1980s. This place is another over-priced, pretentious restaurant with poor customer service. But it is precisely the kind of place that many people will flock to because it is pretentious. We marked it off our list.

Taziki's. Nice building.

On to the 'Shoe.

We had a good time playing at the 'Shoe. We didn't win, but we seem to win less and less as pay tables decline. Still, we enjoy the 'Shoe. Customer service is good, and the place is clean and well-maintained.

On Tuesday, we made brief visits across the river to Eldorado and Sam's Town to see if anything has improved at those places as regards games and pay tables. They hadn't. For lunch, we went to an old reliable friend, Ralph and Kacoo's. Finally, a good meal. I had the Shrimp Special, which consists of lightly grilled shrimp, shrimp stew over rice, and fries. Donna enjoyed the fettucini topped with shrimp with a side salad. We both enjoyed the wonderful rolls. Good food -- good service -- good place to eat!

On our last full day at the 'Shoe, we enjoyed the buffet. Donna always eats 10 or 12 platters of boiled shrimp and muscles, while I just shop around for whatever looks good. We both enjoy their bread pudding. I'm not a buffet person, but I always find something at this one to enjoy.

We checked out early Thursday morning for the long trek home. We stopped in Brownwood for lunch at Schlotzsky's. You'll probably laugh, but this may have been my favorite meal of the trip. I guess I just like simple food. 

Some closing comments about the trip . . . .

Rain has been plentiful in all the areas we traveled. Lakes, rivers, and stock tanks are full. The Red River in Shreveport/Bossier City was as high as I've ever seen it. Even in our area, the effects of lots of rain were noticeable. Fields that should be growing cotton were bare. Heavy rains have either prevented farmers from planting or seeds have been washed away or are rotting in the ground. Hopefully, they will have some good weather and can get something growing now, but it will be a tight squeeze for it to mature before cold weather arrives. We did see some rich corn crops and maize between Hillsboro and Corsicana.

Well, Maybe Summer Is Here Now

I falsely reported earlier in the week that I thought summer had arrived here in the Concho Valley. I admitted at the time that I was probably a bit premature. But I think summer has now finally arrived, both officially (summer began yesterday, June 21) and in weather.

Darkened clouds from the north and west moved in and met other clouds from the south.

We've now had 3 or 4 straight days of triple digit temperatures, the highest being 106 on Thursday. And even though the rain has disappeared, the humidity has continued to hang around, making a temp of 106 feel like 110 or higher.

As we watched, the clouds began to build.

One evening last week, Donna and I sat out on our back patio -- as we do almost every evening -- and we watched some clouds move through, forming what we thought might be storm conditions. However, they just teased us. Pictures I snapped that evening are decorating today's blog entry.

I guess the clouds in the west finally worked through, as the sun eventually broke through. We did not get anything from these clouds, but I bet someone else did.

The first flowers appeared on Donna's zinnias. They are pretty little flowers, and they are all colors. Donna has always enjoyed a garden over the years; we've had gardens whenever we could ever since we've been married, but I've always done most of the work in them. Yard work and gardening was always therapy for me when I was working. Now Miss Donna has taken the lead, and I think she should have been in charge all these years. I'm happy to pass the tools along to her. Now I can sit back, sip a cold beer, and watch the old woman dig around in the dirt getting hot and sweaty. Life is good!

Donna's zinnias, right front, and her marigolds along brick border. You can see a red rose standing tall along the brick wall in top center of photo. I did not even notice it when I snapped this picture.

We've not done much lately. We've spent some time at the club house playing bingo and attending a birthday dinner. Donna has done a bit of fishing at Lake Nasworthy. We continue going to the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and walking in our neighborhood on alternate days. And we eat out quite a bit, at least two or three times each week.

Donna has a pretty mix of colors here. 

We've tried a number of new places recently, but most do not appeal to us. For example, we've tried Tossed, PCDeli, and Newks. All three are fast food eateries specializing in sandwiches and salads. They are fine, but we found them to be overpriced and pretentious. I'll not go into detail. If you are interested, you can click the links. For sandwiches, we'll continue to frequent our old reliables, like Schlotzsky's and Firehouse Subs.

We continue to return to our favorites again and again. As I've mentioned before, my current favorite in town is Napoli's Italian Restaurant. We can get a wonderful Italian meal there in a comfortable, attractive restaurant -- with full and efficient service -- for the same amount we would pay at those fast food places I mentioned above. For me, that's a no-brainer. The only new place we've tried that I'm willing to return to is Fuzzy's Taco Shop. Prices were reasonable, and it is located only about a mile or so from where we live. We've only been there once, so we need to make another visit or two.

Guess Summer Is Here

I guess the rainy season is over. We've had a good run, and I'm thankful for that. Our lakes now have a good amount of water, and this should help them hold up for a few years. Our temps are now getting pretty high. I think we even hit the century mark once last week. and it looks like we may get there again 3 or 4 times this coming week. So, things will be mostly hot and dry for the next 75 to 90 days.

Donna and I have not taken any trips or done anything worth sharing, so I'll keep this short and simply leave you with some pictures of the plants we've been growing in our beds. Just to remind you of what the yard did look like, I'll start with a picture about the time we moved in. It shows the ugly, drab, boring shrubs that occupied the front beds at that time.

Our front yard about the time we moved in. Shrubs along the wall and sidewalk are plain.

Now, here are pictures taken a few days ago. Keep in mind the plants are still pretty young, and that many have been grown from seed. They should continue to bush out and put out new growth and flowers as the season passes.

Here is the front yard from a similar angle as the older picture above. The tree has really grown, hasn't it? The plants atop the wall in pots are aloes and lantanas.

This is what I'm calling the "curved bed". From left, there is a yellow bell, 2 red yuccas, 3 different rose bushes, and some zinnias on the end. Marigolds line the front of the bed in places.

Close up of part of the curved bed showing red, pink, and red roses. Marigolds in front are beginning to bush out and produce good flowers. 

This is what I call the "garage bed" since it is against the garage wall. This is mostly our herb bed. There are marigolds, zinnias, lavender, sage, oregano. and a single rosemary plant.  Off to the left, by itself, is a stand of mint for our tea and other purposes.

Close up of a lovely red rose.

The yellow bell has some blooms, though you have to look for them. Before long, they should be covered in their lovely flowers.

The different colored lantanas are producing some color now, even though they are still rather young.

We have a good stand of mint started in its own section. I hope the brick liner on the right will help contain it, though I'm sure it will eventually seep underneath and come up on the other side. We had been growing this in a pot for the past year or so. It does so much better in the ground. 

I originally wrote this entry Saturday night or Sunday morning. It is now Monday as I am posting it. Rain began falling about 5:30 this morning, and we have received over 2 inches thus far.

I guess I was a bit premature in believing the rainy season was over.

Thank you for the rain!

Walking in the 'Hood

My last entry saw Donna and I driving around the lake area. In this entry, I take a walk around the neighborhood.

Since starting the gym back in January or so, we have not walked much in the neighborhood, and I've missed it. It's good to get out and see the neighbors and see what is going on where we live. Rio Concho West is truly a community. Residents meet at the club for various events and we take the bus to eat out together. Early in the morning and in the evenings, people walk about the neighborhood. When we aren't walking, we sit on our patio and watch our neighbors pass by, and sometimes they take a break from their walk to sit on the porch with us. It reminds me of a slower, friendlier time.

We're now going to the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I recently started back walking in the neighborhood on non-gym days, and I've enjoyed it. On a recent walk, I snapped the following pictures.

Many of the houses in our neighborhood have low maintenance lawns, mostly with rocks and desert landscapes.

I can't identify all of these plants.

Lots of yellow in this yard. Shorter plants in front are yellow bells, while taller plant is Mexican bird of paradise.

Here's the same bird of paradise, but from a different angle. This has always been one of my favorite plants.

This yard in the old section is dominated by red yuccas.

This is a row of vitex along a house with a traditional grass yard.

This open area next to the club house was a vibrant yellow a month or so ago, but now is fading. You can still pick out some yellows, blues, and other colors if you look closely.

This house is just a couple of doors down from us. They have a traditional grass lawn with a bit of rock in front. The "Texas Asparagus" is about to bloom out. Nice mix of plants, including red yucca on left.

This house with a lawn has a century plant in bloom in center of picture.

We've continued receiving rain. Last time I checked, both Twin Buttes and O H Ivie were at well over 70% capacity. It has been a long, long time since lakes that full. It's been a good year for rain so far.

We have been taking care of some things at home and have not done much, so my blog entries have been a bit sporadic and dull. We are, however, eager to take a trip; hopefully, we will soon. Perhaps we'll go someplace of interest.

I'll see you down the road.