I'd Rather Be in the Mountains

Wow, it's hot out here. We're hitting over 100 every day, and the forecast for the foreseeable future is all over 100. Even the mornings are hot. I walk about 6:00 most mornings, and it has been about 80 or so with more humidity than I would like. It's really oppressive.

My walks have been interesting, though. For the last few mornings, a group of 4 or 5 turkeys have been roosting on some power lines at the top of the hill. It's a bit dark for a picture with my phone, so I haven't even tried. One morning, I came across a dead skunk in the middle of one of our side streets. We've had quite a few of these little stinkers in the area lately. Perhaps the heat knocked him over. 

Dead skunk in the middle of Pinto Path

I've seen another skunk in the area with quite a bit more white. They are really pretty creatures, but they are notorious for carrying rabies.

On the home front, Donna murdered a tarantula the other day. I scolded her, for tarantulas are more or less harmless. But Donna and all creepy crawly things just don't get along.

Another victim of Donna's wrath. Guess I should be more careful about smarting off to her.

The deer have really been hard on some of our plants. We've given up on the peppers, and Donna may have also finally given up on her tomato plants. She did manage to harvest some green tomatoes, so I think we'll be enjoying some fried green tomatoes soon.

We've also harvested some oregano, rosemary, and basil from our herb beds. We dried the oregano and rosemary, and Donna put those in bottles to use in her cooking. The basil will make some excellent pesto. We've bought pesto in the grocery store before, but it does not compare to what Donna makes at home. We'll continue harvesting this plant the rest of the summer, and Donna will make pesto and freeze it so we can enjoy it on our pasta during the winter. It really is good!

A bottle of oregano on left, and two bottles of rosemary with red caps.

Green tomatoes on left are from our plants. Red tomatoes are from Schwartz Boys, farmers from nearby Wall that I mentioned in a recent post. Basil is from our plants.

We're hunkering down rather seriously now. We are using curbside service for groceries. Our Covid-19 numbers are very high, and there does not seem to be any relief. I hope folks have learned their lesson, but there is a group that will never learn. 

I hope all of you are safe and happy.

Hot Peppers and Hot Weather

I always try to find the silver lining in things. If you look hard enough, you can usually find something positive in every situation. 

The good thing about this pandemic is that I've gotten a lot of work out of Donna around the house. Closets have been cleaned out, the carpets and floors have all been steam cleaned, the pantry has been re-organized, and so on and so on. Earlier this week, the old girl pickled some jalapenos.

The finished product -- some tasty pickled hot and spicy jalapenos. Eat your heart out, Larry!

Have you noticed that throughout this pandemic there are certain things you just can't get at the store anymore? I'm not talking things like toilet paper and paper towels, things that were grabbed up early by those in a panic. I'm just talking about regular every day items. For example, I enjoy the HEB cinnamon waffles, and I've not been able to find any of these in months. Neither Donna nor I drink caffeine if we can help it. Now, we can find plenty of caffeine-free coffee in all the stores, but caffeine-free drinks are another story. We've really had trouble finding diet caffeine-free Cokes and Dr. Peppers. And, to return to my pepper story, I enjoy sweet pickled jalapeno peppers. Sure, I can find sliced jalapenos everywhere, but not sweet ones. Years ago, we use to frequent El Chico restaurants, and they would provide a small dish of sweet and spicy jalapenos, onions, and carrots. I really enjoyed those.

The Fire Eater at work.

So, we bought a large batch of jalapenos, and Donna (aka "The Fire Eater") made a batch of sweet and spicy jalapenos. We've been eating some of the jalapenos out of the batch with our lunch. Donna likes to stuff them with cheese and heat them. Well, this batch has a good bite, more so than most batches, so I'm wondering what the pickled ones Donna made will taste like. But I'm looking forward to it.

The makings of one of my favorite treats. I put them in soup, in pasta dishes, on nachos, and just about anything else.

And speaking of hot, we are about to embark on at least one week of triple digit temps, with Sunday and Monday predicted to reach 110. I'm not looking forward to that. I'm still walking early, and it is already hot when I start my walk at 6:00 or so. Since it is getting light later and later, it won't be long until I'm starting my walk at 6:15 or later. We're a long way from autumn; there's a lot of hot ahead of me!

The early moon was lovely earlier in the week as it danced in and out of the clouds. I wish I had a better camera to catch such images; this is the best I can do at this time. It does not do the beauty of the morning justice, though.

Early morning moon sinking in the west.

Broken Record

With each blog entry, I feel as if I am repeating myself. It seems that all I write about is the virus and the weather. Since we are not traveling these days, our lives are pretty boring.

We've discovered a little produce stand -- Wilde Farms -- on the outskirts of town, and we've been there twice now. There isn't much there, but the quality has been good so far. This morning we picked up 18 ears of super sweet corn. We'll put them in the freezer. The last batch of corn we bought from this place was really good. In addition to corn, they also have onions (red and yellow), pecans, and cucumbers.

Wilde Farms self serve stand. Leave your money in the bin at center.

If you live in the area and want to give them a try, you'll find the little stand in the Wall area on FM 765 (Eola highway) about 1 mile east of Loop 306 on the north side of the highway. It is a self serve stand, so take some small bills. On the way there this morning, we saw 2 signs advertising that the Schwartz Boys were going to be putting up stands soon in that general area. We've been buying produce from the Schwartz Boys for the past few years at the local farmers market. They have good quality produce and quite a variety.

It was 104 yesterday evening. Around 7 or so, we began hearing some rumblings of thunder and decided to go outside. A front was working its way through and, surprisingly, the temp had dropped to the mid 70s. Wow! Then it began to rain. Donna and I sat on our back patio for a while with a gentle rain. I harvested some rain water to give the plants on our patio. All in all, we got just over half an inch.

We seem to be reporting at least 20 new virus cases everyday here in the Concho Valley. For the first 3 or more months of this pandemic, we had a total of under 100 cases. Now we get that many in 4 days or so. We don't seem to be very bright, do we? Locally, an event was scheduled called "Beer, Bands, and BBQ" that was set to attract hundreds, perhaps thousands. I think with new restrictions, that has probably been cancelled. Sounds like a good way to spread a virus to a lot of people.

We have 2 new eateries in town. I don't know how you can start up a new business at a time like this, but I wish them well. I hate to see good businesses fail. Pho Saigon was the first of these to open, and I'd like to give the place a try once all of this virus stuff is over. The other place is a seafood place, and I've forgotten its name. I hope both of them survive until I can visit.

When I set out on my early morning walk a couple of morning ago, I was startled by a loud noise in front of me. Since it was still a bit dark, I switched on my flashlight and caught a deer running. The noise was its hooves clashing across a rock yard, then across the street, then into another rock yard. While sitting out early yesterday evening -- before the rain -- Donna and I saw a single doe standing along the road to our south and just looking in our direction for a long time. Finally, it continued along. Later that evening, about the time the rain was moving in, we saw another doe along the road to our north. It stood in the road until a car came along, then moved into the brush along a draw. I'm thinking that each sighting was of the same doe. Most deer in our area seem to move in groups of various sizes, so I don't know why this one is alone. I'll keep watch for her.

I hope things are going well in your part of the world. I'll leave you with a picture of the sunrise this morning.

Sunrise over Rio Concho West

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.

And What Are You Reading?

I've been an avid reader my entire life. I guess my love of literature is one of the things that led to me getting a couple of degrees in English. I can't remember a time when I wasn't reading a book.

Our little library over at the clubhouse is quite good considering it only serves our community. I still use the public library, but when possible, I just grab a couple of books from our RCW library. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, that library is now closed along with the clubhouse. Luckily, I managed to get a couple of books before it closed.

As the pandemic took off, I began Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove. Donna and I gave her father a copy of that book when it first came out. He was also an avid reader, and he raved about the book, so I went out and got a copy for myself. Wow, what a book!

I decided to stay with McMurtry, so I turned to my personal library and rushed through Anything For Billy. I followed this up by reading the first 3 books of the Berrybender Narratives. This is a series of 4 books that follow the escapades of an English family as it romps around the American plains in the 1830s. The first 3 books are Sin Killer, The Wandering Hill, and By Sorrow's River. Well, when I bought the series, somehow I didn't get the fourth and final novel, Folly and Glory, so I'll have to wait a while before I can read it.

I was a big fan of McMurtry in his early writings, such as Horseman, Pass By, Leaving Cheyenne, and The Last Picture Show. But as McMurtry progressed, some of his characters and plots became a bit outlandish for my tastes, and this includes the Berrybender Narratives. He developed a habit of rewriting history in his novels, such as the death of Judge Roy Bean in Streets of Laredo, and this has always bothered me. Still, the man writes an interesting story.

In the Berrybender series, he "borrows" various real persons from history, such as Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, and Jean "Pomp" Baptiste Charbonneau and his father Toussaint Charbonneau. By including the Charbonneaus in the story, there was some mention of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It was, after all, Sacagawea, wife of Toussaint Charbonneau, who is so very important to that expedition.

As a result, I turned to my home library again and pulled out my copy of Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. This great work covers the entire history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in great detail. It begins, for example, by providing a short but thorough coverage of Meriwether Lewis' background.

This is the second time I've read this book, and I am more impressed this time by the efforts of the men of the Corps of Discovery as they followed the Missouri River west to its source in the Rocky Mountains, then over the divide to the Pacific Ocean. What they accomplished is almost beyond comprehension. Until you read a book such as this, you can never really know what a great feat of accomplishment their expedition actually was.