Spring is Knocking

It will not officially be spring until Saturday, March 20, but we had our first spring storm this past Saturday night. The wind blew most of the day at fairly high levels. Then, as darkness descended, the clouds approached. Of course, we had watched the weather reports and knew it was coming. Flashes of lightning worked through the darkened clouds to our northwest. A warning on our smart phones indicated high winds and hail around the state park, just 2 miles or so to our north, but they were moving away from us. We received no hail.

About 8:00 or so, we did get some rain. Other than the high wind, though, it was not a violent storm for us. It was enough of a storm to remind us that spring is just around the corner. 

Early this morning (Wednesday) -- just after midnight -- another storm rolled through. This one was a bit more violent. We did get some marble-sized hail for about 5 minutes as well as some high wind. So, spring is knocking on the door; I just hope it doesn't pound on it. 

Donna and I were sitting on the patio Saturday afternoon discussing the wind. We first moved to West Texas in the late 1970s, to a small town northwest of Lubbock. We had not been in our new home a week when a massive storm moved through, dropping huge hail stones that destroyed all the crops. On that hot mid-August day, we watched as the temperature dropped about 30 degrees in about half an hour. We really didn't know what to expect; this was different weather than what we had experienced growing up in East Texas.

The area farmers watched their crops -- primarily corn, cotton, and soybeans -- beaten down in a matter of minutes. Everything they had worked for since early spring was destroyed. Welcome to West Texas!

We were not used to the strong wind in those days, but it seemed that it never really blew until later in the day. I would often wake in the morning to clear and calm skies and walk to work to my teaching job just 3 or 4 blocks away. By the time school let out, I sometimes would have to call Donna to pick me up because the wind was blowing so hard, making the air thick with dirt and sand. Have you ever seen it rain dirt? We hadn't until we moved up there.

These days, though, I am surprised at just how often the wind starts blowing hard early in the morning. Recently, for example, I began my walk about 6:30 one morning. The wind was blowing steady at 15 to 20 mph and gusting to about 40. Newspapers were scattered all over the place. I had 2 in my yard, and I don't even subscribe. And there are times when we hear the wind blow hard all night long. I think things have changed. In fact, as I write this at 8:53 on a Wednesday morning, the wind is already blowing hard. 

Trees are starting to put out buds. I noticed one ornamental pear the other day full of white blossoms. The little oak in our back yard is also putting out buds. Yep, spring is just around the corner.

Buds on the oak tree in our backyard.

I snapped this picture of ducks in flight as I was finishing my morning walk yesterday.

Reflections on Overnight Trip

As I mentioned in the last entry, Donna and I made an out-of-town trip that required an overnight stay. So, how do we feel about traveling at this point in the pandemic?

Actually, I'm feeling pretty good about the whole experience, and so is Donna. I had my concerns before the trip, but I think I will be much more comfortable in the future about traveling. Of course, I'm still looking forward to that "herd immunity" we hear about in the news. 

Donna and I have both had our shots, so that in itself gives us a great deal of confidence. But we are also very, very careful. To be honest, this wasn't a totally new experience for us. For years and years now, we've been very careful in our travels. I don't know when we started being so careful, but we have been traveling with disinfectant sprays and wipes for a very long time. We have sanitizing gel in our car, and Donna has carried a small bottle in her purse for years. I now carry a small bottle as well. I also carry an extra mask and a pair of disposable gloves in my pocket any time I go out. Cargo pants are great, aren't they? If I didn't have cargo pants, I guess I would need a man bag or purse.

We were very careful about liquid intake because we did not want to stop to use public restrooms any more than we had to. Upon reaching our room, we both set to work wiping all handles and hard surfaces just as we've done for years and years, but this time we were more careful and thorough. We still had some running around to do, so as we were getting ready to leave, we gave the room, chairs, and bed a thorough disinfecting spray.

For our meals, we still did take-out. On Friday night, we got carry-out from Fazolis. We love that place. For breakfast, we ate at the hotel. They had sort of a "grab and go" breakfast. We went downstairs, approached a set of tables that were basically preventing us from reaching the counter where all the food was. A server took our order (eggs with chorizo, sausage links, and hash browns for each of us) and she dished our food into Styrofoam containers that we could take to our room. There were also packaged items, such as pastries, available.

On our way home, we stopped at the Dairy Queen in the small town of Sterling City. Just across the side street is a small road-side park. We ordered our burgers and went to the park to eat. Boy, those were good burgers.

We are good about wearing masks. It's a very small price to pay to help stop the spread of this disease; I simply can't understand why people complain as much they do about wearing masks. And I really don't understand how so many of them have made the wearing of masks a constitutional issue. 

Lately, we've been double-masking, and that makes us feel even more comfortable. We wore our masks everywhere, including in our daughter's new home; in fact, if you go back and look at the previous post, you'll see one picture of Donna and our grandsons, and all are wearing masks. Now, the night before in our hotel room when the kids visited, everyone except me took our masks off. Michael, Courtney, and Xander have also had their shots, so everyone felt comfortable doing this. Because of some underlying health conditions I have, I continued to wear mine.

So, are we ready to travel again? We probably won't, just because this COVID battle is not over, but we certainly are confident that we can travel safely if we need to. And with mask mandates and such being lifted and just knowing how people behave -- or misbehave, as the case may be -- we expect that numbers will rise some again. Spring break for most schools is either this week or next week, so by the end of March there may well be another rise in numbers. 

At least we now have a vaccine and more and more people are getting their shots. We are getting through this, but we just need people to be smart. Reopening all businesses at 100% capacity and removing the mask mandate in our state at the same time is not smart. I'd feel so much better about this if the mask mandate were left in place.

But we know we can travel if we need to. We just have to be careful and plan thoroughly. Donna is itching to go to a casino, but she is just going to have to wait a while longer. I don't see that happening any time soon. We still have not eaten inside a restaurant, though we do order carry-out fairly regularly. And I'm getting more comfortable shopping in grocery stores.

There are brighter days ahead; if we can only get people to do the right thing, they will be here sooner rather than later.

An Overnight Trip

After more than a year, Donna and I made our first overnight trip. In fact, this is the first time we've even left the city limits. We've really tried to be careful during the pandemic and to do our part to slow or prevent the spread of this disease.

Daughter Courtney and son-in-law Michael are closing on a new home in the "Petroplex", a term locally applied to the Midland-Odessa area. They wanted us to see the place before they moved in, so we drove up this past Friday. We've been considering moving to the area to be near them, so we spent some time looking around at prospective neighborhoods in both towns. I don't know that we will ever leave our current home because we really do enjoy where we live, but we do need to at least consider our options.

Shortly after arriving, we stopped by our son-in-law's place of business and he gave us the grand tour. It was nice to finally put an image with things so that when he talks about his work we can picture things more clearly. Later that evening, the kids came to our hotel for a nice visit. On Saturday morning, we went to their new home. Michael and Courtney were involved with the walk through, so we stayed with the kids and had another good visit.

At one point when Courtney was leaving the room where Donna and I were with the kids, Courtney turned to oldest son Xander -- who is 18 and a senior in high school -- and said, "Keep an eye on your grandparents." Now, I'm not sure exactly what she meant by that, but I can't think of any translation that is good for Donna and me. Did she mean to keep an eye on us because we might drop dead at any minute? Or did she mean to keep an eye on us because we might steal something? Not sure, but it doesn't make us look good at all.

It's a lovely home in a new neighborhood. I snapped a few pictures to include in the blog. By my estimate, it's located 8 or 9 miles from where Michael works, and that is certainly a plus. Sod has already been put down in the front yard; I'm not sure what will be done in the back yard. It's a 2 story house with the master bedroom/bath downstairs and 3 bedrooms and another bath upstairs. There is also a large family room upstairs. Downstairs, in addition to the master bed/bath is the kitchen, a living area, and a small front room, which might make a nice office area. There is an additional half bath downstairs as well.

Front of house, with Michael's truck parked in driveway. Xander has already claimed his room. That is his window upstairs. He intends to use this perch to spy on his neighbors and report any un-American activity he may see.

Back of house. Master BR is at left while living area and dining is near back door. 3 small windows upstairs is location of family room. I don't know what will be done in back yard. Perhaps I can hire on as the yard boy. I can see flower beds lining the fence and various raised beds for veggies.

Donna with Bandito Brothers in kitchen, with small room behind them. Sink and more counter/bar space is located where I was standing to take this pic.

Master BR looking into master bath.

Taken from upstairs family room looking onto entrance. Pieces of tape on wall indicate paint needs to be touched up.

Donna and I ventured out to Sam's Club recently for their senior time. On the way home, turkeys were blocking the road, and that enabled me to take a few pictures of these strutting road hogs.

The turkeys had just crossed the road when I snapped this shot. The cluster nearest us has all their tail feathers up. You can see other turkeys grazing in the background.

All of these guys were strutting around with their tail feathers up.

I took the car in to our dealership last week for regular maintenance, to get a new set of tires, and to get it inspected. Since we've not been traveling, this is the first service work we've had done since last March. Yeah, we've put fewer than 5,000 miles on the car in a year; normally, we put anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000 miles per year on a car. I'm now filling the gas tank once a month, and even then I'm only putting in half a tank or less. We have saved considerable money on fuel and travel expenses this year.

Back to Near Normal

Our boil water notice was rescinded about noon last Tuesday, Feb. 23. So, we are just about back to our pandemic normal. I hope one day to be back to pre-pandemic normal, but I'm not convinced that will ever happen in my lifetime, at least for me. I think I'll always tense up a bit if strangers get too close to me. 

Donna and I have enjoyed sitting on our back patio several days this past week. On most days, the highs have reached between 65 and 75 or so. We've really enjoyed that after the arctic conditions we suffered the prior week. I've been able to walk several days this past week as well, and even old Donna has gotten in a few miles. It's always nice to get out.

We went to Sam's Wholesale during senior time last Tuesday morning. Since the pandemic began, I have felt more comfortable in that store than any other. The aisles are wide, and I can see employees constantly cleaning everything, from carts to floors to check-out counters.

Our COVID numbers are really looking good right now. Daily reports have new cases hovering about 20 or less, while there are only about 15 to 20 people currently in the hospital for COVID. Our death count is now at 301. 

Went for another walk just after lunch one day last week. Upon returning, I found Dynamite Donna on a "spring cleaning" tear. Funny how good weather affects different people. I helped her with some of the windows, then went out to clean all of our water cans to get ready for the next emergency. We're busy re-evaluating our current state of emergency preparedness. Over the next few weeks, we'll upgrade some items and add a few things here and there. Tornado season is just around the corner, after all, and we never know what that will bring.

"The Old Candy Store". I really enjoyed working on this puzzle.

Courtney, Michael, and Xander have now had their second COVID shots, so we hope to get to see them before too much longer. It has been just over a year since we had a real visit with them. Courtney did come to town a few months ago to pick up some things she was unable to get in her neck of the woods, but the visit was short and socially distanced. 

We sat out on the patio a couple of days ago. The air force base often does training maneuvers in the skies over our area, so we watched them zoom through the skies, sometimes rather low over our house.  

Underside of plane that had just passed over us.

Side view of plane passing nearby.

We've Got Water!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we lost water Tuesday night (2-16-21). It finally came back on yesterday (Sunday) morning about 11:00 AM.  It was a challenging 5 or so days.

The city has what it calls an "upper plane" and a "lower plane". Unfortunately for us -- at least in this situation -- we are in the upper plane. Even though all water leaks in the city had been repaired, we were still having difficulty getting enough pressure into the system so that water could be pumped to the upper plane. To do this, citizens were asked to reduced water usage so that pressure could be restored. 

For a few days, it seemed like we would take 2 steps forward and 1 step back. At one point, it appeared we were even taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back, as folks in the lower plane seemed to be using very large amounts of water. One day city officials even stated that current water usage equaled what we normally see at peak usage during the summer.

Eventually, pressure did build and the water did return. Donna and I continue to be very conservative with both power and water usage. But then, we are pretty conservative as a rule as regards such things.

So now, we are getting back to normal, whatever that is these days. We still must boil water for now until all testing is complete. Perhaps by Wednesday the boil notice will be lifted. We're just thankful to have water. We even took navy showers last night. I can't tell you how good that felt.

The good news is that the weather has warmed. All snow has melted around here, though scattered bulldozed mounds may remain in parking lots and other places throughout the city. The wind is blowing hard today. I even went out for a walk yesterday afternoon. It always feels so good to get back out after being cooped up for a long period.

Daughter Courtney and her crew survived the storm well. They had fewer problems than we did. I don't think they ever lost power or water, though they are currently being asked to use water sparingly. 

Below are two pictures I took of some turkeys on our last really cold day. There are two turkeys in each picture roosting on high lines across the street, but they are different pairs. One pair is facing the camera, while the second pair is facing away. They seem to be impersonating vultures. I'm glad they survived the freeze. This morning just after first light, I spotted a group of them trespassing in my front yard. Yeah, we're getting back to turkey normal.

 

When It Rains, It Pours

The saga continues . . . 

In my last post, I described the "Do Not Use" water restrictions that we had experienced as well as the first 3 or 4 days of the current cold spell. At that time, the temperature had not risen above the freezing mark for several days, but the worst was still ahead of us.

So, where are we now.

It's almost a week after the cold front began, and we still haven't seen a reading above freezing. 

This past Sunday, it began to snow. Basically, once it started, it didn't stop until late in the day. At this time, I do not know what our snow totals were, but we did get several inches, much more than both of our previous snows combined.

Eagle-Eye Donna spotted this woodpecker on the oak tree out front while working at her kitchen sink just as the snow was getting started.

Now, my memory is not what it once was, so forgive any errors I make. But in looking back at texts I shared with my brother and my daughter and the time stamps on them, here is what I can relate.

This was after the snow had been falling for a while. This is the view from the front door across the street.

It was cold Sunday night/Monday morning. At 8:24 AM, it was -1 degree here. Our power had gone out about 4:00 earlier that morning, so it was beginning to get cold in the house. About 10:15 that morning, our power returned. We were able to warm the house, get some hot coffee, then have a hot meal. However, just before 1:00 PM, the power went back off. About 3:30 PM, the power returned, but only for half an hour or so. 

You can see the stop sign and street sign, but can you see the road?

This is the view towards the clubhouse. Again, there is a street out there; a street lamp is visible in the very center of the picture.

This is looking due east from our back door across a street to a neighbor's house. Where is that street?

Our power would then remain off until about 11:30 Tuesday morning. That's a little more than 19 hours without power. But we feel fortunate as some folks have gone much longer. And in all that time, the interior temperature never dropped below 50. Yeah, we sat around in layered clothing with gloves on doing our best impersonations of Bernie Sanders at a Presidential inauguration, but it could have been worse.

This was taken just after dark. The street light had just come on. The street is still pristine. Old people don't like to drive on icy/snowy roads.

This is the scene we woke to early Monday. Ruts in the street are visible now; our security patrol likes driving in snow. I guess he spent the entire night slipping and sliding around our community.

You can clearly see tracks in the snow in this picture.

Late Tuesday afternoon, perhaps around 4 or so (no texts to reference here for exact times), we were notified of a "boil water" notice for the entire city. This was a result of breaks in water mains throughout the city. Well, we could certainly live with that since we had now been enjoying power for several hours. Then an hour or so later, we were notified that our area of the city would lose water completely as a result of the ruptured mains. So, around 8:30 or so, we lost all water and are still without it.

The snow drifted on our front patio rather nicely. It's about a foot deep here; more along the wall.

When we awoke this morning (Wednesday), we still had no water; however, we did have power -- until about 8:00 AM. Fortunately, the power only remained off for about 5 hours, and we now have electricity again. We look forward to getting entirely back to normal, but we are doing fine at this time.

I hate being inconvenienced like this, especially at this stage of our lives. But I always think about how fortunate we truly are. People all over the world suffer so much more and do without so many of the essentials of life. Even in the U.S., I think about all the folks who suffer through tornadoes, tropical storms of all sorts, massive wildfires, flooding and other disasters and are forced to do without for long periods of time, much longer than what we are enduring here.

I'll end here. It is now Wednesday about 2:00, so no telling what lies ahead. We expect more freezing weather tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow night. It will finally start warming Friday, and the weekend should actually be pretty nice. I'm rather confident this will mean we have power, but the water issue continues to bother me. I have no idea how long the mains will take to repair.

Various auto tracks through the snow on the street behind our house. You can see that there is some depth to the snow, and none of the pavement is visible at this point, despite the traffic.

Drift of snow hanging on the south eave of our neighbor's house. Snow came from the north.

Turkeys in the snow. These guys get around. They roosted the next night on highlines behind this location.

Water frozen as it comes out of the downspout.

Questionable Water and Cold Weather

It's cold outside -- very, very cold. Right now (Sunday morning just after 8:00), it is 19 degrees, and this will be our high for the day. Tonight, the temps will drop to single digits.

Ice has been in our trees for days. Grass is nice and crunchy. It's cold out there.

We've not had anything above freezing since last Wednesday. I don't think we've seen the sun since then, either. And it will stay like this today, tomorrow, and through much of Tuesday. However, I hope to see temps rise to the mid-30s on Tuesday, and we may even get some sun. But it will be Wednesday before we return to anything approaching normal.

Deer coming out of the draw across the street from us this morning.

But the weather is not the only unusual event to happen around here lately.

Turkeys with some of their feathers puffed up to help keep warm.

Starting last Monday evening, the city put out a "Do Not Use" water advisory. Now, this is different from your normal "boil before using" advisory that usually occurs. In this case, we were advised to not use the water at all except for flushing toilets or watering landscapes. That means no bathing, no washing clothes, and certainly no human consumption.

Turkey roosting on the handrail of the steps at our neighbor's house across the street.

A strange smell coming from the water was reported by a number of citizens in a neighborhood in the northeastern part of the city. Local officials were able to determine that this was not a bacterial contamination, thus boiling would not do any good. It was soon reported that this was a chemical problem. I immediately thought of the city near Tampa Bay, Florida, that had reported their water system being hacked.

Notice how the feathers of the turkey in front are somewhat ruffled.

So, for the next day, we followed the warnings. Fortunately, we had a good supply of bottled water on hand, plus we had some jerry cans of regular water stored. We started this practice years ago while in East Texas because we were getting hit by so many storms, many of which would shut down the water supply. So, we have 4 jerry cans (2 five-gallon and 2 six-gallon cans), and for several years I'd fill those. Every 6 months or so, I would empty the water, using it to water trees and other outdoor plants so as not to waste it, then refilling with fresh water. In the last few years, I had become negligent, though, and had stopped this practice. Fortunately, the brains of this outfit had taken it upon herself to recently fill 2 of the smaller jerry cans with water, so we had 10 gallons of water as well as what we had in bottled water.

Our latest puzzle, "Mr. Wiggins' Whirligigs"

Fortunately, about 24 hours after the advisory was issued, certain parts of the city were released from the warning, and that included our area. As I write this, results of testing performed by TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) reported the presence of benzene and other chemicals at high levels, but only in samples taken from the originating neighborhood. However, these chemicals have been determined to be below the maximum level (if I understand this correctly). Tests are still being performed.

At this time, all areas of the city have been released to use water as usual except for the neighborhood where the advisory originated. Ramifications for this advisory were far reaching. Schools and other organizations in the "Do Not Use" areas were closed, and all eating establishments in those areas were closed. 

These are interesting times we live in.