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.

Venturing Out a Bit More

We recently endured another 3-day spell of triple digit temps, with the hottest day hitting 108; gosh, mid-May is just too early for that type of weather. But we have also received some sporadic rains the past few days, with the greatest single total registering three-quarters of an inch in my gauge this past Wednesday night. Unfortunately, storms this time of year in our part of Texas can often turn violent, and we did get some hail and high winds a couple of nights ago (sustained winds in excess of 50 mph). Donna and I only witnessed marble sized hail at our house (if that large), but other areas of town saw baseball sized hail. Local auto dealerships are already advertising hail sales. We managed to collect some rain water and store it in. That rain water really does perk up the plants!

Last week, the hair salon at RCW opened. Donna had not had her hair done in a couple of months, so a very frightening situation was developing. We made appointments and visited the place on Monday. All regulations were followed -- face masks worn by both employee and customer, only one customer at a time was allowed in the shop, etc. I'm fine with these regulations; in fact, they make me feel safe.

Early his past Tuesday, we went inside a Walmart for the first time in about two months. There were a few things we wanted that we just couldn't find elsewhere. I'm talking about specific brands here. We hadn't been in the store since aisles were designated one-way. Donna, ever the rebel, decided that she'd go the wrong way on the aisles. The Walmart police arrested her and roughed her up a bit. I bailed her out and took her home and gave her a good talking to.

We took a drive around the countryside one day. We drove out US 67 west to Tankersley (once a community, but today just an intersection), then turned south on FM 2335. We had hoped to pull into Foster Park (county park) on Spring Creek, but barricades blocked the entrance into this inviting little park with all its trees and water.

We continued on south and began driving through parts of the Dove Creek Subdivision. Sometime in the 1990s, we purchased a 5 acre tract in this subdivision. We had plans that one day we might retire there. However, when we moved from Ozona to Midland several years later, we sold the property. The subdivision consists of acreage ranging from 5 acres up to about 40, as I recall. The subdivision is bounded on the north by Spring Creek and by Knickerbocker Road on the south. Dove Creek also runs through the property. Both creeks drain into Twin Buttes reservoir. The subdivision contains 2 private parks with facilities and boat ramps, so you are able to launch into the creeks and even gain access to the lake if water levels are good. Sometimes I wish we hadn't sold that plot of land.

Back in town, we drove through Spring Creek Park on Lake Nasworthy, then through a couple of neighborhoods. We stopped at H.E.B. to fill up with gasoline. This was the first time I had put gas in the car since March 24, and I still had half a tank. What irony! The lowest gas prices in years and we can't really travel. The joke's on us, I guess. We paid $1.50 a gallon, which was up from the low of $1.43 a week or so earlier.

We then drove through Panda Express. I had been craving some spicy Chinese food, so we thought we'd give them a try. Normally, we don't care for take-out. We just feel the food looses something between the time you pick it up until you get home and can eat it. And that was true this time. Oh, I enjoyed it, but I'd rather dine in when possible. But you do what you have to do.

We've put a bit of work into the yard this week. Donna has done most of the work, but I've helped out a time or two. I realized just how soft I've gotten one afternoon while raking. I was huffing and puffing quite a bit and having to stop often to catch my breath. Even though I walk regularly and probably get in excess of 20 or 25 miles each week, my arms and upper body were sore that night. I don't really care for working in our yard because -- in truth -- we really don't have much control over the yard. RCW hires a service to mow our yards, and sometimes I think they cause more problems by the way they mow. And we have to essentially get approval before we make any substantial changes to the yard, such as clearing new beds, for example. For most people out here, that is fine for they moved here to be rid of yard work. But Donna and I have always enjoyed yard work and have taken pride in having attractive, neat and orderly yards. Sometimes it makes me want to get a real yard of my own. Sometimes . . .

Wash your hands, wear your masks, and social distance. Take care and be safe . . .

Mother Nature Can't Make Up Her Mind

Mother Nature is playing games this spring.

We'll run along with triple digit temps for several days, then suddenly we'll get a cool front. The other morning, I put on a ski cap, gloves, and jacket for my morning walk, when just a day or two earlier I had gone out in shorts.

But I'm thankful. I hate when it warms too early and then stays warm. It surely makes for a long, hot summer when that happens.

Driveway art down the street from our house. Looks like someone had a visit from some creative and talented grandkids. The old people here at RCW aren't able to get down on their hands and knees to do this type of work. And if they could get down, they would need a crane or wench to get back up.

It has really been dry out here lately, and the yards are drying up and the ground is cracking. The sprinkler system in our section of RCW is not working, so we're hoping they will get it repaired soon. We did get a third of an inch a couple of nights ago, but when it is this dry, that little bit just doesn't help much at all. We have a good chance of rain tomorrow (Friday), so maybe we will get lucky.

One of the positive things of this pandemic -- and there are several positives that I see -- is that quite a few people in our neighborhood are walking. People who have never walked before -- at least, not since we've lived here -- are now taking short walks around the neighborhood. Folks are stopping to visit with neighbors during their walks. It has a nice old-fashioned quality about it, sort of like when I was a youngster and people would get out more.

I snapped this photo a few days ago. I love the yucca. I'm not sure of the other plant, but it may be a Mexican Bird of Paradise. We have several of each in the neighborhood. 

Construction on the new medical facility near the entrance to RCW continues. It's a pretty big project. There are days when they are doing a lot of digging and the wind is doing a lot of blowing and the entire neighborhood gets a coating of dirt. You'd think we were up around Lubbock or somewhere on the South Plains.

One section of a cinder block wall rising from the ground. 

I hope you were fortunate enough to see the most recent full moon. It was a real beauty. The picture below does not do it justice. I must get a better camera with a good zoom. I keep hoping Santa will come through, but that fat rascal continues to disappoint. 

Full moon in the morning sky.

The moon has still been fairly high in the sky during my early morning walks, and it has been nice to have it guiding me around the neighborhood. It was down to half this morning, but higher in the sky.

The martins have been a real bother lately. They are each year. They like to roost anywhere they can -- such as on the light fixture above the front door, on the ceiling fan on the patio, or anywhere else they can find -- and they make a real mess. We've tried various tricks to discourage them, especially from building their nasty nests, but they are pretty aggressive little pests. They do a great job of eating insects, but they just make a real mess of things.

I hope all of you are doing well. Stay safe and be smart; there appear to be an abundance of morons out there during these challenging times.

Dog Days of Spring

In my last post, I mentioned that we hit 105 degrees near the end of April. Now it is early May, and we've just endured a stretch of triple digit temps. On Friday (May 1), we edged towards 100 degrees, but fell short. Beginning on Saturday, we surpassed 100 degrees 3 days in a row, reaching 106 on this past Monday. It's simply too early to be hitting those temps. I enjoy warm weather, but I don't care for hot weather. Once it gets over 95 degrees, I become uncomfortable. I've enjoyed the days of sitting on our patio any time of the day, especially in the afternoon, but with warmer temps, we'll only be able to go out early morning and in the evening.

We went shopping 3 times last week, our first trips inside stores in more than a month. We ended up going to Sam's Wholesale Club twice and the Home Depot once.

I felt very comfortable at Sam's. All employees were wearing masks and gloves, and cleaning was going on constantly. We used the self checkout aisles, and clerks there were standing by to wipe everything once we left. Our experience at Home Depot was just the opposite. The only employee wearing a mask was the young lady who greeted us at the entrance. None of the other employees wore a mask, gloves, or anything of the sort. Customers were no better; I only saw one wearing a mask.

I do not plan to return to Home Depot; I find their approach to conducting business at this time to be very irresponsible. I believe we can reopen many of our businesses, but we must all use common sense and good sanitary practices. It appears our local Home Depot doesn't believe in this.

Back to the weather . . .

It has been such a windy spring this year. Normally, wind doesn't pick up until afternoon, but this spring, the wind has been blowing -- and blowing hard -- when we rise in the morning. Yesterday, I planned to walk as soon as I got out. I rose, got ready, stepped out on the patio, then came back in. The wind was blowing steadily at 20 mph and gusting to about twice that. Not pleasant at all. And it has been like that quite a bit this spring.

Today is very pleasant. After our hot streak, I got out this morning to 51 degree weather and walked. I was a bit nippy, but there was no wind. I'll take that any day. I had a pleasant walk, and everyone I met said the same thing: "Isn't it great that the wind isn't blowing?"

I hope things are great where you are . . .