Rain Dance Time

Last night, a series of rain storms traversed the state from west to east. They passed about 10 miles to our north, and I talked to one guy who said it rained for 3-4 hours. We didn't get a drop.

Tonight, a series of lighter showers crossed the state about 10 miles to our south...and once again we didn't get a drop.

Since the long range forecast predicts no rain for at least a week, it appears I'll be dragging sprinkler hoses around the yard again tomorrow.

I might need smelling salts when the water bill arrives!

State of Seige

Instead of posting tonight, I'll just provide this link to a very interesting story on another blog. I hope it's not prophetic.

State of Seige

Retirement Observations

You’d think that after being retired for 12 years, I’d be well rested and bored to tears with nothing to do, but actually, I can’t even seem to keep up with all the little jobs it takes to maintain and improve a house and yard. I’ll never understand how I was able to get anything done around the house while working a full time job, often with lots of overtime, and then putting in one or two weekends a month in the Air Force Reserve. I know I don’t have the drive I had when I was younger, but except for my morning coffee run, I don’t feel like I’m goofing off that much. I only wish my energy level matched some of my coffee drinking friends.

One is a retired Exxon executive who was recently elected mayor of Lindale. The job pays nothing, and despite being in his seventies, he usually puts in a full day conducting the city’s business.

Another friend is in his early seventies, and he decided to take a job substitute teaching. Now, that’s a job that wears out even a young person, and our district doesn’t pay substitutes very well, so it’s certainly not the lure of fast money.

Another over-seventy buddy is a retired college professor and lately he’s been spending his day on a Caterpillar, felling trees and clearing a road around his lake.

I sure wish I had the energy level these guys have. They manage to do the usual household chores, plus a lot more. Maybe when the weather gets cooler…or maybe not.

The Curse of Threes

Once again the curse of threes has hit the entertainment world, as three celebrities have died in the past few days.

I never watched the Tonight Show, so I really know nothing about Ed McMahon’s entertainment career, but I do know he was a Marine fighter pilot and retired as a Brigadier General in the California ANG. That’s all I need to know to have respect for the man.

I know even less about Farrah Fawcett. I recall that she was one of the original Charlie’s Angels, but I seldom watched the show, so I don’t have an opinion about her acting skills. I vaguely recall her in a movie or two, but nothing memorable, and I honestly didn’t find her that attractive. However, I feel sorry for anyone who suffered from cancer that long.

Michael Jackson’s death was sort of a shock, but no matter how much talent he had, I find it difficult to feel much sympathy for a child molester, drug user, and scam artist. The poor devil looked like the main attraction in a carnival freak show and obviously had serious mental problems. No surprise that the mainstream media is all atwitter, but I did find it odd to see a full hour of Fox news covering the story. Thank goodness for digital recorders that let you fast forward through a show.

I guess I’m becoming callous in my old age, but the trials, tribulations, and demise of celebrities is not something I waste my time contemplating. I was far more affected by accidentally killing a mockingbird today. It flew across the road in front of me, but then turned around and tried to go back again. There was no way I could dodge it. A few months ago, I hit a male cardinal in a similar fashion and it really bothers me when that happens.

On a brighter note, a male ruby-throat hit the window tonight and was knocked out. I was certain it was dying, but Judy held him for quite a while and then placed him on the patio table. He apparently recovered, as he was gone when I checked a half-hour later.

I don’t know what else we can do to keep hummingbirds from hitting our windows. We applied some special decals that are supposed to make it easier for the bird to see the glass, and I also hung a fern in front of the window, but they still fly into it.

Boy Scouts a Hate Group?

As I’ve mentioned before, I visit several discussion forums every day. Most are related to cars, or racing, or politics, but I also spend some time at a couple of writer’s forums. I don’t often participate, preferring to quietly absorb anything I can to improve my writing skills. One particular forum is rife with political discussions, and as expected, most of those who fancy themselves writers, are of the liberal persuasion.

A thread on that forum was discussing whether or not the Boy Scouts of America is a hate group. Of course, the idea is laughable to anyone with a shred of common sense, but the liberal template is that if the organization doesn’t embrace the views of gays and atheists, it’s a hate group.

Perhaps some of them will eventually come face to face with an organization like al Qaeda or the Taliban, and then they might learn the true meaning of organized hate. In my humble opinion, leaving a trail of burned and broken body parts is a bit more hateful than helping old ladies cross a busy street.

Summer is Here

As surely as the summer solstice arrives, our breeze shifts to the South, the clouds put on a disappearing act and our temperatures slowly inch up the scale. After a comfortable spring, with temps in the 80’s and 90’s, we’re now seeing high 90’s and today it flirted with 100. That will likely be the story for the next couple of months.

After driving the convertible down to have morning coffee with the old guys at Pop’s, I managed to finish cutting the lawn before it got too hot. My new riding mower sure makes life easier than walking behind the old mower.

So far, I’ve not seen a single snake in our little development, but yesterday I found a long, thin skin that a night visitor sloughed off in the woodpile. The shape told me it didn’t belong to any poisonous species, and I’m glad of that. I think it was either a rat snake or a black snake. Whatever it is, I hope it stays away from our nesting birds.

Speaking of birds. This evening, I was sitting on the patio and a male hummer decided to check out the flowers and me. He hovered about 3 feet from my face for several seconds before flying over to the windowsill to check out the anole that was strutting. Every time the anole would do his pushups and display his red throat, the hummer would move closer...and closer he got, the more the anole pumped and displayed. The hummer certainly wasn't scared, as he got within a foot of the little lizard.

Lots of other summer things making themselves known. Last night, I saw a firefly in the back yard, and two Whip-poor-wills were calling to each other from across the road. Almost any time of night you can hear the coyotes yapping, and sometimes the beautiful wolf-dog hybrid that lives down the road will join in with a howl that puts the coyotes to shame.

Another Internet Hoax

Last week, there was a report from Cleburne, TX about a record Diamondback rattlesnake that was found on the municipal golf course. It supposedly matched the 9'1" snake that has held the record for years, and was also considerably heavier.

Today, the news is that the whole thing was a hoax. Not that I'm hoping for a record rattlesnake anywhere near, but I wonder what it is that makes people do things like that?

Knock on wood, but I have yet to see any kind of snake in our development. A flattened blacksnake on the county road a mile from here, is the only one I've seen, and I'd like to keep it that way. I know tame hogs will kill snakes, so maybe the numerous wild hogs keep the population down. If so, that's about the only thing they're good for.