Burning Down North Central Texas!

The East coast is inundated in water from hurricane Irene, and Texas is burning, and burning.

Just a few months ago there was a huge fire out by Possum Kingdom Lake that took a number of very expensive homes and now it is on fire again. As I've told you all summer long it has been hot and dry this year, well, it has now reached epic REALLY HOT AND DRY status all over the state. So far at least 39 homes in the Wise County and Palo Pinto county area have burned and the fire has restarted this afternoon in the 104F temperature and low humidity and increasing winds. Sections of those counties are burning like infernos.

It has been so hot and dry this summer that staying inside has been a blessing, at least if the a/c was working. Reading quietly has been a pleasurable pastime even if watching tv was more pleasurable. I read after going to bed at night all year long, and this has been a good year for reading.

Early in the summer I read either a Texas Parks and Wildlife or Texas Highways ,magazine and there was an article about John Graves. It was so interesting I bought his book, "Goodbye to a River", which was a very interesting book for a native Texan and anyone interested in conservation, for that matter. He took a canoe trip down the Brazos with a dachshund pup in late fall and early winter, which around here can start anytime from October to January. We never know when it will get cold around here. I'm thinking this winter may come sometime in December around Christmas, it has been so durn hot. That book set off a revived interest in Larry McMurtry's books. I'd read Lonesome Dove after the tv series years ago and had picked up a copy at Half Price books once when they were having a sale. After reading "Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen" it just seemed natural to order most of the rest of his books.

"The Sound and The Fury" by William Faulkner stymied this summer's attempt in the first chapter. I'm thinking Cliff notes will be something that might help me get through it. I know it was conquered in the past, because I've read all his books, but the first chapter of that book must have been easier for me then. Maybe youth makes a difference or something. Do they even publish Cliff notes anymore? I've only bought one in my life.

Has anyone read any good books to get us through the winter? It is never too early to stock up.

Pioneer Woman Cooks on The Food Network today

Sending all good thoughts and prayers for friends on the East Coast where hurricane Irene is starting to batter homes and beaches. Take good care of yourselves and your families.

Today is the day Pioneer Woman's first show on the Food Network airs. She has published one cookbook and has another that will be coming out soon. I have our tivo set up so I can finish getting the house ready for my daughter and her friend who are coming up from Austin to visit.

There are so many talented bloggers who are witty, funny, erudite, and just plain smart. I salute you all. You make my time on the internet so much fun.

Birthday Rain

Yesterday was my birthday and we had a fun time of it. Dinner was at our favorite barbecue place and then to the movies to see "The Help". It was a fun time, because we were like kids trying to make the movie in time. We ate our meal in a hurry and watched some clouds containing rain try to make it to where we live, then rushing to the theater. The movie had started when we got there, and we had to grope around in the dark to find a seat, but it was ok.

The sage has been blooming for a couple of days and it is a predictor of rain. Many don't believe and call it foolishness. Happened to me the other day. A woman quite rudely said it rained after the plant bloomed. However, it did rain in Dallas and on the other side of Ft. Worth within a couple of days. It hasn't rained at my house yet, and I've lost my rain stick!

It frequently starts to rain again around this time of the summer. I call it my birthday rain. I'm so happy to see it.


Texas sage blooming and a picture of a rain sticks. If you see mine, please tell it to come home. I miss it. Well, actually we hadn't noticed it was gone until yesterday.

Conjunctions

This morning I was reading an article in the newspaper about our Governor Perry's position on insurance for those who have none. The author of this article began many sentences with "And" or "But". A bell rang in my brain from long long ago about the use of conjunctions and starting a sentence with them. Half a century ago we were taught not to do such a horrible thing. Thus, began a google search for information regarding this subject.

I found one site that said the use of a conjunction to begin a sentence was a little informal, but perfectly fine to use. Another site was more conservative and was much like the English classes of my youth, yet they too gave permission to use "And" or "But" at the beginning of a sentence. The song "Conjunction Funtion" had a bit of information, but it didn't help me a whole lot. However, when all the hoorah was going on about the country defaulting on the budget, my postion toward those who were blaming President Obama for the whole thing hadn't heard "I'm Just a Bill". The President doesn't originate bills. Bills orginate in the House of Representative and then go to the Senate and from there to the desk of the President who can veto if he chooses, before the bill can become a law.

Are there any subjects from your school days that come back to haunt you from time to time? Grammar is iffy in my writing skills, and I hope it doesn't bother you. Ellipses are a personal favorite to indicate thinking on my part... However, that is not their function, which is to indicate the omission of a word or sentence from the original text.

Oh well, this is getting too deep and will probably give me bad dreams tonight.

Dear Diary

Dear Diary,
Just moved to Texas!

Now this is a state that knows how to live!!
Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. It is beautiful. I've
finally found my home. I love it here.

June 14th:
Really heating up. Got to 100 today. Not a problem. Live in
an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure
to see the sun every day like this. I'm turning into a sun worshipper.

June 30th:
Had the backyard landscaped with western plants today. Lots of cactus
and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing the lawn for me.
Another scorcher today, but I love it here.

July 10th:
The temperature hasn't been below 100 all week. How do people get used
to this kind of heat? At least, it's kind of windy though. But getting used
to the heat is taking longer than I expected.

July 15th:
Fell asleep by the community pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my
body. Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson
though. Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.

July 20th:
I missed Lomita (my cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning.
By the time I got to the hot car at noon, Lomita had died and swollen up to
the size of a shopping bag, then popped like a water balloon. The car now
smells like Kibbles and Shits. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this
heat. Good ol' Mr. Sun strikes again.

July 25th:
The wind sucks. It feels like a giant freaking blow dryer!! And it's hot
as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the fritz and the AC repairman
charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts.

July 30th:
Been sleeping outside on the patio for 3 nights now, $225,000 house and
I can't even go inside. Lomita is the lucky one. Why did I ever come here?

Aug. 4th:
Its 115 degrees. Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today. It cost
$500 and gets the temperature down to 85. I hate this stupid state.

Aug. 8th:
If another wise a_s cracks, 'Hot enough for you today?' I'm going to
strangle him. Damn heat. By the time I get to work, the radiator is
boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like baked cat!!

Aug. 9th:
Tried to run some errands after work. Wore shorts, and when I sat on the
seats in the car, I thought my a_s was on fire. My skin melted to the
seat. I lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and a_s . . . Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried a_s, and baked cat.

Aug 10th:
The weather report might as well be a damn recording. Hot and sunny.
Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. It's been too hot to do shit for 2 damn months and
the weather man says it might really warm up next week. Doesn't it ever rain
in this damn state? Water rationing will be next, so my $1700 worth of
cactus will just dry up and blow over. Even the cactus can't live in this damn
heat.

Aug. 14th:
Welcome to HELL!

Temperature got to 115 today. Cactus are dead. Forgot
to crack the window and blew the damn windshield out of the car. The
installer came to fix it and guess what he asked me???

"Hot enough for you today?"

My sister had to spend $1,500 to bail me out of jail. Freaking Texas. What
kind of a sick demented idiot would want to live here?? Will write later
to let you know how the trial goes.

Yummy doughnuts

Grow your own doughnuts with this instructional video.

Hey Pearl...

Just read your post about the unmade beds and just wanted to tell you that ours is not made either. This has been a slow week and only the sheets and pillows were tidied. The heat is our main excuse even though the house is air conditioned.

Anyway, your blog would not allow me to post on it, so just decided to put it here.

It is a miracle!

Hallelujah! A cool front just came through! It dropped the temperature a whole bunch! We even got a little mist for a few minutes!

Our grandson and his parents are coming over to swim and dive in our pool later. The water will feel warmer now. TJ's 10th birthday is tomorrow and he will be partying with his friends all weekend. We are going to their house on Sunday for dinner and fun.