Texas Weather Affects

Unless you are interested in nature,anxious about enough water to drink, or care if Texans have it, this is a dull blog to read.

It is cooler. This morning Gracie was running mad circles in the back yard, reveling in the 61 degree F temperature. She felt frisky.

With the drop in temperature, I have to remind myself to water. A half-inch here, quarter-inch there rain is enjoyable. It does more good than the watering. It is not enough.

I was trying to explain to my fourth-grade granddaughter that yes, it rained, and yes, we are in a severe drought. She respects me. She doesn't believe me. Only time will prove what I say.

And I am afraid it will.

I will take pictures today of the almost denuded sweet gum and Barrett pear. I have tried to water, but that has been limited, too. My sweet gum has no leaves in the top third.

Here, in this climate, trees stay green and full till at least late October. Then, if we are lucky, the pecans turn yellow. Most years, the leaves turn brown and fall off. The winds come, and clear the leaves for us. Won't be as many to clear this year.

Fall gardens are doing well. Young trees, with watering, have come through.
But.

I wrote a former Texas friend about a German Shepard puppy that fell in a "sun crack" and emergency services were required to get him out. Emergency services filled the large backyard cracks with sand for the puppy's future safety. My friend laughed, and said her Oregon friends would be amazed. It isn't uncommon in dry spells for the Texas clay to crack so much that small animals and even babies can fall in. Actually, it is so uncommon it seldom makes the news. The puppy, however, fell so deep it required attention to retrieve, which generated a registered call, which resulted in a short news story.

And you wonder about soaker hoses. They aren't for gardens, usually. They go around foundations or slabs built on this crazy Texas soil.

Looks like another La Nina is forming in the Pacific Ocean. La Nina created the first year of drought. This means a second year of drought in Texas.

What scares me is the cyclical nature of weather. In the 1950s, Texas endured the worst drought ever with four years of La Ninas. We have too many people now. OK. But we also have many more resources.

It may be a blessing we haven't had 28 percent of our water this year due to zebra mollusk infestation in Lake Texoma. Authorities think they can eradicate the mollusk this winter. And of course, all bets are off if people have no water.

One of our water districts that covers several million people has announced they are going into Level 3 water preservation on Nov. 1. This will include Home Owner Associations. No refilling private pools or running fountains. No watering lawns except every two weeks. Water in restaurants only if requested. This lasts until March 31. If spring rains are as dismal as predicted, the ban will continue.

Which would you rather do? have water to drink or have a shower every day? Next year, it could get that drastic.

Which is why a lot of Texans prayed for a hurricane. That would bring the water.

Federal assistance to rebuild? Well, guess not.

The Wonder of a Snowy Day

All day I have been sitting near my computer, mostly staring out the window.

A winter storm with maybe 1-3 inches of snow was predicted, snow to start around 3 a.m. today. I awoke about 3:45 a.m., and in curiosity glanced outside. Nothing. Cold and sere, No snow. I awoke three hours later to find at least 2 inches of snow and a steady fall. I've been watching every since. I even left in mid-morning to go to the store--can't run out of diet Dr. Pepper--and played in the snow a little. Wiped about 4 inches off my car to drive. I was gone about half an hour, and when I returned, my footsteps were filled with nearly another inch of wet snow. The guy who picks up our trash on his golf cart was grounded in too much snow. He was stuck. In at least 25 years, we haven't had such snow. He eventually dug out. His muddy spot where the vehicle had foundered is totally level with the rest of the pristine snow as of now.

The snow continues to fall. And fall. I never in my memory remember seeing snow fall, vigorously and energetically, all day. With more to come. Call me easily enchanted, but it is exciting, and beautiful. My amazement and fascination is a reality check to parts of the country whose people are used to snow, but not the current 70-plus inches. They are having to endure long-time

In mid-North Texas, the snow has been falling all day with almost no wind, temperatures around 30-33 degrees. So there is melting and slush. Tomorrow morning, temps are predicted to be in the mid-20s, and lethal. We will have ice on the roads, and little equipment to alleviate it. I will not go out at all tomorrow before noon. I can drive on ice. I am less willing as I age to walk on it without salt, kitty litter, or some way of clearing the walks. But today I loved listening to the sqee-runch, sque-runch of walking in it. Of breathing the clean snow-air--nothing like it.

I've thrown out birdseed under the trees where the snow may not cover it, or the birds will find it as the snow melts. Predictions were for a high of 50 tomorrow earlier in the week, but with all the snow, highs in the 30s are predicted. More cold, but no moisture, on Sunday.

Okay, factual. I have never seen a White Christmas, which I would have if I had stayed for Christmas this year, but I went to Austin. It was the first white Christmas since 1927 in the North Texas Metroplex. When we got back, there was still enough snow for the grandkids to play in.

I keep looking out the window. The snow keeps falling. I still wonder. And exult.
Bless you all, I drove in this stuff for years. Now I don't have to. As long as it is not more than a day, I can stand the isolation. And blessed North Texas Metroplex, it won't be much more than that.

See why people move here?

Summer is coming. It will be hot. And we have had so much rain, gardeners don't know if they will get their onions, potatoes and spinach out in time.

Future crises. Today, I have watched the snow fall all day on a beautifully white landscape. It has been beautiful. Amazing.

Memorable. How old do we get before memorable is not important? I don't think I want to get that old.

It is still snowing.