February 2024

February 11 Snow was predicted for Sunday and so it passed that I spent the day holed up in my comfy little house reading, listening to music and watching the snow come down. Saturday was damp and dismal so I spent the day inside as well, but I was grateful Friday was suitable for outdoor activities and Abigail and I got a good start on cleaning up the southeast tree line. Wednesday we were able to do a little trimming and load up the proceeds plus previous collections and make a brush site run, which we were glad to do because it wasn’t a very pleasant day. In fact, it started to rain just as we were dumping our load. Gosh, had to run the windshield wipers driving home. We only had Wednesday and Friday to work on account of our trip down southeast so we eschewed the Bluff and worked on SA.

We delivered Mom’s bedroom suite to Vivian as planned, arriving around 4 o’clock. Dave and I moved the furniture to Vivy’s room, which is upstairs, wasn’t a problem for a couple of studs like us. J&D had had the room painted a nice light blue so the furniture should feel right at home. I think Vivy’s going to like it; I’m sure Mom would approve.

While at Jill’s I started reading a couple of the Uncle Eric series I gave the Wylie women for Christmas a year or two ago. Specifically, I read the World War I and World War II books. They contained a lot of good information and some conclusions different from what most of us have heard about causes and effects. They aren’t lengthy tomes; I read them both in a week. I recommend them not just to history buffs. I don’t know if K,S&V will ever read them, but I hope they do. I recommend them to my own daughters.

February 18 Another week of bad-good-bad weather. Sunday’s snow didn’t stay around long. It was already creeping into the shadows by Monday afternoon. We worked on some maintenance items I had been putting off Tuesday afternoon; things like draining the water heater and changing the water filter. Wednesday we worked at the Bluff. I called The Salvation Army to inquire if they would take the box spring from Mom’s/Vivian’s bed. I had previously contacted Goodwill and was told they would not take it but would recycle it for $200 or $300. The Salvation Army, bless ‘em, picked it and Genna’s ping pong table up the next day.

February 21 Kari joined me to make my tour of inspection at Alibates Flint Quarry National Monument. We were enjoying a spell of fine weather and hoped the day would be as nice as the previous two days. There were high clouds most of the morning making it cooler but there was little wind. We stopped by the visitor center to see if there had been any changes but it was closed. This was about 10 o’clock so it should have been open. Guess I’ll need to call and inquire.

We then drove to the Plum Creek area on the north side of the river and hiked the Devil’s Creek trail for about an hour. Back at the campground we had lunch and enjoyed the day. The sun came out while we were hiking so the temperature was pleasant. The wind was predicted to start blowing around 3 o’clock but by then we were heading home satisfied with our outing.

February 23 Kari and I enjoyed the symphony Friday evening. The concert opened with a new work by Dr. Nathaniel Fryml titled Novae Laudis (of new praise), written to celebrate the Symphony’s 100th anniversary and the longstanding relationship with Amarillo College and the Amarillo Master Chorale. Sometimes these opening pieces are questionable but this one appealed to me and I enjoyed it, wouldn’t mind hearing it again. From the opening funeral march to an elegant Viennese waltz, then the famous Adagietto, a love letter to Mahler’s new bride, to the triumphant finale and celebration of life, this emotional Symphony stands as one of Mahler’s greatest works, or so the billing said. I have the Adagietto among my collection of classical music and it is one I especially enjoy. I was grateful when the triumphant and celebration of life finale was over. It ran a little long in my view. It is interesting to watch the various musicians. Often there is only one trumpeter, the principal for the Amarillo Symphony and there is occasionally a second, but in this performance there were the usual two plus two more, females I hadn’t seen before. The trumpet section was featured quite a bit in this performance.

February 29 After two days of high winds out of the west, a cold front blew through the Panhandle and blew the smoke from wild fires north of Amarillo in Potter County over the top of us Wednesday evening. I glanced out the window around 6:30 and was shocked to see the air filled with smoke. About that time, I saw Abigail run around the house to the back. I went to the back door to let her in and inquire after her haste. We went out and determined that the smoke wasn’t coming from SA, which was a relief. Later I tuned in the weather and learned there were several wildfires raging over north Potter and neighboring counties. It was being reported that one of the fires was forcing the evacuation of Fritch and that McBride Canyon, the Mullanaw trail and Harbor Bay area were affected. I don’t know yet whether Riverland and the Palo Duro Ranch burned, sure hope not. Our apricot trees burst into blossom just in time to be nipped by the hard freeze last night.

February 29 Weather Man John predicted snow for this morning and it started snowing about 7:00, right on schedule. The official total from the weather bureau said Amarillo got an inch of snow. WMJ said he got three inches at his house and SA got at least that. What a weird month. The snow helped with the fires but we’re not out of the woods yet.