April wrap

  • feathered dahlia
    feathered dahlia

Friday (April 20) we finally got some rain.  It was predicted to start at 7 p.m. but didn’t start until 7:06.  There was a little more on Saturday and altogether I emptied .73 of an inch out of the rain gauge.  Yes, it’s true that isn’t much but when it has been six months without anything more than a wetting, it seems like a fair amount.  That is more than I can put down running a traveling sprinkler around the tree line and rain waters everything.  Needless to say our rain barrel was empty and had been so for months.  I was interested to see how much water it collected and was mildly astonished to see that it was full.  It only collects the runoff from the front of the garage.  If we don’t have to go weeks without any more rain this one will be a good start to recovering from the drought.

Since it was the third Saturday which meant the Average Joes were playing at Smokey Joes, Joyce and I went honkytonkin’ again.  It was chilly and drizzling all day but our dive was warm and welcoming and we joined some of the rest of Amarillo’s great unwashed for a pleasant evening of good food, drink and entertainment.   The Average Joes did not disappoint.

This past week Abigail had an interesting interaction with the coach of the WT volleyball team.  Seems he was visiting her practice at school and her coach had her playing all the time and in multiple positions.  She’s mainly a right side hitter but played some middle and left side, too.  Her coach called her over to meet the WT coach who told her he thought she had potential and suggested she email him about playing for WT.  She’s leaning toward giving up volleyball and going to Tech, but the possibility of getting a scholarship to WT intrigued her.  She has emailed him.

We got another .10 of an inch of rain this past Tuesday evening.  The next day was chilly and windy enough to keep me from going out to the Bluff.  I went there yesterday, a much nicer day, but not to work, though I did install a timer for pond pump.  I took a nice hike around the trails and found them in good condition.  I encountered an interesting snake on the trail.  It was colorful and probably a king snake but I haven’t referred to my snake book yet so I’m not sure.  It was in the process of crossing the trail but had stopped upon my approach.  When I saw it I stopped, too, but it turned tail and slithered into the tall grass when I tried to get a little closer.  It was about as big around as a #2 pencil and twice as long and quickly disappeared not to be seen again.

Pecan trees, desert willows, hackberries and probably some others have just begun sprouting leaves.  The grapevines are also leafing out and the vine dresser will have to start trimming the new growth soon.  We put out the hummingbird feeder last week and it was visited by one that very day.  I don’t know what kind it was but it wasn’t a black chin, the kind that stay around here all summer.   There are always hummers passing through this time of year.  This week a black chin showed up, perhaps the same one that has stayed around in previous years.  It will lay claim to the feeder and the transients will have a hard time refueling from here on.  Today I saw the first western kingbird of the season.