Author: rakeeter

September 7 As it turned out, Saturday evening was not bad at all; pleasant in fact. Thursday had been gosh awful hot. My thermometer registered 97. Then a front cooled things down Friday and Saturday morning was downright chilly. But, by Saturday evening we enjoyed mostly clear skies and light wind when we were out at the ballpark for a symphony concert. There was a fly over by World War II-vintage airplanes, four of them in a tight formation coming right out of center field and over our seats behind home plate as the orchestra played the Spangled Banner. Later, a full moon rose just outside the right field base line and the evening was capped off by some marshal music and fireworks.

It was Kari, Chris and me, Abigail and Rebecca unable to join us due to scheduling conflicts. The orchestra performed film music by John Williams; Star Wars, ET, Superman; that sort of thing. I knew that he had written a lot film music, but I learned that I don’t really care for his music. At least his film music. To me it all sounds the same: screechy and overstated. Maybe he has written music in other genres I might like but I think I’ll avoid him in future.

September 21 We traveled to Red River Monday week before last. We thought we needed a break after a long summer and wanted to treat ourselves. There was some talk of fishing early on in the planning stages, but eventually we gave up all pretense of doing anything productive. Besides, we arrived on Monday and left on Wednesday, so there wasn’t time for anything very ambitious. While Abigail slept in, I walked with Kari early around the town both mornings we were there. We did take a moderate hike in Columbine Canyon Tuesday morning but otherwise we just enjoyed being in the mountains. Abigail and I did get in a couple of pool games but nothing more strenuous than that.

It was back to work this past week. Abigail and I tackled the southeast perimeter starting with removing weeds. The tree line was harboring a Velcro weed infestation which we were able to clean up on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent removing the Siberian elm that was blown down in August. It was a big job made more difficult by the tree being lodged fairly high up in another tree. We were able to carefully remove as much wood as we could to relieve the pressure and finally got the main trunk on the ground without getting scuffed. We cut the trunk in half so it would fit in the pickup. By propping one end of each section on the tailgate of the bed and double teaming the other end we managed to get both pieces loaded. When we weighed in at the brush site, the scales showed 500 pounds for the two pieces. The next day we loaded the rest of the branches and took that load to the brush site. That load weighed in at 520 pounds. That was a big job but we saved a big chunk of money by doing it ourselves. The storm made that possible by bringing the tree down where could handle it. It would have been too high for us to reach without mother nature’s help.

Friday night’s performance of the Amarillo Symphony was one of the better ones, in my view. The opening number was An Orkney Wedding by Peter Maxwell Davies. It included some bagpipe music and a section where the orchestra went through some of their pre-performance tuning routine. At one point the concert master and conductor were served some scotch, or at least what we were told was scotch. I liked the music and the strange departures didn’t detract from it in my view.

Martin James Bartlett was the guest soloist for Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B? minor, Op. 23. I think I enjoyed his performance as much if not more than any other soloist the Amarillo Symphony has featured.

September 30 We rounded out the month with a trip to Sachse to see Vivian and Sophia strut their stuff. Vivian and the other cheerleaders cheered the Sachse High JV playing one of the Garland schools. Sophia and the Sachse band performed at the half time of the Sachse varsity game. Then Sophia and her band competed in the Wylie Invitational marching band contest on Saturday. Sunday evening, we celebrated Vivians’s 15th birthday with a seafood broil Dave prepared and strawberry short cake Jill made.

August 3 We got a shower during the night, but I haven’t checked the gauge. A quarter of an inch fell Thursday night. The grounds crew had plans to make a brush run Friday morning and we determined the rain wasn’t enough to prevent it, so we loaded up the pickup and headed for the brush site. It was two weeks before that we got stuck in the mud there, but we were hoping it had dried out sufficiently to allow us to dump our load. T’wasn’t. Again, we weren’t given any advice about mud when we weighed in, but we saw puddles here and there and when we got to dumping area, we could see it was going to be too muddy, so we turned around and went back home. At the naturalist meeting Monday evening, some of the members from Canyon said they had recently gotten four inches of rain. The brush site must have caught some of that downpour. It is only a few miles west of SA and I think we got a half inch or so. Just shows how spotty rain can be here on the High Plains.

August 11 It was raining kittens and puppies when we left for church this morning. We got blow dried good this week and from the tallest tree to the humblest blade of grass the SA flora was panting for water. This morning’s sad little sprinkle was just a windshield spotter. We need something more substantial and maybe one of the days forecasted for rain this week will pan out.

There is a new feature on SA. Well, not actually on but it might as well be. Someone, feds probably, is erecting really tall light posts along I-40 through Amarillo and one is smack dab adjacent to the place. When I look out my kitchen window, it towers over the trees and looks like it is right among them. My guess is the light posts are between 50 and 60 feet high. They haven’t been turned on yet and it may be we won’t need any outdoor lights and maybe not some indoor lights either when they are.

August 17 Our luck ran out last Monday evening, or maybe it didn’t. There was a storm alert just before I headed out to pull weeds in the front yard. It was the usual: torrential rain; high wind; hail. I learned later I didn’t catch the “baseball size” part of the hail forecast. The storm clouds in the north were impressive, but I figured any rain would start small, giving me time to slip back in the house before anything serious started in. In the meantime I would work on weeds since there was no guarantee we would get any rain at all. Later, as I was wondering if I should go ahead and water the flowers, Kari came running over to tell me about the possibility of large hail. That and an impressive lightning flash and thunder crash convinced me it was time to take cover. There hadn’t been any preliminary drops of rain, but no sooner was I inside than the fun began. The rain came down in sheets and the wind was really rocking the trees. Then it started to hail. Since the storm was coming from the north, the back porch windows were getting hammered. Luckily, the hail was quarter sized but there was a lot of it and it must’ve been forming at high altitude because stones were rebounding four or five feet in the air when they hit the ground.

Assessing the damage next day, besides the ground covering of leaves and twigs, there was half the pear tree in the front of 2005 down, a dead elm in the southeast lane toppled over and a large elm limb down in the south lane. The storm didn’t do the garden much good, but my flowers weren’t badly damaged. So, lucky, danged lucky we avoided the really big hail. (Later I learned that many houses a mile north of SA will be getting new roofs.)

August 24 A walk on the wild side Jill and Kaylee arrived as scheduled Wednesday evening after dinner. We didn’t stay up late chewing the fat because we had to be in Lubbock for Kaylee’s move in window, 8:30 to 9:30. It was a pleasantly cool morning in Lubbock, and we got busy carting Kaylee’s gear into her dorm room without delay as soon as she had checked in and procured her room key. Thankfully, her room was on the first floor of Murdough, a dorm that was old when I went to Tech. It had been updated and Kaylee’s room, though by no means fancy, was pleasant enough for the task at hand. Her roommate wasn’t going to arrive until the next day, so Kaylee and Jill had plenty of time to get her squared away. My assistance was minimal. I mostly just lent moral support. Jill and I got home about 6:00 and, after a trip to the grocery store and a quick dinner, we went to bed early.

We were up early again the next morning and drove down to McBride Canyon. Kari had joined us, and we parked the Pathfinder near the rock house from where we followed the road on down the canyon. The sun hadn’t peaked over the canyon rim yet and it was borderline chilly. It was still, so we didn’t suffer and were soon out in the sunshine. We followed a road that branched off the main road through the canyon and led to a gas well and eventually to an overlook of the Canadian River valley. It was interesting to see all the different animal tracks in the road.

After our hike, we drove down to the Alibates National Monument so I could fulfill my duty of checking on that facility for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Great Texas Trails map. When Kari and I were there in May, we were told the visitor center might be closed down, and we were relieved to find it still operational. Though they are functioning with fewer people, it looks like it will remain open for the time being.

It took three trips to the brush site to dispose of the tree that was blown down by the storm last week. That is, the half of the tree. We haven’t made any attempt to cut up and haul off the Siberian elm in the southeast lane. It isn’t impeding anything so it will have to wait till that portion of the perimeter comes up in the rotation.

August 31 Wrapping up August SA is looking pretty good, especially for the end of August. We’ve accumulated two thirds of an inch of rain in the past week and the place has greened up nicely. In fact, it’s looking a little hairy, a contrast from a week or two ago when the grass had begun to go dormant. We will be mowing well into September, and maybe beyond if SA gets more rain. Of course, the weeds are thriving as well. The northeast perimeter and a couple of other spots are commanding our attention. The Velcro weeds are giving us all we can handle. I had hoped I could control them with the weed eater, but, alas, trimming them seems to encourage them, so we are down on our hands and knees pulling them.

The birds did a good job of gleaning the grapevines. The rest of the garden is not producing to Kari’s satisfaction. She is getting tomatoes but not much else. She has heard other gardeners in the area blaming the dearth of pollinators for the lack of garden production. Don’t know if that’s true but Kari says there is a noticeable shortage of bees and butterflies.

On to September

July 6 The rain that fell on SA while we were in Red River really got the grass and forbs going again. Abigail had the place nicely mowed before we left but worked all this week mowing the south end. She will work on the north end this coming week.

Since we celebrated the 4th last Saturday because the Wylies were here, we didn’t do any additional celebrating this week on the 4th. I had hopes of making progress around my house inside and outside, but it didn’t seem like I got any more done than basic maintenance.

Yesterday, we attended a reception for Riley ?, nee Lopez. I didn’t catch her husband’s name when I was introduced. Their wedding had taken place some weeks ago in, well, I don’t know the name of the town. Abilene, maybe. Her mother remarried sometime recently also but we didn’t meet her new husband at the reception because he was in Kenya, rather he was making his way back from there and had only gotten as far as Denver.

July 13 another nice rain I say nice because a lot of people in this part of the world know now, if they didn’t before, that there are rains that aren’t so nice. I hope I don’t jinx myself, but these pleasant and timely rains we’ve been getting this year have not been deluges, at least not here on SA. There has been wind but not so strong as to threaten anything but weak tree branches. As for hail, there hasn’t been any to speak of. Thus, it was that we got, after a maudlin week and a half of dry weather, 0.8 inches; just what was needed to keep the grass green and growing. It will be back to mowing and trimming next week.

Finally, this week I managed to do some mowing in the garden. I felt it would be best to pull weeds until we sort of got them under control, which is what we have been doing first thing each morning, when possible, all summer. Kari has created a pretty garden with a variety of vegetables and flowers growing nicely. Her cantaloups and watermelons are doing well on the caliche mound.

Chris and Rebecca made it to Switzerland by way of the South Pole, I think. The trials and tribulations my people have encountered flying the last few years has reinforced my reluctance to fly. I’ll leave that option open but I will avoid it as much as possible.

July 17 Ants The venerable harvester ant or red ant as we called it when I was a boy has always been present on SA as long as I can remember. One bed was the only bed on the place for almost half a century. This was back in the day when the Texas horned lizard was common on SA and surrounding neighborhood. The hornytoads were pretty much wiped out by roadrunners that nested in a tree one year and surrounding vacant lots were filled up with houses so there were no longer any to repopulate SA. Hornytoads dine on ants and probably controlled the ant population. I’ve always been tolerant of red ants except when I waged war on them, something I did from time to time growing up. I can remember some real battles when I mounted an attack on a bed and dispatched its defenders with a hammer, BB gun, firecrackers or other weapons that came to hand. The red demons would mount charge after charge, and I was sometimes driven back until I abandoned the field. Occasionally the ants would succeed in out flanking me and exact some measure of revenge on my person. So, sentimental fool that I am, I have tolerated the occasional red ant bed on the place. For whatever reason, though, the species has been more successful in colonizing SA to the point I had to take measures against them. I applied Amdro to 16 beds on the place in self-defense.

July 18 Mud After a strenuous work week I was hoping to spend a quiet Friday doing as little as possible but then I was informed of a large tree limb down in the lane. For the second week in a row, Abigail and I had to clean up a substantial elm limb brought down by thunderstorm-related wind. I think the poor elms are old and brittle like some of the rest of us and the nice moisture we’ve enjoyed since last November caused the elms to put on more leaves than usual when warm weather returned. The abundance of leaves gave the wind more purchase which caused some substantial limbs to break.

Anyway, we got busy loading up the associated foliage and set off for the brush site. When we got there, we saw puddles along the caliche roads to the dumping area. A couple of years ago when we took a load to dump after some rain, we were warned that there was a strong chance we would get stuck and there wouldn’t be any help in getting us unstuck. We elected to turn around and go home and return after a few days of dry weather. We received no caution when we weighed in this time and the fellow in his Gator who monitors the dumping zone just watched us drive in. Although I could see puddles in our way I thought maybe they could be avoided. They couldn’t. The next thing we knew the pickup was axel deep in the slickest dadgum mud you’ve ever seen. Abigail was driving but we weren’t able to go forward or back. The wheels just spun merrily spraying mud all over the underside of the pickup. Eventually I decided, though I was loath to, that I would have to get out and push. Abigail didn’t have much experience with mud, so she didn’t know to be gentle with the throttle and threw some impressive rooster tails. I was able to dodge those for the most part and also managed to avoid falling on my face. Though I didn’t expect to help matters much by pushing, I did manage to help work our way back the way we came until we got back on semi-solid ground, dump our load and make our way back to pavement. Our Gator man was still sitting where he was when we came in, but we were slip sliding around as we went by and weren’t able to give him that universal symbol of ill will he so richly deserved for not giving us a heads up.

July 30 Birthday weekend Chris and Rebecca managed to make it home last Saturday and we continued to celebrate from the day before, Saturday being Chris’s birthday. Though we got some rain Friday night, the weather has been hot and windy otherwise and we are losing our green. It was good to have Rebecca back with us this work week. We got a lot done. Now it’s on to August.

June 8 Apparently we have been working under a false sense of security. We believed the chickens were safe enough from predators during daylight hours that they could be allowed to free range. They took full advantage and roamed over the whole place to the point of sometimes straying away from the watchful eye of King Julian the rooster. In the last couple of weeks several hens have gone missing leaving behind only scatterings of feathers. It had been the consensus that a chicken was too big for a fox of the variety we see around SA to handle, and that may be true. It seems, though, that there may be more foxes around and less food, so that the foxes have learned to work together and that two or more can in fact overwhelm and consume a chicken. The chickens are no longer allowed to free-range, which is not popular with the chickens or the humans that care for them. It remains to be seen if that is a permanent solution.

Chicken incarceration didn’t last long. They looked so forlorn shut up in the chicken yard after being accustomed to roam freely the powers-that-be decided it was better to risk their lives by letting them free range. There are only six hens left and maybe the six will stick a little closer to the rooster.

There were a couple of deer on the place when we got up Friday morning. They looked like a couple of adolescents; one male and one female judging from the fact that, though about the same size, the former had velvet-covered horns and the latter didn’t. They sought the cover of the perimeter tree line and kept a safe distance from the scarier bipeds. We couldn’t think of a way to handle them so we just left them alone, hoping that they would take care of themselves. Saturday morning they were still around but somewhere along the line moved on, probably by hopping over the 1911 fence. Here’s hoping they find their way back to the country-side and live happily ever after.

June 15 Our week began with more rain. We didn’t get a lot of rain with any of the storms but each added to the accumulation of previous weeks and the grass and weeds grew apace. I was unaware that there were some terrific hail storms and downpours in the area, notably between Amarillo and Canyon. One of Rebecca’s previous teachers from Amtech who lives in that area reported significant hail damage to house and livestock. We were blessed with rain, not much wind and little to no hail. We were fortunate.

By Friday, the lanes were sufficiently dry to drive the pickup down and we took advantage to haul off a load of trimmings, the first in weeks, or maybe even months. There is still a load on the ground which we will deliver to the brush site this week , provided it doesn’t rain.

June 22 We are celebrating two birthdays today; Kaylee’s and Jill’s, both born on the summer solstice, albeit decades apart. Celebrating may be a little strong. The Wylie girls arrived Saturday evening, attended church with us this morning but otherwise there has been no, um, celebration. Maybe the fact we are heading to Red River in the morning is on everyone’s mind.

SA is still pretty green despite the heat of the last ten days. Also, there is some nice color from some of the foliage. The Mojave sage has been showing out all month. It continues to slowly grow and makes me wonder if it will eventually take over the entire front yard. The desert willow put on a nice display of blossoms the early part of the month. The evening primrose continues its fabulous display when it usually ceases to do so when it gets hot. Throw in the annuals and wildflowers and there is a display worthy of, well, I won’t go that far but I’m satisfied.

June 29 We observed our mid-year break this past week in lovely and pleasant Red River. The Wiley women arrived at SA Friday evening. We loafed around the house after church, resting up for the drive next day, which was uneventful. I’m glad to report that the countryside along our path and in the mountains was lush and green. We were dry in Amarillo the previous 10 days or more and had engaged our old friend Doc to do some watering. Chris made it home the Friday before so the dogs and the watering around 2005 were taken care of.

As it turned out, SA received over 2 inches of rain over the week we were gone and there was little to no need for additional watering. In Red River it rained nearly every day. The weather was cool mostly but we did enjoy some outside activities, including a somewhat lengthy walk up a mountain to Cabresto Lake. Some of the girls and I found playing pool in the hotel rec room was a good way to spend the time while we waited for the afternoon shower to pass on.

Back home we celebrated the 4th early. Other than Nicole, Carson and Parker, it was just me, my daughters and their families. Attendance has diminished over the years and we didn’t play any volleyball. Still, we spent a pleasant afternoon, warm but breezy enough to keep us cool.

May 4 The first king bird of the season was seen perched on a telephone wire close to the shop. The next day, the first hummingbird of the season visited the feeder in front of 1911. Kari saw one in the garden a day or two before. All the trees are leafed out in their Sunday best. SA has gotten more rain this April than any April in the last 17 years, over three inches. We are being challenged to keep the place mowed and trimmed. We never turn down rain in Potter County, but…we wouldn’t mind fewer weeds.

There was no line to vote Saturday in the local election. I didn’t know who to vote for. All candidates were accusing their opponents of being rascals, so I just picked a rascal for each race and let it go at that.

May11 Kari and I managed to get to our destination on Lake Forest Lane without mishap, which is not to say without any inconvenience. There was plenty of that. Getting as far as Gainesville was easy enough but soon after turning on to IH35 traffic was funneled down to one lane and it was stop and creep for the next 40 minutes until there were more lanes accessible about at the junction of Hwy 80. We encountered yet another clogged artery in Sachse where Sachse Road, just a two-lane road to begin with, was turned into one lane for repairs. That meant alternating the traffic going one with the traffic going the other. By that time we were really close to our destination, but were still delayed by nearly half an hour. Nevertheless we still managed to get to Sachse with just time enough to change clothes and get to the wedding venue. We made on it time, but of course the proceedings were delayed another half an hour just because. Finally, the happy event took place, and the principals embarked on their journey of wedded bliss. We wish them well.

After several days of rainy weather this past week, we’ve exceeded our average May rainfall already. SA and the entire panhandle we drove through is as green as it gets. I’m still trying to keep up with the weeds but we had little opportunity to mow and trim because of the rain. I did mange to run the trimmer over the east easement, though. Lo and behold, some had already trimmed behind one of houses along there. It was only one but every little bit helps. Everybody else along there seems content to let the weeds do their damnedest, but I find easier to keep up rather than let it go and try to catch up. I’m trying to minimize the weeds on my side of the fence, so the easement is my first line of defense.

May 18 One evening this week after dinner the sky above SA was filled with Mississippi kites soaring, swooping and putting on an aerial circus. These were the first kites of the season, and they seemed to be happy to be back. There could have been as many as a dozen.

Hans and Chris finally made it back to Switzerland this week. Hans was scheduled to fly back early in the week aboard a Swiss air ambulance. After boarding the plane, a fuel gauge became erratic, showing full, then showing empty. Hans was transported back to the Amarillo hospital while the plane was flown to Kansas to get the gauge straitened out. That resulted in a delay of several days, but finally C&H caught a break. Chris was able to catch a ride on the air ambulance. He would have had to fly commercial otherwise. As it was, they were able to fit him into a jump seat.

Abigail and I made considerable progress whipping SA into shape this week. Abigail spent the whole week on the mower, but managed to get the whole place mowed. I got a lot of the perimeter cleaned up but still lack quite a bit, which I hope to finish off this coming week.

Also this week, I managed to get the vincas Dear Sister gave me planted. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to the following weekend motivated me to get busy in spite of there being plenty of need for cleanup type maintenance; didn’t want to be planting in June.

May 24 Another week, another graduation ceremony. Make that two: Rebecca’s and Kaylee’s. First Rebecca’s. I’m told the Amarillo school district held their high school graduation ceremonies in Dick Bivins stadium due bureaucratic tyranny during covid. Then when the idea of continuing the practice was placed before students and parents for a vote, the majority of the voters gave a thumbs up. So, the idea of scheduling senior graduation ceremonies outdoors in May in the Texas panhandle was embraced by people who ought to have known better. Sure enough it was a blustery day, but tolerable until sunset, which is about the time the ceremonies started. By then the west wind was uncomfortably cool. Then it switched around to the north and increased. It took me all night to warm up when I was finally able to slip into bed.

Thankfully, Kaylee’s graduation was held indoors. Kari and I rose early and made yet another trip to Sachse to celebrate Kaylee’s graduation. After enduring the shrieking of the harpies, we were able to break free of the traffic and get back to Jill’s at a decent hour.