by One morning I sat at my desk in my bedroom and watched a hawk in a tree pluck its breakfast, scattering feathers all over the place, while several bluejays cheered it on. I never saw what kind of bird was the main course. Dove, probably.
One night this week lightening streaked the sky and thunder crashed. Well, anyway it rumbled. Bound to have been some lightening somewhere. But the rain fell in torrents and covered the land. Or at least is spotted a few windshields. Monday afternoon we enjoyed a nice golf outing in ideal weather. Tuesday we enjoyed hot chocolate by the fire. Thursday and Friday afternoon I worked out on the place in shorts and a t-shirt. Sunday a dusting of snow fell and again hot chocolate and a fire were the order of the day.
I took advantage of the nice weather this week to remove the dead fruit trees. Among them were cherry, plum and peach trees that we planted in the first year or so we were back on SA and they had gotten big enough to start bearing fruit. So it goes on the Llano Estacado.
With our pizza Friday night, Chris and I got into the beer Joyce and I brewed up in January. The variety is called Robust Porter, which is like a Guiness stout. It was tasty and filling. When I was ready to bottle the brew, the store was out of pint bottles, which is what I wanted, so I got 22 oz. bottles instead. Neither of us had any trouble consuming that much at one sitting.
Tino the dog had a sleep over at our house Saturday night. The neighbors went to Lubbock for a volleyball tournament that involved both Saturday and Sunday. They left in the wee hours Saturday morning and I babysat Tino all day Saturday. The plan was for him to stay in their house and I would visit him periodically and let him outside so he could relieve himself. He can’t be trusted not to run off or otherwise get into mischief so he has to be on a leash. Joyce decided that, because of the cold weather that would arrive late Saturday, we should bring him down here and he would spend the night on the back porch. However, that was not good enough for him. He is as spoiled as the rest of us and Joyce wound up sharing her bed with him. I still took him outside when necessary because he is so strong and undisciplined that he would be a hazard to Joyce’s health. Even I have to brace myself to avoid becoming airborne if he takes off.
Marcia Howard loaned me Empire of the Summer Moon and I finished it this week. It deals with the conflict between whites and Indians, mainly the Comanches, Cynthia Ann Parker and Quannah Parker. From other reading, I was familiar with the story but Empire was more comprehesive than the other books and I thought the author gave an even-handed treatment to his subject, painting both Indians and whites, warts and all. Cosseted as I am, it’s hard for me to imagine how people can endure some of the things they have. And it is hard for me to understand how men could have brought their families into Comancheria where they were subject to Indian depredations. I don’t think I’ll look at a full moon quite to same way from now on.