Red River July 4th parade
by rakeeter
Category: 2017
by rakeeter
Drivers Ed
by rakeeter 
Sunday Abigail and I drove out to Dick Bivins stadium in the Pathfinder for the first hour of seven hours of behind-the-wheel instruction. Abigail got her learner’s permit a couple of weeks ago and has completed the seven hours of observation required as Kari carted her around town. Our session on the stadium parking lot was her first experience driving and we spent most of the hour stopping, starting, and making left and right turns. We finished up the hour with 15 minutes of trying to park the vehicle in the parking slots without scuffing the imaginary cars around it, then back out, again trying not run into the other cars, no small challenge for a newbie. I think the Abster was ready to turn the wheel back over to me when our time was up.
According to my records going back to 2009, June 2017 was the wettest on record and, totaling 5.45 inches of moisture, well over double the June average of 1.84. Even June of 2015, the year we doubled our average annual moisture, we only recorded two inches. So why did if feel like a dry month, Well, because we got nearly four inches early in the month and the rest last weekend, with nothing in between. It would have been nice to spread that moisture out over the month but then that wouldn’t have been the Texas Panhandle, now would it?
We’ll assemble for our 4th of July celebration Saturday. The forecast is for a high of 84º. That will be a nice change from the 100º temps we’ve been having this week.
Green fields
by rakeeter 
With the rain we had last weekend, SA has greened up nicely. I spent some time on the mower this past week and will again in the coming week. In fact, with the way the grass is growing it may be a matter of starting all over again as soon as I’ve finished going over the place. Or not. We’re going to have a stretch of hot and dry which, without any additional moisture, could make the grass go dormant. We shall see. Continue reading “Green fields”
Memorial Day
by rakeeter 
We are still bouncing back and forth between spring and summer. Thursday was hot with a strong west wind. Humidity was about 12%. We’ve dodged the hail, high winds and worse that have afflicted the Panhandle this month but we’ve also dodged the rain. I’ve recorded less than half an inch of moisture for May. While it was hot Thursday, there have been some chilly days this week as well. One day I might head off for work in shorts and a T-shirt and the next day in jeans and a couple of layers on the top end. We have some relatively cool weather in the forecast and ‘spec we better enjoy. It’s likely summer will set in any day now. Continue reading “Memorial Day”
May flowers
by rakeeter 
For all my whining and complaining about the weeds, the relatively moist start to the year has had a salubrious effect on the flowers, too. There has been a steady parade starting with the apricot trees in February. The iris that Genna planted around the place bloom at different times. The plantings I’ve done around 1911 are several years old now and really are showy. That is most gratifying. The new bed, or should I say the improvements, I did in the lily pool area on the south side of 2005 are finished and I’ve planted a few drought-tolerant plants in it though it will be a year at least before the show up much. Continue reading “May flowers”