January 25

  • Sunrise on balmy 32° morning

January 12 So far this year…There was a dusting of snow Monday morning of this week after some really cold wind the day before. We went to church but going back and forth to the car was unpleasant, to say the least. Fortunately, the weather was decent for the drive home on the 2nd and held so that I was able to get the Christmas decorations squared away in the attic. Then there was another dusting of snow Wednesday morning. It was too cold for outside work, so Abigail and I took the week off. Snow was predicted for Thursday, and I considered grocery shopping Wednesday afternoon but didn’t. Should have. The forecast proved correct, and it snowed from about 7:00 am till sometime after I went to bed. I ventured out early and bought groceries. The snow wasn’t deep then but by the time I went to a 10 o’clock appointment it was beginning to mount up. We may have gotten as much as a foot of snow. It was more than we’ve seen in some years. The weatherman said eight inches of snow equals an inch of rain so we got from an inch to an inch and a half of much needed moisture which should extend our reprieve from watering for a month or two even if we don’t get moisture during that time.

Chris trapped a half-grown cat while I was in Sachse and Rebecca installed it in the shop after they got it back from the vet. It was a pretty scrawny little feller, and they figure it shouldn’t be left out in the elements. Unfortunately, Rebecca let it outside during the afternoon on Tuesday or Wednesday and then couldn’t find it to return it to the shop. That means it was caught out in the snowstorm unless it had been adopted or met its fate some other way. We didn’t need another cat around, but he was pretty cute and was responding well to Rebecca’s tender mercies. I doubt we’ll ever see him again, which is kind of sad.

January 19 There is a fresh covering of snow this morning. Most of the January 9th snow melted this past week as the weather gradually warmed. The snow yesterday was of the shallow variety, only two or three inches, but the thermometer is registering single digit overnight lows so the snow will linger.

When we weren’t dozing, Kari and I enjoyed a performance of The Amarillo Symphony. The bill of fare included The Beautiful Blue Danube, Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto, Op. 15 and Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88. Ben Baker was the guest soloist (violin). The Beautiful Blue Danube was, well, beautiful and old No. 8 was good, too. If he wasn’t already dead, I think ol’ Ben should be hanged for his violin concerto, though, even if it was his 15th try. I’m sure Ben Baker did the best he could with what he had to work with, but the piece reminded me of what Mark Twain said about Richard Wagner’s music: “I’m told it is better than it sounds” and “It put him in mind of the night the orphan asylum burned down.”

January 26 Abigail and I cut ties with Wildcat Bluff Friday, that is, we won’t be going there regularly anymore. I explained to Will who, as I have mentioned before, has some sort of tie to WCB I don’t have the energy I did 10 years ago when I started volunteering out there. That was when no one was doing anything to maintain the grounds and I could do what I thought needed to be done or felt like doing. Now, with the Bluff a part of the Discovery Center there are people, employees and Amarillo College interns, helping to maintain the grounds. Will even mentioned they were going to hire a grounds keeper. Since I’m not really needed and, in fact, might be in the way, I thought it would be best to concentrate my efforts on good ol’ SA.

Our weather has been cold with a light snow sometime this week, I think. The snow events run together. Suffice it to say, our weather has been January-like. What work Abigail and I did this past week was done indoors at my house. That work has been of the cleaning and sprucing up kind, which I tell myself during warm weather months that should do be done when weather conditions don’t permit outside work. This winter I’m actually doing some of that. Not too much now. I still do a lot reading and other types of loafing.

Passing thoughts…Called Trump, told him he made a mistake renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Should have renamed it Gulf of Texas…A friend told me his daughter works for an outfit that specializes in collectables. Her job is grading comic books…The big story of this January, of course, is the Trump administration taking the reins of the federal executive. In case you are wondering, I’m encouraged. From what I read about the people appointed to the various offices in the administration, it seems like those tasks will be in good hands. Time will tell.