Not much going on out here on the front porch today. A warm and muggy start to a gulf coast summer’s day. My daughter loaded up her kids for a day at the beach… hopefully with social distancing in existence.

There’s not a breath of air stirring that isn’t mechanically induced. It’s gotten to the point I’ve turned the front porch fan up to medium for the time being. Once the nighttime temperatures stay above 80 degrees and summer really sets in. I’ll turn it up to high.

My yard has two species of oak trees in it. There are four specimens of the large based spreading Southern Live Oak. Unfortunately around here, they have none of the charming Spanish moss or resurrection ferns covering their limbs. The other species is a more upright form of water oak. This species rises on a massive trunk to a certain height and then becomes almost multi-trunked with huge limbs rising almost vertically. The water oaks are the predominant species here.

Hurricane Ike cost us a full half-dozen of our mature trees. One of the big oaks, actually our biggest, was just laid over… root ball ripped from the ground.

Over the years we have been here I’ve been planting understory trees and shrubs. Some have taken and flourished, some couldn’t take all of the shade. One of the things I’m trying to rectify is all of the hackberry trees going. They were a big part of what evidently kept the Cedar Waxwings coming back every winter. So I’m letting a couple regrow.

It’s breakfast time, so I need to get moving… y’all stay safe, stay healthy, and Pray for our Nation and the World… We live in trying times. And, make sure you’re registered to vote. In these troubled times every vote counts… AND EVERY VOTE MUST BE COUNTED.