It was a cool misty morning as I poured a cup of coffee...Looking out the back screen the light looked intriguing. I grabbed the camera and slipped on the flipflops and wandered out into the cool, wet backyard. I wandered a while trying to capture the light that drew me…
We are now entering my favorite time of the year. Cool fall days in the low 70's and nighttime lows dipping down into the 50's. Skies so blue that if you could capture the color you'd be set for life. Birds twittering in the predawn trees, welcoming the day as…
Another reason to change our methods... A ground beef recall for more than 545,699 pounds of meat has been expanded to states from North Carolina to Maine on fears of E. coli contamination. Fairbanks Farms of Ashville, N.Y., expanded the recall on Monday for ground beef produced between Sept. 14…
To a rancher like me, who raises cattle, goats and turkeys the traditional way (on grass), the studies show only that the prevailing methods of producing meat — that is, crowding animals together in factory farms, storing their waste in giant lagoons and cutting down forests to grow crops to feed them — cause substantial greenhouse gases. It could be, in fact, that a conscientious meat eater may have a more environmentally friendly diet than your average vegetarian.
Three years ago this month we were on Padre Island celebrating our 28th. Two years ago, it was the Blue Ridge Mountains and our 29th. Last year it was the Texas Hill Country and our 30th...This year we haven't made plans...Yet. Blogging has been slow here lately. I am not…
For the last couple of days here we have been having really beautiful weather. Overnight lows in the low 50's warming up slowly into the low 70's. Cloudless, scrubbed blue skies. You know, the kind of weather a large portion of the country comes to expect in the height of…
It's understandable the drugmakers would want a roll-call accounting of who their friends and enemies are, considering the size of the investment they are making on Capitol Hill: in the first six months of this year alone, drug and biotech companies and their trade associations spent more than $110 million…
The world’s largest reserve for migrating Monarch butterflies, located in the Mexican highlands, is suffering from an infestation of bark beetles similar to outbreaks that have killed millions of acres of evergreens in the U.S. and Canada...So far, the infestation has affected only a small portion of the 33,000-acre core…
The globe recorded its second warmest September since record keeping began in 1880, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. The combined global land and ocean temperature anomaly was 0.62°C (1.12°F), falling only 0.04°C (0.07°F) short of tying the record set in 2005. NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies also…
Record heat is forecast for today in the Houston area, but by late this afternoon or early evening a blast of cooler Canadian air is expected to drop temperatures through the weekend. Temperatures are predicted to creep back into the 80s early next week, but another cold front is predicted…
It's that time of year again...15 October 2009 is the third Blog Action Day. This year the subject of conversation for the day is "Climate Change". Close to 7,000 bloggers are participating this year. What Is Blog Action Day? Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's…
It is beginning to be an everyday thing. A DM from someone on Twitter that's not...Leading to a fake login page... Another day, another phishing or malware scam on Twitter. It seems like these are happening entirely too often, and the reason is that people continue to ignore common sense.…
Two years ago we were planning our first fall trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Virginia...Life has conspired since then to keep me from the mountains I love. I look forward to next year and a visit to the mountains to beat all of our past…
Eating a hamburger should not be a death-defying experience. Too often it is. via Editorial - Toxic Hamburgers - NYTimes.com. This is where Food Policy and Health Policy come together. And the American people get taken for a ride by the corporate penny pinching policies and the lack of enforcement…
"We as a party have spent the last six months, the greatest minds in our party, dwelling on the question, the unbelievably consuming question of how to get Olympia Snowe to vote on health care reform. I want to remind us all that Olympia Snowe was not elected President last…
Please, let it be true... Fri 7PM Sat 1AM Sat 7AM Sat 1PM Sat 7PM Sky T-Stm Rain Chc Rain Ptly Clear Clear Chance of Precip Likely Moderate Slight Slight Slight Temp (F) 67° 63° 61° 69° 69° The weather prognosticators have been promising us cooler weather all week...They promised…
Churchill's argument was this"I have heard it said that the government had no mandate such a doctrine is wholly inadmissible. The responsibility for the public safety is absolute and requires no mandate!" And there is the essence of what this is. What, on the eternal list of priorities, precedes health?…
Currently (on Thu 5:53AM CDT from Pearland Regional Airport) Mostly Cloudy Temp: 82° (Heat Index 90°) Dewpoint: 77° Wind: S 6 MPH And so starts my morning here before the sun even rises...Come on...Feels like 90° and the sun hasn't even broached the horizon! This should be a glorious day to follow the…
Did I read this right? A heat index of 109... Today the high temperature will reach the low 90s, which is about 5 degrees above normal for this time of year. Coupled with high humidity — readings were over 90 percent this morning — it could feel like it's between…
We were awakened by the rolling artillery thunder of an advancing front...Weather not war, but just as shattering to a good sleep. The percussive sounds and flashes of lighning came booming through just before daylight. Our bedroom would fill with light. Almost immediately the the walls would reverberate with the…
A day isn’t just a standard measure, all the same size so each fits on a calendar page. A day is a period of light, an astronomical event. I felt that on the road that Kansas dawn. The broad swath of the sun’s light rolls upward from the darkness, morning…
Watch it online now...But do it quick. They will only be online till Oct 9th. Episode 1 Episode One: "The Scripture of Nature" (1851–1890) The astonishing beauty of Yosemite Valley and the geyser wonderland of Yellowstone give birth to the radical idea of creating national parks for the enjoyment of…
Walking out to the mailbox today I spotted this guy growing at the base of one of our live oaks. I don't know what caused the strange pattern of growth, but it is definitely different. Another thing I noticed as I wandered down the drive is the first batch of…
You may not need your sweaters, but mild fall temperatures are forecast to be nearly 10 degrees below normal today in the Houston area as light rain and clouds from a weak cool front help to keep mercury readings down. Temperatures should climb as the area dries out under sunny…
Rain chances increase to 70 percent Tuesday as the front approaches. The high will be near 84 degrees and the low will be near 69 degrees. South winds will be 5 mph to 10 mph. Winds shift to the north late Wednesday and the high temperature dips to the upper…
Compare this... "We're winning the argument," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared inside the hotel ballroom. "We know that most Americans are common-sense conservatives and that most of the people running our government in Washington are not. . . . We've been calling their agenda what it is. The…
DALLAS — Recent storms in Texas brought some long-awaited relief to the nation's most drought-stricken state, but the brutal dry spell is far from over as it drags into its third year. About 16 percent of the state — all in the southern and central parts of Texas — is…
The insurance industry, of course, loves the Baucus plan. Need we say more? via Paul Krugman - Baucus and the Threshold - NYTimes.com.
I grew up with a strong support for the power of technology...But the abuses perpetrated in the name of technological advancement of agriculture in the past few decades have left a foul taste in my mouth. It appears I share that distaste wit Verlyn Klinkenborg... There is no disputing the…
The past few mornings have felt nice...Low to mid 70's to start with and a lot of clouds to keep the heat down in the afternoon. Not a lot of rain (as usual) in our particular neck of the woods, though a lot has fallen in the region in the…
