Friday https://youtu.be/f5qwTaOLAo0 There's a pleasure in visiting the outdoors when both the temperature and the humidity meet in the lower 70s. And this morning I reaped the benefits of that pleasure when the temperature was 73° with a 73% humidity. I really do understand that this is just a preview…
Mother nature decided to impress us with a cool morning today. Here at my place we started the morning at 48°, with a heavy dew on the ground. The winds that were blowing the past few days have settled. And as the daylightened, and I went out to the car…
“Americans now seek Life without fear of pandemic, Liberty to choose their leaders in an environment free of disease and the pursuit of Happiness without undue restrictions,”
It's early evening on the back porch. Shadows stretch across the yard and the neighbor is mowing. It's been a long rest between blog posts... My yard could use a good mow too. Monday will be two weeks... again. I will say it's managed to stay green with the fewer,…
Loading the car for a roroad trip morning coffee muses.
Early Birthday Road Trip No pictures yet, I'll work on adding some in the morning. It was overcast all day. A long gray road trip... The Wildlife Refuge was almost empty of birds. The most common birds were ibis, I also saw a couple Mississippi KItes and a Crested Caracara.…
It's Chore Day And The Tablet Is On The Fritz Morning Coffee Muses
Well, it's finally happened...Summer hibernation mode. When the thermometer on the back porch is pushing 90° at 8:30 am even the fans can't make it feel anywhere close to comfortable. That means, for the duration of this season most call summer, my coffee muses will happen in my office staring…
In honor of the coming weekend... And the brisket I am going to put on the smoker... Links Texas Monthly - The Master
Lightly Raining, Slightly Cooler Morning Coffee Muses
Blustery Cloud Covered Warm Spring Coffee Muses
Cool Damp Misty Morning Coffee Muses
Warm Muggy Winter's Morning Coffee Muses.
I've forgotten how long I've been doing this as an annual tradition. It goes back well over a decade. This years trip felt more like my hunt for spring flowers than my birthday.
It's Cool, It's Breezy, It Looks Like Winter Coffee Muses
It's Another Foggy Morning Coffee Muses.
I seldom find myself rising with the sun... At least not since the fall of 2008. And so, I don't see all that many sunrises. Be that as it may, this shot from just around the corner from my house, is still one of my favorites... Alvin Sunrise
Saturday morning coffee... it's still dripping in the machine. The grandkids have been up and Sherry is already fussing with Abbie. We slept in and I already hear the work crew bumping around. Messing around with this little tablet I've been using has been an experience. I knew when I…
Today' Weather81 °FT-storms 20% chance of precipitation So, we sprang forward again yesterday. And here we are with what much of the country would consider a summertime forecast. It's already 62° out and the sun isn't up yet. Not that that is an unusually high temperature to be starting the day,…
Why we celebrate Texas Independence Day I grew up here in Texas. I have never thought much about the why's of Texas Independence Day. I was surrounded by the Texas myth from birth. Some of my ancestors were here at the time of the Declaration signing. Many others arrived with-in a decade of the event…
The one thing that really hit me hard on this trip was how green everything is this winter. After last summer's seared color scheme, the winter's green and brown scheme is a bit disconcerting.
For the last week it has seemed more like spring than the middle of January. But, the screen capture above says it all...70° at 9am on January 22 just isn't right. If this holds for another week, there will be no doubt that this January will be one for the record…
Federal scientists confirmed Friday that Texas had its driest year on record in 2011. The statewide average rainfall for the year totaled just 14.88 inches, according to the National Climatic Data Center, beating the previous low of 14.99 inches set in 1917. During the last century, Texas averaged 27.92 inches of rain…
As everyone who lived along the Texas Gulf Coast in December of 2004 will never forget, a white Christmas isn't just a dream for those living north of the Mason-Dixon line...Miracles do happen. And when snow begins to fall on Christmas Eve evening, why you make snowmen...and snowballs...and snow angels.…
In Texas in recent years, the summers have been blazing hot and very dry. We haven’t gotten the usual spring and fall rains. 2011, in particular, was an unprecedented year of drought and wildfires. The Texas Forest Service said earlier this week the recent drought might have killed some 10%…
Today the red oak in the backyard is probably at peak color. Never in the years since I planted it has it been quite this vividly fall like. The funny thing about today is that the temperature is already at 76° and rising. It's breezy and partly cloudy. Yesterday it…
https://www.youtube.com/embed/fX7Q-0QuID4 It also reinforced the fact that most of this years storms were pushed off out into the Atlantic. Watching Irene work her way up the east coast all the way to Canada had me remembering the pictures of the flooding in New England. I suppose only time will tell if this…
While my home state has never been at the forefront of environmental consciousness, the news in the electrical generating front is finally turning toward the green. After an initial rush to install wind farms in west Texas that outstripped the ability of the utilities to utilize the capacity, the addition of new…
It looks as if all of the rain from Tropical Storm Lee has managed to miss my part (and most of the rest) of Texas. We were really hoping to have a couple of days of the wet, soggy stuff falling on our heads... It didn't happen that way so…
After watching a far off lightning show on Wednesday evening yesterday morning brought a wondrous sight...A rather large thunderous rainstorm blew through our immediate area. The winds blew, lightning blasted the ground over and over again setting car alarms off all over town and then it rained for a couple of hours at…
Here lately I've been taking my morning coffee out to the back porch of the new house most mornings. I noticed something this morning that had been kind of bothering me even as it hadn't processed yet...The birds are not singing the sun up these days. Don't get me wrong,…
Thats why the Nash Prairie matters so much. As Chronicle reporter Matthew Tresaugue reported Tuesday "Life abounds at states last surviving bit of coastal prairie," Page B1, July 26, the 400-plus acres of never-plowed land in Brazoria County remained pristine by historical accident: The Czech and German immigrants who first…
While it will never go down in the record books, yesterday brought us a gift of moisture from the sky and not a hose. This morning while we slept we had another gift. Our drought is far from over, but the trees and the grass are sure to appreciate the water that…
Every day the news brings more drought news around here. Today it's about the trees... Houston's trees need help. It may not be obvious yet, but without substantial rain in the next few weeks the effects of this year's drought may greatly reduce the area's green canopy in five years,…
Reading note. As a responsible omnivore, I need to know where my food comes from and understand and respect the needs of the fellow creatures whose deaths make my life possible. The chickens that gave us eggs and went into the freezer were treated with care and concern; they had…
I took my new toy out with me this morning to see how well it would work in the early morning light...Seemed to do pretty good all things considered.
Quite a while ago. The temperature yesterday in my backyard hit 95°. The US Drought Map has us at the highest level of drought they differentiate. The good news for the state of Texas yesterday was that the storms causing so much damage across the country in the last week managed to…
When I was "retired" in late 2008 I really didn't retire. I continued to try and occupy my days with a "job". So it was that I began to build a online "publishing empire" aimed at the Appalachian Mountains that had captured my dreams. The beginnings had been there before…
As a major drought settles in on the state of Texas, the main problem with all of last years tea party campaign rhetoric about secession comes home to roost. When you wake up and find that you have already had 7,800 fires burn more than 2,400 square miles of your state and…
Continuing the conversation from earlier in the month... Forget about May flowers, Houston needs April showers to break a severe drought. The latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows 95 percent of Texas now in a drought, including Harris County. For the first time this year, a large chunk…
December 8, 2010 - Drought's grip on Texas tightens | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle. The great drought of 2011 may have started two months ago. Since Tropical Storm Hermine drenched central Texas in September, the state has been very dry, with large swaths receiving less than…
One hundred and seventy five years ago today a group of men came together just a few miles to the northwest of where I sit this morning and proclaimed Texas and independent nation. I can imagine what it might have been like that morning walking the streets of Washington-on-the-Brazos. Early March…
AUSTIN - Burst water pipes at two coal-fired power plants forced them to shut down, triggering rolling power cuts across the state, the lieutenant governor said Wednesday.Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said this is something that "should not happen." via Broken water pipes at power plants cited in outages | Facebook |…
"People used to say that the future happens first in California, but these days what happens in Texas is probably a better omen. And what we’re seeing right now is a future that doesn’t work." Paul Krugman, The Texas Omen - NYTimes.com. I am a native Texan...Some of my ancestors arrived prior to Texas…
For a couple of weeks now, this scene has caught my eye as I traveled between Alvin and Angleton. The grass heads were a bright pink in the sun. Each time I would want to stop and try to capture an image. Each time I didn't for one reason or…
I caught Leon Hales latest in my feed reader last week and thought he had a lot of good points. After spending a quarter of a century posting columns from the porch of his place in Winedale, Leon Hale has come to some conclusions about the joys of a second home…
The heat of the day arrived at about the same time I arrived at Brazos Bend State Park just the other side of the Brazos River from us off of FM 1462 and FM 762.
The afternoon temperatures are closing in on the 90's most days here for the last week. A cool afternoon is one that just tops 80. At least the nights are cool...And that means the mornings are really nice. Only in the late afternoon when the sun moves into that area…
Just to give you an idea of the area of the state we were covering here is an image of the page in The Roads of Texas - 5th Edition map book I use to travel our state... So, now that we have visited Friendship and Bryant Station it's time…
This past week my wife expressed a desire to visit the cemeteries where ancestors are resting up around Milam County in central Texas. Since the weekend was one of the few our daughter was off (thus no need for babysitter Paw-paw), I suggested we enjoy the the last of the…
Some of the shots I took yesterday as I played on a roadtrip into Texas Spring... I try each year to make a day trip into the closest wildflower country to my home. The trip takes about two hours just to start seeing good fields of color. Usually, I begin…
Spring Gradual warming that began earlier this week is forecast to continue through the weekend, and by early next week high temperatures should climb into the mid-70s as warm, wet air flows inland from the Gulf of Mexico. No rain is forecast until late this weekend, according to the National…
Talk about getting your head in a spin...Today I went through my daily routine of reading email as I listen to yesterdays "news" via podcasts downloaded to iTunes. I do this every morning, without fail...Coffee, email, podcasts. All of a sudden, it hit me...The incongruousness of what I was doing.…
These clouds are moving south just west of us this evening. We have already had an hour or more of heavy rain...All soaked in. Nobody was anticipating this. The temperature after the rains moved through was registering 72°...Now back up at 76°. The lightning was amazing! The wind was blowing!…
Currently (on Thu 5:53AM CDT from Pearland Regional Airport) Cloudy Temp: 81° (Heat Index 87°) Dewpoint: 75° Wind: Calm MPH I stepped out on the back steps this morning as the coffee pot dripped and ran into a wall of heat. Yesterday at this time it the thermometer was reading 72°. What a…
I stepped out my back door as the thermometer passed 100° F today and snapped this picture. The prognosticators say we had a heat index of 108° and it will be as hot tomorrow... Statement as of 4:04 PM CDT on June 24, 2009 ... Heat advisory in effect until…
My neighbors across the street have been makin' music for a few years now. For a while my youngest son played bass with them on some of their local gigs. These days they seem to be reahing a bit higher...And I for one, am very impressed with this video they…
Growing up, we spent many summer days visiting my grandparents house in Orchard, Texas. Every evening, after supper was over and cleaned up, we would all grab a folding lawn chair off the back porch and set them up in a rough circle on the east side of the house.…
Taking a morning walk this morning, I noticed that the heat was already heading up into the 80's. Warm and getting warmer...A great way to start hurricane season. Over the weekend the the mosquitoes returned with a vengeance. That little bit of rain last week seems to have hatched out…
Can someone explain the connection between Credit Card Reform and the right to bear arms in national parks? Now don't get me wrong, I was raised to be a hunter, I bought my first guns at 18, my grandfather was a life long hunter who bought and passed down a…
Another long term effect of last falls hurricane season... Doctors who work in Houston’s busiest maternity ward say they’re expecting an especially bustling June, leading some to conclude that Hurricane Ike was the perfect storm for making babies. It’s been eight months since Ike knocked out the region’s electricity, leaving…
I started down a path I am still walking today. Inventing the Myth as I Go Where am I heading and how will I get there? You are welcome to come along for the ride. Try not to fall off as we round the curves… I have tried to do…
Leave to a youngish mind in a middleaged, out of shape body to discover the hard way (always the hard way) that he cannot still do everything he once did. Yesterday I decided, at long last, to finish the distruction of our dog pen that Ike had started. Bearing in…
...maybe they’d take away his parking space, too. What is it with Republican Governors these days. Especially, Republican Governors with national aspirations. It's almost as if they can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Even members of their own party have noticed. And it seems as if they…
Last night I wandered out with a glass of wine after an evening of rain. Lightning was still flashing to the south. The ground was wet, the trees were still dripping...Yet as I stood there in my backyard what did I see? Fireflies. just a couple wandering around a couple…
Yesterday I had to swing by the Post Office to drop off a couple of Netflix returns and ran into the local "teabagger" protest...All 100 of the...maybe. All I could do was shake my head and wonder what exactly they were protesting. Do they even know? Was it taxes? Was…
The cornbread I put aside for the next day...did not make it that long.
During my roadtrip yesterday I made a point of stopping by the Winedale Historical District. I have been here before but the stop is always good for a break, and the grounds make for a great way to stretch your legs before getting back on the road. The Lewis-Wagner House…
I decided that I needed a roadtrip to hunt for the fields of Bluebonnets that bloom this time of year a few counties to the north and west. Yesterday I made the decision that today would be the day, come what may. It almost looked as if I'd be trying…
I woke up this morning to a blustery north wind driving temperatures into the 40's. Tonight the weather prognosticators are predicting lows in the 30's. It would appear winter (at least our kind of winter) isn't through with SE Texas. As I wait for springs return and the yard work honey-dews that will accompany it, here are some more of my spring photo's fropm last week...
The day started out overcast but by 10am the clouds were mostly moved out. Temperatures are already mid 70's outside. It should be what would pass for a beautiful summer day in most parts of the country...Here it's just spring! More spring shots from my afternoon walk of the other…
I went for a walk yesterday afternoon with my camera. I only covered by back yard and the right of ways that run to Mustang Bayou. Here are a couple of the images I caught... More To follow...Have a great weekend.
Sometimes you are amazed at the serendipity of life...I discovered Felder Rushing a few years back while wandering the web. I started listening to the podcast of his weekly public radio program, The Gestalt Gardener, and keeping up with his travels. I even posted a link and his picture back…
We cruised through East Columbia on the way home. East Columbia is one of the earliest settlements in this part of the state. It was founded in 1823 as Bell's Landing.
Leon Hale's weekly column is up at the Houston Chronicle...This section in the middle caught my mind's eye and reminded me of my year living with my Grandparents back in the early 70's. When sprummer comes to the country, what arrives along with it is a lot of work to…
When I read this yesterday I wasn't surprised. Gov. Rick Perry today told the federal government that Texas doesn’t want $555 million to expand benefits for the unemployed in exchange for widening the program to include part-time workers. The Legislature can decide to accept the money, but Perry said the…
Today is Texas Independence Day, when a group of men met in a tiny unfinished wooden building in the small town of Washington-On-The-Brazos to take the daring step of announcing to the world that they were creating a new nation. via Writer finds record of Texas' birth 173 years ago…
Looking on the weather wunderground, I see that Fred is still feeding the woodstove and wearing the multiple layers of clothes he was lamenting in his essay. While I am enjoying the open door and the porch rocker, Fred is still dreaming his summer weather dreams.
My reading on the web keeps coming across a common thread...It's that over and over in blog posts and comments people are talking about buying seeds and starting to raise vegetables again. It looks like I'm not the only one making the connection. Here is what Verlyn Klinkenborg had to…
Reading Leon Hale's column is an institution in Houston and the surrounding counties as well as my house. Mr. Hale has been published in a Houston Paper for most (if not all) of my life, and his was the only column I remember reading in my dad's paper as a…
It seems the story of the Peanut Corporation of America just keeps getting better and better as it shows just how poor America's food safety system really is... Even amid a national salmonella outbreak linked to peanuts, state health officials allowed a Texas peanut plant last month to continue shipping…
It just seems to me that when you have production of goods going into so many food products you would have controls in place to insure the safety of the public...Doesn't it? Passing the responsibility off to others for the testing of the product is not an option. Both the…
Image via Wikipedia It seems this story was inevitable... ROSENBERG, TX — A trip out for a free breakfast at Denny's took a big bite out of the wallets of several people in Rosenberg on Tuesday. Some of those who went to the local Denny's Corp. restaurant for a free…
Turning The Page Sherry and I had scheduled this past weekend as a four day celebration a long time ago. Making sure we both had arrangements to take Friday and Monday off appproved and on the calendars at work. Gifts were bought, resrvations were made, plans were set...we were celebrating…
For everyone who has heard Clinton won Texas (over and over and over again), the voting ain't over till it's over... Party's not over for Texas Democratic caucus-goers | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle Clinton, a senator from New York, won the March 4 primaries and collected a 65-61 lead in…
