Monday, January 23
Another Sunny Winter's Coffee Muses.
Tag: #writing_of_place
Sunday, January 22
A Bright and Sunny Winter's Sunday Coffee Muses
Saturday, January 21
Soggy Morning Coffee Muses.
Friday, January 20
Slightly Foggy Coffee Muses
Sunrises
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
Monday on the Back Porch is Rainy and Cool
https://youtu.be/wOxW5YWqqdU The pitter patter of raindrops hitting the roof. Rumbles of distant thunder rolling across the land. If the Weather Underground is to be believed... This is what my week will look like. My backyard is in need of a cutting but my Deere is in need of having the…
I’m Still Here
Short lived rain, even shorter rumblings of thunder, flashes of sunshine in between... None of it stops the songs of the birds.
Lifescapes: Susan Wittig Albert
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…
Leon Hale Talks About Owning Rural Property
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…
A Tale Of A Simple Creek
A couple of weeks ago, I walked along a spring creek in the upper Madison Valley, just south of the town of Ennis, Mont. As my guide, Jeff Laszlo, explained, the creek is one of the unnamed tributaries of the Madison River, fed by innumerable springs along the valley’s rich…
Seasonal Chores
The Yard The rains last week had me cruising around on Monday for most of the day. I was flying formation with squadrons of dragonflies as I made my rounds on the Deere...The summer numbers are here at last. There must have been a couple of thousand of the flying…
The Sounds Of Morning
One of the most interesting sounds to float in the door on this cool mornings is the call of the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). Once you hear the loud raucous laugh of a Pileated you will never mistake it for another bird. It is another of those sounds that calls…
Late Spring In SE Texas
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…
Hunting Spring Wildflowers In Texas
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…
Walking With The Sisters
It was a nice place to sit and think for an hour or two. Bayou to the south, woods to the north...Sun in my face, wind at my back. The temperature was in the low 40's, but in the sun that was warm enough.
The Anticipation Of A Winter Event…
The prognosticators are keeping the hopes of children of all ages alive across Southeast Texas... Weather forecasters are more confident Houston will see snowfall beginning Friday afternoon, but whether that snow sticks to the ground and accumulates remains a big question. “I would say right now it could be anywhere…
A Worms Eye View Of Autumn
On my walk today to check the progress of autumn I ended up on my belly looking at the violet seed heads of the grass growing in our field. It made for an interesting photo. I was very happy to have the cloudless blue sky and a cool north breeze…
Old Dogs and New Tricks…
I haven't vanished from the face of the earth...I haven't taken ill from the heat and lack of rain...I haven't been shipped off for failing to amuse my wife (though I'm sure see is thinking about it)...What I am doing is exploring the idiosyncrasies of a new theme for WordPress…
Rain…Did Someone Say Rain?
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!…
This is not the way I want to start my day…
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…
Summer Evenings Before Television
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.…
Summer…The Heat Is On…
Today was John Deere day on the homestead here. Spent the early, cooler half of the day out doing the Texas pinwheel. You know what I mean...'round and 'round she goes. Luckily, the wind was blowing lightly. The anticipated rain from earlier in the week bypassed us as usual. I…
Dog Days Of Summer…In May
Saturday was another 90° day here in SE Texas...The past week has seen upper 80's every day. The weather prognosticators are trying to tease with hints of a "strong" cool front coming our way. I have even heard whispers of highs in the upper 70's...Personally, I think they are smoking…
Waiting…Watching…Listening
This morning as the sun comes up, the day starts out foggy. The woods behind the house are hazy through the gray, cloaking moisture. The morning is still, but nowhere near quite. Birds, lots of birds are singing their welcome to the mornings light. The back doors are wide, letting…
Spring Has Sprung…Fully
We had a "cool" front blow through here this morning...Cool is now at 71° and rising. The front brought an hour or so of rain and then clear blue sky. The real sign of spring though is the cardinals, you know...Red birds chasing other red birds out of their perceived…
If it’s Sunday Morning…It’s time for an update from Winedale.
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…
Weekend Weather Muse
This is the closest we have been to winter in a month or more. We woke up to the low 40's with light rain...brrr.
Morning Light
As the sunlight begins to show the scene outside my kitchen door, the spring weeds wildflowers look like misty ponds scattered over my back yard. Mounds and mounds of purple vetch (Vicia americana) with their millions of tiny purple flowers on multiple green stems seem to rise mistily from the…
Weather Musing…
Ten days into March and the weather feels more like late spring or early summer from my childhood. This week we have seen 80's over and over again. So far the March winds (which began blowing in November) have kept the house reasonably comfortable. I don't like to think about…
February Wanes…Summer Seems Near.
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.
Spring…Already?
This past week the signs of the season's change have sprung up all around...The oaks that were stripped of their leaves by Ike in September, now are leafing out with all of that bright, spring green color that changes the very light. Around the edge of this little house the…
Monday Morning Muse…What’s with this weather?
Currently (on Mon 6:02AM CST from Pearland Regional Airport) Light Rain Temp: 66° Dewpoint: 64° Wind: SE 9 MPH The weather here this winter has seemed to be more spring (or fall) like than any I can recall seeing. Checking the almanac for the past two months is eye opening. Since…
Road Trip Thoughts
Through this all, I couldn't bring myself to document the damage with my camera...It was enough just to see what was what...So on I drove. All the way around the island...through the Strand...Along Broadway...And finally over the new Causeway...And here was where the totality of the destruction hit me...
Muses For The Last Day Of The Old Era?
Pre-Election Day Twenty O'Eight While everyone else is focusing on the election tomorrow, Bush and Company are getting a lot of the agenda they tried to pass and failed to do done anyway. The power of the executive office being used better to overthrow the will of the people. They…
Maybe Autumn Does Exist In This World…
For the first time in the back half of the year it really does feel like autumn this morning...We are even feeling like the mountains I long for... Alvin, TX 55.0 °F / 12.8 °C Clear Boone, NC 51.7 °F / 10.9 °C Drizzle Floyd, VA 53.4 °F / 11.9…
Almost Fall? I Think Not…
For all of you folks up north feeling the beginnings of fall in the air, here is my morning forcast of what faces me on the way out the door... Bobby Wright, Alvin, Texas (PWS) Updated: 2 sec ago Clear 79.7 °F / 26.5 °C Clear Humidity: 66% Dew Point:…
After the rains…
Image via Wikipedia The weather here has been very dry...at least until the past week or so. We have been having a spring-like amount of rain. After complaining for so long about the lack, it seems almost sacrilegious to say anything about the water we needed so bad. After months…
Faustian economics: Hell hath no limits—By Wendell Berry (Harper’s Magazine)
Anything Wendell Berry writes is worth the time it takes to digest...My recommendation is to go spend some time today with the man... The general reaction to the apparent end of the era of cheap fossil fuel, as to other readily foreseeable curtailments, has been to delay any sort of…
Living the Good Life
CARSON, NEW MEXICO—When the wind comes up the mesa, which it often does, there is a particular rusted-out old car nearby that whispers the same eerie, long-toned question every time: “Whoooooo?” I sometimes think: “Us.” Out in this remote part of the American Southwest lies the closest thing I have…
Musing about the lack of blooms…
Leaving the house this morning the temperature was already passing 80°. August in SE Texas may not be as hot as other places in the country, but factor in the humidity and it ain't pretty. The prognosticator on the radio was holding forth about a high today of 96°...But then…
Texas Barbecue
The Podcast I listened to yesterday that really caught my interest was this one... Tiny Texas Cafe Fills Up After Barbecue Award : NPR All Things Considered, July 18, 2008 · Barbecue is religion in Texas. Every five years, Texas Monthly goes on a quest for the Holy Grail —…
Monday Muse – After the crowd…
The "Party" on Saturday had all of the appearances of being a success. By the time the house was empty and the ticky-tacky leftovers were put away I could once again hit the lazy-boy and reflect on the past couple of weeks of labor and feel good that it was…
Friday Morning Muse
Around these parts most of our ripened fruit happened a month or better ago. The only thing still to come are the pecans in the fall. Even so the following resonates... The Suburban Life - Thinking Ahead - Editorial - NYTimes.com It’s a good year for blueberries. Decades ago, a…
End of the Month, End of the Week Muse
One of the email missives I look forward to comes in on it's own schedule each month. It is from Andy Griffin of Mariquita Farm called "The Ladybug Letter". Andy tells tales of his life in agriculture on the west coast...Funny stories, ironic stories...Stories of life...Great stories... The Ladybug Letter…
Saturday Morning Muse
Occasionally a blog entry will touch a spot in me that makes me do something...Cate's "ramble" today was one... Beyond the Fields We Know: Looking for... Some places arrange themselves perfectly in eye and viewfinder, and yet they do not speak or sing. Others, often on cold, dank and foggy…
A Week and a Day…
It was just eight days ago that I took myself off on my annual Birthday/Photo Roadtrip. This image is one of the ones I captured on that day. This shot was taken in San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge but it could have been taken in a number of other locations…
Drive to work…
It is a monochromatic world I pass thru on my drive to work today. After a week of beautiful, clear, but cold mornings, the overcast sky today has shut down the world's colors. The leafless trees show gray bark to the world. Even the evergreens along the edge of the…
A weekend of cold, wet weather sends me back to work on a beautiful Monday!
Thanksgiving Day was the last decent weather day we had through the long holiday weekend. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all wet, windy and cold. Most decidedly cold for the wife. Forty degree weather in this neck of the woods qualifies as winter, not fall, so throw in the rain…
It’s Friday so let’s play “Photo Friday”
This week's challenge: 'The City'. Houston on a beautiful winter day in February of this year. Taken while attending a National Geographic Photography Session at the U of H Downtown Campus. This week's challenge: 'The City'. Please read our Participant Guide before deciding to submit a link. Your link must…
New Blogging Machine…
My new toy finally arrived from Dell yesterday...A 17" laptop with some bells and whistles to make photo editing easier. I planned to post the first blog this morning. I got a little sidetracked with a phone call from a high school buddy making arrangements for the 35th reunion this…
Saturday morning muses at the end of summer.
I began thinking of the wordsmiths I enjoy who make their primary living working on the farm. I haven't made it a point to search these folks out, but maybe I should. There is something about the solitude of farm work that seems to allow the wordsmiths it produces to let their words steep and age before they commit them to paper (or electronic replacements thereof).
Wednesday – The end of week +2
Today's emails contained this week's copy of the "Weeknight Kitchen Newsletter" from The Splendid Table. I've been listening to Lynne Rossetto Kasper on the Splendid Table Podcast for a while now and enjoying it immensely. This week's newsletter contained a link to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch. I had…
Fragments From Floyd: June 2002 Archives
Fragments From Floyd: June 2002 Archives June 5, 2002 Summer LightningThe animals have been tended, my wife and son have left for work, and I am alone watching the first rays of a humid, empty day through the windows. I am in my slippers, merely waiting, early into my second…
The End…Today will mark the end of my worship at the nuclear medicine shrine…
After this afternoons session, my sacrifices on the alter of the atomic spheres comes to an end...The number for the day is 35...of 35. An ending and a beginning, even though I am yet to be thru this journey I am embarked upon. In the news today on the weather…
Friday – Food and Faith in America
The number for today is 27...Almost there. There is a magical time of night that seems to call me on a regular basis...It's 3:33am. I can not recall how many time I have rolled over in bed at night and opened my eyes and seen the three threes glowing there…
The footsteps in my mind…people I remember…
We carry with us these footprints of vanished places: apartments we moved out of years ago, dry cleaners that went out of business, restaurants that stopped serving, neighborhoods where only the street names remain the same. Verlyn Klinkenborg - Remembered Spaces - New York Times Today's number is 24...One of…
TGIF – We draw near to another week ender…#22
Well, I meandered thru my email, read the headlines and opinions of the paid opinion makers, and finished my morning muse cup of coffee. The news was full of the latest on Bush, the Congress, and Iraq...None of which I want to think about this morning. The weather has been…
Chapter 16 in my continuing saga of radiation…
The rain falling again this morning almost lulled me back to sleep after our wet and rainy 4th. I finally dragged myself out of bed...But, now that I am through with the first (pre-commute) cup of java and have read all of my email the coffee muse isn't musing and…
And on the weekends…we rest our irradiated bones.
Garrison tells us that... Tonight is Midsummer Night's Eve, also called St. John's Eve. St. John is the patron saint of beekeepers. It's a time when the hives are full of honey. The full moon that occurs this month was called the Mead Moon, because honey was fermented to make…
Muses from the middle of the day
My email brought me the latest "News From Vermont" a regular newsletter put out by Burr Morse from the Morse Farm Sugarworks. I stumbled upon a copy of one of his email missives a while back and I enjoyed it so much I was moved to subscribe. I have been…
