flooding – The Hermits' Rest

Thankful for Diversion

It’s a good thing my new consulting position cropped up. Getting immersed in creating quality documentation this week has been very helpful in keeping me from dwelling on how the natural disasters keep coming more and more often.

I’ve been able to concentrate so hard on enjoying my work that time seems to speed by. I’m really feeling like a part of the team, plus my input is solicited and seems appreciated. I’ll enjoy this as long as it lasts!

I think you can tell that all the vegetation was sparkling this morning. Cheerful.

I do want to be there to listen to folks who need to talk through their sadness and feelings, though, and I feel more able to empathize and provide support (and receive it) having given my mind a break.

Our creek spilled its banks overnight, though we’ve not had as much rain as most areas nearby.

We’re in for a lot of weird nature stuff, I’m afraid. It does serve as a reminder to live well and love hard. Speaking of love, here’s a salute to my many friends working right now to kick some medical challenges away from their lives. Your healing vibes are on their way!

Penney wanted to tell you that Lee strung lights in the porch.

Tough Times Together

I’m just not able to say much right now. The loss of lives and livelihoods near me in Texas is heart wrenching and has affected nearly everyone I know directly or indirectly. The whole state is in shock, because the campers and other visitors were from all over the state. It’s really too hard to talk about right now.

This is Alfred informing me that the weather is bad.

I’m grateful for the first responders and trained volunteers from our county and nearby who went to help with flooding that wasn’t on the news, but was still bad. It always impresses me how these highly trained folks just go wherever they’re needed, even to other states or countries. They’re needed with so much bad weather here and in North Carolina, not to mention the fires in the Navajo Nation.

Here we just had a reasonable amount of rain, though lightning hit a tree near the horse pasture. Horses are ok. I immersed myself in work today, which was helpful. I guess I’m also grateful for having a good challenge to occupy my mind.

I’m also grateful for pets, even skittish ones.

Take care of yourselves. Hugs to all of you dealing with challenges. I haven’t forgotten you. We are in this together.

Another Post about Gratitude for Rain

You can tell I live in a semi-arid environment by how often I mention that I’m grateful for rain. Our land is so prone to drought that we always fear it will never rain again. Of course, that’s not true. Usually, we have a very dry period followed by a flood. We’re used to it.

This year we have had some dry spells, but also some nicely spaced rain episodes, just nothing huge, until last night. We had over 2.5″ of rain here yesterday, and since 2″ is usually enough to get runoff happening, that means our ponds/tanks all filled.

It also means that the creek is overflowing, which is always fun, as long as it doesn’t cover the road, which it did not. It only got to the top of the fence that keeps the cattle in. No giant logs banged into the fence, either, which means the new owners won’t have to fix it.

You can see the fence posts almost underwater.

The rain was scary, and there were tornadoes in the area. Some folks got damage, but nothing like what we see in the news in other places, so we’re lucky. One of my friends even got up to 6″ of rain over the past few days! We’ve had at least 3 in total. Now all the animals will be happy.

Something did die, though. The vultures right next to my birding chair told me, along with the large number of flies. Ick. I may have to move my chair!

I enjoyed many clean and shiny birds on my morning walk, though, which is the best bonus. I’m still seeing a Tricolored Heron here, so who needs to travel to see interesting birds?

I went into town to have lunch with a new Master Naturalist and help her get her Merlin and iNaturalist set up for ease of use. Driving around I saw lots of hail damage and trees with lost limbs. The storm was a lot worse southeast of the ranch!

Our Merlin lesson was a bust, because the birds decided to stop making noise at our Cameron renovation project, where we tried to practice. But I did give my student some hints, and we had more success with iNaturalist. A lesson that I learned (relearned) is that everyone’s cell phone and service are set up differently, which always adds to the challenge of assisting people. We had fun anyway, and found some plants we want to transplant before the old landscaping gets obliterated.

I want some of this Turk’s Cap to plant next to our woods.

Today remains sunny, though more rain is in the forecast. Other than how muddy the horse pens get, I’ll welcome all we get!

Flooding Adventures

What an interesting 24 hours it’s been! We set out from Clinton and powered our way through Mississippi and Louisiana. As we were doing so, the news from home was not good. Of course we needed rain, but flash flooding and tornadoes we could do without. Friends and family kept us updated, and the ranch survived okay. Friends did get damage from wind and lightning.

We were all as alert as this mockingbird who wasn’t threatened by the fake owl.

We started getting notices of flood warnings on our phones. At lunch I even got a phone call from the weather service! I guess that hadn’t been cut yet. By the way, yesterday’s lunch made us both very sick. Pepto Bismol to the rescue.

We tried to make it back to the Hermits’ Rest, but the rain got pretty scary. We had planned to make a stop at Lake Martin Creek State Park on the way but it was so bad that I spontained and decided to stop and let the weather pass.

We got a cabin with heat and air conditioning, and got soaked unloading and going to the restroom. Luckily we were the closest cabin to the facilities and had spare clothing to change into. We got all cozy and listened to the rain and lightning.

By early evening the rains had ended but the roads were still pretty bad and flooded in spots. So we stayed put and I wandered around to check out the pretty park on a big lake with a bigger power plant.

I was glad I had a nice long book to read and that we each had a blanket. Even without a pillow I slept great.

I didn’t want to sleep too late in case these guys would come after me (joke).

I threw on clothing I could get dirty and headed out to the trails on the cool island in the lake, which has a convenient bridge.

While the trails were challenging due to all the water, it was well worth it.

There were many trees of many kinds, which is typical in the Piney Woods region of east Texas. There weren’t many flowers, even in the grassy meadows, but it was very beautiful and secluded. The best part? Forty-eight species of birds!

Most of the birds hid, however. My new lifer, the Hooded Warbler, however did NOT hide. Its face is like the opposite of a Yellow-breasted Chat, so I was thrilled to ID it. Of course it didn’t sit there long enough to photograph.

Yeah, that was a good tromp through the mud. We are finally going to make it home, though we are seeing pretty impressive flooding and swollen waterways. One town we went through had obviously been hit by a tornado and had a television crew filming.

Branded

What are your favorite brands and why?

I think people get too attached to brands, especially when they are trying to use them to impress others. I should know. I bought a Prada purse once. It was the best buying experience I ever had. Wow, rich people get treated nicely in stores. And it was/is a great purse. It will last forever.

Purse is at right. The left one is Coach. Used them when I worked in an office. Dog is another story.

But, my brief period of trying to keep up with the Jones’s is over. I now focus any brand loyalty I develop on quality or aesthetics. Things don’t have to be “on trend” to be of good quality or pleasing to my eye. Upon reflection, I find that many of my brand loyalties are focused on comfort, ergonomics, and texture. Examples.

Current frequently worn shoes.

I love Skechers shoes. They do come in some fun colors, but mainly they are very comfortable and keep my feet happy. As someone who has a “thing” for shoes, this switch to a more practical style is a big deal.
I also love cowboy boots, especially Lucchese. Those are a texture thing. I love the feel of quality leather. Plus they are beautiful yet useful. Good ones are very comfortable, too.
I really love a well designed automobile with comfort and style. I’ve loved every Jaguar car Ive owned. My current one is a compromise, because Lee can’t get into a sedan or sports car anymore, so I lost the British Racing Green one with saddle tan leather interior. But the one I drive now has red leather seats and every safety and convenience feature I wanted. I could live in this car. It’s so easy and intuitive to use. And it goes vroom when necessary
I’m loyal to my Color Street nail strips. Yes, I know there are less expensive brands. I also find them rubbery and of lower quality. Since they’re still way less than salon nail treatments, I’m happy.
I like Apple watches and phones. Less of a learning curve. I stick with Dell computers. That’s based on familiarity and reliability.
I stick with AT&T cell service. No clue why except my dad worked for them via various mergers and name changes. That’s not a great reason.
I like H-E-B and Publix grocery stores. They are clean and have options. I can’t remember what I liked in Illinois, which had neither chain.
Let’s see, what else? Crest toothpaste, meUndies socks and underwear, Bluebell ice cream, Kerrygold butter, Church’s fried chicken, Dawn dishwashing liquid, Tide detergent, Diet Coke Zero (my primary vice), Folger’s coffee (I just like it), Hilton hotels (because that’s where my points live).

That’s enough of that. Most things I’m brand neutral on or prefer hand-made.

Flooding continues around here. It’s worse in other parts of Texas but pretty bad here. Plants and ducks love it.

Where the cattle were yesterday.

Looking north up Walkers Creek. You can barely see a fence top.

Walkers Creek headed south

The other side of the trees in the previous photo. That’s usually a field.

Wood ducks irritated at my presence

Horses aren’t pleased. At least Apache is finally shedding out. I can pull clumps of hair off him. I’d planned to groom him twice today and at least walk Drew around, but there was only one good break in the rain. When I went to feed and medicate, he was too wet to brush.

Lots of hair. More still left.

More rain is coming. Oh boy.

Five Fun Things on a Soggy Day

List five things you do for fun.

Sure, I can list five things I do for fun. But let’s make it more interesting and find five fun things to do on a very wet and soggy day.

1. I can listen to birds. Ha, I do that fun thing most days. Today my phone survived listening for birds in light rain, for which I’m grateful. There was a heck of a lot of singing and calling, along with flitting and swooping. Even the owl and kingfisher joined in the chorus in the late afternoon.

2. I can inspect the creek to see if it’s flooding, really flooding, or the floodiest. It was really flooding. The water didn’t go over the bridge, but it sure spread out. All sorts of islands had formed.

I also had fun seeing how the water flowed. I discovered that the big cedar elm I enjoy is so big because it’s in a springy spot.

3. I can hang out with wet horses. Oh my, I have a lot of grooming ahead of me when it dries. But everyone was friendly and didn’t mind that they all got the same food and supplements this one time.

Apache had been refusing his medicine, but I tried burying it in a new cranberry apple pill pocket treat today and it went in. I wish I could talk to him and explain how much he needs the meds. I should have mentioned that yesterday.

We still don’t trust you after that umbrella incident.

4. I can cook warm and nutritious foods. Yes, I am trying to cook more. Today I made a thick bean soup with beef and veggies. The beans were some dried kind that started with an “a” (I discarded the bag too soon). They had a creamy texture I liked. But wait, I found them. They’re Peruvian beans or canary beans. Peruano Mayacoba in Spanish. They do not start with “a” after all.

I used some of that new-ish “Better Than Bouillon” stuff for the base. It’s quite tasty and doesn’t appear to be full of harmful ingredients. I’m figuring out recipes that don’t use sugar and carbs that my household will eat. It’s a fun challenge, especially since I’m a big fan of carbs. But I also eat anything, so I can adapt.

5. I can knit. Knitting is always fun, especially the temperature blankets. The soggy day had so little temperature change that I almost ended up with a solid colored square today. But I got two greens! 50-56°.

This isn’t a very imaginative list of fun things. It’s stuff I do most days, if you categorize looking at floods as analyzing the weather. But that tells me something: I have fun every day, rain or shine, summer or winter. Simple pleasures for the win!

If I Could Talk to the Animals

If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?

Actually, I think I communicate pretty well with my animals. But, if I could fix one thing it would be to convince Harvey, who doesn’t move unless he truly must, that he can bark all he wants to…outside. Dang, that dog watches all the other ones to dash out and bark their heads of at cattle, coyotes, or deer that dare to get too close to the fence, and he just sits on the couch and bellows his lungs out.

Lee then yells, “Outside, Harvey!” over and over, adding to the cacophony. It gets oh so tiresome.

Ha ha, I’m never bad. (Not true, Carlton)

Today I wished I could communicate with my horses and let them know it was me walking up to them under a giant umbrella. They shot out of their shelter like little four-legged rockets when they saw me.

It was really wet. I needed the rain gear. Poor horses. Then I had the nerve to scare them again when I walked down the road to inspect the drainage. They all stood there with their ears pricked, ready to flee the demon who sounded like me, but looked very scary.

Since the ground is pretty saturated, 2.5” made for a lot of standing water, as well as a lot of flowing water. The creek was extra wide and came close to going over the road.

I should’ve gotten closer, but I was wet.

There were 6 calves and a cow separated from the rest of the herd by the property line fence, and they were NOT happy. My Merlin recording today could also be a tutorial on the variety of sounds a cow can make. Eventually the cow led most of the calves through the water to their friends, but two didn’t follow. They yelled and yelled and ran around randomly, disturbing the sparrows.

The mama and the calves, mostly staring at me like I can fix things.

One finally realized the barbed wire is loose and escaped. The other one came up to me and said MOO twice. So I telepathically communicated with her that the could go through water or the fence. After more running around in circles, she made it. Whew. My ears were sore.

At last the app “heard” the mallard and wren the cattle had drowned out. Yeah, that was my excitement for the day!

Oh, and I made chickpea “pasta” Mac and cheese and it was fine. Healthy eating, here we come.

Pork loin in that covered stoneware baker thing is sooo good.

All right, your turn. What would you say to an animal if you could?

Nestivus, Parte Dos

Huh? Well. I just noticed that all my blog hits today come from the year we went to an old but comfy condo in Bandera where I enjoyed many deer, cats, and vultures. There, I discussed participating in the invented holiday Nestivus, which is just for introverts who need to recharge from holiday activities.

This entire Christmas season I’m engaging in Nestivus, which requires one to retreat to your refuge and veg, zone out, and nest in comfy clothing, with your furry friends. It’s a great idea, and I’m grateful to the blogger who invented it in 2019. Ah, back when people had fun I. Groups and needed to retreat.

Harvey was happy to Nestivus with Lee when we came home.

I guess someone linked to my old post, which is nice!

Anyway, maybe next year will find me more enthusiastic about decorations, presents, and all those modern Christmas things. Currently I’m advocating for peace on earth and good will to all.

I wish you all the chance to find small things of beauty around you. Isn’t this Texas nightshade berry bright?

It rained a lot at Canyon Lake and the Hermits’ Rest overnight. We came home to the usual results of over two inches of rain: a flooded creek.

I enjoyed listening to birds, checking out the creek and trying to feed filthy horses when we got home. All horses had rolled in mud and burs. Great. But the rain is appreciated and enough of a seasonal gift for me.

Now you know why they call it a flood plain.

Enjoy your Nestivus celebration, when you get the chance to have it, and in the meantime, enjoy family and celebration if that’s happening for you.

Art by Lian Meaney, used with permission.

It’s the Most Water-full Time of the Year

Yessir. These days we tend to have a few months of drought, a couple of dribbles, then WHOOSH! A big ole flood comes along. Today was Flood Day. We got four inches or more, three of them very fast.

Even the backup culvert was called into use.

It was about time that our poor ponds (tanks in Texan) got refilled, because the drizzles we’ve had earlier in the month didn’t stop them from continuing to dry up.

Still, it is probably too much to ask of Mother Nature, but a few days of an inch or two a day would be a lot better for our plants and trees, because this much water just runs off into the creek, into the Little Elm, then into the Little River, then into the Brazos, and on to the sea. Or something like that.

For a while there around noon today it looked like we were in a lake, because it was raining so hard nothing could absorb. It was fun to watch, as it was fun to see the creek slowly fill up as more rain went into Walker’s Creek up north from here.

You normally can’t see water from our back yard.

After the rain, I had a lot of fun in my rubber boots looking at the aftermath. Drew was enjoying the water running in from the arroyo and across the road. I hope there wasn’t too much fertilizer runoff, because now it’s all in our front pond.

Mabel, on the other hand, changed colors from rolling in the mud. That gal likes her dirt.

The minute the sun came out, out came all the birds, butterflies, and bugs. The birds had a feast, I’m sure. And I finally got a picture of one of the beautiful blue butterflies with its wings open! That was a personal goal.

You can see how high the water got during the hard rain

I also made all my work goals, even publishing my training video successfully after it breaking repeatedly. For the first time ever, I found the answer in one of those ancient user forums on the software’s site. Turns out you can’t have any of that fancy chart stuff from PowerPoint in your presentation for it to work with my add-on software. I converted the charts to images and everything was fine. I tell you what, it makes me feel smart.

More rain is in store for a few days. There goes my plan to ride my horses every single day. Ya can’t have everything.

Home and Away Are Both Moist

I started today very early with a 6 am work question. That’s all right, because that meant I got to see a beautiful sunrise.

It was cold, but so beautiful that I just had to enjoy the crispness. During my early meeting, it sounded like rain. But there wasn’t a cloud in the sky! That mystery was solved when I got outside to feed the chickens and saw just how thick the frost was on the ground.

The “rain” was frost melting quickly as the sun hit our metal roof. Lee said there was .02” of precipitation in the rain gauge!

I sure enjoyed the white landscaping before it melted.

As I worked my butt off to get all my stuff done, the dog alarm went off. There was a big truck in the driveway. Oh yeah. I knew it was coming.

Today was finally the day the garage apartment and pool house would get their blown-in insulation! That will sure help the occupant stay warmer the rest of the winter.

The guys were all excited to do the work, but they had some equipment issues and will be back tomorrow. I’m the meantime, here are before pictures.

I won’t get to see the work, though, because I’m no longer home; I’m away. Yep. Lee and I are road tripping again. We’re going back to Hilton Head, so I can see camellias. I like working with an ocean view, as you know.

The most striking thing about the drive was how wet it was. That big rain we had on Tuesday was on our route with a vengeance. There had been much bad weather and flooding.

It’s pretty barren in a hardwood forest this time of year, but I enjoyed possumhaw holly along the roadside. It provides that “pop” of color any neutral setting needs.

It was not easy to photograph this stuff from a moving car.

Honestly, this was not our most exciting drive ever, since we’re zipping along to get there tomorrow. One highlight was Buffalo, Texas, where we got to see a bored hawk by the Taco Bell. The other highlight was in Calhoun, Louisiana, home of the small but mighty CB Superstore. You just don’t see many CB stores of any sort these days.

I managed to get work done in the car and once we got to our hotel in scenic Meridian, Mississippi, so I declare today a success. I hope it dries out tomorrow and that the insulation machine perks up.