Outdoor Odyssey

As I’ve said before, my friends and relatives send me some real neat outdoors pictures.  The following ones are no different.

Randy Pfaff in southern Colorado sent me this picture of a truly magnificent bull, elk.  This animal, supposedly, was shot in New Mexico, using a very expensive, Governor’s tag.  I wonder what it cost?

A very enterprising ‘coon, climbing up a feeder post, to get at the deer corn, was sent to me by one of my softball teammates, Ev Sims.  His ranch is in Jackson County, Texas.

And finally, my Cousin, Kathy Pribble, sent me these two pictures of the February 12, snow that paralyzed north Texas.  She lives in Henderson County, Texas, on a beautiful lake nestled in Texas’ great piney woods!  

This picture would pass for “up north” somewhere!

Central Texas is a wonderful place to live!  After spending years fighting the humidity in Houston, plus a few years handling the ice storms in Atlanta, not to say the heat of Phoenix, Layla and I were ready for the moderate climes of central Texas.  Not too hot and not too cold, not too much rain, with a little snow sprinkled in once every four or five years.  Except for the "cedar fever", hard to beat!

Last year, 2009, we were blessed with over forty-three inches of rain, close to two years of our annual amount.  Through February we have received almost nine and a half inches, almost one half of our yearly average.  Praise the Lord!

However, there is a problem.  This year we have experienced snow, five times.  Not a dusting, but accumulations that even stayed on the ground, the last being on Tuesday, the 23rd.  The weathermen hit that one on the nose, saying it would begin raining in the early  morning hours, then change to snow, with a total of six inches possible.  We got more than that, snowing continuously for fourteen hours, completely shutting the area down!

Before lunch I took this picture of the snow pouring down.

Another one of our shooting range and the target almost obscured by the snow.

This one of the garden and the mid morning accumulation.

Layla and I went out to lunch last Tuesday and snapped these pictures of our central Texas snowstorm.

I'm a sucker for snow and water.  It makes the water look black and the lack of color in the woods is neat.

The oak trees, normally an evergreen, are covered with snow.

With the temp hovering around thirty, even the fence had ice on it.

I only have two comments about this weather.  One, it looks like I might have to buy a snow shovel.  And two, who are we kidding, global warming is a hoax!

Our deer season, buck harvesting, is slipping away and will end one half hour after sunset, or 6:11 PM, January 3, 2010.  Not settling for a young buck, I have held my fire, hoping the big ‘un comes along.

Monday morning, the 28th, just before sunrise, with the outside temperature hanging on twenty-three, too cold for me, I was looking out the kitchen window watching a doe when this young buck, tall rack, eight points with at least an eighteen inch spread, came out. He paid no attention as I dashed out to get some wood for the fire. Calling Layla, she enjoyed watching this fine, young, deer too!  He wasn’t the big ‘un I’ve seen twice, but he’ll be pressing him next year.

Monday afternoon I was snuggled down into a cedar tree along a well used, trail when a spike ambled by.  Passing on it because starting Thursday, we’ll have hunters (Grandkids), I didn’t see a big one, but maybe tomorrow?

Tuesday dawned cloudy and snowing! Our forecast was for rain all day, clouds, little wind, with the temp hovering around thirty-four.  A nasty day! This was our third snow in a month and the deer will sit this out probably until Wednesday.

About this snow, this is central Texas, not Iowa. Am I going to have to get me a snow shovel?

Thursday, as we were leaving home, a slight sprinkle of snow, our second of the year, driven by a big wind, was falling.  The Christmas front had hit! Thinking to myself, If this snow keeps up, I could see my first white Christmas, never having been blessed with one in Virginia, Arizona, Georgia or my home, Houston

Layla and I drove south, pushed by the strong northwest wind, past Austin, to Buda and finished our Christmas shopping at Cabella’s.  Before we left we called our Daughter, Laura, and she told us that it had been snowing all day in Goldthwaite

Driving home into the wind and keeping the speedo under sixty-five, we made fair time until we reached Lampassas, where it really started to snow, and with the temp, at thirty-two, it was sticking.  The farther north we drove the temp continued to fall and by the time we reached home, snow covered the ground, and almost everything else. 

At 5:30 PM with the temperature below thirty, I knew we were in for a white Christmas!

Christmas morning dawned perfect. Snow everywhere, bright sunshine and twenty-three degrees! What a day!

Layla and I sat close to the stove in our great room, she with her coffee and me with my tea, and read the second chapter of Luke in our Bible, the story of our Saviors birth and early years.  What a way to celebrate my first ever, white Christmas.

On Friday, the fourth, it snowed in central Texas, in fact, it even snowed in our tropical cities of Houston an San Antonio!  In these two cities it snows about once every twenty-five years.

Here in Mills County, the center of our State, it snowed for about an hour, some of it quite intense, and stayed on the ground for three or four hours.

On Thursday I had tilled a patch of my garden and planted some bunch, onions, foreground.  My wild garlic is up and growing in the background.

Yes, we had school, and no, the town didn’t shut down.  However, Saturday morning, it was 22 degrees, but warmed up to the fifties in the afternoon.  And by Monday, our cold snap and snow will just be a memory.

Global warming is a hoax!

I’m still getting a lot of pictures about our great, sporting outdoors and the following are some of the real good ones!

A cousin in Arkansas sent me this one heralding springtime (according to AlGore).

Randy Pfaff sent me this one of a south Texas rattlesnake.  It is BIG even for Texas!  The hunter doesn’t even have on any snake-guards.  Maybe he took them off for the pic?

Randy sent me another one of a huge white tail buck shot this past season near Junction, Texas.  He had no information on the buck – age, weight, etc, but I’ll bet it was from a high fence ranch, maybe even a “brood” buck?

Getting up yesterday morning and “putting another log on the fire”, I looked outside and noticed moisture, sleet/rain, was falling and the temperature was 31 degrees.  Locally, for the past 4 months, we’ve been without any significant rain, so this steady fall was a blessing!  

Having to drive over to Brownwood, 33 miles west of Goldthwaite, on my trip over and back, there was ice all over my truck and I noticed patches of ice on the highway that held my speed to under 55 MPH.   It rained and sleeted all day and the temperature never exceeded 32.  Not a good day for any outside work.

Opening up my e-mail, Randy Pfaff sent me a picture of the snow at his place in southwestern Colorado.
 
This reminded me that we had snow here in Goldthwaite on Easter day of 2007 and Layla and I went out and took some pictures of  the blue bonnets and Spanish daggers.  That year our bluebonnets, the State flower of Texas, were beautiful!  In 2008, no rain in the fall and no bluebonnets!
 
This picture shows our tractor ‘marooned’ in the snow.  Layla’s batting practice, pitching screen is in the background.  At that time, we were already 3 tournaments into our 2007 softball season, so this snow caught us off guard! 

Snow is a lot ‘more funner and prettier’ that sleet and ice!
 

Our forecast for today, April 7, is that we will be blessed with temperatures in the mid 80’s, with a slight chance of thundershowers. Consider last year on April 7, we had 6” of snow on the ground!

Last year, our state flower, bluebonnets, were poking their heads out of their frothy cover and this year, the closest bluebonnets are 20 miles south of us. Our Indian paint brushes have just started blooming, but not thick enough for a picture, but still, no bluebonnets!

The mesquite and shin oak trees have bloomed. All of Texas knows that when mesquites bloom, spring has arrived. March 25 Brad and I “met spring” around Blanco, just north of San Antonio and our mesquites popped out last week.

Our hummingbirds are here and are buzzing and darting around their feeder, adding to the joy of our sitting on the back porch each late afternoon. In the picture, the back porch is visible through the mesquite branches.

Having mowed the grass 10 days ago, it is really sprouting now and needs mowing again.

Spring Turkey season started on March 29. Our tax time, “Render Unto Caesar”, Mat 22:21, is upon us. April 5 was the Farmer’s Almanac “best” day for planting in my area and my below ground crops are in and I’ll set out my tomatoes and jalapenos on April14.

Spring has definitely arrived, but where’s our bluebonnets?