Category Archives: Texana

Brrrr

Posted on January 16, 2007 | Comments Off on Brrrr

Bob Rose, meteorologist for the Lower Colorado River Authority, is making Mr. Boy happy. Bob  is forecasting another day off from school with more rain, sleet and snow for the rancho and environs:

"The wintry precipitation is showing no signs of letting up in the near term, with more freezing rain, sleet and snow expected into Wednesday.  Precipitation does look like it will taper off Thursday morning.  For the most part, temperatures will remain at or below freezing into Thursday morning,"

Then, another cold front on Friday and more rain into the weekend. Unfortunately, there’s not been enough rain yet to raise Lake Travis much, just under two feet in the past 48 hours. There is, however, one live oak whose ice-laden branches are embracing the roof, and another more menacing one embracing the power line connection in the backyard. So it’s iffy how much longer we’ll be on the air. The good thing is this is our winter, a week or two at the most. Eat your heart out.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Rose buds – not

Posted on January 15, 2007 | Comments Off on Rose buds – not

Winter_Blast.sff_TXSL103_20070115154419.jpg

Everybody’s been picking on the Associated Press lately for faux sources and questionable stories out of Iraq. This is more of a dumb mistake, and I might have to remove it if they complain about me using it here. But as a rose grower I couldn’t resist. The AP’s caption to this photo: "Some early rose buds are coated in ice at the Tyler Rose Garden on Jan. 15, 2007, in Tyler, Texas. (AP Photo/Dr. Scott M. Lieberman)." Poor Dr. Lieberman must have supplied the photo and some dunce at the bureau in Dallas confused rose buds with these rose hips, which are the aftermath of flowering not the precursor. Some people make tea out of them, but nobody can make flowers out of them. Duh.

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Posted in Antique Roses, Texana

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Conditions deteriorating

Posted on January 15, 2007 | Comments Off on Conditions deteriorating

The title is the words of meteorologist Troy Kimmel. Sleet and freezing rain are falling at the rancho, with temperature well below freezing and also falling. About half an inch to an inch of ice is expected overnight, followed by a rare snowfall tomorrow through tomorrow night, so it’s anybody’s guess how long before the power lines go down. Too bad, I had several other posts in mind, inspired by John Salmon’s Mystic Chords, and a few other good blogs, as always. Mr. Boy will also miss his Ninja Turtles video, if the lights go out. But who knows? Maybe we’ll get lucky. Blame Pacific moisture overriding a blast of Arctic air, according to KVUE meteorologist Mark Murray. The local daily is on the case and, as always, is the best source for Austin-Central Texas news if this ice storm progresses from a temporary inconvenience into a disaster. I oughta know. I used to work there.

UPDATE  Latest from Troy at 5:47 a.m. Tuesday is good news, although it will not please Mr. Boy. He will get to stay home from school today, but the anticipated snow this afternoon likely won’t fall on the rancho and a warmup is expected Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile the power is holding.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, Weather/Climate

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President Bush

Posted on January 14, 2007 | Comments Off on President Bush

He’s grown old before my eyes. More wrinkled, grayer, doesn’t smile as much as the Texas governor who once elbowed me in the ribs as he circulated among state troopers after receiving an Austin briefing on a major flood in South Texas. I was there as a reporter. He didn’t know me from Adam. But he may have remembered me from the governor’s mansion’s Christmas party for the news media the previous December. If so, he had a good memory for faces and names. When he elbowed me, in a sort of happy-jock way, with a happy-jock grin on his face, I sort of half-smiled and, though I was there to write down whatever he said, I spent the rest of the time trying to stay out of his way. He still smiles easily in news conferences at the White House, but I can see that he’s tired. He spends too much time with the loved ones of dead soldiers and Marines, too much time with the wounded at Walter Reed, too much time with generals and advisers, and probably reads too much of the vitriol the media, the Dems, and the haters have thrown at him for six years now. I don’t hate him. I dislike some of his decisions, such as his refusal to control illegal immigration, to have (until lately) declined to increase the size of the fighting forces, and his apparent disinclination to follow through on some of his (I think) admirable aims after 9/11, such as taking on nations supporting terrorism. Saudi Arabia comes to mind. Yet, in the main, I still like him, and I’ve lost some friends over defending him. Bush haters all. Their slurs seem irrational to me. Also to House of Eratosthenes who (which?) has the best essay I’ve ever seen here on Bush Derangement Syndrome. Good luck, George, in your last two years. Try not to let the bastards get you down.

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Posted in Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Texana, The War, Troops

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The ice cometh

Posted on January 14, 2007 | Comments Off on The ice cometh

Meteorologist Troy Kimmel keeps showing up in my email in-box with less than heartening news. The ice storm is expected to begin today and Troy thinks an accumulation of up to an inch could cover pretty much everything and stick around for three days because…

"Temperatures will fall below freezing by [this] afternoon with surface temperatures likely remaining at or below freezing through Tuesday."

He reminds me that it’s not only iced-up power lines to worry about but tree limbs near power lines, of which we have several at the rancho. When the limbs load up with ice, they will fall and sometimes take the power lines down with them. Repair crews will be hindered by ice on the roads and bridges. Mr. Boy and Mom and I are already planning to get out the air matresses–if necessary–and sleep in front of the fireplace in the family room. At least we won’t freeze. And the stove is gas, so we can cook. We’ll plan to toast marshmellows and play charades.

UPDATE  In a morning email, Troy said weather conditions have mercifully scaled back the disaster to less ice, not beginning until about 6 p.m. tonight and lasting "at least" through Monday evening. So there’s hope in River City. 

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Floodin’ down in Texas

Posted on January 13, 2007 | Comments Off on Floodin’ down in Texas

Awakened by Mr. Boy, who was excited at the possibility that the rainwater cascading off the stone steps in the backyard might start flowing into the family room. Got up to see that it was barely threatening to do so, as the French drain was working well, channeling the water around to the garage side of the rancho. Nevertheless, there’s flash flooding all over town, mainly along and east of Interstate 35, after 2- to 5-inch rainfall overnight, with more on the way. The worst part, maybe, is the forecast Arctic air is already settling in, overnight temperatures of almost 70 degrees having already plunged almost 30 degrees. So after the flooding, the next big thing could be ice and snow. One good thing is this will squelch the drought and that the lakes are bound to rise, at least a little, perhaps a lot. Mixed bag of good and bad, as always.

UPDATE  Rain totals set records for the date, according to National Weather Service: 4.20 inches at the airport, eclipsing a 1951 record and 3.55 inches midtown, knocking off a 1944 record. Ice storm is expected to begin overnight tonight, worsen Sunday and overnight Sunday when it changes to snow through Tuesday. We have no travel plans, so that’s not a problem, but ice buildup may bring down power lines and that would be an inconvenience, to say the least. Never a dull moment at the rancho.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Bush Library furor

Posted on January 10, 2007 | Comments Off on Bush Library furor

A really amusing battle is going on at Southern Methodist University in Dallas where the Bush haters in the faculty are raging about losing their alleged academic independence from politics (oh, come on) if SMU hosts W’s presidential library–as if all presidential libraries are not partisan, at least until the great man dies. Poor Laura, it’s only because SMU is her alma mater that Bush wanted the library there to begin with. It would be much better served at Baylor University in Waco where Bush Derangement Syndrome is not so pronounced. But the library’s alleged partisanship that the SMU faculty purports to be concerned about really is baloney. The LBJ Library in Austin is hardly a hotbed of conservative analysis and Stanford University hasn’t been noticeably jeopardized by the presence of the conservative Hoover Institution. In any case, one would not expect, as one commenter here asserts, to see a bi-partisan exhibit at Clinton’s library dedicated to Monica Lewinsky, not as long as Old Bill is alive.

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Posted in Scribbles, Texana, The War

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