Tag Archives: Texas

Border fence

Posted on July 19, 2007 | Comments Off on Border fence

I’ll believe this when it happens:

"Local officials said recently they had been told the Homeland Security department plans to have 153 miles of wall in place in Texas by the end of 2008. While locals may be consulted on the type of fence constructed, they will not have veto power over whether the wall will be built, [director Michael] Chertoff said. ‘Because the fence is not only to protect the border communities, it’s to protect the country,’ he said."

More here. At this rate, it’ll be mid-century before they close the 2,000 mile southern border, two-thirds of it in Texas. Meanwhile, the tunneling has already begun.

Comments Off on Border fence

Posted in South of the Border, Texana, The War

Tagged , ,

Happy Birthday Blue Bell

Posted on July 15, 2007 | Comments Off on Happy Birthday Blue Bell

The fact is I try to stay away from ice cream because it makes me fat. But when I do break down and indulge a little–usually because we keep the stuff around for Mr. B.–it’s Blue Bell all the way. That’s long been the case for many Texans since the stuff is made here (in Brenham, between Austin and Houston) and has been, this year, for 100 years altogether. So happy BD, Blue Bell. Keep it up.

Comments Off on Happy Birthday Blue Bell

Posted in Scribbles, Texana

Tagged , ,

Texas in Israel

Posted on June 28, 2007 | Comments Off on Texas in Israel

"I believe Texans share a special kinship with the Israeli people. We are both independent-minded and self-reliant, and our history is grounded in strong stands against impossible odds." –Texas Gov. Rick Perry

I’d say that’s exactly right, and I would not join in the sniping the Texas media did about his foreign travel: to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Turkey, Israel and Jordan, apparently trying to drum up new business for the state. We do, after all, have the eighth largest economy in the world. Though I do wonder about Rick’s man-in-black, desperado look in the official Israel government photo that ran in the daily.

Comments Off on Texas in Israel

Posted in Israel, Scribbles, Texana

Tagged , ,

Floodin for real

Posted on June 27, 2007 | Comments Off on Floodin for real

I stare at the LCRA automated rain guages site entry for Marble Falls in disbelief. Seventeen point three nine inches of rain since midnight? The Llano River flowing at 52,871 cubic feet per second? The Pedernales River at 17,548? Lake Travis at 688.31, which means seven inches feet above full and the start of flooding out there on a grand scale. Two floodgates are open on Mansfield Dam with probably more to come, making shore life downstream on Lake Austin unpleasant as well. It’s hard even to get into the LCRA’s site, so many people must be trying. Indeed, there is widespread flooding in the Hill Country and especially along the Highland Lakes, according to the daily, with more rain to come. Austin spared, so far.

Comments Off on Floodin for real

Posted in Sailing, Weather/Climate

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Great Blue Heron

Posted on June 13, 2007 | Comments Off on Great Blue Heron

GreatBlue.JPG

You might have trouble imagining a sparrow to be the descendent of a dinosaur. But it’s easy with these birds, pterodactyl-like as they are, especially in flight. This one was fishing on Lake Travis. 

Comments Off on Great Blue Heron

Posted in Texana

Tagged , ,

Stiles

Posted on June 9, 2007 | Comments Off on Stiles

Fence+Ladder+Stile.jpg

I borrowed this from Texas Chef, who seems to have got it off this Wikipedia entry about Wales. He wonders if anyone in Texas still builds these things, called stiles. I remember seeing one–a bit shorter than this one–near a rest stop on US 290 West, east of Fredericksburg. Or maybe it was Texas 71, west of Bastrop (which, BTW, is celebrating it’s 175th anniversary this weekend), but I think it was on 290. Looked pretty ingenious to me. Doesn’t defeat the fence because it’s too narrow for the animal (theoretically, anyway) to get over it.

Comments Off on Stiles

Posted in Scribbles, Texana

Tagged , , ,

The girl child

Posted on June 8, 2007 | Comments Off on The girl child

The Climate Prediction Center says that old, misnamed reprobate and hurricane-pusher La Nina could be close at hand.

"Some forecast models, especially the NCEP Climate Forecast System (CFS), continue to predict a rapid transition to La Niña by July 2007. However, for the past few months the CFS forecasts have been predicting a stronger and more rapid cooling than has actually occurred. Historically, the next few months are a favorable period for the development of La Niña."

It could make for a busy hurricane season, with some storms, inevitably, rolling our way from the Gulf. 

Comments Off on The girl child

Posted in Weather/Climate

Tagged , , , ,