Mighty, Mighty Tasty with Added Grit!

 Mighty, Mighty Tasty with Added Grit!

 

Ok, who left the gate down up Amarillo way? The danged wind has blown long enough that everything tastes just like dust. Not sure if that last mouthful was fertilizer flavored or not. But then Lance sent me a screen shot of the situation in Electra—what? Maybe 35 miles from us? They are having to fight fire and are shutting down roads in preparation for evacuation. About 500 acres of land have burned so far, and the fire is zero percent contained. In this high wind, it is simply NOT going to be contained. And now there is another fire between Jolly and Henrietta. High winds have always frightened me because of electric lines and poles being blown down, and apparently all the poles have either blown down or burned down around Electra. We will just have to pray that the wind will lay and the fires can be put out or burn out before they get any farther south. Just a spark can do it right now with all the dry grass. Shaking my head and remembering a couple of fires that had terrible results.

 

Earlier today the hens acted as if they thought they should have some kind of treat. Peeled and cut up a cantaloupe to share with them. They get the peels and the seeds until yours truly gets tired of eating the thing. This one had a place on the top that was hard and white, so the top part went outside to a good pan for the girls. When trying to eat it later, if it does not taste just right, the girls will get the rest of the melon. Picky, picky, picky. Yep. That’s me.

 

The dogs have been fed this evening and now they are watching the doggy TV—windows on the world, ya know. Every once in a while, they get to see something blowing by that requires some barking. And the occasional squirrel also demands a certain active reaction from both of them. Thinking that maybe dogs don’t get headaches. Their barking echoes inside my head when the weather is like this. Argh! Right now, both dogs are wearing their Thunder Shirts because the wind is making them nervous. Not sure just exactly why the tight shirts make them calmer, but maybe cinching them up with all that Velcro makes them feel as if they are being hugged.

 

Sitting here drinking Lipton iced tea—peach flavored. It will keep me awake tonight, so water would have been a much better choice. But the tea is just so very tasty. No grit in the bottle at least. All day has felt as if something was missing. Not sure if that was a food, a nap, a task, or something else. Just not going outside to see if something else has blown away! Had to put the dogs’ swimming pool in the green house or it would have been over at the State Hospital. Walked off the deck a bit ago just as the rug out there blew over to the little chicken house. And it did not even get me to chase it down! Oh well.

 

Read some good things this morning about climate change and food chains. The ideas expressed said that we had not even begun to use the oceans to feed ourselves. Apparently, the stuff that grows easily in the ocean could be one of our best foods if we can learn to use it properly.

“Seagrass is capable of capturing carbon 35 times faster than tropical rainforests, can transform abandoned salt marshes into flourishing habitats and can even be used as an alternative to rice.”

 

Imagine growing grass instead of rice to feed people. No fertilizer needed, at least. If we could clean up our rivers, lakes, and the oceans, we could feed our world and much more—developing a cleaner environment! Wow! Wind power—and not the kind with those freaking huge wind mills like between here and Paducah—could work for individual homes or businesses. On Stone Lake off of Rathgeber Road, one house has one of those wind chargers above the roof line. It does not kill birds and still works at supplying electricity. Would love to be able to use that kind of technology! Wish an old woman who lives here were able to find things to make life easier the way my dad did when he was younger. He made things that were useful. Why his daughter could not have inherited even a tiny bit of mechanical skills is beyond me. Such is life.

 

Have been reading in my Kindle today and just finished another book. Have been wishing for some of the books we used to read to hold in my hands. Several poets appealed to me when we were all younger. Still enjoy Frost, Dickinson, and some of the British poets, but everything in my bookcase is in smaller print. About time to clean out the bookcase when the eyeballs can’t adjust to that size print. Sigh. Still like the smell of print and paper.

 

Years ago, we memorized poetry. Can still remember some by T.S. Eliot, Blake, Milton, Frost, Dickinson, and yes, even Longfellow! Yes, you know which poems he wrote: the midnight ride . . . And that cute Indian kid: Hiawatha. Sitting here grinning. Do children still memorize anything other than the chemical tables? Still remember that AU is for gold and can’t figure out why no one has used a G in any other context. Good thing chemistry was not a requirement for me!

 

Just had a lovely sneezing fit. The dogs have been doing that as well, so it has to be this wonderful crud in the air. Now, when the hens are up on their roosts, if THEY are sneezing, we can bet the particulate concentration is much higher than it says on the weather channel. After all, that wind HAS to be blowing over 17 mph as claimed by my phone! Would have guessed much over 20 mph and maybe as high as 35! It is just wild out there! The only really good thing about a dust storm is that it cleans pollution out of the air—well, and it changes the nature of the pollution. From fuel residue to dirt residue? [Jennifer said that the DFW scanner said that our winds were 50 mph. Sister-in-law said that one fire of the four listed was headed toward Dean. Petrolia has already lost homes to their fire. Dang!]

 

Jennifer and Lance think that all the stuff in the air has to include the smoke from the fires toward Electra. And Hwy 287 has been closed to anyone trying to get to Henrietta or north toward Electra. But nothing more has been said about evacuations. This is danged scary. It takes so very little to burn a town.

 

Will hang this mess up and write tomorrow after things have calmed down. Do have a couple of prayer requests: please pray for those in the path of these fires. Losing one’s home is never a good thing, but especially right now when it is about to get to freezing again. The other person is the friend of my neighbor. Debbie’s dad is dying under care of Hospice, but her brother has MS and needs to understand that he has to find a place to live. Debbie has to deal with both her father’s dying and her brother not wanting to be realistic. Lots of people are like that. Patty is having trouble breathing tonight. Let’s face it; this stuff in the air is going to get anyone who has breathing problems.

 

Rest well and remember: you are loved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Forever is composed of Nows."

 

- Emily Dickinson