.......and it isn't even Spring.

One of the things I learned after moving to West Texas was that one of the first signs of Spring was a sand storm. This one started Monday afternoon and let up 24 hours later. I understand that there is another one forecast for tomorrow. This is an unusual thing for January. Wind gusts were 66 MPH. High profile vehicles were warned to stay off of the roads. Fences blew down and signs were relocated. A tree in my yard that I had been planning to have removed,...well, I don't have to worry about cutting it down. I am thankful that it didn't fall on the house. The fence took the brunt of it.

We are suppose to have high winds again tomorrow and again Thursday but the weekend should be beautiful.

It has come to my attention......

I suppose we all have moments of clarity; those time that you see life and your place in it. Well, it wasn't pretty. This particular revelation came about as the result of a death of my mother's brother-in-law. Chris, Mother's sister-in-law and best friend died several years ago. She and her husband, Bob, live in another town but there was hardly a day that went by that they didn't talk on the phone. Mother is an only child and said that Chris was the closest thing she had to a sister.
In the days before Chris died she was planning to come here and stay with Mother while I went to do a Heart Association walk for a step-sister who had died a few months earlier. Not that Mother needed someone to care for her. They just loved spending time together. Chris called after I left to say that she wasn't feeling well and wasn't going to make it. Mother called the next day to check on her and was told that Chris didn't feel like coming to the phone. Mother told Bob that he needed to get her to a doctor. With her history of diabetes she could dehydrate rapidly. Bob and Doug,the 50+ year old son who also lived in the house, did nothing until it was too late. The details of her death and her condition horrified the hospital staff and the funeral director.
.....and now Bob is dead....I had to wonder if he had laid for days dying.....but I digress.
There are people who make a difference and people who take up space. I see myself as one of the later; just taking up space. In this world I don't think that is worthwhile...
to be continued

So Begins A New Year....

If the first day of the new year is any indication, I'm in BIG trouble. I knew it was going to get cold (15 degrees) so I left the water dripping in the shower in an effort to prevent the pipes form freezing. (country living) There was not enough dripping so..... This 100 year old ranch house(not as impressive as it sounds) has been added onto so many times there is a separate water line for my mother's bathroom. As a result, she had water and the rest of the house did not.
Later in the day she asked me to look at her water heater and, sure enough, the water had died.
Even later; the pipes thawed so there is running water through out the house. It is not, however, hot.
Looks like this year is going to be interesting