No Excuses!

 No Excuses!

 

The old woman has goofed off today terribly. Read copies of the Clay County Leader and went in and out a few times in order to be able to gripe about the standing water out back. Yes, standing water! Bet there were two inches if there was a drop. Then the water absorbed into the soil to leave behind sloppy mud. Such fun. The ducks did not seem to mind, but the hens were not very happy. They did not seem to want to lay eggs today, but then, soaking wet might not be all that comfortable even under feathers.

 

Had to put on some “Bug Off” to keep a mosquito off of my arms and hands. How do they get in the house and find me? Guess the body heat must be an attraction or something. Just not looking forward to all the skeeters this summer. And you know they will be thick as thieves!

 

Read something in the CCL that made me curious about the location of a couple of situations in Petrolia. We lived on Morgan Avenue. Well, so did Roger and his family. But twice the address mentioned was 400 North Morgan. Wondering if that was the fourth block from Highway 79. Guess Roger might know.

 

Still have not unloaded the last portion of dog food from the larger container and dumped the new bag into it. The last few cups of feed will fit a five-gallon bucket so then it will just be a matter of dumping the 31.1 pounds of feed into the big container. Just putting things off today. What is it about cold, wet weather that can make a person lazy—well, lazier?

Reading some of the news from Petrolia made me wonder how WF handles water bills. In Petrolia, most of the folks who might not be able to pay their water bills are going to be the older folks who are on SSI or just social security. Who knows. Maybe younger folks are having trouble paying utilities as well. Anyway, they want to hook on to the WF water from Arrowhead by connecting to the water line in Dean. That is a pretty nice distance to lay pipeline, not to mention having to create a place to treat the water after they get it to the city. But towns without water will dry up quickly in Texas. It’s not like many folks have their own water wells any longer.

 

Thinking about water wells made me remember Beulah Robinson. She sold fresh eggs years ago out on the farm where she and her husband lived. Don’t remember his name, but he was a very frail looking old man when we used to go see them. He smoked a pipe like my granddad, but it did not smell as good. Anyway, Beulah decided that they needed to dig a new well for water. She decided where it would be and set him to digging. He was as small as Granddad, so he could fit in that hole. He dug round and round and round until he hit a rock and found water. Beulah would haul up the rope and dump the dirt, and then when he hit water, she hauled him up too. At least that is what my dad said. In my childish mind, he had to keep digging until he hit water or she would not have hauled him up!! Silly child!

 

Things we think about when we are young sometimes stay with us forever. In Petrolia, a water well was in the back yard of the little house where my great-grandmother lived for a bit. And Mom had pictures of a well in the back yard of the place where we first lived on Morgan Avenue. Wells like that always frightened me because they were full of water and we were supposed to stay away from them. No telling how many water wells were in that town, but they have probably all dried up over the years.

 

The dogs had to wear their thunder-shirts this morning due to the rumbles and lightning. It got pretty loud there for a bit. Patty said she told Roxie she knew exactly how she felt! She wanted to hide in the couch, too. Maybe things will calm down soon.

 

Sharon Dickerson asked for prayers for her son MacGregor. Her other son David has been able to return to work. Meanwhile, Tami Yonts is doing some better, as is Mariellen Rose. Your prayers make a difference. Even so, a third grader in Brenham, TX got caught by swift water and was drowned. Let us remember those in the way of these currents of water right now and all the families affected by flooding.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.