So when we got engaged, we were at the very, very beginning of one of the worst droughts in recorded Texas history.  It hadn't rained at all in the month of April, and February and March hadn't been much better ( Read more... )

So yesterday, I'm at lunch with my dad, who was staring at his phone for half the meal. And he's moaning and bitching because the radar over the ranch was green and the radar over Round Top (ten miles away) was red. I pointed out that the solid green means rain, and rain is good. He wanted torrential downpour. Red means torrential downpour. Red ( Read more... )

So I have no real excuse for not posting. Nothing really preventing me from writing from time to time. Just lack of inclination, I guess ( Read more... )

The day after my baby brother was born in 1975, my parents bought a piece of property in or near Walhalla, Texas (I'm not that clear on where the city limits are, it's not exactly a booming metropolis; it had a population of 37 in the 2000 census.). My parents knew that they wanted a place away from the city, where they could take their kids and ( Read more... )

I took yesterday off from work. I have vacation that I have to use by the end of the month, and since Graham had a dj gig in Austin yesterday, I figured I'd tag along. We decided to stay at the ranch so Celosa could come with us ( Read more... )

In an hour and a half or so, I'm going to get in the rental car with Graham and Celosa and we will go to the ranch. This means that we'll go the same route that ended in the wreck. I anticipate drastically different results, this time, but it doesn't mean I'm not nervous about it ( Read more... )

A few days ago, I was having lunch with my mother and I said, "I'm sorry. I promise that everything I talk about for the next year won't be about the wedding ( Read more... )

I was fast asleep on Saturday morning when the phone rang. It was cloudy outside, and it seemed like the perfect sort of day to lounge around, reading books, and otherwise not doing much.

The phone call was from my father. He and my mother had gotten up at some absurd hour to stand in line at the Urban Harvest annual fruit tree sale. I knew ( Read more... )

I'm riding my bike tomorrow for a few dozen miles. I don't know how many, yet. It'll depend on how I feel. The ride is in Burton, Texas, which isn't that far from the ranch. And it's either 20, 39 or 62 miles. There are lots of smallish hills on the ride, which I'm not very good at, but I think it's probably good for me to do these sorts of ( Read more... )

Today is Go Texan! Day ( Read more... )