Big dirtball

How dry it is...
This big planter sits on a patio of a local restaurant. With half the pot broken off, the dirt remains solid.

(That post title probably made you think this was another Rick Perry post, huh?)

Festival weekend

Through the generosity of some dear friends, we are headed to the ACL Festival this weekend (starting Friday). Excited, and I'm frantically trying to prepare tonight. The video below is just I thought of today, it's totally unrelated to the ACL Festival, it's about a completely different kind of festival, but it cracks me up to watch this and listen to that great storyteller, Ray Wylie Hubbard. Funny stuff.


Reposting this gem from 4 years ago.

The "cold front" has finally brought temperatures down into the mid 90s, and they are teasing us with a 20% chance of rain by Sunday. I'll believe that when I see it. Fire hazard is extreme. Have a great weekend, everybody. Wishing you rain, or sun, whatever you are wishing for.

Water and Life

This story makes me so sad. It's an NPR piece [audio and article] on the drought here in Texas and how it's affecting... well... all living things. Water sources are drying up, killing food sources for wildlife - plants, bugs, fish. Young animals are malnourished and just waste away in misery. It's a vicious cycle, and heartbreaking.

Our suburban yard is a wildlife habitat, and we provide birdseed, fresh water, and enough uncut brush for a certain amount of shelter - but I don't know what else to do. Animals like rats, opossums and raccoons are welcome to visit us anytime, but there are hazards to putting out dog food or other tasty feed. The danger is to THEM, not us. Other people on the block are not so wildlife friendly as we are, and I am very certain that an increase in the number of these animals would definitely result in an increase in calls to Animal Control Services - or even worse, a DIY version that would be anything but humane.

MSNBC drought photoblog

This will be the hottest summer on record here, and the worst one-year drought. It's expected to continue through the winter so there's no end in sight. I remember reading one of the climate scientist's prediction that this area of Central Texas would become more like a desert over time. That's looking plausible.

Weather watching

Well, we didn't exactly blow away in the remnants of Hurricane Ike. I hear tell there was some rain in certain parts of town, but not in our backyard. There were a few clouds and a nice breeze - that's it. Sat and watched the devastation happening live on MSNBC, CNN and the Weather Channel. It bothers me that they put live humans out there in harm's way well beyond the time when they should be sheltered. But there they are, standing in water in the driving rain and wind. How about using an inanimate object -- a mannequin in a raincoat, a scarecrow with a flood gauge? That would take away the drama and reality-TV aspect of it, wouldn't it? The danger creates drama. I blogged this back right before Katrina hit, and I may have coined the term "Disastertainment" (which I am surprised someone else didn't also come up with and start using. I think it's a good word for it. Colbert?). And of course they have their special graphics and music for each disaster.

There was one reporter standing on the beach (forgot which channel) who wanted the camera turned on some washed up debris (a few feet from where he was standing) where there was a BIG snake coiled. The anchor informed him that it was a rattlesnake. Then he said "wait, there's another critter of some kind... I think it's a porcupine," and I'm thinking "not likely a porcupine." They showed it on camera where the anchor confirmed that it was a rat trying to use a piece of wood as a raft. The reporter responded with "OK, looks like these animals are trying to find some shelter and maybe we should do the same." They are saying no deaths in Galveston itself, but there were so many houses that simply were washed out to sea... well, I hope they are right.

Lots of activities in Austin were postponed, including the big UT-Arkansas football game, which they rescheduled for ACL weekend (Sep 27) -- so if you have a spare room/closet/doghouse to rent out, you can probably do it that day, as there aren't enough hotel rooms available in town (plus we are hosting many evacuees from Ike, some of which are using hotels and might be doing that for awhile). I was wondering how a hotel deals with a situation like that... what if you show up on the 27th and the hotel has already given the rooms to evacuees who got there first and are still using them? Do they make them leave? Or are you out of luck? I can't remember what happened when Katrina and Rita hit.