It borders on heresy to complain about rain in West Texas, but that’s exactly what I intend to do. Well, it’s not so much the rain itself that gripes me, but rather the timing. Yesterday, much of Midland experienced record-setting rainfall. The airport recorded just over 2″ and street flooding was a serious problem. I… Continue reading Rain: Too much, not enough…it’s always something
Category: Nature
Pomegranate Life Stages
Our pomegranate tree is simply loaded, and we’ll have to do some serious thinning of the fruit in a month or so to protect the overall integrity of the tree. I have no idea whether pomegranates in the wild are this prolific, and if so, how they get through a season without many broken branches.… Continue reading Pomegranate Life Stages
American Basket Flower
I love these big flowers, with their mix of delicate fronds and business-like spines.
Flaming Sky
It’s going to get ugly
I predict war will break out within the next few months, and I’ll probably be on the losing end. A mockingbird is building a nest in the live oak tree planted in our front yard. Last Sunday I noticed the bird flying into the tree on a couple of occasions, seeming to pay no mind… Continue reading It’s going to get ugly
Deluge Aftermath
If you live in West Texas then yesterday’s torrential rain is old news, but a 3″+ rainfall is still rare enough in these parts to make it worth writing about…or at least worth posting a few photos. Our neighborhood didn’t sustain any damage from the rain or the hail, other than leaves knocked off various… Continue reading Deluge Aftermath
Ice Sage
We were driving through a neighborhood yesterday and Debbie observed a lone Desert Willow that – as she put it – was “blooming up a storm.” Most of them aren’t blooming yet, and so my response about the over-achiever was that it would be sorry when it froze. OK, so it wasn’t that funny…but it… Continue reading Ice Sage
More Nature Photography
I was driving north on “A” Street this morning, returning to the neighborhood after a quick run to the bank, and caught a flash of movement across the road. I pulled over, grabbed the little Sony point-and-shoot that I keep in the car for just such occasions, and got this: Yeah, I know; it looks… Continue reading More Nature Photography
West Texas Wildflowers
Our part of the state is better known for tumbleweeds than wildflowers, but when we get a little spring rainfall, things change dramatically. I took a 30-minute stroll yesterday morning, and within a three-block area found sixteen different varieties of wildflowers. OK, most of them are technically flowering weeds, but, you know, potato/potahto. Some of… Continue reading West Texas Wildflowers
Spring Blooms
I look at the flowers on this lantana and think, “God, how do You do that?”