Long Hot Summer!

[Bird]

Today Dallas passed the 1934 dust bowl days record for the longest stretch without measureable precipitation since they began keeping records in 1898; 58 days, and no relief in sight. Tractor's parked in the shop; dirt's too hard and dusty to plow; nothing growing to mow. Grass fires everywhere wearing out the volunteer firemen and equipment (I helped just a little bit to replace a pump motor on one truck Saturday). Foundations are cracking, houses are settling. Crops in the area are all through except for the cotton, and they're busy harvesting that now. As they'd say in the vernacular, it's done got serious!

Bird

 

[W5FL]

Bird, many years ago when we moved to California, the football coach already had our son's name and invited him to summer weight training. He was a running back, but they could never figure out why he didn't sweat during work outs. He told them because it wasn't hot enough. The temperature on the therometer was 102 degrees, but he said it felt like 80 degrees in Texas.

Lot of difference in the temperature you feel and the temperature on the thermometer. That is what got Mark. When you play football in the heat in Texas, they have you take salt pills to restore the electrolyte. Now it is in a premixed drink, but it is important.

 

[Bird]

Wen, I don't know my chemistry as well as I should, and of course the folks in the medical profession continually change their minds, telling us something is good for us for awhile, then telling us it's bad for us, or vice versa. I can remember when one of my employers kept dispensers mounted in several places for employees to take salt pills, but the last I heard, they'd decided you should NOT take salt pills; too much salt's bad for you. Of course, these sports drinks have some other things in them, but I don't understand all of it. I just learned from experience that the Gatorade (and more recently Powerade) quench my thirst better than water or sweet drinks like soda pop, and keep me going better. I keep them in a refrigerator in my shop building all the time so they're handy, and when I'm working on the tractor, I carry along a little ice chest.

Bird

 

[Mike H]

I spent last week cruising through Southern Texas. Your weather really stinks - you can keep it. I'm back in Michigan where we've had water and highs in the 80's. You can get your revenge on me in a few months. But as a runner who prefers Gatorade, getting up before sunrise to get a few miles in while the temperature and humidity are "moderate" was enough to convince me not to live on the Gulf Coast! No wonder Kubota's must be so tough - I'll bet you need 30% more hp just to break ground!

 

[Bird]

Last week? Whew! Mike, didn't you know the snowbirds go to the Gulf Coast and the Rio Grande Valley in the Winter; not in the summer!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif For many years, I spent the week of Thanksgiving fishing at Port Aransas, but I have no desire to go down there between March and November. You know one of the earliest explorers at the mouth of the Rio Grande supposedly made a journal entry that summer that "if I owned Hell and Texas, I'd rent Texas out and live in Hell."

Bird

 

[Alan L.]

If it ever rains again here in north Texas I promise not to complain again about getting rained off my tractor.

 

[MATTinMO]

Hope this helps..........Lord, please send Texas some rain...........and when your done there steer it up to Missouri......thank you ./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif nothin as bad as you all are gettin...but plenty dry and hot !

 

[Roy]

A meteorologist on TV the other night was commenting how this year, most of North America fell into a weather pattern by early summer, and the patterns never changed. In the mid-Atlantic region, we never had summer this year. Some of the leaves are starting to turn color, so I guess Autumn is coming. I can't tell by weather changes, though. Spring was cool and wet. Stayed that way, and it still is. We never had a summer. Just wish that we could send some excess moisture westward for the rest of the country to enjoy.

 

[Hawgee]

Ditto to MATT. "Lord, stir the weather for a change.

I have always thought of "The Yelloe Rose of Texas" as my Mom comes from there. It was not until two nights ago our local news showed us how bad it is. My Mom's Dad lost the farm there to the big one years ago and moved to Little Rock. Hope no one has to this time.

Hang in there!

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

 

[W5FL]

Saw a bumper sticker "Welcome to Texas, now go home". Guess they only need the bumper stickers in the winter. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif