Autumn has definitely arrived here in far west Texas. The nights are getting a bit nippy – by our
standards. Daddy told me that Jack Frost
had visited one of the farms and got himself stuck on the windshield, but the
foreman had flicked him off with the windshield wipers. There is one tree turned yellow on my daily
drive and the pecan trees are just beginning to appear rusty, but otherwise
everything looks status quo. It won’t be
long now before the first hard freeze and pecan harvest will be in full production. It’s time to have the propane tank filled for
our heating needs.
Life in this neck of the desert is certainly a far cry from
our suburban life in California. For one
thing, bugs. For another, bugs. I will have to make a future post just to focus
on the critters here, complete with the hornworm migration – not for the
queasy! Another thing is the
weather. When we first arrived in June
there was probably not a day under 100 degrees for a few weeks. The change was gradual but now I sit with numb
toes and it’s about 70 outside, dipping into the low 40’s at times at night,
and was registered as low as 31 a couple of weeks ago. I know because my cousin’s house is the
official weather station for the national weather bureau and he has to record
the data every morning. He lives about 4
football fields’ distance away from me on the canal bank. The alfalfa is happy, though, and there will
be at least one more cutting before overwintering. Time before last was a disaster, because it
rained on the cut hay before it was baled and also on the bales while they were
yet in the fields. There was a total of
6 inches at that time (which will hopefully contribute to an easing of this
terrible drought). At any rate, we
thought there was nothing to be done but remove the bales after they dried and
dump them in the hills to disintegrate.
However, lo and behold, buyers came and the bales were sold. Deo gratias!
Buggy windshield
Hot Rod and I just finished canning lots of pears from my
brother’s and the neighbor’s trees. Now
that I have my first canning under my belt, I'm over the anxiety and have
penetrated the mystery of canning and preserving. Best of all, POMEGRANATES! The yield from my brother’s one pomegranate
tree was enough to make about 19 pints and 38 half pints of pomegranate jelly –
Oh Joy! All of us are of one mind on
this matter: pomegranate jelly is the best kind, and now that I know how to
make it, I am so happy! I will post a
separate tutorial for anyone interested.
Peaches the horse is
getting shaggy – a definite sign of colder weather setting in, but the more
refined Keno, while growing a longer coat, remains slick and shiny. Peaches learned how to lift the latch on her
corral gate, so much for that! She’s
spent a total of three nights free grazing from our store of hay and hanging
out with Keno. She has no interest in
wandering and exploring, only in eating and social activities! We fixed that with an extra chain on the
latch. The puppy, Belle, is growing so
fast it’s time for a new collar. We love
her laid-back hound personality and sweetness.
When we go for walks she stays right by our heels, running ahead with
Campion occasionally and then returning to her faithful post.
- Hot Rod is attending school at El Paso Community College (EPCC). She made a surprise visit to our beloved old parish in California, Guardian Angel! Hello Guardian Angel! Hello Father, and all of our dear, dear friends!!! She was visiting for a few quick days – and here’s a shout out to Omar, Steven, and Andy! Howdy!
- The Elf is being a naturalist, feeds the horses faithfully, is experimenting on mice, trapping squirrels for profit, and honing her skills in archery and cooking.
- Dead Eye is also honing his archery aim and cooking. (By the way, THANK YOU UNCLE FRANK!!! You have made him a VERY HAPPY young man!!!) This young man has a memory like an elephant and can argue well enough to make district attorney by the end of the year. Seriously, though, he's already so much taller than me and becoming an accomplished driver, including manual transmission. He also bagged lots of dove during the hunting season. After all, he's Dead Eye.
- The Millionaire loves being retired and hates being idle. A good combination. He’s very busy making our lives better and better. He recently purchased a sea train and moved all our excess furniture and other storage items into it. If something needs to get done, he’s the man!
God has been so good to us.
I love my quiet time with Him in the morning – just Him and me. He’s teaching me about humility. And all about my faults. And it’s all good. Really.
It’s surprising to me how I must continue to fight to be lowered in my
own estimation. Even more surprising is
that it should be surprising. Whatever I
am in my head (important) I am not outside of it. In fact, I do precious little to fulfill my
own vocation, much less do I have an impact on the rest of the world country state town. Several years ago I read a book called Get Us
Out of Here. It is the story of a woman
in Europe who had a special charism of praying for souls in purgatory. Many souls would appear to her for various
reasons, and she said that most of them were wearing their everyday work
clothes because generally they were in purgatory for not fulfilling the duties
of their vocations – housewives, fathers, students, whatever the role. I told The Millionaire at the time to make sure
I'm buried in my work clothes and a plain wood coffin, cause I won’t be needing
the fancy stuff where I'm going!
Haha! But yes, God is so
good. The more He shows me how little I
am, the more room He gives me in my heart to love Him. And it always makes me happier. As it should.
I hope you’re happy, too.
