So long old friend, you have served me well.

My eye glasses are retired, thanks to the lasik procedure.  I am very pleased with my right eye (distance eye) but not quite as happy with my reading eye (left eye).  My right eye is extremely sharp, while my left eye is having problems focusing and is also giving me a great deal of discomfort.  I have been on a regiment of moisturizing drops, antibiotics, and steroids, but my left eye continually feels as though I need to take out a contact lens.

I am on the verge of calling Irving and voicing my concerns.

Lots of West Texas winds today.  When I began my day at the farm I made a wide circle being sure nothing was blowing.  Thankfully, none  of Memama's farms were blowing.  There were lots of  neighbors who weren't enjoying the same situation.

I caught Pepa's sister at home and I was needing to drop off some monies derived from the sale of the side boards from their cotton trailers at the scrap yard.  As I was almost to their entry gate, I saw a rattlesnake crossing the road.  Not a monster, only a couple of feet long and very small in diameter.  Not a very healthy specimen, probably the result of the weather and environment.  Any way you put it, it is now a dead snake.

I am very curious if the snakes are moving or if they are in search of food and water.

Recently I had the county install a new culvert or can at the new boundary on the home place and when they removed the old can they discovered a rattler inside it.  They fished it out with a spade and killed it.  When they attempted to pick up the old can to load it, because it was half full of dirt it was too heavy and they dropped it.  When this happened they said it became alive with the sound of rattlers inside.  They decided to let it lay for a few weeks and hopefully when they returned,  the residents would have re-located.

The old can had been in position since Gon Gon, my grandad was alive.  He has been gone since 1969.    Very recently, when I was measuring off the new boundary to include additional acreage provided for in Memama and Pepa's homestead, I had been all around, up and down and everything but through that drainage can.  I guess I am a living testament that GOD looks out for fools.

I had told Bill, my farm help of the snakes hole up in the old drainage can, and he asked if he and his girl friends Dad could come out and gas it sometimes.  I told him sure.  About three weeks passed before they decided to do it.  As luck would have it when they began to gas it, the county boys showed up to pick up the can.  The county boys were more than glad to let someone else make sure the snakes were gone. 

When Bill and John began gassing it from the end the wind was blowing though, snakes came slithering out, interrupted briefly by a very upset raccoon.  They caught seventeen snakes, the largest being just over six feet long and wielding a head as large as a grown man's fist.  The county guys lifted one end of the can high in the air, dumping the dirt and insuring all the residents were expelled.

Snakes may be GOD"S creatures, but I sure don't like them.

I signed up  for a jitterbug dance class last night.  Four weeks, of learning to spin and twirl, hopefully in time with music.  The class is an hour and a half and even though I was very late, I thought I was going to melt down.

I don't think I am going to be valedictorian.

I put the Washington trip to bed today.  I compiled the list, complete with exact names and date of births and punched the button.  Twenty-eight was the final number.  You cannot imagine the relief I feel.  Now the only remaining things are the ground transportation and Sunday night accomodations in Seattle before our return flight. 

I've got a feeling this is really going to be a fun trip.  The wedding is at five with dinner and dancing to follow! 

Right now, Memama and I are discussing another trip for me just prior to the Washington trip, probably two or three days.  I just have to figure out how to get all the farming done and fitted around the two trips.

Lots of severe weather the last two nights.  Slaton Sunday night and Fluvanna last night.  Hail as large as softballs and in some areas a lot of rain, up to four inches.  But a greater area received no rainfall.

Luckily Rian said they received no hail in Shallowater and one to two inches of rain.

Makes me jealous.

I am very afraid if we are to break this dry spell, we are going to have to endure a storm.

At the farm right now, we are doing little things.  Cleaning.  Power washing.  Repairs.  By the end of the week we will probably begin our final seed bed preparation on our last farm.  Next up we will take the dual tires off the big tractor and hook it to the planter.  We need to make row spacing changes on the new planter and finish prep work for it.

Last week I booked seed.  Against the odds, I booked roundup flex/boll guard seed.  There were cheaper options, but the whole time I could hear Pepa in my ear saying, "You'd better plant what you want because if we get a shower you could be stuck with it for the entire year".

Of course if we have a total failure, we will get a refund on the seed and about half the tech fee back from the seed breeder.

Well, "enuff" said for now.

Have a day.

FATHER, thank YOU for completed projects, for the anticipation of things to come.  Help us to make good decisions.  Bless our efforts.  To YOU be the GLORY!