It’s hot.
And dry. Dry as a bone … rivers turned to dust. Lakes near empty. Texas is in a hella heat wave and, as is its way, not doing much of anything to address it. I remember, in the heat wave of 2011, then-governor Rick Perry (he of “ Oops” fame ) held a prayer rally in Houston to beg God for rain. Of course, it would have made more sense to invest in water-treatment plants and utilize the many technologies that exist to harvest and recycle water. But this is Texas and governin’ is not something the governors cotton to doing …
…unless they are governing a woman’s body or protecting a child’s right to a military-grade armament. or making laws that criminalize helping a disabled person into a polling place. (Yes, they actually have a law that does that.) They get all kinds of busy trying to keep folks from voting so that they can keep on not governing. And that’s about the extent of it.
The powers that be in the Lone Star State are not, as a rule, helpful in a crisis.
My home here is xeriscaped. There is no lawn but there are dozens of rose bushes ( native Texas varieties) and other plants that benefit pollinators and please the eye. Grass is one of the most ridiculous commodities that Americans prize. Grass serves no natural purpose, and feeds no living organism. It exists solely to guzzle water.
My neighbors are a mixed bag when it comes to water conservation. A few members of the old guard allow their lawns to go dormant in the summer and winter, Left on its own, there is almost no time that a lawn looks good in Texas. It is too hot, too cold, and too weird weather-wise. So the question has to be asked:
Why have a lawn in Texas? It makes no sense. ( I know, I know--making sense is not a Texas strong suit.)
Many of my newer neighbors don’t seem to have gotten the memo that we are in a drought and restrictive measures are in place. They are out there with their sprinklers ( a no-no) every morning watering and watering the grass, the sidewalks, and the pavements. Just watering willy nilly.
It is an interesting contrast to my native California, where folks have been so overly cautious that they have allowed their trees to die. Trees are our best defense against climate change and the idiocy of its denial.
Dear Texas:
Don’t water your lawn.
Plant native grasses or a butterfly garden. Both are drought-tolerant and attractive and beneficial.
Dear California:
Do water your trees.
Most tree varieties prefer to be watered at the edges of their leafy canopy, but be sure to give the base a slug as well. Don’t water the trunk, just the ground at the edges and base.
It has been a sad and stressful time. After a year filled with denial and champagne, pain from the cancer has caught up to us and demanded Dad’s attention. The daughters are taking turns trekking to the damnably remote Brookings. I was there over a week ago when Dad finally realized the jig was nearly up.
“ What do you think, Bethie? Will I make it to next year?” he asked me.
“Gee, Pop. I have to say no …probably not. It will be a stretch to make it to your birthday in September.”
“Ah. I see.”
He sleeps a lot but he is still eating and asking for some bubbly in his more lucid moments. He rarely drinks it; just likes to know it is there.
The hospital bed has been delivered. My stepsister Sydney is there now trying to sort out the pets and keep her Mom on the sober side. It can be rough when she hits the sauce too hard. My sister Laura will go next. She is going to drive the fourteen hours. She hates flying and it takes nearly as long anyway.
My uncle Ted called to tell me that he talked to Dad recently.
“Say, Theo. I am going to go on my birthday. How about that? They can tell you these things nowadays. Isn’t that something? They know right up to the exact day when you are going to die.”
He won’t see his birthday. But you gotta love the guy.
I love the guy.
On we go …
Water Water Everywhere / Nowhere … not a drop
Uncle Tom's a fighter hell surprise us all! Luv ya cuz hope you are well. Matt