And Summer Rolls On
Greetings from the island everyone! Hope all of you are doing well and had a nice visit with Dad this past Fathers Day. The siblings and I, along with Mom, drove to Brazoria and visited our dad, Henry, and had a great visit. Not having heard him play it on his fiddle in years, I asked dad to play an all-time fiddlers classic, the “Orange Blossom Special,” and he absolutely killed it! It’s amazing that at 82 years old, he still possesses the fiddle skills of yesteryear. Great job!
Well, on June 16, Mister Tropical Storm Bill paid me a most close and intimate visit here on the island. Believing that it would make landfall just to the east of me as a minor tropical storm, I made a few preparations and went about my business. But the day prior, and as it moved closer, it intensified and came ashore about three miles west of me, meaning I was directly on the worst NE side, at a sustained 60 mph!
For the most part it was a small storm, so without being in the path of the eye, only minor effects were felt by most. But being in the NE section of the eye, it really was intense for several hours. Even though all the piers in my lagoon were completely submerged, the tide rise of 3’ kept it out of my downstairs. And I had attached vertical boards alongside my pier, so my boat could slide up and down with the fluctuating tide and not get caught up on the pier when the tide dropped lower. The storm dumped 7 inches of rain on the island over a two day period, adding to the already saturated ground. However three weeks later, it is already dry again and I could use a little rain out here.
That storm was somewhat of a wake up call to what an actual hurricane would be like (even though this storm was only 14 mph below hurricane status). I have no desire to ride out a hurricane here on the island, it would simply be a foolish thing to do.
Summer is definitely in full swing right now, with of course hotter weather still ahead. I think that we forget from one year to the next just how hot and sultry and humid south Texas gets in the heat of summer. I’ve resigned myself to the belief that I definitely prefer the colder weather over the hot. I think age has played a factor in that decision.
But there are some definite advantages to island summertime weather, and being on the beach is the primary one. I love the cool morning walks on the beach ( which I’ve resumed in order to shed some of my robust man physique), looking out over the Gulf waters and picking up an occasional unique seashell or sea-bean. Walking in the ankle deep cool refreshing water, and even writing chit-chat or wise sayings in the beach sand, ( I know, I have a lot of free time on my hands!). Yep, a definite advantage to our hot south Texas summers is beach time. . . I mean who wouldn’t love that??
My Spring and early Summer garden areas are played out now, having pulled up and cleaning out everything. My 12 tomato plants did pretty well, producing around 100 lbs total, and I ended up with 26 watermelons from 18 plants. The grass/weeds were horrible this year, I’m sure because of all the rain we had just prior to and after planting. My melon vines were pretty much snuffed out from all the dang weeds. But all in all it was a successful season, and I’ll start getting ready for next February when I start all my seeds again. I don’t mess much with a Fall garden, it’s just too darn hot to enjoy it.
Well that’s it from the island for now, everyone stay cool and have a great day.
