Miracle Grow

We spent the weekend at our house in Texas clearing dead plants and leaves from our yard. The Houston area had a "harsh" January, with many consecutive days in the mid 20s. As a result, a number of our more delicate tropical trees & bushes bit the dust, including one of our beautiful 12-foot-tall palms. Our neighbors had informed us last year that the winter of '09-'10 was unusually severe, and we wouldn't see temperatures that low again for a decade. Oddly, the winter of '10-'11 proved to be just as cold.

Late February in south Texas is like late May in Michigan. The daytime temperatures are finally warm and people are out working on their yards, planting flowers, etc. Since our banana trees once again fell victim to some freezing weather, we cut back their trunks, hoping that they would regrow as they did last year. Imagine our shock when, only an hour after chopping them down on Saturday, new sprouts already began to shoot up. If they keep flourishing at this rate - an inch or two a day - the banana trees will be 15 feet tall by the time summer even starts. There are some real advantages to a long growing season!

We couldn't believe how quickly these new banana shoots shot up out of the cut-down trunks.

Along the Road

Jim, Jacob, and I hit the road on Sunday morning to drive to Texas. If you ever need to know when the next winter storm will bear down on Michigan, just find out the date we are planning a road trip into or out of the state. Inevitably, the weather will be nasty that day. Fortunately, we were able to beat the latest snow storm, and were cruising hundreds of miles south of Detroit in balmy temperatures before the precipitation even began up there.

Our drive was fairly uneventful - which was a good thing. We stopped for the night near Little Rock, where the area has recently been hit with a "swarm" of small earthquakes. I thought that, after visiting many quake-prone states in the past, it would be pretty funny to feel my first earthquake in Arkansas. Even though there were actually 12 tiny tremors while we were at our hotel overnight, I never even felt a quiver.

Once in Texas on Monday, I was, as usual, on the lookout for interesting things. I was not disappointed. First, we passed a hobo-type man walking on the shoulder of the road pulling an 8-foot-tall cross on wheels. Next, we saw a 20-foot-high statue made completely from flower pots. Later, we were surprised to come across a large group of people on horseback clomping along the highway, escorted by the police with a sign that read "Old Spanish Trail Ride." We later learned that over 3,000 riders are currently en route to southeast Texas to participate in the annual "Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo."

The weather in Houston was absolutely beautiful today. While the northern girl in me loves the snow, I must say that I really enjoyed puttering in my yard this afternoon with the 76 degree sun warming my face. In February! At one point, I checked the temperatures in both Michigan and Texas, and it was 56 degrees warmer at our Houston house. I wore a t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops, which is standard garb for here, but unheard of this time of year up north.

Tour Guide

Meijer is probably my very favorite store in the whole world. They sell just about anything you could ever need, all under one roof. Meijer stores were the first hypermarkets/supercenters in the U.S. Unfortunately, they are only located in Michigan, Ohio. Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. It is one thing that I really miss when I am at our house in Texas. Target and Walmart are fair substitutes, but when it comes down to it, nothing really compares to Meijer.

Jim is also a fan of Meijer. Whenever he is in Michigan, Jim visits Meijer every single day. He always thinks of something that he needs - from some yogurt to a pair of shoes to a set of windshield wipers. And everything in between. He probably knows our local Meijer store better than most of their employees. Last week, when Jim was in Texas, I went to Meijer to pick up a few things. I was having a difficult time finding the Q-Tips, but I kept wandering around the pharmacy area, certain that by the process of elimination, I would eventually come upon the right aisle. Luckily, Jim happened to call while I was there and guided me - from 1,300 miles away - directly to the ear swab section. I thought that I knew that store pretty well, but Jim definitely knows it better than I do. If you are ever shopping at Meijer and having trouble finding something, just phone Jim. I guarantee that he will be able to lead you to your item before you can even find an employee to assist you.

Warming Up

After a nasty stretch of sub-zero temperatures in Michigan, the weather has finally warmed up. It has been nice to feel 30 and 40 degrees again! So nice, in fact, that many people who venture outside don't bother to wear jackets around here. I even saw some folks in shorts yesterday and today. Our snow is melting, but the grass is still covered and we are still up to our ears in huge snowbanks. We are supposed to get rain later this week, though, and it will make me sad to see the rest of the snow disappear. I'm sure, though, that more wintery weather will return, as March is typically cold and often snowy in this neck of the woods.

Houston seems to be over its freezing conditions, at least for now. They reached a balmy high of 75 degrees today. I am heading there next week, so I'm sure the temperatures will probably take another dip while I'm in town. I am anxious to assess the damage that was done to my plants and trees during their atypical cold snap this winter. If only the weather would stay average, I would be most appreciative. It is the wild extremes that I can do without.

P.S. Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! The fact that Jim and I were 1,300 miles apart did not really affect us because we normally do not celebrate Valentine's Day or Sweetest Day. True romantics!

Deer Tracks

Our neighborhood deer were back to visit recently. I'm sure they are probably around almost every day, but I only notice them occasionally. This time there were four of the cute critters frolicking in the brush behind our condo. I kind of hope that they don't decide to hang out here in the summertime, though, because I have heard many horror stories about deer destroying flowers and plants.

Speaking of flowers and plants being destroyed, the weather in Houston has not been at all kind to my prized tropical trees and bushes. Jim has kept a lot of our outdoor foliage covered during the many, many nights of "hard freeze warnings." Our banana tree will need to be cut back again this year and it sounds as if our new palm trees are dying, also. The Texans tell us that weather like this is extremely unusual. It seems pretty typical to us, though, since both winters we have owned our house in Houston have brought well-below-normal temperatures.

I was able to snap a photo of the deer, although it is difficult to see them behind the trees.

Storms Interrupted

On Tuesday night and Wednesday of this week, the National Weather Service issued a Blizzard Warning for southeast Michigan. They predicted at least 18 inches of snow and Jacob & I were beyond excited! The snow began falling around 6:00 Tuesday evening, schools canceled classes for the next day, and everyone hunkered down for the big storm. By midnight, we had several inches on the ground and it looked as if we were on target for another foot or more. Then, abruptly the snow stopped and sleet started to clatter against the windows. I knew that sleet would cut down on our snow totals, but the local weathermen promised that it would only last a very short time. Three hours later, sleet was still pounding the outside of the condo. The snow did begin again a short time later, only to pause for an hour or two early Wednesday morning. When all was said and done, we had 9 new inches of snow - far short of the prediction of a foot and a half. One local meteorologist reported that EVERY single computer model had been wrong about the storm. Apparently, the extended period of sleet was unexpected, as well as the dry pocket that turned off the precipitation for a couple of hours in the morning.

Jim was due to fly from Houston to Detroit on Thursday night, and, luckily, DTW was plowed and up & running normally by Thursday morning. Southeast Texas, on the other hand, was due to receive some unusually cold weather with freezing rain and light snow. Airlines began canceling all flights out of Houston from Thursday afternoon through midday Friday. Jim was able to switch his 5:30 p.m. flight to an earlier one, which was fortunate since his original flight ended up not operating. In anticipation of their one inch of snow, they canceled school in all of southeast Texas for Friday and many businesses were closed as well. The snow never materialized, but the area did end up getting icing on bridges, overpasses, and elevated roadways. Strange weather for Houston, and not at all beneficial for my outdoor tropical plants down there.

The view out our window before our "blizzard."

After the storm.