Dixie

Jacob and I flew to Houston on Thursday. About an hour after taking off from cool, overcast, and windy Detroit, the clouds cleared and we were able to see the ground. We were shocked by the sight of extensive flooding below. Rivers that typically appear as ribbons cutting through the landscape looked like huge lakes overflowing their banks. We weren't able to get a good picture of the floods because the setting sun was shining directly into our westerly-facing window. Who would have thought to choose seats on the east side of the plane when on a mostly north-to-south flight in the evening? Lesson learned.

Jim and Jacob went golfing this afternoon. They had a great time, despite the fact that a bird snatched their baggie of cookies right out of their cart while they were on a green putting. Houston has been very dry & drought-y lately, and everyone here is hoping for rain. In the meantime, I am enjoying the sunshine and warm temperatures. As usual, the humidity feels like it is about 900%. Jim has managed to hold off on turning the house air conditioning on this year, even though the neighbors have been using their units since February. I think I will have to crank it on tomorrow, as it is predicted to climb to 90 degrees.

This was taken somewhere over southern Tennessee. I wish it had come out better because the flooding was really quite spectacular-looking.

While out and about today, we saw several groups of people selling puppies on the side of the road. This is not unusual in Texas, as there are very few zoning laws. Sometimes the folks display their dogs in playpens or in the beds of pick-up trucks. These breeders must have been classy ones - they actually had their puppies in cages.

Our lilies are abloom in the yard. Unfortunately, this palm tree seems to be a goner.

Our banana tree is being eaten by squirrels this year. Yes, we have seen the pesky critters climbing up the stalks and chewing on the leaves. Crazy. Luckily, this palm tree has come back to life after the brutal winter. And these pretty, unidentified purple flowers are starting to grow again.