In My Own Backyard

This photo was taken from my own backyard. Pretty, huh?!!! It was actually cool enough for us to be out enjoying the summer beauty on this particular evening. We have been getting out in the evenings to play volleyball, bocce ball, and ladder ball. We may sweat a little, but it's no big deal. We're having a ball!

Despite 100º+ temps for the past couple of weeks, we really cannot complain too much about the heat this summer. It's August, for cryin' out loud! It's supposed to be HOT in Texas this time of year.

Texas summertime temps are really not all that bad. Maybe we're just acclimated now. This is our third summer living in the Lone Star State, and really doesn't bother us. Also, it's not worth whining about something that we cannot change.

Why, yes, Texas does have four seasons: early summer, mid summer, late summer, and more summer. Others have named the Texas seasons: warmish, hot, very hot, and unseasonably warm. 

There are plenty of jokes and sayings about the Texas heat. Here's a sampling of what I've seen and heard.

You know it's summertime in Texas when...

Hot water comes out of both taps.

You can make sun tea instantly.

You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.

The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt, and pepper.

Farmers in Texas are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.

It's been sooo hot that the cows are giving evaporated milk. 

The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
(My favorite!)

And now that Miss Millie is enrolled in driver's ed, these next "revelations" apply to her:

The best parking place is determined by shade instead of proximity. 
(Other drivers seldom take those far-off shady spots, so they are always available for me. I don't mind a good hike.)

You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
You discover that it really only takes 2 fingers to steer your car. 
(Forget trying to adhere to the "10 and 2 o'clock" hand position or "3 and 9 o'clock," or whatever it is they are currently teaching in driver's ed regarding hand positions.)

You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.

You actually burn your hand opening the car door.


We do enjoy living here, despite the warmish climate. Apparently, others want to live here, too, because there is development activity going on in my backyard. Well, it's not in my literal backyard, but it's just over the fence. 

See the yellow construction equipment through the trees? I get to hear it come to life every morning around 7 AM. They workers want to beat the heat, so they get going as early as they possibly can.

Workers began clearing the "forest" in late July. 

I LOVE this picture that our neighbor snapped. My neighbor girlie, Claire, was protesting the development of this twenty acre tract that is adjacent to her house. She has roamed the wooded acreage for the past two years, so she is especially sad to see her playground destroyed. I understand that she even made the rounds to get signatures on a petition, but her valiant efforts couldn't stop the wheels of progress from turning.

By next year, there will be new neighbors behind us. Out of the 35 future lots, the builder has already sold eight homesites. And they don't even have the roads paved yet!

We recently took a Sunday afternoon walk over to the property to see what all the commotion is about.

You truly cannot see the forest, for the trees have been bulldozed.

This equipment is huge. Surprisingly, the keys were in the ignition, but no one wanted to try operating it.

From the newly cleared property, here's a view of the backside of the Smith Haus. We'll be good neighbors -- I think!


Several critters are displaced as a result of the development. I found this guy in one of my shrubs. Oh, so adorable... The recent influx of snakes, grasshoppers, skunks, and bunnies is adorable, too. Not really. At least the coyotes haven't relocated to our backyard. They went the other direction.

Moving from the backyard view to the front yard, we were surprised to be selected as the August "Yard of the Month" for our neighborhood. We received a gift certificate to Calloway's Nursery. Yay!

Don't look tooooo closely. There is one small section of grass that turned yellow after we applied weed killer to the lawn. Ooops! Maybe I'd better hurry up and spend that gift certificate before the landscape committee revokes the title from us. :-)