The Monarch Butterflies are Migrating

Light rain most of the day. Now we are on the backside of the front and the Monarch butterflies are using the north wind to trek south. It is not unusual to see one or two these days, but on my trip to the mailbox, there were one or two every six feet. Like floating flowers. Windows open. AC off. at 5pm---usually our AC is on at this time of day !

The weather has been so strange, with the country truly divided: hot in the east, and cold in the west. The rain seemed to track from west Texas all the way to Canada but it got closer to the DFW area today and we got some much needed rain. Whew. The weeds out front pulled out so much easier being rain soaked. But, I did not even make a dent in them. We have levels of rocks that have not been weeded all summer. Stickers abound. I gave the purple Lantana breathing space. Sallycat wandered out and fussed at me. Didn't I realize it was sprinkling??

We will not blog about Bob locking his keys in his car at the train station. Because I will need rescued another day. I will say that the air filter inside the car was almost overwhelmed on that drive to the train station. I saw a new gas well, and stakes in preparation for widening the road called Greenbelt that winds through the bottom lands over the Trinity River. Wow. With more traffic going to the train station, and people using other roads to get to the airport, that two lane road has needed widening for years. It was no fun driving to downtown Dallas to give Bob his keys because of the rain. Rain on a heavily traveled freeway is dangerous. Parts of I-30 are under construction for the Dallas Cowboy Temple being built in Arlington, and the lanes are thin. It is terrifying to be caught between two huge semi-trucks, and in a rain cloud and the lanes curve, and you cannot see a thing. Lanes come and go, and people change lanes without looking. Yikes. Even a light rain is rolled up like a curtain, dirty and bouncing off trucks and tires. It was like driving in a car wash. The windshield wipers could not keep up. You'd think in such conditions that folks would slow down. You'd think.

I'm going to go count butterflies.

Update: For ten minutes, I counted, and over 200 Monarch Butterflies flitted by. Some float like falling oak leaves. Some pump their wings as if that will make them sail faster. When they get too close to each other, they circle and whirl in a dance, as if saying:

"Madge, is that you?? Oh, Madge, could you believe that freeway? I almost got sucked in, Madge."

"Betsy, Betsy, where are we going? Does anyone know?"

"No, dear, probably Mexico. It doesn't matter that we know. We just go." "Try to keep up, dear."

"I wonder how Sam did as he flew right over DFW and the planes are landing to the north." "These oak trees are pretty." "They sure are tall."

"Look out for that cat---a tiger in the long grass over there---don't dip too low."

"Look at that silly lady knitting in the lawn chair. Did you see her, Henry?"

"She had better close her mouth when looking up, as a flock of grackles are headed this way."

"Why don't the birds eat us, Francis?"

"Because God made us taste nasty to them, Sweetie."

"Oh."

"How do they find out?"

"Each bird probably has to find out the hard way; its best not to think about it."

R A I N

Rain.
Thunder, lightning, maybe two inches of rain and that's how we spell RELIEF in TEXAS !

And maybe we have seen the last 100 degree day for this year. It only got to 99 yesterday !!! Yippeeeee !!!

Thank You, Lord for the good rain, and taking away the dusty, drought conditions here. Now things will green up and we will need to mow until December. I watered some plants yesterday, but it seemed so futile, so drop-in-the-bucket.

I opened the windows for a while this morning. Lit a candle, as the lights kept blinking. Some folks are out of power with power poles down in Dallas. Traffic is snarled, but oh, we SO needed the rain.

I usually do not blog much about world events, but with two sons in the military, I faithfully read the news and blogs online, and the poor folks receiving Russia's insane "punishment" are now receiving humanitarian aide from our dear troops, Air Force and Navy. And Russia has threatened to "punish" any country leaning toward the west, democracy, freedom, and Poland has been singled out for wanting a shield. And amazingly, in their weird pretzel logic, the Russians are being told that its all VP Cheney's doing. Wow.