And the rains keep coming..

The weather has been crazy all over the country this spring. GENE ROUTH said they were lucky a while back when the so-called snow "bomb cyclone" in Colorado missed them. I emailed him to see if they were okay. He replied: "Snowing now, but the wind has not started. The blizzard last month was bad, lots of trees down and 5 to 6 foot drifts closed the roads all around us. Interstate 25 between Colorado Springs and Denver was closed for 24 hours, That caused major problems and Denver International Airport closed for 30 hours and cancelled about 3000 flights. We just stay home and listen to all the road and street and accident reports. Hope all is well with everyone."

Here in Austin we have had roller coaster weather, breaking records for high and low temperatures. We had temperatures in the 20s in March, with highs in the 80s. It has already hit the 90s in April. We do have cool nights though. We had over 3 inches of rain near my home below Mansfield Dam, with most parts of Austin in the 1" to 2" totals this past week. The storms were wicked sounding though. Lots of lightning. The strong winds, rain, and hail made horrendous noises on my metal roof. Almost kept me awake.

The rain total for Austin during the first week of April this year was nearly 5 inches. Those were historic numbers, and caused quite a bit of local flooding. Luckily, the Low Water Crossing on our road where the Sheriff's Deputy drowned in 2015 Tragedy Along With The Good stayed open. April is not over yet, and we are due for more rain beginning Tuesday. At least our Lakes are full -- but now we hope they don't reach flood stage like last year.

NANCY THOMPSON BAKER told me about the Ballinger City Park flooding this past week. 

(Elm Creek Dam overflowing April 24, 2019)
(Below: Foot Bridge in City Park)

The storms that pushed through San Angelo/Ballinger as well as Austin this past week continued on causing devastation as they moved to the East Coast. Thank goodness, we didn't have tornadoes like those that followed the path to East Texas and beyond. I didn't wish to hide in my closet again!

I know we have always had bad weather, but somehow it seems to be worse than I remember from the past. Did Ballinger City Park ever flood when we were in school? The only thing I do remember that was weather-related was the San Angelo tornado that happened shortly after I moved to Ballinger with my family in 1953. Lake View Tornado My dad drove us to Lake View to see the devastation. That's the only time I've ever witnessed anything like that.

I don't ever remember earthquakes in our part of the States. I found this statistic that just amazes me: "In the past decade, Oklahoma, which used to have just one or two earthquakes per year, saw their number rise to more than 800. Texas saw an earthquake increase of 600 percent.Nov 28, 2017" JUNE HASH CURRY has often spoken of the many "minor" earthquakes where she lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. Even a "minor" quake would set me on edge! Apparently, they are attributed to the "fracking" taking place in the surrounding area. Just another example of human activity contributing to the changes in our planet's conditions such as climate, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, volcanic activity, etc. 

But then, so many of our politicians keep telling us there is no such thing as "climate change"! I wonder where they live. Give me your thoughts on this subject, please.

Thanks to NANCY for the update on Ballinger's floods. Her good news was that she and husband Jake attended their grandson Spencer Jones' wedding to his fiancee Nikki this past Saturday. She said it was a beautiful affair. I'm hoping someone shares pictures of the ceremony with her, so I can share with you!

I always enjoy emails from any of you. I hear from JUNE CURRY, DENNY HILL, NANCY BAKER, and TRUMAN CONNER more than anyone. Surely some of you have grandchildren (or even great-grandchildren) graduating, getting married, or having babies you would like to brag about. Send me your news and any photos you wish to share. I know a lot of you are on Facebook and get class news from there. However, many of us are not on there! Think about it.

Until next time..

Peace and love,

Marilyn