A good year for Prickly Pear producers

I have never thought of cactus as being moody or fickle, but apparently when you see them blooming and want to take a photo, you should do it immediately while your eye is still on them, and not a few days later when you have the time. You can see that the yellows were happy to pose for me this morning, but the pinks were feeling a bit withdrawn.

A few days ago I came through the intersection of US 180 and FM 611 and was presented with a showy array of prickly pears in bloom. Beautiful pinks and yellows against a sultry background of humid green, it was gorgeous. We also found a brilliant and rather large purple blooming cholla just north of Johnny Ballard's house up at Camp Springs.

It looks like the algerita didn't make this year. I never saw any blooms or berries.

Okay, lots of graduations this week! We attended Roby so we could holler for Kim Williams, we're so proud of her! She had many kudos and honors, most noticeably the scholarship from Angelo State University in the amount of $74,000. Guess where she'll be going to school next fall.

I also want to mention some action that will be going on with one of my pet projects, STTAR, the committee restoring the Sweetwater Texas Theatre. Next Thursday, June 4, the neon Texas sign will be lowered and moved to a warehouse facility for cleaning and maintenance. Weather permitting, of course. Everyone is invited to come watch, it's bound to be a big to-do, with a big crane and lots of men running around trying to keep the sign from crashing to the ground.

Here are the headlines for the Roby Advance / Rotan Star Record issue for May 21, 2009:

• Rotan City Council: 2007 audit presented, previous recalcitrant accounting methods being overridden as bookkeeping gets back on track
• Fisher County Jr. Ag Day (photos)
• Kim Williams on her way to another state championship in the shot put (photo)
• DAR genealogy workshop held May 30
• Obituaries for Billy Wayne Jeffrey (photo) and Harman Vernon Brumfield (photo)
• Alyssa Leverton wins 2nd place in Texas National History Day
• Pastor's Column: Pastor Jerry Vincent, First Baptist Church in Roby
• Sheriff's report: six in jail
• DAR visits Fisher County museum (photo)
• Engagement announcement for Casey Moriah Jenkins and Benjamin Frank Wells (photo)
• Jeffery Stuart Posey graduates from Lubbock Christian University (photo)
• Brush Control seminar scheduled June 1 in Anson
• Nic Southern to participate in the Texas Brigades program this summer, openings still available
• USDA extends certain conservation reserve program contracts
• Disaster assistance available for agricultural-dependent small businesses
• Rotan eighth grade District Volleyball Champs (photo)
• Rotan Jr. High tennis results (photo)
• Rotan National Honor Society induction ceremony (photo)
• Property tax protest and appeal procedures
• Tumbleweed Smith: Traveling to Nearby States
• Roby Prom King & Queen: Jordan Carrion & Tresley Terry (photo)
• Birth announcement for Joey Alyssa Lujan (photo)
• Johnathan Dalzell graduates from Texas Tech University (photo)
• Random shots of Roby Pre-K & Early Childhood Fun Day (photos)
• Kidnapping prevention class (photos)

Oh, a strange thing happened to us during a storm this week. There was an explosive lightning strike, then we heard the stove igniter clicking. It's gas with electric igniting. Anyway, we rushed into the kitchen to find a flame coming out from one of the stove top knobs. We were able to blow it out and had to unplug the stove to make the igniter go off. It's fixed now, but no one ever told me, "be sure to unplug your stove during a lightning storm". You learn new stuff all the time, huh?