Siriusly

I know that technically Dog Days are named for the star Sirius, but what comes to mind is a dog panting his tongue off up under the dappled shade of a stringy mesquite. It's been so hot we were inspired to set up the rubber pond and I hope to be floating in it this afternoon, lying on a blow-up raft with my eyes closed, pretending I'm in Padre Island.

I tried to specifically identify the butterfly in today's photo, but the best I can do is to tell you it's some sort of swallowtail. Butterfly lovin' doesn't seem to be a specific science, or one genus or whatever can look fifteen different ways. Anyway, I can definitely say that this is a picture of a butterfly. Or a moth.

Penny called to see how Trisha was faring yesterday. Trisha answered the phone and said "I'm just walking in the door to the house." I don't know how much better the story can get than that. Four weeks and a better ending than anyone could hope for.

Tomorrow I will definitely stop by the school and see who's ring was fished from the Frio. Looking for some very specific clues. Well, initials. I guess it's not that tough of a mystery, if I would just get on the ball.

A digital version of Texas Wildlife magazine is now available on-line. This month you can read about North Region Quail Stewards awards, of which Wild Wings Ranch at Camp Springs was a finalist. There are a lot of other good articles in there, like "Frequently Asked Questions of State Game Wardens". Once the magazine comes up, click on the page you want to see, then buttons will appear to include a plus sign to zoom in. Click on the hand button to drag the page up and down so you can view it all.

It's 7 a.m., the perfect time for lawn-mowing, so I better get on it. Oh, I wanted to do a little complaint segment, something simple so you all don't have to listen to a big rant about my unhappiness. I'll make it simple, just Yay and Bray, the latter being negative, like that obnoxious, long-winded sound the jack-ass makes.

Yay: The libraries in Sweetwater and Snyder; Robert the satellite installation guy for Sierra in Sweetwater; Dollar General in Snyder and Sweetwater.

Bray: USPS Customer Service on-line; DPS driver license office in Snyder; Family Dollar in Snyder and Sweetwater.

Make sure you keep those tea pitchers full! Gonna go through a lot of lemons and ice today.