Local Fame

I wanted to mention that Glen Strickland made the front page of the Abilene Reporter News this past weekend. There are tons of good photos from the fire on this link. If you don't recognize some of these folks, you must be from somewhere else.

On the Bricks

- Downtown Roscoe -

Sometimes I'm uninspired, but this week I have more words and pictures than I could possibly post here. I'll try to condense it, as Campbell says.

Roscoe did not disappoint with the Spring Fling Saturday evening. Lots of people and music, food and drink. The children were wonderful. If everyone would have cut loose like the kids, there would have been one crazy street-dancing party. Even the tiniest of toddlers was boogie-ing on the the bricks.

The crowd was entertained by Lawless Flatz, the Tejas Brothers and later, at the Lumberyard, Scott Hammock. Smoke and ash was coming in on the south wind from the Wildcat Fire in Coke County, hitting us in the teeth as we all laughed, talked and hollered for the bands. Surely songwriters throughout the state are busy writing about the time all of Texas was burning. It seems like it is, anyway.

I met some folks at the gas pump in Sweetwater yesterday and they were headed to Houston from Midland, where they've had horrible house-burning fires. They were ready to get somewhere that the sky wasn't filled with soot.

I met Ed Duncan, author of the Roscoe Hard Times and keeper of the Roscoe Historical Museum. I got to talk his ear off twice, and I appreciate his patience with me. Ed is brother to my Norway contact, Joe Duncan.

Here's hoping that next week I won't have to mention fires, except maybe as a wrap up story. The forecast calls for high winds until Wednesday and a chance of rain Thursday night. That's for Fisher Co. If I look at the NOAA forecast for Scurry Co., just a mile up the road, there's not any chance of rain. This is one time when I hope the weather guy has gotten it wrong.

Camp Springs Road closed

The fire changed course and went west of us. The Camp Springs/1614 intersection is closed right now. From my side the fire begins about at George Maule's driveway or just this side of Glen Williamson's old place. Crews are quickly making their way to US 180 to try to keep the blaze from jumping the road as it moves to the south.

This photo was taken about 20 minutes ago on the Fisher/Scurry County line on FM 1614. If you're coming from the west on Camp Springs road, you will have to detour, same thing if you're coming from the west on FM 1614, you won't be allowed to pass. There are numerous law enforcement officials on the scene.

Close Call, Or So I Thought

Last night around 6:20 p.m. or so, the wind changed from south to north and the Cooper Mountain Ranch fire up in Kent county got out of hand. That's the name of the fire I've been reporting on, I just didn't know it until I heard it on the news last night. Officials evacuated Rotan around 7:20 p.m., then allowed them back in about 10:30 p.m. It seems silly that I was all scared about the fire coming here when people were heading out this way to get to safety, but the announcement came over my weather radio, and that really got me going.

I didn't start smelling smoke until last night after Rotan was given the all clear. This morning it is very smoky and promising to be another windy day, so I'm going to keep on feeling silly and water the yard some more. My TxDOT source says he was out until 2:30 p.m. last night and went back to work at 7:30 a.m. this morning to run a maintainer up north fighting the fire. To the layman, a maintainer is a Caterpillar; up north is Kent County.

The photo is of airplanes that I keep seeing flying in and out of the fire zone. People I know were surprised about the fire because I had never mentioned it. It has become that common for a fire to be burning, I don't even bother mentioning it in day to day conversation. We've been watching it burn for days and hearing the sounds of helicopters and planes working to battle the flames.

Check out stories and video about the fire on Big Country Home Page, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, the Abilene Reporter News, and anything else you can Google.

You, Too, Can Fight Forest Fires

Well, I don't really know about that, but you can keep up with the range fires we're having here in Texas through the Texas Forest Service. When you get to the site, look under Spotlight and you can read current updates in text, or you can look at maps on Google Earth. I have a wish that they'll have a fire station (on a tv channel, nice play on words) and burn radar that shows fires the way we watch storms. Good luck figuring out that Google Earth thing. My computer runs too slow.

The photo was taken around 6:20 p.m. today. The wind changed direction from sw to nw. This smoke is from the Kent County fire. That little bit of white on top looks just like a thunderhead. TxDOT guys are on the Kent and Fisher co. line keeping traffic safe.

Roscoe Hard Times: City of Roscoe Hosts “Spring Fling”

Spring Fling info now available.

Rough on Fire

- 2011 Rough Creek fire -

This photo was taken from the Grady Cemetery this afternoon, looking northwest over Rough Creek. From my house it looks like it's about to burn the back yard, but a neighbor stopped and said he had heard it was on the Clairemont highway going north out of Snyder. I figure that's SH 208, a long way from here.

The fire departments have been busy, busy. Last night they were up, down and sideways out here. I could smell fire but never could see any flames. Today I was in Rotan and passed two trucks going west on FM 611, then saw one going north towards the river bridge on 70. Some of the state hands have been on stand-by for that big 50,000 acre fire in Swenson. You can read more about Texas fires on the Big Country Home Page.

Abundance

The pancakes have been made and the froofy vanilla coffee has been brewed and drank. Drunk? Dranken? Anyway, as you can see, there are plenty of eggs in my house for cooking. It seems like I'm either completely inept, like when I try to play the guitar or sew, or I find that I'm wildly skilled at something I never dreamed of, like raising chickens that lay lots of eggs. This bowl is not all of the eggs in my refrigerator. The door is full, holding 18, and I keep the freshest dozen in a carton. If you're thinking you would like some, just let me know. A woman can eat only so many deviled eggs.

Last night we had an invasion of black click-beetle bugs that had a vicious bite. I had the heebie-jeebies so bad that I was jumping out of my skin when my hair touched my face. I never have had such happen before, but it's always some new experience here in the country. I tried to find one to photograph this morning, but I guess they're party bugs, only out late at night. I couldn't even find a dead one.

The other day I was sitting in the dentist's chair, feeling sleepy as I watched the trees swaying in the window, and I realized I had been sitting in those chairs for over forty years. I've never been to any other dentist office in my life. I live in the same house I did when I was a kid, drive the same roads, see the same people. It's not dull, I'm sure many of you have lived the same way. I was looking at the tank this morning, the one behind the house, and in my mind's eye I could see me and my grandma sitting out there fishing with cane poles. I could have watched us all morning. That's what makes living in the same place worth it to me. The memories come easier because the canvas my life was painted on is right in front of me.

We went to the Lumberyard in Roscoe a couple of times this week. I know the bands that play on the weekend nights are good, but I wanted to see what it was like during the day. I gotta tell ya, I like this place. The food is good, the atmosphere is so laid back and the people who work there are nice, something you really can't take for granted around here. Folks were coming in and out, making for some enjoyable people watching. Good old country music was playing when we were there yesterday. Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline. When we were there earlier this week, contemporary country music was playing. It's all good. You can sit inside or outside. All ages.

If you need a good reason to go to Roscoe, the Spring Fling is this coming weekend, April 16. Featured entertainment will be live music with the Tejas Brothers and Lawless Flatz, a children's play area, vendors, and fireworks. Believe me, Roscoe knows how to throw down when it comes to a celebration. So kill yourself two birds with one stone, and check out this new hotspot of West Texas!

Snappy Little Ditty Needed

In my goals as a writer, I aspire to author a book or books one day, also bushels of poems and songs. My big problem is that I can't get past the title. Here are a few of my wanna-be big hit songs: The Postman's Cryin', Too Drunk to Dance and I'm Your Damned Fool. Can't you just hear the opening notes? Now you have probably realized why I don't have a career in writing. If only the words would come to me, or if I could hunt them down and catch them.

Joe, West Texan in Norway, sent me a picture of him putting up an owl box. The owls are considered useful in eradicating mice and rats. A hoot owl woke me up the other night. Maybe it was telling me to build it a box. I kept listening to hear if it was carrying off a cat, puppy or chicken.

That same night I heard what I thought was coyotes. In my mind it was a big ball of animals yipping, squeaking and yelping. It started far away, then was so close to the house that the hair stood up on the back of my neck and the dog started barking. Then the sounds quickly moved away. Maybe it was a group of elusive ring-tail cats. I wonder if I'll ever get to see one of those creatures. I'm always on the lookout for one.