1st of Oct, we have been cool and humid, but dry as far as rain goes for the most part.   Now I see its supposed to warm up a little and dry out more, while down south in eastern CO and central NE is getting pretty wet.

Cut the last of 3rd cutting yesterday, just can't catch a break this year, bugs got into it and ate a lot of the leaves off, I let it go long to grow, apparently for the frickin bugs to enjoy. 

 Then last Sunday did something even dumber than normal, was supposed to go to Cheyenne and have cake and ice cream for Vickis birthday with Kayla and her boyfriend, I stepped out and was walking to the truck 1st thing in the morning and my leg wasn't latched, came off midstride and I fell hard, landed on the stump. Whole new experience of ow. laid around whining for the rest of the day, swelled up and bruised, and was on crutches until yesterday when finally could hobble around a little. I had been doing well as far as that goes lately, guess I needed a wake up call.

The weather extremists on tv and various and sundry social media sites have been prophetizing a precipitation Armageddon for at least a week, ginning up equal measures of over-the-top eye rolling and bugeyed panic frenzy in the San Antonio/Austin Texas corridor.

I'm personally betting on an inch of rain with local instances of 2 or 3. These buffoons are virtually competing for Best Actor in a Disaster Film award. So far the mooke on Fox 7 mornings in Austin is clearly the one to beat. Up.

...Tomorrow will tell...

That is awesome Jaime!

Pat and I went to San Antonio to celebrate birthdays with my uncle and cousins. We always have a good time, but this one was better than usual.  One of my uncle's good friends is a retired Air Force aircraft mechanic who stood nuclear alerts with F-100s in Italy, did a tour in Vietnam as a C-130 crew chief, then became a sheet metal tech on B-52's before retiring and working on B-1s, F-5s and T-38s as a contractor.  Along the way, he learned gunsmithing and built himself a pretty good collection of firearms from all over the world. But, as he's gotten older, he's become unable to do that any longer, so he's in the process of selling off the guns and all his reloading and gunsmith tools and equipment.

When I saw him this weekend, he walked in the door and said, "Young man, you gotta decision to make today!" The decision turned out to be a beautiful hunting rifle, a custom Mauser bolt action in 22-250 that he gifted to me.  I wasn't expecting that at all and have to admit that I was honored that he thought enough to give it to me.  He told me he just couldn't bear to sell that one and wanted to "keep it in the family."  And so it will stay in the family.

Hopefully, Honcho will humor me once again and post the pic....

Fall maybe?  It was actually cool this morning and it's been in the low 90s instead of the high 90s in the afternoons.  Still humid, though.

Fall?  Nope, not yet.  100 degrees here at the casa yesterday, no rain forecast for the next week or so.

It was surprisingly pleasant outside this morning, though.  Nony must have left the gate open because there was a cool breeze from the north that lasted until the sun cleared the trees. Going to be another hot one today.

Started my walking regimen a couple days after moving in last week. First day was a short one, just to the highway and back, pedometer clocked .96 mile. So the next day I braved an extra couple miles down the highway. Not recommended 😕. Lots of traffic, mostly big trucks, mostly doing 80+ mph, and a few of those thought it'd be fun to cross onto the shoulder to see if I'd jump for the ditch. Never again.

Then 4 days ago I tried a tenth mile dirt service road that went the opposite direction. It came out on a paved county road lined with small ranches and LARGE opulent estates on LARGE manicured grounds. Money down that way, yeh? Nice walk, little to no traffic at 6:50 am, a couple decent hills to challenge the calves, and the pedometer clocked just a fuzz under 5 miles from doorstep to doorstep. It parallels the highway, so it ain't exactly quiet, but it's a nice stroll. Lots of blacktail every morning, must be plenty wild pigs too. No sightings, but the road is littered with fresh scat every morning. I saw a coyote yesterday, though it was big and furry enough that I wondered if it wasn't a Mexican gray wolf. They aren't known to range this far east, but they don't know that...

The park is quiet, and folks here (so far) don't seem all that sociable. I've only been here a week and a half, I'm sure once the locals get a load of me that'll change--to one extreme or the other...

So we have turned the corner, of course it is officially fall now that the equinox is passed. Temps have really moderated, as in a couple mornings have been uncomfortably cool, but we have been getting showers every day, or nearly for several in a row, not a lot, some are just sprinkles, but a 10th to 1/4" from a couple, just enough to make haying difficult. 

 Got through probably one of the most stressful days or couple days of the year, shipped calves to town yesterday, took most of the day to catch, sort and finally haul them, but was trying to keep it low stress for a change and not push much, easier on them and my blood pressure. I must be getting old because my patience is limited when it comes to that normally and the language gets colorful, but it was uneventful. And it helps when they cooperate.

 I sold the steers claves private treaty, the heifers went to auction today so now we bite nails to see what they bring.  Years like this its the entire paycheck, hoping we get a premium to offset the 8 grand in hay I had to buy so far.

QuoteI dodge my own flying!

Well, then you can improve your skills by dodging everyone else, too!  Extra points awarded if you can continue to fly your own airplane while doing it...  

I don't need no stinkin hardhat,  I dodge my own flying!