Weather

Different regions of Texas have differing climates in winter and summer. My Texas summer weather is still in the 95 -98 range. Weather is the first topic in any local conversation. It’s either hot, or getting hotter and we blame humidity. The heat index, not the number on the thermometer, is the one we pay attention to, along with percentages of rain possibility, which yo- yo up and down the scale. If it’s 20%, 50% or 60%, it means showers will be passing thru and we can, in all probability, expect sunshine before and after rain. If 70% or higher, we are in for monsoons, (good for gardens), or a deluge and floods, (bad for gardens).

Weather in Texas can change drastically within an hour. One has to experience it to believe it. I remember one winter night going to sleep with my warmest blankets, and as the jet stream switched directions, the interior of the house got so warm, I had to kick the blankets aside.

I have never gotten used to the violent weather changes. The ice storms are exquisitely beautiful to look at but not much fun to experience. They cause power outages, downed trees and broken water pipes. I was astounded when I experienced my first Texas ice storm. It was totally unexpected. Rain turned to ice after nightfall and I could hear the crackling and breaking of tree limbs all thru the night. When I awoke next morning, I was awe struck to find everything coated with ice, glistening and sparkling like diamonds. The sun was shining but the temperature had dropped too low to melt the ice.

There were power outages and broken water pipes all over town. Mom and Dad, living in the house next door, had an outage lasting 8 days. Mine lasted only 3 days as electricity at the end of my side of the street was restored sooner than Mom and Dad’s. We both had broken water pipes. My sister, Esther, was visiting Mom and Dad at the time, and between her and our brother, Charles, we managed to connect our two houses with heavy duty power cords so both our houses had lights, television and refrigeration. We all went on ‘wilderness survival mode’ until water pipes were repaired, but we counted our blessings because we still had heat to warm the house and cook with.

Broken tree limbs were everywhere. Trees had crashed due to the weight of ice, and flattened sections of my back yard fence. A huge limb from a pecan tree had fallen on top of my car, covering it with a 6 foot high canopy of frozen branches. The thick, jagged end of the limb was jammed into the frozen ground on the passenger side of the car. I was able to push branches aside far enough to squeeze into the driver’s seat and fortunately, the car started instantly when I turned on the ignition. I slowly backed the car out from underneath the branches and parked further down the driveway. Later, when we checked the roof of the car for dents, there wasn’t even a scratch to be seen.