The cooler temperatures have surely been welcome in our Fair Valley of the Pecan over the past several days. Those of us that received rain felt fortunate, while the few that were not as well blessed are surely looking

forward to the next cool front. It appears that this next tropical storm that coming across will, more than likely, head on up the Eastern seaboard and harass those folks of more northern extraction. Maybe one of those two or three following might come on into our Gulf and bless the Lone Star State with some good rains. I recall some years when one of those might meet a cool front around the Hill Country and bless us with a bit more rain than is normally requested. A wise and venerable ol’ Judge saw me in the Post Office years back and remarked regarding some recent heavy rains: "You might be careful of what you pray for." Probably sound advice for us all, regardless of the subjec

We would imagine that lots of folks will be coming into the County this coming Holiday weekend, from points all around the State. Several aspects of the weekend make it very popular as a holiday, some of which include the kickoff for college football, opening of Dove season, family

reunions, as well as lots of cooking and visiting. Though many come down year-round , now-days, many of the hunters use the opening of bird season as a good excuse to get down to their leases and camps to get feeders going and sort of fixin’ things up for November. Some of them will even take time to do a bit of fishing, as our County is blessed with a lot of good fishing streams, lakes & ponds. Shaw & I have both been scouting around the County for any congregation of Doves, Whitewing & Mourning birds, but have seen a lot less birds since the cool front came through. The Whitewings don’t seem to be back in full force yet, and seem a bit sketchy in establishing their flight lanes to and from their foraging areas. The best bets I’ve noticed, so far, appear to be some grain fields that have good stands of Sunflowers, as well as a stock pond near by. The Texas Croton (Doveweed) is still pretty green

and not shedding seed as of yet. Anyhow, we both agreed that it might be a bit better shooting by the 2nd weekend instead of this opening one. We did note that the daily bag limit had been raised back up to 15 birds this season, and the Wardens might not be able to cite many folks for being over bag limit. It would be wise for hunters to strictly observe all hunting regulations as well as exercising common sense regarding safety precautions involving folks and firearms.

Son, Will, is planning on being in from Waco and bringing his new Pointer pup, Major, with him to let him become familiar with shotgun sounds as well as seeing what a real bird looks and smells like. The little German Shorthair, being a mere 10 weeks of age, is already exhibiting some bird dog behavior characteristics. "Teaspoon" Tony Navarra will be in over at the "Onliwon-Pecan Place" next door to Lady Z’s, so we should be able to fix up some fine food regardless of our hunting luck.

Dale Barber was in this past week as he brought a load of Hereford heifers down from Channing for the Replacement Female sale out at Jordan’s at Harkeyville this past Saturday. There surely was a big crowd attending the Auction as the entire area was filled with pickups, trucks and trailers all over the parking lot as well as up and down the bar ditches all around. One would imagine that is about as many folks seen in that area at any one event according to the Mayor and yrs. truly out around———Harkeyville!!!!!!

BRAISED DOVES