Little has changed around our parts regarding the precipitation problem since our last visit. The morning temperature has been very pleasant and most of the afternoons have seemed a bit more bearable. We know that it has been extremely hot when we go around talking of the "cool" evenings when the thermometer reaches a high of only 96 degrees. A lot of folks around our area are also somewhat leery of future rainfall forecasts being it did not

rain during the Labor Day weekend. We all recall it raining during the opening weekend of Dove season, over the years past, that is. Anyhow, however trite it may sound, we are always one day closer to the next rain, but we all would like to see it very soon.

If you have happened to have noticed, there are certainly a lot of all sorts of trucks & trailers making their way up and down the highways hauling varieties of hay. We’ve seen all kinds of hay being hauled in from points such as Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, East Texas, Nebraska, Colorado, as well as some other destinations not named. The varieties have varied from corn & maize stubble, to stalks of corn & hay with grain included, Bahia, Coastal Bermuda, as well as some Alfalfa. The price is so elevated that I dare not even mention. One thing for sure is that with the deletion of cow numbers, when you run out of cattle, we won’t need any feed anymore.

The Pecan producers that have access to irrigation systems have been valiantly trying to keep the orchards watered, as well as they can manage. A number of wells are dry, the Colorado is very dry, excepting some big holes,

and the San Saba is still managing a low trickle at most of the shoals.

There is also a continuing procession of all sorts of water hauling tanks lining up down at the big water spigot at the Mill Pond. Some folks are hauling water for the house as well as for livestock. I’ve even heard of a few folks that are keeping temporary troughs filled for the deer, as many of the dirt tanks have dried up. Most of the Dozer operators have been getting steady work cleaning the silt from the tanks.

Football took a major set-back for San Saba this past Friday night

with the Wall Hawks fairly well shading our Armadillos. Some of the Dillos are somewhat banged up this week, but I’d bet there are still enough left to vent their frustrations on the Hamilton Bulldogs. Texas had a tight game with BYU, but rallied at the right time to salvage a close win. The Cowboys had no such luck, but Kubiak’s Texans walloped the Colts in fine fashion.

Hopefully, the Aggies won’t have much problem with mighty Idaho this weekend.

Dove season has been sort of hit & miss for the scatter gun enthusiasts, what with some of the birds leaving out from the recent cooler weather we’ve seen this past week. The Mourning Doves are fairly abundant in some of the Sunflower patches and the Whitewings are starting to travel their trails making their way back to Town in the evenings. I don’t know how they managed, but the Wooly Buckets (Gum Elastic) bushes are pretty well loaded with their purple berries, which is a main staple of the Whitewings this time of year.

Tony (Teaspoon) Navarra was in this past weekend for a bird hunt as well as another cooking buddy of ours, Jim Neil. Most of the shooting was of the target nature but we did manage a couple of fine meals. We sizzled some Top Sirloins the 1st evening and enjoyed some fresh Oysters Shaw shucked for the Saturday evening soirée . I think Jason brought them in from the Coast, via Austin. Tony fixed up a big bowl of Pico de Gallo that went over well with a big bag of Tostados. Lady Z whipped up a big dish of her famous breakfast casserole that the boys enjoyed for their brunch in between.It looks like we’ll still be hauling water and feeding what cows are

left for a while, yet; but other than that , the Mayor & yrs. truly will still be trying to keep things together out around————Harkeyville!!!!!!!!!!