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The weather has been trying to get a bit more favorable that past few days with certain part of the County getting some moisture from a few scattered thunder showers. Even if you didn’t get much precipitation, at least it turned down the temperature, somewhat. The sign at the School offices showed 80 degrees when I went to the drugstore Mon. afternoon, and that is pretty cool for 4:00 O’clock in the afternoon. I’m not sure of the official dates, nor do I want to look them up at this moment, but lets be assured that it’s ‘bout time for the Dog Days of summer to be "dog gone"!

Weather records for our area lists some of the greatest flood generally occurring during the latter part of July, or early August. Most likely, the general cause and effect on that phenomenon would be that it’s the major activity period for the Hurricane season. Even in my short span of memory of such aspects, we were all told of the ’36 & ’38 floods and the resulting damage on the San Saba and Colorado drainages, while the ’57 flood, as well as the ’78 catastrophe are fairly well termed "recent" in modern vernacular. It also appears a bit odd that many of the great floods of the past century or so have occurred following an extensive dry spell or drought. Looks like we’ve got a ways to go in the hurricane season so far, but I’m betting, we’re going to see a few more before Fall. Maybe they’ll stir up the Gulf waters enough to emulsify BP’s oil leak spillage.

Quite a few folks around the County have been asking as to the reasons for their turf grass in the lawns looking so poorly this spring and summer. There are a combination of reasons, mostly including a dry Fall last year, followed by some winter spells that were colder than usual. If you don’t put your lawn in good shape in the Fall, it shows the toll on turf in the spring. Turf diseases such as the storied Brown Patch, as well as the more recently discovered Take-all root rot have taken turf measure as well. Proper management practices with watering, mowing, aeration, & timely fertilization will all help toward keeping a healthy lawn and hopefully avoid the fungicide applications. If you’d like to look at more detailed guide lines, stop by the County Extension office in the Courthouse for bulletin information or look up a recent article in the "Angelo Std. Times", by Allison Watkins, the Tom Green County Extension Horticulturist. One of my major pet peeves is that folks have too much San Augustine where Bermuda will do better. If you have a lot of shaded area you might want to try to establish some tough ground cover species.

The Harkey Family Reunion of 2010 is in the books, having commemorated 155 years of Harkeys around our Fair Valley of the Pecan. There were about 90 some-odd kin & friends that gathered down at the American Legion Hall at Mill Pond for 2 days of visiting, eating, games, and eating some more. The Famous Family fish fry was well attended and much appreciated. Notable fry cooks included a bunch of Harkey boys, namely Jimmy, Gordon, John Scott, Will, and yrs. truly. Besides the fried Catfish, the table included copious quantities of taters, hushpuppies, and big batches of squash, okra w/onion. Daddy & James B. sat around the frying area and provided quality control in the taste testing department, under the guidance of Lady Z. Charley Maldonado served as the "honorary" family member this year, sitting in for the absent Tony Navarro. Cousin in-law, Eddy Ragsdale caught the fish for the affair. The covered dish dinner on Sunday was very well set and sampled. Most all family members had to forego Sunday morning service, but all felt equally blessed following Bro. Richard Harkey’s prayer prior to serving. New comers to the Reunion was a San Saba descendent , Harry Harkey and his wife and daughter of Dobbin, back in east Texas. Harry said his great Grandpa was John Riley Harkey, and was going on over to Brownwood to visit with J.D. Harkey on Sunday. Patsy McKee of Austin came in for the Reunion and was accompanied by her daughter, Sis. Patsy was reared in Harkeyville as she was the daughter of Red & Lila. Mildred’s eldest son, Bud Bearss & wife came in and brought Aunt Maybelle over from Cherokee. Kari and Tyler came in from College Station and Glady’s Ruth and Lewis Smith came all the way down from Spur. She garnered the "Elder" prize as Daddy wasn’t there on Sunday. The White Elephant auction was topped with a $34.00 jar of Plum Jam and Carol’s gala garment brought in a fifty dollar bill. The Sr. Center was an extremely enjoyable family gathering facility this year as the newly repaired AC kept the temp. at an even 72 degrees. Barbara Harkey Horn sort of oversees the organization and setup of the whole event.

Guess we need to get this into the "News" for the Editress’ deadline. Other than that I’m proud to report that the Mayor is back home and we’ll be keeping you posted on progress out around—— Harkeyville!!!!!!!!!