Severe storm / Power Outage / New Covis-19 Case

Was busy raking and cleaning up the yard from our prior hail storm that took down many small branches and leaves but could not find the larger of the Cat's Food Bags since using even the heavy-duty plastic trash bags will poke holes in them.

I like watching the afternoon news but passed on them because I knew if I took a break I would never get back to my yard work.  I, therefore, had no idea we might be in the path of a severe storm later in the evening.

It was around 8:20 p.m. and I had just finished washing dishes when these terrible wind gusts began even the kitchen door rattled and then I heard the tree branches (that I need to prune) rubbing on the kitchen roof. The rain and lightning show followed shortly by the lights turning on and off several times as I ran around turning off the power strips.

Around 8:45 p.m. the power went out not to return again for the evening. Thank goodness for my solar lights. The wind calmed down but the light show continued.  It was eerie seeing the streets so dark only being lit by the passing cars. The good thing was that the temperature went down so even without the A/C on it was comfortable inside the house.

No electricity meant no TV, no Internet, no computer time. I sat in the recliner trying to unsuccessfully go to sleep. I would have loved to have had a glass of wine or a beer but aside from the beer being hot I had taken a Metformin and that just does not go well with alcohol. While I finally did fall asleep for a while I kept on waking up. Sometime between 4:10 a.m. and 6:25 a.m. the power came back on.

After two weeks without any new cases, the Val Verde County Health Authority reported Sunday the 13th local contagion of Covis-19 case which has been labeled as community spread per the Del Rio News-Herald online site.

Since it is afternoon I can not wish you Terlingua Dreams instead have a nice day and if you can stay home.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Where are all these people going to or coming from?

As many of you know I suffer from insomnia and have for many years. Last night I forced myself to go to bed early but of course, could not. Shortly before 2:00 a.m. traffic began to pick up and continued until 2:20 a.m.  Bars, restaurants, and the border are closed...so where were these people coming from?

Likewise this morning the first car to drive by was actually Pollito's dump truck heading towards town at 7:30 a.m.  From there on it was a caravan of cars...again where were they going...churches are closed were they going to HEB?  I know they were not headed to Walmart because there is a back way to go to the north part of town which greatly cuts the driving time.

This afternoon I saw the rowdy/drunk neighbor pull up in his pick-up with his family.  I know he has been staying there on and off with his mother and step-father but thankfully he then leaves. More cars arrived including his grandmother who is a friend of my mother.  My take is that it must have been Mr. Joe's wife's birthday.  Seriously is that a good idea to bring together four generations in the middle of a pandemic?

I am just amazed by how people come and go every single day as though it was business as usual.  Or maybe I am just jealous because I go into a panic at the thought of having to leave the house.  I just read on the online Del Rio News-Herald Sunday Edition (surprised they allowed me) that this past Thursday they had a drive-up Covid-19 testing site at our local Civic Center.

I look forward to reading about the results because I suspect that there are more than the 12 verified cases that have been reported in Del Rio.

We had a sunny and breezy day with a low of 67 and a high of 91 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

The A/C has officially been turned ON

The house is surrounded by shade trees in the front and back of the house. Therefore even when it is hot if you have a good breeze going it is comfortable inside. Last night it was cool so left some of the windows cracked open as I knew it was going to be a scorcher today.

At 8:00 a.m. I went outside to feed the boys and saw that the neighbor was watering her front lawn.  I used the reserves from my water catchment to water a few trees.

I could not help but note how much longer the lines to get a free daily breakfast and lunch from the school bus at the corner church are getting. Now the lines start forming even before the school bus shows up. This is for school-age children whose parents have to bring with them in order to receive the food.

A couple of days ago I took the following pictures...

I had to laugh because as I was taking this photo Pollito passed by in his dump truck...that is him at the stop sign.  His son, as well as their trucks and work equipment, are located on this street so he passes by several times a day.

Around 2:00 p.m. the A/C turned on automatically as I had programmed it to do so when it reached 80 degrees inside the house. We had a low of 64 and a high of 103 degrees today.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Why are my pictures disappearing?

For a while, I thought it was just a problem with Blogger and that it only affected the pictures I borrowed from El Zócalo and Del Rio News-Herald though I did give them credit for them. Then my own pictures started disappearing from my blog.  Has anyone else had this problem?

I have been having a heck of a time going to sleep.  I believe I might have slept 7 or 8 hours in the past three days.  To be clear I am NOT asking for remedies or suggestions to my problem just documenting this on my blog which doubles as my Cyber Journal.

We have been having hellish temperatures lately.  Monday, April 20th we had a high of 97 with a heat index of 101. Yesterday, April 21st we had a high of 98, and today we had a high of 96 with a heat index of 100 degrees.

The laundromats are closed though I consider them to be an essential business.  I can understand that it would be difficult to limit the number of people inside of them at any given time. Fortunately, we had a lot of wind today which helped dry my hand-washed laundry faster. Though a darn dove or crow did poop on one of my tank tops.  Hate those effing birds that is why I do not mind when the boys have them for dessert!

I hope everyone is doing well.  Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Summer is here

Just as I wrote on my last blog about the nice cool temperatures in my corner of the world... summer decided to make itself be felt. We had a low of 57 and a high of 96 degrees.  We will be in the '90s into the foreseeable future.

I have just about had it with my uncle I do not know if it is a male sort of thing as I have heard from my friends that their male significant other go out every day to purchase silly stuff like cigarettes when they can purchase a whole carton. Some are even going fishing with their buddies.

There is a saying in Spanish..." Primero cae un mentiroso que un cojo"...making reference that a liar will trip first than a person with a limp. My uncle does not know how to lie, which is a good thing I suppose.

We talk to him daily sometimes he calls twice a day which started in late March. The man goes out every single day and then he lets the cat out of the bag by letting us know what he bought at the grocery store!  He is well aware that due to his age and high blood pressure (runs in our family) he is at a higher risk but chooses to go out anyway :-(

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Wonderful temperatures / Mr. Joe's wife / Late Night Comedy Shows

We have been having some wonderful temperatures with highs only in the '70s. I have had the windows open during the day to air out the house.

Wednesday I was picking up trash along the outer fence line when Mr. Joe's wife came out and we spoke from a safe distance...me from my side of the street while she stood by her driveway. I had my mask as well as gloves on. I had to ask her to repeat some stuff as she speaks in a low voice.

Bottom line she told me that there was a lot of tree and roof damage in the city and her mother's house had broken windows.  Her mom is a real sweet lady every time she would see me would hug and kiss me like I was a family member...too bad this pandemic did away with all that :-(

I am so glad the late-night comedy shows are back on the air albeit from the safety of their own homes.  I have to thank Jimmy Fallon for being the first to go live as the others soon followed.  I am more of a Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers fan but thankful for anyone that can make me laugh and de-stress me in this current nightmare we are all living.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Aftermath of hail storm

After watching the 10:00 p.m. evening news last night and seeing photographs from people in the immediate area who had sent them to the different San Antonio television stations I realized how lucky we were.

Photo courtesy of El Zócalo

Photo courtesy of the Del Rio News-Herald

With the morning light, I noticed the two small side mirrors were broken in dad's old car. Though you can not tell from these pictures the silver strip on both sides was dented.

Passenger side mirror...

It also chipped the two back tail lights.  All this is minor damage.

This is what the Hyundai dealership in the north part of town had to deal with.

I read that the city sirens had gone off both in Del Rio as well as in Ciudad Acuña around 8:00 p.m.  Since I fell asleep with the TV on I never heard them until the initial pounding woke me up.

We had a low of 55 and a high of 87 degrees today.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Hail Storm

The weather forecasters have been saying we were going to have heavy rains. strong winds, and the possibility of hail since Thursday but it did not happen until late this afternoon.

I had fed the boys and forced them to remain in the mudroom and since both overate they soon fell asleep. I sat down to watch the 5:00 p.m. news. I was so tired I soon fell asleep until I was awakened by a very loud noise as if someone had thrown a rock or heavy object against the wall.

It happened again so I went to check on the boys. Paquito was sound asleep but Nico looked frightened and ran to the screen door wanting to be let in. I opened the door and he rushed in. Then all hell broke loose as the roof, windows, and walls were pelleted by the hail. It even woke and startled Paquito but he did not seem frightened.

I got away from the windows though there was no doubt in my mind we were right in the middle of a hail storm. The first thing that crossed my mind was...how am I going to fix the window panes if they get broken?

The sound was terrible and I could see the neighbor across the street moving his truck...are you kidding me?  He could have gotten hit in the head by one!  This went on for what seemed like forever but it was probably just for about four minutes.

When it calmed down I opened the front door to look outside and there was a car who had parked across the street by the neighbor's fence and tree hoping to seek shelter for his vehicle? I grabbed the phone and took a picture but it did not come out as the phone is terrible when it comes to night or even day photographs.

Now the cats wanted to go outside to go explore when they usually beg to come inside! One by one the neighbors started to come out with their flashlights to inspect the damage. I grabbed my broom and began to sweep away all the leaves and small branches the hail knocked down and was blocking the path to the front door.

Paquito was licking the hail balls!  It was dark...darker than usual...that is when I looked up at the security light and saw that the lid was about to fall off and Nico just happened to be under it as he was exploring the area by the pomegranate tree where he and the other cats hide and take naps.

I went to check on dad's old car as it is the only vehicle that is not in the garage/carport area but it was too dark. I am not worried though as it is a very solid vehicle and this is not its first rodeo. Once again the picture I took did not come out clear.

I am having a heck of a time making this post as either Blogger or a program that I decided not to download left me some malware or a worm. The photos are not loading properly either and I only have a few minutes before the date changes as my blog is set to Pacific time.

We had a low of 65 and a high of 86 degrees. We are supposed to receive strong storms in a couple of hours.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Prescriptions / Mail pick-up / Beer and Comfort Food Panic Buying

I needed to go pick up my medications as I waited until the last minute last month just before they were going to return them to their stock.  H-E-B has a drive-up pharmacy window and even though it is always busy decided that it was the best route in these trying times.

Drove around the front of the store and while there were a lot of cars in the parking lot the line was not that long. The city recently revised the number of people that can be inside the store from 50 to 75 at a time...the same holds true for Walmart.

I had NO intention of going inside the store so headed to the post office to pick up the mail. Unlike the last time, I was here my P.O. Box was full so I was glad I came.

It was already close to 4:00 p.m. and I really did not need anything as I am good as far as food goes for a while.  Drove by "little HEB" just out of curiosity and saw that the line was not that long so thought...Beer and Comfort Food Panic Buying!

 It took 6 minutes to get inside the store and it went by fast as I was taking pictures.

As soon as I entered the store I saw a bargain I could not pass up a package of carrots for .12 cents. So, of course, I had to buy a five-pound bag of potatoes to go with it.

This time they had an ample supply of eggs but since I do not know how to cook...I boiled the ones I had and used them on my salads.

A carton consisting of less than 30 eggs
Limit 2 per transaction

Cartons consisting of 30 or more eggs
Limit 1 per transaction

They had toilet paper and paper towels considering it was late in the day

They smartly had plenty of toilet paper but in another aisle that apparently went unnoticed by the public. I have plenty so I passed.

The last time I was here they did not have a limit on canned meats but today they did. I bought some ravioli, chili, diced tomatoes and a can of tuna.

They had plenty of water but I did not need any.

Then headed to the beer aisle and bought the last 30-pack of Natural Light in the cooler along with a 15-pack. It is cheaper to buy a 30-pack as it only costs $16.98 versus two 15-packs ($9.48 x 2) for $18.96.  Added a 16 oz six-pack and a box of Franzia Cabernet Sauvignon as an extra measure in case the government pulls a fast one on us as the Mexican government did on its citizens by declaring beer brewing as a "non-essential" business and shut them down triggering beer panic buying in Mexico...I did a post on this recently.

I also bought cookies, pre-packaged salads, chips, yogurt, bananas, strawberries, raisins, and cat food for my boys and Katie.

The going price for regular unleaded gasoline at HEB was $1.759 per gallon.

We had a low of 65 a high of 91 with a heat index of 96 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.



Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Another case of Covis-19 / First Murder of the Year / Another warm day

We have our sixth confirmed Covis-19 case, the person was identified as a male who traveled to the inner part of the nation and brought it home.  He has been transferred to San Antonio, Texas for treatment.

Murders are not very common in this sleepy border town but unfortunately, we recorded our first murder of the year.  It was a man in his 30's the two suspects are thankfully in jail now.

We had another very warm day that kept me indoors.  We had a low of 71 a high of 95 with a heat index of 101 degrees.  We have strong thunderstorms in the forecast for tomorrow that will bring with it lower temperatures.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

A foggy, gray, gloomy, humid and HOT day!

This morning it was foggy, gray, gloomy and humid. In the afternoon the sun came out and the temperatures shot up. We had a low of 71 a high of 90 with a heat index of 99 degrees. Tomorrow should be about the same but then rain and a cool front will move in by Thursday.

The weeds are out of control and it seems the baby mesquites have grown two to three feet just since last week.

Weeds :-(

Here are some pictures from April 1st when I set up my Terlingua table and chair grabbed my binoculars and cordless phone as I watched all these people drive-by that should have been hunkering down in their homes.

The picture is not crooked...the ground is unleveled.
Paquito felt the need to join me.

With all this rain and more on the way, I can only imagine how much they will grow.  I was talking to my best friend as well as spying on this school bus (the reason for the binoculars). They come by early to hand out breakfast and at noon with lunch for the school children in the neighborhood.

See how much the pesky mesquites have grown

The first week they did not have as many people as they do now...the need is great in this area.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

A cold and rainy day / New Delivery Service in town

I woke up to the sound of rain hitting the window, I ignored it and pulled the covers over my head.  After about two hours of steady rain decided I better go check the usual places where we have leaks. It rained for a couple of hours and even though it is much needed in this area I do not know why it has to be feast or famine.

It was cold or at least cold for me! We had a low of 55 and a high of 58 degrees.

Del Rio News-Herald our local newspaper is cutting back their circulation to two days a week.

Favor, a Texas-based company, is expanding to the city of Del Rio with delivery services available beginning Friday, April 3, 2020. Just in the nick of time.

Favor was founded in 2013 in Austin and is a part of the H-E-B family, according to the company's website.  http://delrionewsherald.com/news/article_129ebf80-7535-11ea-8cb1-a7822f30c192.html

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Our last cold front of the season / A different kind of panic buying

The day started out cloudy, warm, and gloomy. The sky to the northwest of us looked like a strong thunderstorm was imminent but it never made it to the southern tip of the county. At least not that storm...at 2:57 p.m. we had a nice shower that lasted for ten minutes. The nice part was that the temperature dropped 15 degrees to a very comfortable 64.  It is certain to be the last cold front of the season...I do not know if I should be happy or sad?

In these trying times, I love to see or hear about stories that bring a smile or a chuckle.  I started hearing last night about panic buying in Mexico...but in a different twist it has nothing to do with food or toilet paper.

People were panic buying BEER!  It seems the Mexican government has determined that brewing beer is a "non-essential business" so breweries were ordered to shut down until the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

No more Corona, Dos Equis, Tecate or Bud Light (which I did not know was brewed in Mexico) and probably explains why there always have large stacks of them in Mexican grocery stores. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/03/827206308/shoppers-in-mexico-are-panic-buying-beer-during-the-coronavirus-crisis

Today we had a low of 58 and a high of 79 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Trip to the post office / grocery run / bare shelves

Yesterday Wednesday, April 1st on Day 18th of my self-isolation and April Fools Day at that I had no other choice but to drive to the post office to pick-up my mail. Coronavirus or not bills do not stop.

I went early in the morning to avoid the crowds. As I passed HEB on the way there I pulled into the parking lot to take a picture of the falling gasoline prices but I forgot my cellphone. The parking lot was full and there was a long line wrapped around the store. Everyone was keeping their distance and there appeared to be red markers so you knew where you had to stand.

At the post office, there was only one other person and he was reading his mail as he sat in his truck. I was surprised I did not have as much mail as I thought I would but then again bills arrive in the early and not the latter part of the month.

I have consumed two and a half weeks of my grocery stash so I gave careful thought as to whether or not I wanted to wait in line as there is no assurance how long this is going to last and my goal is to try to have a six month supply on hand...so I headed to "little HEB".

There was also a line wrapped around the store but this is a small store and with the six feet of separation it made it look longer. I was surprised most people were wearing masks and had brought with them their own cleaning stash much like myself. That is a good sign that at least my little town is taking this seriously.

They did not have containers of pre-washed packaged salad or spinach so bought lettuce instead.  Stocked up on serranos, garlic, onions, and bananas. I arrived at the store at 8:10 a.m. and it took about 10 minutes to be let in. The people who were exiting the store were mostly buying water, large bags of dog food, sodas, eggs, and paper products (there was a limit of 1) so either they bought out the meat and chicken section in those twenty minutes or their shipment had not arrived.

Equally bare was the milk and egg section. I still have a dozen eggs I bought the last time I was here two and a half weeks ago. They had toilet paper and paper towels and even though I have enough, for the time being, I bought a package of toilet paper just in case. Apart from that, I loaded up on canned goods.

I have not been sleeping well but yesterday I felt like I had a heavyweight lifted off my shoulders after picking up my correspondence and mailing a payment. I slept great last night.

We had a low of 70 this morning with a high of 84 and a heat index of 89 degrees.

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day