Things are starting to dry out. The ground is mere mud instead of slush now. I noticed that some of my outlets weren’t working so each time i discovered one i reset it. When i reset the one on the outside of the house the water softeners began making a noise. I suddenly realized the displays had not turned on when i had returned power to the well house. Somehow, when i reset the outdoor outlet the display lit up on the water softener with a collection of blinking error messages. I went ahead and placed a call to the softener company and they agreed to come out and reset the softeners the following day. I collected a day’s worth of chicken eggs and placed them in the well house with a note. City folk tip repair men with money. Farmers tip repair men with vegetables and ranchers and backyard chicken owners tip repair men with eggs.
The high was 84 degrees. It was hot in the house. With no a/c and a metal roof, i did most of my school work and meal prep on the porch in summer clothes. Seeing as i spent nearly the whole day outdoors i got very sunburned, even though i was in the shade most of the time.
At one point i thought i’d drive down to the only store in my town “dollar general” and get a couple spiral notebooks to write in since i’d filled the ones i was using for school. cell service and internet had been very unreliable and skimpy since the storm. There were now dead-zones that stretched for miles. The cashier announced that she couldn’t get the register online and so it would have to be a cash only situation today. I didn’t have any cash and the only atm in town was known for eating cards so none of us used it. I had to drive all the way into town (the nearest city) to buy a couple spiral notebooks, half an hour of shopping mayhem and an hour of driving. I did finally find some gasoline though so i replaced the quarter tank of gas i’d used. I didn’t notice the torn tree limbs until near sundown. I don’t own a chainsaw because the hospital is a long drive from my property. I don’t own any tools that could render me bleeding out in .02 seconds. So the poor cedars had to wait while i worked and worked at it standing on my porch chair with a manual hand saw. Eventually i got the job done. Everyone further north in texas told me it was their oak trees that were losing branches left and right but for me it ended up being the cedars. These normally indestructible little trees just had too much greenery for the ice to cling to. I left all the branches in the dog run. When these dogs come home they’ll have some epic chew toys to work on. It made me sad when i said it to the chickens. Sometimes i’ll be cooking or working on school work and think “you know the dogs have been outside for a while i should let them in and see if they want to rest for a while” and then i’ll remember they’re not here. When i brush my teeth at night i’ll turn to tell Sili she can finally get in the bed and her excited face isn’t eagerly awaiting the command. In the morning i go to fill their water bowl and its not there. I’m standing over an empty placemat in the corner with the pitcher poised and ready. It’s so quiet in the house. I wonder if this is what divorced parents feel like after they send their kids to stay with their ex for the summer. I closed the gate to the dog run. They’ll have to wait a couple weeks to see the giant chew toys i left them but they’ll be back, eventually, when i can get some a/c out here. That’ll be the day; when the dogs come home.
