Finals ore over, more snakes, more rain

Last night we took our last test for this semester. We also got our grades for the previous test as we were leaving. I do not know how I did on the test last night – there were a lot of trick questions – but we all did well on the pervious test. Mama, who thought she failed the test made an 85. My score was 101 and Victoria got a 99. I do not expect that high a score on the test I took last night. Still we are excited about the coming semester which will start in late August; about the time I find out about the Licensing job. After everyone was finished with the test we all went to IHOP for dinner. It was a good time of fellowship.

We are still having a problem with snakes at the mailbox. Another one was discovered yesterday. The lady carrying the mail dropped the mail off to Mama and the two of them went to look over the mailbox to determine what I needed to do to seal it off more completely. I did that last night. Tonight I will look at the possibility that there is a nest of snakes in the column where the mailbox is inserted. If that is what I find, that will necessitate a different solution.

The snakes we are seeing are non-poisonous so I do not want to kill them outright. I would like to relocate them but keep them healthy. I fear that may not be possible but it is my goal. The mail lady is terrified of all snakes so I have to somehow allay that fear – which may be very difficult since she has seen two snakes while delivering our mail. This is country living at its best.

Rain begins again today and is forecast for everyday for the next eight days. I suppose that is nothing extraordinary for someone like Maggie and Aaron who live in the temperate rainforest of the Northwest but it is not a common weather pattern for us in north Texas. Some creeks and rivers have been above flood stage for over ten days now with no respite in sight.

As a company we are feeling the effects of constant rain with some of our wellheads and tank batteries flooded and many of our roads impassable because they are either underwater, washed out or so slimy and soft we cannot get to the wells that need out attention. Production has suffered as a result. Like the work I have been trying to get done on my little koi pond, much of what we do will have to wait for several weeks after the rain lets up.

On the farm, we will have to section off a portion of the barn lot that we have not been able to get sufficiently cleaned out because it is too soft to get the tractor near it and it is getting too bad to allow Daisy and Dash to use it. I could clean it with a scoop shovel but it is a lot of muck to move by hand. I am not sure I am up to that at the moment. We will let it dry out and remove it when I can have some machinery to help.

Now that I have another night of the week free to work I hope to start making quicker progress on projects that have been languishing for lack of time.