I think this one better captures the joy of the OP:
Chefguy…yes that helps. I love my Stevie Ray and it went well with my ice cold beer tonight. Hoping for more rain tomorrow.
Sailboat… those lyrics touched my heart. Thank you.
Taco Cabana has evidently abandoned this market. I just recently arrived back here (Houston) and think they sold out. Loved their 99 cent margaritas and endless chips+salsa.
Perhaps I put them out of business by stopping by for lunch?
I would if a certain red-headed waif would invite me over for a day or two. 
Other than that. we could just hang out drinking at your local pub. 
Would it be possible for a tornado to show up in the parched regions of Texas now that the rains are finally happening?
Not quite sure. We (Houston, Gulf Coast region) are not in “Tornado Alley”.
They are saying that the evaporation effects (which are non-existent due to lack of rain) contribute to this drought and is affecting Texas and a lot of the south USA
The soil here is bone dry and doesn’t release moisture into the atmosphere making a perpetual “dry” cycle.
Perhaps this little rain we had today will break that effect.
BTW, tornado’s (what is the plural of?) show up here on the Texas Gulf Coast as a byproduct of a tropical storm or hurricane rather than the weather events in the Central USA.
The Midwest USA is the breeding ground for those suckers.
Personally. I rather have a hurricane than a tornado. Hurricanes: one can track. Tornadoes? They can appear from nowhere and f you up big time.
Put me down as another blissed out by the thundershowers. It was starting.g to seem like it would never rain again, ever.
Got rudely awakened at o-dark-thirty this morning by thunderboomers and lightning bolts. Interspersed with all that noise was the pleasant sound of rain falling on the roof. It lasted about 45 minutes and when I finally walked outside to go to work, the temp was down at 72 instead of the usual 80+, and the air smelled like air instead of smoke.
We’re supposed to get rain pretty much through the week. Man, did we ever need it.
Whoever it was that was doing the rain dance, I’d like to buy that fella a beer. It sure was nice to see some of that wet stuff this weekend.
La Nina, actually. This rain spell has been blessed to be sure. Hopefully it’ll still around long enough to do the trees some good, not just the grass. Unfortunately, the effects of La Nina are set to return soon and they’re saying the drought will continue through the winter. I’m afraid the devestation from all this will be apparent for years to come.
The Houston Chronicle yesterday showed that the Bastrop fire had wiped out much of the Lost Pines, including evidently that stretch along 21. That used to be so beautiful, I dread the next time we drive through, it will be beyond depressing.
If they’re Pines, then the fire just blew open a couple of million seeds. They’ll be back, and in greater numbers.
Last night, our side of town got hit by two thunderstorms that were marching southwards. One from New Braunfels, the other from Kendall County. The eastern end of one merged with the western end of the other, and ka-BAM, temperature dropped 20 deg. F, rain fell in sheets, big light show in the sky, and 40 mph wind gusts. (Tie down the outhouse, pa!)
Afterward, the poor ol’ feral tom cat showed up on our doorstep, soaked to the skin. I fluffed him up with a towel while he inhaled a bowl of kitty krunchies.
The backyard, which had been 2 inches of black powder, is now 2 inches of sticky black mud that the dogs are tracking into the house. But I’m not complaining.
The best news is that both storms traveled over the aquifer’s recharge zone, so we’re hoping the aquifer gets “topped off” over the next few days as the rainwater filters through the limestone.
Speaking of cheat eats…
Those of us who have dined there cannot figure out why no one has established a Waffle House here. We are baffled, as the combination of low prices, focus on fatty pork products and large portions of starchy foods (high-sodium or overly sweetened) is sure to be a big hit with both the Anglo-rancher and acclimated-Hispanic demographics. Plus, the coffee is good if you get it when it’s very fresh. A veritable puzzlement…
Rain rain rain, rain-y rain rain … 
San Bolognio?
:smack:“Cheap” eats, not “cheat” eats.
San Ah dunno, ya know?
Really? We oughtta get together, have some lunch. Hit me with a PM if interested, and I won’t take it personally if not.
Not to put a scare into you or anything, but hurricanes spawn tornadoes. Just sayin’.
That stretch between Bastrop proper and 290? Damn. That’s about the only neat part of the Austin/Houston or Austin/College Station drive that I enjoy.
Anyone know where we can get Lost Pines pine seedlings? They’re supposedly a genetic variant on the more eastern Loblolly Pine that has evolved somewhat to thrive in a drier environment than the big stands of pine further east.
Yes, it said they saved 100 acres around the 1930’s buildings that make up the Bastrop State Park and there are patches along the outer fringe but that the core of the Lost Pines was consumed in the inferno. I’m not surprised that 1500 homes in there were destroyed. There was no distinction between lot and forest in most all of that.
The status of the endangered Houston Toad is unknown. Lost Pines was one of the few places it could be found after a drought in the 60s decimated it from the Houston area.