Well, the drought is persisting in central Oklahoma. The ground is dry, there is still a fire ban, and we have yet to receive enough rain to break this supernaturally long, dry spell. My vitex look positively freeze dried, like we could put them in sealed plastic and call them Astronaut Ice Cream Flakes.
The temperatures are cooler at night though. Last night it was down in the low 50s and if it hadn't been for my significant other, suffering from hay fever, I would have opened the windows and enjoyed the cool night air, which is an amazing departure from the 99 degree temps we saw at 10 pm at night, over the summer.
The Monarch Migration is officially here. The past few days I have been counting about 4 to 7 Butterflies a day, flying high over lamp posts, crossing streets, and visiting roadside flowers. Later I am going to go out and see if I can find larger numbers on known meadows. It would be exciting to find, but I half dread doing this, for fear of being disappointed and finding none.
The Drought Monitor predicts that this drought will persist until early this Winter. That causes me to worry that when it does break, Oklahoma will get those devastating ice storms we are famous for. No electricity for a week, 3 or 4 inches of ice, solid on every road, and power line, and tree, which means me and every other home owner will spend the next six months cutting down trees and downed limbs caused by these storms. We have a generator, so we will probably be hosting neighbors in our house as well. With one bathroom. Oh how much fun.
And now for something completely funny. Sarah Silverman has something to say about Voter ID Laws.
Warning to the faint of heart, it's Sarah Silverman. She uses some pretty stout language, so if that isn't your thing, then I suggest you skip it. And FYI to other Okies, Apparently the State of Oklahoma wants to do away with Affirmative Action in Oklahoma. Personally, this doesn't surprise me a bit. And for the record, if you are a woman and you have worked outside the home, then you have benefited from Affirmative Action. If you are a woman and you have gone to college, you have benefited from Affirmative Action. This is especially true if you worked in any kind of federal job or joined the military. So if you think that Affirmative Action is just about color, then I suggest you sit up and pay attention. It's also about gender.
The attempt to disenfranchise citizens hasn't just been via the vote. It's been an attack on every aspect of fairness and freedom that benefits anyone who isn't White and isn't Male--who also isn't wealthy enough to fight this in the courts at the drop of a hat.