#melmac78 observation

[melmac78]

@katblu42 wrote: “I know practically nothing about Texas, other than it is big, and in the South of the USA. It seems to be portrayed as having fairly warm weather . . . but as large as it is, does it have regions of varying weather patterns? And in a similar vein, are there various areas of diverse vegetation/fauna?”

••••••

In short, yes. I live in West Texas and mom in Southeast (about 500 or so miles apart), and we can have essentially two seasons. It can rain there and be bone dry here, and sometimes in the winter she asks me the temp so she can prepare the next day.

And it’s no exaggeration some parts of the state you can experience at least 3 seasons in the same day. I’m personally lucky in that I seem to have adapted to this particularly go here, which it’s frequent 2 seasons a day right now, but I get funny looks being in short sleeves in cooler weather because of it.

•••••••

Vegetation/fauna is definitely diverse. If I travel from home to Mom’s, in that 8 hour drive I go from:

• a flat area where most trees that aren’t mesquite were planted by settlers (you can tell where a house is/was based on clusters of trees), that grows cotton and feed if they aren’t an oil town

• area with mesas and wind turbines after leaving the Caprock, another ironically heavier oil area. The turbines are increasing to the point I joke they’re “Don Quixote’s nightmare.

• areas with thicker areas of trees that are shorter, oddly at times more prickly pear cactus, and bigger cities,

(This varies if I take the longer route - uncommon but I will in December to run a different St. Jude race - through Boerne/San Antonio where you go through the mesas and rolling plains again in the middle of the state, and unfortunately experience 40 mins. of cell phone dead zone. It’s bad to the point it’s LEGAL to go 80 mph to get through it)

• heavily wooded area and gentle hills.

And then if we go to Galveston or Corpus Christi there’s some marshy areas and then the coast.

The marshiest area is around La Porte I think, which is where the battle of San Jacinto was and the Texas fighters used this to an advantage.

••••••

Wildlife varies. I see more wild turkey and pheasant here than east coast. I’ve seen a few roadrunners but they seem more prevalent in the Palo Duro Canyon.

Prairie dogs are far more common in west Texas. Amarillo’s minor league team’s mascot is Sodpoodles (a nickname) and Lubbock has one park dedicated to the black tail prairie dogs.

Anyone watching them I’d say don’t walk close: their town system underground makes it dangerous to walk lest you fall through a hole.

I definitely see more deer near moms along with raccoons. Skunks more often here: in the summer I must walk the cemetery in full daylight, not dusk as they seem to like living there more. (Just clarifying for folks: where I am the cemetery is the safest place to walk due to bad traffic and has a very high visibility).

Snakes are definitely a big issue all around. For the poisonous ones, West Texas more rattlers and coral while East copperheads and water moccasins (though up here we’ll see some copperheads).

Coast we see a lot of sea turtles nest there, particularly Kemp Ridley. There’s a lot of hatching ceremonies in the year where the state protects the turtles until they waddle into the Gulf to give them a fighting chance to survive.

I’m sure there’s even more than this, but it’s more of I’ve experienced here

Thanks for the ask.

#melmac78 observation #ask me but person specific #melmac78

[bonsaiiiiiii-fics]

FabFiveFeb 2021 - Virgil week (3)

prompts: a question, “I don’t understand”

Part 1 | Part 2

oooooookokokokokkkkk i know a looot of time had passed and probably everyone forgot about this, but with the hiatus and co i couldn’t post earlier, soooo, yeah, there you go. i highly recommend you reread part 1 and 2 again so you get the idea of what i wrote here. that said, enjoy this finale!

tagging: the host of the amazing challenge, @gumnut-logic (high-key sorry i’m so late hope you don’t squish me too much), and whoever showed interest in the last 2 parts, such as @nourelle-tracy @louthestarspeaker @weirdburketeer @janetm74 @lenna-z @cg29 @psychoticalienjackie @godsliltippy @melmac78 @plushiecuddler @dragonoffantasyandreality @brinalm @vegetacide @katblu42 @rachfielden-xo (yes i’m tagging everyone who liked the precedent parts what about it, fighT ME)

Scott sat for the umpteenth time in the umpteenth hospital chair, heartbroken. His mind was full of thoughts and if he even thought he had to express them out loud he would almost certainly scream.

Virgil was just standing there, sleeping like nothing happened, except for his bandaged right shoulder and some superficial bruising from the climb, which he shouldn’t have done, by the way.

His father was very angry with Virgil, but he had hidden it behind a quite thick veil of concern, which hit him too when the surgeon who removed the bullet embedded in his shoulder announced that the patient had also entered into fibrillation. Also, as if getting shot wasn’t enough. Now he was in a forced coma, to allow his body to heal without complications; he did not risk his life, however, so even if life support was taken away there was no high risk.

Jeff had gone down to the cafeteria to get some coffee, Alan along with him, probably to binge eat as usual; Scott had never understood why Alan could eat so much in situations like these, as if his stomach didn’t care that his older brother was in the hospital.

Scott, on the other hand, remained there, by his side, brooding as usual, starving as usual, worrying as usual.

Although their father had finally returned and immediately took over the reins of the International Rescue, it was still difficult for Scott to let himself go altogether, and return to the role of operator within IR. He often thought about it, how could he abandon a role he had become accustomed to and had made his own for 8 years? The commanding role, which had fallen on his head the day after his father disappeared, along with the various responsibilities that followed.

He thought about it, yeah, and he kept thinking about it, and there was always an answer in his mind, even if it wasn’t the right one. I can’t. His brain always told him that, like a mantra. You can’t.

Jeff somehow understood that, from the day he was rescued, the moment Scott girded his hips with his arm to get him back on the road home. Scott also noticed it, because every time Jeff spoke to him, he looked at him. He looked at him with a gentle, but also a bit authoritarian look. Don’t worry anymore, my son, you don’t need to take on responsibilities that aren’t yours anymore. And he told him without the need to open his mouth, so powerful was a look.

Scott at that moment opened his eyes, and in front of him was Virgil, who was asleep. He was asleep, but it was wrong. He couldn’t sleep now.

"Hey Virg." He tried whispering, like it was a crime to talk to a coma patient out loud. He didn’t get an answer.

"You know? I understand why you disobeyed orders. I don’t think it’s my own reason; it’s just that you care about everyone, unconditionally. You’ve always been the most empathetic of us, like...." he took a little breath. "... mom."

A slight sigh. Jeff would be back any minute. "Who knows how Mom is, eh, Virg? I don’t even want to think that you might be with her right now, because if you are, it means that everything is not good for you. And I...I need you. You must have noticed this, as empathetic as you are." He smiled involuntarily.

He heard a faint noise of footsteps coming from the hallway. "Now I must leave you, Virg. If I don’t get a coffee, I might pass out for a few weeks." He hated leaving his brother alone, but he really needed coffee or a good night’s sleep. The couple of times he left his younger brother alone was to go to a short shower. Of course, International Rescue was off-duty, and it would stay like that until Thunderbird 2 was back on line. None of the brothers worked well when one of them wasn’t there. And Jeff understood that. He understood them.

Scott slowly rose from the uncomfortable chair on which he had also spent many nights, putting a hand on his forehead in the process. He took one last look at Virgil, then left the room, John taking over.

The redhead put his left hand on his brother's shoulder, the other arm leaning against the wall, not yet fully accustomed to Earth’s gravity, and Scott smiled feebly back, then went to the cafeteria. Now it was John’s turn to observe his brother.

~

Virgil glanced at the snow, occasionally touching it with a finger or moving it with the tip of his shoe. They were both back out, and the air, although it was cold from the snow, did not seem to freeze him at all. "Mom...I have a feeling there’s something I desperately need to know."

Lucille looked at him, smiling. Her skin was very white, like snow. "How is that saying? If you don’t remember it, it means it wasn’t important."

"It is! It’s a person..." Virgil placed his hand on his forehead, closing his eyes and trying to remember.

She looked at him, her hands clenched on her chin and her elbows on her thighs. She had always liked to watch her son think. He had this habit of ruffling his eyebrows and bending a corner of his mouth down as he thought. All of them were different when they were thinking. Scott narrowed his eyes and pulled out his deadly dimples, unwittingly bending an angle of the mouth upwards, John always kept a neutral face, while Gordon had the habit of covering his mouth with the fist of his hand. And Alan...she never had time to find it out.

Usually Lucille could not possibly interfere with the natural course of things, but now it was essential for Virgil to return to his family. Get back to life. This would have been just...a shortcut to get to the final path. A path to which Virgil would have to come on his own, and fight for himself.

"Do you miss your father?" By now she had thrown the stone. Now it was up to Virgil to take it, retrieve the last piece of the puzzle to make it complete, and to ensure himself a way out. And of life.

"Yes..." Virgil replied, with a sad but strong voice. "Sometimes I feel like he’s back...I feel like I hear him..." The piece was slowly getting stuck. "I feel..." The last memory fell on him, like an avalanche. An avalanche that he could feel.

Lucille smiled at him, aware of what his son was about to reveal to her.

"He’s alive! He’s back..." Virgil began to stutter, the memory of his father, sitting at his desk, with gray hair and wrinkles marked by the age, but he did not remember the emotion felt in taking him back, in bringing him home from space.

His heart started beating too fast. So fast that even the Virgil who fought on the hospital bed had the heart that galloped too hard for the tastes of the multiparametric monitor, which began to beep hastily, alarming his doctors, who entered the room en masse.

Virgil took a few short breaths, calming down, but this was not enough because, as he had heard, he was in 'critical conditions’ caused by a 'seizure'. Or at least that’s what he heard.

"Virgil," his mother’s voice took him away from his thoughts, a voice as sweet as the face looking at him.

"I have to go back, Mom." He was quick to answer.

She nodded and smiled. "Don’t you want to be here with me anymore?"

He smiled too. "Now not anymore, I understood what I wanted and I solved what I had to solve." He took a short breath, while she nodded. "Thank you, Mom, for taking care of me one last time..." He was ready to say goodbye.

Almost as if she had intercepted his thoughts, she was immediately ready to answer. "Always remember...that I will never leave, child. I will always be here when you want to talk to me." She put her hand on his chest, right where his heart was beating. "I will always listen to you, even if I cannot answer you."

His big hand covered her hand, holding it tightly. "Thank you." He looked at her. "How do I get back?"

Her face immediately became serious, and her hand moved away from her heart. "You must fight...your fear."

"What...?" That’s when he realized he could feel something. Almost afraid, he turned slowly towards the avalanche behind him...that moved quickly towards his direction.

He suddenly felt nauseous, and he quickly turned to his mother, expecting a smiling face and maybe hearing her say that all this was a joke, because she had the habit of always joking, the same habit that Gordon too had. At that moment, however, he did not know what was scarier, whether the avalanche that threatened to overwhelm him at any moment or his mother’s frightened face.

"There is no other way...?" His voice was very weak.

"No, I’m sorry...and you don’t have much time left..."

"So you expect me to run into an avalanche?"

"I expect you to overcome your fear, to save yourself."

Words so simple, but at the same time incredibly powerful, that they had the effect of a slap in the face. He had tried to save his mother, but all this time he had been under the avalanche. Overwhelmed by fear.

He looked seriously at his mother, who understood, kissing him quickly on the cheek, then he got up and took a running start, charging it with all the fear that, he was certain, will never go away completely. Then he ran, ran to fight his monster, screaming with all his voice in his body, his battle cry.

He entered the avalanche.

Then...

All white.

~

“Thank you, I was really hungry.” Virgil replied, looking happily at the pizza that Gordon had smuggled to him.

“Heh, don’t get caught.” His copilot winked back at him.

“By the doctors?”

“That too, but by Scott! God know we’ll both get a good piece of talk if he finds out!”

“His favorite man needs carbohydrates.”

“‘His favorite man’ my ass!” Scott entered the room, showing his killer dimples and his pearly white smile. “Did you think you’d eat pizza without me?” The eldest took a slice of pizza, handed it to Virgil, then took another one for himself.

“That was the intent.” Gordon replied, earning a smack in the back of his neck from Scott.

“Have a nice meal too, guys.” Virgil responded with a laugh.

He was about to bite into his beloved pizza, when a black and white butterfly came in through the open window, resting on Virgil’s fingers.

Mom…

-END-

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfic #FabFiveFeb2021 #fabfivefeb #Virgil Tracy #Scott Tracy #John Tracy #Gordon Tracy #Alan Tracy #Lucille Tracy #Jeff Tracy #whumpIris #yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo #i’m back from the dead and so is my writing #ok fin bye felicia #pls don’t let it be forgotten #and donut smack too hard on my poor cranium for delivering so late #we officially done with the whump #damn #i’m gonna go get a chocolate milkshake anybody wanna come #damn x2 #*Iris defenestrates self* #was about to post but bishhhhh isn’t it too short #??? #k bye

[melmac78]

Using the domino molds for some pendants.

I’m not sure if I want to keep the center as a domino or cover the top with resin to fill the divots.

The square one was done with a double blank and the gears one I’m keeping the number (11).

#melmac78 observation #resin fun

[melmac78]

This is Ash.

Ash is not sure why there’s a Boop-o-Meter with her image on it.

Given her boops of late are going after my toes and heels (thankfully calloused - half marathons have done value)… I’d rather her confused.

#melmac78 observation #boop tumblr thing.

[melmac78]

You may be repurposing a bit hard when this is your set today.

I made both keys pieces… The typewriter one is bought.

Yes, newer key on bracelet but tied to where I am and doesn’t work anymore - lock changed years ago by person who gave it to me. Wanted me to use a piece of “home” when I’m working new place.

#melmac78 observation

[melmac78]

Yes. We had the solar eclipse, which photos are left to right taken with a special filter for phones

No we didn’t have a total one here.

Yes, I’m happy not living in New Braunfels anymore, as we’d had a lot of traffic for the event.

Oddly, half of San Antonio would see full eclipse and half partial… I think NB had partiality.

#melmac78 observation #solar eclipse info

[melmac78]

I was very happy how this turned out, though I had a weird large air bubble in the bottom I fixed adding more gears and a coin miniature. (All my other gears were covering up the bottom turtle, even the smallest. Plus, a mini coin is tradition in my gear pendants.)

It is the last of the metal flowers though unless Tandy’s website still has them in stock.

#melmac78 observation #resin fun

[melmac78]

New key bracelet. Added the gears and topped with resin to protect them.

I think I should’ve used slightly brighter colors but I still like it.

#melmac78 observation #paracord fun

[melmac78]

I have found a western shirt worse than John’s.

The shirt giveaway yesterday by the Rockhounds…

(Illustration by the Rockhounds’ site.)

I took a closeup of the plaid.

The plaid is nice… but not sure about the bib.

(And yes, it’s a giveaway and they’re supposed to be silly, especially minor league stuff but…)

#melmac78 observation #john tracy #thunderbirds are go #John’s shirt has met its match.

[melmac78]

Well… erm… looks like they’re having me transfer to another place near here. Not for any bad reason (I’d be getting a decent enough raise and it looks like I’d be dropping some extra work because bigger staff), but just was out of the blue. I’ll take it over other options obviously.

I can commute but I even know it’ll be ultimately a move if it stays long term. Of course they waited until after I could give my two months notice so I’ll have to pay extra unless I stay until December (which I’m still debating, as there’s fun stuff here I’d forget about and it’s an hour drive approx. and I’d actually get to have fun and not get behind a camera… plus I may be fed up in 8 months, want to leave and it’d save me an extra move.)

I think I’d become the pub, which is a step up technically (just a convoluted hierarchy… explaining the TARDIS would be easier).

••••••

One of the many interesting things in my town this week, which included a manhunt yesterday (which I didn’t realize until I remember said helicopters were used to protect the President George H.W. Bush’s funeral train in 2018 - yes I covered this procession) - covering some unusual events beyond this, and getting a card WITH a rubber duck on my car from someone wanting to fix my mostly barely noticeable hail damage. (I’ll give points creativity though).

I’m going to watch the Rockhounds in Midland tomorrow, which has me excited because I’ve missed any form of pro-baseball (they’re the A’s minor league team) and they’re fairly cheap (well to me compared to the Amarillo Sodpoodles). Do have to cover something tomorrow but it’s a fun event and co-worker attending offering to assist so I’ll let her.

And I’m making another key paracord bracelet but a more modern key someone gave me.

And taxes… gotta pay them.. shouldn’t be but I am. 🙄

#melmac78 observation #tales of a newsroom worker

[melmac78]

A bit Penelope inspired… flower millefiori and either gears or birds.

I have one for an old key in the next day or two. Won’t be tonight because Mom’s up here and we’re spending the day together.

#melmac78 observation #resin fun

[melmac78]

Top of car this morning. We had ice, but never seen it ice like this on top.

I took in morning so the oranges are sunrise.

Pendants worked by the way. I’ll post later when I have more.

#melmac78 observation

[melmac78]

I have a sea turtle mold.

Plan on doing a bi-color orange/blue tonight and maybe a square with skeleton key. The style on turtle will be different though.

#melmac78 observation #resin fun

[melmac78]

Doctor Who inspired, bit 15th and titles.

I just like turtles though.

#melmac78 observation #resin fun #doctor who inspiration

[melmac78]

You know… given my long winded, Fish from “Barney Miller” type observations of late…. I’m going to do an offer.

This is an ask me pretty much anything about my career (news or the stint at Fiesta Texas in particular), the state (since I’ve lived here most of my life and been literally all over the state so there’s a lot I can tell you about or anything I’ve been to.

I’ll even take some personal, but note they may not get answered if they reveal too much private stuff (I’m pretty open, but usually it’s family tied questions I’m more restrained).

Just something I’m interested in seeing in regard to how much/little folks really know about Texas.

#melmac78 observation #ask me - but person specific #melmac78

[melmac78]

Probably will wear the Christmas themed one during the day and the butterfly tonight.

The second was done for this event and has a mix of blue gold and green glitter -blue for mom as a colon cancer survivor, green for my friend who’s a SJ patient (anaplastic epemdymoma, green favorite color), and gold for all childhood cancers.

I’m not a huge fan of lots of green/red for Christmas hence the decisions for this Christmas pendant.

#melmac78 observation #resin fun