I don't live in LR, but I live 70 miles Northwest of there in Russellville. The climate there is similar to my climate. In the winter, we have many days in the 40's or so, but we also have some snow and ice. In the summer, during July and August we get some days in the upper 90's and a little over 100 degree. This year we only have a week or so in the 99 and 100 degree. Our temperatures changes alot. It can be in the fifties in December then change to the 30. We do get a couple of hard freezes each year. I am barely in zone 7, so I am assumming LR is in Zone 7. We have a long growing period, and this year we have gotten alot of rain. I am sure someone will come along and give you a better description than me. Ann

When we have a county burn ban, our commissioners usually lift it once our KBDI drops below 600. I don't know that the OFS uses that same criteria when making recommendations to Gov. Fallin, but I have been expecting them to lift the ban for some counties for a couple of weeks now, so the move didn't surprise me. We are having small fires in our county, but nothing that has gotten the least bit rowdy or out-of-control lately, so I think that they could lift even our burn ban (our KBDI is 661 this morning) right now (which they did not), and we wouldn't have serious wildfire trouble at this point in time. The trouble will come after you have a few frosts and killing freezes if it is still very dry and then you have all that dry, standing vegetation which will burn easily whether it is dead annual vegetation or dormant perennial vegetation. We need to have a really wet fall and winter so that the winter fire season isn't bad. Nothing about our soil is in good shape, Larry, except where I've been watering in the veggie garden and around the fruit trees. We're starting to see cracks in the soil near the house where we haven't had them before, so today and tomorrow I'm going to try to water long and hard in those areas to try and get those cracks to close back up. I'll probably have to water a while, let it soak in, then water again, etc. You know how hard it is to get clay to absorb water when it is rock-hard. Carol, I imagine it will be a real relief to everyone to be able to burn that piled up wood from the big storm that hit your area. As long as it is sitting there, it is such a fire hazard. I'd rather be able to burn that stuff deliberately and have it under control than to have a raging wildfire burn through the area and get it. Some of the Texas counties have been lifting their burn bans here and there along the river. One county made the announcement lifting their burn ban, then said that people should NOT go out and burn brush or do prescribed burning of land for brush removal because it still was too dry to burn. That made me wonder why they lifted the burn ban if they were going to stand there and say "but don't do any burning". That whole thing made no sense. Dawn

Coming into the end of Magnolia from Texarkana, go over the railroad tracks & pass the Deltic Timber plant on the left. Turn right onto County Road 27 when you see the Lake Columbia sign. Follow road for 3.4 miles. Turn right at stop sign then left on County Road 53. Go 3.1 miles & turn into the lake area. You should see the pavilion & the swap area. We won't have door prize drawings if no one signs up to bring any. We may also forget about using tickets if no door prizes. If no one signs up to bring any food, we will bring for ourselves or plan to drive into town as we get hungry. If bringing plants, try to water the night before so it's not as heavy or messy. Remember seeds need to be labeled & you should try to have at least 10 packets to get a ticket. Make sure cuttings have at least 2 nodes on them & keep them wrapped in moist (not wet) paper towels in a baggie. Label them so everyone knows what kind of plant they are. Try to make a note of which end is the stem end (end closest to the mother plant)while taking them. If you can have pictures & growing instructions made up that would be great but not necessary.

I had a friend who lived in HI for about 10 years and she had it bad, too. She said she missed being able to get in the car and just drive and drive.... I never liked the beach when we lived 4 miles from it, we had sand everywhere all the time, no matter what... but I love to vacation on it, I guess it's different when you have to work and live there vs just have fun there. I do miss your pink sand, though, I was there when I was 7 and I will always remember how balmy and beautiful and fragrant it was. I'm sorry you're not thrilled to be there, Zee.