Views of the Neighborhood – Drought and Preview

~ John W. Howell

Today, we will visit Lake Travis in Lakeway to assess the effects of the drought and the 22 days straight of above 100-degree F (37.7 C) temperatures. Also, there will be a new scavenger hunt next week, but I think previewing it while we are at the lake would be fun. We are being catered by 5000 Burnet, a food truck. Our entertainment is Train.

Menu for 5000 Burnet

Appetizers

Four Egg Roll – Fried veggie egg rolls served with sweet and sour sauce.

Four Shrimp Roll – Fried shrimp rolls served with sweet and sour sauce.

Soups – Choose a spice level: Mild, Medium, Spicy, Very Spicy. Choose a protein: Chicken, Tofu.

Tom Kha – Creamy coconut milk soup with chicken or tofu, mushrooms, lemongrass, kaffir leaves, and golangal. Spiced in lime juice

Tom Yum Soup – Spicy lemongrass soup with chicken or tofu, green onion, white onion, tomatoes, mushroom, and cilantro. Spiced with Thai chili, kaffir leaves, and lime juice.

Curry – Choose your protein. Choose a spice level: Mild, Medium, Spicy, Very Spicy.

Ellow Curry – Yellow curry with coconut milk, carrot, white onion, and potatoes.

Panang Curry – Red ponong curry with coconut milk, bell pepper, and green bean.

Noodles – Choose your protein. Choose a noodle: Rice Noodle, Clear Noodle.

Pad Thai – Stir fried thin rice noodle or clear noodle with egg, bean sprouts, green onion, lime, and crushed peanuts on the side.

Pad See Ew – Stir-fried flat rice noodle with egg, Chinese broccoli, and carrot in special brown sauce.

Anything you wish to drink

Picture of an old time school busLet’s go

Our first stop is to take a general look at the lake level. Where you see green is where the level is at regular times. That dock lying on the ground is usually floating.

Here is a closer look at the green. You can also see a ramp to the right that used to be a way to the water. Now it is a way to the green.

A close-up of what used to be waterfront property. The stairs led to the floating dock to the right. The dock to the left has been grounded with two kyacks.

Another view of floating docks that are high and dry. Notice the sailboat to the left.

Another shot of the sailboat but looking further toward the main lake.

In the distance are the few remaining boat slips still in the water.

This is a shot of the Kayak launch site. The water was about ten feet from here. It is now 100 feet from here.

The following photos are four of the 26 stops for the Shark Scavenger Hunt that we will start next week. Each stop has a shark whose name begins with a letter of the alphabet.  I’m not sure what the numbers mean, but I think it is a way to register finds for the hunt.

Here we have a D and dogfish shark.

S for small-spotted catshark

N for nurse shark.

And finally Z for zebra shark. So next week, we will hunt these down. But, for now, enjoy the food and the music.

123 thoughts on “Views of the Neighborhood – Drought and Preview”

  3. I guess eventually you’ll get rain, probably too much! I’m not sure about those stairs going to the dock…eek! I could never go down those. Thanks for sharing, John! Wishing you all a peaceful Sunday.

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      1. I’m always doubtful if I should pray for a tropical storm. We could certainly use the rainfall from more than one, but that would mean destruction somewhere else.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. I’ll have a shrimp roll while I view the images gain.
    I’ve been seeing similar photos from around the world and it’s just plain sad.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. TW stole my thunder ( no pun intended )
      I was going to get Dan to join me to come down there to perform a rain dance for you. Of course huge amounts of alcohol will have to be provided.
      The house with the stairs to the water is insane. Who would ever want that ?
      The 22 day drought and 100+ temps is awful. Hope relief comes soon

      Liked by 1 person

  10. That’s a serious drought! Don’t know if a rain dance would help, but I don’t suppose it could hurt. The nurse shark has always intrigued me, wondering how the name came about.

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    2. I found this The origin of the name “nurse shark” is unclear. It may come from the sucking sound they make when hunting for prey in the sand, which vaguely resembles that of a nursing baby. Or it may derive from an archaic word, nusse, meaning cat shark.

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  11. Okay, you’ve gone and made me feel ever so lucky to be having temps in the low nineties this last week. We aren’t getting nearly enough rain, and things are parched, but NOTHING like what you’re going through. Send you many prayers for RAIN and RAIN and RAIN! But NOT floods. Why is it always drought or monsoon with the weather? Kentucky is floating away, while you guys are drying up. Not to mention your BURNING temps! Again, sending my thoughts and prayers to all of you who are going through this. May better (wetter!) days come SOON! 🤞❤️🤞

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  12. Sad, sad photos, John. I’ve never been more aware of water as a precious commodity as I am now. Living in the high desert has opened my eyes as never before. Thank you for sharing these images. It’s important that all of us realize the impact of the drought. Happy Sunday to you and yours! 🌞

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  14. This drought is devastating. We so desperately need rain (and cooler temperatures). The weather is crazy. I read something about recent flash floods in Death Valley. Crazy!

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  15. It just breaks my heart to see these drought photos, John. I’m so sorry y’all are having such wretched heat and no rain. I wonder why we haven’t figured out a way to harness excess rains (like the flooding Kentucky had recently) and pipe them to areas so in need of moisture. That would be a good research project for some enterprising grad student, perhaps.

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  16. It is heart-breaking to see these photos but the drought is taking its toll in many places. People should realize it is serious. It is even worse for ranchers and farmers. We need rain here too but also for our water shed. I keep appealing to Chac, the Rain God. I’ll take the four shrimp rolls – thanks!

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  17. The effects of the drought are so sad, John. We’re in our 3rd drought year, even though the reservoirs are almost full again. A brown lawn is normal around here and brown is the new green for conserving water. Stay cool and hope you get rain soon. And those shrimp rolls sound delicious!

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  19. Terrible drought. My son lives in Salt Lake City and the lake level there is at never before seen low levels with the added danger that winds blow up dust from the now dried lake bottom – which contains significant levels of ars

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  21. Shrimp rolls, please, with s side of BB pancakes. Wow, the lake is almost bone dry. I wonder where the fish go. I watched Train and thought, ‘man, those pants look hot, as in warm’. Everything is hot now. I’m outside writing and it’s in 90s so I better get inside. Take care.

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  22. The drought worldwide is like ones in the Old Testament. Somebody must ponder upon it… Let’s hope water will return back to you soon, dear John! I wish you icy time to survive this really hot hummer. 🧊🧊🧊🥤🥤🥤🍤🍤🍤🍻⛱

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  23. I’ll have Fried veggie egg rolls, and water. No dipping sauce. I’ll down them straight!

    Those are some scary tour photos my friend. Has this drought ever happened before?
    Well, on another note, how did you like my toe play?xo

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        6. Agree about the word tangle.
          Holly wrote a poem, and there was a line in it “my hair a tangle of stars”.
          So I drew that. The post was called A Tangle of Stars.
          Then I drew:
          A Tangle of Antlers, A Tangle of Sunflowers (for Ukraine) A Tangle of Music, A Tangle of Scribbles.
          Love Tangling!!!!!
          Hmmm… I need to do A Tangle of Hearts!!!
          TY for the inspiration!

          Liked by 1 person

        10. True!
          It’s a bit crazy, but I’ve gotten 3 requests for interviews this month.
          1 is for a feature on me for the Alumni Magazine for the college I went to.
          2 are for my costume work I did on movies.
          One is for “The Cheetah Girls”. The other is for “The Passion of Ayn Rand”.
          The 2 movies could not be more different. One was for Disney, the other for Showtime.
          I’m starting to feel like an old won once race horse.

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  29. Gosh! Have you ever had such a drought in the past? The little water ponds look like more someone has forgotten to close the water tap. ;-/ Don’t loose hope, and don’t try to use this as a building ground for new houses. The water will come back; i am sure. xx Michael

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  31. Those pictures are shocking, John. Puts things in perspective real quick. We actually had a moisture surplus going into July and wham-o, no rain most of the month. We’ve gotten off to a better start in August, but are still behind now. Still, there is no comparison whatsoever with how bad it is all over the planet, including in your neck of the woods. Hopefully, when the rain comes it will be slow, steady and stay cooler so the water gets where it needs to go. Doing the rain dance for ya.

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  32. Thanks for taking us along on the shark tour, John 🙂 It is sad to see the effects of drought on lakes and rivers.

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  33. Droughts are so devastating to communities. I hope relief is found soon. ❤ On a different/positive note, I'm such a fan of Asian cuisine & love the options you were given. Thanks so much for taking us along the journey, John.

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