This morning my older, twin brother, Ronnie, called me—we’re fifteen months apart, and I love him so much!
“Good morning, Nance,” Ron said. “I was just calling to say hi. What’s been going on down there?”
“Hi Ron,” I said. “A lot has been going on this morning! At 4:30, this morning, Tony had just gotten out of bed to let Mama and Abbie go out to the backyard. And, as soon as Tony, opened the backdoor—lightning hit so close to the trailer—that Tony said he could feel the percussions from it, and there was a momentary white-out, too!”
“You’re kidding me!” Ronnie said.
“When that bolt of lightning hit, I literally sat straight up in bed! It was really scary.”
“I’ll bet it was!” Ronnie said. “Hold on Nance, let me tell Nita. Nita, Nancy’s and Tony’s trailer almost got hit by lightning this morning! Yes, really! I’m back, Nance.”
“Tell, Nita,” I said. “That the only thing I hate about living in my trailer—is lightning storms, because trailers are like giant, ugly, lightning rods—just begging to be hit. And we’re sitting up here on this hill!”
Ron repeated it back to my sister-in-law. “What else is going on?” Ron asked.
“After the thunderstorm passed,” I said. “Tony went to Medina to drink some coffee with his friends, and I took care of some paperwork, when out of nowhere, the dogs and I hear this tapping sound coming from our bedroom. So, I went back to the bedroom with the dogs to see what it was.”
“What was it?” Ronnie asked. “A raccoon?”
“Nope,” I answered. “A beautiful male, Cardinal was sitting outside on the windowsill—pecking on the glass! And, I have no idea why.”
“That’s weird,” Ronnie commented.
“Kinky told me that it was probably pecking at some bugs,” I said. “It’s been out there for over five hours, and Tony took a picture of it. What’s going on with y’all?”
Ron laughs. “Well, last night, I was on the 10:00 o’clock news.”
“What?”
“Nita’s brother Jeff, and his son, Jeff, were in Austin yesterday, and we decided to meet them at a bar and drink a beer with them.”
“Did you have a wreck?” I asked.
“No, No, No, Nance, nothing like that, ”Ron said. “Nita, Katelyn, Callie and I all went to the bar to see them. While we were there, a camera crew, KXAN, showed up to do a story about the cost of hops going up, and the owner of the bar, asked me if the camera crew could interview me, to ask me how I felt about the rising cost of beer. I didn’t really want to do it, but having drank a beer, I told them okay. It was pretty funny.”
“Did you tell them that you brew beer, too? ”
“No, Nance.”
“Oh, I wish I could’ve seen it,” I said.
“You can,” Ronnie said. “Get on the internet and go to: http://www.kxan.com/Global/category.asp?C=69666&nav=menu73_2_4 then click on the button that reads: ‘Cost of Beer Production on the Rise.’ I’m there. It says, Ron Culbertson, beer drinker.”
Ronnie and I talked a little while longer, and then we said our goodbyes. I immediately got on the computer and watched the news report. I loved it! Then I went over to Kinky’s and showed it to him before he left to do a book signing, in Marble Falls. Kinky loved it, too! Then I came back home and showed it to Tony—same reaction! Check it out!
By the way, it is now 2:40 and the Cardinal is still pecking on the window. Please note the window is not dirty, the window is just steamed up!
