On boots and bars and motorbikes...

You met my dog, Hico, in my last installment. We were talking about how you could pick up on all sorts of things from a dog's bark, if you learned how to listen. And as promised, allow me to introduce said possum. (Don't get too attached to him.) And here's where we left off: There’s the choppy, the-puppies-are-missing bark, usually in concert with some other hound (or hounds), clear across town. You can almost make out each dot and dash of their canine Morse code, passing on their messages in a sort of doggy dictation. Then there’s the throatier, stouter “BA-ruff!” she slings at most passersby. It’s the this-is-my-yard-so-you-best-keep-walking bark. Works like a charm, most days, especially when you toss in that tremendous leap of hers. Few and far between are those who loiter on my block. Finally, you’ve got the break-out-straight-jacket, aliens-have-landed, ninjas-are-on-the-roof bark. It’s about five parts wolf pack, three parts Rottweiler and two parts get-your-ass...

First thing I read this morning, on what was supposed to be the opening day of spring semester: Stay the hell home! I may be editorializing a bit, but I'm sure that's what they meant. After all, hell's probably coated ice about now. South Texas soon will be. Doesn't take a genius to figure out what happens when rain, which is falling now at my house, hits a frozen road, which if it ain't yet, soon will be. Temperatures are expected to dip as low as 20 degrees with a stiff north wind blowing, which for anyone who knows this part of the world--20 degrees and a hard wind combined with our always delectable humidity, set to soggy year-round-- it ought to feel downright tundra outdoors today. For a dude who would've otherwise two-wheeled it to school today to teach classes (the Harley's my sole transport), those cancellations were a kindness. I don't think they make clothes warm enough to endure that kind of weather, nothing you'd find anywhere in ...