This week

I'll be out of pocket most of the week attending professional meetings in Wichita Falls and Abilene. And the following week I'll be on my way to Iowa and Illinois for visits! Hope to see you in Iowa City or Bloomington!

Today through Wednesday, I'm at the state meeting of RC and D Councils. (Resource, Conservation and Development.) They're an offshoot of the old Soil Conservation Districts and they bring rural people together to protect natural resources in ways that will improve the area's economy, environment and living standards. Across the country, RC and Ds work on land conservation, community development, water management and environmental concerns. I'm on the board of the Chihuahuan Desert RC and D. Our group is working on community waste disposal, pupfish environment restoration, offering basic computer classes to the public, and getting free computers and organizational expertise to non-profits.

I took only one giveaway from the exhibition hall--a pasture or range stick--which is like a yardstick, but with handy ranch/range facts, like:

"Drought Planning: if median rainfall for your area is below normal by June 1 and then again by October , a drought management plan should be implemented."

And, "Quail have a high turnover rate - only about 20% survive to a second year."

And, "To estimate plant cover - slide the pasture stick underneath plants with ruler side up count the number of 1-inch marks obscured by foliage out of 33 inches. This number, multiplied by 3 is the percent plant cover. Bare ground determinations can be made accordingly."

I am making new friends and good connections. Most of the people here are very nice, god-fearing cowboys just wishing for a bit of rain.