As Texans across the state continue to deal with the damage from the mid-February winter storm, so does the political fallout in Austin. So far, seven of the 16 board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas have resigned.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected the lives of everyone, but none more so than those who lost a loved one to the deadly disease. 28 individuals in Bosque County have lost their lives to COVID-19, and The Clifton Record and Meridian Tribune would like to honor those lives in the next edition of Bosque River Run magazine.

It’s time to write a new column, and I sit here in disbelief that I wrote my last one with snow on the ground--- and it’s still here! I remember snowfalls of my childhood. They didn’t usually last the day, and we’d hope for them to last forever. Well, five days and counting, and it’s beginning to seem like forever. Don’t get me wrong. The snow’s lovely. We’ve driven all over the ranch, and this sight never gets old. If it weren’t so cold, it would be more fun. If we didn’t have at least two burst pipes to repair when the thaw comes, I’d be happier. More may surface in time. If the plants in my greenhouse weren’t likely all dead, that would be nice. The farm animals, birds and wildlife will be relieved when it warms up. I wonder how many were lost from the cold.

Warmer temperatures over the weekend and continuing this week melted most of the snow from the state’s roadways and roofs. But Texans are still dealing with broken pipes that flooded homes and businesses, damaged municipal water systems, and continued power outages in scattered areas, mainly in East and Central Texas.

I guess this is the chigger-killer cold spell I hoped for. Common wisdom holds that a certain number of consecutive days/nights of low temps go a long way toward limiting the successful hatching of millions of chigger eggs elsewhere. If this year’s chigger population takes a hit, I have to be honest and admit I’ll be a happy woman. We’re all God’s creatures, so I hope that gleefully applauding chigger genocide doesn’t make me a terrible person. After all, they make my life miserable every spring and summer until they burn away in the heat. So not only am I sitting here in three layers of clothing, enjoying the light snow as I write, but I’m counting on this being the gift that keeps on giving --- until August.

Texans from Lubbock to Longview shivered under single-digit temperatures as their week began, with snow and ice creating dangerous road conditions throughout the state. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for all 254 Texas counties and urged residents to stay alert to changing weather conditions. The Texas Division of Emergency Management deployed resources from various state agencies to prepare roadways, assist motorists, remove downed trees and perform search-and-rescue operations if necessary.

I’m writing this after three days of a new presidential administration. My intention is to record some facts and numbers from December 2020 and January 2021--- for future reference--- to review in the months and years to come--- to help decide if these changes will have benefitted the American people and economy. Or not.

The number of people in Texas hospitalized with COVID-19 has declined more than 28 percent in the past month, according to the Texas Department of Health Services. As of Feb. 7, Texas hospitals were treating 9,957 COVID-19 patients, down from nearly 14,000 a month ago. The number of new cases in the past week was 123,239 — a 22 percent drop from the record high of 158,922 the week of Jan. 10, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.