Special to The Tribune
BROWNSVILLE, Texas - By mid-afternoon, the smell moving across this sleepy bordertown led a few locals to opine that it was either similar to a portly man's used armpit pad or a soggy mattress of the sort left out on the streetcurb for collection by the city sanitation department. Or, as one resident put it as he stood outside a downtown cafe, "Man, I'm ready for 40 days and nights of no rain. One more day of this and all of us around here are going to grow gills and fins..."
When it comes to getting more than its share of awfulness, Brownsville leads all other Rio Grande Valley of Texas communities in bitch-slappings by Mother Nature. Lately, it is unwanted rain - a string of deluges seemingly without end in sight. September around here has been one arm-tiring sweep of the old mop after another for the city's many, many poor.
According to the National Weather Service, Brownsville has been soaked by almost 35 inches of rain this year. That is more than 15 inches above normal for any period between January & September of any given year, with the only exceptions being hurricane landings.
"It's gone beyond bad-hair weather," said a semi-attractive woman standing under a storefront overhang as the rain beat ceaselessly directly above her. "And, me, I'm waiting for a city bus. Hopefully, it won't be one with a leak in the ceiling. Water everywhere. I think I'll have a shot of whiskey when I get home."
Across town, battered cars rolled slowly, drivers evading small ponds at intersections and bicyclists doing their best to keep the wheels rolling in the rising waters. "We're being punished for something or another," said a man exhibiting the city's ever-present personality trait - fatalism. "I know I've not been good all damned year, like many of my neighbors. But, I ask, why not Harlingen or McAllen? Why must it always be Brownsville?" Overhead, a thunderclap exploded across the darkened sky, startling him one more time.
Lemonade would not be the evening drink here...
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6 comments:
Hello!!! It has been raining cats and dogs here in Harlingen. In fact, the waitress who served me coffee every morning, was saying, she is getting ready to trade her car for a small boat. She lives in Combes.
Hurricane, Hermine left overs, but rain is being predicted untill the week-end. My fellow working people get use to it.
SESSI:...Where is Combes? Tribune writer Junior Bonner was telling me he is looking to buy a mobile home in Combes, but I couldn't find it on the map of South Texas. Is it a hip town?... - Editor
Combes is north of Harlingen, has one truck stop a circle k. And there are some mobile homes. It has a population of about 1,500, why would anyone want to live there.
Jr. Bonner, should consider moving to Harlingen. There are plenty of Mobile home parks there.
There is one restaraunt in Combes. He needs to eat real food. Eat at places like Americas Rest. In Harlingen. They will fat him up there in a hurry. It is worse than Harlingen. There is nothing there, just a bunch of old homes, parece Reynosa.
SESSI:...Junior Bonner is writing a book and needs peace and quiet. He says he went to Combes, saw nobody, and decided that was the place to for him. No cars, no bikes, no nothing, as today's kids like to say. Well, when we pressed him, he did say he saw a large number of loose dogs. He is writing a book about everything Life has to offer... - Editor
Jr. Is right, dogs, dirty streets, accumulation of brush on streets, one traffic light, poverty at is finest, one elementary, I think they have a city council, and a police dept. There use to be two cotton gins.
Jr. Bonner, with all due respect, sounds like trailer park......, you know the rest, mr. editor.
He will do well in Combes, that is about right for him. Hardly any traffic, mosquitoes galore, hot, humid.
Time, for me to get my morning coffee. You mean, JR. Bonner drinks Lone Star beer??? Damn, he is old. My dad use to drink that beer, Lone Star, Falstaff, Pearl beer. Just wondering how old is Jr. Bonner????? About 90!!!
According to the weatherman, rain is to slack down today. The city by the river, will feel a break. Hopefully, the Valley will begin to dry up.
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