Which reminds me of a animal story that I can relate to cycling. It's going to turn into an environmental rant so watch out. I grew up in North Texas, the area around Wichita Falls to be exact. Still have relatives there and others spread out through west/other parts of Texas. Anyone ever been to Wichita Falls, or Texas between WF and places west of there? If so, you know what the terrain looks like. If not, watch the movie "The Last Picture Show" or other movies like "Giant." West of the Metroplex is desert type country. In 2021, my father had to have some stints inserted in early August. It gave me a chance to go back and ride the cycling event known around the country/world as the HotterNHell 100. Anyway, I got off the plane in Dallas and headed towards Abilene through the wasteland that is that area. Got to Abilene and everything around me is dry, brown and dead as it is that time of year. Got to my dad's neighborhood and everyone in the neighborhood is running the sprinkler systems. We visited for 3 hours before going to bed. All the time, those sprinklers were running. I got up the next morning, and all of those sprinkler systems were going until I left around noon. This was in late August, in drought conditions, in an area that's not green naturally, all for the sake of vanity/having a f-n green lawn! So, I leave heading for Wichita Falls. As soon as I get out of the neighborhood, it goes back to brown, dry, crusty, dead and natural along with the mesquite trees and cactuses. Continued in next post.