TV/Movie World Lost A Good One!

I'll get to the meaning of my blog post title in a bit.  For now, I begin here.....



On a very foggy morning, Bud and I were found driving around, out on the country roads that divide sections of land in the area of the historic Chapman's Ranch* searching the properties for the rare Upland Sandpiper which has been reported seen along the open fields and turf farms. Of course we couldn't see much of anything with the weather clouding our vision, but as we drove along with the windows open, the birdsong was phenomenal. Hawk calls, seagulls, sparrow songs, and flycatchers sang to us along the deserted county byways. We stopped to take a photo of  a  ranch gate along some of the developed land:



We DID spot some sandpiper[s]...but 'tweren't the UPLAND sandpipers....several seen were Solitary Sandpipers. We'll keep trying to find the elusive Upland species. Persistence pays off; maybe for us it will also!!


solitary sandpiper

On a side note, I DID spot and photograph a rare plover this week!!  I was excited!  Of course those photos are to be saved for posting on my bird photo blog in the future.

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Around Mustang Island, at times, you can meet the shrimpers coming in and go aboard to purchase fresh shrimp. Like this shrimp boat seen here. But the photo was taken because of the pretty clouds forming against the deep blue Spring Sky:




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Lately I've noticed a lot of these wildflowers in the fields along the pathways. They're called Mexican Hats. Supposedly they resemble the traditional hats of Mexico, the sombrero [in Spanish the word sombrero means, literally, shadower]. Several days ago, I sat down with my sketch pad and began drawing the flower and ended up with a finished piece done in colored pencil...

Mexican Hat Wildflower


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I'm now addicted to another Google App [cellphone AND with Windows 10 applications]!  On rainy or snowy days, when I was a youngster,  my father and I used to play cribbage by the hour.  Back then, it was a good way to teach me math and quick thinking!

CRIBBAGE [free]


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Sadly, the world lost another beautiful person. I feel I grew up with her in so many ways. Patty Duke [television and movie star] passed away of sepsis. I remember her program on television as a teenager. But, most of all, I remember her as the young Helen Keller in the movie, "The Miracle Worker"; an oscar winning performance at the age of 16. Then, as the years passed, she revived the bio/docu-film of the same; this time playing the part of Helen Keller's teacher, Annie Sullivan. [Melissa Gilbert co-starred as Helen].  Miss Duke I will always remember as the young Keller, a deaf, blind, mute who is kept from being institutionalized with the help and determination of her teacher, Annie. A must book to read about the real girl/woman of which the movie subject is, would be the autobiography of Ms. Keller. I have it in my library of books I've saved over the years. It, to me, is the best account of what her life was.

*The link above about the ranch is a long article from the Texas Monthly that depicts a law suit and rightful owners of the ranch. The Chapman Family vs. The King Ranch
Other interest: "Betting the Ranch" - more on Chapman vs. King Ranch
Image of Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker courtesy of NEWS
Watch Miracle Worker online FREE