§ Down By the SEA -wall....

Early, before I did anything around the house, I left for a short walk along the seawall! The temp reading on our atomic thermometer showed 75 degrees outdoors. Even tho, the humidity was present, and the dust from the Saharan Desert prevailed, I was stir crazy [cabin fever], and anxious to get outdoors. Armed with my cellphone camera only - I headed on the Expressway toward downtown and parked across from the Federal Courthouse on the shore of C C Bay. I had intentions of getting a photo or two of the fountain as I walked along the wall toward the WWII Aircraft Carrier, USS Lexington. Of course, you should know me by now, "a couple of photos" turned into a couple of dozen. Why not?

As you can see in the following, the early morning sky was YELLOW...not from the sun, but mostly showing the dust storm in the air. One particular image I captured [of the shrimp boat] you can see, if you look closely, the blue sky at the top of the photo and the haze of the dust between the blue and the boat. It's been nasty this year. But, I will take the dust any ol' day instead of those HORRORcanes coming ashore. [someone called them "horror"canes and it stuck with me. I like the reference to its similarities to HORROR - a Cat 1 - 5 storm!]

Okay, I will put this into two posts since I took several photos to stay away from overloading. Next post will be part II.

§ Exposing Myself...well, Pictures!!

Dreary weekend so far. Yesterday morning, Saturday, I stayed home and got a lot of small chores done around the house. Like changing sheets, doing laundry, making a large pot of spaghetti sauce [hopefully it'll reheat and be leftovers for a couple of days], cleaning both bathrooms and changing out the towels in kitchen and baths. Then, I played on the computer for my allotted hour's time sitting in one place. I played with some of my photos and went out online and did a few "double exposures" with their filter. Did one of each...one in black and white, and the other with the color images. Some, I thought, looked better as black and white.

This is blue bonnets last spring and an egret with the "canopy" stance they do when hunting for a meal.


A shrimp boat silhouette and a Gulf sunrise superimposed


A white tailed stag infused into park landscaping along the river bank


Top of palm -with a bird- against a bay sunrise


Daughter, Irene, and butterfly


Another shrimp boat scene [can you tell I love seeing these?] and sunrise


Brown pelican and bank of jetty super-imposed [and palm trees]

Before I knew it, it was time to get up away from the computer and do a bit of walking. I stopped at my stationary bike and peddled for 30 minutes. By that time it was time to get busy with something else for activity. Gotta keep busy for I get bored at home. lol  Maybe find something to sketch or do another pastel with my oil crayons?!!  Maybe fold the clothes I washed?  [I don't fold them the very minute I take them out of the dryer except to hang the permanent press...otherwise, they sit for a day maybe.]  Or help Bud finish setting up his smartphone.  He has the hardest time understanding these "techie" things, I would honestly say, it'd be easier for me to just do it...but, hey...it's good for his brain.  Oh, I know what I can do for a few minutes!  Take down the Valentine's Day decorations and get the dining table back to 'normal'.  We're also thinking of watching an oldie but goodie movie...Robin Williams and Good Morning Vietnam.  It's been ages since we've seen that one.  Shut the lights off, sit cozy in a warm house and enjoy a good movie.

§ The Sea Wall

Friday morning, I left home with the outdoor temperature hovering in the mid 70s. I found myself at the seawall. I didn't want to go to the islands...again. I didn't want to go to Indian Point Park or Sunset Lakes...the new harbor bridge construction has the interstate and Portland highway in construction turmoil! I didn't want to go far. 'Cause I figured by the time I got my walking in, the heat would be my own personal enemy. Needless to say, I surmised, if I walked the seawall, at least there'd be a morning breeze coming off the bay...Not on your life! It was so sitll and humid.  Not a lick of air moving. I couldn't have been more wrong. But walked anyway, I did. Not far. Only 2.5 miles of my usual 5 miles. After walking, I stopped and watched the shrimp boats. They were out in droves, so to speak. And I love everything about them [altho you wouldn't catch me on one since they're so ratty-looking; as if they'll spring a leak in the rusted hull and sink any time],  -I like the shape, the mechanisms, the netting, the shrimpers and the crew working all the paraphernalia ---not to mention the gulls and pelicans following them for handouts!!! The sea sparkled, the morning light cast the boats in shadow, it was a pretty [and peaceful] sight. One more thing...forgive me with this...but, you could say "I went OVERBOARD with the shutter button". Several; way too many photos:

...another episode of the walk along the seawall coming to a blog near you!

I just didn't take my walking all that seriously this time around; much stopping to take photos, and once I actually stopped on a bench in the shade of the watergarden to cool off before going on.

§ I Love to be Beside Your Side...

...beside the sea, beside the seaside, by the beautiful sea.  I love living by the sea!!! The sights, the colors, the sounds, the sand, shells and wildlife, the salt air fragrance, the tranquility and even the storms creating turbulence [of course, from the land, not out on it...lol]. Sometimes, when I am out walking; day trippin', when I feel like just walking, I head out to the water...And most times I find peace within. The sea does that to me so very often!!!

Surfing School



Crashing waves!

The seagulls laughing and enjoying life, glad to be alive, surviving the day, even if we humans invade their territory!  Sometimes I think we should do as nature does...just be.  Forget everything.  They aren't called laughing gulls for nothing!!

The colors and the quiet times of the early morning hour!


Wild grasses on the dunes just off the shore dancing in the breeze!


A man and his best friend!


The picturesque foreground and the still horizon!

Incoming!!!  Soon, the crew will be at the dock, selling their catch of the day to those waiting with their pockets full of cash; shrimp on the barbie tonight for dinner!

...and of course, a favorite pastime, watching ships from foreign lands leave for places unknown, or coming in to port with their imports.  Oftentimes I wonder how lonely it can be far far from home.

§ A Stow-Away on Board...

At the jetty early one morning, I noticed a shrimp boat on the channel.  As often as I go there, I tend to 'know the ships'  but...this one I hadn't seen before. It was large, and colorful, and I wanted to find out what the owner named it. The name was Morning Lord. Huh? Just what does that mean? That they get up before daybreak, and out to sea...being the 'lord' of the morning...or a greeting out at sea...like... G'day Lord? Who knows? Actually, you probably don't even care! But I took a photo of it...mainly 'cause it's RED. When I got home, I got the photo...took it off the camera card, and noticed something there that I didn't see when at the jetty!!! I then cropped it to enlarge the bird! See it? [notice the arrows I added]....way too large for a seagull or a pelican. If I would've paid more attention and actually saw it, I'd taken more photos; I've only seen them in the wild a couple of times before this; flying, in search of its meal, over water...

This particular bird is a SEA bird....meaning, it rarely is found on land!! Always on the water...fishing for food, or, I've even read before they can be 'pirate birds' meaning the steal from other birds. 

Except when breeding....they are then found far out on the oceans/gulf, on islands.

The "stow-away" has a species name of... Magnificent Frigatebird - and very rare to sight them so near my area of Texas!!  This one I spotted by accident, is probably a female or a juvenile....the male of the species has the bright red throat that is displayed during courtship.

§ The Village, the Harbor, the Dolphin and the Pass...

Leaving before daybreak, I was on the island highway [as usual this time of year], and taking a beach access road off State Road 361, I was able to watch the sun rise over the Gulf. And it was quite spectacular in colors and shadows!! There was a pink glow to the sun above the horizon…

Leaving a few minutes later, in my rear view mirror, the dunes were still in shadow and the now orange glow of the sun appeared. I stopped. I then swerved the car a bit on the beach road to get a better view of it all through the passenger window…

It was a perfect way to kick start my morning. Altho, by the time I reached Port Aransas and walked around the two hotspot birding areas, the sun was beginning to bake anything and all things outdoors. I drove to the ferry landing and Robert’s Point Park and the village’s harbor. It was a busy harbor on this day!! From cargo ships, shrimp boats, the ferry barges, and small craft of the private owner kind!! Traffic was backing up along the lanes so they could catch the ferry and cross the ship channel. I walked the area with camera in hand, getting sights and sounds of ships, horns, breaking wakes against the seawall when a large vessel would traverse the channel, and birds. One lone dolphin was dancing in the cargo ship’s bow wake as it was leaving the port o’ call…

...AT THE HARBOR AND FERRY LANDING




...THE DOLPHIN



...AT THE PASS

Once I was done, and saw just about all there was to be seen, I left for home making a couple of stops at the nest boxes to see if there were any falcons or falcon activity...taking a short hop on the open road of Mustang Island State park that is accessible to vehicles from 7 a.m. to dusk when it's not muddy [otherwise you need 4 wheel drive]. This dirt road is on the OTHER side of the Gulf. You have the gulf, the dunes, the grass lands, the highway and then grasslands with water passes [passes are low-lying and when hurricanes, tropical storms, or just flooding occurs, the water fills the passes first before flooding highways...see above photos "at the pass" ---the two last photos...this is NOT Gulf water]

...I have more photos, which I'll post soon...