§ To Blog or Not to Blog...

Let me begin with a bit of humor!
I need it!!!

I haven't been blogging for a while. Nor much of anything. A bit of winter depression has set in over the last week, and being outdoors seeing all the winter kill of our 'tropical' plants just sets me in a foul mood! And I have been trying to avoid the Chinese Spy Balloon news...wondering if this was really legit...so many questions arose while reading news online from several sources. Why on earth, if it was a spy balloon, did it take so long for the USA to shoot it down?!! Another thougt came across my mind was that China owns a lot of land in Montana...did they actually launch it from THERE or was it really a weather balloon. Waiting forever to blow it out of the sky while all along China is collecting info through the onboard computer?!!? I just can't get myself to trust our OWN government any more.

I've actually taken my word of not doing any interior painting for the past week or so. I am still recouping from back pain and kinks in my neck. LOL That's my excuse and I'm sticking by it!

This past week, little, disruptive of a day, tasks were in order:

pulling weeds

getting my driver's license renewed since it expires on my birthday, the 9th of February, it's good until 2031!

making a pot of baked beans from scratch [a day's job]

grocery shopping for the month

reading

a little decorating around the house for Valentine's Day

catching up on laundry

walking in the park

online jigsaw puzzles

dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing, etc.

watching the series 1883

...things like that!

I have gone, and did a small limited time of, walking. It finally warmed up on Sunday, near 80 degrees [F] as it should be here...but another wintry cold snap is predicted. Went around the flower beds and even in the lawn and pulled thistle Sunday enjoying the sunshine. Tried to watch the Pro Bowl Flag Football...what a waste of time money and effort televising THAT!

Went to the bookstore and picked up my ordered book [cheaper going through the bookstore than ordering from amazon!] This book I've been searching the shelves at the store for some time now, and not finding it...finally ordered it....the book? Well, a memoir of a Holocaust survivor and her CAT!!! I've only read about 6 chapters, but it will, I think, become a page turner. What can go wrong with an added guardian angel feline?!!!

The incredible true story of a young girl who navigated dangerous forests, outwitted Nazi soldiers, and survived against all odds with the companionship of a stray cat. Growing up in the Polish village of Tarnogrod on the fringes of a deep pine forest, Mala Szorer had the happiest childhood she could have hoped for. But at the age of twelve, as the German invasion begins...
read more of the synopsis HERE

PS...at the park, looking for birds, I spied the very first Texas Bluebonnet for the season!!!

Be like a flower waiting to bloom despite winds and storms.
~Anne Nolette Andre

§ Change of Season...part II

About 1/4 of the way into the sanctuary along the main path, a white tailed deer surprised me! Of all the years I've been going there, this is a first I've ever seen here. It took me by surprise so much, I was still startled while snapping the shutter and the outcome is blurry. And she took off all too soon to get a 2nd chance.

Here are more images along the walk. Breathe deep, enjoy the silence of the early morning hour...

After I walked the entire path to the river, I circled around the larger of the two ponds and then headed back to the car. I took a side trip to another park in Calallen, Texas. Just a driving trip mostly. I did get out of the car to see the birds at the feeding station and drip system. All in all, I sighted a hawk, several green jays, cardinals, titmouses [the plural can be both titmice or titmouses - from online:  "The plural form of titmouse is titmouses"], ground doves, mockingbirds, widgeons on the large lake, woodpeckers [golden fronted and downy]. I was hoping to see deer, but no go this time around. I then headed home....I had made veggie lasagna for dinner before I left and it was in the 'fridge ready to heat up [I make it very early in the day, not cooking the noodles beforehand...the sauce softens the noodles as it 'marinates' in the 'fridge under a foil wrapping]. When I got home, I made an apple pie for dessert. To round off the meal, a tossed salad and garlic bread.

If you missed Part One...click here

§ A Change of Season in South Texas....

In the township of Corpus Christi, the trees that line the streets and decorate the yards are mostly palm or live oak. These two are evergreen.  On the city properties very few have trees that go dormant with the change of seasons. Yes, we do have seasons in the South, but a whole different scenario than up north. Rarely does it snow. We, in nearly two decades of residing here, have had only two snow storms. They last a few hours and when the sun comes out for the day...the snow is gone in the blink of an eye. But, if I want to go see the color changes, I know just where to go after a cold snap. A couple weeks ago, we had temperatures drop into the high 20s in the northern tier of the city and low to mid 30s in my neck of the woods...WOODS...I drive to Pollywog Ponds. It's a wildlife sanctuary that is heavily wooded with deciduous trees...trees that have leaves that change colors in the season and drop for winter. Well, your winter in the north is our autumn. On the recent quiet Sunday, foggy and misty, I figured there would be very little bird activity so, instead, I drove to see the trees before all the leaves were shed. And sure 'nough, I saw lots of color changes.  As I tallied my daily step count, it was beautiful!!!

...more to come in another post.

§ 'Twas a Cold Week in South Texas

The past week, not much sunshine and very frigid temperatures. One morning the chill factor was 38 degrees. At times the air was so damp, it became uncomfortable. I stayed home a lot and read a book...


Another Glenn Beck book I finished! The Snow Angel.

Irene, my daughter is the house manager for abused women/children, and this book [tho fiction] gave me a better incite of other people's lives, and a bit of background on what Irene faces daily in her job. The book's theme is about a very dysfunctional family life at best. The main two characters are Rachel [the abused daughter of an alcoholic mother], and Mitch, her father suffering from Alzheimer's. Rachel went from her youth and abusive mother into a marriage with an abusive husband. Her daughter, her childhood next door neighbors, and a pastor's wife are 'sub-characters' that play pivotal parts in the story. It was like sitting at the table over a hot chocolate, late at night, with story telling/confessing and revelations. Poignant, sad, cute, funny [Rachel's young daughter is strong willed and wise for her pre-teen age], tearful and cheerful. I found myself laughing, near tears, and hoping for the best outcome, and could empathize with Rachel and her fear of what lies ahead.  The 'what if'.. The title of the book is another aspect that is so very vital to the story!! The memories of youth, the times of family quarreling, all mingle to a life story that could be anyone's!   The ending was just okay; in my estimation the author left us a bit short by concluding too quickly. 

- - -

Pollywog Ponds on a Wintry Day

...Some days I bundled  up in layers, and went walking... in the woods just outside the city limits one day...at Pollywog Ponds.  Another day I walked the bluff area at Bazemore Park where I spotted a beautiful mama white tailed deer and her yearling.  I took photos of them and will share those in my next post.  Of course I drove to the islands another morning. While on the islands, it was too cold for much bird activity. Not even a trace of a mockingbird in the open fields of Charlie's Pasture Salt Flats! [And they're everywhere most times, year 'round!]  Still, on the island I stopped at Leonabelle's Refuge and saw a beautiful Cooper's Hawk in the tree.  You can see by the drab gray sky and blowing feathers the weather pattern...cold, dreary and windy!  Just minutes later, while walking around Paradise Pond, I spotted another Cooper's Hawk that was trying to hide from me and as soon as the camera came up to focus on it, it flew deep into the tree canopy...



_ _ _


...and with the colder temps, in the woods, we finally have some color change on some of the trees, but still a nice mixture among the always green foliage...






_ _ _


...tho we have no snow on the ground [by the way Corpus Christi did have snowfall on Christmas Eve 2004 see this snow covered palm tree on the beach], it still looks a lot like Christmas here and there in a few corners of our home.  As of this posting date, only 13 more days 'til Santa arrives...

§ The BIG Dub-ya

He must have gone by you

doing 90 miles an hour.

He was passing me!

I never saw such a crazy thing in my life!

-Let's get down there.

-Let's go.

We're going down there.

Russell, be careful.

Remember your condition.

Boy, the way he just sailed out there....

Look out.

There's nobody in the car.

-He's right.

-What do you mean, nobody?

There he is.

Holy smoke!

How about that? This guy's still alive.

He's still alive.

We ought to call an ambulance.

I don't know how he survived,

the way you went sailing right out there.

I'm not a doctor,

but I have some medical experience.

I'm a dentist.

Do you think you're hurt real bad?

Is he kidding?

Hold on, we're gonna get you to a hospital.

You move me, I'll break up in little pieces.

But what a deal.

Look, there's this dough, see?

There's all this dough: $350,000!

Do you hear what I'm saying?

$350,000!

In the park, in Rosita,

Rosita Beach State Park...

...just south of Dago in Santa Rosita.

It's in this box buried under this....

Buried under this big W.

You'll see it.

You'll see it under this big W.

You can't miss it, a big W.

About half way from home to Port Aransas, Texas, driving the beach highway 361 north from North Padre Island, there has always been an outcropping of palm trees. In the open, with nothing but the sand dunes and scrub brush/prairie land between me in the car and the Gulf of Mexico. So many times I've wanted to stop the car and get a picture of them. Why? Probably because of housing developments and commercial building taking place all over the area. I wanted a photo of the palms mainly 'cause it reminds me of the "Big W" from the movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World [1963].


A few weeks ago, while I was alone on the stretch of highway, a white tailed hawk was perched on one of the power line poles to my left. I just had to pull over and get a photo. Thing is, the camera was in the trunk of the car, so I had to get out. Of course when I exited the car to get the camera, the hawk, watching my every move, eventually flew off before I was able to focus well. THESE PHOTOS I SHARE TODAY of the white tailed hawk ARE OF A DIFFERENT TIME on the island. NOT the day of the palm tree image. But, I was out now, I didn't want to let my one opportunity to get a photo of the "Big W"!!! The hour of the morning, just after sunrise, the traffic was light so, I leaned up against the car and took this photo you see above.

...and above the picture of the palm cluster...part of the beginning of the script from the movie. The movie, one of my favorites that I probably know by heart, is filled with a cast of 1000s with the likes of Jimmy Durante [he is dying and telling the witnesses about the cash stash under the big W], Spencer Tracy, Ethel Merman, Jim Backus, Mickey Rooney, Jonathon Winters, Edie Adams....and MORE!! 

But, there is  no shovel in my car, and the land is privately owned so...no trespassing to find the money buried here in Texas!!  But I can do some role playing in the car each and every time I find the Big W.

Cast

You Tube of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World accident

They discover the Big W

...who gets the money at the end? Watch it online for FREE....Here


To change the subject entirely...well, kinda. The weather here in South Texas is still drab and damp. But at least there is no snow!! My sister, on the Western Slope of the Colorado Rockies texted me a photo of their back yard looking from her kitchen window into their woods. Jealous, I am... they are getting SOME blue skies, unlike us'ins...

§ Along Oso Creek and into the Botanical Gardens

 Please Note:  The 'special' beautiful bird I mentioned last week here at Hootin' Anni's, the one from Old Mexico that showed up in Texas, is shared on my birding blog this week!!!  Come see the photos! You'll most likely be startled by the pretty li'l thing ---link above in the tabled text area.

...and speaking of my birding blog, if you've ever paid a visit, you may have noticed on my sidebar a link to one of South Texas's birding sanctuaries. This particular site I share on my blog, I have completely become addicted!!  It has a live bird cam. I try to visit at least once early in the morning and then after dinner [I'll explain why after dinner in a bit]. But each day so many different birds that are not seen anywhere else in the USA [or world] show up at this feeder. Just this past morning I let it load for me and was thrilled to see such a variety at one time. I've seen cardinals, chachalacas, black crested titmice, jays, a whole slew of different species of doves, woodpeckers, orioles, and more. But what I'm getting at for this part of my post, I took a screenshot of the feeder. There was a very special bird there...at least I think it is --I may be misidentifying it, but I think it's an Altamira Oriole [an Old Mexico species] that happened to fly too far north into our borders! I guess it does show up in the extreme south Texas area, but this was a first for me. Now I want to drive there and sit by the feeder all day in hopes of seeing one myself in real time!...

The oriole is the yellow on the upright log...then, on the log's side, a golden fronted woodpecker, a couple of green jays in the seed box, on the ground to the left is a white tipped dove and on the right side, the ground, a thrasher [long billed I think]. As I was working on this screenshot to ready it for this post, a titmouse flitted in, grabbed one seed and vanished to the trees that quick!

copyright infringement not intended

Oh, and you're curious as to why I visit this site just after our dinner? When it becomes dark, and the birds roost, out come the racoons!! They clean up the leftovers and talk to one other. Sometimes they fight over the seeds and fruit...but they're comical. And I think I'd miss them if they didn't show up nightly!! [around 6-6:30 PM CST]

 

If you'd like the live cam link you can find it on my bird photo blog's sidebar.

[the photo above is Bud with his binoculars checking out the waterfowl at the first pond]

Bud  and I decided to try our birding luck at the Botanical Gardens just outside of town this past week. Of course I had to check out the orchid house, and check out all the bird cages [housing live birds of the exotic kind like parrots and such]. I took photos of the many orchids and parrots. The staff and volunteers that day we were there were working on replacing and improving the butterfly house, so we didn't bother to stop there and walked on past and into the trails that meander beside the pond, and over the long boardwalk with viewing stations here and there in the wetlands. Then, we traversed the circular path in the fields along Oso Creek. I saw one Blue Gray Gnatcather, but it never did turn to face me and the camera lens. Some day I'm gonna get a full view of that little beauty!! Along with the gnatcatcher, we spotted several male cardinals, one lone mourning dove, heard the sandhill cranes long before we finally spotted them high in the sky (their calls can be heard for miles ahead of them) white pelicans, shovelers, and American coots were busy in the marshes of the wetlands. One great egret and many coots and ducks were on the pond. After perusing the small gift shop, we prepared to leave. In the parking lot, I noticed along with the new learning center addition to the gardens, the Purple Martin Houses were active with sparrows and martins...I got a couple of photos of the Purple Martins too.

Purple Martins


...top left to right:
Great Egret [notice how its legs are bent at the 'knee'], Mourning Dove, Blue Grey Gnatcatcher [rear view is all I got!] and a flight of Sandhill Cranes in the clouds

...more photos to come from the orchid house and our walk in the near future!!! I confess, I probably took way too many orchid photos...but they were ALL so beautiful. And soon, I'll share them.

linking to: Nature Notes, Wild Bird Wednesday, Our World Tuesday

HODGEPODGE
hosted by Joyce


1. The expression 'mad as a March hare' originated with a fictional character who is distracted and frantic. When were you last 'mad as a March hare' and what was it that made you that way? Like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland..."I'm late, I'm late...for a very important date!" But, those days are a long time in my past; meaning I can't remember the last time.

2. Mardi Gras this year falls on Tuesday, March 4th. Have you ever been to Mardi Gras, and if so what did you think? If not, do you have any interest in going? Purple, green, and gold are the colors of Mardi Gras. Which one is most prevalent in your wardrobe? How about in your home? Been! New Orleans is a city I could love, and hate! Crime is high, even in the corrupt city government...so many things to do culturally...pretty parks...but still a dirty city. I remember one year we were there, and I was nearly sickened with the smell of disinfectant and soap that was being sprayed up and down the streets of the famous area...Bourbon Street...the odor is something I will never forget! And I'm sure it was done [daily by the way] to clean up human waste if you get my drift! And as for colors---purple!!!

3. Are you old fashioned? In so many ways...especially issues when it comes to family. I still believe in marriage [instead of just living together as so many couples do these days], I believe in having a meal with family at the table, being a disciplinarian with kids as they grow to adults, having family time and doing things as a whole, not going our separate ways all too often like I have noticed, being a role model. I also believe I'm old fashioned enough to say too many parents GIVE too much to their children --make them work and earn what they want/need - all too often they're doing their offspring an injustice and they grow up to expect it from others when grown [they don't know HOW to earn it]. And that includes higher education!!! Things like that.

4. Do you carefully plan your vacations, or do you prefer the days to be more spontaneous? I can say when travel comes into the picture, I plan. But, this time in my life, I'm on a permanent vacation, so spontaneity is part of my style also.

5. March is National Sauce Month...what's your favorite sauce, and what do you most often top with this sauce? Cheese sauce and/or hot sauce. When it comes to cheese sauces of all kinds, I top a lot of prepared dishes with that. Hot sauce [not picante, but salsa more so], I usually make my own with jalapeno peppers, fresh tomatoes, cilantro, etc. In the blender!!...topping burgers or Mexican food with it.

6. What's something that easily brings a tear to your eye? You may think this is callous and cold, but I tear up when I see animals suffer - more so than human suffering. Dunno why, but I do.

7. If you could own any sports team, which one would it be and why? Oh my, a toss up between the Yankees or the Broncos. But, never Boston Red Sox. LOL

8. Insert your own random thought here. ...this has really been a long, odd winter for South Texas. Sunday, it was 78 for high. A most beautiful spring-like afternoon after a foggy morning. Then, by early Monday morning [and I'm saying, like, 2 a.m.] the temp plummeted to 34 degrees. And Tuesday morning, early, I was awakened by thunder and slush - now it's raining heavily, and mighty cold still!! Another blast from the north. Now, all you northerners...please, just keep the cold up there will'ya?!!! It's not nice to tease us here like that!!  Addendum:  6a.m. ---Erik just texted me "Ice on the car this morning"!!  Nasty.


linking to: Wednesday Hodgepodge