§ Marine Mascot...."Devil Dog" [read on]

This very short video is cute. At least I think so. Worthy of sharing. My son is a former United States Marine [and the Drill Instructor in the video was an actual drill instructor for the Corps]. That is beside the point. But, I do think if the unit in Nam would've had this devil dog for their mascot instead of Chester, things may have turned out differently!

§ We Call it the Redneck Riviera!!

Port A....you've read so much of me going in that direction, weekly, sometimes more than one time in a week. I love this area. Guess you could call me a redneck then [listen to the you tube video below and you'll understand]. I love driving the island highway just before sunrise...just to watch the sun come up over the dunes or be on the beach watching the colors of the sky change to a new day. Of course, I was there on the road again on Tuesday morning! This time instead of driving off onto an access road to the beach, I kept going with the camera on the dash, taking photos with the camera remote...of the horizon as I headed to the Port.

I hit my favorite hotspots, ended up on the beach in hopes of seeing a super tanker leave. [ On Monday another supertanker came in. But this time there was ALMOST a disaster.] The tanker nearly hit the ferry that carries passengers/vehicles across the channel to Aransas Pass [another town on the OTHER side]. No ship leaving the time I was there, just fishermen, birds and people jogging/walking along the beach.

Here's what I saw while driving and walking [in two parts].

Oh ya, I also thought I'd give you a bit of trivial history of Port Aransas. All about Shorty's Bar....the oldest bar on the island. It has withstood many, many hurricanes with only minor repairs. One legend goes that Shorty's was washed out during a strong hurricane, but it was washed back onto its foundation...musta been a drunken sailor telling THAT story!!

On with the show part 1:

Of course, 1st is Shorty's. [I'm  a redneck, remember?   We rednecks have priorities!!!]  Opened in 1946. Original owner was murdered there by a 16 year old. Been in the family and in Port A for over 70 years!

shorty's place 1
shorty's place 2

...as mentioned in the above articles, there is a song about Port A...



called REDNECK RIVIERA [it's a fun song if you listen to the lyrics]


My post of the first maiden trip for a super tanker ship on Corpus Christi's Ship Channel...the Ship ANNE

Part 2 will follow in next post when I get it pre-scheduled to publish.

§ Oh Oh! An Accident, Waiting to Happen?

On a beautiful, but windy, morning I left early to drive to the island to check out the hurricane Harvey clean-up progress in the 'hard hit' area of Port Aransas. My special birding spots are still in disarray, but I see some improvements here and there. The park road into the Charlie's Pasture, along the ship channel, is still closed to traffic. The mountain of debris outside the village is now just a mole-hill and soon will no longer be there - soon, just a memory of days gone by.

I drove to the beach and walked some even tho the wind was nippy coming off the frigid Gulf. As I neared the ship channel and jetty I watched for the cargo ships anchored out on the water, waiting for the pilot boats to reach them to allow a channel pilot to guide them through. The air was very clear and as I looked across the channel toward Aransas Pass [another little town across from Port Aransas] and could see the damage to the Lydia Ann Lighthouse roofing,. Nearby, a brown pelican was warming in the early sunshine...

Paying closer attention now, I heard a strange sound...a gurgling sound from what I figured was water...and it seemed to be coming from just under my feet...Off to my right I found the sound source. The ship channel water was washing UNDER the jetty, on to the beach area! That's not good!!!!!

So, after the startled reaction, I sat on a large boulder and recorded the sound and water rushing through....

§ Thursday...thru...Sunday

It was a busy weekend, but still nothing much got accomplished. There was some celebrating here and there, some driving around, a bit of yard work and all in all time flew all too quickly. Here is a small recap of what we did...

Thursday, our 49th anniversary, we went to Niko's Steakhouse...

...and Mother's Day was a day of quiet celebration!

"and I'm reading that book called "The Genius of Birds" that I blogged a little bit about -- it gives much of the same kind of information about birds -- you'd enjoy it..." Sallie at Full Time Life recently added in her comment to me that this would be an ideal book for me to read...I mentioned it to Bud and he found it at Barnes and Noble .  My mother's day gift from him....

Our lilies are in full bloom...they were gorgeous in the sunlight!!


...a perfect, balmy, day on Sunday.  A good day for a stroll through the park!

...along the boardwalk, a 56 second video I took with my phone:



If you're curious, the mama and chicks breed is Common Gallinule [aka Moorhen]



- - - -

...then, there was my all-time favorite baseball player. And he happens to be a retired NY Yankees shortstop! I read over my smartphone of a special tribute commercial composed by Budweiser. You know the old slogan they used long ago..."When You Say Bud-d-d-weiser, You've Said It All"...this commercial is the epitome of the slogan ---

Of course, if you're a fan of baseball [the game was Houston Astros vs. Yankees in a double header on Sunday], I had to wear my Jeter Shirt and we went to a sports bar to watch and celebrate his number being retired...it was a bitter-sweet ceremony. Now my own MLB official shirt will also be retired. Bud thinks I should find a frame for it. Maybe some day...

§ A Title> I Don't Have One!!

TWO OF MY VIDEOS
Over the Bridge [link]
I cross this about three/four times a week to go birding ... some months

Courting Duck [link]
I call this one, Blue Byll Cosbie. He never gave up 'til he got his way with the girl.



POLITICAL SOAPBOX

First off, I am proud of England's Citizens, voting to drop out of EU...people speak volumes when they get out and vote!! And I now hope for the best for you all.

With both political conventions in America just around the corner, I was busy viewing TWO videos online to perhaps assist me in my decision come November. Of course as I type this, neither probable candidate has been nominated. But, perhaps I can believe that the RNC will come around and back the winner in the primaries to avoid a bartered convention, and the sure bet with primary delegate votes, Ms. C will be in.

So, I'm viewing these this past weekend.

The Making of "DJT" [as with the History Channel, it's repetitive in dialogue and film -and quite frankly too long, you can get the gist of this man in the first 30 minutes or so...but all in all, it can be a valuable piece of documentary]

Ms. C: A Career Criminal [Crimes and Murders] [this was a bit startling and scary, and again considered by me a worthwhile look ...I can almost guarantee you'll be shocked as I was]

No matter who is nominated, and no matter which party or whom you choose this November, remember...get out and vote....the country needs YOU!! But, I honestly recommend you watch these above...at least some of them both..... do your homework. Don't get bored with it all; pay attention. If you're American, the country's well-being is at stake.

I predict this election year will be as Bette Davis was misquoted in the movie All About Eve...."FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS IT'S GONNA BE A BUMPY RIDE" [she actually said 'night' instead of ride]

COTTON

It's about that time of year once again...In South Texas, cotton is a huge commodity. Along with sorghum fields, cotton fields are seen all around us when we drive the country roads. A few cotton gins can be found in our county, one abandoned cotton gin is on the outskirts of the city  Well, I've posted other blogs about the fields, cotton, and gins before today, but this last Sunday I pulled off the road and got out and walked into the field a little way to get some close up photos of the cotton BOLLS before they ripen.  A bit of how cotton grows to maturity and harvesting...

...when the cotton blooms, the blossom is white [or oftentimes a pale yellow]

...it self pollinates

...after it is pollinated the white blossom turns pink

...once the pink blossom falls, the boll sets on [first photo, a close up* image]

...the boll will dry, and the 'seed' opens which is the cotton you see and know

...harvest time!

FENCE and ROOSTER
I spotted this outside a yard fence while on a walk along Packery Channel Park...

...then, on another day, another park, I spied a REAL rooster crowing that reminded me of the metal yard art seen days before!




THE WORD 'UP'*

Have you ever stopped to think how confusing the English language is? Have you ever stopped to think of the simple two letter word UP? How many uses are there? And confusing? Like for instance:

• OPEN up shop at 8 a.m. - CLOSE up shop at 5 p.m.

• OPEN up a drain - because it's CLOGGED up

• When it threatens to rain, it's CLOUDING up, but when the rain stops, it's CLEARED up - Oh and by the way, if it doesn't rain for some time, things DRY up.

• If you hear the words 'DRESS up'...what do you see in your mind...play time as a kid, or getting ready to go out on the town?

• If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more uses.

 For now tho, I'll wrap it UP and shut UP.

...leaving a comment is UP to you.

§ Photos along the Beach AND Videos

After all the rains, I just HAD to get out of the house once there wasn't much of a threat of another storm....

I walked along the Packery Channel [a boat channel to reach the open seas, the Gulf] Saturday morning. Once I stopped at the end of the jetty, I pulled out my phone and recorded some wave action. If you'd like to listen to the surf, have your volume up on your speakers!

VIDEO 1 link

...another short video of 4 pelicans at the beginning as I recorded a 2nd time:



VIDEO 2 link



- - -

I walked the entire channel from the island highway parking lot to the end, then turned around and headed to the sandy beach. Along the way, this is what I saw.  There are boaters, fishermen, a surfing class, egrets, terns, herons, breaking waves, railroad vine [pink morning glories], mexican squirrel, fencing, elevated boardwalks, and an abandoned trainer bicycle...

...I  only walked about 3 1/2 miles just to make sure I didn't get soaked with oncoming storms...but, once home and photos were resized for blog, heavy rains poured down once again. On June 1st Hurricane Season began for the United States Gulf, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans...Bonnie, along the Atlantic Coast has been downgraded to a tropical depression now, yet...there is another storm watch issued along the Yucatan of Old Mexico, predicted to head toward the Florida Pennisula...watch it closely!!!

Great Blue Heron - Royal Tern