Salty Dog

Another Day in Paradise

I hope your day was as peaceful as mine.  We shared a savory communal lunch with Mom, D, and a tableful of new friends at 4 Seasons RV Resort.  I love potluck dinners, so many choices and new things to try.  I particularly liked the butter tarts made by my favorite Canadian.  

After satisfying our appetite, it was all about the dogs.  Christmas Eve was Annie's tenth birthday and today we celebrated.  First stop, dog park, of course.  I have no complaints about three dogs in a trailer; the pups are as compliant as they know how to be.  And, if I'm being completely honest, we didn't ask their opinion before embarking on this new life.  We take them out walking multiple times during the day, and when we're sitting outside, the dogs are out, too, but there's really nothing that fulfills their desire like running off leash.  And that's exactly what they did.  The three mangy mongrels ran and dug holes, they rolled and played chase.  Bella executed the agility course like a pro.  It was a great way to start the outing.

Next we took the dogs to Boca Chica Beach. They were thrilled.  There are lots of interesting and unusual smells on the beach.  Bella, our adventurous Westiepoo, loves to swim in open water, but she didn't know what to make of the rolling waves, the salty foam.  She chased the waves as they backwashed into the ocean, then turned tail and ran as they uprushed the shore.  During our walk, Bella saw the protruding stump of a pier very near the water's edge.  Her curiosity got the best of her and she dove in.  Once she realized the salty wetness was nothing more than water, it was game on.  She chased the tide as it washed out, then jumped the waves as it came rolling back in.  Consort tried to get a pic, but she was much too quick.  Here are a few posed shots.  

We walked up and down the beach for about an hour.  There were lots of people out fishing and, as is always the case, we were stopped and questioned about the Pulik.  These are unusual dogs and people are always inquisitive.  It is commonplace for people to ask permission to pet them.  D.O.G., vain canine that he is, is always happy to oblige.

On the way to the beach, we saw what appeared to be a space rocket ready for launch on the side of the road.  Now, that's something you don't see every day.  As we retraced our route home, without the aid of Waze, we stopped for a few photographs.  The sign said, SpaceX, but held no further explanation, so we Googled it.  What we learned is that SpaceX is the South Texas launch site for commercial launches and is owned by Elon Musk, the inventor of the Tesla.  The intent is to launch the company's Mars rocket, Starship.  They have, in fact, had three successful launches of their Falcon Heavy rocket in 2019.  It was an impressive sight.

No day in my world is complete without a bird sighting, so here they are, the silent sentinels of the sea.

Christmas Vacation

Each time we drive to South Padre Island, we pass a shipyard full of shrimping boats.  I can't explain why these boats hold such fascination for me, but they do.  I blame Forrest Gump.  Yesterday, the last day my daughter, SIL, and grandsons were here, daughter decided we should explore.  The first thing she wanted to do was to get up close and personal with the shrimp boats.  I was onboard.

We walked out to the dock to get snapshots of the boats, then drove around to where the deck hands were cleaning up after their last 60 days at sea.  Before I knew what was going on, daughter talked to one of the deck hands and got the

okay for us to board the ship.  The sailor who allowed us to board gave us a thorough tour of the boat.  (I have brothers who are sailors and I'm concerned about calling these vessels boats.  Are they ships?  They tell me there is a difference.)  We took loads of pictures, but these three are my favorites.

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This is the north end of Padre Island.  There is no residential or commercial property, just sand and water.  When Mom and D took us to the north end of the island a week ago, the entire area was deserted.  Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and it seemed everyone had the same idea as we:  Christmas vacay at the beach!

As we crossed the bridge from the mainland to the island, I glanced out the window to watch for birds.  Instead I was treated to the sight of dolphins leaping from the water.  In the sky above, people parasailing.

After leaving the island, and a few wrong turns, we made it to downtown Brownsville.  Grandsons wanted to see the border crossing between the United States and Mexico.  They thought "the wall" would be something like the Great Wall of China.  I tried explaining the difference to no avail.  They were interested in an academic sense when they saw the border, but completely underwhelmed.  This is no Great Wall of China.  And that's all I have to say about borders, crossings, and walls.. sighhhh...

We did see a very funny sign in downtown Brownsville.  We stood reading it for some time.  Here's a bad photo of the billboard and a couple pieces from it I found hilarious.

Merry Christmas from me to you.  Now go have some fun!

Pics of the day

On our way to play

Great-grandmother playing shuffleboard with great-grandson

Pickleball

Padre Island is the sandcastle capital of the USA.  These are a few we saw.

Pelicans on the wharf

Miniature golf, go karts and Ferris wheel.

WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!

Translation:  Merry Christmas from Annie, D.O.G., and Bella!

Three Wise Women

Mother, Daughter, Granddaughter, together for the holidays!

Merry Christmas to YOU!

Once again this year, the holidays snuck up on me.  One would think after this many Christmases, I'd be more organized, prepared.  One can wish.  After some last minute shopping, and expedited shipping, I am as ready as I possibly can be.  The last gift has been wrapped and the baked goods are waiting to be eaten.  Santa thinks I have been especially good this year and has gifted me my Christmas wish:  A visit with my grandsons, and those three boys are so wonderful they decided to bring their mom and dad with them.  I couldn't be happier.

We have been busy here in Brownsville.  Living down the street from Mom and D is an absolute delight.  I've never lived in the same town as my mom, you know, except for growing up.  I don't think I can describe to you how really satisfying it is to just drop in on your mother, have a nice chat, and then take off again.  And I can do it MULTIPLE times in a day!  Exquisite, especially during the holidays.

I could write pages about all that we are doing and seeing:  The piles of crab legs and oysters consumed, the home-cooked meals that mom prepared for us all, the ocean.  THE OCEAN.  The sand dunes and sea oats.  One evening Mom and D drove consort and I to the north end of Padre Island.  Towards the end of the road, the end of the island, sand was blowing and drifting across the road like something alive.  I was completely awestruck.

I have been neglecting, possibly rejecting, my camera lately and just living in the moment.  I know that sounds trite, but it's been my goal this holiday season.  I want to savor each delicious drop.  I do, however, believe every story benefits from a good visual, so I'll try to do better.  

The birds here are  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!  I'm going to post a few pics, though none were taken by me.  Consort and I encountered a Horned Owl today.  Last night I awoke to the sound of a hooting owl.  A really loud hooting owl.  We're in a tropical climate, and the only trees near us are Palms, so I was pretty sure I was dreaming.  But this evening, consort heard the owl outside and asked if I heard it, too.  I hadn't heard the owl just then, but told him I thought I'd heard one the night before.  We went outside to investigate.  We followed the call of the owl which led us to the base of a Palm.  The sun had set, so we couldn't see much, but we continued to wait and listen.  After a few more calls, the bird took off.  It's wingspan seemed nearly the same size as the treetop.  So, here you go, Owl in Palm tree, and a few other gorgeous specimen. 

From top to bottom:  Horned Owl, Northern Flicker, Hooded Oriole.  The last two pictures are of a Green Jay.  We saw our first one while at King Ranch.  Since being here, I've seen dozens.  It is a truly magnificent bird!

  

Presto! Doggie Door

Bella, Annie, look! I found the doggy door!

Hmmmmm….

Is good, yes?

Who let the dogs out?

South Texas

We have landed in Brownsville, Texas.  Brownsville is the southernmost city in the state of Texas and the third southernmost city in the USA. 

Here's a piece of trivia for you:  The southernmost point of the United States is Ka Lae, Hawaii.  When consort and I visited Hawaii five years ago, I jumped from a 30-foot cliff into the ocean from this selfsame southernmost point.  Of course, I have the visual.

We have come to Brownsville to spend the holidays with my mother and her significant other.  She has been wintering in south Texas for almost 20 years  The park we're in is mostly home to snowbirds, although here they call themselves Winter Texans.  A snowbird is a person who migrates from the colder northern parts of North America to warmer southern climates.  The weather here is tropical -- at least it was until a couple of days ago when the tropics gave way to roaring winds and a nod to Old Man Winter.  It's not as cold as central Texas was, and it's nothing like northeastern Oklahoma, but we have been running the heater.
*Update*  It's now late afternoon and the intense sun is out.  I have, once again, been transported to the tropics.

We have met loads of people at this park who seem to have exactly what I'm looking for:  The ability to relax while simultaneously packing as much fun as possible into every minute of the day.  I'm taking notes.

Consort and I were treated to a parade of light-bedecked yachts on the Gulf of Mexico last weekend.  The view coming from Brownsville over the bridge to South Padre Island was magnificent.  It was sort of like leaving one world for another.  It's hard for me to get my head around the fact that it is so tropical here and, at the same time, so dismally cold up north.  I'm not sure how it's possible, but I am thankful.  The decorated yachts floating past were absolutely magical.  It brought visions of sugarplum fairies dancing in my head.

And there were bagpipes!  Consort is a bagpipe groupie, and I love a good bagpipe myself.  The whole evening, from start to finish, was as if someone picked through our brains then set up a perfect evening just for us.  And the people!  All of the folks from the RV park were seated together on an outside deck overlooking the water.  Each one added to our enjoyment of the evening.  Thank you, Winter Texans, for welcoming us so kindly!