A Celebration of Water...

This morning as my alarm pulsed at 6am, I awoke to a bright flash of light that at first startled me then made me do a quick reality check--had I really seen the flash or was it the crushing migraine ramping up in my head? Eyes tightly squeezed closed, the only bright lights I continued to see were the flashing dots behind my eyelids--this was one monster migraine.

I slowly walked downstairs and Brent asked if I had seen the lightening... why yes, I had.

It was raining and had been doing so for awhile, along with thunder. And I had slept through it all--amazing. I have heard deer as they walked through the front yard looking for something to eat. With the windows closed. I have heard the dog's thoughts of being forgotten in the dog yard and wanting to be let into the yard, in the middle of the night, and have awaken from a dead sleep to let them out. And yet I hadn't heard any thunder.

Overnight a front had moved through and slowed. After a 2 1/2 year drought, this rain was desperately needed. The earth had begun to crack, not even supporting the native grasses anymore; they were just clumps of skeletons that fractured when the wind would blow. The animals, especially the deer, lost most of their spring body fat and though had full bellies, their ribs and hips showed through their skin. And they were so thirsty. They came every night and drained the birdbath out front. Trees that have been in the ground for almost 10 years have died while other tree's leaves burned to a crisp from the unrelenting heat. And that's just in my yard.



As I drove to work 35 miles north from here, the weather vacillated between dry as a bone to torrential downpour--a typical Texas storm front.



All morning I sat and watched the rain from my desk as it trickled down through the ligustrum trees and was absorbed as fast as it fell. The skies grew dark and by early after afternoon the sun came and brightened everything. Drops of water were as crystals glinting off leaves, gravels, and rooster tails.



I could feel the earth sigh as she drank in the rain. On the way home it was as if everything had been bathed in a glowing light of clean--refreshed. The skies were bluer, the land was greener, and the air was crisper. There was water in creeks that had been dry for years.



A particular Texas Sage up the street was celebrating in full glory. She was a burst of lavendar and bees. She outshined all other sages on the block and I had to photograph her and her friends the bees. What a celebration!




Hopefully the drought is over. According to this map, we have a long way to go.

My Heart Swells

Dear Rocky-
It's been almost 20 months since I first took you into my arms. You were just hours old and all legs. I remember holding you close and smelling the top of your head. You smelled like the earth and were so very tiny. I barely listened to the excuses of why you were taken from your mother.

I remember that first night--I was so worried for you. I set you up in a small laundry basket with the best soft blanket daddy had. He wanted you to sleep outside but you didn't. You slept right beside the bed, my hand on your head so you wouldn't feel alone. You went to sleep after I fed you and woke up around 2am for another feed. Remembering your little whimpers and mews makes me smile. You took to the bottle and your little tongue curled around the nipple--I was in love.

I suppose I could write a note about every day since then, but I will only say this--you have changed my life. I have spent more time in a pasture than I ever expected. Countless days I've watched clouds slowly pass overhead, you and I side by side; in the sun during winter, the shade in summer. Oak trees whispered their memories of past seasons and the resident vermillion flycatcher performed his aerial gymnastics to catch seemingly invisible winged insects, then land within the oak's protective branches. Killdeer have passed us by as they foraged in the pasture grasses for ground dwelling insects.

You and I have laid side by side against a huge round bale of hay on a winter's day and napped, sun barely warming our bodies as the winds whipped across the pastures. Head to head and often nose to nose, I breathed in your earthly smell and I suppose you memorized mine. Your coat grew thick and I would leave with brown fingers and palms from scratching your skin. My hands were soft for days after with all of the lanolin they absorbed.

I have taken probably thousands of pictures of you, some I have shared but many I keep for myself to slowly go through and remember. I have listened to your language change from a sweet baby's call for food to an adult sheep's deep call of recognition. I have one of your baby teeth and some of your wool from your first shearing. I hold these as sacred as much as I do my kid's treasures.

I love you, Rocky. I really do.

First Week Back, Part 2

A couple of days after the wild fire, I was called to help with an egret emergency. There was a huge egret rookery at Brakenridge Park in town and the fledglings were learning to fly and ending up in the water or landing on the concrete sidewalks and breaking fragile legs and wings.


The Parks department had begun clearing out the lily pads that were in the river along with the algae that was covering the surface of the water. They had no idea the juveniles needed the foliage as part of their learning process. The egret's feet are made for walking on the lily pad leaves, and their rookery, several huge old oak trees, lean directly over the water. So as the young ones tried out their new found wings, what they found was water.


Many of the birds came in soaking wet, cold, and emaciated. The babies need a lot of food in order to have the energy to learn to fly and if they're cold and wet and stuck in water, they cannot be fed.
Over 100 birds have ended up in the clinic and are getting around the clock are for what ails them. A rotation for release is beginning with healed birds being moved outdoors to become acclimated once again before being transported to a release site.


Spending time with my animal friends always puts me in a good place. Something about unconditional love... something about these beings being so true to themselves, something about them always being happy to see me. Just makes everything O.K.


A baby black vulture just arrived with a friend who is just a bit older. Together they will grow and then be released. For now, they are learning from our resident and visiting vultures just how good life at the sanctuary can be. How can you resist that sweet face!!


A Muscovy duck bathes in a wading pool. It has been so hot and dry that all of our waterfowl take turns cooling off and bathing. He didn't mind one bit that I was taking photos... secretly I think he stayed in longer because I was there.


This is Ms Ripley. She came to us because a girl's mom didn't want a large pig as a pet. She loves people. I've become especially fond of her--my very first experience of pig love. She comes running up to me, rumbling all the way, and plants her nose right on my leg. If I am sitting, she will find any skin and park her nose on it, breathing deeply with eyes partly closed. To me, she smells like sweet celery...


And here's Gracie. She's getting so big and turning so black!!! Her favorite thing ever is to be scratched under her chin--to her chest. Her eyes looks skyward and her chin follows--soon, she is standing very still, loving every scratch. If you stop, she will take a step closer to you and look at you with her big brown eyes and nudge you with her large wet nose.
Keep scratching or walk away.
Walk away from that look?

My First Week Back Home

Niles, Lillie and I were coming in from seeing a movie (Ice Age 3) and as we topped a hill, the smoke made us gasp. A HUGE column of white smoke. My first thought was that Lillie's school was on fire (it's in our neighborhood). As we got closer we realized the school wasn't on fire, but, the fire wasn't far from it. We pulled over and I called 911. The fire department was on its way.

It was very exciting. Not in the 'ooooh something bad's gonna happen' but in the 'wow the energy that fire brings gives me goosebumps'. Watching fully green cedar trees being engulfed by fire and rendered charcoal sticks within seconds reminded me how fragile life really is.



This photo shows when the fire jumped the road and began burning Camp Bullis.


This photo was used on one of the local TV station's online homepage.


This is the aftermath.





The fire eventually came within 1/2 block of the elementary school and burned close to 200 acres. It was said to have been started by the spark from a welder. The drought has gotten so bad--most grasses and a lot of understory trees have died. Any kind of energy can start a fire.

You can still smell smoke when you drive by, now a week later.

The Last Days

The day before we left Newport, the kids wanted to get out. The fog had been steadily moving in since the night before. We all sat at dinner (outside!) and watched it move in. Overnight I can only guess it decided to stay. (And the fog horn woke me only once!)

We knew the fog was bad when we set out, but, as we rounded the corner to the kite park (Castle Hill area) visibility careened down to almost -0-! We had no idea people were flying kites in the park until we were almost upon them.



I know, it looks as if there's nothing in the next couple of photos. Just click on them and you will see something...






And here is Niles getting his kite up. I can say kite flying in thick fog is a challenge--not because of diminished visibility, but because of the moisture that rides the kite. It makes the kite really heavy and very hard to keep in the air.

The following day was the Day Of Leaving. A very Sad Day. I wanted to get a few more photos of the area so Brent and I headed out to St. Mary's Catholic Church. One of the oldest churches on the island. And...

where JFK and Jackie got married. They had their own pew (#10) in the church. Come to find out, St. Mary's was in Jackie's mom's parish, that's why they were married there.

Unlike many modern day catholic churches, the congregation faces an amazing stained glass window over the tabernacle (instead of the suffering Christ). All of the stained glass was made in Switzerland in the 1800's and shipped over. The colors were enthralling.

The outside of the church was fascinating to me. Arches, lines, angles... so many visually stimulating and photographic components. I love the hinges on the doors.

Back at the house, I walked the gardens. Near the rear of the gardens in the shaded area there was this huge star:

Branches over the winter had fallen and proclaimed the garden Magic. The hydrangeas in the gardens that surrounded the house were breathtaking.

We packed our things and slowly drove towards the airport in Providence. Over the Pell bridge and past all of the waterways. Until next year...

Just Another Walk in Paradise

rugosa rose with ripening hips


fabulous house on the cliffs

triple day lily with friend

incredible ginko biloba tree


sweet johnny jump ups

pelican weather vane


very cool dragon weather vane

dogwood tree after bloom. doesn't she look happy?!

A Few of my Favorite Things

The earliest things I can remember collecting were tiny boxes. You know, the clear colored ones at the Container Store, the ones that are sold at nick-knack stores, itty bitty jewelry boxes... anything that could hold something smaller, a minute treasure or sometimes just a secret.

As I've gotten older, I've refined the items I find and keep (though there are those that would argue with me).

I am most often lured to smallish egg shaped rocks--perfectly egg shaped. Some are drawn to heart shaped rocks and others have their specific preferences. But I like egg shapes. There's something about picking up a piece of the earth and having it fit so perfectly in my palm... the stories that are held inside...

Feathers also move me. For as long as I can remember in my adult life I have collected feathers. I have left vast collections of feathers at prior places of work. My locker at my current job was filled with feathers, bones, and other goodies I'd found before I took them all home. Traci was spot on when she asked if I was a collector. Yes, I am.

When we arrived in Newport I asked the kids to take their treasures and place them on their night stands. I wanted them to be as excited as I was to be in a new place and to be able to showcase all it had to offer. Lillie has several large clam shells and Niles has a few things too. Brent has even begun his own night stand show case, but none are as comprehensive as mine.

The above collection includes shells and egg shaped rocks from the beaches we've visited, buttons (one with a killer ship on it that I found while talking with Niles on a walk and a teeny shell button found when Lillie was having a crisis on another walk), cast off silk flowers I've found in streets, a plastic covered cigar band, a gull feather and a hawk feather that I found in the ocean surf, a long pine cone from a pine tree in a cemetery where the most handsome cat was waiting for lovies, and beloved crow feathers that I've found and have been gifted with.

I've come to a huge self realization: I think I was a broody hen in a previous life with a penchant for shiny things.

The View

This is what I see when I look out over my pillows and out the window. You can't tell, but the rain is falling gently and it's about 65 degrees.

A Wonderful Weekend in Maine

It's truly amazing (ok, maybe not amazing but you get my drift) to me that having lived in Texas all of my life, that you can actually leave a state within half an hour. That you can actually pass through several states in that same time. Compared to the fact it takes almost an entire day to get out of the state of Texas.

We left Rhode Island for Maine around 1pm. Within just a few hours, we had passed through Massachusetts, a little bit of New Hampshire, and arrived in Portland, Maine before dinner. BEFORE DINNER!!! We settled into our hotel and went about finding dinner. I tweeted about it all, complete with Lillie's breakdown and photos. Dinner was delicious. Becky's in Portland, Maine is THE place to eat. Ask Carol, our waitress. She told us about all of the celebs that eat there when they're in town.

The following day we drove into town and proceeded to walk the entire town. Yes, we know where the YMCA and the Teen Center are (and you know they are not usually located in the *sweet* parts of town!).

We came upon this newspaper bin. I think we were the only ones standing there laughing our butts off seeing how Spock had marked his territory.

Being so visual, I couldn't help taking photos of everything with colors. Portland is a beautifully colorful place. These watering cans were lined up in front of a storefront. I was on my knees getting these shots as Lillie ran ahead of me in hot pursuit of her notebook she had left at the smoothie store. Her impatience showed as she called over her shoulder for me to "come on Mom." in full 8 year old exasperation.

We walked the entire town, stopped in just about every shop, got in the truck and headed to Bath. We were worn out and welcomed a relaxing dinner on the bay.

This guy was our dinner companion. He was relentless in guarding his territory while remaining incredibly handsome and debonaire. He loved bits of bread and french fries, but wouldn't go near the steamed broccoli. Brent told me efforts were being made to teach gulls how to eat fish (their original diet) again since they've become scavengers and eat almost anything.

Up the next morning and off to Boothbay. While not as big as Portland, I still studied the map in order to form the perfect route to hit as many shops as our time allowed. That plan was put to rest when we encountered whale watching trips on the Pink Lady. Brent found out that the tours were 3-3 1/2 hours long (Gilligan's Island theme song anyone?) and we all weighed the thought, waffled about going, and after the coin landed tails up, meaning no whale watching trip, Brent bought tickets and we climbed on board the Pink Lady.

The homes on the bay were beautiful and the boats were picturesque. The ride out was windy, bumpy, cool and wet. Lillie and found our spot on the upper deck at the rear of the boat. We could still see everything and the winds were blocked by people.


As we neared 22 miles out from the bay, our guide told us to watch for the spout of the whale. The spout is formed when a whale breaks the water to get a breath of air and as they exhale, the warmth of their breath looks like steam. It can also reach up to 16 feet in the air. Sure enough, we saw our first spout.


After the spot, the whale broke water and our guide told us that we were looking at a Fin whale. We were so excited! Out guide told us that they will break the water three or four times then can dive and stay under for 7 minutes or so and sometimes longer.

We saw 6 whales--or the same one 6 times. We took a lot of photos and we have tons of memories.

We left Boothbay reluctantly.

Thank you Maine for the most exciting and beautiful weekend! We will be back!