Winds of Change

I have moved... away from San Augustine. I still travel in that area for work and visiting family, but it is no longer where I live. So what is to become of this blog? Do I change the name? Do I start a new one?

I am still having adventures, but my daily routine and surroundings have changed. I now live in Nacogdoches and it is beautiful and it is home. We went through the process of building a new home... and all that goes with that including packing and moving. This evening, I saw several deer going through my back yard. We live near the beautiful Lanana Creek that winds through the city near Stephen F. Austin making a wonderful walking trail for hiking and exploring. There are lots of restaurants and stores and churches. I take back roads through East Texas to work and sometimes see the refreshing morning sun and the evening hues of the setting sun on the pastures and hills around Etoile and Wooden.

We are in the midst of a drought and we have all been praying for rain and lots of it. The waters around East Texas have receded in just about every creek, lake, and riverbed. You can now walk and explore areas that until recently were covered with water. The heat index has been as high as 115 degrees. It is amazing how rich grasslands have sprung up under the bridges and shorelines of what was once the Toledo Bend Lake, Sam Rayburn Lake, and City Lake, San Augustine's water reservoir. I am anxious to get pictures and search for arrowheads soon, because this too will pass and I know changes will bring the much needed rain.

Kite Flying Nacogdoches-style

As a kid, I would stare up in the sky watching the clouds drift by and think about what it would be like as a bird riding the wind for hours and watch the earth below. I imagined a silent world with only wind in my ears.

Today we attended the Family Kite Flying event at the small Nacogdoches Airport grounds. As we drove up, I first noticed the huge long catepillar kite swaying gently in the wind. It was tied to the bumper of a jeep and received a little extra lift from another kite flying higher above it. The catepillar kite seemed alive as it descended slowly and swayed back up with the breeze, its legs bouncing along with the change.

There were other kites, small and large. The kids were having the best time and the greater success at keeping their kites in the air. We on the otherhand, gave up after several tries with our kite. At first we thought it needed a tail, then we thought the tail was not long enough, then perhaps the tail was too heavy. Jeff patiently tried every possible combination of preparing our kite for lift off, only to have it bank to the left and dive right to the ground. It is an old kite. We saved it from older days--pre-hurricane times. We enjoyed watching the colorful toy story, owl, panda, flying saucer, and other kites riding the wind. There was also colorul flags, face painting, races, snow cones, and music.

What is my fascination with kite flying? I think maybe it my way of enjoying flying, but still being firmly planted on the ground.

Mayhaws Are Falling!

My late father-in-law planted 5 Mayhaw trees near the shores of Toledo Bend Lake. Mayhaws resemble cranberries and are said to taste like crabapples. They are native to this area growing best in moist, but well draining soil, along creek beds and wetlands . They have a beautiful white flower canopy in February and make its small red fruit in April and May. For the last 3 years, we have helped gather in the fruit and have learned to make Mayhaw Jelly. Gathering the small fruit can be an impossible task, but we learned from our parents. We took tarps and laid them out overlapping them and holding them down from the blowing winds with cut firewood as the pictures show. We pull the tarps tight and wait for the berries to fall. This was our task today-- to lay down the tarps. The berries are already red and falling to the ground. After we were done, I could not resist gently shaking all the limbs, knocking down ripe red berries all over the tarps. Then I swept them up and used a dust pan to gather them and put them in a bucket for washing. After 2 to 3 washings, we will freeze the berries until winter when it is a warm and rewarding task to boil the fruit down and make jelly. There is nothing like your own Mayhaw Jelly on a hot homemade buttery biscuit!

Fun in the Sun at Ellen Trout Zoo

Peacocks are the most beautiful birds ever! The best place to watch and experience the wonder of peacocks is the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin, TX about an hour drive from San Augustine. It has been a few weeks since I have been able to venture out. So the first beautiful sunny day we have had in a few weeks, we decided to soak up some vitamin D and do something that makes us both happy. Jeff loves to carry the camera bag, and I love animals and taking pictures. No really! Jeff loves carrying the camera bag and helping me change out lenses. The peacocks roam freely about the zoo mostly near the flamingo area. I watched as they gobbled up fallen popcorn and chased each other around and around and around a small tree. To my amazement, one opened his feathers in a magical fan right near me while I was taking pictures of him. Their feathers are so brilliant and colorful, the perfect colors of green and blue.

The zoo also houses many other types of birds and animals large and small. As I walked the shaded trails around the enclosures, ponds, and waterfalls, I thought about how even in the heat of summer this would be a nice place to visit. There is a miniature train that crosses a large pond and back again driven by a gentlemen in overalls and a railroad engineer hat. The river otters had a playful swim, the bobcat enjoyed straddling a tree branch, the porcupines demonstrated their prickly quills, giraffes shyly rubbed a tree, and the rhinoceros embarrassed us all. That is all I am going to say about that, except that I am glad I am not a rhinoceros. They look so large (2 to 3 tons), and uncomfortable.

Adding breakfast at IHop, we made this a wonderful day to remember!