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!

City Girl

How could I forget to tell you about City Girl? Where do I begin? She is the sweetest and luckiest stray that ever was. She was adopted by folks at the City Hall. As you can see from her tag, and her pudge that she is well taken care of. On this day, she was visiting folks down at the Sassafras Festival. She followed me while I walked down Columbia. I sat down on a nearby bench to pet her and she sat down right beside me as if she were human. She scooted next to me and wanted to shake my hand. She also discouraged me from leaving with that paw and leaning on me. She never meets a stranger. I think that bench is one of her regular stops when she roams the town. Everyone knows her and loves her. You can find her most of the time right at San Augustine City Hall near her bed and food bowl. I have been here over 2 years and she is definitely an icon in San Augustine. What a lucky pooch!

Miss Merry Christmas Pageant

I recently attended the Miss Merry Christmas Pageant at the historical San Augustine Theater on the square sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. The director, TC, asked me to be the auditor and asked Jeff to be another watchful eye at the back door. My thoughts were that I could watch and get a feel for pageantry and maybe look at some possible picture taking for future reference and do some community service with my husband. The competition began and the judges passed their sheets to me after each contestant finished their walk and every few minutes, more sheets were passed my way. I put the scores down across rows and columns, adding and double-checking my figures as the pageant continued. When all the contestants were finished, I still had work to do. I stopped and realized that I had missed just about every contestant walking through and barely heard any comments or watched any picture taking until after all was done. I was the auditor! What an awesome, important, and busy job. I learned so much from this experience. So much work and thought goes into an event like this from the contestants, sponsors, parents, organizers, and volunteers. It is not just a fun event for everyone in attendance; there are lessons to learn from joys to disappointments, to overcoming faults, and working towards a worthy goal, being true and committed. Also, who knows who will win and what the numbers will say about a contestant. The numbers decided the winner. Each little thing a contestant does can be seen in different ways by different people. The dress, the poise, the confidence, the knowledge, the service, the age, the beauty, the smile (really important) -- so many things are being considered for a winner. I think everyone would agree that they are all winners for having what it takes to get to this point. I did hear the reigning queen explain in her outgoing speech that when she won, she suddenly realized she was a role model and so she started acting like a role model. As she graciously set the crown on the head of the next Merry Christmas Queen, her confidence and inner beauty shown brightly for all the other contestants to see. She would get to keep her tiara and continue to be a beauty queen and role model the rest of her life.

Judging a Pumpkin Contest

I was honored to be asked to judge West Sabine Elementary's Pumpkin Decorating Contest. My job at the school does not mean that I know all the kids that attend there. In fact, I do not know any of their names or grade levels (maybe one or two of them). They are all sweet darlings as far as I can tell. Well, enough of that. The point is I would be an unbiased judge and an asset to the contest. I took this task seriously and wanted to judge fairly. I did not realize how hard it is to be a judge. You could tell how hard the kids worked and how creative they are! You want them all to win! Thankfully, I was not the only judge. Not sure who won because I was not around for the announcements... my job keeps me going all over the district sometimes. The point is this was fun for the kids, a creative outlet, a friendly competition, and I was given a container of delicious oatmeal cookies as a thank you gift for my part. Yum! Seriously, I am greatful and honored to be asked to judge this important event and to be a part of West Sabine Elementary's educational festive pumpkin day! Thanks, Mrs. C! Here are a few of the wonderfully decorated pumpkins!

The 20th Annual Sassafras Festival

Oh, the excitement of Fall and Fall Festivals! Especially the 20th Annual Sassafras Festival in San Augustine taking place right on the town’s historic city square. There was live music, delicious food, vendors that sell their crafts and homemade goodies, wheel chair races, antique car show, pet parade, and the always exciting Bonnie and Clyde bank robbery reenactment. The Sassafras Festival is definitely unique in this area and I have enjoyed attending and taking lots of pictures.

I was invited by one of the bank robbers the day before to get close in for pictures. (I guess that would make me an accessory to a federal crime if this had been the real deal.) He explained the plans and gave me some ideas of where to stand. The actors really outdid their selves this year with a little longer version and some extras. Lots of gun toting, shooting, gun smoke, and hostages--too many to fit in the getaway car.)

This year I entered the photography contest again and won several ribbons for my work. It is always nice to be recognized. The court house reconstruction was complete just in time, and is a beautiful landmark of green and stone making the city more proud and alive than ever. At the festival, I always see friends and enjoy meeting new people and discovering something new about this city that I did not know before. My special thanks to Devon Energy for your sponsorship, the San Augustine Chamber of Commerce for organizing this year after year, and for all the volunteers and participants that made such a wonderful day for our community and visitors.

When the lights go out ...

Did I mention that many people in this area have generators to keep their lights on when the power fails? We do not, of course. Tonight a powerful storm came through blowing limbs and leaves and maybe some hail. I was visiting a friend in our subdivision at the time. My husband was out of town on business and I was alone. Our lights flickered off and did not come back on. I remembered a small flashlight in my purse which we used to navigate out of our neighbor’s house and back to the car. We drove in the rain to our own homes. I lit three decorative soy candles that I saved for such an occasion; then called City Hall to let them know that our neighbor and I were without power. I called and checked on our neighbor to make sure she found flashlights or candles and made sure she was ok.

Now what? I called my husband (as if he could do anything.) Now what? I am alone… and for how long. Now is the time when all those scary movies you watch could take control. Thank goodness, I do not watch scary movies. Although, I did catch my reflection in a glass framed picture as I was coming down the hall holding a candle and just about jumped out of my skin! Hssss! Oops! I stepped on the cat! Sorry!

I like to be productive no matter what the circumstance and if I just wait for the lights, I will start imagining things. So I decided to take pictures… of the candles… of the flames specifically. I practiced with three different lenses, and at different settings, with a support, covering the flash with my hand, no flash, and with the flash. The flame was a glow on most shots. It was pretty, but my goal was to get that flicker. I need to research that. However, at this point and time I do not have Internet. So I think to myself that I do have battery power on this laptop, so I could write about this dark, dark experience.

I hear voices outside, dogs barking, and generators running in different areas of the subdivision (but not at my house). There is thunder and lightning, but the wind and rain has slowed. The flame flickers so silently beside me and smells of Warm Cinnamon Pumpkin...

I have decided that the best way to get the flame on a candle is with my long lens zoomed all the way up close and using the flash. What do you think?

Yet there is something to be said for the glow of a candle flame.

The lights are still out. I will call my neighbor again and check on her. Thanks for listening. I am sure I will be ok. I will play spider solitaire until my battery runs down. Goodnight all.

Canoeing the Attoyac

Labor Day in San Augustine... a day to ask what is more important? Work or play? Play today, of course! Jeff and I loaded the canoe on the trailer, checked the weather, packed some sunscreen, drinks, and life vests and decided to explore the Attoyac River near Etoile.

After leaving the launch area near the bridge, we maneuvered out of the cut into the river and began our journey. It was a calm day, the sun shone bright on our backs, and the temperature was 91 degrees. The water was brown from the recent rains. We investigated patches of lily pads that were in bloom with large beautiful yellow Water Lotus, and some had dropped their petals and left the center pod sturdy on the stalk. Further down there were Water Hyacinths, purple with a yellow eye on each petal. Once in awhile a fish would break the water or turtle slide from a log. A bird with a long neck hid under the water, until we passed. I did not see a snake or alligator, although some fellow paddlers did warn us about some ahead.

Jeff and I paddled slowly upriver, watching behind us so we would recognize which path to follow back to the boat launch area. He warned me about the dangerous mythical Kraken, a monster, that lives in the seas, rivers and bayous around us, assuring me the only way we could turn the boat over was if they suddenly appeared and attacked us. Jeff also contemplated the use of solar panels to create energy to power a motor for our canoe, considering how they would be mounted and how much power it would produce. He also wondered if an A&W Root Beer can would float on a lily pad. I daydreamed about explorers before us, like maybe the native Indians who may have used the little river for transportation or hunting. I always wondered if there were some areas of the world where no man has ever set foot, such as the little islands that get covered with water when the river rises. There were ducks and egrets all around. The highway sounds got further and further away. The only insects were the little black Whirligig Beetles moving feverishly along the top of the water.

We watched our time and decided to go a little further to see what was around the bend, and again to see what was around the next bend, and the next. Then I looked up and saw the dark clouds. A storm was brewing and after looking at the entire sky, we decided it was brewing fast and we needed to head back even faster. We paddled vigorously for about 45 minutes resting very little and battled the wind produced by the the storm a good bit of the way. I did not want to get caught in lightening or have to wait it out on an uninviting river bank. Refreshing rain began to fall on us close to the end of our journey; there was never any thunder or lightning; and thankfully, the Kraken never showed the light of day!

Thanks to Jeff, my husband, for being patient and paddling me around on a second canoe trip to the Attoyac so I could take so many pictures. And if you are wondering, we took our soda can back with us and did not leave it on the lily pad. :)

The ants go marching...

Today I am free! It is Friday and I am not at work. I am home doing home things. Love it. One thing I did was play with my cat, Heidi. While doing laundry, I watched her and Maggie run around the house chasing each other and having a good time. I would stomp my feet at the cat and she would take off, jump on the couch, climb through the columns in the wall to the dining area and land on the back of the recliner. Looked like fun to me! When I approached, she would flatten herself out on the carpet like a pancake and I scratched her soft furry ears. Suddenly, she lost interest and ran to the patio doors. I followed and layed on the carpet beside her trying to figure out what she saw that made her so interested. The only thing moving was a steady stream of little marching ants covering the bricks around our little patio. Then one ant broke the line and moved toward us. It climbed over leaves and bumped into bird seed and sunflower seed shells from the bird feeder. Other ants quickly followed. I looked for the trail that might lead into our house, but did not see one. More ants kept coming and soon there was a pile of them going in circles around the seed shells. Then, an ant wandered right to the threshold of our patio doors. I jumped up and decided it was time to sweep away the quickly coming onslaught of ants. Now what was I doing before all this? Ah yes, laundry.

July 4th Celebration, San Augustine Style

We watched the fireworks from a neighbor's dock as they exploded over and over again above the waters of City Lake. The sound of each firecracker echoed off the nearby quarry and I am sure the entire town could hear the Independence Day celebration going on in our neighborhood. The neighbors across the lake and near us seemed to be battling to see who could produce the best display. What is so fantastic is that they do this every year! San Augustine people are proud and thankful for the soldiers that fought and continue to fight for our freedom! Let freedom continue to burst forth above the water and echo throughout the town of San Augustine and the entire nation!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

and this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

The Star Spangled Banner, last verse

Francis Scott Key, 1814

Growing Sunflowers

I have this sunny spot outside under our bedroom windows. The sun beats down on it all day long and it looks void from the road, like something should go there. While looking at seeds in the store one day, I saw the package of sunflower seeds and knew that was what should be planted there. I had always wanted to grow a sunflower.... something to do with a huge flower coming out of such a small seed and the fact that is is yellow (a happy joyous color) and the decorating theme for my kitchen. It was also the right time of the year for this endeavor.

Jeff cleared out the top layer of grass from the area under the windows. The soil was loose enough and natural rocks lined the bed. After reading the package, I planted one seed, less than 1 inch under the soil, every 10 inches and watered it well, careful not to wash away the seeds. I could only plant about a dozen seeds because of these directions.

Within a few days, some of the plants started coming up. Oh joy! While marveling at the fast and furious growth, I noticed that something had discovered how delicious the leaves were. I touched every leaf and looked on the bottom. There he was a big fat juicy green worm! ...tossed that sucker way over the yard into the ditch (at least that was my first inclination). What would you do with it? The green thing did not live. A few days later, I checked again and more leaves were eaten. This time it was multiple green grasshoppers. I lost that battle, but they did not get all the leaves. The flowers that started blooming were PERFECT! ...perfect in every way. Perfect in their color, perfect in their shape, perfect in their size and feel. They were soft and plush, brilliant and grand! The stalks were rigid and thick and the root system was as big as my hands put together. Every plant that burst forth had a beautiful big flower on it and the stalks grew to over 10 feet tall.

Something else discovered this glorious site -- the deer. They broke the stalks and ate the flowers a little every day. Luckily, I discovered what was happening and took these pictures of the last surviving sunflower. The next day, this flower was partially eaten and the stalk broken.

Did I mention that the sunflowers attracted lots of bumble bees? Ouch, the burn! They did not like me cleaning up the leftovers. I used a salve of ground oatmeal, sour cream, and lemon juice to ward off the burning sting. It really works!

OK, so now I am an experienced sunflower grower! I think if I could keep the deer away, I would love to do it again. Another thought... you know those breathtaking pictures of fields of sunflowers? That would be a dangerous place to hang around.

Time goes on

It has been over a year and half since Hurricane Ike. I thought I had let that go. The house is complete and sold. I am making new friends and memories. However, the stress of something so life changing revisits unexpectedly. This time it was not me, but a friend. When he called and said his house was flooded, he said something that I completely identified with: "I know how bad it is! You can't do anything but laugh! It beats crying!..." Then came a weekend of hard physical and mental anguish and a week of tryng to finish cleanup while holding down a job. I identified totally....

On a happy note, many many young people are graduating all over the United States and 4 of them are in my family! We attended KP's graduation at McNeese State University and watched as she walked across the stage and received her diploma representing 5 years of dedication and hard work. Although, we tried to drive over to Beaumont to watch the Lamar graduates and my niece (CL), I only heard the cheering through my cell phone as she walked across the stage and received her diploma . Then we were treated by her fiance's family with a traditional crawfish boil celebration. My other neice and nephew will proudly receive their diplomas next week after 12 long years! It is unreal that my brother's kids are grown now. They all have promising lives ahead and I am so proud of them!

The crawfish boil was an adventure. It is only the second time in my life to eat those tasty little mudbugs. Believe me, I did not really want to have to clean my own, but that is part of it and if you do not clean your own, you do not eat! I ate maybe a tray of tails and closed my eyes when pulling that head off. Pretty soon I had the hang of it, slower than everyone else though. I watched some of my fellow eaters return 3 or 4 times to pile their tray and continue plopping those heads and casings into the bucket beside them. Honestly, my favorite part was licking my fingers when I was done. Yummy and spicy! It is a real treat to be part of a crawfish boil. Thanks DF's family for inviting us all!

Rambling

So much is happening and there is not enough time to be reflective about it. Let me ramble.... taxes are done, school is just about over and all the joy and the sadness that will come with that, Caleb is having the time of his life and will be home soon, Travis and Kendel have posted their beautiful engagement pictures, I am playing tennis and loving it, found some new Christian songs and downloaded them to my iPhone and hum them all the time (sorry Jeff), Amaryllis is starting to bloom, Azaleas are in full bloom, weather is wonderful, sunflowers I planted are peaking through the dirt, Heidi hurt her paw and is limping around so pitifully, WL gave me another book to read, I have 2 weddings coming up, 4 graduations, and the exciting San Augustine PRCA Rodeo for which I volunteered to feed the hungry cowboys, 95 wonderful friends on facebook, 4 special young people and a family in my continual prayers, and there is so so much more.... God understands and He is good! "You are worthy our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power because you made all things. Everything existed and was made, because you wanted it." ... so to finish rambling.... God is with me and I am thankful!

San Augustine or San Augustine?

I have made an observance. I say “San Augustine” with an accent on the “San”. People that have lived around here for a long time say ”San Augustine” with an accent on the “stine”. I apparently say “hog hunting” wrong, also. Maybe I don’t put enough gurgle into it or something. :) I have not figured out the correct pronunciation for that because the other party will not quit laughing long enough to explain what I am doing wrong. I will continue to be observant and share more local talk with your later as well as a “hog hunting” expedition I am planning with friends in April.

What are the odds? and Home Again!

We had four encounters with the law this week. What are the odds? I was pulled over twice for speeding and Jeff was pulled over once for speeding. In a way, they did us a favor. Sometimes you get use to the road you are traveling and start bad habits. It was understandable that we were speeding and any good folk would have been caught by the speed in those situations. We were in the little black Vibe, and so we have declared it a bad luck car. Caleb better be extra careful in it when he comes home and starts driving it again. I truly respect and admire police officers and state troopers. They have a dangerous job and pulling over and writing tickets is one way of keeping everyone safe including the speeder. I observed how careful they had to be when approaching my window and how observant they were while conversing with me. I won’t go into detail except to say, I must have an angel face or something, because only Jeff has to pay the piper! I did learn my lesson though.

So I had a fourth encounter with the law. Today while planting lily bulbs in the yard and enjoying the sun, a police officer pulled up in the driveway. I was thinking what now? Did they change their mind about me? Did a camera snap me unknowingly running a red light? Did we play the TV too loud last night? He walked up and said that he was investigating a missing child case. I was immediately heart sick for the parents and wanted to help, but I also had been calling my dog, Maggie, for 30 minutes and really needed to go look for her. The car made an unexpected sound, so he walked back to the car before we could really get into the case he was working on. Then, he let Maggie out! He had found her on a main road and called the “Home Again” tag and ultimately my husband to find out where our “missing child” belonged. I am forever grateful to Officer Blackwell for bringing Maggie home and for the tough job he and the San Augustine Police Department do for the citizens of San Augustine everyday!

You know you are in San Augustine when...

• you live live in someone's house that lived a long time ago and not really at an address.
• you cross paths with deer, rabbits, snakes, turtles, wild hogs, foxes, coyotes, armadillos, skunks, chickens, and roosters on your way to or from work.
• you get a little sugar high from the grapefruit kneehighs at the San Augustine Drug Store.
• an 18-wheeler truck of pine logs, wood chips, saw dust, or chickens is behind you, in front of you, or coming at you. After hurricane season you probably followed a convoy of FEMA trailers.
• everyone there knows everyone there and they share stories that mostly warm your heart.
• you see a row of trees driving down the highway and suddenly it opens to beautiful rolling pastureland and most often grazing cattle or horses or it opens up to rows and rows of big metal chicken houses.
• you see the pine logs stacked majestically 3 stories high at the timber company.
• you see a tractor drive on the square to get . . . . who knows where it went.
• you drop by the Pinto Pony Cookie Factory and can enjoy a free cup of coffee and samples of their famous delicious all natural cookies.

That's how I know San Augustine!