Week in Review: December 2 - 8, 2012

Another beautiful week. Temperatures all week hovered in the mid 70s to low 80s, with sunshine almost every day. Because this RV park is so small, our walks take us in circles--more than our normal lives do. Ha! We continue to get up close and personal with Sparky, our neighbor John's rat terrier. Sparky is such an independent little thing...nothing phases him. (John said that once he took on two coyotes--and won!)

Here are a couple of photos taken within the park.

Our very own "stone," er, "wood henge."

Mornings often dawn foggy, but beautiful.

I've always been intrigued by Spanish moss. 

The story of Spanish moss:  As the story goes; there was once a traveler who came with 

his Spanish fiancée in the 1700s to start a plantation near the city of Charleston, SC.

She was a beautiful bride-to-be with long flowing raven hair. As the couple was walking

over the plantation sight [sic] near the forest, and making plans for their future,

 they were suddenly attacked by a band of Cherokee who were not happy to share the land

 of their forefathers with strangers. As a final warning to stay away from the Cherokee nation,

 they cut off the long dark hair of the bride-to-be and threw it up in an old live oak tree. 

As the people came back day after day and week after week, 

they began to notice the hair had shriveled and turned grey

 and had begun spreading from tree to tree. 

We continued to hear gunshots throughout the week as the locals attempt to reign in the ever growing population of feral hogs. (Texas needs to dispose of 70% of them on an annual basis to maintain a manageable level. Not an easy endeavor.)

Tuesday we met John's daughter Jackie, who owns a very successful catering business in the area. John took us to her home to see the catering building/kitchen he built for her, on her property. (This spurred a bit of jealousy on my part, as you can imagine...) Afterwards John took us to a nearby property to see the fish pond, stocked with perch and trout, some up to 13" in length. As we fed them, you should have seen the water literally boil with fish when they came to the surface to feed. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera. :-(  Dick and John are supposed to go fishing at the pond this week, so hopefully we'll get a photo then.

That night we experienced our first Texas thunder storm, with rain, thunder and lots of lightening. Fun times.

Wednesday dawned dreary and very misty. Ever the optimists, we rode the motorcycle through the mist to a local grocery store for a few items. Although not real rainy, the ride was pretty miserable. Oh, and yesterday we received the "butty buddy," so I did ride in comfort! Yippee!!

My "butty buddy!"

Here are a few photos of the local "color." The first one just shows that they grow things really big in Texas! The second is of an ad for Texas fireworks, that Dick thought was really cool.

Dick rode the motorcycle to Willis, TX, to run some errands on Thursday. He detoured to a recreation area to scout out a potential hiking trail. I stayed home to take care of a few things around the trailer...and to complete some Christmas gifts we need to send off. Later that day we rode the motorcycle back to that area, called Double Lake Recreation Area, to hike around the lake and up the Lone Star Trail.

Double Lake Recreation Area was built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corp. The 23-acre recreation area offers camping, fishing (bass, bream and catfish), swimming, picnicking, hiking, and biking (an 8-mile mountain bike trail meanders around the lake)--or, just enjoying nature. A 5-mile hiking trail leads to Big Creek Scenic Area, and provides access to part of the 128-mile Lone Star Hiking Trail.

Lovely day for enjoying God's creation. Yup, His creation is beautiful--even here in Texas...:-D

Friday was a day for a long motorcycle ride around Lake Livingston -- about 75 miles round trip. (AM I thankful for the butty buddy?? You bet!) The day dawned foggy, but the sun soon burned off the fog, and the day turned hot and humid. 80 degrees, and 80% humidity.

Lake Livingston is a reservoir, built, owned and operated by the Trinity River Authority of Texas. It provides water supply to the Houston/Galveston area, including industrial, municipal and agricultural needs. It covers almost 130 square miles: 31 miles long and almost 9 miles wide.

We stopped at the Lake Livingston Recreation Area and walked around a bit. Lovely park, with camping, swimming, horseback riding, and lots of other activities to enjoy. (My "butty buddy" is still working for me!) 

The 635.5 acre Lake Livingston State Recreation Area is on the southeast side of Lake Livingston. Built by the Trinity River Authority in the 1960s, it was acquired by the state in 1972 and 1973. The heavily wooded area supports a wide variety of wildlife, including raccoons, 'possums, and deer, as well as varieties of woodland birds.

Now for a bit of local history: Coldspring, TX is the closest town to us. According to local tradition, Coldspring was named for the cold spring water found here. The original post office, named Coonskin, was opened in 1847. However, within a year the settlement was renamed Fireman's Hill. Then, in 1850 it was renamed again, to Cold Spring, officially changed to Coldspring in 1894. 

Cold Spring became the county seat in 1870 when San Jacinto County was established. Cold Spring originally stood in a low-lying area known as the "gullies, but rainwater kept flowing down the hill, washing away the buildings' foundations. The courthouse was destroyed in a fire in 1915, and rebuilt at a slightly higher elevation than the "gullies" where it was originally built. The former site retained the old county jail, now a museum,  and the nearby "hanging tree," where it is said that over 300 people were hung to "bring about justice." We plan to visit the museum some time next week before we leave for Corpus Christi.

Hanging tree

Old San Jacinto County Jailhouse

This past weekend Coldspring held its 30th Annual Christmas on the Square on Friday and Saturday. The theme this year was "Candy Canes and Cowboys." It didn't disappoint! There were over 100 vendors surrounding the Court House, with three stages set up for live music all through the day on Saturday. Lots of jewelry, hand crafted items, local honey and other food items, cowboy memorabilia, etc., were for sale, along with Tupperware, MaryKay, Scentsia -- oh, and Bob Marley stuff. (Who knew?) That evening was the lighted parade, starting at 6 p.m. We were done with everything by 3:30 so didn't stay for the parade.

A couple of things struck us as we wandered through the town that day: the huge nativity scene set on the grounds of the San Jacinto County Courthouse in downtown Coldspring, and the live music being performed on all three stages throughout the day. Most of the performers/groups were from area Baptist churches, proclaiming the real reason for Christmas. Only gospel and contemporary Christian music was heard everywhere, all day. No question here what Christmas means to these folks!

Nativity in front of the county courthouse.

Granny Evergreen: " Jesus loves you, Sugah,
and Granny Evergreen does too!"

Well, that's it for this week. We hope this finds you well, and that as you move into the holidays you remember the real reason for Christmas!

Love 'n' hugs,
Dick and Gail