Winter chilly weather has certainly hit the Coastal Bend of
Texas! We’ve had temperature dipping to the high 30s and low 40s at night, with
daytime highs reaching only to the mid-60s. Brr! The sun has shown most days,
however, but not enough to bring warmth to our old bones!
Dick worked most of the day Monday, while I did my normal
activities of the day (writing and publishing last week’s blog). That evening
we were invited to have cherry pie and ice cream with Illinois friends Marvin
and Shirley, to celebrate Marv’s birthday. Yum! We so enjoy spending time with
them; we never run out of things to chat about.
Tuesday morning I attended the weekly “Stitch and B…”, and later
that day we drove into Corpus Christi with friends Bob and Sharon, and Gary and
Pam, to have our own happy hour and dinner at the Executive Surf Club. The Surf
Club has long been a spot for great food (and apparently great live music,
although not the night we were there) for decades. Located in the heart of the
Waterstreet District, it offers a variety of burgers and sandwiches,
appetizers, salads and hand-battered fish baskets and onion rings. We were not
disappointed with our fare: fish ‘n’ chips, chicken and beef quesadillas, and
hamburgers. Yum! Oh, and they offered $2 pints ‘til closing which was just fine
with our folks.
By Wednesday the wind had picked up, so combined with temps
in the low 40s, it was a really cold day! Dick continues to put in his time at
the office, helping coordinate all the remodeling of motel rooms and bathrooms.
Busy guy! That evening was a New Year’s Eve party in the Family Club House to
welcome the new year in, but Dick and I stayed home to enjoy one another’s
company and get to bed by 10:30. We knew 2015 would arrive even if we didn’t
wildly celebrate it.
Happy New Year Thursday! Chef Betty served a New Years
dinner at 1 p.m., in the club house. She served a lovely pork roast with
sauerkraut, mashed potatoes (SO GOOD!), and warm homemade applesauce. For
dessert we enjoyed a lemony crème fraiche served in phyllo cups, garnished with
fresh raspberries and a mint leaf. We are never disappointed when Betty’s in
the kitchen! Thanks, Betty!
That evening we played Pegs & Jokers with friends Bill
and Carole, Marv and Shirley, Bob and Sharon, Gary and Pam—yup, there were 10
of us at the table. Oh, and the women won 2:1 over the guys. Woot-woot!
Friday was a day for errands: laundry and groceries. Dick
worked for a while after these were accomplished, while I spent time doing
stuff at the camper. Later, we met at the club house for happy hour, where we
noshed on crackers and Idaho huckleberry-topped cream cheese (thanks Bonnie and
Jerry!) and pretzels from Menards in Minnesota, while sharing stories and good
times with friends from Idaho, Minnesota, South Dakota, Missouri and Oregon.
Dinner that night was at Capparelli’s Italian Restaurant in
Rockport with friends Bob and Sharon, and Gary and Pam. (Dick and I had dinner
there for his birthday last April when we were here.) The food was delish: manicotti
with a meat ball, lasagna, and spaghetti with meatballs. We took half of our
dinners home as we couldn’t eat all ours. Dinners came with salads, bread and a
complimentary glass of red wine. And for dessert, Bob and Sharon ordered the
tiramisu—which was HUGE, and could easily serve the entire table, although only
4 of us partook. Yum!!
It’s hard to believe, but Dick took Saturday and Sunday off from work. Saturday was a
beautiful, sunny day with temperatures starting in the high-40s that morning.
They did climb to the high 50s by the afternoon.
We decided to see the movie
“Unbroken,” the war drama produced and directed by Angelina Jolie. Based on the
non-fiction book, entitled Unbroken: A
World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura
Hillenbrand, the story revolves around the life of USA Olympian and athlete
Louie Zamperini. Zamperini, who died in 2014 at the age of 97, survived in a
raft for 47 days following the near fatal plane crash. Then after being rescued
by the Japanese, he survived harrowing years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp
where he is continually beaten and cruelly treated by the corporal in charge of
the camp. Louie’s inner strength and resolve help him overcome all that the
corporal hands down to him.
After the war Zamperini forgave his war-time captors,
returning to Japan to meet with many of them. However, Mutsuhiro “Bird”
Watanabe, the corporal who meted out such harsh and cruel punishment, refused.
Watanabe went into hiding for several years, successfully evading prosecution
for his war crimes, in spite of being listed in the top 40 most–wanted war
criminals by General Douglas MacArthur.
In January 1998, Louis had an opportunity to revisit his
time as an Olympian when he ran a leg of the Olympic Torch relay for the Winter
Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan—he was just 4 days short of his 81st
birthday. The site for his leg of the relay was close to one of the POW camps
where he had been held.
I have to say I’m not sure I liked the movie, as it was
difficult to see the cruel treatment of POW prisoners. But, I’m glad I did, for
deeper understanding of what our men endured for our freedom. Here's a link to the trailer.
After the movie, there was still plenty of daylight left, so
we made a few stops before returning to Bay View. Our first stop was to Ace
Hardware where I picked up some "Poo-Pouri." I won’t go into what it is, but
you can google it.
Then, we headed east to the Linda S. Castro Nature Sanctuary
hoping to see some of the birds that are common to Rockport and the Coastal
Bend of Texas.
This 4½ acre plot of land opened in Spring 2014, and
contains 3 distinct habitats: a live oak “motte” (a native plant community, together with live oaks is
called a motte), a remnant of a coastal prairie, and an ephemeral—or
temporary—pond. To describe it in more detail, the coastal prairie consists of native grasses and wildflowers
which provide food and shelter for man different varieties of wildlife. The
ephemeral pond can be without water for long periods depending on the weather
cycle. Devoid of fish, the pond allows the safe development of amphibians and
insects unable to withstand predation from fish. This area forms a valuable
stopover habitat for migrating songbird, and provides food and shelter for many
different varieties of wildlife. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any wildlife, but
did find this strange and smelly
funghi as we were walking through the sanctuary. Phew!
 |
| Glad I found information on this wierd looking funghi, it's commonly known as the column stinkhorn. The inside surfaces of the columns are covered with a fetid olive-brown spore containing slime, which attracts flies and other insects that help disseminate the spores. |
Since we didn’t see any wildlife there, we drove across the
Copano Bay Bridge to LaMar to see if could find Whooping Cranes and/or Sandhill
Cranes that call this area home during the winter. We were not disappointed. We
found a pair of Whoopers and about a dozen Sandhills. Cool!
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| Top photos: Whooping Cranes Bottom: Cows share the field with the cranes; the Sandhills |
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| This buzzard kept an eye on Dick as he was photographing the cranes. |
Whoopers are the largest of the North American birds, and
can reach a height of over 5 feet with a wingspan of 7½ feet. Males can weigh
almost 17 pounds, while the female 14 to15 pounds. Mating for life, there may
be 2 offspring per season, but typically only 1 survives. After being pushed to
the brink of extinction by unregulated hunting and loss of habitat, there were
just 21 wild and 2 captive whoopers by 1941. Conservation efforts have led to a
limited recovery, and today there are almost 600. Their yearly migration takes
them almost 2,500 miles from near the Arctic Circle to the Coastal Bend of
Texas.
Smaller than the Whoopers is the Sandhill Crane, at 2 to 4
feet tall and weighing in at 8 to 10 pounds. Only 1 brood is laid per year,
with 2 to 4 eggs per brood. Both parents prepare the nesting site, and both
care for the chicks, which are born with their eyes open and covered in down.
Able to leave the nest within a day of hatching, chicks are fed intensively for
the first few weeks, then gradually less until they are able to fend for
themselves at 9 or 10 months old. Many
Sandhills migrate almost 1,200 miles from the North Platte River in Nebraska to
the Coastal Bend of Texas annually.
After leaving LaMar, we headed to a park along Loop 1781 and
Copano Bay, hoping to see more birds. Nada. But, we did meet Tom and Carrie
from Hastings, Minnesota, who spend their winters here in Rockport. We spent
almost ½ hour talking with them; they've been to the north shore of Lake
Superior, so are familiar with areas Dick and I have been to, including Grand
Marais and Grand Portage. Small world!
Sunday we attended First Baptist Church of Rockport. Pastor
Scott spoke from the Old Testament: Ezekiel 37:1-14. “Can These Bones Live
Again?” His 3 key points were: 1) does our nation/world need a spiritual
awakening? 2) Is there a need for spiritual awakening in my life, and is there
a connection, and is it possible? 3) Never underestimate the power of God’s
Spirit to bring new life, hope and restoration. Wonderful words to know, and
claim. Here's a link to the sermon.
That afternoon after a walk along Fulton Beach Road, Dick
and I relieved our kitchen staff of ice cream (along with about 2 dozen other
folks) during the ice cream social, and then played a couple rounds of
10-player Pegs & Jokers. Again…I say, again…the women won 2:0! Woot-woot!
These photos were taken during our walk:
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| Clockwise: Lesser Yellowlegs, Tri-colored Heron, Redhead ducks |
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| Birds I didn't have time to ID, and then the beautiful white egret and blue heron. |
That's about it for this week. We continue to be hopeful
that the weather will warm up, the sun will continue to shine, and we stay
healthy and strong. That’s it for this week. Thanks for sticking with us on our
journey. As we head into 2015, may this be a year of health, happiness and
prosperity for y'all.
Hugs,
RJ and Gail
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