The Rookery

April 3, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

There is a small wooded area, really just a patch of Live Oaks, that grows between the main highway out of Rockport, Texas and the waterfront. We’d passed it many times, and hadn’t noticed, until friends pointed it out. It’s a rookery: the place herons and egrets come to build nests and nurse their young. […]

Ducks in a Row

April 2, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Lining up our blended ducks on our wedding day. Many years later, ducks old and new, line up with our ‘baatis’ – Somali pyjamas. Featured image is Whistling Ducks. Submitted for Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week challenge: getting your ducks in a row.

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #42: farewell

April 1, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

As you read this, Ric and I will be saying farewell to Texas and our cozy home on the canal. We leave behind new friends, the countless birds who have so entertained us, and the beautiful Gulf Coast. I am both excited to be home, and sad to end our time here. But isn’t that […]

Birding Heaven

March 29, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

Port Aransas has a birding centre that was damaged during hurricane Harvey. The new facility opened this week and it’s incredible! A flock of sandpipers fly in just as we arrive. I search across the marsh to see where they’ve landed, now camouflaged among the reeds, mud, and shallow waters. I follow the sidewalk to […]

Paradise Pond Take II

March 28, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Warmer weather encourages us to get out. We take the short ferry ride across to Port Aransas on Mustang Island. Paradise Pond is our destination. Many others have had the same idea and gather around the opening to the boardwalk. I look for what has caught their attention and spot a bird rapidly flitting about […]

Weathered and Still Shimmering

March 27, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

The candy shop across the bay, has weathered many storms. Fresh-made caramel and toffee, homemade chocolates and vintage sweets, appeal to kids of all ages – especially this one. Two years ago this island town was hit by a hurricane, and there are signs of devastation everywhere, but the butler on the porch of the […]

Tule Marsh

March 26, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

“Have you been to Tule Marsh yet?” our new neighbours ask the moment we tell them we like birds. “The Whistling Ducks are there.” I’ve been wanting to see the Whistling Ducks! The Tule Marsh spans both sides of Highway 35 in Rockport, although apart from some small signs, it is hard to spot, which […]

To All Aspiring Dads

March 24, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

” I’m worried about my generation, Mom. There are so few male role models to set an example, how are we supposed to know how to live our lives?” My son was fifteen when he shared this concern with me. Having watched his own father turn his back during our divorce, and witnessing the same […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #40: Things My Father Said*

March 18, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

(* or any male of influence growing up.) I can’t count the number of times my father’s words hover over me, even though he’s been gone since 2005. He was the king of platitudes – constantly quoting (and making us recite) the works of Dale Carnegie, or Norman Vincent Peale. “Mind over matter,” he’d say […]

Close Encounters: Reptiles

March 14, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

The heavy cloud cover of yesterday is breaking up allowing for small pockets of sunshine. The temperature is hot, almost muggy. We are headed back to the Aransas Wildlife Refuge. “Better get my camera ready,” I tell Ric. “Last time we saw that coyote just before the entrance.” “Yes, and it was motoring! Not a […]