Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
Our first visit to South Padre was windy and cold – 4 degrees celsius. I stepped out of the car to photograph the ocean and soon popped back into the warmth. Our winter coats were safely packed and stored under the bus, as we lovingly call our motor home. So we had a quick lunch […]
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Boca Chica is a an expanse of sandy beach where the Gulf meets the Rio Grande, and Texas meets Mexico. It is the last stop, past the border guard post, and is a protected natural area. Apart from a few fishermen, we were the only ones on the beach. By the time we reached the […]
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Armed with our passports, cameras, binoculars, and travel mugs, we headed to wall country, piloted by seasoned birders who graciously offered to show us around. “Have you been to Boca Chica?” our host asked. “No, but it’s on my list,” Ric responded. So we set off, the early morning sky a wash of blushed peach. […]
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It’s been abnormally cold in Texas, and so we’ve devoted a few days to finishing up the interior painting we started last summer. (Yes, procrastination defines us.) Yesterday, the temperatures were back up in the double digits, so we set out on the golf cart and toured the property looking for birds. Just a […]
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Lured by the promise of a rewarding birding experience, Ric and I decided to take the drive to McCallen and check out Quinta Mazatlan. As usual, I worry about the amount of walking involved when visiting a new locale, but we were reassured by those in the know that there is a house on the […]
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“Have you seen any of those white-crested, pot-bellied snowbirds?” one man asked us in passing. “Don’t see that one on our list; will have to write a special report,” I responded, chuckling. We were participating in the Audubon annual Christmas Bird Count. Armed with mugs of hot coffee and tea, binoculars and cameras, and our […]
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We came away with the expectation of adventure. We freed ourselves of material anchors and set sail into the unknown with openness, excitement, and a modicum of healthy trepidation. I knew we would encounter new landscapes, experience different foods and cultures, but I did not anticipate how travel would effect my experience of self. It […]
Read MoreI just want to hold my breath and make this day last forever! For the first day in I can’t remember how long, my illness has not been on the forefront of my attention. After snow a few days ago, Texas weather is back to more moderate temperatures, with a high of 22 degrees celsius. […]
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FaceTime, phone calls and videos exchanged cannot replace in-person chats and hugs, especially when the recipients are grandchildren. I miss chasing eighteen-month-old Auggie around the house, or cuddling with Sloane to “watch something”, or exploring the million why’s of Finn. I miss my grown children, family and friends whom I value deeply. Homecoming, I know, […]
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“No guarantee about this RV park,” Ric said as we pulled off the highway and entered the spaghetti bowl of roadways into San Antonio. Bit by bit we moved off the main thoroughfares onto city streets, and as we did the landscape changed drastically. Abandoned buildings with overgrown lots popped up between commercial and industrial […]
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One Woman's Quest II 