Rockport Beach Fishing Pier, Rockport, Texas August 2019
I walk along the beach to this fishing pier most every evening. I usually spend my time on the weathered, wooden planks staring out over the water, watching mullets jump and pelicans dive. As I was stretching my legs for my return stroll I caught this cool view out of the corner of my eye. I think I’ll start looking at more of the world this way…
Found on Rockport Beach, Texas August 2019
The beach gifted me two rings last night. So, apparently, we’re married now. At least I look forward to seeing the beach every day (not all married folks can say that about their partners).
Last weekend I was fortunate to attend Riddles in the Sand (RITS) in Galveston with a few good phriends.* While this wonderful weekend was filled with good music, phriends, and lots of silly phun it was also a major phun-draiser. The Galveston Bay Parrot Head Club hosted the 22nd annual event, which raised over $20,000 for local charities.
In case you don’t know, Parrot Head is the term used for Jimmy Buffett fans but membership in a Parrot Head club isn’t all about music. Each club (phlock) is officially chartered with the tagline, “Party with a purpose.” Phlocks host various phun-draisers every year, giving back to their local communities. As of 2018 there were over 200 phlocks around the world and in the past 16 years the phlocks have raised over $53 million dollars. That’s a lot of phun!
I joined the Parrot Heads of Port Aransas right after moving down to Rockport in February. At our Spring Phling (one day event) in March we danced, played games, and in general had a ball while raising $5,000 for the local food bank. Not a bad way to spend time with new phriends!
*Note: ph is used instead of f, since it stands for parrot head.
Gulf of Mexico from Mustang Island, Port Aransas, Texas August 2019
The shallow water along the Texas Gulf Coast is typically brownish from all the disturbed sediment. Occasionally, the conditions are just right and the water sparkles in inviting shades of blue. Time to dust off your thesaurus, these are the colors I see: turquoise, cerulean, azure, beryl, aquamarine, teal, aqua, and cyan. Did I miss any?
I recently had to request a new Discover card – I had worn out the strip on my old one (the chip still worked but not every place has a chip reader). Since I use this card for everything, it gets a lot of use. There were several designs to choose from but I knew immediately that this one would be mine. That view kinda takes the sting out of paying for things…
Fishing in Copano Bay, Rockport, Texas July 2019
My friend Jillian and I were invited out bay fishing last weekend. Truthfully, Josh, Justin, and Bob may have been really great guys but they were horrible fishermen. The only thing we caught was a small blue crab, which was carefully and promptly returned to the water. With plenty of sunshine, fun people, and great music we managed to have an amazing time. I would gladly go out on another not-fishing, fishing trip again soon!
Thanks, guys!
I recently zipped up to Oregon to visit my best friend Lisa. We headed out to the coast for some much needed relaxing girl time. We were pleasantly surprised as the weather cooperated (mostly). The mild temperatures combined with a minus tide made exploring along the coastline an absolute pleasure. As an added bonus I was able to hang out with my Lincoln City friends (and made a few new ones). Reminded me of all that I loved about living on the Oregon coast last year.
Grain Sorghum Fields Near Tivoli, Texas July 2019
Drive inland from the beach a few miles and you are surrounded by fields. Interspersed between cattle pastures the main crops are cotton, corn, and grain sorghum. Of the three, grain sorghum (aka milo to the farmers) is by far the most eye appealing.
I can see why milo is a preferred crop out here, it’s drought-tolerant, cheaper to grow than cotton or GMO corn, and works as a good rotation crop (increasing future cotton yields by 26% according to a recent Texas A&M study). Milo is one of Texas’ top ten agricultural commodities and it is the 4th most produced cereal grain in the world, with the US leading in output. Sorghum is super!
I recently met Shelby at an outdoor venue where my friend’s band was playing a gig. Shelby started out looking pretty put together but as the night wore on Shelby’s do started to slip. By the end of the night she was akimbo and things were askew. Come on, fess up, we’ve all had a night like that, right?
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