You Can Go Home Again

You can't go back home to your family, 

back home to your childhood ... 

~ Thomas Wolfe

Well, what is home, if not love? And we did go home.

Of course, some of the "getting there" wasn't pretty. We got a late start and finally stopped in Luling for barbecue. We had been through Luling a month or so ago* and then cut through the country on state highway 80. After miles on unpaved road (80 was under construction) and we swore we wouldn't make that mistake again.

Ribs anyone? We had diet meals - skipped the bread.

Well, we did make the mistake of taking 80 - AGAIN! I was commenting on how great the new road construction was when I realized they were probably still working "a little further on." Soon enough we saw the signs - "Flagman ahead" "Pavement ends" and we were back on packed caliche (road base or whatever). We went through not one, but two sections with flagmen and one where the road was more mud than anything.

We carried a good bit of this mud back home with us - caked to the undercarriage of the car.

We did arrive at our destination in time to hug a cousin** and head to the Friday night football game. Our good friends have reserved seats and always seem to be able to pull extra tickets out of a pocket.

There is something special about small towns. Our opponents for this game were part of a fundraising effort for our head coach who is suffering from one of those diseases you've never heard of until someone you know has it. Let me say that again - OUR OPPONENTS started a fundraising effort for OUR HEAD COACH. They've raised almost $20,000. That's really something special.

Here, you will find, the national anthem is not only sung, it is signed by a large number of students. [In a town where many are already bilingual, many young people don't "take the easy way out" and study a language they grew up knowing. They study sign language and graduate tri-lingual.] And we are greeted by strangers and friends alike - it's a friendly and enthusiastic bunch.

After the opening ceremonies the teams got busy playing football and we got busy visiting. You can get a lot of visiting done in between plays.We caught up on what all the kids are doing and what the harvest was like (all the kids are fine and it was a good year on the farm). Plans were made for future visits and maybe rides on new equipment, one never can tell.

Teams and cheerleaders lined up, captains and officials midfield for the coin-toss, and others there for a special presentation.

We stayed through the mosquitoes and stink bug attacks. We cheered the players (a lot - the final score was 49-7 .... Go, Pirates!). We marveled at the talented marching bands.

Suddenly, the game was over and, with hugs all around, we headed back to our room to rest for the walks planned for the next day.

We almost always try to take at least one walk at Indian Point. It is a special place and never disappoints. Our last trip was "a mad chaos of birds."*** I had certainly never experienced anything quite like it. This early morning walk was calmer. A cold front blew in around midnight the night before and the wind was still blowing. The tide was in. Many of the creatures of the point were hunkering down out of the wind...though a few were fishing.

It seems something is always blooming. Three different flowers blooming here including Beach evening-primrose.

Sunflowers (don't ask me what kind and I won't lie to you).

Yes, lightning whelks (the state shell of Texas), but they are now hermit crab homes. I know this. You know this. We don't even have to look.

I see a scout project!

Two guys on the boardwalk.

There's a Great Blue Heron taking shelter in the middle of these mangroves.

Blue-winged Teals fly over

That white spot is a greater egret taking shelter in the mangroves.

It was a pretty morning and you can see the birds were sparse and the water high.

We saw stilts, Great Blue Herons, Greater Egrets, an osprey, cormorants, a few brown pelicans, gulls, and small group of Blue-winged Teals (who few around and around as if looking for and failing to find a safe roost). Something was running as a few fish were jumping as we watched a couple of wading fishermen. There was little beach for combing - even the hermit crabs were huddling together.

From one beach to another - we headed out to the Corpus Christi "Out of The Darkness Walk." ****
Our niece organized a team and we signed up - walking with family and friends and many others who became friends. The walk was at Cole Park - a place familiar to us. The sun was shining on the sea and it was a lovely day.

Part of our team.

The waves were pretty rough here.89099o

After our walk we grabbed a seafood lunch where we talked ourselves out, played hide-and-seek with the young ones (almost lost one - that little bugger moves fast!), stole a few French fries from the babies, and talked about school, future plans, and possible river adventures.

After a few more hugs and an attempted leap into the fountain (I said that bugger was fast), it was time to go.

Were you paying attention? We love and were surrounded with love. We were home.

Home, let me come home
Home is wherever I'm with you
Home, let me come home, home, home
Home is wherever I'm with you

~Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes

NOTES:

*I lost a good friend and her funeral was in Luling.

**We had gone to the restaurant near where we stay to snag the brother before the football game and heard someone calling my name. It was SF, our cousin. What a lucky break to see her as our fast schedule wasn't going to give us time to go by her house.

***http://walkinthepark-padimus.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-point-free-for-all-in-dawn-light.html

****http://afsp.donordrive.com/