Our Little Town - A Trip South

But being a brother or a sister (if you are lucky enough) is the role of a lifetime.

~ Holly Goldberg Sloan, Appleblossom the Possum

RF and BFH - part of the cast of characters from my story. [The hat was made by our friend DV]

RF knows so many of the birds and plants. He's a wise one.

My sister and I talk almost every day. Sometimes we have news or an "issue." Sometimes we just need to hear the other's voice. And whether in text or full voice, we talk at the same time and sometimes over each other. Even our text messages can be three conversations going at once.

Our brother is quiet. He is a strong and calming force. We communicate regularly, but not "every day."

On our short drive to our hometown BF said that she was committed to listening more and not talking over me and him. When I didn't jump in with my commitment as well, she repeated herself, gently (?) pressing me to so pledge as well.

Of course, our promises were honored in the breach. We would get loud and then remember. We got carried away and silenced ourselves. I suppose a stranger might see wild waves of conversation. 

<Heavy sigh>  It's going to take a little more practice.

I definitely saw that I am more than a little pushy. Brothers and sisters help in that realization. Who hasn't exclaimed "You are not the boss of me" to a sibling at one time or another. And we were with old friends whose sister was absent. I was just stepping up, perhaps a little too firmly. It was stress...really.
  
I suppose improvement in this quarter is matter of adjusting the approach. I was just trying to help, but I don't want to be that pushy person....

But I am getting way ahead of myself! Let's go back to the beginning.

Just before Christmas we learned a long-time family friend died. He was of our parent's generation and we had known the family most of our lives. So we each planned to head to our hometown to support the family. When we realized we would all be heading south we coordinated a bit and planned to see family and take care of a couple of things that had been waiting for such a trip.

I drove down early Friday. There were stops along the way for a few wildlife observations. Just outside of Gonzales I glanced over my shoulder and saw a Great Egret and Great Blue Heron in a pond. I turned the car around  to get a better look and discovered a dozen or more Killdeer along the banks of the pond. It was that kind of day.

The egret flew past the heron. Not to be outdone, the heron took off on a glide past the egret and further - to the end of the pond. The Killdeer ignored them both.

Stopping briefly at my sister's, I greeted her pup and my brother-in-law who handed me a freshly made cup of coffee (Thanks, GS!) before we loaded up for one more hour on the road.

The Feeder:

We met our brother and DV, who is almost a brother.* He brought the ladder. RF brought the tools. I brought the bird feeder and seed.  My sister brought me. We are bird people and I was determined to find a feeder that would last. Then we relocated to the local burger joint for coffee and conversation.

Time will tell.

The Farm:

For a couple of reasons we decided to stop by the family farm. I thought I was seeing nightshade "tomatoes," but the yellow orbs edging the field were Buffalo Gourds.** There was a good sized patch about 10 rows into the field as well, but I decided I did not need to get my shoes muddy. 

Buffalo Gourds. They are so pretty, but stinky. And squirrels love them. Squirrels would.

The "shamrocks" were blooming.***

This clover was blooming in the ditches.

Then I found a nightshade tomato. It was from the Silver-leaf Nightshade. Even without leaves, I knew because the stems were thorn-less.****

Terrible photo, but no question a nightshade.

No thorns.

Madness!

On the drive over to our hotel we observed "a murmuration of starlings." I'd seen video of one, but never experienced it in person. It was beautiful and frightening. The bird calls are deafening. A friend described them as "chisme birds" - gossip birds.*****

Chisme birds

The hotel:

We checked in and started to unload the luggage cart when we discovered pink markings all over the hall and our room. The ceiling in the bathroom was damaged and "coming down." We asked the front desk to explain and they moved us to another room.  We suspect water damage from the hurricane.

Still, they gave us water and chips and the beds were good. We rested before heading back for services.

These did not last long.

I was careful to hide the fact that my socks did not match.

The Friends: 

No one is ever ready to lose a parent. Many old friends from grade school and beyond were there to support our friends. We prayed and held on to each other.

Yes, and I was bossy.******


Dinner:

Delicious. No food fights.


The ER:

We raided the fruit bowl in the hotel lobby, grabbed a couple of water bottles, and sat with some friends in the ER for a little while. We have logged a good deal of time in hospital waiting rooms and are good at it.

Yes, I was bossy again. My sister apologized on my behalf.


Birds: 

We woke early for a quick trip to Indian Point. Please note the next post as the birding must have its own space (even though I included the ones from outside of Gonzales).

  
Funeral:

We celebrated our friend with the celebration of the Mass. He was buried with military honors. I plan to write a separate post honoring him as well.


Lunch and more birds:

After lunch and catching up with sibling schedules, we received a text from DV. He sent a photo of a field full of Snow Geese. I suggested we text back that we were on our way. And we headed out that way to visit him and his hat business (he makes wonderful hats), his wife (who is wonderful as well) and the fields full of birds I will talk about in the next post.
 


The Birthday Party:

The family was celebrating our youngest nephew's birthday with a cook-out and chocolate cake. How could he possible be 16 already? But he is.

He has a bookcase full of books - many classics - he will read and review. He explained he was reading Fahrenheit 451 for the third time.******* [He also is into vinyl. DH and I plan to see if there are any of our old records that he might like to have. We aren't ever going to worry with them again.]

We ate cake (I understand my sister ate ice cream too), caught up on everyone, and talked of plans. [This is the nephew who adventures with us. He's getting a passport this year. We are excited!]
 

Look at that cake!

Second Evening:

We headed out to visit BR and CR on their farm. They are wonderful people and always a joy to see. They are about the hardest working folks I know and always have an open door and smiles on their faces. They welcome us like family and remind us that they have room for us whenever we want to come visit. 

She got the "Roomba" she wanted for Christmas. He received the cotton candy machine he asked for and showed it off with glee. [I am serious - a cotton candy machine.] He also shared the hilarious tale of his acquisition of a slushy machine (shhhh! Margaritas!) from an Ebay auction.

We caught up on how their kids are faring and have invited ourselves back for margaritas and cotton candy.

After that I think we ate dinner and collapsed. Wait. We ate dinner, packed, and then collapsed.

My sister drank a Lemontini. I got a sip.

Second Morning:

Yeah, we were for the birds one last time before heading up the country. 

We raced to get home before the frigid (for us anyway) temperatures set in. I got off the highway just as the mist began to freeze on my windshield. 

It was a heck of a trip home. The drive down had been fast and easy. The drive back was full of detours and construction and reduced speed limits. How had I missed seeing the closed lanes and barriers on the other side of the highway? 

David Sedaris kept me company all the way home (when I wasn't turning off the radio to dictate bird observations into my phone). He was reading his latest book, Theft By Finding. Comprised of selected journal posts, it is bizarre and wonderful. I love David Sedaris. He's a genius. And he understands. 

We are members of the same club.

Christmas Yucca at Sunset Lake

I need this sign. We saw it in Rockport on our way home.

NOTES:

*Our mothers were best friends. I named my oldest after our mothers (his mother's first name and my mother's middle name). He so named his youngest.

**Just because you can eat it doesn't mean you should. https://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/ethnobot/images/cucurbitabg.html


***A guide told us that there is no such thing as a shamrock, but that the yellow clover was named the "official" shamrock by someone or other. She preferred the Wood Sorrel. I claim the name for any three-leaved clover-type plant. https://www.britannica.com/plant/shamrock


****Other nightshades common here - like Buffalobur and Horse Nettle - are pretty thorny.

*****This is true. They do share information, but the murmuration behavior is believed to be protection from predators. https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/the-incredible-science-behind-starling-murmurations [Should I mention that starlings are non-native and an invasive species? There.]


****** I prefer to call it a "firm suggestion." But upon reflection, I can see where I might be a bit too firm at times.


******* He read it in junior high because he wanted to. He read it again for a book report last year. Now, I think it has been assigned. I haven't read it at all.

The Upside Down? (photo by BFH)