texas border - Living In Beauty

Posted April 27, 2019 – Narrated by Carmen

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No sense in burnin’ daylight.

Let’s get right down to the lick-log.

Going on the advice of friends, Bill, Kim, Carol, Cyndie, Leah, Margie, Michael, Judy, Linda, Christy … our sixty-one day tour of the southern border of Texas was as fine as cream gravy.

From the time we entered at El Paso and exited at Beaumont we felt like we were riding a gravy train on biscuit wheels.

If dumb was dirt, LIB could cover half an acre, but on good advice we went south for the winter and stayed as close to the Rio Grande and the Gulf of Mexico as possible – mostly ranch country with only the rare corporate footprint.

We purchased food at small, independent grocers and discovered the best Mexican food on the planet.

In Texas they say, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.”

The opposite is also true. A perfectly balmy day can turn to fog so thick the birds take to walking – and, at least once a week, the wind blew as stiff as perfume through a prom.

But an unusually wet winter in South Texas is prime snowbird grounds compared to most regions in the U.S. – and that rain paid off with an epic Spring display of Bluebonnets, Desert Paintbrush, and Texas Primrose.

The state motto, “Friendship” (based on the Caddo word táyshaʼ and spelled Tejas) suggests a pre-Columbian era melting pot of cultures who relied on sharing resources in order to live peacefully.

So, beneficial friendliness met western expansion and led to names like Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) and Brazos (Arms of God).

But there is a serenity and gentleness along the border that goes deeper than monuments, religion and politics – it is an open-armed reverence and gratitude for the land, the ancestors, traditions and values.

We’d like to take a moment to share our Texas-sized gratitude for the unsurpassed hospitality, overwhelming kindness and the exquisite beauty of Texas.

Thank you Texas!

Thank you for the wildflowers …

… which made up for missing out on the California superbloom.

Thank you for the quiet pastures, grassy meadows and wetlands …

Thank you, for the fabulous campgrounds…

… and the sunrises and the sunsets.

… and for the paddle days on the Rio Grande, Amistad Lake, Laguna Madre and the Boca Chica Jetties …

Thank you, South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, Texas Parks and Wildlife and Audubon Houston for your important work in giving North American birds a winter home, facilitating rookeries, protecting waterfowl and monitoring migrations – not just because it’s the right thing, but because our lives may depend on these amazing creatures.

And, thank you to the Birders from all over the world and to the local volunteers who are patient with rookies who say, “Look at the babies!” and, “Oh no! Why are they fighting?”