A Family reunion with my Siblings

It had been nine years since we had last seen my brother Mike, at our Daughters wedding,, so when we decided to visit my sister in Illinois, she called Mike and asked if he could visit while we were there. I then called him, and we both were surprised as it had been nine years, and we were long overdue for a reunion. The plan was to meet him on the 20th of September. We of course drove from Wyoming, and he would fly from his home near Raleigh, North Carolina. We arrived on time, but the government’s idiotic shutdown was so screwed up that the air traffic was either delayed or cancelled across the country. He was lucky that he made it only eleven hours late on the 21st. We were all staying at Connie and Gary’s house and so the next morning we started to catch up. Of course, we do call each other often but so much is missed. The first few days were almost nonstop visiting as we shared memories of our parents and of growing up in Iowa. I, being the youngest, learned the most as Connie and Mike told me of things before I was born and talked of relatives I would never meet. Neither one had anything good to say of my Great Uncle George. I didn’t even know he existed. Mike told about having a paper route and having his papers stolen by another paper boy. My dad took Mike to the boys house, knocked on the door and when the father asked what the hell he wanted, grabbed him, thrashing him against the door. The man then apologized, and Mike got the money for the papers. I knew Dad was a fighter, after all he had seven brothers….

I made some of the breakfasts, and Renita and I also did the dishes. One of Connies favorites are my crepes and so I made several days’ supply. She, and Gary, then made Monkey Bread. It’s made from bread dough, sugar, cinnamon, and butter, in a bunt pan. She next allowed it to rise in the fridge and baked it the next day. It was great and I ate the most! On another day my nephew Danny and his wife Janelle drove us to a smokehouse in Springfield, it was perfect! We also ate lunch at a Maderite, an old Iowa favorite. Its a name for a loose meat hamburger. The days went by too fast but before we left, we went to a National Cemetery looking for gravestones of great uncles and members of the Iowa Second infantry who had fought and died in the civil war. But that’s another story. Thank you, Connie and Gary, for the reunion. Every day is a blessing, and these days were the greatest! Love and of course clear skies

A Rainy Drive to Painted Rock State Park

It was our last day at Jen and Erics and while we had hoped for a hike the weather said otherwise. Instead, Jen and Eric took us on a sightseeing drive to Painted Rock State Park. Along the way we passed a hear of buffalo. It was a private herd and a sign started that the buffalo/buffalo meat were for sale. ! The herd was in several different pastures and the distant one contained red dogs, (this year’s calf buffalo). Not having a freezer big enough to hold all the meat we drove on, (we enjoy buffalo meat but have never had the chance to taste the buffalo hunters favorite cuts, (the hump and the tongue) Further on we reached the dam that marked the start of Painted Rock State Park. It was not our first trip there and I wrote of our visit in one of last year’s blogs. A novice fly fisherman was practicing casting his line. He was doing pretty good so I didn’t mention that he should practice a roll cast, (it’s a perfect cast for small streams lined with willows and brush).

We glassed for birds but the steady, but light rain kept them hidden in the trees. Green head mallards flew by, and a pair of common mergansers landed in a distant inlet. The rain continued and so we enjoyed the view from the car windows and enjoyed the chance to visit about our stay. As always we so enjoyed and the next day we left early for our trip back to Star Valley. Soon our Park Model, (think tiny home), would be delivered and we knew we would be too busy for much else, with the set-up and packing, Thanks Jen and Eric for all the fun,food, hikes, and especially your love. Clear skies Our internet connection is so lousy that I can't upload pictures. Later

Bettys RV and arrival at Grand Isle

We left High Island and our next stop was at Bettys Rv in Abbeville, Louisiana. If you are a fulltime rver, and have never stopped at Betty’s. well you have missed it. She is immersed in Cajun Culture and knows about everything and everyone. She can direct you to whatever is happening nearby and even invites in bands to perform at her happy hours.

Now Betty had called us and invited us to stop by. We are no longer full-timers but she told us that she would like to see us and even show a sample of our jewelry. Arriving at the same time as a local band was setting up, we were even greeted by several people that remembered us from our last visit, (it had been at least seven years ago). The band started and the Happy Hour got happier as many of the guests started doing shots, (we don’t’). As the happiness flowed the band loosened up and started to forget the words to several of the songs. At one point the daughter of one of the band members told everyone that, “No more shots were wanted”, and the band settled down. My favorite song was “Hey Mama and Papa no one wants to dance with me”. It was sung in Creole/Cajun and even though I did not understand many of the words it a was beautiful rendition.

Later we said good by to Betty as we were next headed to Grand Isle, Louisiana. We try to time it right, and sometimes we are lucky enough for a fallout. Apparently, a wave of warblers had been there but had left and so we waited for the next cold front.

Connie and Gary took us to the Iris Trail, the Iris are in bloom, and we noticed that the Blackberries were ripening and that the mulberry trees were full of berries. If a fallout did occur, the birds would have plenty to eat!

The front finally passed and today the wind has shifted to the Northwest. If any flocks of birds are flying across the Gulf of Mexico, they will be exhausted from fighting the headwind, and drop out on the Grand Isle, the first land they see. Maybe tonight or tomorrow morning. Clear skies

The Houston Gem and Mineral Show, Humble, Texas

Each year we attend rock and fossil shows. One of the purposes is to purchase rough rock, slabs, and even finished cabs to turn into jewelry, (over 90% of our cabs are ones we grind ourselves). One of our favorite shows is th Houton Gem and Mineral Society’s show held in Humble, Texas. It’s about two hundred plus miles from us. We were delighted when Angie and Pete,(cousins), invited us to stay at their home, (Pete is a retired Petroleum Geologist and has a lifelong passion for rocks)

. Arriving at their house we ate a quick lunch, visited a bit and then headed to the show! We try to attend all three days for any special rocks or sales taking place and this year it was a great plan. Arriving at the show Renita and I hurried to one of our favorite dealers.

He had a sign up, “Going out of business, 60 percent off”. He didn’t have much left,

but he did have a Mexican opal and a 300-gram piece of polished Larimar, (that’s about two thirds of a pound). One of the mail reasons we went to the show was to purchase Larimar cabs. Stopping at another of our favorite dealers we saw she had a case of larimar cabs. Deciding to wait till Saturday, we quickly walked around and then headed back to Pete and Angie’s house. The next morning, we had breakfast before heading to the show and didn’t get there till about ten thirty.

Our first stop was at the business with the case of larimar cabs and we saw she had sold some. Now Larimar is only found in one place, the Dominican Republic, and the one mine in the world has been closed. The price is going up and so we bought eight nice cabochons. We next went to another dealer and bought two more larimar cabs, spending more than we wanted, (larimar is tough to grind and we spent a lot for a piece of rough that shattered). From there we split up and looked for whatever caught our eye. A new dealer specialized in wooly mammoth teeth, wooly rhinoceros’ teeth, and other fossils.

They were the best we have ever seen and so I had to buy the best wooly rhinoceros’ tooth in his shop. They were all from Siberia. I also wanted to buy one of his wooly mammoth teeth, but I had already blown through our budget.

Lunch time came and passed so we left the show and ate at our favorite café, The Humble Café. The serving size was more than we could eat and we ended up taking home almost half of what they had served us, (I managed to eat all of the four fillets of my catfish). The third day of the show and we returned to find out that several dealers had sold all out and were and packing up. We ran into members of our Gulf Coast Gem and Mineral Society.

Still Renita did find several pieces for her own collection,

and I bought several of the Moroccan fossil sand dollars.

Joining forces, we walked around and bought a slab of Mexican Crazy lace agate.

It’s one of our favorite materials and we should be able to make three or four cabs from the large slice. The next day we said our goodbyes, and headed south ot our place in Rockport, Texas. It was a great show, and we will soon start wire wrapping the pieces for next year’s shows. Our first Texas show is in February and then the Gulf Coast Gem and Mineral Society show. It’s always the first weekend in March! Clear skies

Grand Isle, A place of hope

It is rare for me to be at a loss of words, but I have had a hard time writing this entry. Grand Isle has been hit by so many hurricanes, many major, but this time Hurricane Ida left the worst devastation I have ever seen, and yet…… Some places are completely bare. The house had disappeared, and the lawn has been covering by sand. At many places the surge rolled over the top of the levee and found a place to erode.

People had driven their golf carts and four wheelers over it and destroyed the vegetation leaving a path which the sea exploited. It washed away the sand and then made a waterfall as it passed over the inner burrito, ( a structure the Corp of Engineers had designed and placed at the levee’s core). There it created a waterfall and undercut thru the levee leaving deep plunge pools of water. The trench than allowed the sea to surge over and much of the destruction was from the surge. There were a few places where the Corp had built pathways of interlocking concrete and these all survived with their surrounding levees containing the surge.

What the surge didn’t get the winds took but still some of the structures survived. It was probably a matter of luck, but still why are there some areas with lesser damage? Regardless many of the younger newcomers to Grand Isle have decided to never return. Carpetbaggers, VRBO, and others are calling trying to get the places for cheap and are not respected, perhaps even hated by some.

In spite of everything many have cleared away the debris and the sound of nail guns fills the air. So many still have hope, or stay perhaps because that they have friends there, and they are rebuilding. After all, for the locals, Grand Isle is their home My sister’s two houses both survived and escaped with some damage, but Gary repaired the damage and both are as good as new. Yet questions remain. will the Corps repair the damage levee? There is an argument about money and the estimate I heard was three point six million to rebuild the levee. Will the Coast Guard return to their base?

The new requirement for any insurance is that your house must be raised to twenty feet although the older places that survived are grandfathered in. A typical small structure’s flood insurance costs are over eight thousand dollars a year, if you can get it…… The state park is filled with FEMA trailers and the people there were all renters, you do need a work force. Who knows when it will open. The beaches of Elmer’s Island are open, and Gary took me fishing. We caught a keeper red and a keeper speckled trout and had a fish fry.

So, some things are normal. The school is open again but it has very few students. The road in, is still being repaired and in places corduroy logs are in place to prevent further road damage. A lot of the road is one way, and the pilot cars escort you past the workers. I am still amazed at all the places that are gone and many places so completely that I can’t remember what was there. I read an article that said that the levee must be repaired before the next big hurricane or the island may/will be cut it two.

The shrimpers have returned to the beach and the crabs are back.

The birds will not find much after flying across the gulf as so many trees are gone or damaged. Yet there is hope.

As I always end, Clear skies

Family Time!

We have been blessed this year, with visits by friends and family. This month Renita’s brother Phil and his wife Brenda, drove here in South Texas, from their home in Florida. It had been five years since we had seen them at our daughter’s wedding, and Renita and her sister Pam were excited about their family reunion. Pam had also gotten a call from her youngest son Brent, that he was going to stop by on his family’s spring break vacation to South Padre Island. They all managed to coordinate their dates and so it was family reunion time!

Phil and Brenda showed up first and of course we took them birding! The whooping cranes cooperated, and we had a great time in Lamar. Driving down fourth street. A pair was feeding at the first feeder. There were also sandhill and whistling ducks.

The dominate pair was being closely watched by six more whooping cranes. It was a great sight to be able to see eight of the five hundred whooping cranes in existence. Whooping cranes numbers have risen from nineteen birds to the present flock and are one of the most endangered species in North America.

We stopped for more pictures on Beach Road before we headed to Big Tree for the stroll around Big Tree. If you have ever been there, the tree used to have a sign stating its age but now the sign reads that the live oak tree is one of the largest in the state

. While at Big Tree Renita spotted a vermillion flycatcher. It was across the street, but we still got pictures of it along with a flying red tail hawk and sandhill cranes.

The rest of the time together was spent visiting about sharing family memories, new plans, retirement tales, and future trips.

It was so nice to have the siblings reunited! Clear skies