Mother Nature Had the Sniffles

Yesterday’s big plans got thwarted, because it kept threatening to rain all day. Mostly it just drizzled, which made me think Nature has the same thing so many of my friends have that makes them all sniffly. It never rained hard until the evening, when we were sitting in the hot tub talking to random fellow guests.

What this meant is that we had to cancel our boat outing around the Pinkney Island preserve. But, we talked to Scott the Boat Guy, and are going to try to do it later this morning. It appears dry outside.

We did manage a quick outing to the Audubon Preserve, where last year I saw a zillion birds, but had no binoculars. This year, yes to binoculars, but no to birds.

I really do appreciate the efforts the group has made to label so many of the plants. They have a very nice brochure that talks about all the different mini-ecosystems in the park and what grows there. It’s also where I learned about the original topography of the area, with high ups and downs of boggy spaces and higher land with trees. It’s not like that where all the houses are now.

One interesting plant I saw was a Chinese tallow tree, which I have been reading about in my book about Texas invasive species. They only have ONE there, and I hope it stays that way. It’s a beautiful tree, but it’s trying to take over the Houston area and crowding out native trees and grasses since it has escaped captivity. I’ll tell you more about it when I finish that book.

In addition to the nature, we ate at the very nice and down-home local fish restaurant, the Sea Shack. It was as good as last year, and I was happy with my fish, oysters, collard greens, and cheese grits. It’s the SOUTH! Also, whatever they put in the collards was really different and delicious. I will eat there every year.

Since our boat trip was rained out, we headed over to the fancy shopping areas and did some fancy shopping. We talked to a nice knife sales person from north Florida, got some little things, and did some Christmas shopping. As with every year, I am cutting down on the gifts. This time I mean it.

The most lovely place we shopped is called Spartina, which is a small chain of stores with items inspired by the nearby Daufuske Island scenery. I liked that it is different from every other store I’ve even been to. It manages to be beachy and oceanic without being kitschy. There are really some beautiful designs there.

After a relaxing night of HGTV and reading, we are up and ready to ride a BOAT. It is cloudy but not raining. Hope the dolphins are there!