I’m too tired to write much. It was the only full day of sessions for this year’s conference. I really like how the convention center in McAllen is laid out. It’s easy to find things. And it’s very pretty.
Weeds in the vacant lot across the street were also pretty. This is Alamo vine.
All my sessions were good, though I must say the one on flies was my favorite. Wow that lady liked flies. I learned so much!
Extra cool fly
I escaped to an empty lot for a while and managed to find some new plants, plus finally found the climbing milk vine that’s everywhere in bloom. It’s seed pods are also pretty.
Climbing milkweed (Funastrum cynanchoides)
I took a bunch more pictures of the tributes to Frida Kahlo that are in the hallways. They are fascinating. These got cropped, so click to see the whole images.
I’ve enjoyed hanging out with my friends and our Texas Parks and Wildlife friends, Sam and Mike. Great conversations! I even get to speak Spanish a lot!
Ooh. Today was fun. It started out with a trip to the National Butterfly Center, which is beautiful and exciting. There were wonderful plantings of plants that attract pollinators as well as lots of unmanicured areas teeming with birds. I got LOTS of new birds on my life list! I really enjoyed the greater kiskadees.
Best I can do for a photo.
The woods were very different and had all kinds of new trees and bushes for me to explore. I definitely fell in love with the woods, the wetlands, and the river.
Beautiful part of the world
I had only seen the Rio Grande in El Paso, where it’s not pretty. Here, it’s wide and lush and gives you an idea of what this part of south Texas used to be like.
US left, Mexico rightIt’s so pretty
Unfortunately you can’t forget what South Texas is like now. We came upon the news in action: progress on the border wall. It really hit all of us hard. Nature can’t pass through, either. Luckily the Center property will not have a wall through it.
Building That Wall
Oh yeah. There were butterflies. And bees.
Ok, after many photos and much listening to new birds (green Jay, two kinds of kingfisher, golden-fronted woodpecker, Wilson’s warbler), we headed to lunch, after which the conference started.
Beautiful ofrenda in the conference center
All four sessions I attended were interesting. I learned about the geology of this region, burrowing owls, reforestation down here, and changing coastal marshes due to climate change. Quite a variety.
Sessions
The dinner was nothing to write home about, but we had good conversations and had fun waiting for the hotel shuttle and enjoying the día de los muertos decorations.
Spectacular!Photo opThe windblown look. Click to see her head
When we got to the hotel there were more reminders of how weird things are in south Texas. We wondered why the cleaning staff was cleaning at night. Then a young man came out of the door to his room. He told us they clean the rooms for him and his colleagues at night because they sleep during the day. We looked at his Army fatigues and he said, “you can guess why I’m here.” He’s been on this job a year. Wow. Very nice guy, as were the others we met in the lobby.
Whee. Did I have a good time today! Oh sure. It was time to go to the Texas Master Naturalist Annual Meeting. This year it’s in McAllen, Texas, way at the bottom of the state. I’ve never been here before, so it’s all new to me! But getting here was ALL the fun.
Rain lilies carpeted the roadside. None of us had ever seen so many.
I am very lucky that I was invited to go with the members of our chapter that I admire most, three natives of Milam County who know everything about the plants AND the people. I love listening to their stories.
We also found a new rain lily type. it’s not found in iNat.
I also love their sense of adventure. If the gals in the front seat saw an interesting plant or a roadkill, we stopped! Then we captured every possible image of the plants on the side of the road. It was so much fun! I found new-to-me plants.
This is a lance leaf blanket flower (Gaillardia aestivalis) which was new for me.
One highlight of the trip was the very nice bakery we visited in Schulenberg. I had a deer kolache and a pecan roll. We really enjoyed the story of a steer with three horns they had on the wall.
Look at that weird steer!
The next highlight came when we were investigating some plants south of Victoria. A car pulled up in front of ours and a woman jumped out and cried, “It’s Linda Jo Conn!” That’s right, one of our party can be recognized on the side of a road when going 75 mph. She has very white hair.
See, the hair is so lovely and easy to spot.
We had a great time identifying plants with the fellow Master Naturalists from the other car. They were really knowledgeable and nice. What a fun time!
Ignore our hair. LearningThis plant, cardinal feather (Acalypha radians), has different male and female versions.
The final highlight of the trip was, believe it or not, the rest area we stopped in. This was the most beautiful and interesting rest area I’ve ever seen. The architecture was sort of Spanish, but not overdone. It’s near Falfurrias on US 281.
The brickwork was fascinating, with patterns and rock accents.
The bathrooms had beautiful tile!
There were all kinds of birds there and many woodsy plants, because the whole place was in an oak grove. I had a blast on the little walking trail, where I found dozens of caterpillars and an ant bed. Whee!
“Bad caterpillar” — not sure what it isThe oaks Siam weed (Chromolaena odorata)AntsPuffballExploded puffballPretty beetleDelicate moth
Eventually we made our way to the edge of the US. There are lots of police and border patrol officers. There are lots of palm trees and a pretty tree with white flowers called anacahuita or Mexican olive (Cordia boissieri).
Two of our group went to a state park on the border to find moths. I’m not comfortable doing that. Plus I’m extra tired. So my other friend and I walked around a bit and I got a pair of shoes. I’d totally soaked mine traipsing around in ditches to photograph plants. They are drying now.
I love art. It’s hard to say who my favorite artist is, because I like different things from different eras, in different media…all delightful to me.
So I’ll be selfish and say my mom. Her water colors looked like they were from another world. Or my stepmother, Florence. Yes, my dad married two artists.
Flo and her bluebonnet painting
I had a book report to write, but it’s been a long. But good day. Apache was a champ at his lesson, and Drew has a sore leg again, but we helped him. It was fun!
This is Drew’s glamour shot. Apache looking much better.
I’ve had such a great week or so with the horses. Mabel has turned into my biggest fan. Today I called her when she was at the far corner of the back pasture, went in the tack room for a moment, and when I returned, there she was, in her pen looking at me like she was saying, “You rang?”
Her reward? Dinner! She always turns her food dish over and eats off the ground.
And Dusty had me really worried for a while. He started to get real thin.
Here he is running toward dinner with Drew as Fiona patiently waits for them to go by. We hope he puts on weight and isn’t dealing with a condition.
He’s looking better and seems to appreciate his increased rations.
Thanks, Suna!
With all the turmoil in the world right now, it’s nice to have both art and animals to keep us grounded.
Oh my. If you’ve known me for the past few years, you’ll probably have a good idea what my favorite hobby is. Or you’re saying, “Wait a minute, how can Suna choose between knitting/crocheting and horses?”
A crocheted horse, maybe?
You’re right. I can’t choose between my two favorite activities, which I’ve consistently loved since early childhood. I think I liked horses the moment I popped out of the womb, and I was knitting in kindergarten. I’m not one to stray from things I love, which does lead to “clutter,” I guess.
Current temperature blanket progress. This is September. Still hot. The next row will be better!
But I’ve given up on caring if people judge me for my collections!
Note that reading and hanging out in nature are not listed among my favorite hobbies. That’s because they are necessities, not hobbies.
It was a fun day with a good balance of exploring the hidden corners of the ranch and being a people person. But I’m so tired I’m afraid this will end up as one of those typo-filled collections of gibberish.
Oh, deer.
I really enjoyed the coolest morning so far after the horrid summer. I went all over the more inaccessible areas of the Hermits’ Rest Ranch. I was looking for butterflies and certain specific plants. I succeeded in finding monarchs, a few other butterflies, and passionflowers (plus passion fruit). That’s a lot of beauty. Ooh do those passionflowers smell nice.
Bee butt, plus a spider, I think. Pearl crescent Ceraunus blue (Hemiargus ceraunus)
I’ll share more later. But I made good contributions to the iNaturalist 2023 Texas Pollinator BioBlitz. That felt good. I even got observations at the place where I went this afternoon!
I found the most interesting insect, the large-tailed aphid eater, or bird hoverfly (Eupeodes volucris)
And where I spent the afternoon was being a vendor at a showcase at the Little River Event Center, one of the two nice local venues that recommend our short-term rental, the Red House on Fannin. Anita joined me partway through the event.
Looking all official.
We met some very nice folks, and I really enjoyed the young woman with a Photo Booth next to me. There were all the usual wedding vendors like photographers, event planners, florists, and caterers. They were mostly younger women with small children, but not all were.
The first thing I learned was that colors should be neutral. We were the only red thing in the venue. The second thing was that I need a sign. Otherwise it was lots of fun and we made good contacts, along with visiting with some friends.
This beautiful ranch is just outside of Cameron.
I appreciate the opportunity to get out and introduce people to our little house. It’s working out pretty well! I’m glad there are places like these event venues that will promote us, and we can return the favor.
Exterior during setup.
Now to crash. Sorry if there are more typos than usual.
What’s a topic or issue about which you’ve changed your mind?
I was going to be flip and answer this one with “golf.” I thought it was boring and elitist when I was young, and getting my head cracked open by a golf club in bad ole 8th grade didn’t help (when I mentioned this earlier I forgot to add that as I stumbled my way alone and bleeding to the school nurse, I rubbed blood all over the exterior of Plantation Middle School, to express my disgust with my situation. They never did golf again in middle school PE. However, I’ve come to enjoy watching golf on television and have fun at Top Golf.
No golf photos, but here’s a painted lady.
My more serious answer is that I’ve changed my mind about Christianity. I have gradually come to realize that I am not fond of institutional religion in general, not just Christianity. Also, I realized that what upsets me most about certain Christian sects is how bizarrely they’ve distorted the message of peace, kindness, and caring that the historical Christ preached into a war-mongering, cruel, and disdainful way of enforcing power over the masses in favor of a privileged few.
Snow on the prairie looking elegant.
It turns out that there are Christians with whom I agree very much and whose ideas I’m happy to incorporate into my life, along with wise people from other traditions. So, I am still quite unimpressed with many versions of Christianity, but I’m very comfortable with the teachings of Christ (not Paul’s version).
A bee I’d never seen before. ID not confirmed.
Enough of that. Huzzah! Today was the day! Pleasant weather arrived! I even had to wear a sweatshirt getting Drew ready to go to a horse clinic. I just basked all day and couldn’t make myself stay inside even after I got home. I wandered around taking pictures for the pollinator BioBlitz that’s going on.
Texas nightshade (Solanum triquetrum) is a pretty plant that only grows in one spot on our property.
The nice weather made the clinic lots of fun, even though Drew was not on his best behavior much of the time, because he was very distracted by a beautiful mare (I don’t know what makes a mare beautiful to a hormonal gelding, but she is very pretty.
I love her. What a butt!
Eventually he settled down, but not after I had to trot him in a circle so many times I was getting dizzy. He was distracted. Once we switched to obstacles, he did better. We jumped! And we went around a corner backwards. There were challenges due to my lack of skill, but I got through the day.
I’ve got my eye on her.
It was funny that all three horses in my group were gray. Drew’s the tiny one that doesn’t cost tens of thousands of dollars. But he is just fine.
Brilliantly, we separated Drew from Luna for the photo.
Hanging out with the horse gang again was just great. I’m glad summer is over so we can have fun and learn more. There’s lots to learn!
Sara got this picture of Drew not grasping the concept of sharing space with Aragorn.
I have a healthy amount of Imposter Syndrome going on, stemming mainly from feeling so horribly untalented at what I went to grad school for, even though I loved it. But mostly I’ve been able to blend in, make conversation, or at least get by in whatever situation I get thrown in.
It’s because I meditate.
I admit I felt uncomfortable during the years we were studying real estate renovations and investment, especially when we got labeled as “big investors” and getting invited to special receptions and events (like a sky box at a football game—I couldn’t do rich people small talk so I sat in the seats and watched the game. I’m good at football watching. I grew up working class or barely middle class, so I missed out on rich people issues and topics. They talked a lot about taxes when just a year or two before mine were easily done by Turbo Tax.
Now, though, I understand horse expenses.
But the time I felt most out of place was the 1971-72 school year, when I was removed from a junior high school where I fit in, had my advanced classes, and was popular among the smart hippie kids. I was placed in a new town, which was a kinda snobby suburb. That was ok. But the school was an “open classroom.” Three grades, 6-8, were all in a giant room with lockers delineating learning areas. Black kids were bussed in from miles away and not thrilled about it. All abilities were in the same classroom, which was supposed to be just fine for learners and teachers, because we were supposed to teach ourselves, each at our own pace.
It was hell. Science class was good, because we all learned at the same time, mainly how to hurt each other with lab equipment. Much of the year, the white kids would have nothing to do with a hippie kid. The black girls were more friendly. Eventually I had friends.
But this whole system was chaos. By halfway through the year I’d finished English and social studies, so three of us would go to the open air library and crawl under a table to read plays to each other. Shakespeare was quite naughty, we thought. Probably it’s banned today.
But I couldn’t teach myself algebra, even with a friend trying with me. She was brilliant. But we needed a teacher, and Mr. Schecter had no interest in teaching, just grading papers. So my friend and I crocheted purses. Hmm. I did a lot of extra-curricular stuff.
Anyway, that was the year I fainted in volleyball and took a golf club to my head. Only chorus was fun. Made lifelong friends there!
I was a square peg in that giant round hole of a school building. I lost a year of math, too. I had to do Algebra I again, so I was behind many of my friends.
I had no deep pool to hide in.
I’m sure I drove my parents up a wall, as we used to say, that year. I felt like a complete misfit, but these memories reminded me there was plenty of fun. Change was just hard for an adolescent with severe anxiety. I didn’t even know what anxiety was. I was just “too sensitive.”
I’m glad I have my circle of human and animal friends to support me now!
Your life without a computer: what does it look like?
Now, y’all may be surprised by my answer to this question, given that I have made my career in online activities and teaching folks about software. I made websites when there were no images in them, after all (1993).
First, I’d still be outside a very often, hiking, playing with horses and dogs, and observing plants, birds and other wildlife.
You can see my house way down this hill.
Second, I’d still be knitting, crocheting, doing needlepoint and all that. I’d just have books to learn from and go to the library a lot, just like I did in the blissful 70s and 80s.
I think I’d do many of the same things in person that I now do online. I’m a writer, so nothing will stop me from writing. I used to be a great typist, too. I typed a book on Catalan using three different IBM Selectric type balls, which you young folks have never even heard of, probably. I also have excellent handwriting in cursive, that ancient indecipherable script.
Typewriter ball.
I could also still teach adults. I guess I’d teach at a community college or vocational school. From books. Books are good.
Book I’m reading. I prefer real books, but use the Kindle when traveling. I’m not an auditory learner by preference, so I’m not as fond of listening to them.
I’d create communities, too, just like I used to do with email groups and chat software, but (gasp) in person. I do that now, anyway, or try to. I love being with like-minded people to learn and support each other. Who needs Zoom?
But mostly I’d wander around listening to birds and watching butterflies, just like Snow White or whoever it was that had all the forest creatures flocking around her in a cartoon. Ah, it was Sleeping Beauty.
I think I’d be very happy. I was certainly happy outdoors among nature today. It rained 1.5” overnight, so all the living beings were happy. I even recorded two new birds on the Merlin app, a gray catbird and house wren (both birds I’ve seen before but never recorded). And it was only up to 84° today!
I didn’t hear these vultures, but I saw them, along with a crested caracara and a red-shouldered hawk.
The only sad part was finding a beautiful leopard frog that had gotten caught in the shredder last night when all the front field got all smooth and pretty. But that means there are probably more of these beauties!
Leopard frog, not sure which type.
Yes, autumn is actually here. It’s even going to be chilly this weekend! Enjoy my nature photos from my pleasant nature walk today.
Interesting clouds. Fall color! Soapberry tree. Texas fence. The tree line is Walker’s Creek. Indian mallow (Abutilon fruticosum)Green antelope horns (Asclepias viridis) I love milkweed blossoms. Looking up the hill from the creek.
I’m so tired that I don’t have much in me tonight. I had a earache all last night, for no reason I can discern. I’m not someone who gets ear infections and there’s no water in my ears. Anyway, short blog today.
Also, no exciting photos. I was trying to get good pictures of my horses. I didn’t really.
I thought about skills I’d like to learn, like painting, machine sewing, spinning yarn, or playing piano. They are all artsy skills.
The skill I NEED to learn, though, is hitching a horse trailer to a vehicle and safely conveying said horses to their destination. Oh, and parking competently. I think what’s stopping me is that I could probably drive fine, but I’m not strong enough to change tires or deal with mechanical issues, so I like having a companion.
I couldn’t get his head out of the hay.
Lee points out that two hours of horse lessons usually wipe me out mentally and physically, which is why he doesn’t mind taking me to Tarrin’s. After getting the horses and their equipment ready, the ride over lets me recover enough to do the lesson, and the ride back home gets me cooled off enough to unpack and feed everyone without keeling over.
I’m running out of hay. Not good. Need rain. Hoping for tonight.
I’m more athletic than I once was, but now age is creeping up on me. It’s better than the alternative. My financial planner says I will have enough money to make it to 2051. That should do, though I did want to live to the age of 100, if human civilization makes it to 2058.
The Hermits' Rest 