camping – Page 2 – The Hermits' Rest

My Back Says Ow

Today seemed really long, probably because I twisted my back at some point when getting the RV ready to head home. I’ll take some pain medicine when I go to bed, for sure.

Or I could hypnotize myself by looking at my nails.

I’m surprised I got any other exercise today, because we spent the morning inside. First, we chatted with Mike, who’d been working in his RV all weekend. But at least we had a quiet neighbor! Then I took minutes for a board meeting of the Master Naturalist chapter. Visions of COVID times danced I my head trying to do a meeting on FaceTime. But I did it!

Made me feel squirrelly. And probably annoyed the attendees.

I enjoyed a small walk, listened to birds, and hugged a cypress tree, typical Suna things.

The ride home seemed extra long since my back was still spasmodic and my stupid eye twitch was back making me irritated. The good news is I found my temperature book, so I got caught up to today in the 2025 temperature blanket. I even sewed the first two rows of January together. It vaguely resembles a calendar now.

The moon rose and sun set as we approached Cameron, which was a good distraction!

The dogs were so happy to see us when we got home! Alfred was prancing around like a giant puppy, Goldie was managing to jump up and down, and the others were running into each other with glee. Before I could head to relieve myself, they all had to be petted. I sure feel welcome.

A Good Day in a Small, but Beautiful Site

It’s all good today. The space heaters did their job and the temperature ended up perfect for sleeping last night. It also wasn’t quite so cold, which I did not complain about.

After a nice morning, I ended up walking on every trail in Blanco State Park, enjoying the beautiful sky and the reflections in the river. I especially enjoyed crossing the river on the dams and watching the water flowing.

I even have a dam video for your enjoyment!

This is the park boundary. Those are greenhouses behind the dam.

Birds were a bit more numerous today, and I got to have fun with them. First, I talked to a family who were feeding the family of Egyptian Geese and sleepy Muscovy Ducks at the park. I decided that I’d not mention the rule about not feeding Cheetos to the wildlife, since the birds weren’t natives. I did tell them about the birds, though.

I kept going and went back to the bird blind, hoping to see something more than Cardinals, which I did. There was apparently a Mountain Bluebird, which I did not see. I did get to watch exciting House Sparrows, Black-crested Titmice, and White-winged Doves fussing with each other. Then, suddenly something swooped in, a hawk that I guess was a Coopers, but am not sure. Every single one of the dozens of birds at those feeders took off at once, in a flurry of feathers and dove noises. The hawk sat in a tree for a minute, hoping for a meal, but soon left without a morsel.

I also saw a Kestrel fly up to a tree, then before I could photograph it, swoop down and get some kind of morsel. It must have been an insect, because it finished quickly and went to a telephone pole to look for more prey.

After some football and reading I went back out a couple more times. I got to see the Kingfisher fly by at sunset, which was a lovely highlight. The weather was so nice, I just had to keep wandering around. I tried sneaking up on some deer but failed. Deer sure are the color of the woods.

I’m so glad we’re able to hang out in nature like this. We are lucky to have my son to care for the animals, people, and mail back at the ranch. It’s really important right now to grab every bit of fun and relaxation that you can. Great memories are made that way to comfort us as time goes on.

That’s Better! Birds and Plants and Peace

At last! I have my stamina back. I can walk as far as I want to and not start panting. So I did that today. I walked a lot.

This Dusky Blue Groundstreak butterfly has a fake head and wiggling fake antennae on its back side. Clever.

Here at Brazos Bend State Park, I investigated some of the bends, horseshoe lakes created by creeks and rivers when they change course. This morning I crossed Big Creek to check out Hale Lake, which has a cool path that loops inside the horseshoe. The paths aren’t very well maintained, but there have been so many hurricanes and such lately that aesthetics may not be a priority. The ancient benches and gazebos still work.

Anyway. Even the many, many recently downed trees didn’t detract from how pleasant the walk was and how pretty the views were.

This is a White-striped Longtail, a skipper butterfly. It’s so graceful when flying.

I enjoyed many birds, especially a pair of garrulous Kingfishers who had a lot to say to each other. It was a nice break from the incessant cawing of the crows, starting before daybreak.

It was just great to take my time and check out new plants and scenery. It’s so good to go into discovery mode and let the pressing issues of the day slip by. Peace. Ah.

I can open my eyes to amazing sights, like sedges growing out of a log in the lake.

After I got back, Lee and I went for a drive around the area where he came from. There are many pretty parts, but so many industrial complexes. I don’t think I’d want to live there just from all the chemicals in the air.

But we did find some bird sanctuaries and interesting wildlife areas to explore.

The path I went down at the wildlife management area we found was not being maintained any longer. How did I know? An immense oak tree blocked my passage. It’s probably from the most recent storm.

Back at Brazos Bend, I checked out the next lake on my list, Elm Lake. It’s made from a dam, I think. This was late afternoon, so the light was pretty. I was delighted by the number of new water plants I found.

However, I was practically overwhelmed by the number of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks flying off to roost. Those are some loud and strange birds.

In addition to more Anhingas, Yellow-crowned Night Herons, herons, and egrets, I had a real-life Tippi Hedren moment. I heard noises in the swamp, which got louder and louder. I realized it was a huge flock of grackles making its way toward the lake. They were sneaky, not flying together in a murmuration, but going slowly from tree to tree until they were above me. Eek.

So I moved on, and found the swampy area where the birds roost. The herons were really pretty.

But then it got creepy again. An owl started hooting (Barred Owl), and odd sounds that were not from birds began. First there was a bullfrog. I’m okay with those. Then an alligator. It was far away. Then something else.

About that time a man who was obviously a birder showed up (camera, binoculars, birding hat). I asked him what he thought the sound was. Feral hogs. Yep. Once he proposed that it made sense.

There’s a flying heron and a duck in ia tree in this image.

We left, but had a nice chat until I turned to find Lee, who had met me in the parking lot, because the sun was setting. I was glad.

Well, I packed a lot of fun into today!

Old Memories and Preparing for New Ones

What’s the oldest things you’re wearing today?

Before answering the question and talking about today, I hereby acknowledge that the prompt writer has a subject-verb agreement problem. I’ll answer this: what is the oldest thing I’m wearing today?

Many memories are triggered when I look at my ring that says Suna on it. I’ve worn it every single day since I had it made for me at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. The trip was intended to cheer me up after my kids’ father moved out. It actually was a fun trip.

I don’t have my trip pictures here, so enjoy my spotted friends.

I got the ring to remind me that I didn’t need anyone else to make me whole, to remind me that I love myself, and to keep me strong. So that’s been with me 23 or 24 years. It does help me remember who I am.

More memories are coming back to me as we are camping at Palmetto State Park, where I went once before and had a great time. It’s where I met my friend Mike S, so it’s cool that he and Martha will camp with us again.

It was iffy whether we’d make it here. Once again there were torrential rains, but this park wasn’t hit too badly. On the way down here, though, we passed by a lot of fresh hail and wind damage. I’m glad we missed it. Trees and limbs were all over the roads and we passed at least two closures. Lee handled the motorhome very well, which I appreciated a lot.

Once we got here, I just HAD to take a walk along the San Marcos River to find out what birds were lurking around. It was mostly the same as home, with the addition of the Northern Parula, a pretty blue and yellow warbler that makes a really fun shrill call.

The trail is gorgeous. Here’s some woodland beauty.

After that, we ate sandwiches and sat around the fire Mike made. That’s so restful. This park only has 19 camping spots, so it will be cozy. What it has lots of are cool trails. You’ll get to see some tomorrow, I hope. Future memories await!

Damn Damp

Yep. It started raining last night and it’s still raining. It’s also pretty cold. I did not bring the correct clothing on this camping trip. Things have not gone as planned, so we were flexible. We went for a drive.

This reminded me of the Irish coast with the gray skies and bright yellow flowers (gorse).

We went to the other side of Lake Whitney and drove around a Corps of Engineers park, Walling Bend. It wasn’t fancy but was pretty in a disheveled way.

We saw a baptism going on, with mariachi music. Then we drove around a neighborhood looking for houses for sale. Ha ha. It may have been the scariest white supremacist neighborhood I ever drove through. I was glad to be wearing a reddish hat and that there’s a US flag, sorta, on the back of the Jeep. We were incognito.

I did get to go on a half hour walk, in which I managed to see a hummingbird and flock of cattle egrets. Lots more gulls were out. They’re used to being wet.

Most flowers looked pretty sad, but this wild onion looked great.

I guess the good news is that it’s really quiet at the campground! Everybody is inside avoiding all the lightning. Good news is that it should dry out tomorrow. I hope! I really want to hike some more.

Mushrooms like damp. I didn’t find any morels like many of my friends did today (on the east coast).

Other than that excitement, Lee cooked another meal on his George Foreman grill, which seems pretty handy, and we finished watching the show Wednesday, which we started yesterday. I’m glad they still make DVDs for us non-streamers. We enjoyed the show very much. The writing was great.

If it keeps raining, we’ll go back home. Of course, it rained there today, too. I’m dying to try the weird liquid meals Kathleen has to eat to perk up her liver. They’ll probably make me gag, too. Misery loves company, though.

Plus, another row of temperature blanket is fine, with much rain. You can see it’s warming up a bit.

Talking to Strangers

Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.

I’m not as big on talking to people I don’t know as other people in my family are, but I tend to do it more when we go to State Parks and camp for a few days.

People at the parks are often very friendly and interesting. My favorite memory is somewhere in this blog from last year. I’ll repeat for this prompt. I was at Pedernales Falls, and ran into a family playing in the river after I climbed down a zillion stairs to get there. Now, that was okay, because the wildflowers were so spectacular I didn’t notice.

I showed the kids some bugs going back up, and bonded with the dad o er the flowers. They asked if I’d been to the actual falls, and I said no, because it was too far to walk. So they drove me there! And we found more bugs. Dung beetles. I never saw such excited kids. We could hardly drag them away to go look at the falls!

I’ll never forget this sweet family and their dog, who sure let me know I was sitting in her spot in the car!

Today we inaugurated Hermee the Jeep as our tow vehicle and drove to Lake Whitney State park, which is west of West, Texas. We succeeded!

Here I also talked to strangers, even without Lee, who went to get supplies while I finished working and took a walk. It turns out that the large group of Texas Tech people were all band alumni who gather every year at a park. What a fun tradition!

This park is on the eastern edge of the Grand Prairie. The lake was formed by damming the Brazos River.

I also met a nice retired couple and a man with beautiful little dogs. It’s worth talking to strangers in settings where you feel safe!

The park has lots of birds, plus we saw migratory snow geese on our way to the park. I enjoyed hearing summer tanagers and seeing bluebirds and woodpeckers.

Red bellied woodpecker in action.

There are only two official trails, but there are roads and camping areas to check out, too. I won’t be bored. Here are a few views of flowers and fields.

We had a nice dinner thanks to the George Foreman grill Lee came back with. It made quesadillas. He also got a replacement for the overly cheap tiny coffeemaker we’d been using. Wow was it bad, and then it broke! we’re sticking with name brands from now on.

Later we enjoyed how dark it is here and listened to frogs. A great evening! Tomorrow maybe it will be cooler and I can work outside.

Not So Negative Traveler

What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?

I’ll tell you what I do with negative feelings! I squash them down and distract myself with plants! Who can feel bad when they’ve just seen their first mayapple?

The most beautiful plant! The flowers hide under a giant leaf umbrella!

One common criticism of Past Suna was that she was sooo negative. That stung, but it led me to get to work on figuring out how to reframe how I interpreted the world around me. That, in turn, has led me to express myself less negatively. It was a lot of effort at first, but I think I’m a lot less negative, in general.

Sure, it rained this morning, which made getting ready to travel difficult, but it was beautiful afterwards, and we needed the rain.

I’ve noticed that lately, when things happen that once would have made me upset, I notice that whatever it was happened, feel angry, annoyed, or sad, but then let it go. How did I finally learn to stop dwelling on things and wallowing excessively? I DO NOT KNOW. My best guess is that all the effort I’ve put into mindfulness, seeing the good in situations, and turning away negative thoughts became second nature after a lot of repetition. Dang, I wish I could have gotten there sooner, but that’s my path!

Here’s an example. Today we were looking forward to picking up Hermee the Jeep and towing him to the Cooper Lake South Sulphur Unit State Park (quite a mouthful) behind Seneca the motorhome. Do you see a Jeep in this picture?

Yep, the towing equipment wouldn’t be done until 4 pm, way too late for us to drive 4 hours and arrive in daylight. It turned out the scheduled technician had a death in the family. Well, I was irritated for one minute, then just made sure we have enough food, and looked forward to the weekend anyway. That guy’s family is more important than having two vehicles. We will get Hermee on our way back.

It’s harder to be negative, too, when you’re looking at life from a wider perspective. Hanging around with nature so much, and working to understand horses and dogs has helped drive home the perspective I need. I remember the world does not revolve around me, I’m part of a bigger universe, and pouting or weeping won’t stop the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. It’s so much better (at least for me) to just sit back and watch the show, tending to matters that are within my ability to control (my own actions).

The fewer expectations I have of those around me, the more at peace I become. And this lets me truly enjoy the goodness and kindness that pours in from the family and friends who care. And they’re the ones that count and bring joy, even in hard times.

Um, anyway, yeah, we have driven to the park we accidentally drove to a few months ago. It’s more wintry in north Texas than at home, but I think I’ll have lots of fun walking around this weekend. The weather should be pleasant.

With no Jeep to get me to trailheads, I’ll get some good walking in. And if it rains, I have loads of knitting and writing to do. It’s all good. It’s weirdly stress free other than concerns for some family health issues. I can’t fix it by worrying, though, so I’ll keep sending out good intentions and doing whatever concrete things I can to be helpful.

And, here are some plants and vultures.

How do you deal with negative feelings? Is it easier or harder as you age?

I’m Tough, I Guess

I say that because even though it was cold with a biting wind, I hiked the whole Randy Bell Scenic Trail and added a walk through the second, and very beautiful, camping area here at the Isle du Bois Unit of the Ray Roberts State Park. That’s a long name. I got 6 miles and 16,000+ steps in.

It wasn’t a great bird day, probably because I didn’t go out until late morning. But I did get to enjoy watching a flock of dark-eyed juncos feasting on cedar berries. I used to see them a lot in Illinois.

Other than that, I was pleased to see more varied terrain today, with more prairie areas and evidence of controlled burns. All good.

The Quail Run campaign area is on a hill that makes a little peninsula on the lake. Most of the campsites only work for tents, but some would fit an RV. The settings are really scenic and would be great to look out from if there weren’t gale winds.

The woods were full of deer. Since there’s not much underbrush, they can’t hide too well, so I got to see them eating and napping. No more pooping, though.

I just wandered around and enjoyed the peace and quiet, then rested a bit and walked more with Lee. We were able to sit outside a while until the sun went behind clouds.

We ended the day watching those three Wizarding World movies from a few years ago. I’m woefully not up on Harry Potter stuff, for no deep reason. Anyway, more photos for those of you that like such things.

I wish you all a good Sunday.m, especially everyone at Tarrin’s clinic tomorrow. Maybe it will be warmer here.

Filched Feathers

Have you ever unintentionally broken the law?

No doubt I’ve accidentally done something I’m not supposed to do more than once and still don’t know it. But one I do know about is that for a while I had a collection of bird feathers I’d found on the ground on the ranch. There were striped hawk feathers, huge black vulture feathers, etc.

Here’s some feathery grass. It’s a bluestem.

In my Master Naturalist training I learned that it’s against the law to collect and display native wild bird feathers unless you’re a Native American doing it for spiritual reasons. I think the Migratory Bird Act is the law. It’s so people won’t hurt birds to make hats or other decorative objects.

Fly free, migratory birds! These are geese, probably Canada geese, photobombed by a tern.

I set my wild feathers free and now happily display domestic chicken feathers. It seems like if the feather fell out for bird-related reasons, like fighting or molting, it wouldn’t harm anything. Oh well. I will look at feathers on birds. That’s fine.

Birds I looked at today included a lot of coots.

Yes, we have flown the coop once again (more bird talk) and Seneca the motorhome brought us to Ray Roberts State Park, Isle de Bois unit. This lake provides Dallas and Denton their water.

It’s still looking pretty wintry up here, but we are right on the lake.

Note all the logs. I guess there was a bad storm up here recently, because there is a big mess in the campground. It’s sort of sad. I hope the trails look better! The lake gives great views, though.

We arrived just at sunset. I had to get work done first.

I have seen more birds than I’ve heard, so far. There are very busy white-throated sparrows, loud crows, cardinals, and great blue herons that make noise. But the coots, ducks, geese, and terns didn’t have much to say. The terns were diving from the air, and the coots and ring-necked ducks were diving from the water. it’s lots of fun to watch. I’ll enjoy working from the picnic table tomorrow!

These are the ducks. I know, hard to tell. They have longer black bills. Coots have short white ones. My binoculars helped.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to some quiet hiking. They have paved trails! There’s also an equestrian area to check out. Saturday it will be colder, but I brought my trusty winter hiking clothing AND hiking boots that aren’t broken! I’m set.

So pretty here. The white dots are a plane and its reflection.

The horses and dogs have good care, so all should be well at home. Of course we miss them. But quiet is nice. Enjoy more pictures.

Who Am I?

Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.

Well, I’m glad I don’t hide who I am on this blog, or this would be more of a challenge. No doubt I e answered this before over the years, but here I go, in case anyone is at all interested.

Sue Ann means “graceful lily,” according to name books’ etymological declarations. I am pretty damned sure my parents didn’t look at my round and wobbly baby self and name me based on that.

No, after a couple of days of indecision, they named me after two of Dad’s sisters. Of course, as the Kendalls tended to do, they gave me their middle names. I’m glad. Bettye Doris is a mouthful. Bettye went by “Pug” all her life and Doris Ann went by both names, or either, randomly.

Suna came from an existentialist Japanese movie (and book by Kōbō Abe) that affected me deeply. It was called Woman in the Dunes or Suna no Onna (砂の女). Suna means something like grains of sand, which I metaphorically interpret to be like all the different facets of oneself. The idea of being fluid yet solid, like sand, stuck with me, and so when the time came to choose my own name, that stuck. Like sand on the beach.

I used to be quite the little gloomy existentialist intellectual in the olden days.

By the way, Suna is a given name in other cultures. The source I saw says it’s a female Turkish name meaning “duck.” The cute kind, I’m sure. Ah, upon further reading, it means beautiful and tall, like a drake. I guess since male ducks are prettier?

I saw a lot of ducks today, along with white pelicans, along the Cooper Lake dam.

Or it could be gold, from a Sanskrit word. In any case, a hint of my love for the name comes from the fact that it’s much less beautiful backward. Ha!

I’ve driven that topic into the dirt (another sand reference?) so let’s move on. Today dawned cloudy and gusty. Hiking in that weather is not fun. I did try, and got a couple more plant photographs and bird sounds, but checking the forecast led us to head home sooner than planned.

Rain is forecasted for tomorrow, and Lee didn’t want to take Seneca the motorhome on back roads in bad rain. So we visited the park office, where buying a magnet was quite difficult, then headed out.

This pretty stand of yuccas was one photo I was glad to get. The only ones I saw.

It’s an interesting drive from Cooper to Cameron if you avoid the interstate. There are lots of horse farms (yay) and lots of this kind of thing (ugh).

Proudly declaring to the world he’s Suna backwards.

It was good to be home and get caught up with things back home. It can rain all it wants to now!