Thursday – A Little Personal

April 23, 2015April 22, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 18 Comments

There were some unusual things on several bike rides this week. I thought you might enjoy me sharing them with you. There is no continuity in these photos, so I guess I will just call this the ramblings of an old geezer.

We have a colony of cutter ants that live under the dune boardwalk. What you are seeing is the workers carrying pieces of clover that other ants cut back to the nest. The ants heading to the left of the photo are holding the leaves by their hind legs. The ants going to the right are heading for a clover pick up. Okay, so maybe a bit strange but I thought it interesting.

I showed a picture of a Coast Guard helicopter before but here is an army helicopter on patrol during a rainstorm. These things fly over the beach every two hours.

Here is a Monday morning photo. Notice the trash cans maybe twenty paces in the background. There are signs warning no glass bottles on the beach but my belief is anyone who would leave this kind of thing is too stupid to read. (Yes I picked them up and threw them in the can)

When I was taking the photos of the buildings around town, I had the dogs with me. They were nice enough to pose for a photo. I didn’t realize it, but the professional photographer is in the glass reflection. So I guess we could call this “Lucy and Bailey in relief with a dope.”

Thursday – A Little Personal

April 9, 2015April 7, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 30 Comments

Today I thought I would post a few pictures which I took on three bike rides. These are all beach scenes since that is the place I do my riding. I hope you like these.

The first is a picture of a group of pelicans who were headed away from where I was going. Notice the birds fly in a V formation like geese. This allows the lead bird to fall back and coast once he/she becomes tired.

Here is a rather far away shot of the Coast Guard helicopter that patrols the beach daily. They are on the look out for drug runners and a possible stray soviet submarine. *chuckle* Also you can see Sunday was a beautiful day. The rest of the photos are taken in cloudy conditions.

Early in the week I came across a lonely Portuguese Man o’ War washed up on the beach. When the surf is rough (as it has been for a few days) these guys have no propulsion system and are at the mercy of the current. They usually wash in from far out in the Gulf.

Monday morning saw this sculpture left behind by someone expressing his belief in the Resurrection. I believe the sign read “He has Risen originally and someone came along and changed it to “He Has Fred.” I hope Fred has an iron clad story. He may need it someday.

I can see the tragedy written all over this scene. “Help me make a sandcastle daddy.” “Sure honey. Here I’ll use this shovel to dig the foundation….Damn.”

This was taken yesterday and you can see the effects of the Gulf high surf. There are thousands of Portuguese Man o’ War and assorted pieces of wood and seaweed washed onto the beach.This is a continuous process and by next week things could change dramatically.

Man O’ War are not the only things washed up. I have yet to find treasure but now and then an interesting item will appear. This is some kind of cover which has the instructions, “close before starting engine” on the top. I wonder if someone started the engine with it open and this is all that is left of whatever it is with an engine. I guess we’ll never know.

Thursday – A little Personal

April 2, 2015April 1, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 30 Comments

Today a little personal leads me to a wonderful place Austin Boxer Rescue

My wife is a volunteer, and there are times when we need to keep a Boxer temporarily. I would like you to meet Winston, he stayed with us until my wife took him to San Antonio yesterday to join Austin Boxer Rescue, the rescue organization for adoption. He was at the Corpus Christi animal shelter after found abandoned in an apartment with his sister. The shelter estimates he and his sister were in the apartment for thirty days with minimal food and water. He is a sweet happy boy, I hope he gets a home quickly.

The poor guy came without a collar so he has to wear one of Lucy’s. (our rescue Boxer) I guess pink goes with brindle okay. He is hunting something in our backyard by the cardboard palm. (could be a ferocious weed)

Here is Winston trying to decide which toy to choose. (I would go for the horseshoe Winston) As a side note, the water skis and floats in the background spooked him since he has never been near them before. He got used to them as well as walking on the beach with the rest of the crew.

He thinks he hears something like the sound of kibble falling from the measure into his bowl a hundred feet away.

Here is his usual place which is not uncommon for most Boxers. They love a good couch.

It is sometimes troubling to witness abject cruelty and I suppose my wife and I see more than most. I hope everyone with a conscience would take a stand and have zero tolerance for the ignorant belief that animals are somehow inferior to humans and don’t deserve love and care. Thanks for the visit.

Thursday – A Little Personal

March 26, 2015March 25, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 19 Comments

This week’s personal item started as a trip to the library and then moved from there. Our town has a library, and it is a very nice one. In fact, they are very helpful folks there. During the winter, when all the Northerners come down here to escape the cold the use of the library expands twenty-fold. I have always wondered how this kind of increase does not cripple library operations. There is an organization called Friends of the Library who does a great job of fundraising with special book sales. Although I must say the staff never allows the overcrowding to reduce their friendliness or courtesy. Here is a picture of the front of the building.

You may wonder about those little boats (green and blue) in front of the building They are cement and are depictions of a watercraft called a Farley boat. These are for the yard and made in honor of the Farley Boat Works. There are a number of them all over town. I think one day I will do a pictorial of just the Farley yard boats. The Farley Boat Works was a Port Aransas original and manufactured fishing boats from 1915 until the mid-seventies.

The works is now a museum where a limited numbers of boats are in production. The picture above shows how it looks today.

Here is a picture from in 1936 of President Roosevelt and a Farley boat and an unlucky Tarpon. Port Aransas used to be the Tarpon capital of the US. The great Texas drought in the fifties brought the building of dams to preserve water had an effect on freshwater spawning for the Tarpon. Also, runoff from fertilizers altered the coastal waters and overfishing spelled the end of Tarpon fishing in Port Aransas.

I got lost in the story of the Farley Boat works and the Tarpon. I was going to let you know My GRL is in the library and here is a picture of her sitting in the New Books section. (You have to look close to find the little blue cover and yes I pulled her out of the alphabetical by the author arrangement for the picture. I did put her back after ) Thanks to the Port Aransas Library staff for putting up with my foolishness.

Thursday – A little Personal

March 19, 2015March 18, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 21 Comments

Last week I promised to publish a photo of the beach that would be in complete contrast to this one.

I had hoped the photo would show you how much agony spring break brings to the quiet and staid residents of a vacation destination location. I imagined all the sympathy comments and the “poor John” kind of support I would be receiving. Well, it seems the weather had some other plans. For the two weeks (so Far) of Spring Break 2015 it has been cold, windy, rainy and downright lousy. The gigantic population never showed up. So instead of a jam-packed beach fill with drunken youngsters we have this.

The Chamber of Commerce is apoplectic, but we all have had the best spring break ever. Yes, that is fog in the picture Heh, heh, heh.

A Little Personal

February 25, 2015February 25, 2015 ~ John W. Howell ~ 24 Comments

I was outside earlier in the week, and the sun was behind some clouds. In fact, it was forty degrees so I thought I would take some pictures of a couple of plants we have around the house. The only good time to take pictures is when the sun is not shining. The bright sun although lovely to live in makes big shadows in the images.
Here is some of the plants but we don’t have too many in flower right now.since they think it is still winter. (and it is)

Here is the first plant. It is a Cardboard Palm. It gets its name from the stiff cardboard-like leaves. The one pictured is quite a large example.

The plant here is a Giant White Bird of Paradise. This particular is a young plant and has not bloomed yet.

Pictured is one of my favorite succulents. If you brush it the wrong way you come away with a wound you would swear will be fatal. We are very careful around these guys. In the background, you can see a Natal Plum and an Hibiscus which will bloom all summer. Yes, we have river rock instead of grass in the yard. We are required to have zero scape in the front. We have some grass in the back yard.

The only flowering plant right now is the Birds of Paradise. They have been blooming their hearts out. In the background, you can see more Natal Plumb

These are Norfolk Pines, and we have two stands of them in the front yard

The last picture isn’t of the plants but of the Gulf that will give you an idea of the kind of day it was. Hope you enjoyed it.

Thursday – A little Personal

February 19, 2015September 20, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 28 Comments

Thursday – a little personal is the times for me to give open the door a little on my life other than that of a writer. Last week I did a feature on Frankie Blue Eyes my number one fan. Of course, the minute I did, I had a virtual revolution by the other three fur children in the house. (My non-fur children could care less about giving recognition to Frankie) So in all fairness I was forced to give some space to them as well.

The first one who protested the loudest was Stella. She is Frankie’s sister, and we found her with Frankie and three other siblings in a wild part of San Antonio. She and Frankie were about two weeks old when my wife captured the feral mother, got her spayed and released. We kept the kittens and bottle fed them until they were ready to eat solid food. At eight weeks, we found them good homes. (Except for Frankie and Stella. They were forced to live with us). This picture of Stella is typical in that she is trying to avoid the camera.

The next one is Lucy. She is our rescue Boxer. She was living on the streets of San Antonio and after being hit by a car brought to a shelter. My wife is a rescue volunteer, and Lucy knew a soft touch kind person when she saw one. At an adoption event, she came up to my wife and asked to be taken home. She is living the high life ever since. This picture is a pose that has the name of “Lucy Cold Stone.” I did ask her to smile but was told to take the photo as it is.(by Lucy)

The final of the quartet is Bailey. She is a brindle Boxer and keeps Lucy constantly worn out. She is full of energy and keeps all on our toes. In case you wonder about her regal pose her nicknames are Princess and Brat-zilla. I’ll let you figure out how she got those nicknames.