Black Witch Moth

Black Witch Moth, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

As we were rinsing the sand from our evening beach walk, this moth flew over from the neighbor's house.  We have seen them before but they are not common here.  The Black Witch Moth  (Ascalapha odorata) is, according to Texas Entomology, perhaps the largest insect north of Mexico.  This particular speciment is a male, because it does not have a white band running across the wings. 

The Black Witch has a somewhat grim set of cultural traditions around it. Apparently it is a harbinger of death in most of Central America.  If it enters the house, and there is a sick person in the house, the person will die.  Fortunately for us, this guy only made it to the patio.  A brighter prospect is the South Texas tradition that says if the moth stays above your door, you will win the lottery!  So I guess we should go buy a ticket. 

Here is a second picture, so you can get some idea of his size.  I'd guess this guy is about 6 inches across.   

Wildly sold in Italy...

So I bought this Colomba (Easter bread) at Central Market in Houston, and didn't read the tag until I got it home.  They should do a little spell checking before they print out the tag!  :)  The bread itself is just *okay*, the judgement here is that it may be a bit stale.  Too bad because I was hoping for something really special.  I guess I will just have to make it myself next year! 

We are spending Easter at the beach house.  Not completely true - I'm flying to LA for a couple days, leaving tonight.  But fortunately I'm coming back here!  The island is really packed with tourists coming in from all over Texas and Mexico.  We even saw a license plate from Mexico City... a LONG drive to South Padre Island. 

Happy Easter to all! 

looking out to sea

looking out to sea, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

The end of the beach season is almost here... a cool north wind is blowing all the way down to the island. We will miss the swimming! But fall and winter beach walks are also amazing. And the beachcombing is better, for there is less competition for the shells and feathers.

Speaking of feathers, I found a couple great pelican feathers last week! There is quite a collection now housed in a San Bitter bottle on the counter. (My missionary upbringing makes it SO difficult to throw away "useful" things!)

This past week was not the best for weather but it was nice to just relax. Lots of rain and clouds. Hopefully I will be able to carve out another week towards the end of the year, when it usually is cold and windy (!). My timing is excellent.

the great roadrunner in the sky

the great roadrunner in the sky, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

This morning's sunrise was gorgeous! A lively cool wind, bright blue sky, and the promise of a sunny day. We are happy to see it, after 5 days of rain and almost as many inches.

On the road, from Houston to South Padre Island

As some of you may know, I took the bus from Houston to Brownsville on Friday, and my husband picked me up there and went back to the house on South Padre Island.  The first part of the trip was taking the Metro bus all the way downtown.  I caught the first one, at 5:59am.  Fortunately for me, there was only a light sprinkle of rain falling during the 2 block walk from our house to the bus stop.  An hour later at the corner of Louisiana and Webster, we had gone 20 miles and it was raining just a little bit harder. The 2 block walk to the Greyhound station went quickly! 

My 8:15 bus to Brownsville (fare $25.50 one way) finally left at 8:38.  The passengers included an Army soldier going home for 4 days leave, a family with 5 small children, and two young men of unknown purpose.  Not very many of us!  I sat in the second row, on the right side of the bus, with a clear view of the road. 

When we pulled out of the Houston station it began to rain HARD.  Four out of the six hours we drove, it rained.  Sometimes harder, sometimes softer... this tropical air from Hurricane Alex was persistent as we drove down US 59 and 77.  The bus driver began singing along to his Spanish music station, and I watched the road unroll across south Texas.

I have made this trip many times, although not by bus.  The flat land around Houston, filled with suburban houses and shopping plazas, gives way to cultivated fields and pecan trees growing in the river bottoms. Richmond, Rosenberg, Wharton (there is a Buck-ee's here that we often stop at), El Campo.      Hillje, Louise, Ganado, Edna, Inez, Victoria. Victoria is a stopping place, with a McDonald's and big gas station. Victoria is also the place where I got a speeding ticket a few years ago... so we always watch our speed carefully around here.

After Victoria, there is another landmark - a small field that has charming goats.  The road rises and falls over rolling hills, and there is one spot where I once saw a group of feral pigs.  We pick up US 77, and head further south.  The land becomes more and more rural, with large expanses of pasture and fewer cultivated fields.  The next town is Refugio (pronounced Re-furrio).  There is a McDonald's here, and also the HEB grocery store and gas pumps. 

Just south of Refugio are the Urrea Oaks. The road divides around a small clump of ancient live oaks that are an historic Texas landmark. I've stopped there several times to stand under these trees and think about the history they have seen.  So glad that TXDot has preserved them.  The Historic Marker text:

By tradition, camping place in March 1836, during Texas War for Independence, of Gen.Jose Urrea of Mexico. Strategically located, this was Urrea's staging area. Capt. Amon B. King came form Goliad with his Texas volunteers to support the Refugio townsmen, who were taken into the safety of Mission Nuestra Senora Del Refugio. Then Lt. Col. William also arrived on March 13, and the "Battle of Rufugio" began. Both King and Ward left protection on the Mission, and Urrea won final victories over them, capturing King's command on March 15 and Ward's on March 22.

Woodsboro, Sinton (home of a famous rodeo), Odem (where trains often hold up traffic).  Odem used to have a great sign that always amused me. Sadly, the sign was taken down a couple years ago. 

South of Odem, we pass the turnoff for Corpus Christi.  Then Robstown, where the bus is supposed to stop but didn't.   The fields around here are very very flat and usually planted with cotton or sorghum.  Far off to the left are many wind turbines catching the sea breezes.  To the right, there is a large oil refining plant that on night drives looks like a fantastic city of lights and fire and smoke.  

Driscoll has a large fruit stand which sells fruit of questionable quality.  My one purchase there has discouraged me from ever stopping again.  Falfurrias is next, then Bishop, where we often stop at the Dairy Queen for chili burgers and a pit stop.  It's fun to listen to the families that come in from the surrounding ranches and small towns.

The next town is Kingsville, famous for the King Ranch.  One of these days I'm going to stop at the Kings Ranch museum.  Shortly after Kingsville is Rivera, which is the last stop for gas for 60 miles.  Almost everything between Rivera and Raymondville belongs (or used to belong) to the King Ranch.  I especially love this part of the trip.  The land is pretty wild, lots of brush and wildflowers.  There are lots of deer, some cattle.  Turkey buzzards soar overhead, there are thousands of butterflies and dragonflies, and the caracara hawk and redtail hawk are commonly seen. Sometimes there will be high fences that indicate the presence of exotic game. I've seen one zebra, various antelope, even oryx!  Certainly it would be easy to believe you were in Africa. 

Smack in the middle of this empty space is Sarita, which is the Federal Border Patrol station.  Here, northbound traffic is stopped and each vehicle is checked. Usually we are just asked "US citizens?" and waved through.  The northbound busses are more carefully checked by a two-man team and sometimes a drug dog. 

The land becomes much more sandy, with palmettos and yucca as well as grass and scrubby live oask.  Baffin Bay is near, although you cannot see or hear the water. After an hour or so, Raymondville comes into view. Actually, the first sign of Raymondville is a magnificant line of palm trees in the center between the divided lanes.  

South of Raymondville are Lyford, Sebastian, Combes, and finally Harlingen.  Harlingen is largely a mystery to me - I've never stopped here except once to get gas.  San Benito (home of Freddy Fender) seems to me to merge into the Harlingen metro area.  The bus goes on to Brownsville, but when we travel by car we turn off to the east on Texas 100 for the final 30 miles to South Padre Island.  That 30 miles goes very slowly, with many small towns that earn money with speed traps.  

On this occasion, the bus took me to downtown Brownsville, which is a charmingly un-renovated (for the most part) town that looks like it's most prosperous time was in the 20's.  Lots of brick buildings, sidewalks with store-windows displaying goods, and lots of shoppers.  The bridge to Mexico is right there, across the Rio Grande, and many people cross for shopping and visiting.  My husband met me at the bus station, and we drove back over Texas 48 towards Port Isabel.

The Port of Brownsville is on the way.  The port has recently gotten busier building oil rigs.  But there is also a large shrimping fleet that calls the port home.  I have bought shrimp at Texas Longhorn Shrimp a few times.  They have their own boat, and I'm sure also buy from other shrimpers.   Good prices, fresh large shrimp, friendly service.  Worth a stop, if you are in the area.  

Texas 48 goes over the tidal flats and sand dunes of the coast, headed for Port Isabel.  There, we meet up with Texas 100, turning right towards the Island.  Landmarks here include the HEB and Wal-Mart, and the Port Isabel Lighthouse, which is a State Historic Landmark. 

It looks great hung with lights at Christmastime, and is fun to climb too.  The view is fantastic on a good day. 

As you can see in the photo, the Queen Isabella Causeway arches over the Laguna Madre and those tall buildings in the distance (2.37 miles away) are part of the small town of South Padre Island. The Causeway is the longest bridge in Texas!  On September 15, 2001, part of the bridge collapsed due to being hit by barges, and eight people were killed.  It took two months to  get the bridge reopened, and during that time traffic had to be ferried over.  This bridge remains the only connection to the island.  A second bridge has been under discussion for years, but who knows when that will be built.

Door to door, the drive is 359 miles long, and usually takes about 6 hours. The bus takes about the same amount of time, but costs less.  There are reasons for both methods.  I prefer driving for the flexibility it gives me to stop and investigate. On the other hand, the bus allows for sleeping! 

All photos taken by me, at various times over the past few years.

Long weekend...

A long weekend coming up - me and the Mo are driving down to SPI to spend a little time at the beach and reconnect with DH. Should be an interesting experience - Mo hasn't spent that much time in a car since we brought her up from the island after Christmas. I've got a new carrier but mostly I expect she will be loose in the car. If that doesn't work, she gets some carrier time...

I like driving down to the island. There are long stretches of rural and even fairly wild terrain. Around Kingsville, there are places where I could be in Africa. And there are a couple exotic game ranches so I might even see a zebra or a few impala.

Happy Easter to all of you. Hopefully you can spend it with family and friend.

At least South Padre has power and water!

We had a busy day today! Of course overnight Hurricane Ike roared through our neighborhood. The wind was impressive, and I am so glad that we got those big limbs trimmed off our tree! Although there was steady rain, we never really got a deluge.

Early in the morning (around 7 or so) the water was backing up in the street. I went out with camera, cell phone, and raincoat, and walked around. Cleared out the leaves and branches from one of street drains that was clogged. The little bayou was running fast, but the good news was that it was running downstream as it should. Which told me that our big bayou wasn't yet impacted by the big storm surge that pushed up into Galveston Bay, the San Jacinto River, and anywhere else that it could. By around 10 our street was clear of flood waters and they never got more than a couple inches up into our yard. I've definitely seen much worse from a violent thunderstorm.

Tree branches were down all over the place, but no trees fell. Our street was easy to drive on. I picked up lots of limbs and piled them in the front yard. Hopefully the heavy trash folks will come by soon and pick them up.

By noon, after listening to the radio and the neighbors, it became obvious that power was going to be out for a LONG time, perhaps weeks. And the water pressure was down to a mere trickle. So we decided to pack up and head down to South Padre Island. We are so fortunate to have another place to get, all set up and ready. A little ironic that it was only a few weeks ago that Hurricane Dolly was making her mark there.

We left around 2 and arrived by 7:45pm which was GREAT time. The road was completely clear and dry. Closer to Houston the gas stations were all closed but once we got to Victoria there were many open and serving. We bought gas at the Victoria McDonald's truckstop for $3.59 which isn't a bad price! (They usually offer a fair gas price.) Almost the entire way down US59 and then US77 we saw houses and businesses boarded up. A reminder of how the forecasted track of Ike moved from south of Corpus Christi all the way up to Galveston.

We arrived on the island just in time for the sunset and hurried down to the beach. There obviously was a huge surge, much larger than the one that Gustav sent a couple weeks ago. No trash cans on the beach so the city must have taken them away. The water was oh, so warm. The pink sunset and rising moon made for a good ending to a long day.

Except of course my day was not done. All of my company's locations in Houston had damage from the storm, so I have spent the evening writing up incident reports, talking to adjusters, and getting things lined up for Monday morning inspections. Tomorrow I'll be working again most likely. Maybe, depending on the response, I may have to drive to Corpus to see any damage reported at our three locations there.

We are relieved to have power and water, and a safe place to sleep tonight.

Yet more hurricane news...

Seems I write about weather a lot! At this writing, Hurricane Gustav is leaving Cuba and heading for NOLA. Along the way it will sweep rain bands across Florida (and maybe Georgia will get some more rain, to break the drought). And who knows about Houston? We will see.

Right now, my husband and I are hanging out on South Padre Island, which is nearly back to normal after Hurricane Dolly. Still lots of roofs with tarps though, and many of the retail establishments have bent-over signs. But almost everything is open - most importantly, Dirty Al's! We went there for lunch yesterday, and the shrimp is still awesome.

I'm scheduled to head back to Houston on Tuesday but that will probably depend on what Gustav does.

Revisiting Hurricane Dolly

hurricane dolly 2, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

My husband just sent me this photograph, one of five that he took during the time that Hurricane Dolly was pummeling South Padre Island. Just stunning.

Update on the Island

We have been here in South Padre since Thursday morning. The beach, as you can see, is significantly eroded but the dunes are still in place. I'm impressed by how hard-packed the sand is - I guess the constant pounding of waves and rain will do that to sand. There are a surprising number of visitors here, too!

The house has fared pretty well. We have found a couple areas where water has come in, looks like it blew in through the brick on the western side of the house, and also down the common wall we share with our neighbor. Neither is very serious. I've wiped down the walls with a 10% bleach solution to kill the mold, and we will let the walls dry and see if the mold comes back. The house has been vacuumed twice, the windows cleaned, and (the nastiest job) the food thrown out from the fridge. The fence is propped up but will have to be replaced on two sides I think. The backyard neighbor has really bad damage (his house is quite old I think). The trees and shrubs all over the island are stripped of leaves. Our bougainvillea is just starting to put out brave new leaves on its bare branches.

The neighbor's cats have been invisible. But this morning I saw Nerino walking across the street, and Little Mama and her very vocal kitten arrived on the back patio as well. We put down food and milk, and they scarfed it down in no time flat. Still no sign of my husband's favorite, Faithful.

The power has been on since at least Wednesday, and the water is safe (since Saturday, according to Laguna Madre Water).

We went swimming yesterday. The water is fine - sandy green as the Island Breeze calls it - but the waves are big and the current moderately strong. Makes it fun to sit on the beach and just go in every half hour or so, instead of staying out there. Maybe today it will be calmer.

He's back!

Back home again! Neighbors gave him a lift to Port Isabel to wait for the Rio Transit bus. When it didn't come, he spent $50 for a taxi to Brownsville (the normal price) and caught the last bus of the day from Brownsville to Houston. Supposed to leave at 12.40pm but was an hour late - arrived here at 8.30pm! Had to wait quite a while in Sarita, where one of the passengers was pulled off the bus and checked out by the immigration police. Got to see IronMan and Transformers and some other movie with Dennis Quaid (all in Spanish) - all at significant volume. He says this ride must have been penance for all his recent sins...

Anyway, he's back home. We will have to go back down to check the house again once the power comes on.

More than seven days to restore power

The latest estimate to get all the power back up on South Padre Island is "7+" days. I don't know if my husband knows that, since I haven't talked to him since 4pm. I doubt I'll hear from him tonight... which is discouraging. If he were hurt or sick the calls would come but right now nothing. So I am left spinning in what-ifs and worries. I must to do 2 things next week - a deposition in Corpus Christi on Monday, and a file review in Chicago on Thursday. My thoughts are to drive down on Saturday, pick him up and do the depo in Corpus on Monday, and then drive him back to Houston. There are other things that should be done (a file review, and visiting my parents) but both of those things can be rescheduled. What-ifs and worries... I'm sure more will be clear tomorrow.

Update on local damages...

And by local I mean our street. My husband reports that our house has very minimal roof damage, a few shingles lost. One side of the privacy fence blew down. A bit of water under the front door. Amazing really.

He says the water was back on this morning when he woke up. Our neighbor to the east - the roof has a hole in it (not sure what size or which side). Our neighbor to the west - roof damaged as well, and the fence is down between our yard and his. The neighbor further up the street to the east - more roof damage as well. There was no street flooding on our street or on Gulf Boulevard close to us. Padre Boulevard was definitely flooded.

He is going to stay and work with the neighbors on their cleanup. He says he is fine and he does actually sound OK. Hopefully the power will be restored fairly soon so that he’ll have something to eat besides cold tortillas and cheese. The news reports say it will be “several days” before power is back on.

Cell phone calls aren't getting out - perhaps the traffic is too heavy this morning. He had to call me from the neighbor's land line.

I am hopeful he will take pictures but of course without power it's going to be hard to get them to me!

Causeway reopened this evening

According to the Weather Channel, the Queen Isabella Causeway has been reopened late this evening. This is great news, because the power-restoration crews were not staying on the island and until now have not been able to start the process of getting the electricity back on. The city manager was also interviewed and he said that the debris was more extensive than expected and they were working to get the roadways cleared before vehicles were allowed back on. Hopefully once the power is back on the water flow will also be restored to homes. I know there are millions of people in the world that don't have electricity and safe water available to them - I've even lived that way myself. But it's more difficult when almost everything you do has electricity integrated somehow. Makes you really think...

Hurricane Dolly exits, stage left

And good riddance, too. She left quite a bit of damage in her wake - we won't know the full story until the rain stops and the wind dies down some. At the peak of the storm my husband said the house was shaking and once in a while he would hear a cracking sound. Hard to know what that really is without further inspection.

The power went out around 11:30 this morning, and the water stopped around 3 this afternoon. Hopefully the city crews will be out in force to get the utilities running again. There are quite a few people on the island so that should help. And the causeway should be reopened soon (it has to be closed when the wind exceeds 39mph) now that the wind has calmed down to about 35.

Around 11 AM my husband "went for a walk" on the beach, from Bougainvillea Circle to The Palms (for those of you who know where that is...). He retrieved a football and a nice plastic bucket. He came back on Gulf Boulevard, which is where a photographer got a shot of him. Here is the link to the slide show - his photo is somewhere around 23rd or 24th. http://www.chron.com/news/photogallery/Texas_Gulf_Coast_keeps_an_eye_on_Dolly.html

Update from South Padre Island

Hurricane Dolly is passing over the island now. Overnight the wind and rain were "very noisy" according to my husband. I spoke with him early this morning and again about 20 minutes ago. So far the power has gone out once for just a minute or two. Cell phone still working. He says "it's a good thing we didn't pay anyone to prune the palm trees because they are all pruned now".

Looking at the radar it seems the eye will pass right over our house. In a way I wish I was there to see it. Can't get him to take pictures during the storm - he won't open any windows or doors and says that the windows are too fogged/rained on to get anything meaningful through them.

hurricane dolly sunset

hurricane dolly sunset, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

This photo was taken by my husband, who is riding out the storm on South Padre Island. I was talking to him as he was taking these pictures, and all he could do was say "wow!" over and over again. Here in Houston the sunset was pinky orange too, but not quite as nice.

As you can see, the surf is quite wild-looking. He is planning on going down to the beach in the morning (after the storm passes of course) and taking a few more pictures. I hope his night isn't too rough.

Dolly heads for Brownsville

Looks like Brownsville is the target for Dolly. My husband is at our South Padre Island home, and I'm in Houston. Certainly he will have LOTS of rain and wind but since the storm should come ashore as a category 1 hurricane we are not panicking. Maybe he will send photos - if so I'll post.

Here in Houston we have already a little rain - desperately needed here and even more further west and south. Forecast winds of 20-30 miles mph here.

Getting ready for Dolly

We are watching Dolly, wondering if it will hit South Padre Island and hoping it will instead trend north to the relatively uninhabited land between Brownsville and Kingsville. We will see...

sandcastle

sandcastle, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

My nephew and I built this sandscastle while we were vacationing on the Island (South Padre that is). I am a particular fan of drip castles and this is easily the biggest one I've ever done. We had a fine time!

Sandcastle building is a meditative endeavor - the sand running through your fingers, the waves rushing up and down the beach, kids laughing, the sun creating sparkles of light on the wettest parts of the castle. Sometimes a big wave comes in and part of the building collapses. When you leave, the building stays but for a few hours at the most. But I can always visit the drip-towers in my memory, looking out to sea.