Serenaded

 

…by a Bewick’s Wren.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While a White-tailed Hawk soars overhead.

 

 

The day didn’t suck.

 

Friday

 

Off to see the knee wizard.  So far, not so good.  Judy’s knee is not better, it’s worse.  We talked to the doctor and he thinks we should try at least one more of the three injections, so we did.  (I use the term “we” liberally.  Judy gets the shot; I hold her hand.)  We’ll see how it goes.

 

Having shot the knee, we moved on to other things.  We drove to Turners so Judy could get a new pot for the porch, and a new plant to go in it.  We drove to the People’s Street T Head in the Corpus Christi marina, and spotted the Brown Booby that’s been hanging out there with some pelicans.

Year Bird.

 

We drove to Blucher Park just outside downtown Corpus and got the Yellow-green Vireo that has been there singing his head off.

 

Got him.  In fact there were two and we got both of them.  Year Bird.

 

Drove to the pond on the Joe Fulton Trade Corridor and saw Wood Storks.

Year Bird.

 

Wood Storks are fun to watch.  Every landing is an adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

Having had a successful trip to Corpus Christi, we headed home.

 

Happy Birthday to our daughter, our Friday the 13^th baby.  Friday the 13^th, our lucky day.  This one even has a full moon!

 

The wind has shifted

 

The African Dust is gone.  My hay fever is gone.  Coincidence?  I don’t think so.

 

The sorghum continues to bloom all around us (…and I am not sneezing).

 

 

A crested caracara

 

 

And a northern mockingbird

 

Sharing a moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gun Violence

 

The United States has 10 deaths per 100,000 people per year attributable to gun violence.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate

 

It’s in the news every day.  It seems to have a lot to do with schools right now.

 

Australia has 1 death per 100,000.

Canada has 2.

France has 3.

Germany has 1.

Japan has 0.06.

New Zealand has 1.

Spain has 0.6.

Sweden 1.

Switzerland 3.8.

United Kingdom 0.25.

 

Mexico has 11.  We consider Mexico an unsafe country to visit.  Our government posts travel advisories against it.  The Cartels have gone wild and control entire regions of the country with bloody violence.  We have the equivalent level of violence in our country *without* the Cartels.  We’ve achieved third-world status all on our own.

 

One might think a rising level of gun violence could motivate us to look for ways to reduce that violence; that our violence could reach an unacceptable critical mass and trigger national outrage and action.  So far, not so.  Is there a level that could trigger that response?  Will we be okay with 20 per year?  30?  Swaziland has 37.  Venezuela has 50.  Maybe if we claimed the lead from Venezuela.  I wonder if in Venezuela they think 50 is too much.

 

A walk at La Sal del Rey

 

…over the weekend.

 

There is a string of three hyper-saline lakes a half hour north of us.  Standing water, no outlet, located over a salt dome.

The shoreline is a good place to walk when it hasn’t rained recently.

 

Along the way are massive mounds of poop.

 

More than one critter could put out all on its own.

 

White-tailed deer signposts, I presume.

 

Hayfever

 

I used to get hayfever every spring in Colorado.  It got worst in early June.  That has never been a problem here in Texas…  …until this year.  The hayfever has been going crazy on me the last few days.

 

We saw something on the news that may be a contributing factor.  The weather report referred to less-than-perfect visibility.  We hadn’t noticed.  The visibility culprit?  African dust.  A dust storm in the Sahara put enough dirt into the air that it has drifted across the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico to affect us.  I wonder if that’s the unusual thing I’m reacting to; dust from Africa.  That would explain why it’s a problem now and never has been before.

 

Or, I suppose, my hayfever *could* have to do with the endless fields of sorghum in full bloom all around us.