Walk On The Beach

I had to get one last walk on the beach before heading north. I left Lake Jackson at 8 a.m. and arrived at Surfside Beach before 8:30. This is an important bird area. I thought I would finish my coffee and walk an hour to the right and back. I saw lots of terns and gulls and sanderlings. The sand under my feet felt so good. Walking barefoot in sand makes my feet turn all sorts of ways so my ankles got a good workout. The skin under my feet got a good pumicing. The temperature was 79 degrees and the sky was partly cloudy. Rain and thunderstorms are expected this morning during my drive to Austin.

A lady on the beach told me the name of this. She said their sting is deadly to fish and has been known to kill humans. If you do get stung by one of these jellyfish it is best not to rub it. Try to scrape of the tentacles with a credit card. Warm compresses will ease the pain which only lasts for an hour. Good thing I didn't step on it. This creature will sting you even if they are dead.

Look at those waves coming in. I talked to a married couple for ten minutes or so. They said I will love Austin because it is a gathering of peace loving hippies. Austin's motto is? "Keep Austin weird." He also said that the monument in San Jacinto is taller than the Washington Monument. He said I should visit the state capitol building in Austin. He said this is the largest state capitol in the nation. That reminds me, the other day I bought English muffins. I was going to go for the whole grain variety but then I saw there was a Texas variety available. Since I am in Texas, I thought I would try the Texas muffins. The only difference was size. Texas muffins are bigger. Big trucks, big buildings, big muffins, I do believe these Texans have a thing about size.

At noon I stopped at this gas station. As I filled my tank with gasoline the thunder boomed and the rain fell in torrents. As I ate my edamame salad in my car the windows fogged up so bad I couldn't see out. The temperature dropped from 79 to 46. Like the kid who rang up my purchase at the dollar store said, "Weather in Texas is bipolar!"

After I arrived and unloaded my car I thought I would take a walk to a neighborhood park that is a half mile away. Now you can see the sky is blue and the temperature was 58 degrees. Two schools are next to the park so many  children are here.

They have active dance lessons here too.

You might not be able to see it but there is a Northern Cardinal in that tree. A tufted titmouse is calling.