Orchid

When John gave me this orchid in March 2008, I never expected it would live this long, much less bloom again. Yet, this is the second time it's bloomed under my care. Evidently I've hit upon just the right amount of care/neglect to give it.

When not in bloom, it sits hidden behind the curtain on the sill of a south facing window in the dining room and I water it sporadically, about once every week or two, with Ozarka Spring Water that has been in my water bottle too long for me to risk drinking.

In bloom, this orchid becomes the centerpiece of the dining room table and a beautiful subject to photograph.

Previously photographed and blogged about:
March 21, 2008
December 1, 2008

Pavilions

Malaquite Beach
Padre Island
10/10/09

Ghost Crab

Padre Island
10/10/09

Sand Dollar

We found a couple of sand dollars on Padre Island last week. They were not alive, but still had their skin on. We put them in a Ziplock bag to take home and promptly forgot about them until I noticed an unpleasant odor in the Jeep yesterday. We almost threw them away, but John rinsed them in fresh water and the skin came right off, as well as most of the stink. Maybe we've stumbled upon a new way to clean sand dollars.

Today's Trouble

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ~Matthew 6:34

We had a little trouble with the awning on the travel trailer today when the cold front BLEW in. Without going into all the details, let's just say, we'll be getting a new awning.

Bald Eagles

Today is my birthday, but yesterday I got an early present when we spotted a pair of bald eagles high in a tree on the Colorado River, a few miles upriver from Pelican Point.

This is the same photo cropped down as much as possible while still keeping the birds somewhat in focus. Click either photo for an enlarged view.

Matagorda Time

As soon as we got home yesterday, we unpacked and repacked our bags for our weekly trip to Matagorda. Today we took the boat out on the river. It was really beautiful this morning.

More Padre Island

Flowers on the Dunes
10/10/09

In the Evening Light
10/10/09

Baffin Bay

John and his co-workers toured the plant in Falfurrius today. Lucky for us, King's Inn is not too far away, so we had a delicious lunch. Afterward, John took us fishing at Baffin Bay.

Gotta Run

Padre Island
10/10/09

As soon as this bird saw me sneaking up on him with the camera, he took off running.

Malaquite Beach

I'm tagging along with John again on another business trip, this time to Corpus Christi, Texas. Today after work, we explored Malaquite Beach on the Padre Island National Seashore.

John shared with his co-workers his knowledge of sea-beans and everyone got involved in the search. There was an extra amount of debris to comb, courtesy of Tropical Storm Ida. Even though this area was never in danger from the storm, the winds and swells caused higher than normal tides and minor coastal flooding.

Saturday Sunset

The sunsets have been spectacular lately. I got up from the supper table on Saturday to take this photo. There was just enough light left for me to capture the color in the sky.

Clouds

John was wondering why I was lagging behind, but I wanted to take a picture of the sky. The zig-zag cloud formation was so interesting. I guess it's a vapor trail from a plane.

Kayak Silhouette

I like the silhouette effect of this photo. It appears to be in black and white, though it's not. All the color is washed out because it was taken facing the sun. The sky was actually a beautiful shade of blue.