Medina Lake 2012

This was Medina Lake, Texas in March of 2011.

Between a very bad drought year, and the city taking the water, this is what the lake looks like in 2012.  Thinking that we'd get some fishing in, and that we'd have trouble getting a good campsite due to all of the campers, boy, were we surprised. Cows where the lake used to be. Almost nobody there. It's still a beautiful park, even without the water. We had a gorgeous site that we just loved.

There's just something about this place that draws me in. So many of the trees are dripping with moss, and others are a tangle of branches that the deer wind their way through. It makes me want to write a story. So many possibilities. Could be a mystery, or a thriller, or just someone coming to terms with himself through the enchantment of the woods. We'll see. :)

One morning, the rains came, and kept coming, and kept coming. Big thunderstorms.

This is when we started getting worried. April and May are not good months to hang out in Texas, but because of some work commitments, there we sat in some pretty severe storms.

Another storm, later that same night, left dents in the hood of our truck from golfball-sized hail. Was a wild night. The next day, the forcast was calling for 4 inches of rain, so we packed up in a hurry and got on up the road.

Who Else Hangs in This Hood

As we were driving down the highway towards Port Aransas, TX, I started thinking about hurricanes and wondering how many had actually hit this area. I have to say that sometimes I love having an ipad!

The hurricane of 1919 practically wiped out Port Aransas except for a very few fortunate buildings. The docks, wharf and warehouses were now on the mainland, and the whole of the island was flooded and infested with rattlesnakes seeking some kind of high ground. The rebuilding would be hard and long, as most towns in the region were bestowed the same fate, materials would become increasing hard to find and transport as well, so many would not return.

There have been other hurricanes as well, but my point is that the rattlesnakes stayed. Moved in, unpacked, and set up housekeeping. There are dunes all around the rv park, but we don't dare walk in them. Had I not read that piece on the drive we wouldn't have known. When I asked the park host, he told me, in his long Texas drawl, that he had to kill one just the other morning.

Here are some other fun inhabitants of the island:

Roseate Spoonbill

Black Bellied Whistling Duck

Laughing Gull

The gulls do sound like they're laughing, and they are the most vocal and raucus bunch I've ever heard. These are not my photos, by the way. They're off the internet because they show the details so much better than mine. :)

Let's hope I don't have any rattlesnake pictures to post!

Chayote

I have been afraid of these for years. Yes, I've seen them in the grocery stores, but I never see anyone buying any. Nobody saying, "Oh, there's the Chayote!"

Hubby is one of those people that will try ANYTHING, and I do mean anything. Thus, my fear of the unknown. I mean, when we were in San Francisco one time, he went off with a little Asian woman through two or three stores in Chinatown simply because he had asked her what these strange long beans were and how to cook them.. She really didn't even speak English, but that didn't stop these two. She had ahold of his elbow, and led him around trying to explain how to cook Dragon Eyes, or whatever they were called. They communicated on some visceral level that I was not privvy to.  He came home with some pretty bizarre things, but he was in heaven. And how awesome was that woman to take the time to try to tell him how to cook all of those strange things? That was so cool.

Yesterday, he came home with two Chayote. Ah geez. Really? Well, I don't have to eat them. He will probably be more than happy to eat them both himself.  Imagine my surprise when I tasted this:

CHAYOTE AND AVOCADO SALAD (chi-OH-tay)

Whisk the juice of 2 limes, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and a pinch each of sugar and salt in a bowl. Thinly slice 1 peeled chayote, 1 avocado, and 4 radishes; gently toss with the dressing.

Easy peasy, and delicious. Let me know what you think!