Deadman’s Cemetery is shaded by a huge mesquite tree so this is the best I could do with my cell phone on a morning walk. The curbing around the yard makes for a good illusion of a cemetery. It seems many pirates have been buried there and have risen with the rest of the skeletons to celebrate Halloween.
The local city animal control staff has a reputation for being helpful while keeping stray animals off the streets and uniting owners when they can. This photo of the side of an animal control truck parked in front of Portland Animal Care Services seems to reflect that benevolent spirit.
Photo from Caller Times with Jace Tunnell/Hart Research Institute given credit
Jace Tunnell, HRI Director of Community Engagement at the Harte Research Institute, is show with colorful piggy banks that have been showing up on Texas beaches lately. Tunnell speculates that they may have come from a damaged or lost container aboard a container ship or even from Cuba. The Texas Coast gets it share of items washing up on its beaches. These piggy banks seemed to be empty.
Wing Mural represents native birds of Rockport
– The Rosetta Spoonbill
– The Whooping Crane
– The White Ibis
– The Blue Heron
– The Green Jay
– The Iconic Blue Crab Claws
This car parked in front of an apartment complex caught my attention on a recent morning walk. Why shouldn’t I be serious, I thought as I took a detour to get a closer look. I watch and read the news: fires, floods, disasters, doom, gloom, political upheavals, protests, attacks. violence, financial uncertainty, deaths and terrorist threats.
There was an image of The Joker on the back window and one on the left side you that can barely make out in the photo. It was a sporty looking little muscle car with fancy wheel covers; I speculated about the owner. Perhaps an aspiring comedian? Or some old guy who was tired of being serious? Was the color a nod to Mardi Gras?
The sun felt warm on my face after the darker days of January; I was safe for the moment and had much to be thankful for. I smiled and continued on my walk.
UPDATE: Marie Zhuikov shared in a comment today that “Why so serious?” is The Jokers’ catchphrase in the movie “The Dark Knight.” Thanks, Marie! You can visit her blog here.
PHOTO BY SON
Merry Time Romance in bronze 2021 by local artist Kent Ullberg at the Rockport Center for the Arts in Rockport, Texas.
We live next door to a small city park where a school bus picks up neighborhood kids. About the last month of the school year this bicycle started showing up in the park. Sometimes it would be leaned against a tree like this; sometimes it would be leaned against playground equipment; once it was left in our front yard; sometimes we would see a boy riding it home. Was it a shared bike? Was it a stolen bike? ( I thought of The Bicycle Thief) I guess our neighborhood is safe enough that it could be left at the park in the morning to be picked up after school. It had a chain with lock combination but it was never locked and was in good condition.
School was out last week and we have not seen the bike again. Maybe it will appear again in the fall.
DESERT BIRD OF PARADISE BLOOMING AT BRIAR COTTAGE SPRING 2024
It seems I have taken an unannounced and unplanned break from posting on my blog. I slowed down for the holidays and then continued to coast along happily reading blogs I follow. Then suddenly it is past spring and past the total eclipse that raced across Texas. Hurricane season before I know it.
TOTAL ECLIPSE: It was too cloudy here to see it but I am more of a moon watcher. Give me a full moon rising to watch and I am enchanted. No glasses required.
TAXES: I volunteered again for Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) through United Way of the Coastal Bend one morning a week during tax season. Most of the returns are uncomplicated with income limitations, but there is always some new change in a tax law or a circumstance I have not seen before to challenge me.
ONE BOOK LEADS TO ANOTHER BOOK: While searching for a fiction book to download, I found The Library of Burned Books set in WWII involving three women whose stories intertwine. That lead to a non-fiction book, When Books Went to War: the Stories That Helped Us Win WWII. I think I will read the non-fiction first ; it will require a trip to the library.
BANNED BOOKS: I support and join librarians and those who are against banning books. May we remember what happened when books were burned in Germany under Hitler.
I will close with a quote from Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Summer Day”.
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with this wild and precious life?”
GREETINGS FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS!
I passed this Jeep on one of my walks this week. It was parked outside of a home that never has Christmas decorations in the yard. I wondered what the message was supposed to be. It was a beautiful red!
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