Home Again

We're home ... and wishing we'd had more time to spend in Rockport.  Winter is so ... winter.  It's never been my favourite season and a warm interlude down south has only endeared me to more warm interludes down south.  We're already planning things to do and see next year that we didn't have time for this year.

And we had a great time with lots of memories to console us while we wait for spring here on our country mile in this corner of wintry Manitoba. For one thing, we both brought back sunburns, not usually a cause for rejoicing; but I'm wearing mine like a badge of honour, proof of time spent soaking up sunshine, far away from winter.

Here are a few more of my photo memories.

Even on a slightly cooler day, cool mainly because of the strong wind blowing off the ocean, the beach is glorious.  On this particular beach we had to watch out for:

Portugese man-o-wars, nasty jelly-fish sort of creatures that were washed up by the tide and, even dead on the beach, can release a potentially deadly toxin, if you happened to step on one or were foolish enough to try to pick one up.

Amazing bird life was everywhere and I couldn't help but think of my dear late Papa and my late uncle Hans-Willy, the two men who fostered in me an appreciation for all of God's creation (except snakes, of course). Even Papa couldn't cure me of that one.

Texas beaches turned out to be more dangerous than we thought.  Here's a creature we saw in the very shallow water of Rockport Beach on our second last day.  It turned out to be a porcupine fish, related to puffer fish and blow fish - and just as deadly.

And what's a vacation without great food?  We tried several new places but my favourite was this place, that we splurged on a little for our last evening in Rockport.  Bellino's Italian Restaurant served the best Polo Gorgonzola I've ever eaten and was a great way to celebrate the perfect winter vacation.

I can hardly wait for next February!

Refresh and Renew

There's nothing like a holiday to refresh and renew the brain cells and feed the writer's inspiration, or so they say.  I'm on holiday right now and I'd say there's nothing like a holiday to make this writer a little lazy and forgetful about posting.

It's Valentine's Day and my sweetheart and I are vacationing in Rockport, Texas.  We've had a few cloudy and cool days but now the weather has turned and we're enjoying sunshine and warm weather, exactly what we came for.  Here are a few shots of things we've experienced so far.

This live oak is over 1000 years old. That's us (on the right) with my sister and her husband on our first day in Rockport.

I just love palms, large or small. This is a shot of Rockport Harbour.

Hmmm. Whether I'm at home in Manitoba or driving on South Padre Island, I always have to watch out for drifting.  Be it snow or sand, a drift is a drift.

The surf was rolling in on Wednesday.  This beach was covered in parts with Portugese man-o-wars -- blue jellyfish that release a dangerous neuro-toxin if you step on them.  Good thing my brother-in-law told me about them so I could keep a healthy distance.

Here's "the squire" observing sail boats and freighters in the Gulf from his vantage point on the Port Aransas beach on Thursday, February 14. It's a great beach because you can drive your car right on to it and set up chairs or even a sun shelter for the day if you like.

We have only a few more days here before we have to leave for home and more drifts, snow drifts this time.  I think I'll blame my lack of writing productivity on the sun; it's fried up (or is that "dried up?) all my creativity.  Now I have an excuse to spend my time reading by the pool!

The Write Attitude

What would I do, or start, today if I knew for certain that I couldn't fail, if i knew that success were guaranteed?  Wouldn't that be the most amazing, heading-for-the-top-of-the-world feeling?  And my answer to that question is easy:  I'd finish the novel.

On the way

Now that January is finally over, life feels so much more hopeful because, in my mind, we've passed the middle of winter and we're on the glorious slide towards spring.  Wheee!  Suddenly anything is possible in this world that will only get better for the next few months.

So, another chapter?  Quite possibly.  Maybe only a few pages but writing is still writing and progress is exactly that: progress.  My experience with writing generally is that the hardest part is to plant my bottom in that chair, no matter where the chair happens to be, and just begin. 

This was a great place to keep my bottom planted for a while!

After a few lines that feel awkward or contrived, suddenly it all begins to flow and I can hardly make myself stop to keep up with other necessary activities.  I call that the "sweet zone" and I've been known to work until 3:00 am because I didn't want to lose the momentum and because I was having so much fun.  and then I can always change those first few lines that didn't work so well but served their purpose by getting me started.

For me, writing my novel is like reading a good novel; I can't wait to find out what happens next and I have a hard time putting it down and going to bed.  Ah yes, today the world feels so write!