House tour number one: it is actually the unfinished shell of a Southland Cabin log home. It is exciting to imagine how we might finish it out. Unfortunately, it isn’t the right lot and the house not placed as we might have done it. We access using an easement across a neighbor’s lot and they have a rather unsightly habit of collecting “stuff” all over their yard. We are going to continue looking!
Nights in the high 20s to low 30s with an unpleasant amount of rain and even a coating of snow. 
We are scoring realtor pages and hiding as in the warm with the occasional musing that we might not have had a clear mental picture of Tennessee in the winter. Over a day or so clouds clear and with bright sun this kind of winter feels about right.
With some guidance from friends who moved here a couple years ago, we enlist the help of a realtor and get started with loan pre-approval. By the 12th we have our approval and first house tour on Friday. It is likely not “the one” but it is exciting to get started.
Summarizing our work at San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge. It included a few construction projects and routine maintenance stuff. We feel pretty good about our contribution this winter.
Project 1: Tear out and replace a
60 ft boardwalk to the bunkhouse at the office complex. We did this one entirely on our own and it came out pretty nice – we think so and so did the Refuge staff. Tear out was good practice for a later project to remove a much longer boardwalk on a trail further out in the Refuge.
Project 2: Tear out an 800 ft boardwalk out at the San Bernard Oak trail. Before we could even start demolition, we had to open up the construction trail through the woods to haul materials out and new material in. Thankfully when we got to the tear out, some special pry bars Kent and volunteer Bob used two years ago were still around. It was still hard work; some of it in hot sticky Texas weather; all of it among snakes and spiders but mercifully few mosquitoes. It went fairly smoothly, about 2 weeks of work mostly by three of us, Kent, Me and volunteer Warren with a bit of help from Daryl (refuge staff) and Jason (vol). Once decking and stringers were out, Kent got lots of practice maneuvering the tractor between trees and palms to pull hundreds of posts! We hauled old material out by the wagon-load and stacked onto the tractor to move it out for disposal.
We transferred new materials back to the site and the guys (Kent and Warren) spent a day digging post holes but rebuild was handled pretty much exclusively by the Friends group. It’s their thing.
Project 3: Signs and kiosks. We built frames for visitor information signs and repaired the Hudson Unit Kiosk. 
In total we hung or rehung 8 signs. All looking good!
Project 4: earth work for the Friends’ project to extend the Bob Cat Woods boardwalk. Kent’s tractor work relieved them of a lot of shovel work. He tore out an old raised gravel walk through the native plant exhibit to clear the way for a level ADA compliant boardwalk. The entire loop will now be on level hard surface making it much more accessible.
Chainsaw certification – woo-hoo. Kent is official (Warren too) he can now run chainsaw on refuges. They definitely make me nervous (the chainsaws not the guys) but are sometimes the only tool for trail clearing. One day with Roland and another just Kent and Warren on the saws and we got trails out at Hudson clear for the first time in years.
We mowed and trimmed and weeded flower beds, cleaned bathrooms and office and bunkhouse, and replaced the pumphouse door.
Cool critters: a guard owl nesting
(or at least persistently present) in a low fork of a live oak along the entrance road, a guard alligator who lolls on a small dock at the entrance, and a determined cottonmouth who now guards the boardwalk out at San Bernard Oak. The wintering geese showed up too, the white-fronted and the snow geese. Sandhill cranes and Roseate Spoonbills as well.
We celebrate Thanksgiving with Johnna and Brian and RJ. Christmas is an even bigger crowd as Mike, Tracy, Willa, and Hazel fly from New York and Carol joins in. We cook, bake cookies, check out Christmas lights, exchange gifts and hang out both in the Houston area and San Antonio. These gatherings are filled with so many wonderful, fun moments.
Uncharacteristically, we have drama this year. Amid celebration it comes out, Johnna and Brian are splitting up.
We spend time with Brian out at the refuge and later in his new apartment in January and February.
Refuge volunteering
We are the first volunteers staying for the winter and get our pick of the sites out on San Bernard National wildlife Refuge. It is a return to quiet and dark night skies. Coyotes yipe in the distance. The call of barred and great horned owls punctuate the darkness. One scissor tail flycatcher makes a showing along with many caracaras and vultures. The are no snow geese yet, dry weather delayed grain fields and nearly all the ponds are completely dried out. We spot a coral snake 
(out on the drive not in camp!) the very first day.
We get some very much needed rain and the rye field we see from camp sprouts bright green. It is enough to entice the sand hill cranes to check it out most mornings. We hear them before we see them as dozens join us at breakfast time. I love it. A group of deer have laid claim to the area as well. 5 bucks, 
one a ten point, and several other young males along with a doe and her nearly grown fawn.
We are logging hours from our first day. It starts with some routine maintenance work as we deep clean the bunkhouse in preparation for biologists coming out to survey and band black rails (now listed as endangered and this refuge includes a section of prime habitat). Next, we take on some trail maintenance at the Dow unit of the refuge – what miserable work! Sprawling clumps of dewberry line large sections of the trail creating a thorny wall that has to be hacked back and dragged off. Add to that unseasonable heat, 85+! I’m glad that’s done. It looks great. We have started our first boardwalk removal and rebuild. It is a 60-foot section here on the refuge office complex. It came out without any difficulty and we have set half of the new posts. We had hoped to complete it before Thanksgiving but have been weathered out a couple days and took one day last week to support planting on the Big Boggy Unit. If it is not too muddy we will be back on boardwalk tomorrow.
We are signed up for a three-day work week so easily squeezed in dinner out for my birthday. Texas BBQ at a local joint, Kenro BBQ in Brazoria. 
Pretty tasty with a new treat, Texas Twinkies: jalapeno stuffed with brisket and cream cheese, wrapped in bacon then smoked. Yummy with a kick.
Family time
Just south of Houston we are in a perfect spot to spend time with our Texas kids, Brian and Johnna and their soon to be adopted son (our first grandson), RJ. We are catching up, sharing great food, and planning for upcoming holiday events. Next gathering, pie baking day then Thanksgiving dinner.
Our early exit from Rayburn leaves a couple days for gulf shore time. Another cold front brings us rain and wind for our travel day. If you are a rough seas fan this is a day for it. On-shore winds put waves clear up to the boardwalks. We relax and stay close to home this evening.
Morning is much calmer and drier. Fishing trawlers bob not far off-shore. Pelicans glide in to feed in the gulf. We check out a couple trails (many have standing water). A breeze keeps woodland birds in hiding but waders are out. The highlight is roseate spoonbills, one on the wing and one feeding nearby. 
We come upon a bronze statue of an eskimo curlew, now extinct last seen here on Galveston Island in 1962. It is part of Todd McGrain’s “Lost Bird Project” to memorialize species that have become extinct due to human impacts.
We are greeted with more strong winds and rough water as we settle in at Lake Rayburn. The forecast is promising though…. High winds of night one give way to a cool but lovely morning. This lake is low too, but the ramp is long so the launch goes smoothly. We get in a full morning on the water before waves build and run us in. No worries, tomorrow is to be even better weather. We get two more full days of relaxing lake time. Fishing is not stellar but just enough catching to make it fun. We spot river otters and eagles make regular appearances. It is a nice reminder to schedule in a few days on a lake a bit more often.
The site was lovely as always, 
a great lakefront view. They lost water supply to the camp for a couple days. Not the best for us since we came in with just ¼ tank. We manage but shorten our stay a couple days. There was no host but no issues to deal with so not a problem. They are closing the campground starting Nov 1 for complete utilities upgrade.
Kent finds a nearby festival in San Augustine. It sounds like a great way to spend a few hours on a beautiful Saturday. Off we go. It has a lot of the regular small town fall festival attractions: a car show, a kid’s costume parade and contest, BBQ competition, a dunk tank, church bake sales, crafters, face painting, and here in TX, gun raffles! It is surprising how popular they are as fundraisers.
We watch a bit of the costume judging and a kids version of mechanical bull riding….something else decidedly Texan; then sample brisket (delicious) and ribs (not bad). I have never seen fried Reese’s Peanut Butter cups and cannot resist. They are gooey and yummy. We try the namesake sassafras, a syrupy sweet tea. A bit like root beer or cream ale but not really my thing. Small town festivals never fail to entertain. It was a fun outing
The lake is 4 foot below normal pool with lots of stickups at and just below the surface. Chop and turbid water caused by high, gusty winds make visibility terrible. We venture out once but spend more time bumping off timber than moving forward. Kent makes the call to stay here in the bay at camp. It is a lovely place to float and enjoy the warm sunny weather but we don’t have much luck fishing. I caught the only one; a fair-sized catfish…it is back in the water just as fast as Kent can get it off the hook!
Eagles chipping and great blue heron squawks are heard every morning and evening. Great egrets put on a ballet in the evening as they vie for the best perch just off shore. A group of belted kingfishers call our bay home. They chatter and dart among the lakeside branches. There are cormorants aplenty and we spot deer along the far shore. We have lovely view across the lake from camp.
We have about had our fill of the glitzy overdeveloped feel of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Seiverville so we take a ride to a space a little more rural. We check out the visitor center and find a great volunteer who obviously loves talking about the town and gives us some fun tips on sightseeing. We choose the Tinsley Bible Drug Company Soda Shop for lunch. What fun! The food was delicious; a Bible Burger, chili, a malt and a sundae both made with Blue Bell ice cream. The experience and atmosphere even better. The place was full of locals who, along with the long time waitstaff, did a lot of talking. Try it if you find yourself near here. BTW, The store and Bible burger are named after one of the pharmacists back in the day.