When the wind comes out of the south east a wall of mist slides onto the beach and works its way back the shoreline over the marsh. At times it is a wispy delicate curtain and others a thick impenetrable fog. I know that the local critters are rarely aggressive; still, sounds coming from the shrouded cane fields can be creepy.
It is duck hunting season so the only birds I have seen up close are the ones laying in the bow of a boat. Bummers. One bright side, they have wonderful bird dogs that are full of energy and all very friendly. We have gotten to meet a few while their owners are busily pulling boats and gossiping about their success hunting. The hunt is closed from Dec 1 – 14 so maybe we will get out on the lakes a see some of the migratory flocks…mosquitoes willing! We have seen quite a few roseate spoonbills, snow geese, and white pelicans high overhead so we know they are in the area.
Makes you want to sign right up doesn’t it? I wore shorts the day that we arrived and my legs were covered with mosquitoes in minutes. I have been in long pants ever since, and long sleeves most of the time. If we stay in the breeze and out of vegetation they aren’t really too bad, but wow, if you wander off into the grass or tall cane they are thick. Ode to DEET is my fragrance (Kent’s too) for the next month or so.
It is pretty laidback here at Sea Rim and the staff is easy to get along with. We are helping them build a cabin along the bayou and spending some time out on the beach cleaning up trash that washes up.
Nothing like a couple gator loads of plastic bags and water bottles to remind you just how awful that stuff is for the environment. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. I’m a believer.
We shared the day with Buzz LightYear, a giant fire ant, pilgrims, the tooth fairy, 
hilarious rake and broom people, Scary Poly Potter (lady made of flower pots) and a whole lot more. There were 64 wonderfully creative entries in a scarecrow contest at the Shangri La Botanical Gardens in Orange, Texas. The manicured gardens are beautiful but so is the moss draped tupelo/cypress swamp along Adams Bayou. It was a perfect day to be out and about.
It was pretty homey……you know how BBQ places can be! I avoided looking into the kitchen. The food was delicious. The sauce wasn’t tomatoy or sweet but it wasn’t vinegary either. It was mid-fire spicy and just right for the brisket. The rice dressing was a new thing for me…..rice with bits of meat and I don’t really know what else. Nothing was greasy, sort of a new thing for BBQ I thought. Kent’s food came on a retired lime green plastic elementary cafeteria tray; the ones with separate compartments for everything. It is difficult to image how a place with no dishwasher keeps those things clean. It’s worth a stop. Carryout is probably the way to go.
The creeks and rivers are still way out of their banks so there is no kayaking this week. We took a drive around the preserve and checked out the salt water barrier on the Neches River…..they manage backflow of water from the gulf to control salinity in the marshes. It was cool and windy so no new birds today.
Lake Rayburn TX
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep………What an awful racket. Seems an outboard gets a bit fussy when it thinks it isn’t getting enough oil. Turns out it was just the sensor and a quick trip to a local fix it guy (and a long wait for a part he had to order) has it all in shape. We’ll see if we can find the hot fishing spot that has eluded us so far.
We checked out a trail through the dense pines of Angelina National Forest. It was a quiet walk, not a single other person out there. Suppose the 70% humidity might have affected that? Despite a fair bit of sweat, it was a good outing. No sighting of the endangered cockaded woodpecker though, despite spending time in their favorite terrain.
A steady gaze into the shallows, silent footsteps that barely stir the surface of the water, straight unflinching posture that perfectly mimics a tree limb; all this followed by a lightning fast smooth strike that snatches the clueless fishy from the warm shallows. That’s the way we are used to watching Great Blue Herons feeding. It is like a ballet.
But, they have another approach. Here at Lake Rayburn they perch on stumps in deep water. The same practiced gaze locates their prey then they flop into the water, wings flailing, grab the fish, and struggle back onto a nearby stump with their quarry. Not graceful at all but pretty effective.