Reaching my limit :(

The past nine days have been a real whirlwind for me.  After doing a crane tour a week ago Saturday and working the VC, I headed to Gulfport to pick up my daughter and grandgirl from the airport.  We had a busy and wonderful visit for several days.  Then on Tuesday, my friends Colin and Denise arrived from England for a day on the refuge.  Wednesday after work, Marti and Paul Dahl pulled in for a visit that night, and a tour on Thursday. 

I worked the VC on Friday, and did another tour on Saturday, and worked the VC in the afternoon.  On the morning tour we saw a few cranes, and I was able to get this close up of the eagle with one of its young.  The other youngster was down in the nest eating the food its parent had brought.  Coolest thing about this encounter is that we could hear the young ones begging for food.

Friday is when I had the first inklings of catching the cold my daughter and grandgirl had shared with me.

Then, right after sunset last night Peggy and Paul (good friends and fellow volunteers) pulled in with their rig for an overnight stay.  Since John and Diana, Peggy and Paul, and I have all volunteered together at Balcones Canyonlands NWR a couple of times, we all went out for a late dinner last night.  This morning I showed them around the Visitor’s Center for a while.  They had to soon leave for a destination in Florida. 

After running a few errands in town this afternoon, I sat down outside in my rocker with Emma and that’s when it hit me.  I was pooped!  I decided that I had reached my limit.  I’m still battling the onslaught of the cold, but I think I’m winning. 

Hardest thing for me to do this evening was to send an email to someone named Mary that had read my blog and asked for a tour on Tuesday.  I had to bow out of that commitment.  I need a couple of days to recuperate, catch up on neglected chores, and just relax before working again on Wednesday.  She has been most gracious and understanding.  I really feel bad about backing out of that, but sometimes you just have to put your own health and well being first.  I believe this is a difficult thing for many women to realize. 

I wouldn’t change one minute of the last nine days (except for the cold), and thoroughly enjoyed my time with family and good friends.  Guess I just need a little down time before revving up the social engines again. 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

I sneezed twice today

To most people, two sneezes spaced out over an afternoon would not be a noteworthy occurrence.  However, in my world, it could be a sign.  I often have sneezing attacks in the evening that include about twenty or so sneezes in a row.  I don’t think those little attacks have anything to do with the rig, as I’ve had them for years no matter where I am or what I might be living in.  As for the two isolated sneezes I had today, let me digress a little.

 Last weekend my friends, and fellow volunteers, Diana and John attended a couple of Mardi Gras parades.  They got out all the beads that they caught from the parades to pose for a family portrait with their dog Buffy.  (I wanted to post a picture of Diana so you’ll know who I’ll be working with, and mentioning in my posts, for the next couple of months)

This happened while my daughter, Robyn, and grandgirl Avery were visiting.  It seemed only fitting that we also got a portrait.  (Avery was napping at the time)  Emma wore the beads, but her expression seems to be one of disgust for me asking her to wear those beads. 

Anyway, so what does all this have to do with two sneezes?  Well, both Robyn and Avery had congestion and coughing while they were here from colds.  I believe the normal time for contracting a cold is about a week after exposure to the germs, and it’s been just about that long.  And many of you know about the close confinement and sharing of most everything in a motorhome.  The noteworthy part of all of this is that I haven’t had a cold since 2003!  Yep, I can remember the last time I had a cold. 

I probably would have ignored those two sneezes, but this evening I have a funny feeling in my nose and throat, and that’s not a good thing.  Aw shucks!  This is not the way I wanted to remember their visit.  I don’t have time to get sick.  I’ve got my Mentholatum, Puffs, and chicken noodle soup all ready just in case, but I’m hoping it’s just a figment of my imagination. 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

A bouquet of flowers and dinner?

Yes, it’s true.

Late yesterday afternoon, I was presented with this bouquet of flowers as my new friends and fellow bloggers arrived for an overnight stay at the refuge.

Paul and Marti Dahl, of R Sanity RV Adventures fame, took me up on an invitation to stop over on their way to Florida.  We have been following each other’s blogs for quite some time.  Many of you know how cool it is to put real faces to cyber friends.  After the flowers, Paul said they would take me out for dinner since they knew I was a ‘cheap date’.    Well, we had a marvelous dining experience at Tiki’s in Gautier, MS, and jabbered the evening away. 

This morning, Diana and I took them on a back roads tour of the refuge, and were able to spot 23 cranes! 

At one point along the way, I asked Diana to stop the vehicle because I had spotted the first new pitcher plant of the year.  In my experience, the pitcher plants send up their blooms first before the actual pitchers form, but there was this green pitcher standing up amongst the dried out remnants from last year.  That’s about a month earlier than last year.

The tour was a success, and we all had a great time getting to know each other better.  Good times, good laughs, and only one little glitch.  You see, after Paul retired and they were waiting for their house to sell, he wiled away some of his time by washing and waxing his rig.  He mentioned that he enjoyed doing this, and I immediately told him that I’d be happy to offer up my rig for him to wash and wax so he could be happy.  He responded that if our paths ever crossed, he would be happy to make my rig all spiffy.  Well, guess what?  Our paths crossed, and my rig is still dirty!  Something about the impending birth of another grandchild, yadda, yadda, yadda…   Guess I’ll have to catch up with them again at a more opportune time!  Thanks for the flowers, dinner, and memories Marti and Paul.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

A fine feathered day

I was ‘up and at em’ getting ready for another crane tour this morning.

I took my camera with me for Emma’s first outs hoping to get an extraordinary sunrise photo like I got last year with the early morning rays streaming through the foggy savannah.  It was a nice sunrise, but not exactly  gorgeous.  It is better to view any sunrise, however, rather than the alternative. 

The fog and heavy dew did make all of the thousands of spider webs more visible though.  The work involved in creating these webs never ceases to amaze me.

We had a pretty good group of folks for the tour this morning.  As usual, two people didn’t show up or call to cancel.  Frustrating, once again, as we had four people on the waiting list for the tour. 

As I’ve explained before, it’s getting harder and harder to find cranes as we near the breeding season.  I’m afraid seeing as many as 32 cranes in a day is history for this year.  We did see a group of five cranes flying away, and this small group that didn’t immediately take flight.  I included this picture tonight to demonstrate the difference between Mississippi Sandhill Cranes and the visiting migratory Greater Sandhill Cranes that are common in places like Michigan and Wisconsin.

The three cranes on the right are the Mississippi’s.  If you look closely, you can see three things about them that are different from the Greater Sandhill.  They are slightly smaller, are a darker gray color, and they all have colored leg bands on them. 

Of course, we had to check on the bald eagle nest, and today, both adults were perched on a dead tree behind the nest.  We also got to see both heads of the young ones peeking out of the nest.  It’s always a thrill to see these magnificent birds.

Later, Diana and I took a drive over to our sister refuge, Grand Bay NWR, so Diana would know what we are talking about when we recommend that our visitors take a drive over there.

While out at the boat launch on this refuge, we found a great blue heron having a bit of a bad hair day on the fishing pier.  He was rather stoic about the brisk winds.

It’s getting late, so I’ll leave for tomorrow how I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and was taken out for a scrumptious seafood dinner…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you tomorrow,  Judy

Visitors from ‘across the pond’

While Robyn was here, she wanted to see the Mississippi Sandhill Cranes, so we all went for a tour of the refuge yesterday morning.  Avery, of course, couldn’t care less about such a thing being only four years old.  It’s getting harder and harder to find the cranes as we get closer to the end of the month and the beginning of their breeding season.  Luckily, we were able to finally see some.

Monday afternoon, all of the volunteers got together to have a cook out.  Avery was feeling a little more comfortable with all these strangers by the afternoon.  After all, most of us are grandparents, so you know it was a friendly atmosphere.  As the sun set, I drove Robyn and Avery to a motel in Biloxi right across from the airport.  They had a very early morning flight out today, and had decided to spend the night there rather than having to get Avery up at four in the morning for the drive into the airport.  Just as my mother used to, I get choked up at these partings.  It was a short, but wonderful visit.

Then early this morning, Colin and Denise arrived for a tour of the refuge.  I’ve volunteered with Colin several times in the past at Anahuac NWR.  He is a citizen of England, and has volunteered at Anahuac for about three months a year for the last nine years.  His trip to the US was strictly for birding this time, and he brought his wife, Denise, along.  It was great to finally meet her.  As you can see, she is seriously into photo taking, and we did get a few opportunities for her to get some shots of the cranes.  It seems that Colin travels all over the globe to pursue his birding passion.  I’m sure glad I could deliver this morning.    I’d also like to thank them for treating me to lunch!

After lunch, I was feeling pretty worn out from all the excitement and goings on of the last five days, and way behind in doing my laundry.  So I threw a load into the Splendide, and Emma and I relaxed outside for the afternoon.

I did some trimming underneath one of the bird feeders for better viewing, and it wasn’t long before this brown thrasher stopped by to scratch in the debris of the forest floor.  It was 3:00 before I could put the load of wash out on the line, and the jeans and a few other items didn’t dry.  Since there’s no rain in tonight’s forecast, I’ve decided to just let them hang overnight.  Tomorrow, I’ll get another load going before I do the tour.  Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it’s back to work I go.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

“Gramma Bell, I want to see the sea and build a sandcastle!”

That’s a pretty big order for a Gramma to produce, so I guess it’s a good thing I’m staying near the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  I picked up Robyn and Avery at the Gulfport/Biloxi airport last night in the middle of a torrential downpour.  We made it back to the rig in the rain, had something to eat, and then Avery about passed out from exhaustion.  It had been a big, long day for a four year old.  Two different plane rides, and then a drive in the dark to Gramma’s house.

Both Avery and Emma are early risers, so we were off before 8:00 this morning to hike the rather soggy Dee’s Trail.  One of us was lucky enough not to get our shoes wet after the 2.5” of rain yesterday.

After going out to lunch with the rest of the volunteers for a shrimp po’boy (which was Robyn’s request), we headed for the Biloxi beaches so I could grant Avery her wish. 

                                                  I got to show her the sea, and her mother…

                                                        got to help her build a sandcastle. 

Avery is one of those children that really gets into her ‘work’.  She doesn’t care how down and dirty she gets.  My kind of girl!

When she was only 15 months old, her mother referred to her as a Relocation Specialist.  She would move dirt, rocks, sticks, etc., from one place to another without abandon.  She hasn’t given up that hobby.  There was a stiff chilly wind blowing, but Avery felt compelled to do her best to relocate as much sand as possible. 

We postponed our hotdog cookout until tomorrow hoping for less wind and warmer temperatures.  What a joy it was this evening to listen to the two of them taking a shower together in the RV.  And what a shock it was for them to step out of the shower into the chilly air whisking past them up and out the ceiling fan that is turned on during showers to help remove the moisture in the rig from the hot showers.  Ha, ha!

‘Emma the Gog’ is doing a pretty good job of behaving herself, and little Avery is doing a pretty good job of trying to tease her.  It’s about par for two four year olds…

                                                                               THE END!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Bad Days and Timmy Tim

just when i thought i was having a bad day, this little man strolls in, wraps his arms around you and give me a kiss on the cheek.

teaching kindi was probably one of the most challenging experiences of the year. for the first three months, these kids cannot communicate with you in the slightest. you might be able to get the alphabet out of them  and the rest is charades practice (which i have mastered over the year). but now looking back, i've realized that it has been the most rewarding experience. i have seen these kids go from no english, to being able to communicate and have small conversations with them. out of the 100+ kids i have taught this year, i'm going to miss my kiddos most of all.