We're Going to Houston to See the Astros versus Cardinals Baseball Game

Texas has several great sports teams, so if you are interested, there are lots of different teams you can support. Dallas has the Dallas Cowboys football team, the Texas Rangers baseball team, the Mavericks basketball team. San Antonio has the Spurs basketball team, and Houston has the Houston Texans football team and the Houston Astros baseball team.                                 

Richard grew up in Missouri, so he is not much of a fan of the Cowboys or the Astros. He is, however, a die-hard Saint Louis Cardinals baseball fan. When he was growing up, his dad took him to a couple of Cardinals games, including game 7 of the 1968 World Series (which the Cardinals lost to the Detroit Tigers.)

So, for his birthday, this year, I got him two tickets to last night's Houston Astros game because they were playing his team, the Saint Louis Cardinals, or as they are affectionally called, "The Red Birds".

It was a big deal, too. You can tell Richard was really excited, because he had to detail his truck before we went. Inside and outside! I guess you are not supposed to take a dirty vehicle to a ball game. 

Houston is about a three hour drive from our home, so we started early. The stadium doors opened at 5:30, the game started at 7:05, so we left a little after 1:00 pm. We figured we would get their about 4:30 at the latest, giving us plenty of time in case we got into heavy traffic, or in case we got lost. Fortunately, neither of those things happened.

Texas is so large it has many different types of geography. We live in pretty flat land, and you can see for miles and miles.

Once we got to Houston, traffic really picked up. Here is the interchange on the outskirts of the city. The concrete girders are immense and the highway roads look like ribbons as they criss-cross each other.

We arrived in down-town Houston at 3:30, not 4:40. Here we are, at the parking lot, looking at the downtown skyline.

Minute Maid Stadium was so easy to find, and parking was no problem at all. We were amazed at how close to the stadium we were able to park. Now, we just had to find a way to kill two hours until the gates opened.

Come back tomorrow and find out what we did for two hours....but for now, I will just say it was an unexpected treat.

Rain and Cooler Weather Come to Texas

Most of the time, a Texas September is just an extension of the very, very hot and dry summer. Last year, there were over 100 days which had temperatures over 100 degrees, and we were in the midst of the greatest drought of the last 50 years. I was so glad to see the end of summer.

This year is a different story. Our summer was mild, with just a few days hitting the 100 degree mark, and we had several good showers, so our grass is greener, and the animals are happier.

Today, we are enjoying a very nice rain that has been falling all afternoon. Not only that, it is only 68 degrees. Additionally, the forecast shows highs in the mid 80's and lows in the 60's. That's my kind of weather. 

The Setting Sun and the Pierdolla Ranch Gate

It is hot, though not unbearably so. No breeze stirs the grasses. It is a typical evening in late summer and I am crouched on the side of a farm road, watching the sun set. There isn't much to use as a focal point for my sunset picture on this farm road....a few modern homes which would blend in if constructed in many a suburban housing development, just a few windmills, but they are too close to power lines or trees which block the setting sun, and lots and lots of open field. So, as I spy this gate, festooned with red, white and blue bunting, I decide that this is where I will watch for the moment when the sun is almost ready to slip below the horizon.

Texas has miles and miles of farm roads similar to this one. The open space is so refreshing and soothing. Crouching on the side of one such road at sunset, with camera in hand, I smile and rejoice in the ending of another fine day.

Time to Fly Away...The Baby Mockingbirds Spread Their Wings

Boy, did I get a surprise when I looked out the window, this morning. There, standing tall, was one of the mockingbird babies. No more hiding and snuggling down in the depths of the nest. 

I got out the ladder and climbed up to get a closer look. Oh my goodness, the baby was all alone! Where were the other two? The lone mockingbird baby stood perched on the edge of the nest for several minutes, while I took a few pictures. 

All of a sudden, I must have gotten just a little too close, or maybe he just got a little more courage, because he suddenly jumped out of the nest and fluttered too the ground. He made his first solo flight, and landed safely. Hurray!!!!

Once he landed on the porched, he hopped to the wall and huddled there. I climbed down the ladder and started taking more pictures. He just looked at me. No peeps, no fearful scurrying. Instead, he perched there and lifted his wings up and down, up and down with tiny little shrugs.

I wondered where the other two hatchlings were, so I scouted around the yard. Ahhhhhh....here is one of them, nestled into the base of a pecan tree. He, too, was lifting and lowering his wings, doing a strengthening work-out.

Once again, this inconsiderate photographer passed that invisible line that separates "okay" from "too close for comfort". The little bird jumped up and fluttered it's tiny wings, moving up the tree trunk a whole foot. That should make it a lot safer! 

He peeped his squeaky cry for help. Momma and daddy were not far away. Actually, they had been fussing at me the whole time, but I think it was only half-hearted fussing, for I hardly noticed them at all. Maybe they were beginning to realize I am not actually a threat to their family, just a nuisance.

I will miss these babies. They grew so fast. Watching them develop from scrawny, ugly little naked babies into feathered beauties able to fly in the space of just a few days, I am drawn to praise and awe for our mighty Creator, the God of the universe, who knows when even a sparrow falls. What an incredible God! What a magnificent creation!

I'm Still Harassing the Mockingbirds

 Well, we don't need a universal translator to understand what Mrs. Mockingbird is saying to her husband, as I climb up the ladder to peek into their nest.

"So are you going to do anything about her???? She's sticking her nose into our business again. Do something, why don't ya?"

"Huh! If you're not going to say something to her, then I for sure the heck am!" Mrs. Mockingbird flies a little closer to me. "Hey you, get away from my nest," she squawks at me.

I understand, but I just can't help myself. I have to take another peek at her babies. There they are, snuggled up in the bowl of the nest, barely awake, but hoping they are going to get fed.

I have decided to name them. Think of the face of a clock...I see two o'clock, six o'clock and seven thirty. So, I will call them, twosie, sixsie and seven-thirty. Aren't they adorable?

Twosie has a spot of poop or something on his head. Yuck.

Sixsie is the alpha of the nest, as far as I can tell. He is always the first to pop his head up.

 Seven-thirty seems to be the slowest of the group.

I expect they will grow fast, and soon, they will be gone, so I plan on making frequent trips up the ladder as long as they are still in the nest.

The Mockingbirds Move In

Meet my new tenants.  With tenacity and determination, Mr. and Mrs. Mockingbird have decided to build a nest on top of the shabby chic bird cage that hangs from my porch roof. 

Richard dislodged the beginnings of a nest more than once, but they kept re-building, so I let them stay. 

However, since they lodge in my bird feeder free of charge, I expect something in return. Yesterday, I began to collect my due. And they were not happy. They squawked at me, and flew close in a dive bombing maneuver, but in the end, they just sat on the branches of the pecan tree and fussed. 

You see, they have three tiny hatchings to protect. Yes, three beautiful, hungry baby mockingbirds are hiding inside the twiggy nest inside the top of this bird feeder.

I know, because Richard got out our step ladder and I climbed up to take a peek. 

The momma and daddy were not too happy, but I did not look for very long. Here they are, three tiny little hatchlings, with their mouths wide open, hoping for some dinner.

A Texas Windmill at Sunset

It seems that there has been a shortage of beautiful sunsets in the last year...I guess I got spoiled when I could go out almost any evening and view a glorious display of pinks and oranges and blues and purples as the sun set, lighting clouds on fire and sending rays of light streaking across the sky. No more, or at least that is how is seems. So, I rarely take my camera out at dusk. It seems like a wasted effort.

Richard knows how much I enjoy sunsets, though, so he pushed me out the door and into the truck on Saturday evening. We bought a couple of drinks at Sonic, a cherry limeade for me and a blueberry pomegranate limeade for him, and we headed out toward the setting sun.

I suggested we head south on FM 775, toward the farming communities of New Berlin and La Vernia. As the sun set, we passed this windmill and water tower. For just a few moments, as the sun got low enough in the sky, I stood on the side of the road and shot some pictures.
There, with the windmill standing tall, I enjoyed the drama of the sun falling below the horizon for yet another day. Hurray!