Morning has Broken

This morning was the type of morning that the English live for, especially after a long dreary winter; except it autumn in Texas. It was clear and cool and dry, and about 56 degrees F. It was so cool I had to pull on some track bottoms and a jacket to take Brendan to school. I didn't even break a sweat during my half-hour walk (well I got a little moist on my back). My face still turned red, but it didn't have sweat dripping off of it. This is why I love Fall in Texas.

Brendan and I spent some time in the pumpkin patch at the Methodist church we attend after Sunday service and got a photo of him, like I used to do every year. I got out of the habit when we took our RV trip around the US and when we lived in England, because I couldn't find a pumpkin patch there. Of course this one is man-made with pumpkins hauled in from another state, but we made the most of it. We spent some time looking for all the characters in A Pumpkin Named Jack. We couldn't find Lumina, or Big Max, but we did find Munchkin, Sugar and several pretty passable Jacks, none as awkward as I imagine him.

Brendan has decided that his Halloween costume this year will be a skaterboy who's had too many accidents. We've made fake wounds, scabs and scars and he and Bill are trying to make a compound fracture out of chicken bones. Happy Halloween!

Ohmygosh!

Here I was extolling the virtues of nature in my last entry, and yesterday, when I was outside - BAREFOOTED, Bill was blowing the leaves off of the patio and from under the trailer, and out crawls this... this... thing. It as huge (actually about 8 inches long)! It had huge pinchers and came at us like it meant business. EEK! I was up on the picnic bench like a stereotypical woman who's seen a mouse.

After I got over the initial ICK! factor, I wanted to capture this creature. I had never see one before and as I read about it later, I found out they're very rare, which makes me sorry that we killed it. But we couldn't have that thing crawling into the trailer!

It is a Giant Redheaded Centipede. And if ever the saying, "everything's big in Texas" applied, this was it. At first, we only saw it's prey - a giant green caterpillar that was writhing in agony. When we discovered the centipede, it crawled right over and started sucking the guts out of it's paralyzed victim. This centipede has a nasty sting. If a human is bitten, the are would swell, but go away in about three hours, according to the man that let one bite him on the finger (idiot!). Another entry said it could be fatal, especially to kids. Either way, we played it safe and kept our distance. I only hope there were no babies!

BTW - I found a picture of the fox that I talked about in the last entry. Its a gray fox. Pretty! I'll stick with him.

Wild Life

I love the fact that we live only 20 minutes away from a thriving city, yet are very much in the country. I am a country girl at heart. We moved to the country when I was about 11 years old, and was able to have my own Shetland pony, wander through fields of bluebonnet and indian paintbrushes, and take my dog, Skipper, exploring on the 35 acres of land that we owned. After our chores were done, like picking endless rows of green beans, feeding the chickens and gathering eggs, and stretching fence, we could stay out and play all day. I walk every morning just to be outside and commune with nature. I hate being couped up.

Bill, on the other hand, has an uncomfortable truce with nature. I've never seen someone who has such bad luck with creation. If a bird is going to poop on someone, it'll be Bill. I'll have to tell you the story someday about the kamakazi seagull that let loose a big one on his chest in the middle of Epcot Center. He gets bit by more mosquitoes. He is deathly afraid of bees. When we went tubing on the Medina river, he was the one that scooped the helgramites into his shorts and got pinched by their dagger-like pinchers.

For him, being in the country is about keeping nature at bay. He cuts the tall grass from around the trailer. At night, when he prefers to empty the black tank for the sake of our neighbors, he takes a flashlight to be sure no critters cross his path. And, I am thankful for this one, he sprays for ants and roaches around the entire site perimeter with the most powerful pesticide he can find at Home Depot, so they wont get in our trailer.

I was afraid he'd kill every living thing that came close, but we seem to have a nursery for reptiles in the hollow tree next to our site. A baby lizard crawled up the camping chair I was sitting on, and sunbathed on my arm for the longest time. Brendan found a tiny worm-sized snake slithering through the grass. We've found walking-sticks and preying mantises around the trailer, and more frogs than I dared to think existed anymore. So far, no horned toads, but I keep an eye out. They truly are endangered.

Our RV is parked up next to a fence. On the other side is an open field for cattle to graze on. Our neighbor puts out corn so the deer come close to feed. When we first arrived, there was a herd of three or four adults that came regularly to eat the corn, while a spotted fawn hung back in the tall grass. A racoon has ventured across on several occasions and ate the towel that Bill had under the BBQ grill to catch the drippings. I'm sure he had a tummyache after that. A cool-looking fox that I've meant to research more has been hanging around the other side of the fence. He's mostly gray with an orange neck and a black stripe running down his back and long tail. He's not scary, at least to me, except for when his eyes glow out of the darkness when we shine a flashlight at him.

Finally, we have hummingbirds zipping around the park. I've never seen so many! We put up a hummingbird feeder so we could see them better. It took a while for them to find it, but now that they know its here, they fight for it. Hummingbirds are VERY territorial. I love the fact that I now know what they sound like when they hum by. Sometimes they're too fast to see, but I know they're there when I go for my walk. And best of all, sometimes, they'll land on a branch and sit still - not for long, but long enough to get a good look at them, before another one comes along and they're off again. Soon they'll migrate to Mexico and I'll have to find another afternoon distraction.

Can you tell? I'm lovin' on nature today. I hope you'll take time to enjoy it, too.

The Votes Are In

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! to everyone who voted for A Pumpkin Named Jack in the ABC Picture Book Competition. It was amazing to hear how the news spread like wildfire across the internet. Mostly, I appreciated all the positive, encouraging feedback I received from everyone. It definitely helps me to keep going.

Unfortunately, we didn't win. However, if the previous years are any indication, there is still hope that the story will be picked up by another publishing house. Five others who were finalist have had that happen.

Oh, well. I'm already working on another picture book idea, and I may try to enter again next year. I have to have it in by February, so I'll see if I can pull it together in that time. Also, I'm working again on Dillon and Blue, the middle-grade novel I wrote while in England. The critique group will keep me honest and working . I have to show them something new every month.

Again, thanks for warm fuzzies. Maybe someday soon, I'll be able to write and say that Jack will be published after all.

Went to the Animal Fair

The birds and the beasts were there - well, mostly chickens, sheep, and cows.

All the children in our school district had the day off on Friday for "Fair Day." We live in a rural area and so many children raise animals to show at the fair that they give everyone the day off. So we went. It was fun to show Brendan what a county fair is like in America (or at least in Texas), since we'd been to a few in England.

In England, even in the middle of July, it can be blustery cold. You park in a sheep paddock and walk around the hedge rows to get to each section of the fair. They had lots of blow-up slides, some cheesy rides and midway games. They show small animals like chickens and rabbits and sell home-baked goods, have clay pidgeon shoots and sheep-hearding demos. Not bad. The most disappointing thing is the food. They roll up in snack wagons and sell burgers and dogs and not much else.

In comparison, the county fair in Texas had more and bigger stuff. They had lots more large animals. They showed and judged and gave awards for the kids that raised them. Some kids go to college off the money they win on prize-winning steer and sheep. There was a petting barn in which we touched chicks, piglets, calves, and lambs. There were the homemade goods, both baked and handmade things like quilts that were judged. The high school bands were going wild. The midway was huge with many more rides and games. And the food! Glorious fair food! We didn't sample any because it was too hot to eat, but it was all there - funnel cakes, sausage on a stick, turkey legs, kettle corn, big sour pickles and so much more. Plus each night they put on a rodeo with barrel racing, calf roping and bull-riding, and live concerts. We didn't stay for the night activities, but I still want to see some bull-riding.

We'll have to go back next year. We made some rooky mistakes going too early. Next year, we'll stay late, go hungry and enjoy the nightlife.