CHICAGO IS CALLED THE WINDY CITY? DON'T THINK SO!

I've been to Chicago when it has been windy. It has nothing on Brownsville, TX! They tell me you want wind down here, or it would be too hot. Well, maybe in the summer---but not now!  The ten day forecast has the temps in the 60's and the wind up to 25mph.

We have never experienced so much wind!

You've seen those nice palm trees~~balls of palms~~look at these!  They do return to nice balls of palms, usually in the late evenings.

I'm not complaining, I realize the weather here is so much better than up north, for us.  We don't have ice, snow, and very low temperatures. Just can't get over the wind!

This is the smaller of the two alligators that live on South Padre Island.

The wind does not seem to affect the alligators at the Birding Center on South Padre Island.

South Padre Island has this statue gracing Isla Blanca Park, (White Island Park).  
The statue is El Cristo de los Pescadores, (Christ of the fishermen) located at the tip of the island. 

DOORS - WHAT DO THEY SAY?

  WHAT DOES YOUR DOOR SAY?
Do pillars, arches and more arches make the door more impressive? Does the door, with all of its ornate carving impress?  The purple doors are a statement, what do they say? The seaside garage doors surely say, "We live near the water."
Decorative iron garage doors are a nice touch--is this a safe neighborhood?
The yellow door-simple-striking-just right.
The solid wooden door, how do you know who's calling? Surely can see who's calling through the wooden slat door.
The hurricane door cover, hoping it will keep out the wind and water. The sunburst garage door, not for privacy. The pretty gate, in front of the house, keeps everyone out.
The southern, coyote, cactus door tells everyone where they are. 
             
       What kind of door do you have?
                

WHAT DOES YOUR DOOR SAY?

OUR KIDS~~~OUR GRANDS~~~OUR FAMILY

     WE MISS YOU~~WE LOVE YOU
     WE WISH ALL OF YOU 
 
A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A GRAND NEW YEAR!

Patrick and Tracy                                                          Brian and Ceci   

Michelle                                                                              Josh and Kim

Ciera                                                                                  Emily (Flat Stanley)

Matthew                                                                                        Chloe    

Enjoying Christmas in Texas

                                                               A TEXAS CHRISTMAS 
 We have been enjoying Christmas time in Texas. We recently went with friends, Mike and Laurel, to the Hidalgo Light Festival.

Words and pictures cannot describe what a feast for the eyes this fest was. I took some pictures, but they do not begin to tell the story of how this town looks during the month of December. Every night from Nov.30 to Dec.31 the town is a fantasy of lights.
Lights are everywhere, flat displays were abundant (like the butterflies and peacocks); dimensional displays were fun to see (like the dragon, warthog, and ladybug.) The majority of the structures have been made by city employees. Private homes were also decorated. We took a trolley ride narrated by a Hidalgo resident, and also drove the route, with the van doors open so I could get some pictures.
(Double click on a photo, to enlarge it. Click your back arrow to return.)

Most of the businesses in town get involved with the Light Festival. The school children paint Christmas cards that are displayed on every fence in town. They were great, such talent in our young people!
The cowboy relaxing in the moonlight is the one I photographed, it seemed like Texas.
One park was totally from China. My sign is the rat--thus the rat decoration picture.
A Borderfest is held in Hidalgo in March, honoring a different country each year.
The lights are saved and added to the Light Festival.
We will attend Borderfest, in March ~~ this year featuring Australia.

Joe liked the leaning Tower of Pisa, I liked the Eiffel Tower. I also really enjoyed the ladybug, it is the size of my VW Beetle! The dragon and warthog were wonderful. There were many of these 3-D displays, we thought these were the best and most unusual.

A great evening with friends. An enjoyable trolley ride. Christmas in Hidalgo.

Our Home For The Winter

                                                 WHERE WE LIVE IN TEXAS

Thought I'd post a few pictures of where we live here in Brownsville,Texas.
We are in a 55+ park. It is gated, fenced, and has approximately 500 various units. There are two sections for campers that stay for short periods of time. The majority of the units are park models; most have Texas rooms that are built on the lot.
Our Texas room is just that-a room. It has a futon, fridge, microwave, TV, cupboard, with sliding glass door. We have seen some Texas rooms that are equipped like small houses. They have full bathrooms, kitchens, bedrooms, and living areas. There are restrictions on what can be built, but it seems the measures aren't too strict. There are regular wood built houses and brick houses. Some are very elaborate, some are simple. We live in a park model.
There is a clubhouse with a pool and spa. Two other pools are at other sites in the park. There are a variety of activities to participate in at the clubhouse, dinners are held there, along with cook-outs, bingo, craft sales, parties, cards, dances, and nights of entertainment. We do attend a few of the events. We mainly go to the Winter Texan meetings that are held downtown. They have great entertainment, wonderful door prizes, a variety of classes and "fun."
                                                                                                 

Our yard is easy to care for, it's all cement and stones. The water that runs through the park are called Resacas. These bodies of water that run throughout the city, some are narrow, some very wide.

Above is our park model, with the Texas room next to it. We have palm trees, and what looks like a Christmas tree, roses, and other bushes I don't know. The big building is the clubhouse, with the pool. The other pool is near the office and there is another one over the Resaca bridges down our street. I go to the clubhouse pool, it has a hot tub!

The flags fly by the office are straight out many days, due to how windy it can get here. Some days, like today, no wind--some days, hold the kids down or they'll blow away!

In the Resaca, by the clubhouse, we have resident swans. A lady in the park feeds them a special diet that is prepared by the nutritionists at the Gladys Porter Zoo. The swans live here in the resacas, year 'round, along with a variety of ducks.

                         Snowman and Palm Trees! Strange...
 HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL THAT READ MY BLOG!
 

A RANDOM RIDE- TOWARD A SUNNY DAY!

                                                      A RIDE TOWARD THE SUN
It wasn't raining today! Early afternoon we decided to take a ride. Where to?
We weren't sure, so I suggested we drive toward San Benito, we haven't been there yet. San Benito is rather close to Brownsville, just a regular town, we continued on. Suddenly the sun was in the distance! Now, we haven't seen the sun for days, so we drove toward it. We were on our way to Pharr (pronounced far). Those brown signs on any road attrack my attention. They are signs for parks, refuges, lakes, and other natural wonders. We passed a brown sign indicating a refuge to the left.

Turning around we headed back to the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge. We have a senior park pass (good for all national parks/cost:$10, great bargain) so we went to the center for our dated window slip, and proceeded to gather up camera, binoculars, water and hats. Walking down the paths we encountered several Chachalacas.

They are noisy birds, sounding like monkeys. The sun was out, the woods was tropical, the path was muddy, the binoculars were ready, what a great afternoon!
Chachalacas, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Altamira Oriole, Kiskadee Flycatcher, Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, American Wigeon, Mottled Duck, American Coot, Common Moorhen, along with herons, egerts, Roseate spoonbills, all in one place!  This is a great refuge to visit!         This is the Altamira Oriole hiding behind the branches.
The most unique part of the afternoon was coming upon a suspended bridge!
Right there in the middle of the refuge there were sprial stairs leading up to 
a small platform, which connected a suspended bridge to another small platform. We ascended the spiral stairs, to the first platform. This seemed like new construction. Everything very white and clean. Holding on to the ropes we crossed the suspension bridge. It was undulating and shaky. Of course, it could be made more shaky by jumping up and down!

The long suspension bridge, made from ropes and "recycled, plastic wood." It was so high and so much fun to cross! We were at the canopy of the woods, looking down made my knees a little weak. Had to get that out of my head, as I needed to get to the other platform, then down those spiral steps. We will return to this refuge, maybe when my sister comes down to visit. She'll love this!

Below: looking up at the suspension bridge.   Spiral stairs-4 sets of them.