Today, we traveled to Baytown, near Galveston Texas.  We are staying on the Gulf about 500 feet from the water with an unobstructed view.  I will miss the shore alot. The clouds are hung low and the winds are howling, yet it is still enjoyable and provided an unusual sunset.  People are fishing off the dock and the pelicans are diving head-first into the water – no hook, line and sinker for them! A viewing gazebo sits a few feet away from us and a fishing pier meanders out into the water that laps at the shore with a sound like a cat sipping water from her bowl – dainty, yet persistant.

Today was a travel day, as we quickly left New Orleans behind us, the landscape changed to swamps and marshes as far as the eye could see.  There were no buildings in contrast to the city and urban areas that we had just left behind.  Waterways criss-crossed beneath the causeways and water fowl sat motionless on stumps or in tall grasses.  Smaller birds lined the telephone wires for contiguous lengths that formed a few birds at a time until they looked like a long necklace of black pearls.  At our rest stop I FINALLY got to see and photograph my alligator in the wild at Blue Elbow Swamp.

Tomorrow, we head towards San Antonio to start a long trek across the state of Texas – we intend to do the RiverWalk, so at least I will get a small dose of H2O tomorrow, as well. Tonight, we will enjoy the sunset and be thankful for our time together.

I came across this poem while “surfing the web” and it reflects my feelings as well as the author:

THE SOLACE of the SEA

I sit on “my” rock, peacefully, quietly, soaking in the serenity…

I walk, breathing deep, absorbing the surroundings.

I’m where I want to be, alone with my thoughts-

But she’s there with me, and she’s always there for me.

No matter when I come or the mood I’m in on any given day,

When I need to get a lift, or ponder life’s questions or

Just shed a desperate tear, she is always there for me.

And I leave refreshed, recharged, renewed and content.

— Lee Harrington, Laconia, October 16, 2011