I’m on a roll with my chronicles of life’s little joys. I’ve found another. For years, almost decades, I suppose, the top drawer in my kitchen cabinet has stuck. It was frustrating to open it, resisting and veering slightly off course, so you’d have to really grab it and it […]
At the crack of dawn this morning Nathan crept into my room and woke me up. I don’t mind; these early morning sessions where we go downstairs before Mommy and baby wake up are among my most cherished. Before I was made to play kid’s games on the laptop, I […]
I was pleased to hear from my new friend Rolando, a Cuban engineer who uses our “Send a Friend” to stay in touch with his brother in Virginia. I hope to visit him in Cuba soon. My friend! I happy that you can understand my reasons, since I has been […]
This is one of thousands of egrets who live in the Adams Bayou that we saw from behind the blind at the Shangri La Gardens in Orange Texas yesterday.
On my last night in Texas we did it up in style. I was picked up in an SUV by our lovely hosts Stephanie and Ashley who took us to an upscale Mexican joint called Pablanos. There we joined Stephanie’s husband Sean and sat in a cozy circular table, where […]
Michael W. Hoke makes nature, plants and his incredible garden come alive. He speaks with vigor and boundless enthusiasm for teaching children about nature and about the gifts that the Shangri La Botanical Gardens provide the entire Southeast Texas region. In a pounding rain interspersed with thunder and lightning, we […]
“One thing you gotta have here are pretty toes,” said Ashley, “because in this part of Texas you’re going to be seeing them a lot!” Ashley and Stephanie told us this as they showed off their carefully pedicured digits, just before we shoved off in our canoes to float down […]
The name Rao’s Bakery Cafe brings a smile to anyone’s face who lives in Beaumont. There are four such establishments here in town and one in Houston. We met Jake Tortorice Jr, the owner of them all when we stopped by for a groaning plate of his goodies…kolache, spicy sausages […]
This man told us about the fishing, and how for three years there was nothing. He suggested we take this photo and blow it up big and use it to promote Southeast Texas in one of them bro-chures. He spoke with the thick accent of Louisiana and Texas. People here […]
In conversation after conversation here in Southeast Texas, the topic of hurricanes Rita and Ike comes up. So many lives were uprooted, and nature was changed in such profound ways, I learned. We spent the morning today on the Village Creek, with water the color of weak tea and downed […]
I interrupt this continual coverage of my trip to Southeast Texas for a poignant reminder that the world close to us is indeed not free. I just got an email from a man whose first name is Rolando, who lives in Cuba. I had noticed that someone was sending out […]
We beached our canoes and kayaks on a sandbar on Village Creek, a tributary of the Neches river here in Southeast Texas. It was time for lunch and stories. Our guide had plenty of both, we soon found out. The day was sunny and the paddling along this gorgeous stretch […]