I’m one of those who has been very hesitant about getting back out there since the pandemic. I’ve been moving slow. Still haven’t gone back into the movie theaters; thank goodness for streaming services. Anyway, when my friend Sabina Gartler decided to take a weekend away at Galveston to look at cemeteries and tour some of the sights, I decided to go. I used to go to Galveston all the time. This was my first visit in three years.
As you can see, my time there started out a bit foggy. This is the view from my hotel room. Seawall Boulevard is just down below, but it is barely visible. Unlike some of my sun-worshiping friends, I really enjoyed these low lying clouds. It gives the city that air of mystery and charm. I sat on the balcony one afternoon and watched the fog roll in and slowly cover everything in a grey mist. Of course then I was ready to go on a tour of Old City Cemetery. Well, we went the next day after the fog had lifted.
For those of you who aren’t aware of the Old City Cemetery, it is one of the oldest in Galveston and actually is made up of seven different cemeteries that were merged into one. It is at least 200 years old, but I suspect older since I saw one gravestone that was dated in the 1700s. After the Hurricane of 1900 when so much of the city and the coast was destroyed, the ground of the cemetery was raised as was the entire sea wall. That’s one of the reasons why some of the graves go down three burials deep. Families were given the chance to move loved ones before the ground was raised. Most loved ones took advantage of this, some did not.
Some of the graves are new and spotless and some do show their age. It is obvious that surviving hundreds of years and several hurricanes since 1900 takes its toll on grave markers. But I think they are kept up as well as any other historical cemetery I have seen. Several years back I took a ghost tour of this cemetery at night around Halloween. I didn’t see any ghosts, but still found the stories of the inhabitants fascinating. As one can imagine, Galveston is one of the most haunted cities in America and there are many ghost tours scheduled throughout the city.
Later when the sun came out, I did venture down for a walk on the beach. I collected some shells. Why? I don’t really know why. I collected 5 of these marine specimens. Is there some gene within the human body that compels us to collect shells whenever we are at the beach? This must be true for me.
But I also found this creative structure on the beach. It fascinated me and I studied it for some time. How was this made? And by whom? My first thought was that this was a Galveston version of Stonehenge. But what genius mind did this? In no order whatsoever, here are my guesses for the builders: Architects, Engineers, Pagans and/or Aliens.
What’s your best guess? Whoever built it knew what they were doing. I looked at this for a long time to see if the solstices and equinoxes would make themselves known. But apparently, I am not as smart as any of the aforementioned categories of geniuses. Okay, I must go back and check to see if this structure is still there. Maybe I should go for the Spring Equinox next week. What do you think?
Until next time.……
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird? It’s a plane? No, it’s not Superman. It’s a kite. Actually it is a bird kite. I took this picture on a warm and windy day on top of what is now referred to in Houston as the Land Bridge. It is one of the nice spots here that gives the impression that there are people in this Bayou City that care about environmental matters. In fact there are really two land bridges that span Memorial Drive and provide a great place for walking, jogging and flying kites.
One nice feature of this area is all of the green space that surrounds it. This includes an arboretum, jogging and biking trails and picnic areas. These land bridges connect two of the largest sections of the park. Even though I went there in the middle of the day during the week, there were lots of others enjoying the space. I was resting at the top of one of the bridges when I spotted this one gentleman walking along with a kite that appeared to be taller than himself.
Since it really was quite windy, I had to watch the skill involved with flying this beautiful piece of art. As you can see in two of these pictures, he flew the kite quite successfully. I watched for a while and when I moved on, the flight of the many colored bird was still in process.
Oh my, what time of the year is it? I am beginning to see red heart decorations everywhere I go. It’s got the skeletons all kinds of excited. They have started trying on costumes to decide what they want to wear when I decorate my balcony for Valentine’s Day. It’s so much fun to watch their excitement.
Picture, if you will, an old broad walking down the street with flowing white hair going out in all directions, dressed primarily in black and using a cane with the head of a skeleton for a handle. Sounds like fun to me and the skeletons and skulls inspire my work.
I am always trying to make time for some reading. There are currently three books on my to be read right now stack. The book, A Salem Witch, was a gift from my niece, Becca. She actually traveled to Salem, Massachusetts this year. (No, I’m not jealous at all!) This book is about Rebecca Nurse who was actually tried, convicted and killed as a witch. It’s really interesting, because it gives the back story on the town of Salem, Salem Village, Rebecca Nurse herself, and her neighbors.
I have much to do and am worn out just thinking about it. So, I thought about ending this blog with a picture of Hannah, my cat. Unfortunately I woke her up from a nap. Doesn’t the look on her face seem to tell me to go away and while I’m at it, turn out the light? Now she is napping once more and I have finished this blog.
Happy Holidays one and all! My skeleton friends wanted to get in on some Holiday action, so you can see what they look like when they start getting festive! I, personally, stopped celebrating the actual holiday of Christmas years ago, but my friends here never want to pass up an opportunity to say “Hello” to all of you nice blog readers. Actually, I used to have an annual tradition in December. Once all of the office parties were completed, I took vacation for the rest of the year. I would always go to my favorite Austin Resort where children were not permitted, there were wonderful walking trails and a spectacular spa complete with a hot tub. I did that for at least 10 or 12 years. Unfortunately, the spa I used to go to does not exist anymore. Some hotel chain bought it up, added more rooms, a second pool, and cut down a lot of trees. It became a part of the luxury division for this particular chain. Oh, and with all of the so called updates, the prices went up significantly as well.
I have another end of the year tradition in the form of getting my eyes checked and every two years I treat myself to a new pair of glasses. Actually I have three pairs of glasses which include everyday glasses, computer glasses and sunglasses. Sometimes it makes me feel old having so many pairs, but then again, I didn’t use to spend hours a day on the computer. I even use the computer for medical appointments now. Unless you plan on taking my blood, there really is no reason to see you face-to-face. With the pandemic still going strong all around the country, I prefer these techno doctor visits.
The weather has been so nice and cool lately. It has inspired me to do some hanging out at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. What did I find? Armadillos. These are usually nocturnal creatures so I could not pass up the chance to talk to one of them. The Nature Center will tell you that conditions have been dry and that the cute little critters are just looking for insects, but I suspect they just wanted to see what all the humans were up to. I kept my distance while taking some pictures and as I walked away I could swear I heard the ‘Dillo say, “Have a nice day and come back soon!”
I will note that I did vote for my favorite decorated pumpkin. I won’t tell you which one I voted for. We will just have to wait and see.
stores looking for some Thanksgiving decorations. I did not want a pumpkin and I did not need any fake fall leaves to scatter around. I need turkeys! No, not the kind you cook in the oven. I have been looking for silly hats and other turkey accoutrement, because the skeletons want to dress up after Halloween and commemorate the fowl holiday. They always enjoy dressing up for all holidays, but this is the first year they have asked about Thanksgiving. Finally I found a few items on Amazon. 
October is here and I couldn’t be happier! Both I and several of my neighbors are in the midst of pulling out our Halloween decorations for all the world to see! Grim Reapers, hard of hearing Skeletons, Ghosts, Goblins, Witches and all variation of spooky creatures are popping up everywhere. Have you and your neighbors started with this annual tradition? Scary and spooky movies are beginning to pop up everywhere as well. The weather is beautiful. Why not go outside and try to scare somebody?
Of course, if you’re like me, you’ve had decorations up all year round. I just add a little bit more every year and tweak a few things. However, witches and skeletons remain my favorites. It is always fun to see how many ways I can include Halloween decorations in all aspects of my home decor. Then when September 1st comes around, I slowly begin to move things outside. Slowly at first. Nothing too showy. Until Now!!! Once October 1st shows up, then all bets are off.
Here are a few of my friends just sitting outside enjoying the beautiful (for Houston) Fall weather. As long as the days are sunny and the temperatures stay below 95 degrees, I decree that Autumn has arrived. Up until now these skeletal folk have remained pretty quiet. That’s all going to change this weekend. I have lights and I have sound effects and I intend to use them! It used to be that I never saw Halloween decorations in the stores until September. This year I found really cool stuff out early — which is fine as far as Halloween is concerned. For years people have chided me for decorating too early or too much. My dreams have come true. I am now the crazy old cat lady with just a few too many skeletons and I don’t care. Enjoy!
It gives me hope to see my neighbors enjoying this Holiday as much as I do. I personally always think about Halloween as that time when we can look at scary things and enjoy them. Maybe have a good laugh. Share the joy with friends. Some might say that there is so much to be scared about this year, that we have to have Halloween so our own ghosts and goblins can scare away the frightening events that we can’t control. Enjoy the season! My biggest regret this year is that I don’t subscribe to the Disney channel. I am working on ways to see the movie Hocus Pocus 
Back when I was about 12 years old, I became a feminist. Part of that process involved looking around at the world both local and global and noticing how many women were in positions of power. One of those women was Queen Elizabeth 
In 2018 I was visiting the Museum of Fine Arts here in Houston and came across this picture of Queen Elizabeth