A “blue
norther” blew us into Texas, all the way to the Gulf Coast. It started in
Kansas, trailed us through Oklahoma, where we missed a major ice and snow storm
by a few hours, whacked us with a two-hour thunderstorm in Burlson, Texas,
followed us to Austin, where the temperature rapidly dropped 40 degrees, and
all the way to the house we’re renting on Galveston Island, Canal Breeze. This is
the same major storm that has dumped snow, stranded travelers and spawned tornados
over the last two days.
Blue
northers are usually followed by blue skies, but today is heavily overcast with
a strong wind out of the east. What’s more, a fierce little arc of cold is
racing southeast from Washington and Oregon and will complete its trip to the
Gulf in less than 24 hours. Rain is coming tonight and tomorrow.
That’s
just fine with me. I need to rest up from the long drive, put my belongings in
order and settle in for a two-month stay. Day after tomorrow will be warm and
sunny and I’ll be ready to walk the beach.
In the
meantime, I am entranced by the birds I can see from our deck. In the bay, just
half a block away white ibis, gulls and herons are looking for lunch in the mud
exposed by low tide. Canal Breeze is bounded on two sides by canals where three
coots were swimming this morning. I think there were three coots, but there may have been
four. Counting coots is uncertain because they dive often and pop back to the
surface in unexpected places, often twenty feet from where they went down. This
little band of coots was moving as a group toward the canal’s outlet and has
now joined others in the bay, but they – or their kin – will return.
From our
deck we look at a row of canal houses, most shuttered and silent. Palm fronds
rattling in the wind and an occasional squack from a sharp-tailed grackle are
the only sounds.
Running
through my mind is that song from the musical, Annie, “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here.”
Copyright
2012 by Shirley Domer
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