Springing Along...

Beautiful Swamp Spider Lily (Hymenocallis liriosme) 
growing in the marsh at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center.

April is here and I don’t know about you, but Spring has been busy and full of pollen for us.  East Texas has all the live oak pollen of South Texas plus other varieties as well – water oak, red oak, white oak, burr oak and willow oak to name a few.  Then there are several varieties of maple, ash, birch and hickory and don't forget the dogwood, redbud, sycamore and sweetgum.  Oh, and we can't leave out the pine trees!  Our patio, sidewalks, cars and even the furniture in the house have been yellowish-green for over a month now.  Suffice to say, pollen is plentiful in East Texas and we have the sneezes to prove it.   

There have been bluebonnets around Nacogdoches, but not nearly as

plentiful and glorious as they have been in other places this year.

Just to make sure we are really appreciating the bounty, Maya brings as many oak catkins in the house on her paws and fur as she possibly can to distribute in every nook and cranny.  What a sweetie!  But I can’t be mad at her; it is not her fault that I can’t keep it swept up fast enough.  I have brushes by both the back and front door to do my best in helping 'de-pollinate' Maya upon entry.

The iris have been spectacular both in the wild and in yards
making up for the lack of bluebonnets.

It seems I never make time to blog these days.  Just because we aren’t traveling to new and wonderful places all the time doesn’t mean there aren’t things we are doing and things worth writing about.  I have to face it, I’ve been slacking.  It is only 3 – 4 weeks before we are “On the Road with Maya” for the summer!  I have to start training right now and get back into blogging shape for the summer.  (David and I have already started going to the ‘Rec Center’ to get our bodies in a little better condition.)

David and his lab partner looking for vertebrates along Lanana Creek.

Since my last blog back in February, we have had a few little adventures.  David and his lab partner, Cade, have been surveying at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center for their class, Vertebrate Natural History.  Maya and I have been tagging along on some of the survey days and doing photographs as they observe or catch something interesting.  Birds, fish, snakes, anoles, skinks, squirrels and deer have been ‘counted’ but so far no amphibians have been seen.  However it isn’t for lack of turning over logs. 

Broadhead skink sunning on a bridge at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center.

Bluebird on a nesting box at the PNPC

The babies are getting a juicy spider!

Recently, I started volunteering at the Pineywoods Nature Center as an Education Volunteer.  I am still shadowing the school programs and learning the activities but I hope to be leading groups before much longer.  Many of the activities are similar to programs I worked with in San Antonio but I do have a lot of new plants to learn and animals too.  After all, it is a whole new ecosystem in East Texas.

Children making rope from raffia strands at the PNPC

as part of the 2nd Grade program, Go Wild!

I am learning all kinds of new stuff in my Digital Media Class.  I just finished an animation project and now I am in the process of making a short video for my last project.  This class has been a lot of work for me learning new programs and then trying to make something interesting and meaningful.  I can’t say that I have always succeeded in this endeavor.  But it has kept me spending tons of time in the digital media lab on campus.  I am looking forward to going back to ‘plain old photography’ or digital photography, anyway.  Most likely, I’ll never have a darkroom again.  Sometimes I am a little sad about that.  But times change.

One of my Digital Media Projects loosely based on

Roy Lichenstein's pop art work.

In March we had Spring Break quickly followed by an Easter Break.  That was weird having a week off then coming back to classes for three days and having another five days off.  We had thought of taking our RV, Silver, out for Spring Break but the memories of the last time we spent Spring Break camping with the masses made us change our minds - that and the fact we couldn't get reservations anywhere.  Instead, we opted for a quick car trip to San Antonio to get our doctors’ visits out of the way and then on to Odessa to visit my parents for Easter.

My friend, Stephanie volunteering at the SABG Spring Break Plant Sale.

While in San Antonio I managed to get by the Botanical Garden for a couple of hours.  I hadn’t stopped by the Garden in over two years and it was long overdue.  The Garden is building a new Entrance and Education Center with a Children’s Garden and Activity Center.  The new areas have been prepared and the actual buildings will start to go up soon.  It should take about a year to complete.

Five-lined skink at the PNPC

I visited with a few volunteers/friends at the SABG Plant Sale, but we had such a short time in San Antonio and so many appointments (even Maya went to see her favorite vet) that we didn’t visit much with friends.  David and I really missed our three-month stay at Government Canyon this year.  That was such a fun volunteer job and we so enjoyed 'living' in San Antonio again for a few months.  We will definitely try to volunteer there again.

"On Duty" last February at Government Canyon State Nature Area

After Spring Break we went to see my parents for Easter.  They both had colds and I came down with my first cold in years.  David managed to escape but I was pretty sick for a week and congested for even longer.  We have both been so healthy these past few years of traveling.  I thought that in going back to school we might get sick more often, being exposed to all the college student stuff.  But no, it was my parent’s fault.  OK, I won’t blame them yet again for the woes in my life.  I’m a little old for that.  We just need to get back on the road soon and get my immune system stronger.  Been living too clean, we need to get back to the dirt!  Well it is only a matter of a few weeks now.

A good mama bird!

Clean Maya feet -- a rare site these days!