This time in Rockport, Texas, on the Texas Gulf Coast is about to end. We have been renting a condo that has a canal at its back door. A boat could take the canal right out into the Gulf of Mexico. We do have palm trees and other such tropical vegetation everywhere around us. We have all sort of big birds flying around: great blue herons, egrets, pelicans and tons of squawking gulls.
It is warm and muggy. We have been wearing shorts every day. The highs today and tomorrow are expected to be 75 degrees.
We will probably be back in Wisconsin next weekend. The highs there are predicted to be 34 or 35 degrees.
Walking around in shorts, running outside on roads clear of snow and ice have given us a very welcome break from winter. We are now prepared to face another month or two of bare trees, frozen, flower-less ground and the few birds hearty enough to stick out the winter.
It doesn't take all that much heat to remind us there are other seasons besides winter. However, particular and sensitive as we are, we are happy to leave before too much heat and humidity build up.
There is some question of the morality of spending money and effort to avoid winter, I guess. But the National Geographic map of animal migrations opened my eyes to the large number of species of marine animals, fish, birds, and mammals that migrate. So, now I feel that I am just being part of nature as we dodge part of the cold.
