Flocks...

They are called different things depending on what part of the country you are in.

In Florida, they are called "snowbirds"... having been there in the winter a time or six, it doesn't seem like the local population has much love for 'em.  Better in Arizona, but still the same name.  Around here, they are called Winter Texans.  While there are some who grumble about them clogging up the roads, they are essential for many local businesses.

Those white-haired warmth-seekers come by the thousands, migrating south like the birds... in search of warmth, friendship, and escape from the frozen northland.  I know them well, because I used to be one.  I think "Winter Texan" sounds way more welcoming than "snowbird."

No question that this is the Winter Texan season around here.  The parking lots at Wal-Mart and HEB are reasonably full.  The stores are busy.  Busier here than we saw the week before Christmas.  That is significant.

We time things different according to the season.  When we get back here in the early fall, everything is packed on weekends, with Valley People still coming to the beach.  We stay off the roads and out of the stores from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening.  This time of year, the stores are busy on Wednesday mornings - when the sale ads come out.  The restaurants are busy right at noon and from 4:30 to 6:30 (early bird supper).  The good breakfast places are busy all morning long.

There are other seasons... like Spring Break.  Many people think that is one particular week in March.  On the contrary, it runs from late February all through March.  There is "Texas Week," when most of the Texas colleges and universities are out for break.  For the last 6 or 7 years, that has really run into a two week period (plus the weekends on either side) since they aren't all out the same week.  The roads are clogged bumper to bumper on those weekends (depending on who is playing for the many concerts).  They are relatively easy to live around though: go to the beach in the mornings, when they are all still 12-to-a-room hungover.  They start wandering out shortly after noon, head to the beach, and the music starts pounding.  Really; in the past, we have been able to hear the music when we are 7 or 8 miles off shore.  Then, about 5:00 in the afternoon, they head back to their rooms to start primping for the evening parties.  We old folks are settled in for the evening before 9:00 pm, then they start coming out again.

After Spring Break, depending on the timing for Easter, comes Holy Week.  A lot of Mexican nationals come to the beach here.  It is generally busy all the time, and not much holy about it.

Then, the blissful shoulder seasons: late spring (before the Summer People arrive) and fall (between the Summer People and the Winter Texans) when, except for weekend events that the local Visitors Bureau puts on to bring people in, it is generally pretty quiet.  The weather is generally lovely.  And, it is kinda quiet.

I understand why the Winter Texans come here, but Mother Nature isn't being very nice.  For the next 10 days are so, the weather weasels are predicting daytime highs in upper 40s and 50s... way below our typical highs.  Hopefully, it doesn't chase off or disperse the winter visitors.

In the words of the philosopher Jimmy Buffett: the weather is here, wish you were beautiful.  ;-)