Looking back...

The end of the year is always a time of reflection.  Doing this blog is like having a diary to look back on.  As always, this was a year of ups and downs.

We started the year with grave concern for our sweet little Izzy.  When a vet examination found a lump, we knew that look an the vet's face.  We made plans to get to Phoenix earlier than anticipated to get her to an animal surgical specialist.  She let us know that it was time.  The lost of that sweet little furball tore a big hole in our hearts.

While in Phoenix (Goodyear, actually), the next month I couldn't take it any longer - the motorhome and my heart felt empty.  I managed to talk Joan into "just looking" and we were introduced to the big boy, Rufus.  With his wonky ear, kink in the tail, some missing teeth, terrible smell, and short straw-feeling fur, this boy was in need of being adopted.  It probably goes without saying, but we have been good for each other.  Not sure who rescued who, but we are all better for it.

We enjoyed our time in Arizona - it is always a joy to be able to spend time with Steph and Dan.

Back to the Tropical Tip for spring - boating, dolphins, scootin', and introducing Rufus to living in something bigger than the motorhome.

As summer got closer, we decided to head north.  Instead of doing "fun summer jobs" or constant traveling, we chose to go to a place we know we enjoy: it was 3 months of scooting, tourisiting, and just enjoying having no schedule, in the Black Hills.  Rufus enjoyed our time at Hart Ranch, getting to take walks in the grass and having plenty of patio time.

When the weather turned cooler in mid-September, we decided to meander our way back to Texas.  Back roads, again no schedule, and some time in the Texas Hill Country before coming back to the Tropical Tip was nice.

It was plenty warm when we got home.  We had a lot of good days on the water, including some of the best dolphin viewing we've experienced... until Mother Nature sent front after front south.  Oh, it isn't the freezing cold and snow that much of the country experienced, but it was more weather that kept us off the water than we've seen here in the past.

Christmas was great, having Steph and Dan with us.  We are already looking forward to traveling west and spending more time with them.

And Rufus?  The boy has blossomed; his short, thin fur has turned into luxurious thick fur and a mane.  We were told he was "full grown" when we adopted him.  At just under 11 pounds, he was built like a wrestler, solid and stocky.  He is now on the far side of 15 pounds and has continued to grow.  Joan thinks he may be at least partly Maine Coon, and they continue to grow for up to 4 years.  He also smells great and is just a big bundle of love and snuggles.  He loves being with his people, and we are grateful to have him in the family.

We took these photos of him this morning, while he was stretched out on the back of the couch...

I had been playing guitar on the couch, and he likes to be right there to enjoy the music.  The boy fits in nicely.  He is on my lap as I am writing this...

Uncertain times with the current political and world situations.  I wish us all a happy and more settled new year. 

What goes up...

It's that time of the year... well, the end of the year.  New Year's Eve tonight and the local TV stations are running the same public service announcements: do not fire guns into the air to celebrate the New Year.

Every year that we've been here, someone has been injured by "celebratory gunfire."  Usually, not be shot AT, but being in the wrong place at the wrong time when someone fires a gun into the air.

Fireworks are part of the culture here, and New Years is close to the Fourth of July on their sales.  Local fireworks stands are open.  Fireworks are banned in our village, but that doesn't stop their use.  Firing a gun into the air is, likewise, illegal, not to mention incredibly stupid.

But, you can be sure that it is going to happen.

We will spend a quiet evening around the house.  Maybe stay up long enough to see the ball drop in Times Square.  And, won't be firing any guns into the air.

The art of relaxation...

It seems that there is always something going on.

Sometimes you just need to unplug and relax.  Rufus has it down...

It takes incredible restraint to not rub that furry belly, but the boy needs his rest.  ;-)

Well, the wind is blowing harder now...

If you said, "From the Jimmy Buffett song Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season," you get 100 bonus points.

A spitty day here in the Tropical Tip today.  That was "spitty" with a "p" not an "h."  It was 67º when I got up this morning before 7:00am.  The temperature climbed to a balmy 68º before it dropped into the 50s, with north wind and spitty drizzle.

Joan figured it would be a good day to go to the store.  Nope, big crowds everywhere she went.  While she was gone, I figured it would be a good day to record something... it has been over a week since I used the Spire Studio (it wouldn't be good to go off by myself to record while we have company ;-) ) - time to see if I still remember how to use it.

Yep.

Here's a cover of the above mentioned song...

https://soundcloud.com/captainjimb/trying-to-reason-with-hurricane-season

And a shot playing bass and singing (not so easy for me to do)...

6 tracks: 1 guitar, 1 vocal and guitar, 1 bass and vocal, 1 vocal, 2 percussion (drums and shaker).  Rufus thought it was a good day to record, too, but I did cut his "background vocals" out.  Well, mostly.

Beats going outside today.  :-)

Been a while...

10 days since we've been out on the boat.  That is a long time for us when we're home.

Today was supposed to be decent - it was 71º when I got up this morning.  That was supposed to last until late afternoon.  We went out after noon... the wind was starting to kick up from the northeast... yeah, the temperature was dropping.

Heading out...

This great blue heron is sitting on a chuck of styrofoam, left from the dredging operation...

There were a couple vessels in the turning basin (a tug and a barge), but it wasn't long before our first sighting...

We could see George and Scarlet on their boats with another group of dolphins further down the channel.  We decided to just hang in this area and give them plenty of room...

This pelican landed right where a dolphin had been a second before...

Another tail shot...

Dolphins porpoising...

"Porpoising" is a behavior: moving in fast jumps through and above the water.

We headed down to the ship channel, but the wind had kicked up even more, making for a sloppy ride.  We tucked back into the Port Isabel Channel - I had heard this guy on the radio, so we knew he was coming; no surprise as he came around the bend...

And, more dolphins...

Scarlet and a boat full of guests were in the turning basin as we came back.  She said, "The dolphins have been good, but sure got more active after you came out!"  I commented how two little ones were doing tail slaps right by her boat.  It is great to see operators who are enthusiastic about showing their guests a slice of "dolphin life."

That is Scarlet's boat above, just coming into the frame; and 3 dorsal fins below..

Look at that great face...

As we decided to head for home, we got a nice tail slap right by the boat...

Back home, I wiped the boat down (got a bit of spray on it in the ship channel) and put the cover back on it.  The weather forecasters are calling for a couple days of rain and wind... at least it waited until Steph and Dan were back in Arizona.  ;-)

The final tally...

The streak is broken: the weather was good and we saw dolphins every day that Steph and Dan were here.  Busy with other things, we didn't get a boat ride in during their stay, but we saw dolphins each day from our bridge.

We took them to the airport this evening - not a teary good-bye... oh, not because we won't miss our little girl, but we will see them again in about a month.  It was great having them here; the best part of this Christmas.

Packing it in...

No, not giving up on anything.

Having Steph and Dan here for a short time means we have a bunch of things to see and do.  Today was the "getting it done" kinda day: breakfast at Manuel's, a morning shopping trip to Wally World to get marked down Christmas stuff (it was surprisingly not busy), onto the island for some time at Sea Turtle, Inc (more below), back home to feed Rufus his lunch, shopping around the Lighthouse Square (we all found stuff at Artsea), then back to the island for our lunch at BurgerFi.

I may need a nap.

The Christmas buys...

We have taken Steph to Sea Turtle, Inc.; this was Dan's first time there.  The facility opened their new expanded buildings last February; work continues.  We got there just in time to get front row seats for a turtle rehabilitation program (nicely done).  Then, we continued our tour of the facility.  Dan in an "underwater" bubble...

One of the resident turtles in a large tank...

Steph and Dan (with one of the tanks behind them)...

Joan and Steph by one of the tanks...

The exterior of the tanks have been painted by a local artist - a painting of the center's most famous resident, Allison...

And, the real Allison...

Comparing height between Joan and the different species of turtles...

A stop at the gift shop (of course), and then heading back to the car...

A full day, and we're now ready for "round 3" of the games - there are still prizes to be won!

You are now clear to shout, cry, and pout...

Santa Claus made his stop at our house.

This morning, it was time to open gifts.  At this stage in our lives, gift-giving is tough.  Well, the giving is easy, but the picking out is tough.  We are kind of all in a place where there isn't much we need, and we're about spending some quality time together.

Steph was delighted with a gift for her kitties...

It's a "bed width" cushy pad, hand made by Joan, for the foot of their bed.  All 3 cats can lay together, if they want... and if they stay on the pad, there is still room for the humans.

There is a running joke about "It's a blue shirt" from when we used to guess what was in a package... and I correctly guessed "blue shirt".  It's a teal shirt...

There was a more quizzical look on my face when I opened one of the presents from Joan - it was a piece of nice aircraft grade aluminum with a multitude of holes drilled in it.  A companion gift was a rotating head mount for a camera tripod.  I had to look it up: the plate is a very low profile mount for any of my cameras, allowing me to put the camera on the ground, strapped to a tree or a fence, sitting on the hood of a car, etc, etc...

I may not be explaining it well, but it will be a handy way to keep a camera in place for low level or low light situations.  And, it works for my action cams as well as with my DSLR.  Slick.

A gift to Joan and me from Steph and Dan was the highlight: a piece of paper each.  It isn't the gift, it is the clue to the gift...

We had to talk it out.  A bunch.  B + a penguin - CH, and a Christmas scene - N + J.  I could see that the penguin was Chilly Willy... add B to the front of that and remove CH... Billy.  The second part was tougher: we had to have a bit of prompting to figure out that the Christmas scene was "noel"... - N makes it "oel" and add J.  Joel.  Put it together... Billy Joel... we're going to see Billy Joel in concert when we go to Phoenix!  All 4 of us!  That is too cool!

Rufus was given drugs by Steph and Dan...

Well, chew toy that has catnip in it.  He liked it a lot, but is now sleeping it off.

When gift-giving time was over, I got to try out my new camera mount with a few practice shots...

Fresh baked cinnamon rolls for breakfast, the ham is in the oven, and there are more games to be played.  Yep, a very merry Christmas.

A Christmas Eve dolphin viewing...

The four of us went out to breakfast; Pier 19, where every table has a window view.  We could see several dolphins a couple hundred yards away, rounding up their morning meal.

Breakfast was good.

Before heading home, we gave Steph and Dan a driving tour of the island.  Coming back across our bridge, we saw a half dozen dolphins being very surface active right by the bridge.  Spy hops and breaches!  There was no traffic behind us, so we stopped to watch for a bit.

Once home, there was some discussion about taking the boat out for some more dolphin viewing, but the tide is quite low.  By the time the tide is back up, we will be past sunset... timing.

Instead, we enjoyed the nice weather while sitting out on the deck.  Dan and I put gift cards and cash in envelopes for the games that will be occurring as part of our usual family Christmas Eve games.

It is great to have them here.  Rufus is being social, spreading the love around.  About 4:00, the games have begun.

------------

An evening of games.  Food.  Laughter.  Around 40 gifts, gift cards, and cash to be won with our games.  After you win the game, you pick a number to determine what you won.  Before you open it, there is a directive: you have have to answer a question; there may be instructions on who to give the gift to; there is one "Grinch" directive where everyone has to give back one gift; another where everyone gets to pick a gift (not just the winner).  We play cards, Yahtzee, Watch Ya Mouth, and others.  "What is 'Watch Ya Mouth'?" you ask.  Classy...

At the end of the night, the winnings are not even - one of us, whose name I won't mention, but it is me, has done quite well.  Another, whose name I also won't mention, but he is male and it isn't me, has won a couple but had to give them away.  No concern - there are plenty more games and gifts to go, but we are all tuckered.  Well fed, and laughed out.

Merry Christmas to all!

'Twas the day before...

... the night before Christmas.
And all through the house,
creatures were stirring,
Rufus has his mouse.

No, not a real mouse - it's a fluffy stuffed toy he plays with.

The rest of us, especially Mama (in her kerchief)
and I in my cap
were stirring - getting the house ready for visitors.

I think that's enough prose.  We are preparing the house for company.  Yes, Santa Claus is coming to town, but more importantly (to us) Steph and Dan are on their way.  They weren't able to come last year due to a sick fur baby, but everybody is doing fine, and they are on a plane heading east as I write this.

Steph came to see us at the end of May - that is a long time to go without seeing our sweet girl.  We have enough food and plans for what to do for a 2-week stay... unfortunately, their visit won't be nearly that long.  So, we'll do what time and Mother Nature allow.  It has been a long-running joke that when Mother Nature knows Steph is coming, she sends cold weather our way.  I guess she (Mother Nature) was feeling more kindly this time, because our weather looks to be pretty good while Steph and Dan will be here.

And Rufus?  Rufus is excited, too.  He met Steph and Dan on his very first day with us and got to see them regularly while we were in Arizona.  He showed Steph plenty of attention while she was here in May.  He asked the important questions: "They have their own food, don't they?"  and  "I still sleep with you guys, right?"

"Yes, Ruf, but they will be missing their kitties, so you'll have to show them some special attention."

"I can do that."  He's such a good boy.

Apparently, I have been a good boy, too - all I want for Christmas is to have the 4 of us together, and we are one flight segment away from that.  Now, I am excited!

Just a trim...

Not my hair, Joan cut that yesterday.

I had visited with a tree-trimming service recommended by the resort.  The guy said he would be here Saturday morning.  Sure enough, at 10:10 there was a knock on the door.  I moved our car; Roberto and his helper went right after it... with a bucket truck truck and a chain saw, it took longer to clean up the branches and bark than the actual trimming.

That's my idea of yard work.  ;-)

The Full Cold Moon...

Pretty clear why this month's full moon is called that.  It is officially winter.  The moon becomes officially full today at 11:49pm local time.  The full moon happens to occur a day after the winter solstice. The last time a full moon coincided with the solstice was in 2010, and the next will be in 2094.

The moon will appear full last night and tonight.  Here's how it looked late last night...

With the full moon and the Winter Solstice happening at the same time, we are experiencing some crazy low tides.  When I got up this morning...

Typically, the deck of the boat (where you step onto the boat) is about level with that lowest part of our dock at low tide.  This morning, it was down an additional two+ feet, making it about even with the top of the seats.  The boat is still floating, but you'd be plowing the bottom if you tried to motor out of here right now.  Looking across the canal at the shells on the pilings and sea wall...

We are excited that Steph and Dan are coming to visit; and that means stocking up on food.  An early trip to Wally World this morning - hardly any cars in the parking lot before 8:00.  The downside of that: they had no checkouts open other than self check.  No big deal for us, but I felt bad for a family of 4 that had two full carts - it was taking them forever to do their own checking.  Still ticks me off that we don't get an employee discount for doing the work.  ;-)

Sunny and clear this morning - it is supposed to stay that way, with the wind building to 20 mid-day.  Steph and Dan get here tomorrow, and it is supposed to be 72º, sunny, and single digit winds on their arrival.  Hoping for continued nice weather during their stay.

Decisions...

With getting other stuff done, it came down to the timing... it is a cool, but clear day, not much wind.  So... take the boat out, or get some riding in on the scoots... what's it gonna be?

Stopping at BurgerFi for lupper* wasn't part of the plan.  Sometimes things just work out.  :-)




*lupper: late lunch or early supper.  4:00pm for our stop at BurgerFi.