Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl)

What It Means to Be a Grandparent

To be a grandparent is to love all over again. But softer this time. Slower. Wiser. With eyes that know how fast it all goes.

It’s holding tiny hands with fingers that once zipped coats and wiped tears from the faces of their parents.

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Feb. 11-12 Night on the Hook

“The voice of the sea speaks to the soul” – Kate Chopin

We don’t get too many perfect days to take Texas Pearl out and anchor overnight. The wind in Rockport is constant and intense…making it uncomfortable to spend the night on the hook. But last week we found a wonderful day and we had a great time enjoying the sun, the water and the dolphins. The dolphins followed us from the time we left the harbor until we crossed the ship canal. They returned as soon as we anchored and entertained us all evening.

We anchored close to Mud Island which is between Aransas Bay and the barrier island to the Gulf of Mexico. We took our dinghy down and paddled over to do a little exploring. I found lots of shells I can paint. I’ll save most of them to paint next winter.

Our beautiful, comfortable Texas Pearl is a dock princess and she proved that to us again on this trip. Even with new batteries we had an issue with them giving us enough power to keep things going over night. Although we think we learned what we need to do the next time. Hopefully we have a chance to try again before we forget.

We had planned to spend all morning anchored…enjoying our coffee and the view. But issues with power sent us home early. Those issues meant no coffee and no power to the refrigerator, so we headed back to the dock. The sunrise was as beautiful as the sunset, but soon after the sun rose the fog moved in. Making our return trip a little wet and less enjoyable.

Leaving the marina on Wednesday.

The entrance to the canal leading to Rockport Harbor.

It felt nice to be out on the water.

We couldn't have asked for a nicer day. The water in Aransas Bay in the winter is beautiful.

I never tire of watching the dolphins swim in front of the boat.

Mud Island...not a lot to look at, but beach combing on an island only acceptable by boat is always better than a public place.

She's an old lady, but she still looks great at 45.

Not a ripple in the bay...a very rare sight. The extremely low tide gave us more treasures to find.

These clam shells make a great medium to paint. The people in Rockport will love them.

Happy hour on the top deck. Life doesn't get much better.

Good bye to a wonderful day.

The glow of Rockport behind us.

Good morning from Aransas Bay.

This is the entrance to the canal into Rockport Harbor on a foggy morning. Quite a bit different than yesterday.

Returning to the marina on Thursday morning. A bit different too...but still beautiful.

January Updates

"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness" -John Steinbeck

January was a busy month filled with catching up with friends, playing the guitar, painting and going back to favorite places. Our time in Rockport is pretty low key. We truly enjoy this little coastal town and we really love the restaurants. Lots of seafood…things we don’t get when we are in Pennsylvania or New York. I wish we could find a restaurant we like as well in Lewisburg.

Stan has been working on some genealogy on his father’s side. The records get a little muddy past his great grandfather. He found out that his great grandfather and grandmother were buried in Jourdanton which is just a little south east of San Antonio. Making a trip to the cemetery gave us a good excuse to spend a little time in San Antonio. We used to go there to get away when our children were young, but we haven’t been in years. It’s a place we enjoy and we had a great time.

On our way back to Rockport we spent a day with Stan’s sister and brother in-law in Lockhart. We had a wonderful visit but I forgot to get a picture of Earline and Stan.

On another beautiful but chilly day we drove down to the National Seashore south of Corpus. We didn’t find any treasures but it was nice to get out. We also had a nice lunch overlooking the beach.

It’s been an extremely cold winter in Pennsylvania so I guess we are looking to have somewhere to hide out for a while. We installed cameras on the outside of the house so we got to enjoy the snow from afar.

Our yard a few days after the big snow storm.

Our landlord went by the house to check a few things a couple of weeks later and none of the snow had melted.

The kids had a great time playing in the snow even though the temperature was in the single digits.

We had a few cold days in January, but mostly we had sunny, nice days. Our favorite place to watch the sunset is on the top deck of the boat.

I also spent a few days with my friend Janice. She has a new home in College Station. We had fun catching up, soaking in the hot tub, exploring CS and eating good food.

The cemetery in Jourdanton was one of the ugliest cemeteries I've seen...nothing green in the whole town.

We stayed at the Omni La Mansión del Rio.

After checking in we walked over to the Historic Market Square. A little piece of Mexico in the middle of San Antonio. A fun place to wander around.

We had a small late lunch at Mi Tierra Cafe. We also picked up a few sweets at the bakery for tomorrow's breakfast.

The River Walk

We had a drink at the Menger Hotel Bar. The Menger Bar, the oldest continuously operated saloon in San Antonio, is an intimate one-room bar and a replica of the taproom in the House of Lords Club in London. During the Spanish-American War in 1898 the army came to SA to recruit volunteers. During this time Theodore Roosevelt was one of those recruiters and drank at this bar.