Writing Prompts

The Most Important Thing

Without knowing what I was even about to see, I think I just did the most important thing I could have done today.

Image from the movie.

I was looking for something to watch while Dave was watching other things on Tv. I had no idea what the significance was, or the emotional trip I was about to take. If you have served in the military, no matter the branch, or have had family members give their lives for our country, you owe it to yourself to see this important movie. It is a Golden Globe Award winning movie. They could not have cast it better. If you don’t, or didn’t respect the Marines before you see it, you will. I promise. If you have not served, I’m not sure you will feel the same impact, but it is important for you to learn about nonetheless. I really can’t say much more without crying again, and don’t let that stop you. It is not a new movie, I had never heard of it. But now, I will never forget. It was the ultimate Memorial Day activity in my situation that I could have done.

On a lighter note, you all know (that follow me or read my posts) that my brother, Kevin, visited this weekend. We got to enjoy time together, even an hour or two at the beach before the hordes arrived on Saturday and there was absolutely no room on the beach for two solid days. We dined out a few times, and also had a home cooked meal. We didn’t not do any of the typical Memorial Day things like BBQ or parades, and it was like pulling teeth to get him to tell me anything he wanted to do. He kept saying, “I came to visit y’all, not for you to keep me entertained.o Here is a great pic I took of him at the beach.

My bro, Kevin.

After he left, I mean, he just missed it, some nice folks here in the park that we talk to every time we walk our dogs, came over and gave us some delicious, homemade cookies her husband Denny made. Was that not the sweetest thing? I will have to repay her kindness at some point.

Near Virginia’s by the marina.

This afternoon, Dave and I took quite the walk, to view the boats in the marina behind the fancy restaurants and then across the street to the famous Tarpon Inn. In the lobby of that establishment, there are hundreds of tarpon scales, signed by everyone who’s ever caught a tarpon, complete with the size of the fish, the date, and their name and where they came from. It was funny, but the first one I happened to look at was by a man named Claude Allen. That could have been a relative of David’s, Allen is his family name. One of the most famous of the tarpon shells though, was Franklin Roosevelt. The Inn sustained damage in Hurricane Harvey, but the scales and the records of everyone that has a scale up there are still there. Also recovered was the last tarpon ever mounted, it not allowed anymore, is on the wall. It’s very expensive to stay there, especially if you stay in the Roosevelt suite, but what a cool place to visit. We had been there before, many years ago. It was warm, and I was quite sweaty when we returned from the rest of the walk, but I’m glad we went.

Now, Dave and I are watching the Stars play the first game of the playoff series against Vegas.
Also, the NASCAR race from Charlotte, NC. The Coca Cola 600. I don’t have a favorite anymore since Jeff Gordon retired, so I’m rooting for Byron, the guy who drives his number 24. ☺️


I hope you’ve all had a happy, safe, Memorial Day and please, don’t ever forget the ones who gave their lives for our great nation.

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Writing Prompts

Surprisingly Quiet

The Memorial Day Weekend brought out the crowds as predicted, yet it’s been more quiet than the first weekend we were here.

Kevin enjoying time at the beach.
Yesterday we spotted a water spout over the beach. It was gone by the time we got there.


Yes, my brother is here staying with us and we managed one short afternoon at the beach…more like an hour or so, because we forgot our towels. We easily found a spot, which cannot be said any more. They are parked three deep in some places and the beach is full from here to Corpus Christi. We drove all the way to Mustang Island Beach about 13 miles away, and much closer to the water. You could not squeeze in anywhere, and two cars could hardly pass.

We took Kevin to Waves coffee shop yesterday for lunch and we had the typical fare. The guys had paninis and carrot cake for dessert, and I had half a panini and Coconut Orange Cream Pie flavored gelato. I have not tasted a bad one yet!

Later, Dave grilled some shrimp and I made a salad for dinner. We sat outside for a bit, but the most exciting thing happening was hearing the music playing from a local patio bar and watching kiddos ride bikes around the resort. Kevin said it was quiet all night. He sleeps on the pull-out bed in the living room. The first weekend we were here, it was noisy until two in the morning! We expected the same thing during such a busy holiday, but maybe all the hell raisers were at the beach. I bet the cops were busy all night!

It’s cloudy and cool this morning, Dave is sleeping in, after having one of my bad nights last night. He said Whiskey tried to lay on his head about 3am and after that he couldn’t get back to sleep. I totally get it. I had that kind of night the night before! I’m hoping we can get out and fish or something today. I hate being stuck in the bus watching tv all day. But y’all are well aware.

PS: Our Dallas Stars hockey team won over Vegas last night and move into the Stanley Cup playoffs starting Monday night! What a great way to end the night!

Stay safe and have a good weekend!

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Writing Prompts

A New Cover

Happy Wednesday everyone, I hope it’s a beautiful day where you are and you’re gearing up for a long holiday weekend!

Yesterday, we did some shopping in the morning and after lunch, decided to go to the beach 🏖️ while it’s easy to find a spot, before the hordes get here for the Memorial Day festivities.

It was again, calm, clear, and beautiful. One of the things we bought while shopping was a small cover to give us protection from the sun, so we could stay longer. After the puzzle of setting it up, it was just enough room to put our chairs under.

Not a bad deal for thirty bucks!

The new thing here is very expensive and looks like a piece of parachute material that blows out behind your support poles. I think it’s called a Shibumi, or something like that. Anyway, it’s over $200! Somehow, they are very popular now, despite the price. Well, we have a tent cover that my brother is either going to bring when he visits or send it with our friends when they visit. So we didn’t want to spend a lot for a temporary fix. We were in the IGA and I spied this little cover and said, “ I’m getting this!” I tried to buy it with my gift card, but the lady waiting on me tried to say I didn’t have any money left on it, which is a lie. She just didn’t want to be bothered. Still, I’m going to call the number on the card and make sure. I should have around $30 left.

Dave brought a small pole and some gulp bait and he enjoyed fishing out in the calmer ocean while I floated, yes floated, on my boogie board. I wish I’d have had a blow up float, but you work with what you got, right? I have good balance, so I just slide it under my back and float on it when the waves are super calm, like yesterday.

While back at our spot, I took a selfie in my new hat and bathing suit.

You can see some guys behind me playing washers.

I actually got the hat a couple of weeks ago at Ace hardware of all places! Here on the island, Ace is a different place than just hardware. They have a whole section with candles, gifts, tableware and more. It’s like a hardware/gift shop.

While standing in the clear water, I spotted a pretty striped fish swim but, but I didn’t chase it. We were doing that one year when our friends Kerry and Michelle were down and that’s when Kerry was stung by a stingray. I guess he stepped on the thing and the animal fought back. Poor Kerry, Michelle didn’t believe him at first, but he definitely was stung. Anyway, I was leery to go running after the fish after remembering that.

The water was so clear!

Also, the blue water was so close, it felt like you could walk right to it! Yet again, having a healthy respect for the sea, I don’t dare get too far out, fearing sharks will be between the cuts. I’m not as brave as I was when I was younger. 🤣

Here’s a pic of Dave fishing.

You can see the line where the blue water starts.

We had such a nice afternoon out there without a bunch of people around and their conflicting music, and crazy antics. I know, I’m starting to sound like an old lady, but there’s something to be said for peace and personal space and the ability to enjoy it once in a while. Same with the RV parks. We prefer peace and quiet at night, not a bunch of loud, banging music and people screaming and laughing all night long. Yes, we’ve been those people before, but we were in a cottage or condo and never bothered anyone (at least no one ever complained).

Say a prayer that my brother finds a way to come visit us this weekend. Besides bringing items we need, it will be fun to have him here to share our space and get him some much-needed vacation time. Maybe we can go fishing or to the beach and I can show him my progress on the rock tumbling process. Speaking of that, I checked them this morning and I think I’m going to let them spin until Saturday before I move on to Step 3.:

I suppose the hordes will start arriving tomorrow for the long weekend. This park is about 60% full right now, but I bet it fills up by Saturday! We have to make the most of our time before we can’t even move around on the island for all the people! Everyone have a great Memorial Day weekend!

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Writing Prompts

FOTD-May 23-Flowers of Port Aransas

Good morning! I was waiting for such an opportunity as Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge to show off David’s lovely photos of the flowers native to Port Aransas.

I’m just gonna do a gallery, since I don’t know the names of all these beautiful flowers.

If anyone can identify some of these flowers, especially the first one, I’d be grateful!

Thanks for visiting!

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Writing Prompts

A Scary Moment


So, Dave and I went riding for a while today, I guess around a mile and a half little trek around town and beach.

It’s too bad my phone is in the holder and I can’t take pics along the way. Everything was going great, I’m learning how to use my pedal assist to catch up when I lag behind, or throttle across the street intersections and up small hills. The breeze felt good in my face when there was some, but not the sand in my eyes when a car passed me and kicked up a bit of sand, swirling on the road. I blinked it clear and kept going, staying in the lowest speed as long as possible to make me work my legs.

The beach is hard packed in most driving lanes, so it was an easy cruise in PAS 2, and with my mirrors, I can see approaching traffic and move over a bit. I’m still working on stops and starts, and actually fell over into David as we were trying To get going at first. I didn’t hurt the bike or myself. I’m just a tiny bit short for reaching the ground, so when I get ready to go, I have it in PAS 1 to assist me, but when on the street, I throttle after stopping and starting. Anyway, me tipping over was a fluke because Dave sometimes gets me rattled when he’s watching me like a hawk. What happened was we were too close together as we were pulling out of our spot in the “driveway” and with the bike on and in PAS 1, I kind of surged forward and got scared I was going to hit him, tried to stop and tipped over.

Yet that wasn’t the scary moment. As we were heading back from our ride, Dave wanted to stop at the IGA for some things to go with supper. We were crossing one of the busiest streets in town, and he crossed and as I prepared to cross, I saw an oncoming car pretty far behind me. I started into the turn and out of the corner of my eye, I saw here right there, had I not veered back to the right, I’d have hit her! How did she come up on me so fast unless she was planning to pass me? Anyway, I saw the look on David’s face and safely crossed the street, thinking to myself, he’s never gonna let me bike anywhere by myself if that kind of thing ever happens again! As we were leaving the store, he said “Don’t scare me like that again.” I told him I scared myself a little too, but I didn’t let it rattle me in the moment. I admit, I need a lot more practice before I go anywhere alone, until we both feel absolutely confident I have it down.

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