Wordless Wednesday: I'm now officially old

or I will be soon

Majestic touches

Last time I blogged about my symphony outing, I promised to show you more of the wonderful Majestic Theatre where the performances happen (until next season).

I didn't take too many pictures on Saturday (when I heard some great Dvořák), but I thought they demonstrate that even small, pragmatic touches in this place are magical.

This the overhang lighting out on the sidewalk in front of the theatre. Very functional, in that it lights up the area wonderfully. Plus, it's very handsome, I think.

The rest of the pictures I took right from my balcony seat during intermission...

I wouldn't want to have to carry my bass fiddle into the loo...would you?

Talk about a functional sign, you have to have the exits marked, right?

...but have you ever seen a lovelier one?

Other light fixtures are just as exquisite...

As is this niche in the wall (which I think leads to some luxury suites?)...

I'll try to snap some more details next time. I've got 3 more concerts to go on this season's program...three more visits to this wonderful theatre, at least.

Turtlemania!

We hadn't been paddling on the San Marcos River in a long time. In our current drought it's the only river with consistent water, so it gets rather over-used and we were just tired of going there. But the weather was so nice on Saturday we decided it was time to float it again.

We put in at the 101 bridge. Most of us start upstream of the bridge, but the two friends whose boats you see here opted for the downstream entry point.

There were pretty dramatic scenes all along the river. We hadn't been on it since the big flood last fall. (When I said there was consistent water here, I mean when it's not flooding. In South Texas it seems you always either have too much water or not enough.)

This was the best picture I was able to get that showed the flood's effects. Picnic, anyone?

But as you might have guessed from my last Wordless Wednesday post, flood damage wasn't the major attraction on this day.

THERE WERE TURTLES EVERYWHERE!

Perhaps because we'd had such cold weather lately and here was finally a warm day, practically every sunny surface was covered with them!

Sitting in my kayak at the put-in, waiting for the shuttle drivers to launch, I almost put my hand on a big fellow resting on the tree next to my boat...

Little did I know I was like Tippi Hedren seeing the first few birds lighting on the jungle gym....there were lots more to come! Fortunately these were not malevolent turtles, but rather entertainers, arranging themselves for our enjoyment up and down our whole paddle.

Most of the turtles were the type we commonly see (which I think might be the charmingly-named Texas River Cooter). But we did see at least one very large Spiny Softshell:

We'd never seen so many! What a delightful bonus, on top of a gorgeous, spring-like day on a lovely river.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy together

A warm-ish window

Before our really cold weather this week [please, let it have frozen some roaches!] we had a very pleasant Saturday.

So we felt like paddling in the Hill Country for the first time in a long time! The picture above was taken at our put-in on the Guadalupe at Edge Falls Road.

Here's Henry navigating the little rapid that challenges you just after you put in and go under the bridge:

We were a little apprehensive about the water level, but the 47 cfs turned out to be just about enough to cover the rocks, and no one had to get out and pull their boats.

As you can tell by the headgear my friends are sporting in this picture, we weren't hot on this paddle. But we weren't cold either, and that felt really good.

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Boat-packing tip for Prius-owners: we were able to get both of our craft to the river in the little hybrid by putting my kayak inside and Henry's canoe on top...

I didn't mind being chaffeured to save the gas!

Wordless Wednesday: the river in tiles

A belated Happy New Year

Sorry to be a day late in wishing everyone a happy 2014, but we've had a rather hectic past few days. (It's especially hectic when for days before all I really did was eat, watch streaming Breaking Bad and read. Academia's a rough life, but someone's got to do it )

We had friends out to our Canyon Lake house for New Year's Eve, and since most of the local restaurants were closed for the holiday, we were "forced" to eat in. It was lots of fun, but it did entail some effort and expenditures of logistics energy.

But it was well worth it. In addition to the fine company, some fun fireworks, and a great "campfire," we were treated to winter scenery like this:

Then, as 2014 dawned (well, not exactly dawned, since we slept until almost 8!) we had to make brunch, eat it, clean up and get home in time for a New Year's Day paddle on the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River.

It was a chilly ride (the promised partly sunny day never materialized) but fun, and even productive.

Some of the canoe chutes had become partially obstructed (naturally? mischievously?) with rocks from the stabilized banks. Of course it wouldn't do just to make our way through these passages. Some of the more energetic in our party had to spend some time clearing the way for future paddlers...

But it wasn't all work, of course, and the birds were fabulous...

This Great Egret (see a discussion of this species' various names here) was particularly photogenic.

And this handsome fellow (?) was a mystery to me at first. It looks like a duck (don't know if it quacks like one or not) but it's awfully large for one. However, it didn't show up in either the duck or goose section of our bird books.

But thanks to the wonders of both Henry's memory and the internet, we learned it is an Egyptian Goose. A rather exotic critter to see on a south Texas river, as its home range is sub-Saharan Africa! But it's obviously expanding its territory, since this wasn't the only one we saw.

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I hope your New Year is full of exciting discoveries like new bird species and great paddling trips with friends. Viva 2014!