Sometimes I get all knotted up and descend into silence for awhile. Hiding underground, gaining strength for spring. Been there too long, and now need to come up for air, come into the light. Wild mixing of images there, sorry, but you get the point.
I got out of town while SXSW was going on. I met Jeanne B at Inks Lake State Park where we hung out for a few days
freezing,
watching the lake change character,
hiking, reading, enjoying the solitude.
Then we went over to Jeanne B.'s parents house out in the country where we worked on lots of RV projects, listened to the birdsong, and watched the wildlife go by. Many thanks to George and Jan for their generous hospitality, timely, skillful assistance, and loaning of tools and supplies. Gotta get me some of that Goop!
Sunset over drought shrunken Lake Buchanan
So, the wildlife. Driving into Bluffton there was a sizeable flock of buzzards circling near the road. Didn't see the carrion, but there was enough to keep a couple three dozen buzzards interested. Several days later we were invited to a pig roast dinner at a neighbor's house and the mystery of the flocks of buzzards was solved. Apparently there is a local problem with too many feral pigs. People hunt them year 'round to keep the population in check. The big ones which aren't good for humans to eat are taken over to a large granite dome designated as the buzzard feeding area. Aha, this explains the buzzard flock I saw when I arrived. The little pigs are good enough to barbeque and eat. We enjoyed a delicious three piglet roast dinner at a lovely, hospitable Texas home of a neighbor.
I couldn't help but think that there is also a wild pig problem in Marin County, but I don't think anyone there is feeding them to the buzzards, or having backyard BBQs with the piglets in Ross. I tried to explain this, but I got blank looks. People like them their guns in these parts! One could easily purchase an arsenal for a small police department at Walmart.
Now back at Pecan Grove RV Park, enjoying the Austin blueberry in the salsa that is Texas.
