Website design By BotEap.comThis morning, I saw my first armadillo since my sister picked me up at the Houston airport and took us 3 more hours into Texas. The prehistoric-looking creature roamed the heap of burns this morning. Finally he entered the forest.

Website design By BotEap.comThe shift from the west coast to deep east Texas has been a great transition. Mom can’t stay alone, so I’m here for as long as it takes. I forgot how different my home state of Texas is from anywhere else in the world.

Website design By BotEap.comA lynx crossed the street on its way into town on Friday. Before that, I saw an animal that I didn’t even know existed. It was like seeing a unicorn. I could hardly believe it. It was a massive white deer. Others in the city said they were rare but real.

Website design By BotEap.comI take that deer sighting as a good omen. It’s been quite a journey since I hit the deep, deep south. A man was trying to tell me that he wanted to sell a ‘fakir’ so many times that I finally had to ask him to spell it. Turns out he was trying to say ‘half acre’ but had condensed it into five letters.

Website design By BotEap.comIt’s nothing short of code talking here sometimes. “The devil is whipping his wife,” one man announced. After thinking about it for a moment, I remembered that that means it is raining while the sun is shining. We dress funny. We talk funny. I love them.

Website design By BotEap.comIt is not enough to wear a belt buckle. It doesn’t even count if it doesn’t look like a car door. Hats are more rigorous and will need to be folded by hand. Straws in summer; felts in the winter. As it always has been.

Website design By BotEap.comThere is a horse on our property that is a former champion, Lynx still stands tall and proud. He lives where I am staying and they told me he brought home a lot of those shiny buckles that cowboys wear as trophies for rodeo victories. He’s in his 20s, but that doesn’t stop him from rolling around in the grass before a storm.

Website design By BotEap.comThere is a funny horse named Pedro who keeps drawing my attention. I have told you everything. He wanders around and follows me whenever he can. Last night he patted me for carrots and we saw a shooting star together.

Website design By BotEap.comSporks (spoon / fork) are cross-breeds between miniature horses and donkeys. There are a couple of them and they are the first hoofed animals I have ever seen fight. They love to bray day and night.

Website design By BotEap.comHorses and cows are everywhere, as are donkeys of all shapes and sizes. Turns out they are more than just lawn ornaments they eat, smaller equines keep coyotes and poisonous snakes away.

Website design By BotEap.comI tried to get Pedro to chase away a chicken snake, but he just passed it. They only get excited when their lives are in danger, but the long black creature was easily five feet long and I didn’t like it in the yard.

Website design By BotEap.comTemperatures are just above freezing and spring is beginning to show in the new growth of the trees. This is life here in the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas. Stay tuned for updates and additions to our little piece of paradise called Misfit Island.