Thursday, November 29th, 2012:  Another busy day - skyped with my friend Careth in the morning over breakfast, went shopping with Judy - ironically, another Canadian - from Winnipeg.  She knocked on my door around 1:00 to ask if I wanted to come with her - into Galveston, this time.  I picked up a fruit tray for the potluck in the evening, and we checked out Target, Krogers, had a coffee at Starbucks, and went to the Galveston Visitors' Centre for lots of pamphlets and enthousiastically presented information about the island - a bit exhausting, but nice.  Running out of time, we found only one of the famous sculptures on the island.  After Hurricane Ike did its destructive thing in 2008, hundreds of beautiful red oak trees had to be cut down - but a lot of the locals got together and hired some sculptors to carve beautiful works of art out of the stumps.  I now have a map of exactly where they are, and will do the official tour one day.  Below is the pair that we found, situated, appropriately, beside a fire station.

This is the dog - looks like a dalmation.

Here you see both the firehydrant and the dog - with the fire station at the far left.  [Really, the hydrant doesn't actually look phallic from this angle - it's just the camera's twisted perspective . . . ]

I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with my friend Sherry and her two wonderful children, Oved and Gabriella - then off to the potluck, and then the hot tub.  I am sooo enjoying this life!  Time for bed!

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012:  Busy day - breakfast by Dora and Ron (camp owners), then Dora drove a bunch of us to some malls and stores about 40 minutes away, between here and Houston to shop. Had lunch in a new Mexican restaurant - excellent food and decor., There were nine of us, so it was great fun!  Later, they dropped me off at Moody Methodist, where I had dinner with the bell choir and then watched them rehearse (they've announced their intention of trying to suck me in, but so far I'm resisting), then went to my first choir practice.  The practice was led by a "guest director"  who is apparently interested in applying for the currently open position (there's a woman who is filling in as both organist and choir director at the moment, and will possibly stay on as organist).  He was awesome and, like Robert, coaches the choir on vocal production, as well as practising the music.   Kind of exhausting day, but in a good way!

Monday, November 26th, 2012:  A low-key day - mainly sat on the beach on the Gulf side of the island, read, watched "the tide roll away", patted a friendly dog,  observed a couple of guys fishing in the ocean - pretty cool!

Sunday, November 25th, 2012: Today was my first day singing with the Moody Methodist choir - what a blast!  I went in for pre-rehearsal with one of the altos at 10:15, and after one run-through, guess what the pianist said to me? " There are two quite strong sopranos also singing, so you might want to tone it down, especially on the high notes."  Busted already!  We sang an SSA piece from Elijah, and it seemed to go quite well - we had three people in each part.  They have a hymn book I've never seen before, but it has the music in it and was easy to sightread.  We sang one Taize piece, which was pretty cool - I thought of GSJ. . .
This is a really wonderful, welcoming group - one lady lives in Jamaica Beach (very close to my campsite), so she's going to pick me up on Wednesday for choir practice.  She directs the bell choir, so she's picking me up early and the whole bell group has dinner together and then practises - she's trying to recruit me for the bells - we'll see!  I drove my RV in today and parked sideways across five parking spots in one of the many church lots - but it would be pretty sweet to get a drive and not have to unhook all my outside connections and put stuff away inside so that nothing falls and breaks.
On the way home, I stopped at Krogers for groceries, and couldn't resist taking the following pictures:

Yep - that's beer - just sitting there amongst all the groceries.

I bought a pint bottle of Saint Arnold Sailing Santa Texas Craft Brewed Ale, just so I could say that I did.  Bobby or Gregory, do either of you recognize this brand?  I drank about half of it this afternoon, but alas, I have neither the palate nor the vocabulary to describe the taste!

Saturday, November 24, 2012:  I went to the Saturday morning breakfast, cooked by Dora (the owner) and then spent the rest of the day organizing and getting rid of more extraneous stuff!  The evening was interesting, though - I met a whole family of Spanish kids and their mom (and dad, who lasted about 10 minutes and then disappeared) - six kids in all.- in the hot tub. Of course, the conversation led to school and once they found out that I was a teacher, they all peppered me with questions:  "How can I study, I don't know how?", "I don't understand what they teacher is talking about, what do I do?". "They tried to get me to go to Special Education, but I don't want to", etc. etc.     It was a good hour of doing basically what I spent  my years in Student Success doing!  I finally decided that was enough and wished them all a good night.  They thanked me for my advice - wonder if any of them will follow any of it? They asked me if I missed teaching, and I said "Hey, I'm sitting in a hot tub, looking up at the stars - no, not really missing it - ask me in a year or two."

Friday, November 23, 2012:  Black Friday shopping!  I've never been one for sales, but this was fun - exploring the malls in a different part of the world.  We went to Macy's (yes, I bought two tops - but hey, they were dirt cheap) - and Dillards - and a sports store kind of like Mountain Equipment Coop, where I bought an awesome zero gravity lounge chair (mine broke).  Came home in time to put my broccoli salad into a container and go for turkey/shrimp gumbo cooked by the owner - along with homemade banana ice cream made by another RVer.  Met a couple from Brockville - small world.  I'm kind of exhausted tonight and took no pictures at all today - too busy!

Thursday, November 22, 2012:  Thanksgiving Day here - double turkey!  I had to go in to Walmart this morning to get something for the potluck this afternoon - ended up with a box of Thanksgiving-decorated cupcakes - they all went, since there are kids here!  Amazing dinner - the owner had three sittings - 11:30, 1:00, and 2:30 - and she cooked turkeys, hams, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy for each one!  Apparently, she used to own and cook for a restaurant, which is why she's capable of this kind of cooking, I guess.  She served leftovers from 6:00 to 8:00, and tomorrow she's serving turkey gumbo - what a woman!  And, of course, all kinds of other food was brought by the RVers - who numbered about 40 at each sitting, btw.
Three people invited me to go to Black Friday with them tomorrow morning, so I'll be up bright and early to do that.  Just to emphasize the impact of retirement on me, we're leaving at 9:00 a.m. - my concept of "bright and early" has changed considerably . . .
 I spent the afternoon lying in the sun, dipping in the pool, and soaking in the hot tub.  It was 75 F. today . . .

Wednesday, November 21st:  Tooth not hurting today - so I went to the waffle breakfast put on by the owner - huge waffle, two biscuits swimming in turkey gravy, sausages, and maple syrup - holy cholesterol, batman!
Man, I thought the rest of the day was going to be about going to the beach on the Gulf side and catching up on my long-neglected memoirs - but somehow it's morphed into a walk-in-the-ocean, take pictures of the horses as they canter past, chat with the mother of the teenagers frolicking in the surf, take pictures with my iPad, and just soak up the glorious sunshine sort of day!  It's just not a time for dwelling on the past, but on the here and now!  It's an "eternity in a grain of sand" sort of day.
On Monday, I returned the rental car and the same driver, Jason, drove me back to my RV.  He confided that he has prostate cancer and he moved to Galveston so that he could die on the island and have his ashes scattered in the Gulf of Mexico, right across from Joe's Crab Shack.  He was baptized there, in the ocean (not the Crab Shack).  He sold his house in Houston, and the American health care system has let him down so badly that he can't get any help from the government unless he gets rid of the proceeds of his house sale. He wants to leave that money to his nieces and nephews, so he's opting out of expensive treatment and plans to just live out the rest of his days on the island that he loves.  He's organized a hospice and morphine for his final days.   Says he has no fear of death, since he knows he's going someplace a whole lot better.  Sitting here, looking out at the ocean, I can understand how he feels.  Don't know if any of these pics can communicate the serenity which is here . . .
And no, kids, I am not dying - just contemplating the universe - I'm allowed!
I just can't describe how great it is to be here, on my own, with no responsibilities, no timelines, nothing to worry about other than what on earth I'm going to bring to the Thanksgiving potluck tomorrow!

I'm sitting on the stairs of a little wooden bridge, looking at the beach and the ocean, typing on my iPad.

Guess I have to include a picture of myself sometime, eh?

Also from the bridge stairs.

And - the horses!  Walking now, cantering before.  Check out the  - I guess - instructor lady on the third horse from the right.  She rode over to chat with me - I think she wanted to be sure that I wasn't taking pictures in order to report her and her entourage to the authorities - there's a rather large sign saying, amongst other things, "No horses allowed on the beach" .

Amazing - the eternal ebb and flow . . .

Also on that sign is a line that says "No cars allowed on the  beach" . . .

Apparently, some artist lives here, hermitting herself off from  the world.

The two buildings in the distance are the offices of the RV park - it's that close to the beach!

Monday and Tuesday, November 19th & 20th:  Had a toothache both days, so I just laid low, soaked in the hot tub, flossed a lot, ate mushy food - hoping not to have to see a dentist . . .

Sunday, November 18th 2012:  Went to Moody Memorial First United Methodist Church this morning - they all just call it "Moody Methodist".  I had researched it months ago and found it to be a huge plant with tons of community activities taking place in the building - and a very well renowned organ and choir director. Well, the organ is great . . .  but the choir director left in a hurry (I'm sure I'll find out the story sometime) and so they're "between directors" right now - and there were 14 people in the choir!  I expected a very large, very accomplished group - but oh well. I talked to one of the choir members after church and she lent me a pile of music, told me that there's no practice this week because of Thanksgiving (against the very laws of the universe, their practices are Wednesday, not the universally-recognized Thursday), but that I am welcome to sing with the choir next Sunday, as long as I come at 10:15 to practise for the 11:00 service. They (We) are singing "Lift Thine Eyes to the Mountains" from Elijah - SSA - I emailed the organist and temporary director and in her weekly email to the whole choir she welcomed me for Sunday - gee, I hope they don't regret that one!  I gather that the anthems for the next month or so will be taken from "The Promise of Light", a Christmas musical by Joel Raney - I was given the music for that, too.  Also, the choir member lent me a copy of "Carols for Choirs 1" - we're going to be singing "The Holly and the Ivy" - sometime.  Apparently, one of the sopranos is switching to alto, and another one is leaving - and I think I counted three singing this morning - hope I'm wrong - but I can see why they're so happy to welcome a soprano!

I spent the afternoon just driving aimlessly around - saw a lot of miscellaneous stuff - not really any photo ops, though. Except for the one below, which I also put on Facebook.  I think I'll wait until I see a vehicle parked, and then I'll go knock on the door and see who - or what - answers . . .

Straight out of Hobbiton - and just a few miles down the road from my RV park.

Saturday, November 17th, 2012:  Slept in this morning - missed the waffle breakfast fixed by the owner (for $3.00) and of course the networking with other residents.  Oh well, I did mean to spend today driving around in the rental car, anyway - trying to just get a feel for the big picture, so I know where I can drive with my RV, where I can park, what I want to explore further, etc. The main drag seems to be Seawall Blvd., so named because it runs parallel to the 10 mile concrete seawall built to break the surge of hurricanes like Ike, which caused so much damage in 2008.   There's a parking lane on each side of this blvd., and I could definitely park my RV there.  At one point, I actually drove onto the beach - really just to prove that I could - wouldn't want to take my RV there - getting stuck in the sand would be humiliating.  I also walked out on the Fisherman's Pier - where, yes, tons of Galvestonians do fish - it was awesome!  I'm still amazed by the pastel colours of the buildings everywhere - really interesting.  I drove out to the northern most tip of the island, and then took a ferry ride across to Port Bolivar and back - it's free.  Saw lots of dolphins swimming around the ferry - nobody else seemed even interested, so I guess this is a common sight - and of course, "seawinds blowin'" and "seabirds flying" (a reference to the Glenn Campbell song, for those of you too young or uneducated to get that one).  Actually, the birds were fascinating - I think I saw sandpipers and maybe even cormorants - take a look at the picture and tell me if you think that's a cormorant!
I drove around aimlessly for awhile, just checking out the town, stopped at Popeye's chicken place for late lunch (yes, their chicken is really, really good - and they served corn on the cob and a homemade biscuit with it, too), and then went to the local movie theatre, put my tired feet up and watched Breaking Dawn Pt. 2  :)
Back home to do laundry and spend some time in the hot tub - my evening ritual here.  Ahhhh!

Proof that I actually did drive on the beach!

Fisherman's Pier - extends out quite a ways.

The seventeen foot high seawall which extends for ten miles.

Fishing off the pier.

Notice all the cars parked on the side of the road.

Again - pastel buildings!

And more pastel . . .  The main drag is four lanes wide - well , six if you count the parking lanes on either side.

From the second level of the ferry, headed towards the mainland across from the northern part of Galveston Island

Headed back to the Galveston side.

Just a random shot from the ferry.

And pulling in to the Galveston port.

Cool bird - looks like a cormorant, doesn't it?

I love ocean spray!

Friday, November 16th, 2012:  Just got out of the hot tub - so I'm settling in for the evening and adding to my blog.  I rented a car for the weekend, just to make things easier - went to check out the church I had researched before I left Canada - Moodie Memorial First United Methodist.  It's crazy huge, with lots and lots of community activities taking place all the time!  When I dropped by, there was an arts and craft sale going on- inside and outside the building, and on two floors!  I've enclosed a few photos taken from the second floor!  Saw a number of quilting projects and thought of Judy - particularly these really cool microwave potholders with magnets sewn into them to hang them on the microwave. A bazaar item for the future?
The sanctuary is lovely - quite small for the size of the building, but two services take place simultaneously - one more "conservative" one with a regular choir in the sanctuary (which is about the size of GSJ's sanctuary) and one more "contemporary" with a "praise band" in another large room elsewhere in the maze of rooms and corridors in this building.  Guess which service I plan to attend?  [Hint - I'm not exactly crazy about praise bands . . .)
On the way to pick up my rental, the Enterprise guy (whose name is Jason) regaled me with historical and other stories about the island.  For example, the houses on stilts - the government has mandated that houses on this part of the island be built at least 20 feet off the ground - ever since hurricane Ike destroyed so much in 2008.  Apparently, a lot of houses were already off the ground and survived the hurricane, but lost the stairs leading up to their homes.  Years ago, I had seen online the impact of Ike on the lovely red oak trees for which the island was famous.  Something like 900 of them were destroyed!  What I didn't know was that those trees were not actually blown down - the flood waters were so high for such a long time that their roots basically drowned - so the trees had to be cut down.  I'm dying to see the sculptures that the residents made out of the stumps of those trees!  Maybe tomorrow . . .
I did stand in the Gulf of Mexico today - got the pics to prove it!

Moodie Memorial arts and craft sale  - notice the professional-looking scoreboards -  there's obviously money behind this church!

Again - from the second level - a balcony runs all around the hall.

The Gulf of Mexico (not sure of the purpose of the white fences - I'm sure I'll find out . . .

Pretty much the same shot 

Looking from the beach to a development of houses - apparently, real estate here is very cheap - but it's very hard to get insurance . . . 

This is  me, standing IN the Gulf of Mexico to take this shot!

More of the same

One can just park on the street and stroll over to the beach.  In fact, there are lots of places where one can actually drive one's car onto the beach - how cool is that?

I love this house!  Check out the size - and also the colour.

A couple of other houses - almost all houses are painted in various pastel colours - really cool!

Wednesday, November 14th:  Safely arrived at the Jamaica Beach RV park on Galveston Island!  My expectations were high, but they were substantially exceeded. I've been here for 3 hours and already have spent half an hour in the hot tub, chatting with a guy from Minnesota and watching the sun set. It's weird talking to full-time RVers - we have so much in common - from insatiable curiosity about everything to family and travel stories.  Most are retired - another commonality - and all that I've met so far are super-friendly and willing - eager, even - to share information and helpful tips. Below are literally my first glimpses around this park - awesome, eh?

The houses by the Gulf seem to mainly be built on stilts (or pilings, or wooden stakes, or whatever the correct terminology is)

This is the "adult pool" - it has a bar at one end and lots of these lounge chairs in the water.

. . . or if you prefer the shade . . .

These guys waddled across the road as I was pulling in.

This is the driveway - it stops at the ocean's edge!

Would you believe - the office?  Well, also the room where tomorrow's potluck will be held, plus lots of etceteras which I will discover late, I'm sure

Sunset from my picnic table.  (My hand is not steady enough - the squiggles are actually lights from across the bay)

My RV in all her glory!

Pretty flowers - they proliferate all around the property.

Other pretty flowers - yeah, yeah, so I'm not a gardener - but I know what I like . . . 

And of course - palm trees!!