November 10, 2021 - On the Road with Jo
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- Published: Wednesday, 10 November 2021 05:30
Today is the first day for the largest festival that Harlingen promotes...the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival kicks off today and will continue through November 14. The Valley is home to some major flyways so locals as well as those from out of state and even out of the country will convene in Harlingen to hear famous birders give seminars and lead bird watching expeditions. What a wonderful opportunity for all of us to learn a little more about the wonders of the Rio Grande Valley.
Seminar leaders and birding guides on the expeditions are famous for their knowledge, experience, and leadership. Take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about our bird friends when you attend the festival held at the Harlingen Convention Center.
I continue to be amazed at how many things there are to see and do in the Rio Grande Valley. It seems that every town has a festival or a special day to celebrate. There is the Butterfly Festival in Mission, the Birding Festival in Harlingen and another in McAllen, the Citrus Festival in Edinburg, the Festival of Las Palmas in McAllen and not to be missed the Festival of Lights in the small town of Hidalgo. Even Kingsville joined in with the Saturday before Thanksgiving celebrating ranch life with the Ranch Hand Breakfast. You name it, we've got it. And then we have the Parades - July 4th, Veterans Day and Christmas Parades as well as the Port Isabel Boat Parade just to name a few.
"I've got talent, a lot of talent" or "tengo talento, mucho talento." At least that is what a graduate of the Port Isabel High School Class of 2018 said as he prepared to compete in Estrella TV's show. And yes, the Rio Grande Valley has a lot of talent. Our schools and communities are doing all possible to offer our younger - and older - generations the opportunity to develop that talent. Just look around - almost every community has a performing arts theater. The choirs, bands and orchestras in our local schools are some of the most outstanding in our state. We are all missing out if we do not take time to attend their performances. Look at what your community offers. You will not have to travel far from home to enjoy a live, top-notch performance.
Welcome home! We have missed you. Let us hope and pray that the Canadian-US border will be open when our Canadian friends are ready to journey to Sunny South Texas. And has it ever been sunny this summer. Temperatures during the summer months never rose above the hundred mark most of the time staying in the low to mid ninety range. We have not had much rain but when it did rain it seemed to come all at the wrong time for our farmers - raining when it was time to harvest the grain and dumping just enough to interfere with cotton picking - even damaging the cotton bolls that were ready to be picked.
I cannot believe - nor do I want to accept - that this is the last issue of the Winter Texan Times for this 2020/2021 Winter Texan season. Where did this year go? It has just flown by. Sometimes I feel that I just stood still, and the world passed me by. What did keep me in the loop was reading every issue of the Winter Texan Times from front page to back and keeping up with what all the different parks were doing. And it was all positive.
Just like many of you who are preparing to travel North for the summer, I have been studying the map and wondering why in the world when we get behind the wheel of a car most of us are just hell bent for leather to reach our destination. Why in the world do we not stop to explore along the way? We may never travel that way again. So, let' s take time to smell the roses and add to our knowledge of all the wonderful destinations and people we should meet along our way.
When you were younger, did you ever play the game with your siblings where you chose an animal that you felt most represented a member of your family? I only played it once as it seems that my siblings did not like the fact that I felt my mother was like a mother dog. With five youngsters to look after, I considered that a compliment as mother dogs are very protective of their young. Not only are they good care givers but they are also good trainers - training their young to be loyal and to defend their care givers. Now as I look back, if I were to choose what animal I would like to be, I personally would choose for myself to be an insect - a Monarch Butterfly. They are beautiful creatures.
They say that time flies when you are having fun. Perhaps that is true. But it seems to me that time has flown this past year...and it has not been much fun.
TEXAS! Yes, TEXAS is BIG and we might as well admit it’s true... “Texas is a Whole Other Country.” And why shouldn't it be? Any state that has 367 miles of coastline, desert, dry plains, and swamp land along with canyons and caverns, snow, drought, and floods and covers a total of almost 270,000 square miles is BIG. No doubt those of you who drive down to spend the winter in Texas realize quite well just how big we are.
What glorious weather we are having...not too hot, not too cold...it is just right. Yep, it is just right for being outdoors and enjoying our beautiful South Texas. The gurus of the travel industry say that the plus side of the pandemic has brought more and more travelers into eco-tourism and enjoying the great outdoors.
TEXAS! What a huge state we live in with a history as big as the state. Texas was tamed originally by settlers who established ranches and farms so big they boggle our minds. Those early settlers, those men of vision left their mark on Texas - Richard King who fulfilled our American dream of from rags to riches was just one of those many famous settlers who left their mark on Texas.
