“I am allergic to nature.”
Although I love nature and enjoy being outdoors, there is something that will always remain a barrier standing between myself and my full enjoyment of nature. Though I may love nature and mostly everything within it, that doesn’t stop nature from watering and irritating my eyes, running and itching my nose, and causing me to live each day in a cloudy, stuffed-up fog.
Sandy
Back at home, my family, like many others, has an animal companion to keep us company and make our days brighter. My common family of four is even more common in the fact that we have a family pet, a dog. Though, our dog is a little unusual. We have a dog named Sandy, a golden-white German shepherd. Sandy’s had quite a past, transferring from shelter to shelter. For a time, she even lived with a foster family, but from now on, Sandy has our house to call her home.
With an interesting coat color for the breed, we constantly receive comments on Sandy’s unique golden-white color. German shepherds are known to be almost any color including brown, black, white, liver, red, blue, and gray, yet German shepherds are not known to be golden-colored. Believed to be a mix, Sandy is figured to be either half yellow lab, due to her love of swimming and water, and her “soft bite”. Labs were bred to swim across lakes to retrieve fowl, bringing the birds back with their “soft bites” to prevent damaging the meat further. Sandy also sports a pair of “angel wings” a white marking common in labs. “Angel wings” are white stripes located right behind the shoulder blades. Maintaining the German shepherd body and characteristics, it’s difficult to identify Sandy’s past genetics. Although her specific breed may be a mystery, we are happy to include Sandy in our family.
Back in October of 2008, my family had just moved cross-country, back to our hometown in Texas. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas all went by…The house, although unpacked and filled with all the possessions that make it home, still bore an empty presence. A loving family, we’re rarely without pets. From a stray cat, named Hobbes, who we loved for about nine years; seven goldfish, each with his its own name; frogs and crickets that were given the best; and two, white rabbits who still clutch a corner of my heart after occupying four years of my life; we’ve shared our home with a diverse collection of animals. But, through all sixteen years of my life, we’ve never had the most common pet: a dog.
On January 17, 2009 my family gathered in our car and drove across town to the Animal Defense League. My mom had been carefully studying each animal they displayed on their website and had read up on all the rules, regulations, and information listed on the Internet. We wanted to be well-informed and fully prepared to adopt our first dog.
After arriving at the shelter, we asked to look around at all of the animals available. We literally looked at every single animal they had. It was quite an experience. I was bitten at one point.=
After hours of looking, one dog had stuck in our mind, but we still hadn’t looked at all of the animals. An employee saw us wandering and brought us to one particular pen. “This is Sandy,” the employee said, “She dances.” The dog in the pen quickly dashed up to the fence to greet us with a happy expression. The woman spun her finger in a circle in the air and Sandy immediately jumped up on two legs and spun around in a circle.
“Oh, wow!” we all exclaimed, surprised by her training.
Majestic Sandy
“Can we walk her?” my dad asked. After getting a leash, we were headed to the large meadow they use to allow animals to run about. We were surprised how easily Sandy walked on the leash. She seemed pretty excited to walk about, but she had good manners, as well. Pretty soon, all of us had fallen in love with her.
After the walk, we returned to her pen and gave back the leash. Still making up our minds, we decided to visit the dog that had stuck in our minds before, but as soon as we saw that dog, we knew that Sandy was the dog for us. All of us immediately wanted to go back to Sandy’s pen.
We spoke with an employee and pretty soon we were in the Main Office filling out paperwork. While we were waiting for the forms to pass, we used a dog tag-making machine to craft Sandy a brand new gold dog bone-shaped tag for her collar. She still wears that tag to this day.
Within the hour, we were walking out of the animal shelter with Sandy on a leash. Sandy was very excited to hop in our car and go for a ride. To this day, she is excited to ride in a car.
Once we got home, we allowed Sandy to explore our home. She was very excited and happy as she quickly darted from one side of the house to the other. She never stopped moving as she dragged her nose around the floor and discovered her new home’s quirks. After a while, we led her upstairs to explore the second half of the house.
When Sandy entered my room, she was given quite the scare. Resting on my floor is a large male lion stuffed animal that is almost life-size. Sandy entered my room and turned the corner coming face-to-face with the lion. She jumped in shock, turned, and ran away. For about a half hour afterwards, she still would not come into my room. After coaxing her in, she cautiously sniffed the lion until she found out that it wasn’t real. After that scary incident, she was back to her active self, running about the house and beaming with excitement.
It’s now over three years later and Sandy has become a permanent part of our family. Now completely comfortable in our house, Sandy has actually found my room to be her favorite room in the house. With my bed resting right up next to the window, my room offers Sandy the perfect spot to perch and watch “Dog Television.” She especially loves barking at passing dogs and watching birds fly by. Also, she spends each night in my room with me, having her own bed next to mine, though she usually prefers to sleep on the floor.
Sandy is a wonderful, loving dog and I love her dearly. From time to time I come to miss her as I spend my time in college over an hour and a half away. I enjoy coming home to a happy, jumpy dog who’s just as excited to see me. I love Sandy and I believe that she loves me just as much.
“…and here’s poor Sandy at the shelter before her rescue “
October 29, 2007
Sandy is a sweet dog who quickly steals hearts. It’s easy to see that she was once loved and cared for, but the poor girl went through some rough times, coming out of the shelter at a mere 33 lbs. In just a few days’ time, Sandy was back to her “old self,” though, eating heartily and with no food issues. She will be packing on the weight in no time, though she’ll always be petite. Apart from her weight (soon to be a non-issue), she appears to be happy and healthy, sweet and loving. She truly has a beautiful disposition!
Sandy runs and plays in her foster’s acre-plus yard several times a day. She would enjoy a large yard and lots of interactive play. She loves walks and would undoubtedly love a jogging partner. Sandy does great in the car and thinks trips to the park and lake are the best! Though she has only been allowed to wade into the water, she sure likes it! In every activity, Sandy is energetic but well-behaved. (She would benefit from formal training and may get that with her foster or adopter, but she is naturally responsive, so we think she will learn easily.)
Sandy also loves sitting on a rug or blanket next to the couch and chewing on her bone, especially after a nice long walk. (She LOVES chew toys and bones but has not bothered shoes or other people possessions.) Other pastimes include following her fosters around wherever they go and observing their every activity. (Note: The kitchen is another place she has displayed good manners).
Sandy has met other dogs and we think she would enjoy the company of other dogs/playmates, but seems to get along better with males.
Her fosters have lovebirds and she barely notices them.
Sandy has only lived with cats for 5 days. Her foster’s cats were initially terrified (of all dogs) and then one of them attacked her, so it’s not really fair to judge her yet, but the current prognosis is no cats. If you have cats, check back to see if this changes.
Golden German Shepherd
January 23, 2008
Single, White, Female seeks ACTIVE partner (owner or dog sibling!). Couch potatoes NEED NOT apply! Love DAILY long jogs through the park, and would probably LOVE chasing a frisbee or doing agility work on the weekends…Loves kids (other people’s, I can’t have any of my own), other large male dogs OK too.
Sandy & her Foster Owners
If you are looking for a VERY ACTIVE German Shepherd to accompany you jogging, hiking, or any other outdoor activity, Sandy is your girl! I call her “The Snow Fox” because she looks like a little, white fox darting around…..she is DEFINITELY built for speed. She is a petite female (about 45-50#) approximately 1 year old GSD who goes from dawn till dusk…like the Energizer Bunny!! I think she would excel at something like agility because she is lightening fast and NEVER quits. She would also be a wonderful jogging partner…she prances when she runs, and doesn’t have the big, heavy build of a full-sized GSD that makes jogging so hard on their hips.
Sandy is a happy dog who lives to play. She probably should not go to a home with older or smaller dogs because she would worry them to death to PLAY with her!! I don’t think she would hurt them though…same thing with cats. She gets along GREAT with all of my big males, but can get pushy with females.
She loves ALL people…no exceptions. She is housetrained, crate trained (she sleeps in her crate quietly at night). She is a POWER chewer, but as long as she has a Kong to play with and chew on, she is fine. She rides great in the car; if the trip is long, she will just lie down and go to sleep. She sits on command, and we are working on other basic commands for her…she loves to please, but she is young and needs reinforcement with her commands.
Sandy is spayed, Heartworm negative, microchipped, fully vaccinated and ready to GO, GO, GO to her forever home. If you are in the market for a sweet dog who would make a GREAT jogging partner, she is your girl! Please apply for her on-line now!!
March 2008
Sandy has completed a month of obedience training at Southern Star Ranch!
July 2008
Sandy has decided that she is really a LAB in a German Shepherd Dog body…she LOVES to swim!! She is very graceful in the pool, and she and her foster Lab brother swim laps every day together!
<- Nature & the Quest for Meaning #18 | Nature & the Quest for Meaning #20 ->
More on Sandy: Sandy’s Webpage
Ellone’s Reference Sheet
I feel like I am a complex individual with a lot of different elements to my personality, my thoughts, and my emotions. Because of this and my drive to create art, I tend to express different aspects about myself through creative means. With my writing abilities and artistic talents, I’ve created original characters that have grown and matured as I have. I’ve used these characters throughout the years to say what I need to say, emphathize with my feelings, and help me express myself. For many of these characters, I create websites for them, uploading various artworks of them and writing life stories about them. Several of these characters personify certain aspects of myself, exaggerating that aspect to help me understand it, but only one represents myself as a whole.
The Spring semester of my sophomore year was a pretty rough semester. Not only was I taking four art classes, (6 hours a week, each, although they only count for 3 hours a week,) but it was also my first year as a Learning Community Resident Assistant and I had other classes and commitments, as well. A lot of things went wrong that semester and made me miss school.
I can’t remember exactly what I had been working on, but I remember I had just come into the Tower Hall from the art building. I was either working on traditional photography or linoleum printmaking…both were really time-consuming and required a lot of work outside of class. Anyways, I entered Tower and walked behind the Front Desk where the RAs work and often spend a lot of time. I generally stop by to visit with the working RA before heading up to my room. RA Ariel immediately jumped up from her studying and exclaimed, “Noelle! Your residents brought something for you!” she exclaimed.
I had had a really long, hard, tiring day and I couldn’t wait to get to sleep. In fact, I had had a really long, hard, tiring semester. A little pick-me-up from some residents would be a wonderful little surprise! “Really? My residents brought me something?” I asked.
Ariel told her friend who was on the opposite side of the desk to get what the residents dropped off. She interrupted her studying and dashed to one of the tables that was in the center of the lobby. I saw her pick up a styrofoam container used for storing food you get “to-go” and began thinking, “Food? My residents brought me food? That’s sweet of them…I often miss meals because of how busy I am, so it’s nice that they thought of me.” My heart was filling with warmth until suddenly, it was crushed.
As the girl brought the container up, I became confused. It didn’t look like there was food in it…What was that? As the container was placed on the desk, I found that it was stuffed with a small blue towel. The girl pulled back the towel to reveal a small, injured sparrow. I gasped as my eyes took in the horrid sight of the bird. His head looked crushed as blood stained the feathers around his eyes and mouth. His body was limp as the bird lay in the container, wings withdrawn and legs drawn in. The bird’s entire body shuddered with each breath, appearing as if the bird was struggling just to breath. My heart dropped and my tears began to swell.
“Your residents found this bird lying in the road and came in here looking for you,” Ariel explained as her friend picked up the bird wrapped in the blue towel.
“Me? Why me?” I asked as the girl handed the bird to me.
“Well, they know how much you love animals. They figured you’d know what to do…”
“I-I don’t really know what to do…I don’t…I’m not a vet…Can we take him to a vet?” I began to hold the small bird in my hands. I held him close to my face to look him over, though it pained me to do so.
“I don’t know,” Ariel sighed. “We didn’t know what to do, either. The residents brought down this towel and we put him in this thing. It’s all we had…It’s been about an hour maybe…”
I continued to watch the small bird, holding him as carefully as I could. I felt that maybe he shouldn’t have been picked up in the first place. I watched his quick, short breaths. Huff, huff. Huff, huff. Huff, huff…His breaths seemed to be echoing his heartbeats. I didn’t know what to do. What could I do for this bird? What could I do?!
All three of us held our own breaths as we waited…
That sparrow died in my hands that night. I held that sparrow as he drew his final, dying breath. He was only in my life for about five minutes, but that tiny little bird has left a stain on my heart. I still feel deeply for that bird and it pains me to write this.
“Is he-?” asked Ariel’s friend.
“I don’t know!” Ariel cried out.
I stood silent, glancing from girl to girl, praying that the bird would begin breathing again.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Noelle!” cried Ariel. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” I looked at her with tears welling in my eyes. “Oh, please. Please, don’t cry!”
As soon as she finished her sentence, the tears in my eyes broke their barrier and began streaming down my face. I began crying for that bird. I cried for his pain and for his sad ending. Not really knowing what to do, I cautiously placed the bird back in the container, moving slowly and methodically. I pulled the towel over the bird, just up to his neck as if I was tucking him into bed. I wanted him to be comfortable. My mind became overwhelmed with thoughts. Why did the bird die? Why couldn’t I do anything? Why did he have to suffer? I was so frustrated.
Ariel continued to plead for me to stop crying as she relentlessly apologized. She looked as if she was about to cry, herself.
After minutes of shock, I finally broke myself from that moment. I finally moved from that spot. I finally tore my mind from that subject. I finally left the bird.
I resumed my return to my room, unlocked the door, and fell on my bed. I cried for that bird. I cried and cried and cried for him. I stayed up several hours crying in sadness and bewilderment. I cried in frustration and regret. I cried.
Although I had planned to go to bed early and wake up on time for my 8:00am class, my plans were detoured. I was up all night with that bird in my thoughts. I did not go to class the next morning. I couldn’t bring myself to do it as my mind was entangled with emotions. I just couldn’t do it.
Later, when I finally returned to class days later, I ended up bring the bird with me in my heart. We were starting a screenprinting project and I created a design honoring the sparrow that died in my hands. I drew the sparrow flying off the edge of the image, representing his fleeting life and his departure through death.
Though that spirit may have been just a bird, I loved him, and he will be missed.
I’m sorry sparrow. I’m really sorry.
Drawing a Fox with Prismacolor Colored Pencils
I am an animal artist. Really, I’m just an animal person in general.
“It was a cactus forest!”
In a previous post, I mentioned that my Nature & the Quest for Meaning class took a tour along Prospect Park Trail, a trail maintained by the Greenbelt Alliance, and learned all about pitching a hammock in order to better enjoy the natural areas of San Marcos. That wasn’t all that we learned, though.
After carpooling through a neighborhood area, we all pulled up to a tiny path sticking out at the end of a road with a man standing on it. The man was Todd Derkacz, a member of the Greenbelt Alliance and our tour guide for the day. He greeted all of us as we piled out of our cars and began to lead us down the path. As we first started walking, I was absolutely amazed at all of the cactus that were around. It was a cactus forest! That’s one thing about Texas that I’m actually not very fond of…I’d rather live in an area where I don’t have to see the dry, spiky plants.
Photo by Susan Hanson
Here at Texas State University, we have bats. There are bats in the allies, bats in the parking garages, and sometimes bats in the open.
It was about two years ago when I received the first email about bats warning me to stay away from them and to never touch them if I were to see one on the ground, dead or alive. The bats here are known to carry rabies, and I believe two years ago a student was bitten by a bite and came down with the unpleasant disease. At the time, I was concerned, but I hadn’t actually seen the bats. I could hear them when I walked in the Nueces Alleyway or through the Alkek Parking Garage late at night, and I could see their droppings along the walls and floors, but had never actually seen one.
Now, two years later, I’ve seen two bats and have seen a sign warning of another bat sighting.
Born and raised in Texas, I didn’t actually see snow until I was 11 years old when my family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I remember my middle school was having a contest to guess the first day it was going to snow, and I raised my hand saying, “Well…I’ve never seen snow, so how am I supposed to guess?” They told me to just give it my best try, so I wrote some random day down. I don’t remember the day I wrote down, but I do remember that it was right.
I remember the first time I saw snow…It was a dark night and it was either a Friday or Saturday. It wasn’t a school night. My family and I had gathered around outside after hearing on the news that there was a possibility of snow. After a while, the first flakes starting falling. They were so tiny and fragile. I was amazed at how quickly they would melt in my hand and how from a distance the snowflakes looked like tiny white cottonballs, but up close they looked like complicated crystals. They were amazing.
I quickly called a close family friend and as soon as she picked up the phone I exclaimed, “It’s snowing!” She had told me to say that and she’d know exactly who it was. I was so excited to see snow.
That Monday when I went to school, I was eager to see what I’d win for getting the right day, but for some reason I didn’t win. The school said something about how it didn’t snow in that area, or it wasn’t enough to count, or something weird like that. I was irked, but whatever. At least I know I guessed the day right. Not like it matters anyways…
Now, nine years later, I live in Texas again and I haven’t seen snow in five years. There are times that I miss it’s magical, mysterious beauty, but then there’s other times when I think of the negative sides of snow. After living in Minnesota for a year, my family moved to North Dakota for four years where I got to spend a lot of time with the snow.
In North Dakota, it’s common for temperatures to go below zero and snow begins falling in October and doesn’t stop until April or May. It’s not a pleasant, peaceful snowfall, though, it’s a harsh, icy experience. In North Dakota, the land is barren and flat, so wind is extremely strong and unstoppable. This can make the temperatures even more frigid than they already are. Each winter night in North Dakota, the temperatures drop so low that it freezes everything from the day previous so that all the snow is turned to ice. This can be great for sledding, but it’s awful for actually living and getting around in.
In a North Dakota winter, people need to wake up extra early in the mornings to clear their driveways, especially before the temperatures freeze the snow on the driveway into a sheet of ice. When my dad would shovel the snow into a pile next to our house, I always got excited about building snow tunnels and burrowing a snow cave, but I was always disappointed when not long afterwards it’d be a giant chunk of unpenetrable ice. Also, whenever the snow plows would come down the streets, they’d push all the snow from the streets into a little pile at the foot of everyone’s driveway. Of course this would also quickly turn to ice so every home on the street would have a frozen, icy speedbump at the base of their driveway until summer.
Another problem with snow is that it’s only pure, white, and beautiful for a limited time. Once people begin walking in it or cars start driving in it, it just starts getting muddy and sloppy. There was always a muddy sloshy mess in all of the streets and on all of the sidewalks in the winters in North Dakota. Parking lots would have a few spaces dedicated to building a giant muddy snow pile that would accumulate throughout the winter. No matter how beautiful and magical a snowy night might be, it’d always be ruined in the morning…
I can still remember the most snowy magical sight I saw, and it was one random night in North Dakota around two or three in the morning. I was downstairs in my bedroom when my dad called for me from the dining room upstairs. I ran up to find him staring out the window. “Look, look!” he said as he opened the curtain for me. Outside was a gigantic white hare, about the size of a large dog. The hare was hopping down our street, teetering from yard to yard. He came across our yard, right in front of the window we were looking out of and continued through our driveway before following down the street. He didn’t stay long, but I treasured each second I saw him. The next morning, the snow had covered up any sight of tracks and the hare was nowhere to be found. Every now and then I would hear a neighbor say they saw the hare, but I never saw him, myself, ever again.
Snow has a special place in my heart. Every Christmas Eve when I was a child in Texas, I would pray for snow so that I could have that “White Christmas,” but it never did snow…But after living a few years in the stuff, I’m glad to be done with it. I wouldn’t mind if it snowed a little here and there, but I don’t want to shovel or pick at the ice or trudge through the slush any more. It’s also nice to be able to walk to a bus stop without the danger of frostbite setting in. In any case, I love snow, but I can love it from afar.
<- Nature & the Quest for Meaning #8 | Nature & the Quest for Meaning #10 ->
I think it’s a little amusing that right after I wrote a post about Winston and Blanco, the two fish that have become pets at the Front Desk of the residence hall I work at, The Tower Hall, about how much I appreciate having them and how it brightens up my work shift and brings smiles to the residents’ faces, they’re taken away.
Unfortunately, Housing and Residential Life at Texas State University likes to set strict rules and guidelines in order to maintain standards and uphold quality. These can be hard to work with a lot of the time and are never negotiable. It can make my job more difficult and frustrating, especially when these standards are changed or set with little warning.
This month has been full of changes, and I am bound to write another post on the others, but this one will focus on Blanco and Winston.
I am a resident assistant at a residence hall called The Tower Hall, in case you didn’t know. We recently had our Winter Training session in early January in which we went to different sessions throughout the day to learn more about better ourselves or our working habits. There are sessions such as eating healthy, creating eye-catching advertisesments, using Pinterest to come up with programming and decoration ideas, and even classes on sexual health. At one of these training sessions, though, our hall won an unexpected prize, fish.
One of my favorite things about Texas State University is the nature encompassing it. Texas State is filled with beautiful scenery and lively wildlife. Wherever you go, there’s plants and animals to be found. I especially love the area around Sewell Park that includes the artificial lakes and the San Marcos River.
Of course the most common animal found on campus is the Eastern fox squirrel, a squirrel that is commonly found in the United States. There’s squirrels just about everywhere you go around campus. I love most animals, especially if they’re fuzzy and fur-covered, so I am a fan of squirrels and whenever I see one on campus, I like to spend a little time with him, if I’ve got some to spare. I especially enjoy watching squirrels find food, nibble on it a bit, and then bury it in the ground for later. They always look so funny when they bury things.
The Eastern fox squirrel, found on campus, is a larger-sized squirrel with a long furry tail that’s 40% of their body length! They are often silver or grey with a light red-brown stomach. They like to sit in an upright position when eating. They are excellent tree climbers because of their sharp claws and masculine bodies. They most enjoy tree-filled areas where they can collect nuts and prefer oak, hickory, walnut, and pine trees.
Another common animal found on campus is the great-tailed grackle. These birds are commonly known as blackbirds because the males are completely black. In the sunlight, though, their feathers tend to glean a variety of colors including blue and purple. I actually think that these birds are quite pretty when their feathers show a multitude of colors, especially because these colors are some of my favorites.
Female grackles are more of a grey and brown color and their feathers are often more rough-looking than their male counterparts. While the males’ feathers are long and gracefully fit along the form of the bird, the females’ feathers are often patchy and messy-looking. It makes it appear as if the bird is losing feathers or didn’t really have many to begin with.
I really have a thing for birds, especially because I love feathers. Male great-tailed grackles are beautiful in my eyes because of their spectacular colors and their long feathers. They also have very long and beautiful tails, which is where their name comes from.
I also like birds for the many, interesting sounds that they make. The grackle has a variety of calls, some melodic, but most found annoying to people. I like to hear their calls and will often try to find the bird once I hear him singing. It’s entertaining to find a grackle when it’s making a wind-up toy-esque noise because the bird will puff up, ruffling its feathers out while it makes the cry, then exhale and return to its normal size.
Around the artificial ponds surrounding the theatre building, a large variety of animals can be found including turtles, fish, and birds. There’s usually some ducks around there when you walk by. I love stopping by this area to see the animals. If I’m ever having a really stressful day, I can count on the ducks to help me relax. We’re not allowed to feed them, so they really don’t get a lot of attention and don’t like to be approached, but if you’re calm around them, they’ll be calm around you.
I’m not particularly fond of the muscovy ducks because of the weird crusty appearance of their faces, but I’m still pretty happy spending time with just about any animal. The muscovy ducks come in a wide range of colors from light to dark. They can be black or white, grey or brown, green or blue. They often have spots or patches on their feathers and can sometimes sport a crest upon their head. They enjoy lounging around the base of the trees or wading about in the shallow ends of the ponds.
A rare duck that can be found on Texas State grounds is the Egyptian goose. I’m not sure exactly why the goose can be found here in San Marcos, Texas because it’s native to Africa and the Nile River. Somehow it’s made the San Marcos River its home.
Like the muscovy duck, it’s mostly terrestrial and likes to perch around the trees we have on campus. Unlike the muscovy duck, though, they don’t come in a variety of colors and patterns. All Egyptian geese generally look alike, even the males and females, with the males only slightly larger than their female partners. The males do, however, have a different voice than the females, a hourse, subdued quack. The females are much noisier in order to protect their young.
I do enjoy the company of the Egyptian geese more, though. They like to walk around the pond and even follow the sidewalks around the water. They’re usually more active than the muscovy ducks as they rest, drink water, swim in the shallows, walk along the paths, and explore the banks. I followed one, in particular, around for quite a while one day as he, (or she,) walked from pond to pond.
About seven or eight years ago, Texas State became home to another bird, the American black vulture. These birds are said to have been attracted to the campus as the amount of litter and dead animals increased, which they enjoy feeding upon. Finding this area as the perfect home full of shelter, water, and food, they began perching within the university’s trees and upon the JC Kellum building, the closest building to the university ponds. Because of this nuisance, Professor David Huffman has placed spikes along the building’s windowsills to prevent the large birds from perching along the sides of the building. Allthough the spikes keep them from the windows, nothing stops them from perching atop the roof.
I am quite intrigued by these large, hulking, black birds. They’re size is impressive, especially when they stretch out their full wingspans. I often see them within the trees and in large groups. I like seeing them on the ground, though, because they hop and skulk about.
Another bird that has made the San Marcos River its home is the great blue heron. The largest North American heron, the great blue heron likes wetland areas and shores of open water in which it can wade. I’ve seen this bird hanging around the river in Sewell Park, wading amongst the elephant ears and other green foliage, but only once. For some reason, this bird is the most elusive of them all, or at least when I’m around.
Great blue herons are actually quite adaptable and can be found throughout most of North America. Wherever there is a water, a heron can be found, whether it be freshwater or saltwater, a marsh or swamp, deep water or shallow water. As long as the waters provide the fish the heron needs to survive, the bird can be found wading about the shorelines. Although they spend much of their time in the water, they nest in the trees and bushes along the coast and will occasionally fly about. They’re favorite places to nest are on small islands, in order to protect their young from potential predators.
A lot of birds can be found on Texas State University grounds, but I’ve saved my favorite bird found on campus for last, the great egret, otherwise known as the great white egret, common egret, large egret, or great white heron. I love this egret because of its majestic and elegant appearance. This all-white bird likes to wade in the waters on campus and looks beautiful from all angles with it’s long, thin appearance. I just love the poses this bird makes with its flexible neck, especially when it creates a distinct “S” shape.
The great egret is slightly smaller than a great blue heron and can be distinguished from other egrets by its yellow beak and black legs. I can stand over 3 feet tall and have a wingspan that stretches over 5 feet long. Because this bird is migratory, it’s not always seen around San Marcos, but when it is spotted, it’s always a treat for me. I especially like seeing this bird in flight as it looks quite majestic. The egret is one of the few birds that flies with its neck retracted up against its shoulders rather than extended, like cranes. I really enjoy whenever I get to see a great egret here on campus.
Texas State University is a beautiful campus with a wonderful environment for animals. Because of the San Marcos River that flows through Sewell Park and the many artificial ponds that surround the theare building, the campus attracts a wide variety of wildlife, especially waterfowl and other birds. Of course, there are more animals than the ones listed in this post, but these are the only ones, so far, that I’ve been able to capture on film. I love the animals here on campus and hope to continue photographing their beauty.
Most people think I’m pretty weird when I step outside, a gust of wind blows by, and I throw my arms about and exclaim, “I hate you, wind!” I really just don’t like wind, though…There’s a few reasons why:
1. It Messes Up My Hair – All girls should agree with me on this one…I’ve got pretty long hair and I never pull it back or wear it up. I like my hair down and out of my face, but for some reason, wind does not agree with me. Wind would rather blow my hair all over the place, pulling it up into the air, right in front of my face, or even whipping it into the faces of people around me. It gets so bad sometimes that I’ll walk backwards or sideways to get the hair out of my face. This always makes it difficult to put my bike helmet on. I can’t put a helmet on my head when my hair’s being blown into several different directions, so I’ll have to face the wind to blow my hair backwards and try to herd it into my helmet. To top it all off, when I finally get indoors, my hair is super frizzy, knotted, and overall, a crazy, unkempt mess.
2. It Ruins Outdoor Picnics – I love the outdoors. I would love the outdoors even more if there wasn’t wind. I enjoy restaurants that offer outdoor seating and I like having a home with an outdoor patio set and living in a residence hall with an outdoor balcony with tables and chairs. These are all useless, though, if there’s wind. It’s hard to eat outdoors when there’s wind blowing around. You can’t keep anything in place, especially napkins and paper plates and cups. For a little while, food and drink will keep your plates and cups in place, but once you reach the end of the meal, your plates will start lifting up, and your cups will start turning over. Plus, your napkin will constantly be trying to fly away, and it’s difficult to use when it’s tucked under your plate, especially if your plate is trying to fly away, as well. I wish wind would leave me alone when I’m trying to eat outside.
3. It Makes it Feel Colder – Wind likes to complicate things so much that it even messes with our temperature. Because of wind we not only have to talk about the actual temperature, but also have to talk about the wind chill and the “feels like” temperature. It could be a comfortable 65 degrees outside, but throw in some wind, and it’s a cold 55 degrees. This is even worse if it’s already cold outside! Leave me alone, wind, it’s cold enough, already!
4. It Makes it Harder to Walk – I’m a pretty small person, so wind likes to bully me and push me around. On a really windy day, it can be pretty hard for me to walk around. I want to go one way, but the wind wants me to go another way. Take some hills into consideration and the situation gets even worse, especially when I’m on my bike. It’s already a struggle riding a bike up a steep hill, but it’s even worse when the wind is pushing against me.
5. It Can be Dangerous – One of my biggest fears is tornadoes. That’s just a cyclonic tunnel of deadly wind! Wind can get pretty strong and really be destructive and hurtful when it comes to storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Storms really terrify me and when I hear the wind really starting to pick up, I can’t help but get worried. Many lives have been changed because of wind, and generally, not for the better. Entire cities have even been destroyed because of wind. Think of all the money spent in hurricane and tornado relief…Wind is a monster.
So, wind and I don’t have a very good relationship. I’m not very fond of it and it’s not very fond of me as it constantly messes with me and annoys me. As it stands right now, I hate wind.
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