Farewell, Camp Loma de Vida

After we scrubbed the large kitchen, we women took turns baking cookies for the summer camps.  Total cookies: about 2,000. Those of us not baking tried our hand at beading. Here is a necklace and matching earrings I fashioned from"turquoise" beads, but that was enough beading for the time being. A fellow SOWER showed me how to organize the photos we have on the computer into folders; now every photo taken in 2011-12 is categorized for easy reference. Only a few more years to organize!

We had heard of "Ropa Usadas"; they have to be seen to be believed. A machine in a huge warehouse compacts the used clothing into giant bales, and they are sent to third world countries. Here I am sitting in a mountain  of used clothing.  You can pick out any finds, and pay for them by the pound.  For 50 cents I chose an armful of colourful fabric. We also checked out what was supposed to be a big RV yard sale, but it was disappointing.  We were not able to get there early enough, and everything was picked over.  None of us bought anything.  I was happy to be forced into practising my driving on the freeway, though, since our vehicle carried the most passengers. 

 If we ever return to Camp Loma de Vida, there will be big changes, as volunteers finish what the men were able to start.  Some of the men framed the walls of a wash house for the RV park for volunteers at the new site.  Terry and his work buddy laid about 2000 square feet of laminate flooring at the director's house. The men worked hard.   

Armadillo

Ever since I taught the phonics programme in which the "ah" sound was depicted by "armadillo", I've wanted to see one of these interesting creatures.  Being in Texas was my opportunity.  In the story, the armadillo curled up into a ball, protected by the special armour God gave him.  When one of our fellow SOWERs said he'd seen one in the bushes behind our campsite, I would scout the area daily.  All I found were little holes all over the ground where these animals root for insects.  One day Phil called us over to see it.  There he was!  I was so excited I ran up to him, expecting him to curl up into a ball.  Instead, he took off like a shot, heading through the underbrush and across an open area before I lost him.  I later found out that the nine-banded armadillo found in the U.S. runs from its enemies, and it's the South American kind that curls up into a ball.  I did have a picture of him running, but accidentally deleted it.  Phil's pictures are far better, and the armadillo didn't run away from him. This armadillo was about 30  cm long.

South Padre Island

Today was the second day of another birding weekend with Paul and Lucille. South Padre Island lies in the Gulf of Mexico off the very south western tip of Texas, joined to it by a long bridge.  Fog covered the horizon and we thought we wouldn't be able to see much; Terry and Paul were looking for a Black-legged Kittiwake, which looks like a gull with a black tail. It was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile we saw hundreds of shore birds from a boardwalk--Great Egret, Tricolored Heron, Brown Pelicans, and various ducks and gulls. Even an alligator and a turtle!  It was a pleasant, warm day, and the sun did eventually break through the fog.  Terry lugged around Paul's scope on a tripod, and Paul used his huge camera to record their finds.  After a delicious fish lunch overlooking the water, we went back to the first location, and there was the kittiwake, exactly where a local fellow said he would be. A great day!
 

Interpretations

Despite the fact that the Rio Grande Valley right next to the Mexican border is an area of 80% Hispanic population, I thought most people spoke English.  An elderly lady at the snack bar at the Ford dealer (imagine, a free snacks at a car dealer!) where we were waiting for an oil change didn't, however, speak much.
           " Can I get a couple of hotdogs? " I asked.
            "Cuantos?"
           " Two."  I said, instinctively holding up 2 fingers for emphasis.
After getting the hotdogs I said, "Gracias!"
Then I heard another sentence, but I didn't realize what it was until she asked, "Coke, Sprite...?"
So I just waved my hands, "No, no, gracias."
On Sunday our whole group was invited to a Spanish speaking church.  We thought we might get headphones, or at least a group translator, but to my dismay the preaching was in Spanish with no interpretation.  I could only understand a few words like, "blood, Christ, sin, and Lord".  After a short time, though, everyone was relieved to be shown a video, in English, that related to the sermon. 
The best part, however, was at the Mexican restaurant afterwards.  We were treated to a lunch of "botana".  After googling it, I found out it meant "appetizer" .  It wasn't a normal pile of taco chips and cheese, but an appetizer with a difference.  There were large tortilla chips, cheese, but also onions, strips of tasty steak, and refried beans, avocado, and hot sauce on the side.  We all dug in until we were stuffed. Superb!  The pastor, whose sons are directors at the camp, wanted to thank us for the volunteer work we're doing .  Next week we're invited to one of their homes for dessert.  Now food is something we can understand!
Last night one of the sons showed a video and shared their vision of a new camp, several miles down the road from this site.  His enthusiasm was contagious.  Today we ladies had a tour of the new camp, which is a former gravel pit.  The terrain was more interesting than our flat field.  The best part is that when they dug out one of the pits to make a lake, it filled up with water the next day.  There are also pumps to add more water from a deep well, and now the lake is about 8-10 feet deep.  It didn't take much to imagine the campers having fun swimming, boating, and jumping off a tower onto a thing called " the blob" .  I'd never heard of this, but apparently when someone lands on one end of the inflatable raft, the person on the other end is catapulted into the lake.  Sounds like a blast!  We needed Jason to interpret the vision for the new camp by actually showing us wherre everything would be built.  It would be hard to picture if someone merely said, "We're building a camp in an old gravel pit."  With Jason's help we were able to interpret what we saw into what could be. 
Proper interpretation is so important!

          

A bird in the lens is worth two in the bush

Another first experience--a guided bird walk.  We were with Paul and Lucille, from Nakusp, B.C., at Estero Llano Grande State Park in Weslaco, TX.  Paul taught in the same school district as Terry and Gary, but I didn't know he was a committed bird watcher.  We were at the park, ready to start the tour right at 8:30 a.m.with a group of at least 20 birders.  Soon the guide was calling out species one after another.  Everyone's binoculars were trained on the bird in question.  Some people had spotting scopes set up on tripods, and they would graciously allow others to peer in the lens to get a closer view.  This worked well for the shore birds which didn't move much, various egrets and herons.  A Roseate Spoonbill and Red-crowned Parrots flew overhead.  The guide knew his birds, and carefully explained differences in similar species.  He would always ask if everyone had seen everything, or had any questions before we moved on.  For a novice like me it was all rather mind boggling. How could I remember all those different birds?
After lunch we moved on to another bird site nearby.  Some people from the morning were there,   hauling cameras with huge lenses and tripods to record their sightings.  Birders would meet on the trail and compare notes.  "We're looking for the Crimson-collared grosbeak"  (This bird is not even in the book) "It was sighted here an hour ago!"  They were also looking for a Golden Crowned Warbler.  This bird is a tropical species from South America, seen only casually in south Texas. Two hours later it was sighted in the bushes.  Fourteen birders followed the movements of this bird for at least an hour, cameras clicking.  By then Lucille and I were tired, but couldn't find our way out of the maze.  I have learned to enjoy birding, but this level of intensity was a bit obsessive.  We ended the day with 82 species recorded on our list.  Not bad, for a winter's day.

First week at Camp Loma de Vida

Are we there yet?

Yesterday we did get there--to a Baptist camp near Edinburg, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. We had been travelling for 11 days, and 5,500 km. The first 5 days were familiar territory, and the roads good except for an icy stretch in southern Montana and Idaho. New Year's Day was spent in the desert with our friends in Yuma. On Jan 2 I swam in an outdoor pool in Benson, AZ.
Then up into the area near El Paso called Hueco Tanks State Park. Young people were climbing the boulder hills, armed with foam pads to fall onto if they lost their footing. It was 0 degrees Celcius the next morning! The next day it was -5 C in a place called Ozona. Western Texas was so barren I called it an alien place. In the middle of the night when I can't sleep, I often repeat familiar Scriptures. Psalm 23 reminded me that the God of the green pastures and the still waters was still with me.

Our birder friend, Gary, told us of a sight we shouldn't miss. We waited at a certain stoplight in a nearby town for 5:00pm. Precisely on time, hundreds of green parakeets congregated on the wires! They come from Mexico; what makes them arrive at that exact location, at that same intersection, just to roost on those wires? On a microwave tower back at the camp, what a sight to see hundreds of turkey vultures roosting at twilight. We 10 SOWER couples are huddled quietly together in our RVs, like so many sheep, under the mesquite trees . The pasture isn't green, and there is no body of water, but God is here.