Lovely Day for a Stroll … and Join Me in a Challenge

Saturday, 4 January
Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas
Temps: LO 52F (11C) / Hi 67F (19C)

Can you believe it?  The sun finally came out for two days in a row!

And the temps warmed up, too — though not for long.  Another cold front is headed our way.  Our temperatures are expected to drop down to freezing for a couple of nights starting tomorrow.  Considering what the eastern half of the country is experiencing, however, we’re not complaining.

Gulf Waters allows rigs and cars to be washed — for a price.  Mui paid his $15 just days after our arrival, but didn’t feel like playing with water until he had a mostly sunny day.  So, instead of going sightseeing as planned, he took advantage of the turn in the weather to wash the rig yesterday and give it a wax job today.

What every RV’er needs — a Palm tree that grows wash & wax rags!

While Mui was busy spiffing up our home today, I made myself scarce and went for a walk on the beach.  The breeze was light; the skies were blue; the sun kept me comfortably warm; and visibility was good, with the sea-mist haze quite a ways away.

There is some sea-mist haze, but it’s not as bad as it gets when the wind is blowing hard.

Zooming into the distant sea-mist haze, that end of the beach looks like a parking lot.

I love the beach here.  This time of the year there are few people around.  Although today being such a lovely day, and Saturday to boot, there were more people out sunning, walking, biking, driving, and fishing.  Most of them were at the far end from where I was walking, though, so all was good in my world.

I have a question for you?  Do you stoop down and pick up litter when you encounter it on the beach [you could actually insert any habitat in lieu of the beach]?  We do.  Although oftentimes we forget to take a bag with us, so our efforts are more limited than we’d like them to be.  Well, today I saw three separate incidents on the beach that made me resolve to become a better steward of the beaches on which we so enjoy strolling and otherwise spending time.

One of the many jellyfish that littered the beach like so many cow patties to be tip-toed around.

It all started when a young couple driving a cart on the beach stopped to look at a plastic bag that had washed ashore.  The next moment, they were driving off; the bag still lying on the sand.  Within minutes, a biker came to the same spot, saw the same bag, swerved to avoid it, and rode off.  It wasn’t long before a young man strolled by.  Again, the same bag.  It stayed on the ground after he passed by without so much as glancing at it.

Rainbows in sea foam.

By the time I had these three encounters, I had already criss-crossed the width of the beach to dispose of small handfuls of litter in the trash bins located at the base of the sand dunes.  Nothing big — a couple of bottle lids, some broken pieces of styrofoam, some balls of fishing line, one or two crushed plastic bottles filled with sand.  I added the aforementioned bag to two others I’d already picked up and threw them all in the bin at marker 49.

This was the biggest piece of litter I picked up off the beach today.
It was lying on the sand within a few yards of some sun worshippers and fishermen.
Too bad I didn’t find it until I was almost back home; I could have filled it with even more litter.

So here’s my challenge to all of us.  The next time you go for a stroll on the beach, pick up just ten small pieces of litter — more would be better, but all I’m asking is ten small pieces — and throw them in a trash bin.  If there are no trash bins — and often there aren’t — dispose of them at home.  Can you imagine what an impact we would have if we all did this?  And how much bigger that impact would be if you issued the same challenge to your own blog followers — especially since many of you have much bigger readerships than I enjoy.

(And if you’re not a beach-goer, you can apply the same challenge to your preferred walk/stroll/hike habitat.)

I PICKED UP A COUPLE OF THE BIODEGRADABLE DOGGIE-POOP BAGS FROM THE STAND
AT THE BEACH BOARDWALK HERE AT gULF wATERS.   mY LITTER PICK-UP KIT IS READY
FOR ME TO GRAB-AND-GO THE NEXT TIME I HEAD OUT TO THE BEACH.

I returned home to find Mui finishing up the Phaeton’s wax job.  A few more minutes of elbow-grease and he was done.  Although the breeze had picked up, there was enough sun on our patio to encourage us to eat lunch al fresco in the company of common grackles that were flitting about.  They didn’t come begging for food while we were eating.  I guess that means that the patrons of this resort don’t make a habit of feeding the birds.  That’s a good thing.

After bathing in the pond that fronts our site, this common grackle perched
on the back of a nearby bench to preen himself.  I’ve been told that as long as
the bird’s eye is in focus, a photo will pass the test, so I’m keeping this picture.

Tomorrow the weather pendulum swings the other way.  Who knows when the sun will grace us again.  I’m glad we made the most of the good weather Mother Nature gifted us with these past two days.