Home late from my long weekend with Bob in Corpus - should sleep - but there is so much to record. I'll hit the highlights so I don't forget and expand later, after sleep. Bus trip down was odd - OU football weekend, buses even going south crowded - the bus overheating, turning around, the driver threatening to throw off a man who kept cussing loudly - but eventually stopped, a couple across the aisle from me meeting for the first time on the bus (clear from their conversation) and then making out vigorously most of hte way from San Antonio to Corpus . She had a wedding ring on. I was shocked and distressed and judgemental. on the other end of human nature, I talked to a young man who had been transfered from Tulane to UT after Katrina and who was impressed with how well the University is taking care of him - just took three hours to get registered, books, housing, everything arranged, and he loves his classes.

Bob and I organized his class room during the work day Saturday, watched the end of the OU game, we out Itallian, enjoyed some wetlands birding and walking Lobo by the bay at sunset We, started Sunday in the Gulf - glassy calm, no waves to speak of - walked out farther than we ever have, from sand bar to sandbar, turned when it gor over our heads . Today the waves were more acive and a storm was blowing up as we walked the shore through a convention of terns, Foresters, sandwich, Caspian, Royal, gull billed - as well as willet, Gulls, great blue heron, sanderling and ruddy turnstones. At the Port Aransas birding center we clibed the tower and were treated by a glorious view of birds - white ibis, cormorants, redwinged black birds, pelicans white and brown, egrets snowy and Great American - but mostly dozens of deeply roseate spoonbills, flapping and feeding, active and GLORIOUS. The shrimp has been good this year, as evidenced in the brightness of their feathers.

And then there's the fifth grade. I met the kids today and I jus want to spread my wings around all of them - an age I especially like and these kids touched me - sharing vulnerable writings with me already, asking serious, deep questions about my novel plot, and technical writing questions - one I couldn't answer about how to punctuate sound effects. The fifth grade class was on lock down because twins (one in each class) had been threatened over the weekend by their father in process of a difficult divorce. Bob is still feeling the wight of the task of changing grades - but I sure like these kids. we both miss the little ones, several of whom hugged us in the halls.