I HAVE PICTURES! (scroll down)
If you haven’t read Shooting for the Target, you won’t understand this entry, because it is a part of a series.

I stepped off of the bus at the Greyhound station in Brownsville. A blast of smoggy air from the station greeted me. This one seemed even less organized than the one in Houston.

Derik greeted me. He was all smiles. “How you doin’, buddy?” he said, warmly greeting me. “Good,” I said as we went to the bottom of the big bus to get our luggage.

“Wadya do, bring the town with you?” Derik joked as he looked at my luggage. “What?” I asked, confused. “I only brought two pieces of luggage.”

“That’s how much luggage I bring when I go to China,” said Jenny, returning. I smiled. “Come on, lets go eat,” Derik said, and loaded us all into the car.

Thirty minutes, I was sitting in a Italian restaurant, eating a delicious lasagna. And a hour after that, I was home.

Well, not the home in Houston. The home in Brownsville.

It was in a golfing place. There were golfers driving home from golfing all day now, and we drove along side them to a warm-looking cottage.

Derik had insisted because “according to President Reagan, you can throw on a blanket or shirt if you’re cold, but you can’t take off a skin when you’re hot.” Amazing logic President Reagan had.

I smiled and went to sleep after setting up my computer.

- – - -

The next morning at 7, Derik knocked on my door.

“Rise and shine.”

“What?” I growled under my covers.

“Well, I’m going to go bird photographing right now in a park. You can come if you want, but I’m leaving.” He replied.

“You’re not going anywhere until I come,” I snorted as I opened the door and began dressing.

Three minutes later, I was sitting in the Jeep. Having brushed my teeth, he gave me a yogurt and we were off.

- – - -

“Wow.”

That was what I said as I looked at my picture of a green jay.

Three hours ago, we had hit the road. We had drove for about an hour to a place called Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. Once we arrived, we patiently sat in a blind.

The blind was basically a little shed next to a pond with holes cut into it. You would put your camera inside, and you could take pictures if you were quiet and didn’t scare away all the birds.

I had taken over 500 pictures that day, almost holding down the shutter the entire time on my SLR camera.

I had also learned about a lot of birds that day. There was a green jay (shown above), Chachalacas, and a beautiful Golden-fronted Woodpecker.

I had pictures of them all.

There was also the big thanks to Derik, which was given with a big hug, a thank you, and oodles more. He had let me borrow his professional lens for my camera.

He always said that telling someone they had a good camera was like saying a cook had good pots. Tell someone that he had a good lens, and both of you know about what you are talking about.

Of course, I joked and said that telling someone they had good lens would be like telling a cook they had good ingredients. Derik and I both laughed at that one.

We piled into the car and drove home, content.

Continue reading on.