New life in Laredo.

I have now been living in Laredo for one month and two days.

So I have been thinking I should post here, and yet I didn't know what to post. Things have not been easy lately. The job is going fine. It's not really any one thing that is making things hard right now......really, it's a combination of everything being new. And I do mean everything. The job is new, of course. The people are new. The friends, which I am making (yay!) are new. The climate is new. The roads and navigation are new, and frustrating because they are new. The CULTURE is new and incredibly different from that of anywhere else I've ever lived.

With all these changes, it's no surprise that I've been pretty stressed out. But you know what? I am slowly making friends, and learning how to get around town. I am making new contacts at work for future programs and resource information. And I have been calling my parents when I get overwhelmed, and they are a source of wisdom, as well as comfort, as they listen to me vent.

The past few posts (since this blog is still pretty new, that would also be the ONLY posts) on this blog have been happy posts, full of pictures. I'm still going to post some pictures in this post. But I didn't know what I should write. I guess that's why I've been putting off posting here. It's a public blog. Anyone can read it. That's one of the points of this blog, is that it's public, and then maybe I can make new friends from different parts of the US and the world, and share my experiences with them while I'm at it. But what do I write on a public blog when things aren't splendiferous?

Again, don't get me wrong. I am not in a bad situation. Things aren't terrible by any means. They're just NEW, and with new everything, undoubtedly, comes stress. But part of the cool thing about a blog is you can post whatever the heck you want. I could make it all 100% happy posts. But that's not life. Life is a series of ups and downs. It's definitely not uncommon for me to experience a huge range of emotions in one day. For example, just today, I thought, "I hate Texas." (Under silly circumstances: I was stressed out because I was running late for a three-hour long drive I had to make for work, and the wind was blowing so hard as I was transferring personal items from my own car into my work vehicle. Texas itself really did not deserve this sentiment that I muttered.) Then later this evening, as I was driving along the highway, I saw a total of at least 6 different Crested Caracaras (photo of this bird below), a really cool bird of prey that is strikingly colored. "Sometimes," I thought to myself as I watched a Caracara glide from its perch on the ground near the road, to a telephone pole, "I love it here."

And that's my life nowadays. I hope, and expect, that it will settle down. I'll get into the groove of things. I think it's good to remind myself that even with all the stress I am experiencing right now, I am in a better situation than 2 months ago, when I did not know a.) if I was going to get a job in my field, or b.), if I did land a job in my field, what STATE would it be in????
Uncertainty is very hard, and I am really glad that I have a job now, and don't have to feel in limbo anymore. But I'm still getting settled here. It'll get smoother, I trust it will.

And things are certainly not all frustrating here, as I mentioned. I am indeed going to post some pictures in this blog post. I think especially looking at these pictures will remind me of some of the truly exciting and wonderful moments I have had here thus far.

I actually took this photo in San Antonio, not Laredo, but we have these wonderful birds here in Laredo as well. It's a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and I never get tired of seeing them.

The family that I am renting a room from had a birthday costume party for their 2-year-old. I dressed up as the Rapunzel princess from the Disney movie, Tangled.

This  photo was taken at one of my very favorite spots to bird in Laredo, called North Central Park. Here you can see a male Northern Cardinal (left) busily bathing, a few doves (look like Eurasian-Collared), another Northern Cardinal swooping in over the bench, and a Great Kiskadee observing it all from his perch atop the benchback.

Grasshopper Sparrow, taken at "my" park where I work!

Nighthawk (either Lesser or Common; very difficult to tell when the bird is sitting like this) at Lake Casa Blanca.

I went birding with some local birders, and had an absolute blast. Here I am down by the river (don't worry, I am on the US side!) with the Mexico flag flying high behind me, across the river. Laredo itself is pretty safe. The border patrol and the police do a good job of keeping the violence in Mexico and not crossing the border into the US. The morning that Raul and I birded along the river, we walked a path and also saw two different Border Patrol workers with their trucks.

We celebrated my coworker Gloria's birthday at work!

male Walking Stick insect at my park!

I mustered up my courage and picked him up!! I did read that they rarely bite, though some species do spray a nasty fluid from behind their head. But to pick this fellow up, I put my hand underneath its legs, rather than grabbing his body. Good standard to pick up insects by. :) For example, when my friend Julia and I have picked up praying mantids, we always put our hand under their legs, too. Praying mantids can pack a nasty scratch, Julia tells me, but if you handle them gently and don't grab them, it tends to be fine. Same with this walking stick insect, apparently!

he then proceeded to crawl up my shoulder!

beautiful Crested Caracara, as mentioned above.

there are SO many butterflies here! I love it. These are quite common. It is a White Peacock.

much debate on this butterfly's species, but it seems to be an Empress Leilia. Photo taken at North Central Park in Laredo.

Capturing dragonflies in flight is darn HARD!!!!!! I wish I had gotten this dude's face. But I am still pretty pleased with how it turned out; it took me a lot of blurry tries to finally get a clear shot! male Common Darter (I think), North Central Park.

Green Jay, at my work. I love these guys!!! They are rather elusive and hard to get a picture of.

Morning fisherman works the pier at my park, while an enormous gathering of Great Egrets perch in the reeds on the lake shore.

crazy (dead) baby tarantula (possibly, or a Trapdoor spider) I found at work!!!!

sunset photo taken a few weeks ago from the HEB (grocery store) parking lot in Laredo. Love the palm trees!

Hello Kitty cupcakes I made for the aforementioned two-year-old's birthday party!

Texas Road Trip, part II

Lydia and I are now in Brownwood, Texas, staying with some very dear friends of mine. We are on day 6 (!!) of our awesome road trip from Hayden, CO to Laredo, TX. :)  Today I am going to post pictures through Monday's adventures, which ended somewhere in New Mexico (I forget what city, but not far from Colorado!).

Arches!!! I had seen this awesome park on Dad's and my road trip from Eugene, OR to Hayden, CO, but Lydia had never seen it. :)

Tree or Fence Lizard. Nice to see a non Side-blotched Lizard for a change!

Arches NP is beautiful.

these formations are aptly named, "Windows".

"Garden of Eden" (that's the name of this area)

Biological soil crust! This area is really cool and fragile. I read or heard on the video we watched, that it can take 200 years to repair once damaged.

Delicate Arch.

it wasn't real birdy, but we went down to this "river" or former river, to see birds. No birds there, but cool scenery.

beautiful!

fall-blooming Indian Paintbrush!

AWESOME Tiger Beetle!!!!!!!

oh my.....we went to this RIDICULOUS place called Hole 'N The Rock. It had a crazy museum thing.

Kramer the camel!! They had a zoo there. I was kinda worried about how the animals were treated, what their living conditions were, etc. But they seemed totally and utterly fine, and all had a shady area to sleep in, etc. etc. :)

Lydia feeds Kramer!

The ostrich!

um yeah this was seconds before the llama SPIT and I got pieces of chewed-up carrot on me, etc......pretty gross-smelling. 0__o Still, I had never been spit on by a llama before, and although I would have been okay if I never did get spit on, it was kinda all part of the experience!!!!

slightly creepy Groucho Marx face, with lovely red rocks in background.

very very good to know. :)

So this couple lived in the "Hole 'N The Rock" for many years. We took a guided tour, but weren't allowed to take any pictures inside. It's pretty darn awesome though, and cool in temperature as well! It's carpeted, furnished, etc.

I found him!

beautiful cholla blossom.

And yes, that is a carving of the face of FD Roosevelt in the rock.....

we camped at Mesa Verde National Park that night!!!! Lydia helped me fiddle around with the manual settings on my camera to get a cool shot of the campfire and the moon. :D The moon was SO bright that we cast shadows. I love when that happens.

yum!

awesome night sky.

next morning we were able to see some cool parts of Mesa Verde.

lovely oaks.

We got to see the Spruce Tree House! It's not a treehouse at all, but one of the cliff dwellings where the people used to live many many years ago!!!!!

Here's a lizard we saw on our walk down. Just to break up the monotony and all.

me in front of the ruins!!!!

the beautiful light dappled over the bridge.

In this photo you can see oak, Douglas Fir (I think that's the coniferous tree in this pic; Doug Fir was indeed there; I know, because I saw a sign about it), and prickly pear. What a funny juxtaposition of plants!!!

the American flag flying high.

we had come in in the dark the previous night, so we got pics of us with the sign on the way out.

of course we had to go to four corners!!!!!

Lydia and I pose, good friends despite being each of us being states apart. :)

we stayed that night at a hotel in New Mexico, and I found this adorable little bat clinging to the top of the wall in an outdoor hallway outside our room. He was up at the top of the wall near the ceiling, hanging vertically. I was kind of worried about him because I took this picture around 11 pm, when I thought he should be out hunting. But maybe he had already filled his belly! What a cutie, at any rate.