Cadence S. Olivarez
About Cadence S. Olivarez
Cadence Skye Olivarez has Texas roots dating back six generations. She currently resides in Corpus Christi with her three year old son, Everett, who would legally change his name to Batman should she allow it. She spends most of her time amid the palm trees of TAMUCC while she works full time, studies Creative and Professional Writing, and serves as the Associate Editor of Nonfiction for The Windward Review. She was recently a recipient of a HAAS Writing Award for her work completed in Fall 2018 and is a perpetual student of life. She is an avid lover of Mother Nature, yoga, coffee, and kindness.
Mesquite Tree
Heal me beneath the moon and the sea.
May the crashing waves devour my fears
and wrap me in a cocoon of the unknown,
spun like a dreidel of silk and sound
as harmonies of locusts lull this loud dream.
Blood orange moon, mother moon, longest of the century,
gleam unto my bare breasts that have changed shape
in aging and nourishing of my sweet babe;
see me for not the hundreds of versions there are that exist of me within each stranger,
but for who I am. Who I am.
A wandress shifting shadows,
morphing under the wings of sky,
soles of my feet calloused from kissing the red Texas dirt,
pulling the earth toward me as if it were an Afghan in the dead of winter’s night.
An Afghan knitted by the hands of my great grandmother who lived through The Great Depression,
starved through poverty, hunger knowing no race.
She praised her God on a day when she had animal fat to cook in her beans,
trekked across dry desert, cactus country, shielding her cooing infant from the blistering sun,
all to give me this life. This life.
With only the fire cracking and smoldering mesquite branches to warm my bones.
I sharply inhale this vision, and exhale the realization of permanence:
because of her, and the bloodline coming before me,
because of these ancestors who fought for this life,
healing under this moon,
because of them, I am eternal.
Peaches
There are no obscurities when it comes to grief.
It is simply a part of you.
It’s the pit of a stone fruit, lying in the center of your perfect peach.
It’s the light leaking out from a break in a cloud,
causing shadows to dance on your brightest moments.
It’s the aging of your hands,
worn and weary,
with the creases growing more evident as the years pass,
reaching for that peach – that tender, ripe peach – wishing
they could share it with you over a bowl of Blue Bell.
It’s their soft leather chair,
mahogany, and impressed with the memory of their seat,
remaining empty on Christmas Day.
It’s celebrating their would-be birthdays on a cedar plank deck
built inches above the Gulf,
with no one there to blow out the candles,
besides the brackish bay breeze.
It’s finding old photos
and wanting to share them with the world,
because then – maybe – it would stand as a testament
of their life’s meaning.
Maybe.
But it will never suffice for feeling their laughter
fill an entire room,
or picking Fredericksburg peaches
together
on the side of the road,
or having them walk you down the aisle,
all dressed in white,
on your wedding day.
No, there are no obscurities
when it comes to grief;
it is simply a part of you.
my twenty-seventh lap
as my twenty-seventh lap around the great star comes to a close, i am humbled by the beauty earth holds, gentle and cosmic in the palm of my hands; by the fragility of existence in this form, fleeting and weightless; by the binding force of love that resides within each of us, waiting to be awoken; and within all the dreams sung by the hum that my bleeding heart beats i welcome peace and stillness, yet remain open and willing for my soul to be stirred, never shying or shielding from the rain but allowing it to wash over my bones, and flesh, and eyes to pour out the hundreds of paths i chose not to walk, and breathe into the one i plucked, the fruit of what is. this path i’ll water and wander for all of my years to come, for i’ve only just begun the story that has yet to be spun.
Baby Bloomer
Baby Bloomer
Once a speck of stardust, then a sprouting seed,
blooming from the verdant, velvet covered leaves.
Your size a Meyer Lemon, canary and so sweet,
your skin the perfect hue, heart a steady beat.
Gentle in this iris, curled up serenely,
your rosy cheeks and chin, drawn down to your knees.
The beauty of becoming: budding, bittersweet,
eclipsing space and time, when our eyes finally meet.
Petals lending warmth, awaiting your first breath,
an act that will transcend, even my own death.
Catie Barber
About Catie Barber
Catie Barber graduated from Richard King High School in 1996 as Catie Vasquez before moving to Austin to raise her family in 2003. There, she homeschooled her four children until the sudden death of her 10-year-old son, Christian. For the past eight years, she’s worked for The Princeton Review in various roles, the most recent as Market Director. In her free time, Catie enjoys navigating life as an older parent to a 4-month-old infant and two teenagers, and she loves to paint along to Bob Ross episodes with her husband.
I Never Thought We’d End Up Here
The message said
Your daughter has been found dead
With a bag of cocaine located next to her
Please give us a call
To identify her body
My fear response has never been to
Fight or run
It has always been the absolute and abrupt
Board-stiff lack of movement
I said no
Over and over
Like a chant to bring back the dead
Or travel through time
Though the words were muddied
By dry tears
Choking my throat
As they clawed their way out
My husband stirred
Shook me
Asked what was wrong
I didn’t move
I read the words over and over
White letters cast out from a green thought bubble
Such a common morning task
To check one’s phone
We had no conversation of substance
For more than a year and a half
Before these letters introduced themselves
To my eyes
Sunk my heart
Into my bowels
The freeze thawed from my body
The shaking and shrieking
Took over
And I felt my husband’s hands around my pregnant waist
His sobs pushing deeply into my back
I wondered silently
How I would live through this again
Her voice on the other end
A soft and scratchy
Hello
Brought my tears to the front
Poured out of my body
Straight from my heart
That was almost crushed from the reality
Of what I read
The sounds that came from my mouth
Made no sense
But the message wasn’t reality
Like a police officer texting wasn’t a reality
At my most vulnerable
She told me she loved me
Over and over
And apologized for some stranger’s terrible prank
That felt very much like it was scripted for me
And this isn’t diminished
Even slightly
By her message twelve hours later
Telling me that the phone call I made to her
Was inappropriate
And that I should not expect emotional support
From her
Because I am an adult
And it isn’t her job
Charles Etheridge
About Charles Etheridge
A self-proclaimed desert rat, Chuck Etheridge was raised in El Paso, Texas. A US Navy veteran, he has worked as an actor, a convenience store clerk, a Rent-a-Poet, and a catalog copy writer before finding respectable employment as an English teacher, first at McMurry University and, later, at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. His poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction have been published in a variety of reviews and anthologized in a number of books, and he has written two plays that have been produced. Look for his upcoming novel CHAGFORD REVISITED. See his website.
My Choice of Hells
The Gods of the North warn
Hell is a hot place.
Do bad, and you will burn,
Smelling brimstone in a fiery pit
Forever.
South Texas sun blazes like an angry god,
Sweat runs rivers down my back,
My pale skin burns, red, so I must hide from the Sun,
Shield myself from the wrath of Thor
With sun hats, and sunblock,
While he burns my plants,
Evaporates lakes and rivers,
And slays even the toad
Crossing the parking lot,
Who dies, then swells up,
A grotesque balloon blistering on asphalt
This is summer.
Gods of the South snicker at the North,
Bask in the heat of Thor’s wrath,
And warn,
Do bad and you will freeze,
In a dark cold place,
Forgotten.
Old Sol, the Sun, has grown weak
Forgetting Chicago in January.
I must work outside,
Stand in waist high snow,
Try to use a metal wrench
When it’s twenty below zero.
The wind shoots down from the North,
Knifing my heart through the long underwear,
And heavy jacket. My hands, numb, can’t work
With gloves on,
But can’t work when they are frozen.
This is winter,
Quetzalcoatl’s anger is everywhere,
Inescapable.
My southern bones fear Aztecs
More than Vikings,
Can always take clothes off,
But can’t put on enough to keep warm.
If I have to choose hell, I’d rather be Aztec than Viking,
Would rather burn than freeze.
Copyright Charlesa Etheridge
Corpus Christi Bay at Sunset
Pink granite swells billow
From the barge dock to the distant island
Crimson sun slowly melts on the horizon
Perfect stillness on the water
Socially distanced fishermen
Sit on the barge dock
Still, but charged
Ready to pounce
If a fish bites
Mosquitos are biting
Fish are not
A perfect, still tableau
The only motion
A dark haired girl
Maybe four
Twirling happily by herself
Singing sweetly in Spanish
Her small sweet song providing
Just the right compliment
To the stillness
Peace is punctured
By a red Chevy Avalanche
Barreling down the barge dock
Poorly muffled engine
Drowning out all other sound
A whoop from the driver’s window
Truck cuts its wheels
Tires spin on the concrete
Testosterone machine
Cuts circles, marring the dock
Spinning, smoking tires
Blackening the air
Replacing the salt-scented air
With eau de burning rubber
PIeasant smells, pleasant sounds
Gone
Driver loses control for a second
Truck lurches straight at the little girl
Her song stopped
Wheels catch at the last second
Barely missing the songstress
By a yard
Driver never sees her
Just keeps spinning his tires and whooping
Angry the father of the girl yells
He and another man
Stride angrily toward the truck
Driver notices, and leaves
After a minute or two
The sound is gone
But the smoke remains
The moment is broken
The sea is still pink granite
The sun a dissolving crimson disk
Fishermen still fish
But the tiny songstress sings no more
THE USS NORTON SOUND
Thirty-three thousand tons of steel,
She slogged through the gray seas,
Like an arthritic aunt,
Determined to cross the street without help,
Graceless but reliable.
When Uncle Sam invited her to the dance,
The dance called World War II,
She was not his favorite niece,
He told her to dress,
So she could take care of sea planes.
She stumped gracelessly across the Pacific,
To Japan,
Where out-of-ammo pilots aimed planes
At her thick hull.
She wasn’t pretty,
But she was tough,
Shrugging off attacks,
Giving better than she took.
She sank sixteen enemy ships,
Put thirty more out of action,
Shooting enemy aircraft out of the sky
While performing more than 400 rescue missions.
Like sailors, Ships get medals—
She was awarded two,
And the admiral made her
His flagship.
All she wanted to do
Was make her Uncle Sam proud.
But was obsolete before she got home from the dance.
But her Uncle Sam was a thrifty fellow,
Figured she’d gotten all gussied up
Why not invite her to a different ball?
“It’s an honor,”
He whispered in her ear,
“You’ll be a test platform.
We’ll put new weapons systems on you,
To see if they work.
You’ll be the first to try everything.”
She didn’t quite trust,
The lascivious, tempting sound
Of Uncle’s voice,
Gamely, though, she agreed.
Her sailors kneeled worshipfully on her decks,
Holystoning each teak plank,
Polishing her brass,
Painting her deck,
And she hoped that,
Just once, she would be
The belle of the ball,
When they ripped wood off her fantail she cried,
Blushing when they bared her bare steel bottom
For all the world to see.
She howled when they cut a huge hole
On her fantail
Plunging a missile magazine into her depths,
Leaving a launcher sticking up out of her bottom.
It was embarrassing.
None of her ship friends even knew what it was.
The first missile
Made her decks burn like no ships’ decks
Had been burned before.
She hadn’t been built to take this kind of abuse,
But the same hull and decks
That shrugged off Japanese zeros
Took it,
Because she wanted to make her Uncle Sam proud.
But, quietly,
She cried at the burns,
On her beautiful teak decks.
Her Uncle had other concerns, though,
The Soviets were putting things up in the sky,
Out in space,
And the Navy had to track them,
So he added three more decks
To her already top heavy frame,
Looking like a short, heavy woman
Forced to teeter about on six inch heels.
Decades came and went,
But she was always game,
They cut out launchers,
Added others launchers,
More radar.
One day,
Uncle Sam called her up,
She could hear tears of joy
In his voice.
“The Cold War is won!”
He breathed excitedly,
“We command the seas.”
Then, an embarrassed cough,
“Um, and we don’t need you anymore.”
She wanted to plead,
Promise to be useful,
But he had already hung up.
She was the oldest line ship in commission,
For more than forty years,
She’d taken everything they’d thrown at her,
Dive bombers, enemy ships,
Missile platforms, radar—
And now they were done.
All that is left of her now,
Is a plaque and a ship’s bell.
The steel melted down now for other things—
Maybe a girder on an overpass,
The steel in a building,
Maybe a playground Jungle Jim,
Or maybe the razor blade you shaved with yesterday.
Her eternal reward
For forty-five years
Of faithful service
To her Uncle Sam.
You Feed Them
I’ve always been taught, that if somebody is hungry, you feed them. It’s a basic act of human decency. Forget the politics. Forget trying to analyze the situation that made them hungry. Forget blame. If someone is hungry and you have the ability, you help. It goes doubly if there are children in need.
This past weekend, my wife, Diana and I went with a couple of people to do some relief work at one of the camps in Matamoros, Mexico where asylum seekers are waiting for the chance to enter the US legally. Along with our priest, Father Jonathan, and a friend named Donna, we took a car full of gifts donated by our church—air mattresses, cook pots, and a couple of hundred pounds of food. We were also armed with a generous cash donation from the parishioners to buy needed materials once there.
Our first stop after leaving Corpus was the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, about a 2 ½ hour drive...
Charles Etheridge
Porch Prom
I call her up.
“Put on your dress and shoes.”
“I can’t,” she says. “Prom is cancelled.”
“I know. We’re going to have to Social Distance.”
“But I worked extra hours to buy a tux
And you and your Mom spent weeks finding that dress
And it’s prom night. We’re going to dress up
Even if it’s cancelled.”
“Let me ask my mom.”
The next voice is not friendly.
“Dylan,” her mom says, “I thought you had more sense.
I thought I could trust you.”
“You can, Mrs. Wilson.
We’ll dress up
Stay six feet apart
Stay on the front porch.”
Ominous silence on the other end
“Okay,” her mom says
But I’m going to keep my eye on you.”
As if she wouldn’t have even anyway.
I need Dad’s help putting on a tux
There’s this weird elastic thing
Called a “cummerbund”
And he has to tie my tie.
I use a red bandana
As a facemask,
Looking like a bandido
Taking health precautions.
Mom cries,
Takes a lot of pictures,
Says, “You look so handsome.”
I shrug, embarrassed
On impulse, I go into Mom’s cabinet,
Grab a Mason jar,
Fill it half full with water,
Fill the other half with wildflowers from the garden
And drive to her house.
She is standing on the porch,
My heart stops
She is more beautiful than I could have imagined
Standing in a dress of some blue-green color
Short in the front, but not too short,
Touching the ground in the back,
Shoulders bare
She looks like a princess
In those Disney movies she loves
Only she’s real,
And only six feet away
Somehow, she’s found a face mask
That matches her dress
And strappy heels,
Her green eyes twinkle
I ache to close the distance
But I can’t
So I set the Mason jar full of flowers
On the porch
Her mother, plastic gloved,
Gives the jar the once over
With Clorox wipes
And brushes away a tear
I step to one side of the porch,
Take out on my phone
Turn on Spotify
“May I have this dance?”
Cheeks raised behind the mask,
She says, “Yes”
Going to the other side of the porch
And we dance
And we twirl
And we laugh
And I don’t care
That prom was cancelled.
In my mind
We dance arm in arm
All night
Without masks.
Chelsea Brotherton
About Chelsea Brotherton
Chelsea Brotherton studied English writing at Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi. She won the 1st place undergraduate creative writing 2019 Haas English Writing Awards for a small collection of poetry. A Houston native, she is and enthusiastic Corpus Christi transplant.
PRAYER TO MY EX-FATHER
Here’s to you, and trying to forget
My father, who art in nowhere.
Your face, barely seen, burns in memory,
Damned be your name.
My father who art in nowhere,
Would you know your children’s faces?
Damned be their names.
Yours was mine, but erased from me.
Do you know your children’s faces?
Have they been hidden from your kingdom?
You were mine, and erased yourself-
May your hell be as it is in my earth.
I try to hide you as I forge my kingdom,
But daily your ghost creeps back to me.
May your hell be as it is in my nightmares,
Your ghouls the faces of your forgotten children.
Your ghost creeps back to me,
And I cannot forgive your trespasses.
The faces of your forgotten children,
I imagine them happy in your absence.
I cannot forgive your trespasses, oh father.
Abandonment is an ever-weeping wound.
I imagine myself happy in your absence,
And in moments of temptation, I let myself.
Abandonment is an ever-creeping wound,
Climbing spine and occasionally finding brain.
In moments of temptation I let myself
Be delivered from your evil.
Here’s to you, and trying to forget
Your face, barely seen, burns in memory.
I Relapsed Today
I relapsed today
into my old ways.
It’s been five months
since I left this pit-
I was conditioned to ignore
His words, convinced of their emptiness-
Leaving me just as empty.
I would be more
To make up for him. I was sure
If I could make the right meal
Or speak gently enough
Or wear something sexier
That he would be happy
Enough to treat me like it.
I’m not sure what made me walk away,
But I’ve spent five months trying
To figure out what I’m worth
In my independence, my singularity.
I have been failing, pining
After sweet words and squeezed thighs.
But today it happened, a shame
I thought I had forgotten.
Like when I brought Peter home from the shelter,
The way he auto-cowered at the mere flinch
Of a finger- he still does this sometimes,
A reflex.
And today your words burrowed
Through my ears, banging around pinball
Style, knocking my stomach over,
Punching holes in my brain.
“Another bitch that cares
about nothing but herself”
“Fuckin cunt”
“I hate all you whores”
And my reply?
I was my dog, cowering in a corner.
“I’m sorry”
And I am sorry
For you, but it’s not my damn job.
Mostly, I’m sorry for myself.
And I’m writing this down
As a reminder, that the next time a man calls
Me a cunt on a second date
(or a 400th)
To say “I’m sorry”
But to follow it with
“But you can fuck right off.”
Christian Garduno
About Christian Garduno
Christian Garduno’s work can be read in over 100 literary magazines. He is the recipient of the 2019 national Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry, a Finalist in the 2020-2021 Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Writing Contest, and a Finalist in the 2021 Julia Darling Memorial Poetry Prize. He lives and writes along the South Texas coast with his wonderful wife Nahemie and young son Dylan.
General Delivery
I was on the house-phone in the kitchen
you were looking out over the Mendenhall Glacier
watching three bear-cubs romping below
seems like you said that for an hour
It'd be a good time for you to swim back to shore for sure
I got your telegram last week, I keep it hidden away in my composition book
Giovanni’s back along the coast
read the rest in Corpus Christi Writers 2022
And Honey, How Was Your Day
I sat all day on my ergonomically-correct office chair in my corner office, ignored all janitors and groundskeepers on the way to my bad-ass leased car in the parking lot, bought some gas pilfered all the way from God only knows where, and made it home by 5:45.
Time to let the wifey cook dinner from scratch, turn up the game while she checks the kiddos’ homework, does all of everyone’s laundry, folds it, irons it, puts it away—in between, I ask her if she can grab my charger—bathes the children, gets their day ready for tomorrow. Then, when she finally hits the couch, I have her ask me about my day. Well, really, I just Googled stuff all day, went over the Thompson account with Williams, but by then, we had to cut it short because it was lunchtime, which the company paid for, naturally. Came back to the office, talked about the game with Anderson until it was break-time, grabbed some free coffee from the break room, mentioned to Amanda in Accounting that her Pilates is certainly paying off (Mmmmm) and if she could add me on FB (the OTHER account I have on the down low).
Finally, it was time for me to shove random papers into my briefcase (I don’t even know whats in there LOL). By the time I hit the elevators (entirely oblivious to the cleaning crew coming in to wash the toilets, sweep the carpeting, wipe down the elevators, toss out the stale coffee, prep the filter for the morning, etc.) I saw Jameson, and I owed him one, so I broke out the company card and we tied on a quick-double shot at Nippley’s. While talking about how plump that waitress’s tush is and how one day—one fine day—he’s gonna ask her out and hit that, I slam my drink and I says to him- No way, man, dream on; he laughs even harder, saying: When I brutalize them cheeks, I’m gonna send you a selfie of me hitting that fo’ sho’!!!
Whew, I laughed all the way across the freeway, all the way to my off-ramp, all the way down the street (where I saw some sad sap waiting for public transportation, so I splashed him), and just before I hit the corner, I slapped that garage door opener, slid the SUV right into my space, left my briefcase—I never need that damn thing—and as I turned the key into my extravagant home, I thought—Whew!! Man, that Jameson is one funny-ass dude!!!!
The Heart is Left of Center
I like this song because you like this song
why is that so wrong
I like who likes me
is that wrong
So go ahead, pull the pin
& let’s begin again
falling back half-asleep to the black & white
Liz Taylor movie on cable TV
I call all the dreams you save
one mass grave
Eyes half-closed
and I can’t tell if it’s you
or the hydroponic THC
You crook your index
and I’m at your feet
you blow an eyelash
and I’m on the floor
There go the wolves
here come the buzzards
make sure to tell the ravens
my heart is left of center
The Rich and the Rare
The story begins and ends in the graveyard
which I knew at the time…
I even thought about that after my first Bloody Mary
such irony at 38,000 feet above the earth.…
not exactly a time to lose your marbles.....
praying to keep from looking out the window, out over the clouds, what agony
crying for mother, swearing my full name, every iota devoted to landing
clenching the armrests in gasps
Touchdown and I couldn’t jump off that plane quick enough
a lay-over margarita, and I spilled it magnificently
meeting Emily by chance, sunfalling by enormous glass windows
exchanging books, numbers & looks
Holding court in a mansion, stepway to the hot tub & shower
pool table inside, fire place outside
blowing speakers and neighbors away, 91.1 FM Berkeley radio-
props, man, props
vikings and raiders
getting lost in The Old City
free BART weekend
La Val's has closed
N Judah all the way down
the Spunset, Funston, Great Expectations
WiFi in the Cemetery
All songs are sad when you’re in love
who would want it any other way?
He still sings in the shower-
like who does that anymore??
and why do you sing in that faux British accent?
makes no sense whatsoever
and why do you cry when you play Willie Nelson records?
I swear, you are so weird
You read too much Plath, you know
She can really get to you
She’ll lead you down a life of Sundays
All love is doomed, it’s primordial.
She’s a Sailor
She’s a sailor
guided by brittle stars
and the chorus of waves
sailing on the banks beyond
the barking sands
She is underway
forever skimming
over mountains of ocean-
At the helm of her own soul
anchored only to Heaven itself
Ground Swells
Counting every wave on the Ganges
every tomb is another womb
and every time you're checking out
another soul is perfectly checking in-
it's just the rooms we rent...
Lone Star Lover
Find me some buds before too long in the afternoon,
anywhere you are can make a mighty fine saloon,
when the beach is your backyard,
you don’t have to look very hard,
so give me a flash, let’s make a splash,
Gulf of Mexico’s always got plenty of room
read the rest in Corpus Christi Writers 2019
Christian Garduno
The Cosmonauts
Masha wanted to be cosmonaut
she wanted to fly far, far away
just her and Dmitri
and wave farewell to all the Field-Marshals
but now she’s stuck missing something inside that she never ever had
Dmitri, he is, how do you say--
expert with electronics
Masha was scared to death of the GULAGS
one night they take you away and in the morning, you never existed
she prayed for her and Dmitri, that they would make it out
and then she prayed if they couldn’t make it out together
then at least he would make it out
Dmitri, he would remember me
even after everyone else forgot
Masha often thinks of memories that are not her own
like a library book on loan
but it’s not entirely her own fault
she’s can’t risk looking back and turning into a pillar of salt
Dmitri, meet me in my dreams, we can still fly away
Christian Garduno
About Christian Garduno
Christian Garduno’s work can be read in over 100 literary magazines. He is the recipient of the 2019 national Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry, a Finalist in the 2020-2021 Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Writing Contest, and a Finalist in the 2021 Julia Darling Memorial Poetry Prize. He lives and writes along the South Texas coast with his wonderful wife Nahemie and young son Dylan.
This Was Christmas of Next Year
(originally published in Syncopation Literary Journal, Nov 2022)
I’m pretty sure this was all your idea-
you were beaming with pride over it
when you thought of it
back in June
you were like- let’s go to your brother’s in Virginia for the holidays, dear
and without looking, I said- do you know what all that would entail?
I mean, I’m not saying I wouldn’t wanna see the fam and all, but damn
You were wiping down the counter, your left shoulder slightly up-
It would be nice- a little road trip, asking directions lol,
and anyways, it’ll be a quaint quiet white little Christmas…
the…left a gap in the conversation I knew better not to even touch
You pursed your lips- well, the thing is, I’ve already been saving up
and requested the time off work, and I emailed him last week saying we’d be there
everything’s been settled, but there’s just one little caveat, my love
I exhaled- and what would that be?
You started a pot of coffee- it’s just that we all kind of came to the consensus
that it would be better if you didn’t play any Dylan this year, that’s all
we all know how much he means to you, but it really isn’t holiday music, is it?
I inhaled- how about for Christmas, I give you all the gift of getting Dylan?
You started wiping down the same counter you wiped down before-
Darling, read the room a little, you know? How about Janey Mitchell? Everyone likes her, right? Why don’t you make one of your little playlists with her music? Do you want milk in your coffee tonight? I know it’s been giving you gas lately
Exasperated, I said- just sugar and who the hell is Janey Mitchell? Did you mean Joni Mitchell? Wow, way off!
You combed your hair behind you ear with your hand- Oh, honey bear, don’t be so upset, you know who I meant- I really like that one she sings about California, so soothing, she’s like “I love California!”
I took the coffee- that’s not even how that song goes, and my playlists are CURATED, and what do you mean caveat? How many people have signed on to this?
You looked over your cup- Well, I wouldn’t want to say everyone, but everyone
I put my cup down on the coaster- Everyone?!
You looked me in the eye- well, not everyone, I guess the cats might like it, I dunno, look, my love, we just all remember that Fourth of July weekend when you did like an 80-hour non-stop commercial-free Dylan deep dive and well, I’m just gonna say it, sweetheart, I don’t think he can sing very well, that’s all, I suppose if he sprinted for some vocal lessons and found his range, he could be alright…
The…left a distance between us
Your eyes widened- No! Don’t do it!
My chin was raised in defiance- I grabbed my laptop and made a playlist right then and there: BOB DYLAN @ XMAS @ VIRGINIA and I emailed it to the coalition
We did take a road trip that holiday season, we did have to ask for directions, the snow was falling in Virginia and best thrill of the entire year was when we walked into my brother’s warm house and I yelled out-
Alexa, play BOB DYLAN @ XMAS @ VIRGINIA and she said ‘ok now playing’
Christopher Ashworth
About Christopher Ashworth
Christopher Ashworth is a senior at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Geology. He has always enjoyed the Arts. His current artist expressions are poetry and prose.
I Am Not Broken
I am broken
And I refuse to believe that
Someone loves me
I can see how this could be confusing, but
A broken heart can be healed
Is pure fiction
There isn’t a fish for me
Once I am old and wise, I’ll tell you that
I’ve got my own back because
Selfishness
Takes precedence over
Selflessness
Hear me out:
Once upon a time
Someone broke my heart
I remembered
Keep my head up because
My father says
Crying makes you weak
My ex says
Love comes and goes
I cannot say for certain
Love finds its way
After awhile
Hope is lost and
No longer will I sit here and act like
I know what I am doing and
It will eventually show that
I do not put forth effort
And do not assume that
I know what I am
Clara Tamez
About Clara Tamez
Clara Tamez was born in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1994. Her love of literature began as a child reading Emily Dickinson’s Poetry for Young People. She has traveled through Greece, Italy, France, Malta, Iceland, Scotland, and England and spent most of her childhood writing songs and filling up sketchbooks. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Incarnate Word in English and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Kingston University London. She currently resides in San Antonio, Texas
The Just Before
“Would you still love me if I didn’t have teeth?”
“Did you wake up with them gone or did you get into an accident?” Jaydon’s voice sounds a little hollow as it always does over the prison phone line. “Or were you born without them somehow?” He laughs and I imagine the curl of his lips as he pictures a me with no teeth or the laugh I would have gotten if I told him I had no hair, or had been magically transformed into a chicken. I loved the laugh I would have gotten with that one.
“All of the above. Start with me waking up without them.”
“It would be freaky. I’d be more worried about the trauma inflicted on you, waking up with puddles of teeth in your lap.”
“Hah! I imagined they just disappeared. Now what if I got into an accident and they all fell out?”
“That’d be some accident.”
Questions that used to be for fun are now a welcome, necessary distraction for both of us. I give him scenarios and he goes through as many as he can in fifteen minutes. Sometimes, we get thirty, if no other inmates are waiting.
These calls are a lot better than they used to be. The first one was: “Luna, you need to help my mom with Ada.”
I didn’t want to at first. That was what he did, and he would continue doing it. Until I heard the bail amount. Then, I marched right up to Raul and demanded he make me full-time. I don’t think he knew why I asked, or cared, just assumed I was desperate to save up for college.
I press the phone into my shoulder. “Ada, finish your applesauce, please. I’ll be right back.”
At the dining table, Ada nods. She moves her spoon as if it’s heavy. Her face is the unusual one compared to her siblings. Jaydon’s skin is deep brown, and when he stands in the sun he glows. Ada’s skin is the color of sand, barely darkening at her forehead. Where his nose widens, hers turns up. The only thing similar is the brow. Heavy lids that blink only when they need to and eyelashes so long they curl into the eye, like yesterday; I held her while she cried and I flicked one out with my fingernail.
I step into my room and the door creaks when it closes.
“You know how old people have sets of fake teeth? Guess we’d have to get you some,” he continues.
“Mmm. But would you still love me?”
“Yeah. What about you, would you love me?”
A pause. “Yes.”
After that, it’s silent for a while.
I run my tongue around my whole mouth. When I was younger, I feared that thinking or saying something over and over would make it come true. If I thought about the devil long enough, he would appear in my room. But none of us can ever predict reality. I couldn’t have.
The prison ends the call abruptly as it often does, without even a chance for a goodby.
Thirty minutes later, I walk back to the kitchen and grab my lunch box. I peek at the inside and take out a half-eaten granola bar and crumpled napkins. A big stain ruins the bottom from my last day of school. Instead of eating at the cafeteria, all us seniors went to the McDonald’s on the corner and signed each other’s yearbooks with greasy French-fry fingers and hearts and promises to keep in touch. The full thermos of soup jostled around and spilled.
The refrigerator has leftovers neither me nor Mom want. It wasn’t very good to begin with since I don’t know how to cook. The microwave at work only functions at half power but it’ll have to do today. I grab a baked chicken leg.
Behind the refrigerator door, Ada’s bowl is empty and her spoon rests next to it, licked cleanly.
“Ada? Are you in the bathroom, sweetheart?” Silence. I zip up my lunch box.
“Ada?” The bathroom is empty. “I know you can hear me. Are we playing hide and seek?”
She’s almost three but she doesn’t say much. Definitely doesn’t ask, “Why is the sky blue?” like what I read online that kids might start asking at this age. Maybe we both fear the day she does, since I won’t know what to tell her, what would be appropriate to introduce.
“Oh! There you are.”
She’s standing in the doorway to my bedroom looking in. She could be looking at a number of things: my old pink dollhouse now crammed full of books, old knickknacks I can’t let go of like a robotic dog that moves its head side to side when you press a button. She turns my way and widens her eyes.
Two weeks ago, the last time Jaydon was here, we watched a documentary. His surprise that he’d hinted at over text was a bag of microwavable popcorn with extra butter, two hot chocolate packets, and a movie he pirated. We lay perfectly still so my bed wouldn’t creak and every few minutes switched who held the phone so our arms wouldn’t hurt.
I want to study English in college, so the film was about linguists discussing the hardest and least spoken languages in the world. Jaydon fell asleep after thirty minutes, his breath sweet and salty and his head heavy on my shoulder. I was warm off the hot cocoa and with him and that slightly fuzzy film, I felt like I had everything.
One of the languages covered is spoken by the Pirahã people in Brazil. They don’t have words for numbers, colors, or past or future tense. They don’t understand abstract concepts like people leaving and if you can’t see or physically observe something it doesn’t exist.
Jaydon is Ada’s favorite sibling and I keep waiting for her to throw a tantrum or ask where he is. Each time she bites her lip and furrows her brow in some kind of thought, I immediately prepare answers that she could understand—he went away for a while but he’s going to come back. We’re all working really hard on it. None of us like this arrangement any more than you do—but once she’s done thinking all she does is blink. Like now, for her I didn’t exist a few moments before. Every time I enter the room, she looks at me like I’m new.
CoffFeeE Cat
About Coffee Cat
Coffee Cat has lived in Corpus Christi all her life and graduated from Texas A & M University as a first generation college student with a Bachelor's degree in English. She currently works as a technical writer. Her novel DON'T DIE is available on Amazon. Summary: Anastasia Adira has read, watched, and heard countless stories with the same trope: do anything for love or save the princess. Two formulas that never seem to get old. As much as he enjoys a good romance, he never thought he’d be a part of one. Galaxia knows love as a word he can’t spell or recognize on the page. All it is, is something his clients say to him after a night of business and nothing more. When the two meet, the real story begins. BUY ON AMAZON
At Fault
When I was a Kid I told myself
I’d never live past 25
Diagnosed with Demons
The prescription was church
I folded the pages of Bibles
Into the shape of pills
Desperate to quell the monster
In my head because
If the bandages from the
Priest’s mouth don’t
Heal your broken mind
It’s your fault
For rejecting the lord
When I was a Kid
I told myself I’d never live past 25
My self-inflicted
Stigmata nothing more than a
Symptom of my failure
I didn’t want to be stitched up
By prayers
But held together by human arms
When I was a Kid I told myself
I’d never live past 25
My blood boiled from
A baptism based on
Biblical Blasphemy of giving my
Life to the lord
What’s the point of being alive if
Your life isn’t yours anyway?
When I was a Kid I told myself
I’d never live past 25
But the other day
I woke up two years past my
Expiration date
Two Degrees and
Not a dime
Not fully alive
But not dead either
Alive
Tell me what it's like to be alive and not just survive.
Tell me what it’s like to know you’ll always have food at home
And have a home
To call home
Tell me what it’s like to be content.
Tell me what it’s like to drive down a little street
And pull up into a driveway.
Tell me what it’s like to have the keys to a house,
How does it sound when the door unlocks?
Tell me what does it smell like?
Does it smell like the cigarettes and gunpowder from the
Apartments above and below?
Or does it smell like citrus?
Tell me what it’s like to have a yard and a garden.
Tell me what it’s like to have a barbecue in the backyard
That lasts late into the night.
Tell me what it’s like to have a home.
Tell me what it’s like to be alive and not just survive.
And I’ll tell you what it’s like to survive and not be alive.
Poison me with the hope that one day I too can be alive.
Cory Staryk
About Cory Staryk
During the day, C.J. Staryk is a marine biogeochemist at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi. By night or the wee hours of the morning, he frantically claws at his keyboard to compose short stories, poetry and novels. From his lair, C.J. also manages a website for his photography and stories: https://hauntingachingwonder.wordpress.com.
The Haunting, Aching Echo
Here's a sample of Cory's work:
During the winter, I head back home to see the family. I also visit the place that would always give me a sense of calm from the outside world and the theater of lunatics in my head. It is a county park wrapped around the local reservoir.
See more at
About Cory's Writing
I read a Norman Mailer article that played with the idea that God was fully aware of our Doom. That he had made mortal creatures that will still die and be gone. It was a beautiful idea to me and it affected me.
I'm also obsessed that we just don't understand the vastness of space. Exploration of space is both bleak and absolutely amazing. I want to capture those two sentiments in the future science fiction work I write. Also, there is this idea in ecology that the destination of all species is extinction and I'm curious about how we would want to go out. I was trying to play with those ideas.
There is this old proverb, which I think is Buddhist, that says: before enlightenment, a shepherd wakes and tends to his flock; after enlightenment, a shepherd wakes and tends to his flock. That is how I came up with the resolution. Originally, I wanted to shut the station down and everyone would die to send the message, but it just didn't seem logical and really cruel. Could be really emotional, but ultimately a terrible ending.
Excerpt from Echoes
Flint flipped through the monitors’ outside views of the station and the gas giant they orbited. Turbulent cloud bands and a wide, vertical icy ring were the only sights. He once imagined the galaxy’s stars full of civilizations waiting for discovery, but most were empty and others were tombs.
Muted laughter drew Flint to the third monitor. A party played on that screen. Ten years ago. A woman with deep blue eyes smiled into the camera. Her shoulders draped with her long, brown curls framing her olive skin. She lifted her hands, revealing a brownie with a single lit candle. She mouthed “happy birthday” and laughed.
Sarah.
“We still felt alone out here then, but we were happier,” Flint muttered.
He caught a familiar scent: strawberry and cucumber, the aroma of the shampoo Sarah used. Flint swiveled in his chair and stared down a simulacrum of a short man with wide-rimmed glasses approaching.
“You’re trying to help again, Prometheus,” Flint said, fighting tears in his eyes. “It’s not working.”
The aroma vanished, replaced with the cold smell of dust and metal.
“I apologize. The captain assumed it would be a good idea. She is worried about you since it is the tenth anniversary of—”
The anger welled up inside him, but Prometheus was just following orders. He was a relic found adrift; an artificial, alien intelligence trapped in a probe; his creators extinct. There was no reason to be mad at him. “The captain wants me to be obedient, not comforted. Don’t worry, I’m not a danger to you.”
He turned back to his console so that Prometheus wouldn’t see the tears.
A blue light flashed.
Shit, it was the big blue light!
After decades of eavesdropping on alien signals, someone was sending them a message!
Prometheus gripped Flint’s shoulder, then turned to shout into the PA. “All officers report to the command center. We have a Code Blue.”
The monitor flashed with data and figures.
Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop. Flint thought. Let us find you.
The screen shimmered and flickered. The map turned red.
Flint whistled. “The source is outside of our galaxy. How is that possible?”
Crystal Garcia
About Crystal Garcia
Crystal Garcia is a Corpus Christi native who graduated in 2012 although strives to continue her education in being a student of life. She is a lover of books and all things literature—especially poetry. Crystal is also the co-creator of a local podcast called Revolve One. Through this platform, Crystal along with her brother and podcasting partner, Rudy, seek to connect with their local community and listeners from all around the world. Whether through the podcast or her writing, Crystal exercises her ability to pen heartfelt poetry and also confronts with veracity the current events of our time. In everything she does, this writer and content creator expresses empathy as well as an unfaltering love for creative endeavors
It's crazy to think
It's crazy to think it's been a year...it feels like—
well, honestly feels like it's hard to explain.
First ever Poetry Night highlighting mental health awareness during mental illness awareness week and serendipitously falling on World Mental Health Day and that was just a year ago. Honestly to me, time passed somehow seems like a decade and yet only a few months ago simultaneously.
So much has changed since then and it's been for the better because I was in much darker places mentally about a year ago.
I have lost friends.
Made new acquaintances and friends.
Different jobs and different faces,
but I still have to write.
It is something I must do, not just to share...
first and foremost for myself.
Although looking back on it all now, sharing my writing was one of my most courageous feats.
I'm so happy I did!
Thank you to those who have supported me as well as supported both my brother and I through the podcast—the support does not go unnoticed or unappreciated! We must support and lift each other up in every way we can.
I have endured immense pain as well as experienced ecstatic joy and it has all shaped me into who I am.
It's a journey we all progress through together &
no matter what happens...just keep on going.
My ears are open
My ears are open
to listening—
yet most days
I don't want to
hear all the noises
of the world.
My ears sometimes
ring from random
electronic appliances
& spontaneous
Universal downloads....
Cynthia Breeding
About Cynthia Breeding
Cynthia Breeding often wonders if she was born in the wrong century. She has a love/hate relationship with technology and has an avid interest in medieval history. Most of her books are historical romances with a bit of paranormal thrown in now and then. She also loves sailing and horseback riding. Cynthia is a well-established romance writer with 49 novels and novellas available.
Gunslinger
(Novel Excerpt)
By the devil’s own horns, he hadn’t expected Abigail Clayton to be so beautiful. The information he’d gotten on Sayer’s new bride hadn’t said much. Luke Cameron narrowed his gaze at the woman who’d just stepped off the train. She wore no bonnet and the sun made her golden hair glow like a halo, brightening her eyes to the deep blue of the Pacific. She had the face of an angel, softly rounded with a pert nose. Not that Luke had any experience with angels. Gunslingers rarely did. But…he studied her face again. Her mouth was definitely not angelic. The full lips, right now gathered in a pout, begged to be kissed. He pushed the thought away. He was here to see who would come for her now that Sayer was dead...
Buy Gunslinger on Amazon
Catch a Dream
21st century history teacher Elizabeth O’Malley wakes up in a Texas barn in 1849 wearing only a black silk negligee. When she’s discovered by Texas Ranger Miguel de Basque, he thinks she’s a prostitute from a Fort Worth brothel…perhaps suffering from amnesia,
given her wild tales of where she’s from.
Excerpt: Catch A Dream
Elizabeth O’Malley was falling, gliding through mists, hurdling downward, the air getting darker until all was pitch. She reached for something to grab onto, but met only swirling vapors as she spiraled on. A speck of light dawned ahead, silhouetting the shape of a flame-haired woman dressed in white leather. The vision became engulfed in a web of blue and green strands as Elizabeth rushed forward. She put her hands out to brace herself and swept right through the mesh, landing with a solid thump onto a floor, bumping her head in the process.
“Ouch!” Rubbing her forehead, she slowly opened her eyes. She was lying face down in a pile of fresh hay. Her nose twitched. The smell of horses filled her senses. A stable? She must be dreaming, but this felt so real.
Behind her, a horse gently nickered and stamped a hoof. Elizabeth rolled over and sat up in front of a box stall. The dappled gray who looked at her had large intelligent eyes set in a broad forehead and well-placed small ears, cocked forward as he leaned over the half-door to nuzzle her.
Trembling, she stood and stroked his muzzle. The horse felt real, but she often dreamed of horses, or at least she had until sexy men began appearing in her night visions, and she always dreamed in vivid color.
She looked down. She was still wearing the Victoria’s Secret black bra and thong with the chiffon wrap her traitorous fiancé would never see. She certainly did not need to relive finding Edward in bed with a Barbie look-alike. Not that she should have been surprised, she grimly reminded herself. Edward was drop-dead gorgeous and had enough Bad Boy attributes to make him alluring to any female. Better she had found out about his promiscuousness now than later.
Elizabeth fingered the leather strap on her wrist from which a Native American wood-carved fetish dangled. Her history students had given it to her yesterday, before the start of the Chirstmas holidays, along with a beautiful dream-catcher. The kids loved to tease her about her passion for the Old West, but they’d gotten caught up in the era after she’d brought in vintage John Wayne films and Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns. The fetish probably wasn’t the right accessory for her black lace, but she had not wanted to take it off. Just as she started to close the chifforn wrap, not that it covered much, she heard a sound. She whirled around and gasped.
A half-naked Indian teenager stood not two feet away, close enough for her to see a slight bead of sweat on his upper lip. It was uncanny how authentic this dream felt—probably the result of seeing too many of those western films. He wore a breechclout and leather leggings. Colored beads hung around his neck and his bare chest. A hawk feather was braided into his long hair and he had the blackest eyes she had ever seen. He looked like a hungry wolf stalking its prey. Instinctively, she took a step backward.
The Indian took a silent step forward. “I could have counted coup, you know,” he said. “Touched you without your knowing I was here. But I wanted you to know.”
Elizabeth drew another shaky breath and tried to cover herself more fully. Why in the world would she be nearly nude in her own dream? The Indian’s glance traveled from her face to her breasts and a small smile played on his mouth. A hard mouth, thin-lipped and straight-lined. She took another step backward and bumped against the wall of the stall. Trapped. The wall felt real, too. Some dream.
He came closer and reached over to touch her copper hair. “Fire Woman. You must have much magic. Your eyes are the color of our forests—a blessing from the Earth Mother.” He touched the diamond solitaire at her throat with a finger. “A shining star from the heavens. Yes, you have much magic.”
Elizabeth held herself still, hardly breathing. This would be a really, really good time to wake up. “I don’t have magic. Where am I? Who are you?”
Drawing himself up, he said proudly. “I am called Swift Hawk. My father is a Comanche chief.” He twisted a strand of her hair around his finger. “To my people, a woman with flaming hair has much power. Many even fear her.”
She smiled weakly. Good Lord, a Comanche? She had conjured someone from the fiercest of all the Plains Indians to dream of? The finest light cavalry in North America, some said, and the most dangerous fighters. They loved to fight and feared nothing. Well, except maybe a woman with red hair. Feeling ridiculous to be so deep into the dream, she raised her chin.
“Take your hand off me if you don’t want to feel my wrath.”
Swift Hawk laughed and his hand dropped to her shoulder. “I said many fear you, Fire Woman. I do not. I am the son of a chief. I will claim you as my woman and have much honor and power among my father’s people.” He grasped her head in his hands and leaned forward to kiss her. She pushed against him, hard.
“Don’t you want to know where I came from?” she asked, trying to stall him.
He looked surprised. “The Great Spirits sent you. I do not question them.” He glanced down at her breasts again. “I like what they’ve clothed you in, too.” His hand slid down to stroke a breast.
She needed to something to stop this—closing her eyes, she screeched at the top of her lungs.
Suddenly, he was yanked away. Elizabeth felt cool air surrounding her. Slowly, she opened her eyes and then quickly closed them again. She could not have seen what she thought she had. Clearly, her mind was bent on fantasies tonight.
Tentatively, she peered out from behind her tousled hair. The man—her rescuer, she assumed, for the Indian boy was gone—was breathtakingly handsome. Far too good-looking to be real and very much like the delectable man she’d encountered in her sleep a couple of nights ago. She might still be dreaming, but this was much, much better. The stranger’s blackish hair curled just above the collar of the open neck of his shirt and a part of it fell across his forehead, giving him a roguish appearance. She almost reached out to brush it back for him. His eyes were warm brown and deep-set above high cheekbones and a straight nose. He had the most sensuous mouth she had ever seen. Definitely kissable. Well, of course he would. She was dreaming! He was tall, well over six feet with broad shoulders. With the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up, she could see tan, well-muscled forearms. Her gaze traveled to his tight fitting jeans and she tried to ignore the bulge lodged there. She focused on his well-developed thighs. Big mistake—better to look down. The boots were hand-tooled. Cowboy boots. Real ones. She really had to stop reading romance novels about the Wild West. Cowboys and Indians. Her students would get a real laugh!
“Who are you and how did you get into my barn?” His voice was deep and resonant and held a note of authority. A man would think twice about crossing him, she thought and almost giggled. She certainly had conjured up her perfect cowboy. And all man. She couldn’t resist extending her dream-fantasy just a little longer…
“Elizabeth O’Malley,” she said and gave her dream man her best smile, the one her best friend, Brooke, said made her look alluring. “And you are one hot fantasy.”
The man blinked and let his gaze travel slowly over her body and back to her face. A corner of his mouth twitched. “Happy to oblige. My name’s Miguel.”
Elizabeth became uncomfortably aware of how much of her body was exposed. She drew her wrap closer which caused her fantasy to grin. It was a lopsided grin, giving him a definite Bad Boy look. Obviously, her dream-mind hadn’t quite learned its lesson about Bad Boys. But it was only a dream—
“How did you get into my barn?” he asked again. “You don’t look like you’re from around here.” His glance lingered on her breasts. “Are you a working girl?"
Working girl? Did he mean prostitute? This dream was taking an ironic direction given the fact at twenty-four she was the oldest virgin she knew. Her fantasy man sounded dangerously real. She could almost feel the heat radiating from him. She crossed her arms over her breasts. “I’m a teacher.”
buy Catch a Dream on Amazon
Excerpt from Bedroom Blarney
Excerpt from Bedroom Blarney
Chapter One
“Vodka martini, extra dry. Two olives.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Coming right up.”
As the bartender moved away to get her drink, Eve O’Connor closed her wet umbrella and plopped it alongside her satchel on the empty barstool next to her and pinched the bridge of her nose to relieve tension. TGIF had never sounded so good. Her art classes had been crap today. Not one high school kid had taken notes on value and hue in color and they certainly had not cared about line and space in composition.
Given the array of video games on smart phones and tablets, it was getting harder to get her students interested—let alone keep them interested—in something as mundane as classical art. Little wonder newbie teachers lasted less than two years in many cases. She had even contemplated changing careers herself, but Joe, her worthless ex-husband, had gambled away her savings before she’d caught him and she was still paying off the cost of the divorce. Besides, she had almost ten years invested in Deer Hill High School.
“Why so glum?” a male voice asked behind her. “It is Friday, after all.”
copyright Cynthia Breeding
read more of this story in Corpus Christi Writers 2018: An Anthology.
Cynthia Giery
About Cynthia Giery
Most mornings Cytnthia Giery goes out at sunrise to walk with her dog, Sophia
Sunrise Walks
Another gray morning, spent walking under the harbor bridge. I have a weird fascination with the angles of this structure... and found something new to me... the balloons painted on one of the support structures.
I almost skipped going over the bridge, but the fog lifted for a bit. It was so gray and misty, but still a nice walk. Then the fog rolled in again
A cold Saturday morning at Bob Hall Pier - love the blues and oranges. Sophia cutely convinced several walkers to pet her, so it’s a perfect day if you’re a dog.
Took a quick walk at the Corpus Christi Marina and caught a pretty bird right at sunrise. And ... there is just something about the wispy fronds on a palm that make a cool silhouette
Driving home from our morning beach walk - where it was QUITE chilly - BB sized hail. Neato. I guess it’s winter. Took pics of the piles in my backyard. The cat was not impressed and the dog has had enough of the cold for this morning.
Morning walk around the CC Marina — and I just loved this tree. Then we went to the old Oso Pier that has been falling to pieces. Sophia was very interested in SOMETHING under the bridge, but I have no idea what it was.
It was gorgeous at the beach this morning — very little wind — so I was really enjoying the walk. Sophia ran into a big, lab/Golden friend to play with and they were romping like crazy in this cooler weather. HOWEVER, they got a little wilder than they should. Sophia rolled over and then somehow came up wrong. She was limping so our walk ended about half way. Got her into the car, home, fed and now she’s resting. Pretty sure she just twisted wrong but with her back injuries I gotta be extra cautious. Sigh.
Addition: she limped out to the backyard to lay in the sun and finish her chew from yesterday.
Good morning from Bob Hall Pier. There was an odd bank of clouds surrounding the area but it was still a nice, chilly walk. I found 4 complete sand dollars and told a mom with kids where I’d put them. The kids were THRILLED when they “found” the sand dollars. It makes me happy
Merry Christmas from Bob Hall Pier —- it was chilly but oh so pretty
It was FREAKING chilly this morning. The north wind was blowing so hard and the humidity made the chill waaaaay more than I planned for. However, Sophia LOVED the weather. Except when the wind blew her over TWICE while attempting to poo. I laughed because I am a horrid dog mom
Yesterday at Whitecap Beach - it was beautiful. Possibly because I hadn’t been there in so long, but it’s still very pretty. Yes, I get there waaay too early, but the dawg pack has to play. Sophia chased, jumped, rolled and swam with her pack. Life is good
The weather has been incredibly beautiful this week, so, naturally, my favorite place is at the beach. Such a shame to HAVE to walk in this beauty. Sigh ...