Born to be wild! Or not?…

Ya, of, ya… as my friend Maya would say. It’s been 3 weeks already since I arrived here, going on 4.... I have to admit that adapting to Texas has been somehow easier than my adaptation to the Netherlands was. The house, though simple, at the lack of a better word, is already my house. The lab, although still mysterious, is already my lab, and the university campus, although truly American from head to toe is already my university campus. Probably because it is my second “adaptation”, and I am no longer the crybaby I was when I went to Groningen. Or maybe things are just easier, here. However, I have made some serious thinking about the reasons why I keep postponing my establishment somewhere, for good. Now the two things that occupy my mind constantly are my project, finding a PhD and… sorry, the THREE things that occupy my mind are my project, finding a PhD and Harry Potter. Hehehe. For those who know me, they already have realized that this is a serious situation, because every time I turn to Harry Potter as a scapegoat, it’s because my head is fuming…
The important thing to realize here is… whether Snape is really the bad guy!! No, just kidding, the important thing to realize is… what do I really want. This is complicated to ascertain, and in fact I have good reasons to believe I came all the away from across the Atlantic to find out what I want, which is kind of stupid. Sitting in my comfortable U-shaped couch in Groningen, or in my living room with my 2 cats in Oeiras, I would have figured out what I want, all the same. I just had to ask Myself. But Myself is always very evasive, the little bitch… Anyway. Just to say that although adaptation is going more or less smoothly, my head wanders to my two homes, and my heart wishes I would stop confusing dreams, which are nice to have and sometimes to follow, with its desires, which are much more important for happiness and peace of mind. Very deep, I know. And don’t get me started on Harry Potter.
Last weekend I finally got the chance to see some of the nature outside Houston. My supervisors are teaching a bird lab, and told me to come along if I wanted. Food, transportation and entrance in the Brazos State Park for free! Yiipiii! Minor drawback, I had to get up at 6 AM. And I’m not a birder… But anyway, I have done enough of these fieldtrips to know they are usually very interesting, even for the Common Backpack Walker. Ehehe. This was a joke that probably no non-birder or non-biologist will get, but helas…
And I wasn’t wrong! The park in itself is not breathtaking, but it has some untouched gallery forest, along the Brazos River, and several ponds, marsh-like kind of landscape, well, the usual of these bird areas… The day awoke submersed in deep fog, and I thought I would have done better in staying in bed, but when we got to the first spot, it took us only 15 minutes to see at least 20 different species… Weee! And at 9h30 it was already 20 degrees Celsius and the sun was shining.

My enthusiasm was even greater when I saw a sign saying: caution – alligators in the area. But I really thought it would be one of those signs that were there just to prevent people from going into the water, that I wouldn’t be fortunate enough to see one… But there they were, looking as pacient as only a species that is a living fossil could look. We didn’t get to see the big crocky snatching its jaws at any bird though… Too bad, but anyway, the birds were really nice. We saw loads of different ducks, herons, egrets, warblers, flycatchers, kingfishers, snipers, killdeers, titmice, cormorants, kestrels, even vultures and very very far away some pelicans flying in the horizon…

The temperature rose to 28 degrees and I think it must have reached 30 somewhere in the afternoon. Ahhhh, January in Texas…
Now, if I were a proper birder I would provide the scientific and common names of all the species I saw, but boring you to death is not my goal, although I may be accomplishing it anyway, and I don’t remember the names of all the species anymore. So you’ll just have to appreciate the pictures and say “uuuhhh, look at the pretty birdy”.
And by the way, I’d like to thank everyone for their warm comments. Some of you I haven’t seen in quite some time, but the hope to meet you again never dies, believe me. See y’all later, alligator! :)