I write you today from Whispering Creek Motel and RV Park two miles south of Newton Texas on Hwy 190 E a few miles from the Sabine River and the border with Louisiana. Across the road is Hickory Lane Apartments looking for all the world like a converted motel. I got off around 5:00 AM on Tuesday and after a few challenges finding my way through dark country lanes east of Austin found Highway 290, then 190 and my campground by noon.
Today, Wednesday, has been largely overcast though rain in this arid territory is always welcome. The local high school had to cancel its annual bonfire because of an open fire ban in the area according to the local paper I sat and read in the office. There’s a weekly from Newton, pop 2100; Jasper; and the Beaumont Enterprise, Wednesday through Sunday. When I explored the campground yesterday an 8-inch salamander was sunning himself on the stairway to the locked club room. The ‘Nature Trail’ is closed as the windfall crushing the bridge crossing the Creek makes amply clear. The muddy waterway actually is running though calling it a creek may be an exaggeration. Mind you I did hear frogs calling last evening.
I am pleased to report that I didn’t collect any beggars ticks on my pantlegs when I walked through the dry grass and I avoided the anthills lest they contain the dreaded fire ant. What I did find were flowering trailing blackberries, low growing dandelions, yellow-horned jasmine, and azalea shrubs in blossom. I’m not in Austin any more and nothing makes it plainer than the selection of radio stations--talk or country.
Today, Wednesday, has been largely overcast though rain in this arid territory is always welcome. The local high school had to cancel its annual bonfire because of an open fire ban in the area according to the local paper I sat and read in the office. There’s a weekly from Newton, pop 2100; Jasper; and the Beaumont Enterprise, Wednesday through Sunday. When I explored the campground yesterday an 8-inch salamander was sunning himself on the stairway to the locked club room. The ‘Nature Trail’ is closed as the windfall crushing the bridge crossing the Creek makes amply clear. The muddy waterway actually is running though calling it a creek may be an exaggeration. Mind you I did hear frogs calling last evening.
I am pleased to report that I didn’t collect any beggars ticks on my pantlegs when I walked through the dry grass and I avoided the anthills lest they contain the dreaded fire ant. What I did find were flowering trailing blackberries, low growing dandelions, yellow-horned jasmine, and azalea shrubs in blossom. I’m not in Austin any more and nothing makes it plainer than the selection of radio stations--talk or country.
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