Hunting for everybody

            Because not everyone has or have had a chance to go hunting I would like to be able to give the people around my home town of Cotulla a chance to do so. Either it is deer, hog, quail, dove, duck, or any other game animal I want to be able to have them hunt what they choose. My plan is to get with some local hunting ranches to have some places for these people to hunt.

            First I will contact local ranches around Cotulla and see if they would be interested in partaking in my plan and get a group of people to help me, may it be my family, friends or just people that want to help out and have a background in hunting. Next I will somehow get the word out that I will be doing this through the newspaper, internet, etc. Because I will be dealing with people naïve to hunting I will have training secessions to make sure they are safe and everyone around them. Now that I have most of the important things figured out I will now get started setting up the hunters and their guides to specific locations where hopefully they will harvest their first animal.

            I want to do this because I grew up hunting and I love it. It is like no other thing in the world to me, if I could do it for a living I would. I want other people to start hunting because maybe they will like it as much as me and that will let me know that I helped someone be happy.    

                                                                            Holliday Blues

            Everyone knows last holiday season was rough and this one will not be very different for Cousin Beth. Two years ago Beth, my cousin’s husband Jason was killed in Iraq fighting for our country. Beth and Jason had been married for seven years until this tragic event sprung on her and our family. Jason and three other proud American soldiers were killed in action when an IED (Improvised explosive devise) was detonated when they entered a house to make sure it was clear. Last year we all knew that Beth didn’t want to partake in any festivities, which is understandable since their anniversary was pretty close to everything. This year she has told us that she will be attending our family functions as they have done before because she believes that it is what he would want her to do. We all know that is will be hard for her to do and we will take in consideration her broken heart. She sent out a letter to all of our close family that will be attending saying that she does not want the holidays to be about her and her loved one, she wants all of our plans to be like the years past when he was with us. Beth has had a lot of help and reassuring letting her know that God has a plan for everything and he was taken from us for a reason. She now believes that it is ok because she knows that he was fighting for her and our country to keep us and our country safe. He always said that that is the way he would want to go out. Even though he would love to live a full and happy life with Beth he always said he would want to die serving for our country rather than sit back and do nothing.  Beth knew this and understood that it would happen eventually. 

            Because this time of year will be hard on Beth and we will do our best to help her through these rough times. Our family has talked about our situation and has come to the conclusion that everything goes on as normal. We will do things as she wishes and not try to make it easy for her. We have come up with some things in remembrance of Jason that we think will help Beth. Even though she said she doesn’t want all of the attention to be on her we think this is a good idea. One of those ideas was to have everyone share their favorite moment of Jason. We think this will show how much we loved Jason and how much we will miss him.  Some of these memories will purposely be humorous to lighten the mood and I know there will be lots of those because Jason was a person who liked to make everyone laugh. Let’s say he was the family jokester. One time for a birthday he made a joke cake, which was a balloon covered in icing and it looked like a cake, so when we went to cut the cake the knife punctured the balloon and shot icing all over everyone sitting at the table. He also had the real cake so not everything was a joke. We all think that this will also help Beth through this hard time and let her know that everyone is behind her.

            We all know how hard this is for Beth and we are behind her every step of the way. This year is going to be a very happy and fun for everyone. I look forward to spending these great holidays with the friends and family that I love.         

    The Lydia Ann Lighthouse is located between Saint Joseph Island to the north and Mustang Island to the south. This Lighthouse marks the pass that leads to the Port of Corpus Christi located about 20 miles to the west.  It was constructed in 1851 with a budget of 12,500 set by congress.  During the Civil War the property ownership was passed repeatedly between Confederate and Union forces. On Christmas Day in 1862 Confederate General John B. Magruder ordered that the tower be destroyed, the top 25 feet of the tower was destroyed.  In 1867 the tower was restored in perfect working order. For more info about the Lydia Ann Lighthouse please click here. 

    Today it still stands and is an amazing site to see. My family and I have been there many times just to study its beauty. Although you cannot go in the lighthouse it is still pretty cool to see it from a boat.  All around the lighthouse is marsh area which is excellent fishing and bird watching. The area around it is called the Lighthouse Lakes. There are four trails ranging for 1.25 miles to 6.8 miles. These trails will produce outstanding bird watching and fishing for redfish, spotted seatrout, and flounder. I have followed several of these trails stalking Redfish in my Kayak with my fly rod trying to catch them. I also know several people that love to come here and do some bird watching while on these trails. You can come here year round to fish, bird watch or just enjoy your day.  I might also add that this is a no prop zone, which means no boats with engines can enter this area because the sea grass is protected.  So if you have a kayak you can come here all you want.  If you are not from this area there are many places to stay in Port Aransas, Aransas Pass, and Corpus Christi. If you do not have a boat or kayak you can still visit the Lighthouse. You can do this by visiting Dolphin encounters which is located at Deep Sea Headquarters in Port Aransas, the first building on the left when you exit the ferry. When you schedule a trip with Dolphin encounters your experience will include dolphin watching, seeing the Lydia Ann lighthouse, shipwrecks, Native and migratory birds and the surrounding islands. I personally haven’t been on this boat because my family owns our own boat but from the people I know and have talked to it is a great experience. 

    This area is great to take your family and friends for a little excitement and a history lesson. This Lighthouse is truly a site you will want to visit and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in seeing something new and amazing. This is my favorite place to go when I want to get away and be by myself. My mom and dad took me here and when I have my own family I will take them there to share this amazing scene with them.   

Images located from http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=158