Saturday, February 28, 2009

My First Video




This is now my very first video. Don't expect to much, it's not perfect at all, there is no choreography or even a script...and I'm not a film star at all!!! :)) but I'll be better, I promise you....LOL... enjoy the view of the water, listen to the rolling waves on a place that really looks like paradise!

Susanne and David

Friday, February 27, 2009

Gothic Weddings

Your wedding should be a reflection of your love as a couple, your personalities, and your values. Goths are usually very romantic at heart, so it's certainly not unheard of for goths to get married. In spite of occasional discrimination from vicars confusing gothic lifestyle with satanism, handfastings and blood devotion vows are now common enough that there's nothing to stop a gothic bride and groom adding official weight to their love in a way that holds some meaning for them.

Unfortunately, discrimination can occur if a gothic couple are opting for a traditional church wedding. Often, vicars will refuse to perform the ceremony if they feel the couple is 'un-Christian'. Local newspapers will refuse to print pictures of goth couples in their wedding galleries. Unfair discrimination - as usual. As many goths follow various pagan religions, they often choose to have pagan handfasting ceremonies instead of a traditional wedding. Handfasting is a pagan ritual (duh) which symbolises a bond between lovers, but unlike a marriage ceremony is not legally recognised. Handfasting can be performed at any age.

























Port Aransas Kaleidoscope

This is how the sunset looks here in Port Aransas - sunrises happen at the beach on the Gulf of Mexico


Very colorful outside of a little cafe


The Texas Flag


A blooming cactus tree


With all kind of attractions they make the tourists come into the store for shopping


A cute little dog face!


Very nice graffiti in Mexican style on the wall


Dining in Moby Dick...?


Sea horses in wood, very colorful


Hi my friends,

believe it or not, we are still here in Port Aransas and stay one night more. We love this place!!!! :)

Yesterday, I wanted to photograph the sunset here and I had to learn that here happen only sunrises and no sunsets at the Gulf. So, then I have captured the sunset in my first photo and I think it's pretty too - it does not have to be always on the beach, right? :)

We will have dinner with our friend again tonight and tomorrow we will head up more North.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Patients at the Turtle Hospital in Port Aransas

This is the covered pavilion with 3 pools, in every one were one or two turtles swimming around, waiting for their release back to the sea


Turtles are very curious animals :)


Upstairs in the same building we got the chance to see some of these poor injured animals. Most of them were sleeping in small plastic pools, getting medicated and observed from the people working here


The shell of this big turtle was all over grown with sea grass - it was a very sad sight


A little baby turtle in a small plastic bucket with water


A poor little baby with only two legs was trying to do some swimming moves


This beautiful big turtle had a cut off leg in the back


There were also other cute little patients - like this seagull with a broken wing


Or this majestic looking sea hawk! He will be released pretty soon.


And this pretty great blue Heron bird was NOT a patient from the hospital, he just showed up and was posing for my camera


Every one of us can become a "Friend of the ARK" - if you are interested to do voluntary work there, click in the link and donate money or donate your time!


Hi my friends,

this was our last day here on this beautiful "Mustang -Island" and in Port Aransas. Tomorrow we will go towards San Antonio and into the "Hill Country". Stay tuned with me!

Susanne and David

Visiting a good old friend...

Michael Earney is a world known great artist and film maker and a sculptor and he is also a good old friend of David - my husband - back from the time when they both were living in California, in the 1970's. He showed us around in Port Aransas, Tx where he is living today. Check out also his website: http://www.earneyworks.com/bio.html


We went down to the Port to see dolphins jumping and the pelicans flying...


They had each other a lot to say since almost 35 years they have not seen each other in person again!


While the guys were chatting I tried to capture the dolphins swimming in the port


The dolphins were very fast disappearing into the water again


Michael is a voluntary worker for the ARK in Port Aransas. A very responsible dedication to help the endangered animals of the sea. Here we are in the Turtle House of the ARK, Michael was feeding some of the injured Turtles and checking also the water quality


The ARK

The University of Texas at Austin's Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) in Port Aransas, Texas, dedicated its new sea turtle building on 21 August 1999. The new ARK building came about as the result of some generous gifts from individuals and foundations. Most of the donations came from concerned Texans, but others came from as far afield as Boston and Bermuda. The leading light in garnering these gifts, was Edie McAllister of San Antonio and Port Aransas. Mrs. McAllister, a long-time member of the UTMSI Marine Science Advisory Council, was given a tour of the ARK three years ago on a typical hot South Texas summer day. She was concerned by the summertime problems faced by the animals of the ARK; namely the uncontrolled growth of algae and high water temperatures in the uncovered outside turtle tanks (conversely, in winter, water temperatures dip too low and inside tanks had to be found for the turtles each year). At first, the suggestion was to build some proper shade structures for the tanks, but soon, a kernel of an idea came that it might be possible to build a permanent and substantial facility designed specifically to house sea turtles and sea birds in need of rehabilitation. Mrs. McAllister was dogged in her determination to find funding for the ARK. That determination has now borne fruit and the ribbon-cutting at the ARK took place at 11:45am on Saturday, 21 August 1999.

Read more about here:
http://www.utmsi.utexas.edu/staff/amos/ark/ARKdedication.htm


One of the turtles was very nosy and interested in what I was doing with my camera, she/he came always back again over to me. Does'nt she looks pretty...? :)


There were outside also some pretty pelicans - with broken wings


And it seems they liked to show off their colors.

I will show you tomorrow more photos about very sick and injured Turtles in the Turtle Hospital in the ARK. Thank you Michael to show us a very interesting part out of your life - beside all your beautiful paintings and art works!


Hi my friends,

spontaniously we decided to stay 2 days longer in this beautiful place Port Aransas, in the South of Texas. I like it here very much, I could even imagine to live here, everything is so peaceful, it is nice warm and don't forget the pretty beach! We have enjoyed also very much to meet David's friend, Michael Earney again and having good conversations between artists together.

Thank you for all your kind comments and loyal visits to my last posts, my friends! Stay tuned, there will come more interesting stuff - we both enjoy our travels very much! :)

Susanne and David