A haunting. Ending in waves.

No walk in the park. It’s almost Halloween.

No soft playful breezes.Winds demanding attention. Sending a message.

All those waves. Endless waves.

She smooths the wrinkles in her damp skirts. Time for that little chat with the neighbors.

Finally.

Let the Sun turn towards others eager to worship and bake. (She’s cooked enough).

Fine. It’s almost Halloween.

Every lady guards her little secrets.

Beauty is always a little mysterious. (Lang,1814-1893/USPD/Commons.wikimedia.org)

Becoming a ghost town. Perfectly seasonal. Hauntingly quiet.

No walk in the park now.

When the water turns blue-ish….

When the seaweed is pretty much gone….

When the birds greatly outnumber the people….

When the circus has left town. The tacky trinket shops boarded. Carnival rides, silenced.

When the dunes sigh in relief.

Now is the time for the beach. By quiet invitation only. 

Don’t worry.

We’ve told her you’re with us. Molly will vouch for you.

Path through dunes covered with blooming sweet-smelling plants.  ©

After the summer season, you can drive on some Galveston beaches. This van was a family with home schooled kids. Wonder which treasures they discovered.

Ah. There is it. True luxury. Long stretches of empty beach. ©

This coloring is pretty accurate. The water more blue with a north wind. Summer brings muddy river runoff and sandy coastal shelf stirred up by Gulf storms – so the water is trendy wall paint beige.  Even better, the water is no longer as warm as a baby’s bath. Cool damp sand is the perfect track.

Hear the waves? Or are those whispers of watery graves. ©

Normally Molly loves to swim, but she refuses to put one paw in that water – not really trusting the wet sand. Although a scampering little crab is worth chasing into it’s home…and “What? Drop the jelly fish? No? A tiny bit of seaweed? Unidentified object as souvenir?”

Appetizers are served. (And litter dropped inland washes down and ends up here. Guilt trip: Look at those little birdies!) ©

Look on the horizon. See that white dot? That’s the anchorage where large vessels wait for a Ship Chanel Pilot to come on board. Or to wait their turn to enter the Houston Ship Channel. Or to wait until your cruise ship passenger is cleared from having Ebola and the boat can sail up to the docks. (How’s that for a scare?)

Endless waves. Over and over. hauntingly relentless. Is that a tanker anchored out there or a ghost ship? ©

Not scary dolphins live out there and will swim along with your boat. The shy small sharks are rarely encountered by people unless you step on them accidentally near the shore. Not really Jaws material.

There are nightmares though.

Offshore rigs are annoying visually and if sailing offshore you need to note their locations – especially at night. But they are rather large, don’t move, and underwater environments develop around them.

Good spots for fishermen. If you find yourself on a sinking boat – or pulled offshore by undertow/current – swim towards a rig. They’ll manage to get you out and call  for transport. Meanwhile, maybe they’ll feed you. Off shore cooks are some of the best. Face it. These guys are stuck out there. There has to be perks. (Lovely ear muffs, too. Terribly loud)

Dinner time? The birds were all busy and not at all distracted or disturbed by other creatures – even if they looked funny and seemed to snuffle and shuffle rather than fly©

Seaweed invasion? Not much left. The birds seem to delight in it, though.

If you look really really hard, past the sand dunes, there are several large construction cranes working to enlarge the UTMB-Galveston Medical School and regional hospital complex.

Don’t worry. That’s on the higher back side of the Island near the Strand. If there’s a hurricane, those buildings are where you want to go for shelter – even the parking garages. (Although the cars do bounce and get shoved around by winds) Survived multiple hurricanes over the years. Built for it.

Great ER, too – as lots of tourists find out. Many of the Texas prisoners are sent here for treatment. Quite a range of interesting clients.

Ashbel Smith building, called “Old Red”. Galveston’s Medical School was established in 1891.(utmb.edu)

Talk about horrors worthy of a movie script.

Most people were totally unaware this is one of the major infectious disease research labs. Ebola? That’s nothing. The Galveston National Lab, a 10-year-old Level 4 Biosafety Facility, has the most interesting construction and closed air system. No problem incinerating toxic materials/wastes. As one expert said ” If the people and equipment at UTMB and the Galveston National Lab can’t handle Ebola, God help us all.”

UTMB’s Galveston National Lab (utmb.edu).

Today UTMB-Galveston was designated today as one of the two Texas Treatment and Bio Containment Facilities for Infectious Diseases. This complex has always had a specialized isolation treatment unit/room right off the ER – completely isolated from the rest of the hospital. That’s being expanded. Ebola cases in TX will be transferred to Galveston or Dallas’ UT-Southwestern (With their infectious disease research labs/Parkland Hospital).

Shore bird considering Galveston’s afternoon surf ©

You can surf in Galveston. Maybe not here today, but there are places. (No, I will not reveal where. Crowded enough.)

One of the new build Victorian beach houses in Galveston’s Beachtown area. (It’s not leaning, Molly was pulling the leash. But it does look more spooky this way.) ©

What’s this? Movie set for some chainsaw slasher film?

Actually this architecture isn’t out of place.

Galveston is loaded with old Victorians houses and cottages that have been restored – or at least saved. Lots of them have ghosts. Not only have hurricanes stormed in, lots of social/family dramas played out over the years. And there were pirates. And cannibal Indians (Although it’s said that was all ritualistic, not dietary. Who would know? Chatted with any Karankwans recently? Fierce tribe.)

Anyway, there are walking tours of haunted places like the Strand and the Opera House. Spooky visits to large haunted mansions. And terrifying tales aboard the tall masted ship, Elissa. Galveston is Halloween’s port of call. Rumored to be the Most Haunted City in America.

Beachtown development is on East Beach – outside the sea wall right on the beach. Being outside the Galveston’s seawall would scare me as a home owner, but great for tourists’ rentals. This part of the island is actually growing beach every year. Has to do with the currents, jetties, and Houston Ship Channel currents.

Wind always comes up in late afternoon. The wind surfers and sail boarders appear after work. ©

Time to head back before it gets too late.

Things lurk in the dark. Ouchie on bare feet

Galveston’s one of those dangerous exotic ladies whose charms easily entwine.

“The coast is clear, please return. The water is blue. The seaweed gone. And the birds out number the people.”

Nothing like sea and shore in October.

Endless waves endlessly calling.

One of my favorite haunts.

Phil, the Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge.

Endless waves. Good as a walk in the park. Healthier than Prozac

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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