TOP TEN: things I won't miss after leaving Texas

10. So much roadkill (call me soft, but dead animals make me sad)

9. no horizon (I live in the woods; all I see are trees and no rocks and no open spaces!)

8. being alone (when not at work)

7. never seeing anyone my own age (seriously, the high schoolers bagging my groceries at Kroger are probably the closest to my age/stage in life)

6. Confederate flags (you know, not that I'd buy something from the back of your van, but the giant, fleece confederate flag sure ain't making me pull over and peruse what you've got to sell)

5. Country music and mariachi music (is it too much to ask for a good Top-40 radio station? or an 8os station? There is one decent station, but they play the same dozen songs on loop. Or the other that thinks "Gloria" by Laura Branigan is one of the BEST SONGS EVER)

4. only 5 TV stations (I don't normally watch tons of TV, but I get bored here! and I can't stream my shows online because we're limited with the internet)

3. Related to #4: local commercials (look, I like Academy, but you need to get a less obnoxious jingle. Oh, and Fox 4, the only reason you are "The one station I watch!" is because for a while you were the only station I got. Plus you have Glee.)

2. the huge commitment I have to make to go to the grocery store (or anywhere really... half an hour minimum drive- the closest establishment is a 20 minute drive and it's the ever-so-sketchy "Friendly Tavern")

And the number one thing I won't miss when I get home to California:

1. not being environmentally friendly (first off, recycling certain things is impossible; figuring out what to do with the 3 boxes of glass bottles in our kitchen is becoming the bane of my existence. Secondly, I optimistically brought a bike; I really hate how much gas I buy here. Thirdly, there is trash everywhere! I've given up picking up trash when I'm hiking or whatever because I will never make a dent unless I devote my entire weekend to it- and I already have to devote a whole day to go grocery shopping...)

Seriously though, I did like it here overall. Maybe I'll write a post about that later.

Birds!

I live near the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail. Being somewhere with so many birds and so many different kinds too, makes me wish I was better at identifying them. Mostly their songs though, since living in a thicket means I hear them more than see them. Like when I hiked the Birdwatcher's Trail... it should really be the Birdlistener's Trail with a Really Pretty View of the River at the End

I saw another cardinal today. Every time I see them I get excited because we don't have them back home. But they've got to be pretty common, right? I mean, they're the mascot for numerous sports teams and schools and they're all over holiday decorations and they're just plain classic looking. The red sticks out a lot in all the green and brown of the woods. And I've tried to get a picture, but they always fly off into the thicket.

Also, there are a lot of vultures here. Pretty big ones. And it's probably related to the excessive amount of roadkill around these parts.