Dauphin Island, Alabama: COVID-19 Unfolding, Part 8888: Boxing Day: Audubon Bird Sanctuary

 

Audubon Bird Sanctuary-Dauphin Island Alabama. December 2021.

 

Oh, it felt good to be out. 

I'd been lamenting to myself, of late, at the difference in my getting-outedness the past two COVID years in comparison with my Alamogordo year. That year in Alamogordo, I think I explored a new destination in New Mexico just about every weekend. I visited all but three state parks, I think. I went to the national parks and monuments. I went to museums, to festivals. 

Yesterday I drove out (over?) to Dauphin Island.

Destination: Audubon Bird Sanctuary. 

But first, I ate my picnic lunch at the Estuarium (also known as the Alabama Aquarium):

• Carrots
• Roasted, skinless, boneless chicken breast
• Sweet potato
• White potatoes

I lunched at a bench that overlooked the Gulf. 

 

Gulls on rocks. Dauphin Island, Alabama. December 2012.

 

I saw gulls, pelicans, a heron or two. 

And oil rigs. 

After lunch, I drove over to the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. 

I walked.   

 

Yellow gem leaves. Audubon Bird Sanctuary, Dauphin Island, Alabama. Decembe 2021.

 

Peace, serenity, beauty, breeze. Soft colors, muted for winter. 

 

A slide show of Audubon Bird Sanctuary below: 

If you'd like to go down a rabbit hole re: Audubon and sanctuary:

• September 2012: On the Road to Alamogordo, Day 1: Faith and Fury
  
• September 2013: Montezuma, New Mexico, Part 1: Light
• March 2016: Louisiana: The Chimpanzees From Alamogordo, Chapter 3
• December 2017: Ferguson, Missouri: Our Lady of Guadalupe and One of her Stolen Sons

Mobile, Alabama: Christmas 2021

 

British Park on Christmas Day in Mobile, Alabama. December 2021.

My Mobile neighborhood is, arguably, the prettiest I've ever lived in. Any day that I take a walk here is a good day. 

 

Note: I make a distinction between pretty and striking. El Paso is the most striking place I've ever lived in.

On Christmas Day, I walked to nearby British Park. Twice. Once during the day and once at dusk, to better appreciate the holiday lights. 

A slide show of my Christmas visit below:

 

A buoyant big dog, also out for a Christmas walk, romped: 

Some Christmases past

2012: Santa Fe, New Mexico

2013: Lafayette, Louisiana

2016: El Paso, Texas

2013: Rootless: On Doing Holidays Solo

 

Gulf Shores, Alabama: Thanksgiving 2021

My original Thanksgiving 2021 plan was to hie myself to Lafayette for a splendid weekend of live music and dance and reunions with old acquaintances. 

 

 

Until my rational brain kicked in. Hold on there, Mzuri. There are too many folks in the Lafayette dance community who disdain the vaccines and masks AND who likely will have like-minded family members coming in from around the country to visit. And you've got a trip to New York City planned with one of your descendants in mid-January, which you do not want to fuck up with illness after already waiting so long to make this trip because of, you know, the pandemic that just won't leave. 

So I decided to stay local for Thanksgiving. 

I went to the beach! I chose Gulf Shores. 

Gulf Shores Alabama 10th Street Beach. Thanksgiving 2021.

'twas a gloriously sunny day, with fine music from my playlist on the drive down, and a pleasurable coffee surprise at a CEFCO. Bourbon pecan. Would that taste good? Well, it has the word 'pecan' innit, so it must be good. And who cares that I'd already had my usual coffee rations for the day. Or that it was already the afternoon, generally past my time to indulge. It was Thanksgiving! Do it! I did, and it was grand. 

 

Bourbon pecan coffee at CEFCO, Alabama. Thanksgiving 2021.

 

Sugary, putty-white sand. 

A lil rollicking wave action. 

Other people there, but not a crowd. 

Many black shells; rather elegant. 

 

Gulf Shores Alabama shells Thanksgiving

 

 

Gulf Shores shells Alabama. Thanksgiving 2021.

 

It was just right. 

I did have sweet potatoes on The Day, too, so it was all Thanksgivinny.

Pensacola, Florida: An Afternoon at the Beach

Sunset, Pensacola, Florida. October 2021.

 A new friend took me to Pensacola, Florida. 

I'd never been. To me, "Pensacola" has always been synonymous with "spring break" - college students swarming the beach, drinking, and .... swarming the beach and drinking. 

What else is there in Pensacola? 

Well, I still don't know, because my friend and I plopped our chairs in front of the Gulf of Mexico and we simply sat and chatted while we periodically pulled out a cold beer from the cooler between us. Heck, we didn't even stand up and put our feet in the water. 

Sunset, Pensacola, Florida. October 2021.

 

Or even go to the restroom. 

 

Sunset, Pensacola, Florida. October 2021.

 

We saw a pretty sunset, though. 

Sunset, Pensacola, Florida. October 2021.