Clint & Corky

Love Continues On And Grows

Greetings from the island everyone. I hope all of you are doing well and enjoyed your holiday Labor Day weekend. With school having now started, and the kids being involved in activities, this was may be the last summer family island outing for the islanders out here.

I enjoy the start of this time of year on the barrier island. Less people are coming out because of school and deer season about to get underway. And of course the cooler weather is so welcome after several months of a hot and humid south Texas summer. And maybe most importantly, the mosquitoes become less and less of a bothersome issue. And those little winged demons were really bad last week after getting six inches of rain in one day the previous week. But thanks to all the rain, my tanks for my house water are nice and full.

I love the Fall months here on the island. The first cool norther of the season blowing in is so refreshing, truly like a breath of fresh air. Feeling the crispness in the air as I sit outside on the porch enjoying my cups of hot black coffee. The island and the beach are my happy places, and the cool Fall weather just helps enhance that for me.

I normally don’t tackle a summer garden on the island, it is simply too hot and difficult to start my tomato seeds in the heat, without a cooler sunshine spot to start them. But I decided to try anyway, and the outcome was not good. The tiny fragile plants fizzled out, mainly because I forgot how hot it gets in the greenhouse in August. My bad. So for the first time in years, I just recently bought six tomato plants, Pink Brandywine variety, hoping to grow some delicious Fall tomatoes to share with friends.

On a sad note, I lost one of my cats, Anchor, to a coyote attack a few weeks ago. She was 2 1/2 years old, and I had bottle fed her and her sister, Jetty, when they were tiny kittens. Together since birth, Jetty misses her too, and seems to be much closer to me now. The island can be a harsh and unforgiving place, such is island life. Anchor is now buried next to Barnacle.

On a much happier note, I am now the proud dad to a new boxer puppy, Corky. On August 17 I made a 685 mile round trip to Saginaw, TX, and brought the little high energy boy back to the island. Corky loves the island and the beach, and he is great company for me. Barnacle would be proud to call him his little brother. There is a picture of Corky and me next to this article title. Please continue to follow us as Mr. Dog and I progress into the future.

** Here is a wonderful update from my article I wrote on October 8, 2010, titled “Message In A Bottle Tells Love Story”, about a message in a bottle I found washed up on the island beach. Eric Horton and Stacy McBeth were dating and on their first vacation together, a cruise across the Gulf of Mexico. Knowing that their love for each other was true, they prepared hand written love notes to each other, without them being read. They then sealed the love notes, along with a photo of themselves and a separate letter explaining their relationship, and a self addressed stamped envelope in a bottle and tossed it overboard.

Stacy and Eric were hoping the bottle would be found and the love notes mailed to them so that they could now be read by each other. On September 24, 2010, I found the bottle and messages washed up on my island beach, and later mailed the contents to them, along with my own letter of explanation, and the three of us became Facebook friends.

I’m very happy to report that Eric and Stacy are now happily married, their wedding date having been on September 25, 2015, the six year anniversary of their first date. And on their wedding day, is when for the first time, they opened and read their love notes to each other from the bottle. They are also expecting their first child, a boy, on January 1, 2017. This is such a happy and wonderful story, and I am proud to have been a part of it. –

That’s it from the island for now. I want to thank all of my faithful readers for following me and my island life all of these years. I am truly blessed. Have a great day!