Margaret-Ann Does Dallas

I travelled to Dallas, Texas to spend some quality “sister time” with Patti. We spent most of the three weeks at Patti and Jeff’s lake house on Cedar Creek Lake, about an hours’ drive south of Dallas. While in Texas, I also visited my childhood best friend, Bernice, in Houston. True to Texan spring weather, it was hot, hot, hot! The temperature was between 32C and 38C every day! 

 

A great blue heron greeted us, perched atop the boathouse, upon our arrival at the lake house.

 

Many hours were spent reading in the shade … on the deck or in the hammock.

 

Each morning a mother Mallard and her ducklings would swim by the dock and return each evening.

 

Often, the ducks would swim in a row behind their mother.

 

Another bird that perched atop the boathouse almost daily, was the Great White Egret.

 

After arriving back at the lake house from Houston, the wind began to pick up, bending  and snapping off tree branches. Several branches flew past the window and the lake became very rough with 3-4 foot waves crashing up over the seawall and dock! A tornado warning was issued to the nearby town, so Patti and I went into “tornado prep”. Since homes in Texas do not have basements, we went into an interior walk-in-closet, armed with water, pillows and the weather radio! Fortunately, the tornado touched down in some fields in Midlothian, Texas and we were able to emerge from the closet!

 

Ominous looking clouds filled the sky.

 

Calm and peaceful after the storm.

 

The gardenias were blooming at the lake.

 One day, this strange-looking duck/bird swam by. Patti and I were finally able to identify it when we described it to Jeff … he said that it was an American coot. Checking the bird book, we found that he was correct!

 

Geckos!! And here I thought I had seen the last of geckos when I left Tortola!! This little guy kept puffing up his fiery red chin!

 

We took a boat ride across the lake to get a close-up look at this lighthouse. It has been incorporated into a family home, but still flashes its light at night.

 

A huge magnolia tree bloomed the entire time we were at the lake house.

 

My last night at the lake … a beautiful sunset, seen from the Patti and Jeff’s deck.

 

Time for a “sisterly” photo before we left for DFW airport. What a wonderful trip … looking forward to more of the same next year … in Canada!!