Attwater's prairie chickens

This is actually a photo of a t-shirt sold in the TNC Texas City Prairie Preserve office, and it depicts the tail feathers of the Attwater's prairie chicken!
Copyright (c) 2004 Wendee Holtcamp

I forgot to mention that I have a 2nd article in the same issue of Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine, with a funny name -- Chicken of the Sea (World): Though it's known mainly for acrobatic marine life, SeaWorld also breeds Attwater's prairie-chickens. I wrote this article after going on a Behind the Scenes Tour at Seaworld this summer with the kids, which was really cool! It was the first year they had that tour. The article talks not just about the (endangered) Attwater's prairie chicken breeding program, but also about other conservation work Seaworld does that people may not be aware of.

I also wrote an article for Smithsonian magazine's April 2008 issue about Attwater's prairie chickens called Boom Time in their Points of Interest section (scroll down it's the second article down).

working working

Copyright (c) 2004 Wendee Holtcamp
Rose Island, Bahamas.

I went here with Daline on my first Christmas without the kids, and wrote a little online tribute to the getaway, and saying goodbye to a decade of marriage. It was my first flight in many years, and a first step in overcoming my fear of flying, which I've now accomplished. No more fear! At all! I chose this photo because I miss the beach, it is calling to me, and I can not wait to see the ocean again...

Not much news here, I've just been trying to drum up some new work, and am working on articles on Seaworld's behind-the-scenes conservation efforts, as well as a piece on the rare Louisiana pine snake. I've also had some bursts of inspiration related to my book - hallelujah! I've scribbled a few stories in a journal that I plan to include in the book and have been doing reading related to the book (the one about making peace between evolution and Christianity). I am getting worried that all the reading material, books, papers, etc will make my suitcase too heavy when I travel!! I plan to work on my book while in Australia! That's the plan...

days in the life

Last night I went to a Class of 1970-1990 Cy-Fair high school reunion at Tin Hall in Cypress. My actual 20-year reunion was just a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't go... But my friend Nikki came down from Dallas and had wanted me to go for months, and I wanted to see her so she roped me into going. Tin Hall is NOT the type of place I ever hung out in high school. I was more of a Numbers kind of girl. I only saw a couple people I knew, including my high school boyfriend's sister, and her husband (they were high school sweethearts). My good friend Suzanne came out also. Here are a couple photos of myself, Suz and Nikki.

Me, Suz and Nikki. I should have some more pics soon when Nikki sends me the ones from her camera!
Julie, Nikki and I.

Here is a photo of Sam feeding a dolphin at Seaworld.

The dolphins come right up and take the food out of your hand and you can even touch them. Sam didn't think it was as cool as at Tangalooma on Moreton Island, Australia where we got in the ocean and got to feed the wild dolphins that come up to the shore every day.
Savie ALWAYS makes faces whenever I try to take pictures and so I told her I'd put it on the web anyway! :)

Shamu! I just thought these are the most incredibly beautiful animals. There was one female animal trainer who seemed to have a particularly close relationship with one of the orcas. It was just a cool thing to see how we can have such close bonds with these wild animals.

I'm doing an article on some of the conservation work being done by Seaworld. They actually have breeding programs for some endangered species, similar to some zoos, including Attwater's prairie chickens which are almost extinct. Seaworld breeds them and releases them back into the wild at a couple of locations around Houston. They live in coastal prairie, which is now mostly gone. They also took on some sea lions that were causing repeated problems in the Pacific Northwest where they were eating endangered salmon and despite attempts at relocation they were "repeat offenders." Washington State officials were going to euthanize them, but Seaworld apparently said they'd take them in. So they got them in April and they are in a pool together and will be transitioned back into where the other sea lions are. One of them was so incredibly overweight because of all the salmon it was gorging on. It weighed like 800 pounds or something! It had lost 200 already being in Seaworld on a low-fat fish diet. Ha! Isn't that a hoot.

try #2

A wooden cross at Owl Mountain Retreat Center in Abiquiu, NM. What a magical time those two weeks I spent there were!
Copyright (c) 2005 Wendee Holtcamp

We didn't end up going to SeaWorld yesterday because my friend's son threw up! Oh no! We originally rescheduled for tomorrow, but he is still under the weather so I'm going with just my kiddos on my own tomorrow. We leave early in the morn and then will be back on Wednesday. I had a really great birthday. I was supposed to get some work done, since I'm going and playing at SeaWorld but... ah the best laid plans of mice and men. I took the kids to Hancock (which was really good! Though a lot of bad language...) and then we went out to dinner with a friend at Olive Garden.

One benefit of staying home today was that we got to the Rock Wall climbing class I'd signed up for at the gym - me and the kids. Learned how to put on the annoyingly tight harness and climb. I tried this once in the Bahamas when Daline and I went, and I was no good at all. The kids did so great! They scaled nearly to the top. But today I did much better than I had in the Bahamas so it was good fun. So that's all the news that's fit to print... :)

happy bday to me!

Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.

- Eleanor Roosevelt.
I love this photo, it is really what life is all about. Laughter, joy, the beach, enjoying the moment, and my beautiful amazing children. Everything I do, these kiddos come first! I love them so much.
M and Sam at the beach looking at seashells.

S&S picking blueberries. That was a bumper crop year!

Working on pottery using clay from our backyard. :)

Today we went to church (can't think of a better way to start my new year) and then went to the gym, and I'm going to spend the day with the kids. Probably go see the movie Hancock. Then tomorrow we are going to SeaWorld in San Antonio with a friend and her kids! I'm so excited. We haven't been in about 5 years, and had a blast back then. We're going to go for 2 days and spend the night. I'm actually doing an article on a new Save a Species tour that they just started there.

Last time we went, I took both kids on the Steel Eel, this loop de loop roller coaster and they were HORRIFIED! Savie screamed bloody murder - at the top of her lungs - the entire time of the ride, and Sam was white as a ghost. Needless to say, I think that experience scarred ME for life! I felt like an awful mom! I used to love roller coasters as a kid but after that I'm not so sure, so we'll see if I go on it this time. Savie, ironically, wants to go on it!!