We ran into these berries while visiting our daughter's family in College Station over Christmas. I had never put it together that these berries were around for the holidays. I guess that cutsy saying, "Have a Berry Merry Christmas" was true to life.
This critter is one of the regulars at the Trinity River Mouth Waterbird Rookery on the east side of the I-10 bridge over the Trinity River. The Rookery has a parking area and a overlook pier that makes a favorite spot for bird watchin. Bring binoculars -- the view is incredible but the action is often on the other side of the lake. Look for Anhingas, White Ibis, Little Blue Herons, and Roseate Spoonbills in this area. It is incredible that a site such as this is available just off the I-10.
Expecting some good eats, the sea gulls zoom in on a lad just wanting to see the ducks down in the water at Kemah, Texas. The Kemah Boardwalk had a bird feed vending machine just behind the rail here, so the gulls knew what the rules are and what to expect. They zoomed in and took a very close look over and over, wondering "what's wrong with this guy?"
This guy came swimming up to our boat on a swamp tour in Orange, Texas a couple years ago. I think he was hoping one of us would hop overboard. He was about 4 1/2 foot long -- I guess that makes him a teenager or something. Tour guide Eli Tate of Adventure Tours 2000+ had a great command of the ways of the river and bayous and where to find these wild creatures.
The Tony Houseman State Park and Blue Elbow Swamp greet you as you come into Texas on the Interstate 10 from Lousiana. It's unfortunate, that without a boat, you can see much of the beauty. Even the boundaries of the park and wildlife management area are not marked off. 
If the blue seems to jump off the screen here, I can assure you it was even bluer in real life. The jellyfish were a big hit with our grandkids on this visit to the Aquarium in Houston. Guess they never even imagined that something like this can exit. Of course, there we lots of tanks and lots of wide eyes. The sharks sure kept them quiet.
I had to play with the photo of this boat quite a bit, because it was a lot foggier than this photo suggest. The scene is the harbor of Victoria Island, just off the coast of Seattle. It's a fun ride out their by ferry and the town and the island is quite quaint. Unfortunately, we got there right at the end of the good season for seeing things.
This guy was blocking my path as I went down to the water to get a shot. I guess he was mad because his spider web was getting all messed up. The scene is White's Park -- the Chamber's County Park, just off the I-10 about 40 miles west of Houston. Turtle Bayou flows along the back of the park.
On a nearly cloudless day, the clouds have escaped onto the dark glass of this building in Beaumont, TX.
Through the workings of storms and millions of little happy feet, the trees near the lagoon in City Park have been formed into very climbable works of art. The branches hang low enough that even the smallest of munchkins can climb aboard and pretend to be aerial arborists. But the tops of the tree, seem to want to distance themselves from all that and use their twisted limbs to wave Spanish Moss art at benched parents.
Thousands of flower enjoy the soft sunlight bath at the Timberline Nursery near Woodville, TX.
This photo is from the Bolivar Peninsula -- just across the bay from Galveston, TX. I had stopped the car to shoot a picture of birds across the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. When I looked down I saw this. There had been an extended drought that had crackled the bottom of the ditch. Then a sudden rain filled it with water. Result -- crackled bottom, wet on top.
