I love: living in Galveston living on an island living in Texas living in the USA being able to travel having family near being loved being free feeling safe enjoying friends hugs from others being retired I cry: for our Democracy over our politics for the poor

Our featured artist is Amy Mckeethan owner of Phoenix Boudoir Photography.

Photography by Amy Mckeethan of Phoenix Boudoir Photography.

After every storm, neighbors help neighbors rebuild. Local businesses band together to support one another, and the community rallies around

A word from our teen contributors Wyatt Migues: "A way we could build each other up and really connect with one another is through free fishing tournaments hosted for the youth. As they get to have fun learning about the Galveston sea life and connecting through the art of fishing, the community could come together and supply the kids with various fishing equipment. While going to certain areas and fishing, before we start, we will walk around and help pick up any trash we fi

Yes, I am a pirate. “We knew we were in Indian country.” Third Engineer John Cronyn, Maersk, Alabama, taken by Somali pirates in April 2009. Domestic piracy is a niche market. Really, who would expect a ship to get hijacked right off the South Jetty? This guy right here. That’s who. After receiving my first Merchant Mariner’s license, I hooked up with Tidewater. What’s a nice way to say this? It wasn’t my favorite job. It was August 24, 1992. I reported to my boat in Houma,

Galvestonians who call this place home, by birth or choice, view their island as a refuge. To them, it’s not so much a plot of silty sand elevating from the bed of the Gulf of Mexico but a floating galleon of rebel life protected from life’s musket balls by the waters insulating it from the mainland establishment. We know that the pretty painted pillars of aquatic scenery flanking the causeway are chiefly there for tourists. If it were up to some of us, we would just as so

Galveston’s past is a treasure trove of colorful tales, where pirates, a thriving red-light district, and a web of criminal activities intersect. Among these stories, one figure stands out—Jean Lafitte, a privateer whose influence on the island in the 19th century remains one of the most fascinating chapters in our island’s history. Jean Lafitte was no ordinary pirate. Known for his charisma and cunning, he carved out a unique niche on Galveston Island, turning it into a bust

The Virginia Point Peninsula Preserve, including the O’Quinn I-45 Estuary Corridor wetlands, is a landscape-level conservation property wholly owned and managed by Scenic Galveston, Inc., a 501(c)3 Galveston-based non-profit organization with the mission of protecting Virginia Point prairies and wetlands for habitat conservation, restoration, and compatible public use. Since 1992, all-volunteer SCENIC GALVESTON (SG) has been making a tangible difference by purchasing, protect

Wetlands are areas of transition between aquatic and terrestrial habitats; they’re the in-betweens of oceans/rivers and land.

For millions of years, sea turtles have contributed to maintaining the health of marine and terrestrial ecosystems.

East End Lagoon Nature Preserve is a nearly 700-acre swath of salt marsh and coastal prairie habitat at the very east end of Galveston.

Artist Boat is a nonprofit organization that promotes awareness and preservation of coastal margins and the marine environment.

The East End Lagoon Nature Preserve spans nearly 700 acres and features diverse habitats, including wetlands and coastal prairies.

Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil all year or during certain seasons. They include marshes, swamps, bogs, and similar environme

It was the second week of my junior year and my English teacher had assigned us to define our identity. I like to think I have everything figured out, but wrapping my big personality into a legible sentence was daunting. My name is Moya Joyce Hudson and I’m a white 15-year-old girl from eastern Texas. Both of my parents work their 9 to 5 jobs while I pursue a successful high school career in a comfortable lifestyle. I come back to school with plenty of summer vacation tales f

At first glance, Kai Syng Tan’s colorful tapestry Magic Carpet (2017) is an explosion of colors, patterns, and motifs that draws you into a meandering labyrinth of designs. Your eyes wander from the woven daguerreotype portrait of mathematician Ada Lovelace to a river of text that flows throughout the tapestry. Large written words (like “chimera,” “toes,” and “making”) in shades of purple and pink interpose parts of a scribbled poem (“I run and run and let out an earth-shatte

I know my brain isn’t normal. Do I think I’m neurodivergent? No. But whatever’s going on up there isn’t programmed like the “average bear.” Some shit is wired like a drunk hillbilly that gets the job done. When I was a kid, they told my mom I was crazy smart, but once 3rd grade hit, I was held back. Can I do math? Nope. I still count on my fingers and use a tip calculator everywhere. Hence, the whole holding-me-back thing in school. But I could rip through Stephen King’s IT b

EARLY CHILDHOOD RESOURCES: EARLY CHILDHOOD INTERVENTION Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) is a statewide program within the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for families with children birth up to age 3, with developmental delays, disabilities or certain medical diagnoses that may impact development. ECI services support families as they learn how to help their children grow and learn. ECI offers free screenings and provides services to children 0-3 www.hhs.texas.g

My friend encouraged me to write an article for this issue on neurodiversity and what Galveston is doing for this community, and my first thought was “not enough” I say this as a fellow neurodivergent of the ADHD flavor and as a working mental health professional in this community. To start, I have a not-so-clinical definition of what it means to be a neurodivergent and why it appears that diagnoses of ADHD, autism and the like are on the rise. Were not meant to be put in the