Meet the Sisters
The Grackle
Hello! I’m known as Lady Grackle. I loved the outdoors – my family took weekend trips to a little island where we built sandcastles and got sea lice. My sister and I caught lizards, dug holes, petted dogs, swam in grandma’s pool, picked weeds we presented to our mom as beautiful flowers. Once a year we visited friends for “May Madness” , a weekend of target shooting, amazing BBQ, and exploring the woods. My second year of college I signed up for a volunteer trip, which was my first real camping experience. This was primitive camping in the Everglades with complete strangers, and I LOVED IT. I signed up for a few more of these trips, and I knew that I learned enough to finally camp on my own – the issue was making the time.
In September 2020 I finally MADE time and convinced my mom and bro to tag along with me. Since then I’ve been convincing family and friends to spend a weekend sleeping on the ground. I hope they’ve had a good time doing it. I hope that if you haven’t camped yourself, Grackle and the Goose inspired you to try it and have a good time!
So, the Lady Grackle bit
My husband tells this story better than I – but here goes. I convinced him (my boyfriend at the time) and a mutual friend to go to a Birding 101 class at a local park. We sat through the presentation, met an animal ambassador – an owl I think named Artemis, and were loaned a stack donated of field guides. We headed out to the boardwalk trail behind the visitor center where the group oooed and awwed and identified birds. A medium sized, slender bird with a brown head and brown body, dark wings and a dark tail, landed on the foliage nearby. If you’ve ever been in a Walmart parking lot in Florida, you’ve seen this bird. Our guide turned to the group and asked, does anyone know what this bird is? Without missing a beat, I exclaimed “lady grackle!” “Yeah,” our guide said, “that’s right.”
After the group split up to explore the trail my husband informed me that I took the wind out of our guide’s sails. Whoops.
How’d we get to Grackle and the Goose? My sister and I did a road trip trying to see all of our grandparents. We decided to be cheap and camp our way through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. It was a blast! We hatched the podcast idea that week and here we are today!
The Goose
Alright, so I’m really bad at these kinds of things but here we go. I’ve known the Grackle since the day I was born. We grew up together getting into all sorts of mess. Then I joined the military when I turned 19. I went out and about traveling the world for five years and not seeing the family very much. While in, I often went camping and hiking with fellow Airmen/friends.
When I separated, I decided to be back closer to my family. Cue moving near the Grackle and road tripping to see the family members down south. After having an absolute blast, we decided to make this a side gig.
As for the name…
I absolutely LOVE geese, mostly the Canadian Goose. I didn’t see them much as a child but when I was at Technical School in VA, they were everywhere. My friend from PA kept telling me to leave them alone and that they’re mean. I’ve been lucky to never get attacked which I guess is a common thing. I live for their chaotic, don’t give a damn attitude. Which my sister claims that I have.
Love the quotes!