< Previous28 COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2025 FEATURE connections to the upper Texas coast. “I am a frequent visitor to Galveston, and I still have fam- ily in Galveston County,” Buck- ingham said. “We have been on the Gulf Coast since 1813.” Buckingham’s family settled in Bailey’s Prairie, a village in Brazoria County. “Some of my family members came from England and others came from the East Coast of the U.S.,” she said. “One of my ances- tors was Samuel Wythe Barnes, and he and his immediate family survived the 1900 Storm. He was appointed British vice consul in Galveston in 1905.” Barnes’ desk survived The Great Storm, and it now serves as Buckingham’s bedside table in her Austin home, she said. Samuel Wythe Barnes and his wife, Isabel Moses Barnes, moved to Galveston from England in the early 1880s, according to papers filed with the Galveston History Center on behalf of a Barnes family member. Barnes worked as a book- keeper and cashier. He served as a deputy clerk of Galveston County around 1886-1887. In March 1905, he was appointed British vice consul at Galveston. Buckingham is committed to protecting the land and wa- terways of her home state, she said. She is keenly aware of the beauty, benefits and vulnera- bilities of coastal communities in and around Galveston. She lived in Galveston for about 10 years while she was attending the University of Texas Medical Branch and completing her residency in oculoplastic and reconstructive surgery. “I loved living in Galveston,” Buckingham said. “I loved the diversity of the people and the island’s uniqueness. I also personally experienced the devastation of storms here on the coast. I would wake up every day reminded of the impacts of storms.” Among the priorities for Buckingham and the Texas General Land Office team are strategically important high-pro- file, high-impact projects, such as restoring beaches, addressing coastal erosion, protecting com- munities from hurricanes and floods, removing abandoned vessels, among others with long-range ecological, business and infrastructure implications. The land office, for example, is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Gulf Coast Protection District on the Galveston Bay Storm Surge Barrier System initiative. The proposed project is meant to be a solution to protect Galveston Island, the Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston Bay and the rest of the upper Texas coast from storm surge flood- ing caused by hurricanes. Other land office priorities include cleaning up oil spills, such as the one that occurred in 2024 in Galveston Bay when a barge hit the Pelican Island Bridge; along with restoring beaches; testing water quality on a weekly basis, especially in heavily populated beach com- munities; removing abandoned and/or sunken vessels from active waterways; supporting sea turtle rescue efforts; and providing disaster recovery and national security support, with about 150 General Land Office employees positioned along the Texas Coast. “We’re here to serve the peo- ple we’re supposed to serve, and do it well,” Buckingham said. “I consider myself a life- long worker, and I tease that I will sleep when I am dead.” (From top) Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham participates in a sea turtle hatchling release at Padre Island National Seashore in July; Buckingham’s family was among the first settlers to Texas. Her family was living in Galveston during the 1900 Storm, and her ancestors included the British consul to the Republic of Texas. PHOTOS: COU r T e SY T e XAS G e N er AL LAND OFFIC e “I loved living in Galveston. I loved the diversity of the people and the island’s uniqueness.” DAWN BUCKINGHAMASSISTED LIVING FACILITY LICENSE #31165130 COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2025 FEATURE PATH TO PEACE Beach labyrinth helps people self-reflect, process emotions and grief story by LAURA PENNINO photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS O n the first of every month, Rachel Stokes rises early and heads to the beach in Galveston. The setting is typically serene. On most occa- sions, the only background sounds are the wind whistling, the waves lapping and the seagulls calling. At about 6:50 a.m., Stokes begins drawing a giant labyrinth in the sand near 16th Street and the seawall, adding creative designs resembling lotus flowers around the outer edges. The process usually takes about 20 minutes. Sometimes, it takes her about 30 minutes if curious onlookers stop to ask what she is so artfully etching. Stokes pa- tiently pauses, happy to oblige with answers and an invitation to join her group. At 7:30 a.m., Stokes welcomes women and men — a group of 12, sometimes 21 — who have come to the beach to experience the free walking meditation session she leads in, out and around the labyrinth. Walking meditation is a mindfulness practice of being fully present and aware of your surroundings while walking. Stokes is the founder of Living Life the Happy Way. Her office is in the Shearn Moody Plaza, 123 25th St. She’s a certified life coach who leads women’s retreats, women’s support groups, full moon rituals, sound baths and other restorative practices as well as her popular labyrinth walking meditations. She also provides one-on-one coaching. Often, people confuse labyrinths with mazes. But a maze is like a puzzle that in- cludes dead ends, wrong turns or confusing pathways, Stokes said. A labyrinth has only one way for a person to walk in and one way to walk out, and it’s comprised of one continuous winding pathway that leads to the center. “When we walk into the labyrinth, we are releasing into the ground what no longer serves us,” Stokes said. “When we get to the center, we face the Gulf and express grati- COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2025 31 tude. We can’t manifest more unless we are grateful first for what we already have. On the way out, we set our intentions for the month ahead and invite the good to flow in us and through us. As we walk around the labyrinth, we are holding space for others who are walking inside the labyrinth and are receiving our positive energy and intentions.” Stokes has been leading labyrinth walks, labyrinth sound baths and workshops since 2021. She hired an expert to teach her how to draw labyrinths. “On the first of each month, we set our intentions for the upcoming month. Our intentions are based on our feelings and emotions,” she said. “Our goals are about getting from Point A to Point B. With our intentions, we take our emotions and carry Donna brown walks the winding path of a labyrinth on the beach in Galveston. rachel Stokes, founder of Living Life the Happy Way, etches the pattern in the sand on the first day of the month for the labyrinth walks.32 COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2025 FEATURE them forward from the start. We can claim what we want right now and right here. We don’t have to wait until we get from Point A to Point B.” Stokes hosted a special labyrinth walk about three years ago for the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Women’s Center in Galveston. Stokes serves on the organization’s board of directors on a volunteer basis. “I enjoyed watching residents of ADA House leave their limiting beliefs in the sand with members of the public standing around them, supporting them and watch- ing their tears of relief flowing,” she said. “It was the most beautiful exchange I have ever witnessed.” In 2018, after the Santa Fe High School shooting that killed eight students and two teachers and wounded many others, Stokes hosted a community labyrinth walk on East Beach. She positioned vases of roses on the sand as a tribute to those who perished. “People wanted to process their grief,” she said. “We walked the labyrinth on the beach for those who could no longer walk.” Walking the labyrinth has helped her through many tough times in her life, Stokes said. “I encourage people to come out and ex- perience the benefits of being in nature,” she said. “You don’t have to buy into the whole ‘woo-woo’ thing. Just come out.” (Above) Rachel Stokes stands in her completed labyrinth on the beach in Galveston. The process of drawing it usually takes 20 minutes, Stokes said. (Left) As people walk the continuous, winding labyrinth on the beach, others walk a circle around it. “When we walk into the labyrinth, we are releasing into the ground what no longer serves us.” RACHEL STOKESTickets & Reservations: moodygardens.org Featuring ICE LAND, The Largest Ice Sculpture Attraction in the U.S. PLUS Holiday Lights•Ice Skating•Photos with Santa•Holiday Fantasy Dinner & Show Hotel Packages•Arctic Ice Slide•Holiday 3D & 4D Films•Train Rides•Breakfast with Santa Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Dining•New Year’s Eve Celebrations Holiday Music•Delicious Food Every Night and SO Much More! Sleigh the Deals! Evening Pass To All Attractons, Discounts For Groups 20+ PLUS: Value Nights•Holiday Parties•Catered Events•Holiday Attractions•Hotel Packages and More! 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This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Photos may be virtually staged or digitally enhanced and may not reflect actual property conditions.36 COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2025 HOMEPORT VIEW FROM THE TOP Tiki Island home filled with light and coastal charm was designed around the sky story by BARBARA CANETTI W hen Aaron Webster first stepped into the large waterfront house on Tiki Island last year, he didn’t hesitate. Modern, filled with light and decorated with coastal charm, it instantly felt like home. Even better, the owners offered to sell every piece of furniture and furnishing with it. All Webster needed were his clothes and a toothbrush. “Sometimes, I still can’t believe I live here,” he said. For Webster and his younger brother Brent, that disbelief runs deeper than real estate. Just a year earlier, in July 2023, the brothers survived a devastating accident that left them both recovering from COASTMONTHLY.COM | NOveMber 2025 37 multiple surgeries. A lawsuit — one they can’t discuss — helped settle their medical bills and gave each the chance to start fresh with a home on the upper Texas coast. Aaron chose Tiki Island, where his new five-bedroom house sits on the island’s western edge, facing West Bay. “It’s a lot of space for just me, but I fill it most weekends,” he said. That’s not hard to do. With 50 first cousins, there’s always family flowing in from Houston to swim in the pool, cruise the bay or gather around the dock. The home’s defining feature is its soaring spiral staircase — steel wrapped in oak — that climbs three stories inside a wall of windows. Architect David Mullican, who designed the home nearly three PHOTOS: COU r T e SY AND re W ST r AN e PHOTOG r APHY (From far left) Looking for a fresh start, Aaron Webster didn’t hesitate to purchase his large waterfront home in Tiki Island, especially when the previous owners offered to include all the furnishings. And, with family nearby in Houston, he has no problem filling the five-bedroom house on most weekends; a wide dock wraps around three sides of the property, which also features a lap pool and boathouse.Next >