Texas catches a lot of grief here on Daily Kos. And many times, for very good reason. But there are many things to admire about the state, too. And one of these is the gorgeous display of wildflowers that carpet the state each spring.
This diary is rather heavy on wildflower photographs, so you might not want to go below the squiggle if you have low bandwidth.
My wife and I are very fortunate to own a "ranch" an hour or two from Dallas-Fort Worth. It's not a working ranch. We don't own any livestock. But we have a bit over 100 acres, fronting on a small river on one side. It's beautiful in its own way every season of the year (though you have to squint a bit to see the beauty during a typically scorching Texas summer). It's a wonderful getaway. After a week slaving away at a computer terminal, hard physical labor in the country is the perfect antidote to the big city. And I hate to admit, a lot of my time is spent "clearing brush", just like Reagan and Bush did. But I promise, that's about all we have in common!
Our visits to our ranch the past two weekends included family time, relaxation, grilling, enjoying the wildflower displays... but also a lot of personal introspection. More on that later. First the wildflowers:
The Texas Bluebonnet is the star. There's no wonder it's the state flower of Texas. But over the years, we have identified over 100 different varieties of wildflower on our property. Of course, they don't all bloom in the spring. But here are a few more that do:
The Blackfoot Daisy, and the lavender-hued Engelmann Sage carpet this slope.
The Indian Paintbrush is another spring-time favorite.
The Texas Blue Star grows in seeps, where there is just a little bit of extra moisture.
The Prairie Celestial is my wife's favorite. But she has to be quick to enjoy it. It is a delicate bloom that opens in late morning, and withers by late afternoon or evening.
There's the Senecio, or Golden Groundsel, which flourishes in shady spots.
And the Prairie Verbena, out in the open, under the brilliant Texas sun.
I grew up calling this a buttercup. But it's really the Pink Evening Primrose. This one is complete with a couple of pollinators!
The Wild Blue Hyacinth is another denizen of sunny meadows.
Here, nestled among some bluebonnets is the Twisted Leaf Yucca. You can see how it gets its name. My son harvested some leaves from a yucca (but the straight leafed variety). He was interested in using the fibers in those leaves to make twine, or braid into a small rope, as Native Americans did years before. My wife showed him how to use a knife to scrape the pulp from the leaves. Then she separated each leaf into strips. And within an hour, she had woven those strands into a small yucca basket. She is a talented and amazing woman!
That's how we spent our Easter morning. My son took the basket home that evening, filled it with malted milk robin eggs and gave it to his girlfriend, who was spending the day with her parents, and couldn't be with us. She was impressed!
Fortunately we have seen a lot of rain since last October. Creeks are flowing again for the first time in several years. And this stock tank, which was completely bone dry last August, is only a couple of feet from being full.
But there are still lingering effects from the extreme drought. It is estimated that over 10 million trees have died, statewide. And that includes normally hardy varieties like these cedars (Ashe Junipers). Global Warming, anyone? But it's great to see water in the creeks and rivers again here in North Central Texas... even if much of south and west Texas remains in a persistent drought.
OK, now for the "personal introspection" that I mentioned earlier in my diary. Two weeks ago, I published my first Tree Climbers diary here on Daily Kos.
I was kind of wrung out after publishing that. Putting down in words what had happened to me as a child, was emotionally draining. Fortunately I had the perfect cure. A weekend at our "ranch", with extended family.
I went down alone Friday night, after work two weeks ago, so that I could mow in the morning before family arrived. As I lay in my bed that night, I reflected on my diary, and on all of the other Tree Climber diaries that I had re-read in the previous day or two. I had trouble falling asleep. As I clutched a pillow to my chest, eyes full of tears, the image indeliby burned into my brain was 5 year old Roxine . I was just wracked by the pain that there was nothing I could do for that precious child.
On Saturday, family showed up. And best of all, my daughter came with my two grand-daughters, aged 8 and 10. That lifted my spirits immediately. There is no blood relation, because my daughter is adopted, but that makes absolutely no difference. Those two girls are so special to me.
I spent the days watching them play, skipping down a dirt track between fields of bluebonnets, tossing rocks into the river, clambering up and down sandy banks along the riverside; just being girls.
But I watched wistfully, because every child deserves the same sort of innocent childhood that my two granddaughters are enjoying. I know most of the Tree Climbers didn't experience that kind of childhood. And I also know that right now, as I type this, there are children across the country who are being abused, physically, emotionally, sexually. And there is nothing I can do to stop that tonight. I feel so powerless, so impotent, so useless.
But there is tomorrow. And we will work together as Tree Climbers to expose this cruelty, and if not end it, at least reduce the number of children who suffer.
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