§ Blucher....

Just a photo album of my walking the park perimeter in search of birds! It was a delightful morning, a bit sultry with high humidity, but bearable. The wildflowers were the main focus and new Spring leaves of the trees from winter kill. I saw very few birds, to my disappointment, but I got a little outdoor exercise before I had to leave for grocery shopping which has become a hassle [a chore!] with the price hikes, my gray matter [brain], working as a calculator, is in overdrive with this task these days. It gets a bit over-heated. LOL...

In the collage of ten photos [NOT the first photo published of the pathway], the first image of the tree--there is a yellow-bellied sapsucker [bird -woodpecker] barely visible, can you find it?  And then, with my heart search fetish...the cardinal photo; notice the heart shaped leaves?

§ Everything's Better with Bluebonnet on it...

The Legend of the Bluebonnet retells an old Texas tale about an unselfish young girl who loved the people of her Native American tribe so much that she sacrificed the most precious thing she had to help end the drought. Young She-Who-Is-Alone had lost her entire family to the drought that was plaguing the Comanche people. All she had to remember them by was a special doll that her parents had made for her. When the shaman said that the Great Spirits were angry with the selfishness of the people and would end the drought if the people would sacrifice their most valued possessions, the people hesitated. "I'm sure it's not my new bow that the Great Spirits want... Or my special blanket." Only little She-Who-Is- Alone was willing to make the sacrifice to help her people. She snuck away at night, built a small fire, sacrificed her doll, and sent the ashes off in the wind. When she woke up the next morning, the once parched countryside was covered with blue flowers and the rain began to fall. The people recognized her sacrifice and from then on, she was known as One-Who-Dearly-Loved-Her-People.

source: The Legend

This week, as I drove to a park in Calallen, Texas...along one section of the interstate, the sloping fields were blue. I pulled off exit 11 and found a safe place to park the car, grabbed my cellphone AND digital camera and walked among the blossoms and took pictures of course. Bluebonnets are native to Texas, spelled as one word [bluebonnet; not blue bonnet], and thrives in full sun from the reseeding each year. They are drought tolerant, needs little rain to bloom and was named the state of Texas state flower in 1901. In 1933, Bluebonnet music and lyrics were composed.

Today, TxDOT [texas department of transportation] still buys and sows about 30,000 pounds of wildflower seed along more than 800,000 miles each year.

source: A brief history

§ To Blog or Not to Blog...

Let me begin with a bit of humor!
I need it!!!

I haven't been blogging for a while. Nor much of anything. A bit of winter depression has set in over the last week, and being outdoors seeing all the winter kill of our 'tropical' plants just sets me in a foul mood! And I have been trying to avoid the Chinese Spy Balloon news...wondering if this was really legit...so many questions arose while reading news online from several sources. Why on earth, if it was a spy balloon, did it take so long for the USA to shoot it down?!! Another thougt came across my mind was that China owns a lot of land in Montana...did they actually launch it from THERE or was it really a weather balloon. Waiting forever to blow it out of the sky while all along China is collecting info through the onboard computer?!!? I just can't get myself to trust our OWN government any more.

I've actually taken my word of not doing any interior painting for the past week or so. I am still recouping from back pain and kinks in my neck. LOL That's my excuse and I'm sticking by it!

This past week, little, disruptive of a day, tasks were in order:

pulling weeds

getting my driver's license renewed since it expires on my birthday, the 9th of February, it's good until 2031!

making a pot of baked beans from scratch [a day's job]

grocery shopping for the month

reading

a little decorating around the house for Valentine's Day

catching up on laundry

walking in the park

online jigsaw puzzles

dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing, etc.

watching the series 1883

...things like that!

I have gone, and did a small limited time of, walking. It finally warmed up on Sunday, near 80 degrees [F] as it should be here...but another wintry cold snap is predicted. Went around the flower beds and even in the lawn and pulled thistle Sunday enjoying the sunshine. Tried to watch the Pro Bowl Flag Football...what a waste of time money and effort televising THAT!

Went to the bookstore and picked up my ordered book [cheaper going through the bookstore than ordering from amazon!] This book I've been searching the shelves at the store for some time now, and not finding it...finally ordered it....the book? Well, a memoir of a Holocaust survivor and her CAT!!! I've only read about 6 chapters, but it will, I think, become a page turner. What can go wrong with an added guardian angel feline?!!!

The incredible true story of a young girl who navigated dangerous forests, outwitted Nazi soldiers, and survived against all odds with the companionship of a stray cat. Growing up in the Polish village of Tarnogrod on the fringes of a deep pine forest, Mala Szorer had the happiest childhood she could have hoped for. But at the age of twelve, as the German invasion begins...
read more of the synopsis HERE

PS...at the park, looking for birds, I spied the very first Texas Bluebonnet for the season!!!

Be like a flower waiting to bloom despite winds and storms.
~Anne Nolette Andre

§ Day Trippin'...Part III

I walked to a field to inspect the flowering bluebonnets! And as a reminder from one year to the next, I always try to get a photo from a "Top" view since the blossoms from that angle always [to me] resembles a kaleidoscope! And just like a kaleidoscope, each blossom is different. This is only part of what I saw of bluebonnets and Texas Indian Paintbrush [orange blooms]...

§ Spring is in the Air...the Ides of March

Bud probably wishes I'd be out birding instead of staying home away from the maddening crowds on the beaches! LOL We spent most of the weekend pulling weeds from this past winter months. And there were a LOT! They filled up our large trash bin the city provides. The last time we did quite a bit of yard work was before Christmas. And it was proof...ignoring the weeds is NOT a good thing.

Anyway, I did manage to go to the small park downtown for an hour or two. I heard cardinals singing and saw doves flying overhead, but no photo ops this time. I ended up taking photos of all the wild flowers I could see...

When I noticed the wild bluebonnet in bloom [fourth image in top series], I realized that maybe I should take a short drive to my annual check where there are fields of them!! Since we are in a drought tho, I'm thinking that they are not gonna be all too showy this year! I've been wrong before!! Oh, and the acacia trees were in full bloom at the park...the fragrance permeated the air...sweet!!!  A sure sign Spring has arrived.

BEWARE OF THE IDES OF MARCH

As a lot of my followers know, I enjoy anything Shakespeare. One of my favorites is Julius Caesar [a Shakespearian thriller]. Today is the 15th of March! A soothsayer comes from the crowd and warns Caesar 'Beware of the Ides of March'. The Roman dictator, Julius Caesar, was not emperor until AFTER his death, being stabbed at the quorum/gathering on the 15th.

Today, the phrase “beware the Ides of March” often refers to some betrayal that is going to happen to somebody. The phrase mostly implies in terms of some treachery or some alert.

§ Kaleidoscope of Color...

I know I've mentioned this before. Being that this is Texas State Flower, and is now in full bloom in different areas of the Lonestar country. When I have a chance to pull off the road and get out to get photos of them, I always like to take a different-view perspective of the blossom. From the very top, looking down. It's like a kaleidoscope of color, and each blossom is different. As if you're twisting the kaleidoscope beads to get different shapes!!!  Truly, a never-ending array of shapes.

See?

This is Bud's Birthday today.