When I was a boy up in Michigan, a bit of the joy of Christmas was drained from me because I knew it was the beginning of a long, dark slog until spring.
Thanks JB for the pics and music. I don't think I've ever heard those selections. Good stuff.
Ja' ever read Leon Hale in the Hou. Post or Chronicle (after The Post went under)? He and a friend would drive west once a year in search of new growth on old Mesquite trees. Old because, he said the young one's didn't know what they were doing. Ha,ha.They could then predict when spring would come to Houston judging by how far out west they drove. His columns would tell of their adventures as they searched the back roads of west Texas for the elusive green sprouts. Sometimes far, sometimes near. Some of my favorite Hale columns, next to his fortune teller, or talking mule. Ya did it to me again James. Threw me into the "Way Back". Thanks.
Yep, I used to read Leon. Most everyone remotely interested in Texas did, no? I even bought a book he published of collected columns/essays. He was pretty good, though had more than his share of clunkers, which is the curse of anyone who must deliver on a regular basis. I missed his writing on the mesquite trees, though. Hell, what would the Texas landscape be without them? Even more desolate, I reckon, at least out west.
The green buds of the bluebonnets have remained dedicated to my Fredericksburg driveway gravel since last year. Never seen that before. They promise quite a blooming and a future halt to my parking convenience.
Ah, your first paragraph highlights why I will never make it out of the south to live.
Bluebonnet seedlings were emerged already at Lake Brownwood over Thanksgiving. Preparing for their spring blooms. I noticed a basal rosette of Texas ragwort in my own yard which made me excited for four months from now and the golden blooms that light up my yard.
I'm particularly fond of our eastern Texas lupine, the Sandyland bluebonnet, Lupinus subcarnosus. It's a little smaller than the L. texensis but has the pretty blue-lavender coloration.
Well, we share the same Southern compulsion, it appears. I cannot imagine ever living north of the Mason-Dixon again. I came exploring down here when I finished high school. I was determined to never be cold again. Bluebonnets in January and roses in October, alone, would have been enough to keep me. Now if we can do something about the damn politicians. Also, I am afraid I am beginning to dread the summer in Texas like I used to fear the winter in Michigan.
Thanks JB for the pics and music. I don't think I've ever heard those selections. Good stuff.
Ja' ever read Leon Hale in the Hou. Post or Chronicle (after The Post went under)? He and a friend would drive west once a year in search of new growth on old Mesquite trees. Old because, he said the young one's didn't know what they were doing. Ha,ha.They could then predict when spring would come to Houston judging by how far out west they drove. His columns would tell of their adventures as they searched the back roads of west Texas for the elusive green sprouts. Sometimes far, sometimes near. Some of my favorite Hale columns, next to his fortune teller, or talking mule. Ya did it to me again James. Threw me into the "Way Back". Thanks.
Yep, I used to read Leon. Most everyone remotely interested in Texas did, no? I even bought a book he published of collected columns/essays. He was pretty good, though had more than his share of clunkers, which is the curse of anyone who must deliver on a regular basis. I missed his writing on the mesquite trees, though. Hell, what would the Texas landscape be without them? Even more desolate, I reckon, at least out west.
The green buds of the bluebonnets have remained dedicated to my Fredericksburg driveway gravel since last year. Never seen that before. They promise quite a blooming and a future halt to my parking convenience.
Ah, your first paragraph highlights why I will never make it out of the south to live.
Bluebonnet seedlings were emerged already at Lake Brownwood over Thanksgiving. Preparing for their spring blooms. I noticed a basal rosette of Texas ragwort in my own yard which made me excited for four months from now and the golden blooms that light up my yard.
I'm particularly fond of our eastern Texas lupine, the Sandyland bluebonnet, Lupinus subcarnosus. It's a little smaller than the L. texensis but has the pretty blue-lavender coloration.
Well, now I'm ready for spring!
Well, we share the same Southern compulsion, it appears. I cannot imagine ever living north of the Mason-Dixon again. I came exploring down here when I finished high school. I was determined to never be cold again. Bluebonnets in January and roses in October, alone, would have been enough to keep me. Now if we can do something about the damn politicians. Also, I am afraid I am beginning to dread the summer in Texas like I used to fear the winter in Michigan.