Texas Blues: A Wildflower Special

28 Mar, 2012

I know of no natural bursting forth of colors that compares in tranquility with spring in the Texas Hill Country. While this season excites the attentive eye in any locale, most eyes must also suffer a beating of pollen and seasonal illnesses that impede the vision. Add to that clarity the gentle undulations, distant buttes, and a moderate sun ensuring perfect swimming conditions, and you have a very tough competitor. For fear of disbelief, it would be best not to mention that the only noticeable insects about are migrating butterflies. Also bordering on the truly unbelievable are the big sky sunsets whose pastels look like cheap Technicolor productions from Hollywood’s earliest flirtations with polychrome. Yes– the Texas Hill Country spring borders on absurd– like all beauty, generosity, or hope.

While I never welcome a flat tire, this was definitely the best place I've ever been blessed with that curse.

The cast of hill country wildflowers is dominated by the chorus of blue bonnets. Passing by in a car, it is most likely that the purplish blue of those characters is all that you see. Here, the cyclist or walker has a distinct advantage. In between the azure puddles, there are often tiny flowers of varying shades. Even my camera did a poor job of capturing these little beauties. To really see them, you have to stop and lean in. I think you see where I’m going here.

If you have no taste for this sort of Eden and could care less about wildflowers, you are not out of luck. The hill country is also home to world-class barbecue. The establishments have signs like the one above that might make you feel more at home.

Until we meet again

More attentive to the shades around us

Than we thought possible