When you live in Texas, you know spring has arrived when you see those first patches of blue along the side of the road. However, stopping to take a picture isn't really the smartest thing to do. Luckily, I live close to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Today, I was able to go by there after I was done with the Teacher Job Fair. I took my digital camera and my tripod. I began to walk out one of the trails, until I got to a sign that said it is recommended you hike with a buddy, and that mountain lions have been spotted in the area. Since I was alone, and didn't feel like confronting a wild animal that could decide it wants to eat me, I opted to head back to the more cultivated and frequented parts of the Wildflower Center. If it was a Saturday or Sunday, I'd have kept going, as there are lots of people out there on the weekends, but being a weekday afternoon when school is still in session, the trail was empty - I saw and heard no one.
Anyway, I managed to fill up my 256mb memory card (although I already had some other pictures on it I had previously neglected to clear off). I'm picking a few out, and I hope you enjoy them...
The Wildflower Center was founded in 1982 by Lady Bird Johnson and the actress Helen Hayes. It moved to its current location twelve years ago, with a grand opening on April 8, 1995. Just last year, it became part of the University of Texas at Austin. Their programs include landscape restoration (focusing on the balance between people and plants), plant conservation (protecting the "ecological heritage of Texas", horticulture (managing "the gardens that represent the native plants of the Central Texas Hill Country" at the Center), and educating people through "sharing the importance and beauty of native plants".
Hope you enjoyed the display of colorful spring wildflowers, particularly the Texas Bluebonnets!
3 comments:
As a displaced Texan in the military, thanks for reminding me of the beauty of home!!
I was in Austin two weeks ago and San Antonio last weekend... Highway 290 (Brenham, Giddings, Ft. Washington, etc) is always pretty this time of year. The Bluebonnets even make I-10 bearable.
That's the one thing I really missed when I wasn't living in Central Texas. So much so, that when I was living in Arkansas, I eventually planted bluebonnets in my flower garden in the front of my house ;-)
Some publishing "wildflower trails" so you can drive around and see them in all their natural beauty. Maybe I'll look into that for next spring.
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