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The last few weeks have been a mixture of one unhappy event after another, today I’m putting all the serious thoughts aside, and enjoying the sunnier side of life. At times taking a breath, stepping back and letting life happen is the right approach. I intend to discuss all my thoughts of the last weeks but today, I’m heading to the wildflowers in my ‘back 40‘.
My ‘back 40’ is definitely not 40 acres by any stretch of imagination, we have 3 and a half acres and our house and formal (make that somewhat planned) gardens take up the rest. We do have a large field behind our house. It could use more tending and if I was a younger woman, oh the delights I could create. One must have either wealth, youth or be realistic. Making do with what I have and my energy level seems to suit me.
We did take the steps of having the ‘back 40’ seeded when we moved here, not knowing what we really should have done and hiring a man flying by the seat of his pants to do the work, we reaped the not so beautiful results of our mistake. We were growing every weed seed known to Texas, churned up and brought to fruition; that was not the plan. When you tell people your plan and you are a landscape gardener, well, some ‘taking it back’ on my part did take place. A little humility is not a bad thing, but it’s still not fun!
Texas (Lupinus texensis). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The wild flowers in Texas start if it is a good season with the outstanding burst of bluebonnets, I had never seen anything like them, they are spectacular and Mother Nature is in control, let me repeat that, Mother Nature (or just nature if you prefer) is controlling this show. Other wild flowers follow, not blue and soft in color but bright and joyous. I haven’t counted the several varieties in our field this year, I’m so grateful that the seeds we did sow years ago have found their way to bloom and give us the best show to date. We can’t count on this show for next year, it might bloom but may just as well not. Depends on ‘Mother’ and it also depends on weed seeds, biannual plants and a wing and a prayer 🙂 So I don’t sound like I’m the only one able to pull off such a riot of color, the roads and ditches of our part of Texas look like a painters palate of color!
Yesterday started as a day of stress in a few areas, my solution is to head to the field, bring the camera, dress for the occasion. Living in Texas you know that walking in fields with shoulder deep flowering plants you don’t wear your cutest shoes and shorts. It’s boots, it’s bib overalls, long sleeves and a stick wouldn’t hurt. Although I arm myself with my camera and I walk carefully. I’m not afraid of what I might find, I’m hoping I do find something! Our land isn’t flat so I’m up and down and avoid pot holes (no need to have Hal hopefully searching for me hours later while I languish at the bottom of a sink hole)! He’s accustomed to me wandering off, it might take some time for him to realize I was missing:-) I think a neighbor or two may have seen me poking around back in the field, camera in hand. I enjoy having just enough land for me to ‘wander’; 
if I sat down (heaven forbid) I wouldn’t be seen by anyone. Just think what may go on in that field when we are not looking! All manner of animal activity, that pleases me.
There are deer paths that I try to follow, even a bedding down place or two. Not sure why that should make me feel pleasure other than a critter had a nice soft place to sleep and was relatively safe for the night.
Many of the plants grow tall, over my head! I’m only 5’4″ so that’s not gigantic but it’s a pretty nice size for a plant. To photograph these lovelies I need to duck down, hide myself, not from critters but from the unrelenting winds. If I used better camera equipment like I did years ago I’d perhaps have less problem with the wind, maybe better photos; but my time for fiddling with equipment has passed so I use a simple Panasonic Lumix HD and it serves my needs very well.
I hope that a peek into the wildflowers that have given us pleasure this year also give you a glimpse at how beautiful Central Texas (Cedar Creek) is in the spring, Isn’t it pleasing with all nature can do, good and bad, it does also entertain us with such beauty? It pleases me, especially in stressful times.
Trudy Lee Darman 