wildflowers – Page 2 – The Hermits' Rest

More Spontaneous Spontaneity

This morning, Lee and I awoke in Brownwood, Texas, which was not in yesterday’s non-plan. After a reasonable hotel breakfast we went less than .1 mile to the Tractor Supply in the same parking lot as us. Odd, huh.

Proof I made it home: Indian Jute from the ranch.

I got all the horse food I needed and the cashier informed me there was a bunch of chicken stuff on sale, so I got some herbal yummies to go with the grit Connie has been hinting for. How efficient!

I had been wanting to go back to the state park nearby, so Lee looked up Lake Brownwood State Park. He was directed a half mile down the road the hotel and TSC. That was not where I remembered the park to be, either unit. I kept saying we weren’t going to the right place.

The weird shape is our hotel. The nature trail starts where the road ends. Also on the map is my favorite restaurant, which we didn’t get to go to, Katana.

It wasn’t where I thought we were going, that’s true. But we were in Riverside Park, which may be the nicest city park I’ve ever been to. I ended up thanking Lee.

Even though I still had the wrong shoes on, I was able to happily walk the sidewalks that went along a pretty bayou (Pecan Bayou) and an adjacent woods. The park has a nice disc golf course, a beautiful playground and a cool meeting pavilion. It looks quite new, but is full of old trees, mostly pecan.

I enjoyed walking the paths, other than when disc golf players yelled at me. The other interesting sight was a family who brought a confused but patient palomino horse to the park and posed their children with it. Everyone had cowboy attire, the fancy kind.

Horse photos. I assume they scooped any poop.

I found many plants, including a new one for me. There were 24 bird species in total that Merlin heard, including a loud Mississippi Kite and many Lesser Goldfinches. Here are a few plants and an insect in the park (not bad for such a well mowed area).

As I finished the walk by the bayou I saw a nature trail sign. It said it was only .7 miles, so I let Lee know I was going down it.

What a gorgeous trail it was, winding along the water. While enjoying the birds, I realized my two favorite vines were everywhere, Pitcher’s leather flower and pearl milkweed. I was excited.

There was so much more to see. And the trail itself made you feel totally alone in nature. Just perfect.

I saw too many fascinating plants to share, but here are some highlights. This is probably mostly for me so I can go back and enjoy them, though I did put them all up in iNaturalist!

We headed home after this, and just enjoyed the countryside. I also enjoyed a mango-pineapple Icee. What a spontaneous indulgence.

We had a brief but intense storm with lightning while I was feeding horses, which produced thunder loud enough to scare both humans and equines. It did lead to a beautiful sunset, so I’ll share those!

Oh yes. Card of the day was 5 of Wands, which deals with conflict. I chuckled because I drew it after thinking for a few minutes about an interpersonal conflict I need to resolve. Thanks, cards.

Don’t Complain, Spontane!

I didn’t write yesterday, even though it was a good day, all in all. I felt useful at work and had a good time doing horse stuff with Vicki (other than getting stepped on by Apache when he was in a “spooky” part of his path). Walking on the paths was a great way for Vicki to practice leadership with Drew, so I’m glad we did it, even though Drew wasn’t thrilled.

Laughing because we were trying to get Drew to look cheerful.

Today I had no plans, Lee had a sore toe, and we were just blah. So, he said, “Let’s just go!” And we spontaneously went somewhere. Spontaining has a lot going for it! We drove around Texas to see what we could find.

One thing we found: free-range cattle. That’s Texas.

First we drove to Buc-ees because I really wanted one of their sandwiches for lunch. I also got over-priced watermelon but it was so good! I got a new large water holder to replace the previous one whose straw disappeared then the lid shattered in one of my more-frequent “accidents.” I’m pleased.

Then we meandered our way through the dangerous roads between Temple and Copperas Cove, Texas. You are inevitably passed on all sides by small, audibly-enhanced sporty vehicles driven by young people with very neat haircuts. Those would be folks starting their military careers at Fort Cavazos who have purchased their dream vehicles and want to go zoom zoom. We survived and made it to our random destination, a “metaphysical shop.” There are actually TWO in the area, down from three.

My souvenir was a cutting of a fascinating pothos plant with curly leaves. The shop owner has a jungle in the back of the store.

This store has all kinds of fascinating stuff in it, like dead things in jars, homemade spell candles, and what I think were some homemade oils. This was not one of those goofy crystal stores. They are serious and have some interesting classes one could take. I liked their tarot candles, so I got one for me and a Hermit for Lee. Lee gave me a VERY nice Bridget goddess statue to go with my collection. This makes me sound very woo woo. I assure you, I’m just out here sending Lovingkindness.

After chatting about dogs, horses, and plants with the proprietor, we headed for our next destination, which we picked at random. Mostly we enjoyed the drive through rolling hills and (recently flooded) river valleys. We ended up in Lampassas. We tried to go to a nature park, but it was closed. That was a theme for the day, thanks to the floods on July 4.

My big discovery in Lampassas was a huge factory that makes Ajinomoto. That’s MSG. I always thought it came from Japan. I stayed clear due to my sensitivity.

We saw a sign for Colorado Bend State Park, so we decided to go there and check it off our list. It’s a good thing, since it turns out our RV would have no place to go there.

Flood-damaged bridge to get to the park. Had to drive very slowly.

Much of the park was closed, but I did get to go on a little trail walk in a meadow with Ashe Juniper trees and lots of silver bluestem. I was hampered by my footwear choice of shiny sandals, but remember, I didn’t know where I was going earlier today.

The weird thing about my walk was the eerie lack of birds. For most of the time there was one persistent Field Sparrow, who sang very well, it all alone. At the end I finally heard a Bobwhite Quail, a Cardinal, and a Red-winged Blackbird.

We then drove to the camping area, which was the only riverside area you could get to, and there were normal birds there in usual numbers. Whew. I’ve never been so relieved to hear wrens, titmice, and buntings.

We left the park and for no good reason drove to San Saba, another typical town of the region. I enjoy the town squares and small shops you find. The big business here is pecans. Some of the pecan businesses have beautiful buildings. Of course, a pecan plantation is also lovely. Wish I had a photo.

The nearest place we could find to get a free hotel on our Hilton points was in Brownwood, so off we went through more scenic byways until we suddenly were there, not the way we came here last time when camping. The best thing about this Home2 Suites is that it’s next door to a Tractor Supply store, where I need to go to replenish horse food.

It’s almost like we planned the day!

A good day needs no plan when you can spontane.

Tomorrow we get those supplies then see if this is the town with the amazing Japanese restaurant that used to be Pizza Hut. If so, that will be lunch before hitting a different bunch of Texas cow-towns on the way home.

Crude map of trip. We live due east of Temple 40 miles or so.

Tarot card of the day

Yesterday I drew the 6 of swords, which is about having a supportive community. I drew it right after chatting with my supportive Friday morning friends. I forgot to take a picture.

I didn’t draw a card today, but was impressed to see that the woman in the metaphysical shop was doing a good business with readings. Interesting!

Selecting a Seasonal Preference

What is your favorite season of year? Why?

It’s a good thing there’s a prompt to answer today, because action around here was fairly limited. So, I’ll dwell on my favorite season and you can think about yours, and maybe even share it in the comments! Why not? I’ll share some pretty nature sights from today, in the unofficial season of late spring humidity.

They took the forms off our concrete slabs. Whee.

When I lived in Illinois, I could never choose between spring and autumn as my favorite seasons. Crabapple trees, spring bulbs, peonies, and lilacs made the world so beautiful up there. But in autumn there were the orange, red, and yellow deciduous trees that contrasted so beautifully with the dark tree trunks (or light, with birch trees). It was beautiful in Champaign-Urbana, all year round. That’s right. I liked winter as long as it was above 0°F and there wasn’t an ice storm.

Simple sunflower and resident crab spider.

Here in Texas, I only have one season I don’t enjoy, and that’s summer. At least my new job will force me to stay indoors during the worst of the heat. I always feel sad for the animals, especially the chickens, and the dying grass on ground with huge cracks in it from drought always looks apocalyptic. I don’t need more reminders of apocalypses. Plus there are the fewest birds here in summer.

It’s hard not to like spring in this area, with all the wildflowers, birds, and butterflies. I hope we still have them in the future. This year was pretty bad for all of them, thanks to an unusually dry winter. And sadly, spring always reminds me that summer will be here soon. Not to mention how many allergies spring brings (but I appreciate the plants’ need to reproduce).

At this point in my life, autumn is my favorite time of year, even though it often arrives late. I can take long walks, once it cools off, and more birds show up as they migrate south. I love the smell of fallen leaves, which also make it easier to see wildlife. The only problem with that time of year is that it’s so busy! There are conference and events and trips…

Winter here is surprisingly great, though. It’s not that cold except for a few days each year, and there are so many entertaining birds to enjoy. Campgrounds are more empty, too. And I never sweat. I hate all that sweating in the other seasons. (I rarely sweated until menopause finally happened and I’m still not used to all that dripping.)

Mockingbird nest in the little tree we planted in the front yard. What a quality nest!

I’m not confident that I’ve answered the question. Let’s hope I’m much more with it tomorrow.

Pearl crescent. There are so many crescents.

Exploring the Unknown, Nearby

I’ve got to tell you how much fun I had this morning! My friend Ann and I went to see the property of our fellow Master Naturalist, to help her improve her skills and see what plants and birds were there.

Our friend lives far enough east of the Hermits’ Rest that the soil is very different, quite sandy compared to my soil. That means different plants will grow. I’d already noticed that along the road to my horse lessons, where the Gaillardia are solid red, and standing cypress lines the road this time of year, with its red plumes. So pretty.

Maroon blanketflower (*Gaillardia amblyodon)*

The birding where we visited was pretty good, and I learned the sounds of a Swainson’s Warbler very well when the ubiquitous White-eyed Vireos rested momentarily. It gave good opportunity for Merlin Bird ID lessons.

The plants were what had me all in a tizzy, though. There were expanses of meadows bordered by nice thick woods, plus excellent trails the homeowners maintain. So much to explore!

I found interesting insects, too. I wish I could have gotten photos of all the different bees and wasps buzzing around all the flowers, but I did capture a few as well as butterflies. The pale pipevine swallowtail was so lovely I will share multiple photos.

There were some impressive wildflower areas, and in one of them I found many species I’d never seen, even some Ann had never seen, and she doesn’t live too far away. A couple of these, like the prairie clover, are pretty rare, so no wonder I wasn’t familiar with them.

The flowers were in a place is where someone built a new tall wildlife fence about ten feet back from the original barbed wire. The area where cattle or other ruminants can’t reach was a blaze of flowers. It’s a secret botanical treasure we discovered!

It wasn’t just flowers that were new. There were plenty of fungus and moss samples to investigate, too. I’d never seen a moss inflorescence so spectacular as the one we found on a trail, and after the recent rains, mushrooms were everywhere.

I don’t mean to go on and on, but this unknown wonderland brought a lot of joy, as did hanging out with my fellow nature lovers. It’s hard to believe I found so much that was new to me, so close to home.

I’ve spared you most of the species I saw, but this location has gone from nothing on iNaturalist to dozens, including the rare ones. I hope this makes a scientist happy someday!

Voted Most Beautiful Flower, by me, was the propeller flower or *Alophia drummondii*

Trip Down Recent Memory Lane

Yesterday I was feeling all sentimental, as well as in need of some different sites, so I took my walk by turning left instead of right from my driveway, to look at the part of the ranch we sold and the part that was my friend Sara’s ranch (visit her new projects on the Wild Type Ranch website).

I enjoyed seeing all the late-spring wildflowers on the roadside and marveled at how fast river cane (Arundo donax) grows back after mowing.

I checked out the abandoned farm next to the Shuffield/Tyson place, which keeps falling down more and more, but that’s just fine, because now it’s host to many birds, and judging from the scat, either a bobcat or feral domestic cats.

Eventually I turned and walked down the road connecting our two ranches and leading by my son’s cabin residence. Wow. There were some beautiful vistas of black-eyed Susans in the fancy pasture.

I got all nostalgic looking at where Aragorn and Spice used to live. There’s a great view looking down from there.

By the way, Spice must miss her old pasture, because she made a break for it when the gate was briefly opened. Luckily some beautiful oats distracted her, making it easy to take her back. She can’t help being so obedient. She’s well trained.

Next I enjoyed the huge tree next to the old chicken coop where I tried to care for all the chickens no one wanted anymore. Maybe my son can fix it up and use it.

I’ve spent a lot of time under that tree, and now my kid can.

The final stretch is where I admired the vistas looking west. There were always beautiful sunsets there, and you can see a long way, which you can’t from my house, due to the woods.

What I saw next gave me a laugh, the tank/pond where I went on my first ride on Apache outside of the round pen.

He followed Spice and Sara up to the berm that makes the pond, straight at a mesquite tree. Rather than get mauled, I bailed.

That was my first unplanned dismount from that boy. Memories.

Back at our pasture, I hung out with the chickens and horses and once again expressed gratitude that I have an opportunity to explore this area in Central Texas. It’s not much, but at least for now, some of it is still ours.

A Visit to the Local Ghost Town

It’s been a long time since I wrote about the Walker’s Creek community, which is nominally where we live (or Silver City, another town that’s gone). On today’s weekend walk, I decided to investigate what’s left of the community.

Definitely a scenic walk, including the yellow Gaillardia.

Last week I went to the cemetery, so I’ll just show you the entrance. There are older cemeteries in the area, but here’s where all those Hightower and Laywell ancestors are. I mostly enjoy the ancient oaks and birds.

As I’ve mentioned, the cemetery is still in use.

I climbed up the hill to get to the historical area, stopping to enjoy some gorgeous Pitcher’s Leatherflowers. I declare them to be my favorite wildflowers (sorry milkvine).

I found many birds, including lots of raptors. There was even a Bald Eagle, which usually don’t stray so far from the Alcoa lake. I was happy a Swainson’s Hawk flew over, too.

This is my only bird photo. It’s exciting though, because it’s a Painted Bunting NOT hiding in a tree. How do I know that? It was vigorously singing the Painted Bunting song.

I decided to see if there were any fascinating plants at the site of the old Walker’s Creek Church. I think that was also the school site?

I saw the remains of many of the oaks originally planted by early English-speaking settlers. The trees have not handled recent drought years, plus they’re old.

I found a dragonfly, some wildflowers, and the usual trees for around here, cedar elms and hackberry trees. The most unique feature was all the Inca Doves that seem to only live on the top of this hill. They don’t come past the creek to my house. Here’s a sample of what I saw. I’ll spare you yet another dead armadillo.

Female common whitetail *Plathemis lydia*

That wasn’t too exciting, but I enjoyed thinking about the people who settled on this hill so long ago. I’m glad we still have some friendly folks in the community, even short-timers like us and “the dog lady” (Vicki, who raises amazing Shetland sheep dogs).

Alfred says he’d be a sheep dog if we’d get him some sheep. Until then, he’ll just chew his “cigar.”

I’ll have more excitement for you in the morning.

This is the purple box. Everyone notices it. Says it’s an insect trap. Ok.

Teaching Adults = Herding Cats

It’s a good thing I find cat herding to be entertaining (if tiring). I remembered this today when I did my best to teach a group of adults how to use Merlin Bird ID. I’m happy to report that each attendee learned something on the actual topic! Huzzah!

I’d like to have joined this horse in a nice cool pond when I was done.

And I had fun, even while being frustrated by my inability to answer three questions at once. There was one attendee who couldn’t get to the App Store to download Merlin, a couple who couldn’t log in because they didn’t have their password, some who were eager to learn, and one who figured everything out faster than I could tell the rest. In other words, a typical in-person training experience. We were, however, missing the person who falls asleep. No one did that!

Luckily there were few enough people there that after showing everyone the UI basics, I could help people wherever they were. Whew. That’s my favorite way to teach adults. Seeing the smiles in people’s faces when they figured out how something worked was very satisfying!

Also satisfying: Linda Jo found this wheel bug.

We ended up finding birds, recording them and creating some life lists. Everyone made progress! And then they learned a bit about the new iNaturalist, even the ones who didn’t have iPhones (there’s no Android version).

One more fun insect. A ponderous spur-throat grasshopper.

I felt good doing what I like to do, and on a topic I’m actually interested in. It also felt great to get more of my fellow Master Naturalists interested in what makes my life so full of education and entertainment these days.

I was educated by identifying this baby bird as a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (it’s being well cared for and heading to rehabbers soon).

Nonetheless, I took a little jaunt over to Tarrin’s neighborhood to take some medication to a horse friend. I had some time, so I did something I’d wanted to do for a long time. I pulled my car over on Tarrin’s road and entered the interesting plants I keep seeing into iNaturalist.

Woo hoo! I can’t really pull over and take pictures towing a horse trailer!

Other than that, it’s very hot and humid. I’ve been thinking about recent tornado victims. It encourages me to enjoy all life’s joys and challenges while I can. The weather can strike anywhere.

Today’s Holiday

I set a record today. I was only glum about Mother’s Day for a half hour or so. Two things helped. First I gave myself a good lecture on how this holiday was originally (1870) meant to be a day where mothers celebrated peace, started by Julia Ward Howe. Yep. The same one who wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic. It’s a pacifist holiday at heart. I’m a pacifist and I produced two babies, so I can celebrate!

I was cheered at the idea of so many fascist pro-patriarchy women getting flowers and cards today. I’m not sure what emotion that really was. But, yay for peace on earth, end to wars, and love for all. That probably makes me a criminal these days, but I’m sticking to my figurative guns.

The other thing that cheered me up was taking my morning walk, which once again was filled with birds and flowers. Oddly, I walked for over an hour, and the only vehicles that passed me were members of my own family. Country life.

Just me, mutant flowers, and flower scarabs.

The second vehicle contained my next-door neighbors, also known as my offspring and his partner. I pointed at them so they’d stop, just hoping to say hi, but they gave me gleeful greetings of the day and said they’d go eat with me next week. Those smiles made my day.

Mama cows approved. These are solid animals.

I walked all the way to Walker’s Creek Cemetery, where I paid my respects to the mother and grandmother of the guy across the road, and my friend’s mother, who just passed away, making it a hard holiday for my friend. My mom died in 1984. So long ago.

So I’ve had a fine day, though I’m still feeling poorly. Just tired. I think adjusting to not working is harder than I’d expected. But the weather is beautiful and I can ride horses anytime I want to.

Someone is still not thrilled with his new “round” pen, but he did his trotting practice, which included mostly walking due to him being jittery.

I hope you all found a way to make peace today or enjoyed your traditional celebration. It’s all good. Now I must go re-dye my hair ends orange. I accidentally neutralized it by using purple shampoo. Oops.

Here are some photos from my walk.

May Ranch Update

I’ve been home a few days and haven’t updated on what’s going on here. May is always a fun month in central Texas, because it’s not too hot or cold, rain falls every so often, wildflowers are in bloom, and bird migration is in full swing.

Texas Striped Sweat Bee with a lot of thistle pollen.

I’ve been enjoying the birds especially. I thought I’d seen a lot on my trip, but whoa, I’ve seen a lot in the last few days. Yesterday? I identified 74 birds between my house and Tarrin’s. That’s way more than my previous one-day high total!

Here’s an Eastern Kingbird, which I’ve seen in both locations.

I was sorta giddy when I saw the list I ended up with. There was even a new lifer, the Magnolia Warbler, one I’d always wanted to encounter.

I do use a lot of abbreviations. It’s hard to fit that many birds on a page, you know?

In other areas, the horses seem good, except that Apache’s expensive boots got lost while I was gone. All my fault. I didn’t remember to take them off before I left.

Spice is all settled in, too. She has taken over as Head Honcho of the herd. Drew and Mabel follow her everywhere.

Your boss mate doesn’t have to have perfect confirmation or perfect feet. She has to be firm and smart. That’s Spice.

With a swish of her tail, she gets things done.

Apache and Dusty just hang out with Fiona and eat. I guess they’re the second tier. They all seem happy.

Everybody but Dusty, who’s at left, eating.

Apache really is doing well, even though it’s been raining, which makes grass grow, which isn’t good for his metabolism. We had a lesson yesterday, and he was just fine, health wise. He did forget how to trot all straight and soft, but it was fun to work on it.

Funny story/segue: I had a very pleasant morning yesterday. I woke up plenty early to make coffee, get Apache ready, and drive serenely to my 9am lesson. I had a nice chat with a friend who was also at Tarrin’s and was about to saddle Apache when Tarrin yelled at me, “You do realize your lesson is at ten, right?”

I heard the Mockingbird mockingly laughing right then.

Of course it was. I wrote it down in the wrong time zone. But did I let that intrude upon my serenity? Nope! It was a beautiful, cool morning, and there were all those birds! So, I got out my portable chair, drank coffee, and listened to birds, even Tarrin’s ducks. I was completely happy, except when Apache pooped upwind from me.

Yow, it’s taken a long time to get to where I can at least occasionally stay unfrazzled. This is good!

Also good: my first zinnia blossom from seed.

Today has also been fun, though with not quite so many birds. I’ve been logging them all on eBird, because it’s the Global Big Day. But while I was out, I checked out the wildflowers and their pollinators. Let’s take a look. I’ve got more coming later, I hope!

Another Island Full of Birds

We said farewell to Hilton Head yesterday, and not a moment too soon, because my heart broke to learn that a sperm whale washed ashore on the beach in front of our condo. That only happens when they are sick. It’s a part of life, as I’ve been reminded, but would be hard to watch.

Enjoy this beautiful plant, Large-flowered Orlaya, instead of anything sad.

We didn’t drive far before our first, more cheerful, stop. I couldn’t miss a visit to the Pinckney Island rookery in spring! It did not disappoint!

Of course, there were many songbirds, grackles, and such, but one huge highlight was seeing baby Great Egrets in their nests being tended by their beautiful parents.

It was great fun to enjoy the bird cacophony and chat with other birders about what we were seeing.

I hope those give you an idea of the crowds.

Many other herons were there, but all the Little Blues insisted on landing deep inside trees. Tricolored ones were much more sociable.

We were delighted when a beautiful Tricolored Heron landed right next to me and proceeded to be endearing for a long time. It even did a butt-wiggle dance. Oh, the cuteness. You’ll just have to suffer through more photos.

The heron was right next to three young alligators. They mutually ignored each other.

I had such a great visit! Between birds I saw and birds I heard, there were 48 species. Here are other highlights.

The staff at the preserve are doing a project to get rid of invasive Chinese tallow trees and thin the understory to prevent devastating fires. They’ve cut down many trees in the first phase. It isn’t pretty but is understandable. I saw funding came from the recent infrastructure bill passed by Congress. I hope the funding isn’t withdrawn mid-project like so many are.

Much larger gator not bothered by pruning

We next drove to the greater High Point, North Carolina area to visit our family members. (Some were unavailable, sadly). The roads were not in great shape, and we followed rain much of the way, but we made it. It was worth it to see Donita and Libba, who couldn’t join me on this trip to Hilton Head.

We had dinner at a very nice restaurant, though it was hard to talk due to people screaming while they ate. Three of us were hard of hearing. But we persevered and laughed a lot. Lee and I also had fun.

This morning I managed to get a 20-minute walk in the neighborhood of our hotel. I found 31 birds and some interesting plants. Let’s see where we go next!