In our part of Texas, we don’t see much falling leaves in the autumn. Even many oak trees tend to hang on to their green leaves until springtime. But today a thunderstorm blew through with high winds, leaving broken leaf tips everywhere.
Today’s ink sketch, a very old wall from a photo I took in 2021 while on the hunt for bluebonnets. This wall was once part of the original campus of Baylor’s women’s college, located in Independence, Texas. Not sure I like how this sketch turned out but we have happy memories visiting the site.
The second photo shows a portion of the old college ruin that still stands on what is now called Academy Hill. Baylor University was founded in Independence in 1845; the men’s campus was located a bit further down the road on Windmill Hill.
A couple of weeks ago, when Bill was still in the hospital, our daughter and I headed across the highway to eat at Freebird’s, a Texas burrito restaurant. But instead of burritos, we ordered “walking tacos” which consists of Doritos or Tostitos corn chips topped with any burrito fillings of your choice: rices, beans, various proteins, grilled veggies, lettuce, guacamole, cheeses, and sauces — perhaps not the healthiest base for fancy nachos but I think it’s my new favorite “junk food”.
A recent article in our rural electric magazine told the history of Frito Chili Pie, the forerunner of the walking taco commonly served at football games. Fritos were originally sold here in Texas c. 1930s as an ingredient for casseroles and the company regularly published recipes, eventually one that consisted of Fritos, chili, cheese, and onions layered and baked in the oven.
This past Friday, a friend and I got together to sketch and chat. She lives on land currently covered with windflowers — I drew some bluebonnets, a primrose, and false dandelion in a glass yogurt container that were sitting in front of me.
This crazy jumping spider kept coming near me so I added him (her?) to the page.
The local bluebonnets have been outdone by Indian paintbrush this year. Oceans of orange have overtaken the usual blue. A. and I both took photos (her iPhone camera is newer and much better than mine!) — I plan on trying to sketch a landscape of wildflowers later this week.
And this is a photo A. took recently. I absolutely love Texas wildflowers!
Texas wildflowers were so amazing this past spring! Though I wasn’t able to get out among them in person, I enjoyed the vast views on our drives to and from College Station. And my dear friend, A., sent me plenty of incredible photographs taken on her property.
Our kids had planned on coming up on Friday to take over the camper for the weekend as we drove home. But problems at home kept them from coming so our stay was extended over the weekend. On the way to H-E-B in Huntsville for additional supplies, we passed these whimsical cowboy houses. Hand-crafted by artist-builder Dan Phillips, they are 2 of over 20 small houses built for artists and low-income people.
After dark on Friday, more and more people arrived — we woke up on Saturday to find ourselves surrounded by a village of RVs, campers, tents, 3 or more large family reunions, kids, dogs, bicycles, skateboards . . . The birds, waterfowl, alligators, and squirrels vanished.
There is a Good Reason we normally camp only on weekdays!
Coming from Kansas with its normal east-west / north-south road grid, both in city and country, Bill has always complained about Texas roads. None of them go east-west or north-south. None of them are straight, as if road crews thought “the curvier, the better!” Many in cities go in a complete circle. Then there are the names! One highway can have as many as 3 or 4 different names!
Somewhere in this inaccurate tangle of a map is the route we drove to Davy Crockett National Forest. We had considered camping in the Sam Houston National Forest but I didn’t like the likelihood of alligators there . . . . Only to find out there’s a current warning upon entering Davy Crockett to watch out for alligators. 😬
As we drove through Texas on our way to Kansas, we were able to see just how far-reaching the recent rains have been. The over-large “ponds” in this sketch are actually not ponds at all — pastures on both sides of the highway are half covered with standing water. All those tiny black ink spots in the distance are cattle who sought higher ground to graze.
In the area we live, where the piney woods meets the post oak savanna, we’ve had over 2 weeks of rain every day and most nights. This has been the longest springtime I’ve seen here — usually spring seems to last about a week and a half before summer heat kicks in!
Just 30 minutes into our trip, a passing SUV threw a rock at the truck’s windshield. The resulting spider-crack was the size of a quarter — we hope it can be repaired rather than having to buy a new windshield.
Three of our four kids and their families live in Texas, and all five of our grandchildren were born here. Yet our daughter, who came here 24 years ago, told us that they aren’t considered real Texans until three generations have been born and lived here.
Our local electric coop had a different view in a recent magazine article: if you drive a truck, wear boots, keep livestock, attend the rodeo, etc., then you can be called a real Texan.
Last week we went to buy Bill some new shoes . . . and came away with his shoes plus a pair of boots for me. Now if I could only wear them to the Texas Livestock and Rodeo. Especially since our granddaughter is showing her cow this week. Only one person is allowed to go with her; we’ll have to watch it online.
