Hello, Springtime!
My family took a road trip to visit family for Easter this year, and even though it’s early yet, wildflowers are beginning to bloom in parts of Texas. I always like to imagine how beautiful the sight of flower-dotted fields must have been to early settlers who traveled roads unspoiled by gas stations and fast food restaurants. It must have been a sight to see.
When the bluebonnets bloom in Texas these days, it brings out cameras and kids. Drive a Texas highway on a weekend in springtime and you’re sure to see cars parked along the sides of the road, babies in the bluebonnets, and Mom and Dad taking pictures and praying they didn’t miss a fire ant bed before they plopped Junior down in the flowers.
Drive a Texas highway on a Monday in sprintime and you’ll see smashed patches of flowers my sons like to call “Buttprints in bluebonnets.”
Which brings me to my question for today. Is this a Texas thing? Or, do moms and dads in other parts of the country load up the kiddos and the dog for the annual wildflower photograph? Inquiring minds want to know!
Happy reading, gardening, and springtime photo-ing,
Geralyn, Good Morning to you! My kids now are 11 and 14 but when they were younger if I saw a place that would make a good photo we would pull over and stop to get the pictures. I was a professional Photographer for 12 years and had a camera in my hand since the age of 10 my career’s been on hold for 2 years now that’s when i found my new addiction to reading, however I do hope to go back to photography when we move and have room for outdoor photography too. There is nothing better than the photo’s you take with the given scene’s of the great outdoor’s!! My favorite are of open field’s with wildflowers but you can’t find that to much with the way people are slapping up buildings and houses everywhere wish we had those landscapes in Texas here but our’s you have to look for.
I can’t say I’ve ever pulled over to take a picture of the kids, but the drive to Lincoln Nebraska, during certain chosen days in the summer, like days I’ve had to haul some child to college, or go visit or help them move in, whatever, the road for the about last thirty miles coming from the north along highway 77 is just beautiful with this amazing variety of wildflowers.
I always think of Lady Birdy Johnson’s Keep America Beautiful campaign.
I also want to stop and dig up those flowers but I’ve been told it’s illegal. Now why would it be illegal to spread out those wildflowers?
Sweet rockets are the best, tall and either purple or white, black eyed susans, goldenrod, maybe some indian paintbrush. Just dozens of colors and shapes, tall and short, some native grasses mixed in.
Morning, Geralyn! What a pretty sight it is to see the bluebonnets come out and adorn the countryside. I’ve never stopped though and taken pictures. I just soak in all the beauty as we drive. Sure makes one appreciate being alive.
Have a wonderful, inspirational day!
LOL! Love the “butt-prints in bluebonnets”!! Ain’t no one pulling over on a California freeway to take picuters in the flowers *g* But the backroads, I’ve definitely stopped in the spring to snap my angel boys in the wildflowers. Wow, do I wish we had big patches of Bluebonnets!!! Those pictures are just beautiful, Geralyn!! Lots of wild mustard around here
Beautiful flowers, Geralyn–and beautiful kids. Are they yours? We don’t have bluebonnets here in Utah, but we get gorgeous wildflowers in the Wasatch mountains that don’t come out till June or July. They’re just incredible–well worth the hikes to see them.
never stopped along a road to take a picture! love to go to the park or somewhere around here with nice scenery though!!!! I am picture taking fanatic..so, I am always on the look out for a good picture opportunity!
No, I’ve never done it either but what gorgeous flowers - we had snow flurries this morning (sigh) - I’m so ready for spring!
Hi Geralyn, We don’t have bluebonnets in Maryland but I love your pictures. The last one with the litte face in the flowers is a real gem! Thanks for sharing.
Adding to Mary’s take on Nebraska, we have banks of purple clover in the summer that are gorgeous, and I’ve been known to take pictures in the clover. We also have sunflowers in places, like Kansas.
A friend of ours took his daughter’s senior pictures in a wheatfield. She has long flaxen-colored hair, and the result was stunning with the sky behind and a mile of ripe wheat all around.
Of course I’ll take a picture of anything, anywhere, and try to find an interesting take on it. I would love to see the bluebells. I wish the picture with the little head peeking out was bigger.
I live in the Pacific Northwest and it is pretty wet in the spring here to plop a kid down in the flowers for a picture. I have never seen fields of flowers like the bluebonnets you have there.
After reading some of the comments today, it really makes me glad that we live in Texas! My Honey is a photography buff and some of his best photos were made amongst the bluebonnets when
our children were little! (They only made small buttprints, so there was less damage!) You can take any of the highways north from Houston, especially going to Nacogdoches and Brenham, in April and the world is bluebonnet-blue! We even saw a few patches on the the drive home from
The Woodlands yesterday after our family Easter celebration!
Pat Cochran
Those aren’t my kids…my bluebonnet kid pics are bd–before digital–and buried in an album somewhere.
You know, I considered posting a picture of the maroon and white bluebonnets they’ve created at Texas A&M, but I wasn’t up for Aggie jokes today. Still mourning our loss in the Dance on Saturday…
Happy spring, everyone!
Can’t say I’ve ever stopped to take pics of the kids in wildflowers, though it’s crossed my mind often enough. Not sure we have bluebonnets here in KY, though we do have a lot of beautiful little daffodils blooming, and forsynthias and before long my irises and ajuga will be blooming. My stepson keeps breaking off the wild purple clover and bringing it to me. LOL
We’re in the same state as Stacey, and I don’t think there’s ever been a safe place to stop by the side of the road to take such gorgeous spring photos! We do tend to take a fair number of kid pix, but we don’t have as many nature spots to choose from
Wow how pretty. when we were younger we use to go to Horsham mums home town in victoria about 2 hours away and in the spring there were always wildflowers on the side of the road in one area. we didn’t take many photos but if it was now we would have.
I remember a trip in Western Australia i took quite a few photos of the wild flowers.
Boy I could write books on knee replacement, ankle fusion and angels that appear when in a car wreck. I have experienced angels at two car wrecks. I actually have written about the one but it is just here sitting on my desk. I researched so much about knee replacement and ankle fusion before I walked through them. As I have walked through them I could write about emotions, highs and lows of the experience, and sometimes I would like to educate doctors that there is more to surgery than the procedure. I did write my surgeon and tell him he needed to prepare his patients emotionally when they go through an ankle fusion.
It was a rough 7 months. But now I can say I’m glad I had it done.
You asked me to come to blog so here I am friend.
Karen,
I often tell people my long term goal is to write historical fiction but for now I am having to stick to writing about what I know. My first novel Endings, which was just released in November contains elements of all the things on which I claim to have some expertise: medicine, horseback riding, motherhood. I had to do a little research but most of it was written off the top of my head based on my own experiences.
My novel in progress, The Wish will require a little more research, but since it is about football, I should be able to fire most of it off without spending too much time in the library. I’m a big football fan.
It would be hard to spend a lot of time doing research and maintain my full-time job as an orthopedic surgeon. And I have no plans to quit my day job, so I guess I’ll have to retire before I can write that historical fiction. I look forward to having that time to travel, read and interview.
BTW Karen. I just finished The Last Warrior and really enjoyed it. Speaking of research, I’m sure you had to do a lot for the segments on the Buffalo Bill show! That was a lot of fun to read about. One of the interessting things I’ve learned from reading some of your books is the difference in the English and American feelings toward American Indians. I look forward to reading more. I hope one day you can check out Endings and let me know what you think! I’d be honored to send you a review copy.
Barbara Bergin
author of “Endings”
http://www.barbaraberginink.com
Geralyn,
Sorry about leaving the comment above on your blog. I don’t know how it got there but I must have poked the wrong button. But while I’m here I’ll respond to your question. I was just thinking about bluebonnets today. Because of the dry spell I don’t think we’re going to have a big showing this year. Darn.
I don’t think people in other states do as much of this as we Texans do because I’m not sure they have all the wild flowers. And in Texas we didn’t until they were planted by Lady Bird Johnson. Does anyone remember driving the U.S. highways in the 60’s? They were strewn with litter and weeds. It wasn’t until the Highway Beautification Act programs got underway that our highways started turning into something worthy of the camera.
Barbara Bergin
author of “Endings”
http://barbaraberginink.com