Walk In The Park: Wild Women at Large

You can dress us up.

You can take us out.

We can be appropriate.

But we would rather be

In the wild.

~ Wild Women

Wednesday evening saw me heading south to my sister's. [Be afraid. Be very afraid.] It is a three hour drive that took me almost six. I stopped for dinner. I ran into an old friend/co-worker and we talked in the back of a department store for over an hour.*

Fortunately it started getting dark before I could "turn around" on many wild things.** Just outside of Gonzales I spotted a murmuration of starlings. Well, that's what I think it was anyway. The flock moved, came together, split, moved back again, and streamed across this rolling farmland. I drove about a quarter mile and turned around. They were still moving across the sky. I took some video and then tried (and failed) to take a few stills.

An hour or so earlier I had seen at least 6 groups of migrating Sandhill Cranes outside of Lockhart - well over 100 birds (And, no, I didn't get any photos. I was driving 85 mph on the tollway. By the time I could slow down and find a safe place to stop, they were long gone). Clearly birds were on the move. I wonder how much I've missed over the years, not knowing what I was looking at.

My murmuration.

I didn't stop again except for stoplights and stop signs, reaching the house in time to says "hello" and fall into bed.

On Thursday we headed down to our hometown for scholarship interviews at the high school. "The decision might be easier if we get to know the students a little," we thought. Sure. We spent two hours interviewing such lovely, talented and compassionate young people. It was an emotional and inspiring morning, but the decision won't be any easier.

Then we visited with friends,*** had lunch, fed the birds, photographed flowers, dropped off a check, went to the courthouse,**** and then headed back north to our mother's hometown that my sister now calls home. We were back before dark and, after reviewing our notes, visited with our brother by phone. A decision was made.*****

Friday saw us headed to the park - to the wild. My sister volunteers here and the staff just waives her in the gate.

She gave me a tour - the pollinator garden that she and and 4 other women have worked so hard to get back in shape, the campgrounds, and the nature trail where she has led informal hikes and identified species of plants. She has revamped the trail guide and will oversee new signage - and lead more formal hikes this fall.

We took photos, visited with the photography club members who were preparing for an event, and stopped in awe as 25 to 30 Indigo buntings flew across a clearing. Neither of us had ever seen these beauties in the wild before. They really are bright blue...like big blue crows.

I gathered a few False Dandelion seeds for a wildflower grower, slipped them into a small plastic bag, and pocketed them.****** And we finished the hike with plans for future exploration of this property.

The park is a spot where there is a confluence of Post Oak Savannah and Gulf Coast Prairie and South Texas Plains. Here are a few of the sights from our few days together:

It's Slim Milkweed - a new variety for me. I would like to say I am a milkweed expert and spied this from the car. In reality - I was taking photos of a coreopsis and saw the tiny blooms. I'm trying to be mindful of the " little guys" - tiny wildflowers that are ignored - so I stopped to take their photo. That little voice in my head had an argument - I think this is a milkweed! Really? But it is so tiny! Look at it. It it almost a teeny-tiny antelope horns. It IS a milkweed.

My sister with her garden at the park. You cannot imagine what this looked like before.

We call this briar rose - AKA Macartney's Rose just outside of Woodsboro. I have wanted to stop for a photo for a while now. We took the time.

I can see this would be a problem in the pasture. This is another "I don't remember this from my childhood - because I would have fallen in it."

If you look closely you can tell this is a egret/heron/whatever rookery. We will need to take a boat to see a little closer. Don't worry. We know not to bother the nesting birds.

Someone built a small twig structure in the woods. I guess it's a kind of fairy house.

Woolly bear...from some kind of moth.

If I lived here there would be mulberry pie...

...and wild grape jelly...

...and dewberry preserves...

...and bitter orange marmalade. So I guess it is a good think I don't live here. I'd be working too hard. It's best to just see them and move along.

There were loads of bouquets left unpicked, but enjoyed in the field.

The usual suspects showed themselves so I could feel some confidence - here the bushy bluestem pointed out a damp spot in the meadow.

I do envy my sister this park...but I can come down for a visit and share it...any time I like.

I'll be back to bird watch in the blinds.

I'll be back to discover unfamiliar wildflower.

I'll be back to try to keep up with my sister...

...and enjoy an informal guided hike or two.

But I ain't weeding no garden.

We took our time on Saturday morning. We would be meeting DH, our brother, and his family back in our hometown for lunch and then our nephew's wedding reception. We did not all arrive at the same time so some of us ate and headed back to walk along the field where we found milkweed two days before. I needed to count the plants and wanted to see if I could obtain a specimen (but only if there were a number of plants).

I had to zoom a bit so that the lovely little flowers showed on this milkweed.

There were 6 Slim Milkweed plants. I also found insects here so I need to edit my observations.

As we watched for the small (really tiny) milkweed plants we spied ladybugs. We had been challenged last October to report observations of ladybugs from San Patricio County. And here they were - all along the edge of the field - mostly on the sunflower plants. We took photos and laughed as we raced to post these observations. Were we the first? Maybe. But it doesn't really matter. We were happy enough to respond to the challenge - together.

A ladybug...in San Patricio County.

This is kinda posed, but whatever.

Another ladybug.

Yet another ladybug. I think we know how to find them.

I think we were ready to get in the car (there were a number of big, mean-looking, barking dogs). I mostly took this photo so I would know where we found the milkweed - so we would know where to come look next year.

The rest of the day was spent visiting and celebrating with family and friends.

And then we were done - until the next time.

After a busy day, it's time for a burger and shake.

NOTES:

* It's a "Moosie" thing - I inherited this talent from him. Certainly I have shared how Daddy always ran into someone he knew. A trip to the post office could take hours...and don't stop at the road-side park. He will have a friend there as well.

**I stop for egrets and herons, among other things.

*** We ran into one couple at breakfast AND at lunch. I shook my finger at them when they walked into the restaurant at noon and accused them of stalking us. But it's a small town and not hard to do.

****We stopped to see one friend who wasn't there (we left her a message - "Tag, you're it!"). We thought we would stop and see one of the judges who is also a friend and once our mother's neighbor. She was on the bench, but finishing up so we got to spend a little time with her. Then we talked about where things had been when we were children - the public library was in the basement and we played in the halls. A name on an office stopped us. Didn't we know that kid? Wasn't he "little DW" who was in our brother's grade? Well, we left a message for him too and his clerk took our photo. And it was obviously time to reign in the wild women for the day.

*****I want to win the lottery so we can award more scholarships. It is just painful to have to choose only one.

****** As I sat posting observations to iNaturalist I noticed I had a few bug bites. Then I noticed a few more and the itch that can only mean RED BUGS. A hot bath took care of me and a hot wash took care of my clothes. But the washer also took care of papers in my wallet and the seeds in my pocket. I had been in such a hurry to deal with the critters that I forgot to empty my pocket of more than my phone and keys.

A FINAL NOTE:

There had to be an amphibian. You knew that.