SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
It’s that time of year again, for me to re-post this blog:
Some of my family is from Texas – actually my brother and I were born in Dallas, but moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico when we were small children. But my mother’s mother (my Granny) and her oldest daughter, Jessie, lived in San Antonio for many years.
Consequently, I had known about the Texas Bluebonnets for longer than I really knew what they were.
Even though Fred and I lived in Fort Worth for many years, it wasn’t until we moved to San Antonio that I really knew about the Texas Bluebonnets. And they are AMAZING! They have been adopted as the state flower of Texas.
On the internet I found this: As historian Jack Maguire so aptly wrote, “It’s not only the state flower but also a kind of floral trademark almost as well known to outsiders as cowboy boots and the Stetson hat.” He goes on to affirm that “The bluebonnet is to Texas what the shamrock is to Ireland, the cherry blossom to Japan, the lily to France, the rose to England and the tulip to Holland.” Well said.
When Springtime comes to Texas – from the Dallas/Fort Worth area down to the Corpus Christi area – the Bluebonnets are in full bloom, from late March to mid-April. They are the most dainty, beautiful flower, and we’ve see just fields and fields of them – like a blanket of blue in some cases. I’ve been sent many pictures of them via e-mail through the years, and have enjoyed seeing them all.
There is even one of Bluebonnets in the snow! Must have been a late storm – although Dallas/Fort Worth can have abundant snow in early Spring.
When we moved from San Antonio to Florida, I took some Bluebonnet seeds with me and planted them, hoping for some lovely spring flowers to remind me of Texas. No such luck! As I’ve just gleaned from google, they must be planted in the fall and have to have the wind, rain, and cold weather to make them leap forth in the Spring. And the panhandle of Florida just doesn’t have that kind of winter weather. Shucks! Oh well, I then planted strawberry plants and they did very well.
But the Texas Bluebonnet is a source of great pride for Texas – as if they needed something else! And they are just a beautiful side of Texas that most don’t know about. I think a lot of people think of Texas as dusty, flat, and unimaginative. But it is full of great differences, including some of the most beautiful flowers in God’s creation.
I’m just so glad I was able to see them, and enjoy their beauty.
For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
oil field, with working oil pumps outside the parking area on three sides. I guess those Texas oil people don’t let anything slow down getting that “Black Gold” out of the ground. The other thing was how flat West Texas is, and how there is nothing to stop the wind, which blows dust and tumble weeds across many of the hiways.
either side of the hiway or Interstate, with entrance and exit lanes at intervals. Then at the next crossroad, there is a “Loop” lane, which allows you to access businesses on the other side of the main Hiway or Interstate. I guess they set that system up to reduce the number of overpasses they had to build in that flat part of the state. Anyway, It was a real challenge for me when I first encountered the system, but once I got the hang of it, I found it fairly manageable. Of course, it didn’t confuse “Greta” my Garmin road helper, as she spouted out directions like; “…continue .8 miles, then take ramp on left to I-35East North…” Or “…in .5 miles, keep right on I-35East South…” Or “…in .6 miles keep left on Texas 12 loop East to I-20 West…” I’m just glad I had her with me for all that. What a lifesaver she was!
during that conflict. Also, the C-47 “TICO Bell” at the VAC Warbird Museum in Titusville, Florida where I am a tour guide one day a week, towed gliders and dropped paratroopers in support of the D-Day Normandy invasion, and survived the many hazards it and its crew encountered on that famous day in history.
companion B-24, “Diamond Lil”, were to be featured, along with a varity of other WWII Warbirds. I had seen static B-24 and B-29 displays at museums, but this would be a special treat to see these famous WWII Warbirds fly. Then after that experience, I planned to complete an 11-day, 2660-mile circuit of aviation museums and other attractions in Central/West Texas and New Mexico.
he and his wife kept taking things out of his hat; like her watch and hair comb, and his glasses and billfold. Now I knew cowboys used their hats on the trail, to give their horses a drink of water, but I never thought about how convenient those big hats would be to carry things in! Then I arrived at the Dallas airport, many of the people were dressed in their western clothes and boots, and I saw this 10-gallon hat display used as a window decoration for a restaurant. The next thing I noticed, after obtaining my rental car was the Geico billboard sign, with the Gecko wearing a 10-gallon hat. Yep, I was in Texas for sure!
Old Things R New 