Spring of a New Year

Spring has arrived in Texas!

I spent last week in Big Bend National Park and spring has begun in west Texas.  Wildflowers are popping up and the trees are leafing out.  Our short winter is behind us and the new year has brought a new season.  It is a magical time of renewal and the return of color to the palette of nature.

There is something about the rebirth of the new growing season.  The freshness in the air energizes you and the bright colors begin to fill the landscape again.  Then there are the wildflowers.  Nothing like wildflowers in the desert.

Texas is a great place for wildflowers and Big Bend is no exception.  The winter snows and rains we had brought enough moisture that the flowers look like they will be nice.  The bluebonnets here are popping up along the roadside and there are small yellow ones starting to spread across the desert grasslands.  It looks as if any rain this month would make it a banner year for flowers.  That would be a welcome sight after the 2011 drought that was very hard on the plants here.


The bluebonnets have returned and they are also appropriately big out here-over two feet tall.  Bunches of bonnets will be up to your knees (or taller).  It is quite a sight to see.