Down the lane and around the corner, we spotted the orange glow of our first Indian Paint Brush of the 2015 Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival.
Stopping the car, we stood and slowly turned. There they were!!!!! The Bluebonnets of Texas. Our first sighting of the bonneted prairie blues. Oh, joy!! They had returned, and we had spotted them. Our cell phones clicked away in a picture-taking frenzy. Following cars screeched and skidded to pull over and off the narrow road. Smiling occupants frantically alighted to turn, twist and flop before the vernal hues and verdant backgrounds in a wild worship of petalled selfies. Oh, joys!!!!!!!!! The pastoral traffic jam of floral spring had returned.
Yonder, a farmer’s open gate beckoned for a hillside climb. We carefully stepped, placing each foot where others had stepped before, not daring to bruise the blush of spring.
Even the grass was excited to watch the rush of blues to the encircling greens.
Bees eyed our passage.
Tiny whites hid and blinked at our passing.
Until, on return to the farmer’s gate, a lone blue-white star bid us adieu.
We boarded to drive and down the road, only to skid again to stop. What a parting shot! Beyond the wired fence, a field of wild orange poppies.
Blinking, the double brights blinded our awe-struck sight.
It was a good parting, in the fading lime of Purkinje’s light.
We drove on to the fond Texas establishment that can only be found beyond the big city limits. DQ. Dairy Queen. There are none of those within tens of miles of our city home. Only out here. Among the prairies and hills. And, the flowers. It was a fitting end. The waitress turned the cup upside down to show the frozen blizzard inside of cream and candy would not drop or disappoint. And, it did not. It was a filling end to a fine fun day.
Good sights and tastes yours, to find the drive, and leave the city behind.
Don’t be shy. It is a friendly place to find. Out there. Beyond the sign.
Grandpa Jim