Noisy Katydids, Baby Toads and Colorful Grasshoppers

We brought friends with us to hike some of the trails of Government Canyon State Park, the morning of Sunday, June 13.  We hiked appx. 7.75 miles through beautiful South Texas landscape. Leave No Trace practices are important in this park as much (appx 80%) of the park is in the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. Katydids and grasshoppers were aplenty, munching on leaves and providing a loud underlying hum of natural white noise. When the path wound along creek beds, the trail edges moved with tiny toads. The kids enjoyed finding and munching on ripe Algarita berries (wild Texas currants) along the path. Yes, we had the "don't eat any berry you see without checking with a grown up" conversation.

Step Tall and Keep Those Fingers Snapping

We haven't attended one of these, but this park offers "Hiku Hikes." I'm going to refrain from sarcasm on that one because my kids would probably totally dig something like that (well, me too, for that matter.) Might have to go back and try it. Ah, Grasshopper.

Just Shy of Tarzan-Heat

We started our hike fairly early in the morning, but should have started about an hour earlier. The heat was on the verge of sweltering-stage as we came off the trail around noon. Under tree cover there had been plenty of good cool breezes, but again, it would have been better to start earlier. (My fault - it helps if I remember to turn the alarm on after setting it. I'm now using the app for that.)

And Why is Sonic Ice So Good?

After we had re-visited the visitors center (a really nice one btw - well-done TPWD!), we loaded in the car and left the park in search of icy-cold drinks. Mark made homegrown tomato sandwiches (Yum!) and passed around the potato chips and pickle wedges, I drove and our friend Maddie map-app-ed the nearest Sonic. We'd all had plenty of drinking water on the trails and still had some for the car ride home, a fresh-made iced tea or limeade really hits the spot, post-hike.

Green Beans and Daisys

Worms, Where Are You!

Back in April, the Daisy meeting was in our garden. We talked about reduce/reuse/recycle, explored the compost bins (looking for worms, who stayed well hidden from all the giggles and eews...) and planted a row of green beans in the garden. It was timed around Earth Day, which the girls had been learning about in their kindergarten classes. The attendees earned their Green Daisy Petal (Girls Scouts) for "Use Resources Wisely."

Gotta Have Snacks

After all the digging around, we washed up and enjoyed a Fiesta Garden Party with tea sandwiches, strawberry lemonade and cookies. Our meeting/party was the week after Fiesta had ended in San Antonio, but hey, what's one more fiesta!

Green Beans And Bacon Anyone?

We need to go back and shoot an updated shot of the green bean row now. It's producing nicely. We took a big bag to share at the end of the year Daisy Pool Party yesterday. We even had a few for dinner last week. If you cook them with bacon and chicken broth, they probably no longer count as a vegetable - but man, oh man, do they taste good!

A Den of Cobras @ Enchanted Rock

And They Hike Up Rocks, Too

(from my blog backlog) May 15, we hiked Enchanted Rock State Park* with my son's Webelos Cub Scout Den (the Cobra Patrol) and assorted family members. The park is located between Fredericksburg and Llano, so it's not too far from SA. The weather was awesome that day with clear skies and a cool breeze. Flora was lush from a bounty of spring rain. And by some fluke, there were no mosquitoes that morning. Total hike was about 4.25 miles, some of it was unexpectedly straight uphill. The Den's hike counted toward the Arrow of Light Award theses Webelos are working to earn. *BTW, State Parks are good, simple fun. Here's the link for Texas: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/

Last One up is a Rotten Egg

Not only did the Den get lessons about "Leave no Trace," knot tying and Boy Scout Law during our creekbed lunch, they also got a lesson in "stay on the trail." Well, really we the parents got a lesson in "don't let the boys lead you off trail and straight up the backside of the mountain..." Safely up on top of the big mound of granite, the view was beautiful. The kids explored and even learned about USGS benchmarks from another scout troop's super nice scoutmaster.

Get Thee to The Brewery

Once we were off the rock/trail and back in our vehicles, some of us headed back to Fredericksburg for a late lunch. We skipped our usually post-hike BBQ and went to the Fredericksburg Brewing Co. It has a wide range of yummy food for all ages. Serious hunger prevailed and we left NO trace of food on that table. (Sorry, couldn't resist that one!)

A Corner of Urban Wildflowers

They Were So Awesome This Year
These images are from early May when the flowers on our curb were still blooming crazy. The corner hummed with bees and butterflies (and dogs barking at cats chasing said bees and butterflies.) Last year, this corner was dusty and dry with the drought, but look what a lot of rain and a great neighbor with a bunch of wildflower seeds can render. (Thank you, David!)

Letting Things Go to Seed

We did let all the plants go to seed before Mark mowed down the remains. Not much soaking rain on our corner lately. Things are on the verge of dry and crispy and it's only June. Here's to hope for rain, but not in quantities that wash away cows and cars.

Remembering Pops

Jeff W. Henderson -  January 12, 1942 - June 11, 2009

It's been one year and one more Father's Day without you.

I miss you like crazy.

I'm still catching myself picking up the phone to try to call you to tell you what the kids have been up to or ask you something random. I'm pretty sure AT&T doesn't have coverage to where you are now. And there is no App for that, either.

(The image was taken while Mark was photographing Pop's typewriter collection. I wanted to see if the ribbon still worked on the Underwood.)

Backlog of Blog

They make a powder for that, but a bowl of oats does the trick, too.

Confessional
It has been over a month since my last blog. I fell off the blogwagon. Scores of drafts and images wait: new pets, Daisy meetings, Den hikes, end of school fun, birthday and soccer parties, little league baseball playoffs, and participation in a design conference. Oh my.

So what's the deal? 

I was enjoying all the doings too much to stop and reflect. Going forward, the balance will be better managing the "go, do" and the "stop, think about," with going and doing remaining the impetus.

Don't whine, just keep going.

Even a snail gets there eventually, through effort, slime, avoiding hungry birds and staying out of my line of vision, since I will relocate them to the compost heap if I find them in my flower pots.