Spring begins

Fall is definitely my favorite time of year. While folks up north are still shovelling snow and trying to keep warm, here in Central Texas we are already seeing definite signs of my second favorite time of year, spring. The days are getting longer and quite a bit warmer. The warmth feels good to me after being cold all winter. About three weeks ago the first trees started to bloom. Redbuds will be flowering shortly and a tree in my neighbor's yard has leaf buds on it but I'm not sure what kind it is (I think it is an Ash tree). There are lots of little forbes (weeds) flowering; including dandelion, mint, sheep sorrel, and others. Soon we will see the first robins stopping in the backyard on their way back up north. In another two or three weeks the dewberries will be flowering. I'll spy the little white flowers while driving around town and try to remember where all the patches are so I can pick some when they are ripe. They're great on cereal and make incredible cobbler. And soon the blue bonnet and indian paintbrushes will start blooming, reaching thier zenith some time in April. I'll try to remember to post some pictures then. It really is a thing of incredible beauty to see a roadside or pasture completely painted in the blue and red of these little plants (its not actually the flowers of the indian paintbrushes that give them their great colors, but the bracts).

Spring around here really is nice. There is a problem though. Here, spring starts while it is still winter and lasts about three weeks. That means summer weather starts really early. So summers here are looooong and blazing hot. Thank God for air conditioning. But, its okay, we adapt. I'd rather be a little hot and sweaty than shivering and freezing cold.