The prompt for Week 14 of
52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is
Spring:
What was spring like where and when you grew up?
Spring is my favorite season! For me the harbinger of spring has always been flowers blooming. In Houston, where I grew up, I remember lots of azaleas everywhere. I also remember my grandparents stopping along a highway in the spring to let my siblings and I play in the bluebonnets. My step-grandfather took home movies of us and there's a scene of us briefly playing in bluebonnets in late April, 1965, when I was eight.
I worked at
Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historical Park from April 1977 through March 1979. It's at one end of the
La Bahía Road Bluebonnet Trail in Washington County, one of the most prolific areas in Texas for the state flower. If I remember correctly, in either 1977 or 1979, the bluebonnets were blooming early at the park, on March 2,
Texas Independence Day.
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| Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park, April 1978 |
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| Me with the dogs, Corpus Christi, Texas, March 1984 |
I lived in Corpus Christi from April 1979 through mid-October, 1984, and the photo above was taken in the I-37 median with my ex-husband's female Belgian Sheepdog, Keena (on the left), and two of her puppies, Texas and Ranger.
Then we moved to Washington State. I remember arriving there on November 1, 1984, and feeling SO depressed because all it did was rain the first couple weeks I was there. But then I got a Christmas sales job at the local mall, and it snowed around Thanksgiving, and come springtime, we went biking in the
Skagit Valley, where acres and acres of daffodil and (later) tulip bulbs were in bloom.
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| Daffodils in the Skagit Valley of Washington state, mid-1980s. |
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| Roozengaarde, Mount Vernon, Washington, 1990s |
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| West Shore Acres, Mount Vernon, WA, 1990s |
For the following 21 years, I tried to get up to the Skagit Valley in springtime whenever I could, to visit display gardens of the owners of those blub farms at
Roozengaarde (Washington Bulb Company) and West Shore Acres.
Anytime I was lucky enough to be in Texas in the spring (March 1995 and April 1999), I'd find some bluebonnets. I moved back home in January 2006, and have been lucky enough to see them every year on my way to and from work since 2007. The photo at left was taken in April 2007 at the
Rocking MJ Ranch Bed and Breakfast near Canyon Lake.
© Amanda Pape - 2011 -
click here to e-mail me.
I lived in Fort Worth in the early 80's and I was truly amazed with the Blue Bonnets in the spring. What I loved was that they were planted Or growing in the divider on some of the interstates.
ReplyDeleteClaudia, Texas has had a wildflower program for a long time, even longer than I thought. Sharn, thank you for the award, and thank you both for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteI have a plan to someday visit Texas in the spring so that I can get a good look at all the bluebonnets in person!
ReplyDeleteYou always have the best photos. Not many bluebonnets down my way this year, so it's great to see yours.
ReplyDeleteYou have been selected to receive the One Lovely Blog award. You can see your name on my list after a day or so. I am still composing my list.[jo at] arootdigger.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rootdigger, for the award! Claudia, you should definitely come visit! Amy, head out to Washington County, not too far from you and they always have the best bluebonnets. Thanks to all three of you for visiting my blog!
ReplyDeleteI was so disappointed in the bluebonnets and wildflowers this year! I expected to see more to and from Austin last week, but did not. I don't think we got enough rain this year.
ReplyDeleteThey weren't as good this year, for sure, especially from Austin northward. I think not just because of lack of rain, but also that extreme cold in February. Maybe next year...
ReplyDelete