Never would have expected that I would find these delightful fairies and elves just five miles from obsessively, level Lubbock, Texas. When you think Lubbock, you just don't think Fantasia!
Fabulous, yes. I was so very proud of my Texas Tech graduate at commencement. Enjoyed every minute with the graduate, his special friend-girl, and his younger brother--time spent dining, relaxing, and even cleaning his apartment for move-out day. The trip was great, and felt more like a vacation than a weekend.
For Mother's Day we went to the Llano Estacado Audubon Society's nature trail at the Buffalo Springs Lake wildlife refuge. You drive out 50th Street from Lubbock on that incredibly flat plain past fields of yellow wildflowers* and prairie dog towns. Then you suddenly drop off the earth into Ransom Canyon and Yellowhouse Draw. Walking down the cliff from the plain you go through a dry, rocky caliche zone that has cactus, wildflowers, wild grasses and scrubby little bushes.
Next you walk through a shady hackberry forest and thickets with scads of butterflies. The fairies and elves were in tiny meadows filled with sunshine. The elves wearing pointy hats were waltzing with the fairies attired in gossamer wings and tutus! These dandelion-type fluffs were baseball-sized, the largest I'd ever seen.
A marshy ecosystem of cattails, reeds, herons, and bubbas fishing below the dam brings new vegetation and birds. The whole hike was accompanied by constant varied birdsong (and some annoying jet-ski noise).
I was following one son down the trail, and we were both taking photos. At some point the trail split. I kept walking down, thinking I would catch up with him. His fork looped back up the cliff. I took my fork on down to the dam spillway. When I got to the marsh, I used my cellphone! Where are you!?
Huffing back up the trail, I didn't puff on the beautiful seed heads or interrupt the fairy dance. I was still marvelling at the dark brown immature green heron that posed for a photo shoot. Alas, my camera doesn't have a magical zoom. Glad I didn't miss any of this on the fork less taken.
*The fields are stunning from the Southwest airplane arriving at LUB just before sunset. They glow down below like hovering cadmium yellow flying carpets awaiting their genie pilots for black light take-offs.
© 2007 Nancy L. Ruder
1 comment:
What beautiful photos. I really enjoyed them. And congratulations to your graduate. It sounds like a nice Mother's Day.
Post a Comment