“The sun rose to a cloudless sky and what seemed to be an endless sea of waving grass. The prairie goes on forever as far as the eye can see. The wildflowers make it look like a floral tapestry woven with threads of yellow, white, blue, lavender and pink” ~ Nellie Morgan, 1855.
Prairie at Wildlife Santuary in McKinney, Texas
Back in 1855, the prairies in Texas might have stretched forever, but these days they end at a line of trees or a wall of houses. These scenes are from The Heard Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney, Texas. In addition to the dinosaur bones I showed you that are on display in their museum, you can see a tiny bit of prairie that has been preserved. Unfortunately, at this time of year the wildflowers don’t weave such a lovely tapestry, though it has a different kind of beauty.
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Prairie Wildflowers
The cliche picture of a bee on a thistle.
More prairie
Path through the woodlands
One of many enormous trees
The swamp at the wetlands
View of the lake
The Sanctuary has several miles of reasonably well maintained pathways for you to enjoy. When hiking in Texas, remember:
- Wear a hat and sunscreen.
- Wear insect repellant! The mosquitoes are big enough to carry away a small child.
- Take water … drinking fountains are not provided on the paths.
- Carry your camera, so you can take pictures … don’t “take” anything else.
- Leave nothing behind but your footprint on the pathways. If you have “trash” it should go right back home with you.
Some folks have asked why I haven’t been writing some of my longer, sassier posts lately. If you miss them, don’t worry. They’ll be back. You can choose any or all of the following reasons for this lapse in my writing:
- I’m having fun with my camera.
- It’s too hot to think.
- I’m busily finishing the Good Medicine Project so we can deliver medicine bags to kids with cancer at Camp Sanguinity next month. Yes, we did reach our goal, but now I have to sort them according to the ages of the kids (I’ll try to have an update tomorrow — no promises).
- I’m at the coffee house.
- I have the attention span of a gnat.
I hope you don’t mind that in the interlude I post a lot of photos. Thanks for visiting.
Other posts you might enjoy:
- Ominous
- Alien Buried at Aurora?
- Haunted House in Black and White
- Jurassic Texas
- Reflecting on Caldwell County Courthouse
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{ 12 comments }
Wow, my friend! You are getting pretty dang good with that camera!! I love the pictures of the bee and the path through the woodlands! The prairie looks strikingly similar to a lot of Illinois! Oh wait, we are “The Prairie State” LOL Good advice about leaving nothing but you’re footprints behind, too. When we went to Starved Rock last year, I couldn’t believe the discarded water bottles and food wrappers discarded in such a beautiful place. Don’t even get me started on the graffiti!
.-= Jessica The Rock Chick´s last blog ..Detour Ahead (Summer Stock Sunday) =-.
Since I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting Illinois, I don’t know the comparison. I need to know about Starved Rock, though. Dd you take pictures?
Here in Texas, the trash can be quite a problem. Plastic bags caught on fences beside the road might soon be declared the “new state flower.” I won’t get you started on the graffiti…but there is a park here that has “graffiti” left by Native Americans hundreds of years ago. Guess our tendency to try to show that “we were here” transcends time?
I’m enjoying your interlude! The thistle photo is fab, and I have a sot spot for swamps, which is where my office happens to be located. Except for the goose poop. Not crazy about that!
.-= Barb – WillThink4Wine´s last blog ..tucker scissorhands =-.
I would not relish goose poop, either, Barb
. Fortunately rains had washed that away.
I really enjoy the pictures. I like being able to see your neck of the woods.
So glad your met your goal for the Good Medicine Project.
Sheila
.-= Sheila Atwood´s last blog ..WordPress – Getting Started =-.
Couldn’t have met the goal without you, m’dear. Now, if I could get you to come to my neck of the woods and help me sort….
I’m definitely in favor of having fun with a camera, though in my case having the attention span of a gnat is just as likely the culprit…
.-= Robin´s last blog ..Old City "Bagele" Cart =-.
Well, YOU are the one who started me on this “camera kick” so I’m going to blame you, and not the short attention span that I…
there’s that roadrunner again! Where’s my camera?
Thanks for the shout out on “Oh Wait!”. Just had to tell everybody about it on Twitter. These photos are beautiful. It is a shame that so many of the wild and beautiful places have to be “protected” just to survive the hoards of people wanting the space.
.-= Jamie´s last blog ..Happy Birthday Igor =-.
Unfortunately, even in a place as big as Texas we have to protect those wild places. My husband didn’t grow up here, and every time we go driving around he has to listen to me lament about what the areas looked like “in the day.”
My “Oh Wait!” is my “alternative” to Twitter for this blog. When I put up the Twitter widget, it slows the place down
I like the giant tree – its branches go in surprising directions! Beautiful pics – I like the forest! I’m afraid of snakes though and always look for those – you know – if you look you find them – I always see them first
.-= ellievellie´s last blog ..The Deep Dark Forest =-.
Lovely prairie flowers(-:
.-= cindee´s last blog ..Todays Blooms =-.
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