The Bluebonnet Ritual

As Ernest Thayer wrote, “…A pallor wreathed the features of the patrons of the game.” Only in Texas it is not about baseballs, but bluebonnets.

A Spring silliness settles over the State as thousands upon thousands of city folk scramble into the countryside searching out fields of the State Flower of Texas, the bluebonnet. They trample the roadsides, they violate personal property; they dress their children in white and plop them down among the bugs, the ants and the snakes. They spend hours on the Internet searching out and sharing the very best locations, discussing weather patterns of past years that produce the best crops. Debating whether or not the current weather will justify the expenditure this year. On their knees, they pray that it will not rain every weekend during the growing season. The lines of celestial communications are more congested during bluebonnet season than at Lent and Thanksgiving combined. Thousands if not millions of dollars in fuel costs are incurred trekking across the State to scout out that one pristine patch ahead of the tramplers. They swoon at a friends shot of a longhorn in a field of bluebonnets, the ultimate this is Texas shot. 

I must confess to being guilty—so overcome I could not resist tagging along with friends. Left on my own I limit my bluebonnet shooting to the median running through Memorial Park and am just as happy.

Fortunately I left the card from the Olympus at Alcy’s so all I have are a few from the Samsung to share. You should thank me for that. I did get a vaccination early in the year since I knew it was coming. The protection had obviously not fully kicked in but it did allow me to be slightly more anti-bluebonnet than most. 

 

 

 Addendum: Red Bonnets were outlawed in Texas many years ago. They have a much more dominate  gene and cross-pollination could likely devastate the production of the State Flower. In the more liberal horticultural circles it is highly suspected that the true reason for the ban is the redbonnet's assumed Communist affiliations. The Texas Teacher’s Association was concerned that the redbonnets might indoctrinate seedlings prior to total government control in public classrooms. It is astonishing how many people I had to gain permission from and even then was only allowed a single exposure. I am extremely proud to have accomplished that without the assistance of Ms.Beauregard who is gallivanting in Hawaii during the bluebonnet season--an action that is in itself heretical at best. [Just realized that Beauregard is from Oklahoma which is where I shot the redbonnets so now it all makes sense. We had planed to go to Oklahoma first but we missed our turn so we circled around through Egypt. I am pleased we backtracked and hit Oklahoma before returning to Houston.]
 
Silk flowers in cemeteries are more my cup of tea...