Breakfast Tacos and BBQ

David is one of the cooks in the cafeteria at work.  He greets me every weekday morning with a friendly smile and great food (often, made-to-order breakfast tacos!  For me, he uses olive oil instead of butter and corn tortillas instead of flour).  He is also a fireman/EMT in the Medina Lake Volunteer Fire Dept and invited us to "come out" for their annual BBQ fundraiser.  We made the drive out to Lakehills for our lunch and had a great Texas treat in a firehall much like the one in Cooperstown.  Slow smoked brisket and sausage, ranchero beans, potato salad, sweet tea (Mrs Baird's white bread) and "all the fixin's".  Pretty good stuff.

Spring is blooming in Richmond

The first photo is as close as we get to Texas Mountain Laurel here in VA. It's pretty but, unfortuntately, does not smell like grape Kool-aid. We still prefer the Texas variety.

We've never seen these pink trees before, but they are beautiful with blooms that look a lot like carnations. They line the streets in our neighborhood and make our spring walks even more enjoyable.

The squirrels are in full action and as you can see, like in Texas, they love to taunt Penny.

Easter People

Old Fellas

These old fellas across the drive from our home are fine examples of Texas Live Oaks.  Live oaks have a typical lifespan of 80 years, but many individuals live much longer.  At maturity, they reach 40ft tall and may have a canopy spread of 50ft. They are able to survive drought and are generally quite hearty, but are susceptible to oak wilt.  These guys have beat the odds.

Spring Sunday Afternoon in San Antonio

Prairie Verbena, Indian Mustard and Blue Bonnets in bloom along the walking trail at the UT Health Science Center.

Prairie verbena [Glandularia bipinnatifida] is a common wildflower native from the Mississippi River west to Arizona and from southern Mexico north to South Dakota (Umber, 1979). Correll and Johnston (1970) reported Verbena bipinnatifida Nutt., the previous scientific classification for prairie verbena, often covers large acreages in dry plains, prairies, pastures, and disturbed roadsides. These large populations are associated frequently with gypsum, limestone, or calcareous soils (Umber, 1979). Prairie verbena has a variable growth habit. Plants of a similar age from the same population may be either prostrate or erect (Umber, 1979). Habit variability may also be related to growing conditions and season. In early spring during short days, the internodes are reduced and the plants are more prostrate. As day length increases, internode length increases and the plants attain a more upright habit. Prairie verbena has densely branched stems covered with stiff white hairs (Correll and Johnston, 1970), leaves that are deeply incised, and several growth forms or ecotypes resulting in some attaining specific or varietal status.

The yellow flowers of the Indian Mustard (or India mustard) are a pretty contrast to the blue of the Prairie Verbena.  All mustards considered wildflowers were introduced to North America from Eurasia and are members of the Brassica family.  Interestingly, six of our common vegetables--cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and kale--were all bred from a single species of mustard, Brassica oleracea.

Spring break reunion

Fun in Richmond, Shenandoah, and DC

Texas Mountain Laurel

Texas Mountain Laurel is in bloom in south Texas.  Unlike Pennsylvania Mountain Laurel, Texas Mountain Laurel looks more like lilac and smells like grapes.  This photo was taken moments ago at our home in San Antonio.