Everything’s better with Blue Bonnets on it!

May 31^st 2004, two weeks before my 47^th birthday we were blessed with the birth of our daughter Brooke. I just rolled back the clock 25 years. This is one way to kick father time’s ass.  I thought I was headed for middle age, but I was headed for Toy’s “R” US. At least I could look like Santa Claus when December 25^th rolled around.

One of the beautiful things about the Hill Country is the spring Wildflowers, they are world renowned. The Blue Bonnets, Indian Paint brushes, butter cups, daisies, they explode into a horizon of colors to dazzle the eye. When you have a baby, the wildflowers call to you with your child’s name begging for a picture with the baby in the wild flowers. It is impossible to resist. If you don’t give in you are a bad parent, and certainly not a Texan from the Hill Country. There are many iconic wild flower trails on the roadways of Texas. One of my favorites is the Willow City loop: http://www.lone-star.net/wildflowers/willowcityloop.htm , North of Fredericksburg; it’s about 75 miles from our home base in Austin. Any travel with a baby has to scheduled around naps and feeding, the rest is a crap shoot, and that means it’s all a crap shoot. No guts no glory! We packed the diaper bag, and the emergency backup bag and it’s backup and rolled out with 3 redundant systems of protection. The BEE Ranch is a short drive from the Willow City loop down RR 1323 going West, off Highway 281, North of JC. It was smooth sailing until we hit the loop. The wild flowers were sparse, the crowd was thick, and there was no place to turn around. I do not recommend this drive on a Saturday in the spring, especially with a baby. We looked for another spot; the side of Mo Pac sounded good about now. What were we thinking? Brooke was about 10 months old now, but not walking yet. We picked a spot, pulled over and gave it a shot, well we did, but Brooke could care less, and was totally unimpressed with nature’s effort to woo her.  2 hours of this fun was all I could stand, I didn’t want any more cheese, just let me out of the trap! (said the mouse). The knot in the loop bar was looking good about now. There is a store called Wild seed farms on Highway 290 a few miles East of Fredericksburg: http://www.wildseedfarms.com/ and they have the market just about cornered on all things wildflower. In fact it is a no brainer of a place to grab the obligatory baby in the blue bonnet picture and grab a beer after the photo shoot wraps, why didn’t I think of that? Every thing’s better with Blue Bonnets on it.