Meanderings of a Mermaid

First of all, each day I was greeted by a myriad of songbirds. This is in March. How wonderful. Early evening brought out the doves and the rummaging armadillos. At night I could hear coyotes communicating across valleys. The wind rustling through the leaves spelled out a welcome that I could not mistake. My tires crunched over many gravel roads, caliche packed trails and nicely paved roads. The automatic gears got a bit of a workout on some of the hills. The people of the Hill Country are wonderfully warm and inviting. Each gas station attendant and waitress was proud of his or her community. Many introduced themselves and shook my hand. I feel very welcome to come and make it my home. Each and every day, from each roadside I could hear that this land will be a good fit for me.

Roaming the Canyon Lake area: I could smell the nice leather interior. I could say something about the raw dirt smells and the age old fumes from the fossils in that cliff. But,... ah.... it was the leather at that moment. And maybe a fragrance of wine..........I wasn't roughing it all the time! No. Some folks riding through Lake Somerville State Park. Polo cologne, or is it Stetson? Glad I didn't run into a live version of this beast. There would've been some smell, to be sure! Around my campsite at Enchanted Rock State Park: I could actually smell when the deer were close at hand or had just left the area. My dogs became accustomed to their close approaches fairly quickly. Good thing. This place is packed with deer. And this gem is lavender. Ahhhh. growing wild in the Blanco area.

Whimper. The photos speak for themselves. (soft sobbing in the background). So a new sport will have to be found. Rattler hunting. Cowboy ' rastling ( mmmmm ). Teaching rich old ladies in Fredricksburg how to cross two stitches to the left. Learning all the new recipes of the new land...

My final days in Texas I camped at Colorado Bend State Park. The river is very low here, following s everal months of drought. Right after this photo was taken it began to pour rain and thunder for my final three days. Camping in THAT was fun. Okay, not so fun for dogs that hate thunder. Resourceful ranchers know how to keep the oats coming up! This doll is Sigi in amongst the Indian Paintbrush. Too bad I left before I could see the new flush of flowers and growth after the few days of rain. Prickly pear cactus (I think). It is ubiquitous. Yesterday a flip flop fell out of my van and into the snow and stuck to the sole are several cockle burrs. Little nasty balls of spikes. They are picked up on human and dog paws and cause the dogs to walk on three legs. Oh, and I saw a flattened road-killed snake one day. Pretty red, black and ivory. After that I flipped through a poisonous snakes of Texas book and saw that it could've been any of a large variety of nasty beasts. I clearly...