Despite the Drought...

...this cactus is still green... but that shouldn't be a surprise. 

They're made to survive droughts, aren't they?

If they start dying, we know we're in trouble.

But here... crouch down a bit and peer past the brown weeds... 

you'll see there are also still a few feisty flowers refusing to give up.

There's the dependable Prairie Verbena...

... and the Huisache Daisy.

They're both tough flowers, blooming almost year-round, defiant of any extreme weather condition!

My heroes!

Mountain Pinks have mostly given up, but I found a few blossoms hanging on...

The Mexican Hats... 

I thought they were dead, but they're flourishing again after just one night of rain amid weeks of drought...

And then there are the nameless ones. 

I'll keep trying to identify them - they deserve recognition!

Like these yellows...

...and these tiny purples, perhaps my favorites. 

At first glance,  they don't look like much. 

But captured in the lens and examined up close... so delicate and colorful!.

I just wish I knew their name...

May your life be like a wildflower… growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day

~Native American proverb

Update: Jan @ twoscoopz identified the 'nameless' yellow ones..."tickseed", in the coreopsis family. Thanks, Jan!

Just an Old Truck...

...That's all it is.

Just an old, rusted truck.

But my heart skipped a beat at first sight of its broad grin, cracked windshield, rounded lines...

...the speckles and splashes of rust and primer...

I just love old trucks.

Don't you?

Wild Things Part 4: Turtles!

So, whadda ya wanna to do?

Uh, I dunno. Whadda you wanna do?

I warned you there would be some turtles wandering up here. 

It just took them awhile to get here. 

You know... 

...they're turtles.

They're not in a hurry to get anywhere.

Especially these, it appears. 

They live in a pond on the University of Texas campus.

I got distracted by them during Daniel's photo shoot. 

I had developed a severe case of turtle-photo envy because Beth at Be Yourself Everyone Else is Taken kept posting great turtle shots. 

(Of course, now I can't find any of her turtle shots to link to to show you.) 

(You just have to trust me they were great.)

I'm over it, now, anyway. 

Turtles are cute, but let's face it... they're not very exciting.

(These are all separate shots!)

A Week of Moons

Most glorious night!
Thou wert not sent for slumber!
~Lord Byron, Childe Harold

Was the moon stalking me or vice versa this week? I think it was a little of both.

He rose early, in time for my evening walk with the dogs.

He didn't call it a night until he told me good morning...

...and hung around even longer the next day.

But then he teased me, playing hide and seek with the clouds in the middle of the night...

...until finally rewarding my patience by breaking free.

Same time, next month?

O wild and wondrous midnight, 

There is a might in thee

To make the charmed body

Almost like spirit be,

And give it some faint glimpses

Of immortality.

~James Russell Lowell, Midnight

The Fourth on Lake Travis (well,what's left of it)

A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.  It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.  

~Henry David Thoreau

Grab a hat, a cool drink, your sunscreen and meet us down at the dock. We're heading out with our friends George and Karen for a ride on Lake Travis (thanks, G and K!) 

What's left of Lake Travis, anyway. 

These docks are at the end of what used to be a cove full of water, not grass.

There's just enough water on G and K's end to maneuver the boat.

If you're really, really careful.

The lake levels have dropped a tad.

Easing past the neighbor's dock (the roof in photo #3) 

Cheering us on our way!

Ah, wide open spaces at last...

Guess they didn't hear about the drought.

Still enough water for lots of fun, though!

I want one of these. (Not really, but seriously, who lives here?)

And here? 

This is actually the one I want.

I've always wanted a turret.

In fact, just give me the turret. I can do without that much house.

Unless it came with a maid, of course.

And it probably does.

Okay, I'll take it.

And this sailboat.

Thank you!

Okay, I'll stop dreaming...

We're going to anchor near this island for a little while.

It's normally under water.

Time to relax in the water.

Doesn't this look like fun?

And this?

Too soon, it's time to head back to the dock 

 Hope you enjoyed the ride! 

(Put some aloe gel on that sunburn. Works wonders!)

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.  

~Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732


This is my contribution to Jan@twoscoopz's Focus 52 project for this week...