All these wildflowers make me remember Ladybird Johnson. As far back as I can remember, I my memories of Ladybird and the wildflowers get all tangled up because of her work to have these planted along the roadways in Texas. I am so grateful every spring for that.
This is an unedited, unfiltered, unretouched image that I took on my Sunday morning walk. This field of bluebonnets is in full bloom, the flowers standing tall in the already withering spring Texas sun. Next week, my mission will be to find a field of Indian Paintbrushes, or maybe I will wander out in the back 40 at home and take a portait of one.
All these wildflowers make me remember Ladybird Johnson. As far back as I can remember, I my memories of Ladybird and the wildflowers get all tangled up because of her work to have these planted along the roadways in Texas. I am so grateful every spring for that.
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Tim has been reflecting and writing and posting, whereas I seem to be in a bubble of paralysis, stuck in time. I am following an old pattern of mine. Because there are so many unknowns (Donald Rumsfeld would surely call these the "known unknowns"), I just think about the next step and don't let my mind wander into the unknown. Practically, this means I have been jettisoning possessions. We sold an enormous lot of books this weekend, some from our house, some from my collection at school. I have been whittling down my wardrobe, asking the question with each pass through the closet, "Do I love this enough to take it to India?" Mostly the answer has been no. Of course, I am also collecting new things that must go with me. Mostly those "things" are shoes. I have developed a minor obsession with footwear, as I have been told it can be difficult to get women's shoes over size 8. It's possible I have never owned as many shoes at one time as I do right now. These practical steps of detachment and preparation make our move, which feels rather abstract to me now, seem more real.
Tim's post about what he will miss and what he won't got me started thinking about what my list might look like. As the bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes are in full bloom now, let me go ahead and put the 2 or 3 weeks of spring in Texas when these beautiful wildflowers grace fields and roadsides right up there on the list. These flowers are simple a beautiful and I love them. The other "thing" I am going to miss is not a thing at all, but a collection of vintage pieces that mostly belonged to my grandmother. For the past few years, we have been living in my grandparents' old house and this has kindled my love for "old" things. I will be taking the old linen kitchen towels that have yearly calendars. The oldest one I have is from 1966! Other items must stay behind. Some will be sold, some will be packed. All will be missed. I feel so lucky to have had some time with these beautiful, common luxuries. Almost every day now, someone asks me if I think we will "like it in India". It is a question that starts a discussion, because I have not been able to compose an answer that is short and sweet. We cannot know the future. We can only make the best decisions with the information we know know. What we know is that our time in Texas is at an end. It is time for us to move forward and in another direction. In truth, we cannot know if we would "like it in Texas" as we move through the next few years. That is the exciting part, right? Now we will move forward and let our lives be full of adventure and love and pain. It's only life, after all. |
AuthorTrish grew up in Texas, but has never owned a pair of cowboy boots. She enjoys a wide variety food, hobbies, locations and people. She also silently judges your grammar. Archives
October 2015
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