Faith, Folklore, and Friends

One of the first things you notice about Texas is the wildflowers that are everywhere; you can see them all over the country sides and even in the big cities.  In early April, bluebonnets really put on a show. The pinkish/coral flowers are Indian Paint Brush.  They are so beautiful mixed in with the bluebonnets. The wildflowers are worth the trip.  God bless Texas.

Purple escaped when no one was looking, leeching from springtime irises, leaving them faded and spent. Purple vanished, riding the wind until it was captured by lowly ironweed,  waving to us from the side of the road.   Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they  spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ~Luke 12:27

Yesterday, Hub and I went for a ride to see wildflowers.  We went south on the Natchez Trace Parkway, then to Booneville, Mississippi, then home on Highway 72. The wildflowers were not hard to find; in fact, they were everywhere we looked.  I blogged about mayapple  here. Purple trillium and purple grape hyacinths. They are small, but smell so good! This butterfly found the wild phlox before I did. When I was a child, we called these wild Sweet Williams.  We always picked them and carried them home for bouquets.  Maybe that is why I am not bothered with allergies as much as some people are. We saw much more than wildflowers. . .

Thistle: for some, it is troublesome weed. Others say it is invasive. Farmers say it competes with useful plants and its spiny stems interfere with grazing in pastures. Some of us enjoy how it colors the roadsides and stands out in green meadows. To others, it is a banquet, a five-star restaurant, and Grandma's Sunday dinner. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. ~Genesis 1:12

For a few days last week, we went to the Smoky Mountain National Park looking for wildflowers.  We found some. All these images are from the park.  We found some other things, too. . . .