Bluebonnet Season

I know nothing about Ladybird Johnson, I don't even know her real first name, but I do know that she was a very smart woman. Before becoming First Lady in the White House, she was First Lady of Texas. She, rightly so, decided that they needed to make this state a little nicer to look at, because it is extremely flat and not very scenic, so started a campaign to make Texas more beautiful. I don't know the exact story, and I could be totally wrong, but the way I've learned it is she had wild flower seeds thrown all over the sides of the highways so that every year, the wild flowers would grow and make Texas look spectacular. Thanks to her, it does. They start coming out in mid-April, and by the end of the month they are everywhere. You mostly see bluebonnets, but also Indian Paintbrushes, which are a lovely scarlet, and other orange and yellow flowers of which I don't know the names.

When I first moved here I didn't understand the hype. The bluebonnets are pretty and all, but what's the big deal? It was truly crazy to see how excited people got about them. Cars would pull over on the highway and people would drag their kids out to take their pictures in the bluebonnets. Occasionally you'd be flying down an exit ramp and have to slam on the brakes because some grandparents and their grandchildren were crossing the exit ramp to get to the best patch of bluebonnets. Unbelievable, risking your life for a picture in the flowers.

Once I had kids, however, I started to understand. What better, more innocent backdrop is there than dainty bluebonnets? Their color is so vibrant, and the field goes on forever. A perfect setting. It takes awhile to get the perfect picture, but we always get at least one. Andy does not like taking pictures in the bluebonnets. Probably because we make him do it each year and we keep doing it until we get some good pictures. We've been all over the place trying to find the perfect patch and spent a lot of time driving around looking for one (finally last year we found a place that we will probably use for years to come). He has become very negative about the whole thing. Sarah, on the other hand, thinks the flowers are pretty and we've been talking for a couple of weeks about going out and taking our pictures. She doesn't remember doing it in the past and doesn't have any bad memories of it, so she was pretty excited about it. Amanda, of course, just goes with the flow.

Overall this year's adventure went relatively well. I set a horrible precedent by telling the kids I would give them money if they behaved. That means they were not allowed to complain and had to pose as we asked. Not a great idea, but it went off without a hitch. I got the pictures I wanted, the kids were wonderful, and it only cost me $4. We even had to go out a second time and they never complained. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.