Spring is Springing in Texas

I hate to say "Spring has sprung" because we have had winter weather here as late as the second week in March. Case in point, we had four inches of snow on March 14 or so just last year. Here is Garrett enjoying the snow.

Notice how giant the snow flakes are. Texas snow is generally pretty wimpy, but this snow storm produced giant snow flakes, and four inches of snow is a lot for us. Of course, it warmed up the next day and melted away, but it sure was fun while it lasted. These pictures were taken in the front yard of the old house.

But this was a very mild winter with very little rain, so my guess is that spring is here to stay. The trees are flowering beautifully. Here is a Bradford Pear tree. They produce tons of beautiful white flowers and look like giant white snowballs when in full flower.

And this is a Redbud. Why they call it a Redbud, I have no idea. The flowers are definitely purple, not red. But it's a beautiful tree when it flowers.

And this is some flowering weed that I found in the fields around my house. I have no idea what it's called, and I'm sure it's a very undesirable weed, but I thought the flowers were pretty.

The area where these pictures were taken has been developed quite heavily in the last 5-10 years. Prior to that it was pasture land for grazing cattle or growing hay. Even though the land is mostly developed, you still see pockets of farm land. Check out this longhorn (the horns have been cut back).

First of all, he was nice enough to stop eating and pose for some pictures when he saw me coming with my camera. But if you look at this picture, it looks like it was taken out in the middle of nowhere, with not a house for miles around. In fact, this cow, and several of his friends live just a mile or so down the road from my house, surrounded by housing developments.

I hope Spring is here to stay and I can't wait until April, when all the wild flowers come out. The Bluebonnet fields are spectacular. I will be sure to share them with you when the flowers start blooming.