Firewheels And Cat Claws

While I was out hunting for storm clouds this evening, I came across this clutch of firewheels hidden inside a cat's claw acacia.

They reminded me of treasure in old fairy tales, all wrapped up in thorns.

In the Underwood

In the thicket near the bluff, among all the dead wood and cacti, these delicate blue flowers appeared.

Blue curls (Phacelia congesta)
Wildflower org

Widow's Tears

A stand of Widow's Tears has sprung up in the garden, a testament to how wet this Spring has been.

On a vaguely related note, last night I heard a chuck-will's-widow in the woods, by far the earliest in the year I've ever heard one. Their call is the quintessential sound of a summer night.

Widows were the theme of the day, it seems.

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation

With only one full day of Summer remaining, it's time to think back over the last couple of months. Were they memorable? Were they well-spent? If only Mr. Tastee were here to help us mark the passing of the season.

Even though fatigue had been my constant wet-blanket companion all these weeks, I've tried to do my best. You know me, I always want to find the extraordinary within the ordinary. Despite all the fear and troubles in the world, there must still be a little magic, somewhere.

To prove this point, we have pictures.

For instance - and as previously mentioned on this blog - on the first day of summer, my youngest found this Hand of Fatima bracelet. 2 weeks later, my husband found another Hand of Fatima near his workplace. When you're in the habit of asking for signs, don't you love it when they're this direct?

And here's another fortunate symbol, via the drug store shoe department.You may think these triquetra sandals are too flashy to be in good taste, but it's just possible the sparkle allows the gods to see them more easily.;)

Bigger on the inside - Later, my 6 year old made this TARDIS with a cut-out door, so when you open it, you can see that the space inside "contains the whole world."  Clever boy.

On our rambles, we discovered many fairy tale places, both real and fantastical...

 

 And there were colorful fireworks and colorful treats.

 There was even unexpected drama at the arcade.

And at the end of the day, there is always the mystery of shadows

 Even the sun and moon got into the act.

Yes, it was a good season, I think.

Rain Lilies

 

After the rain, the rain lilies come.

 

Mountain Laurel

Mountain laurels are one of my favorite trees. Luckily they grow wild in the woods nearby. The air is full of their grape pixie-stix smell. Or grape Kool-Aid, whichever you prefer.

We don't have bluebell woods here, so mountain laurel season might be the closest thing to the same effect. We do have nice wild flowers, but they grow in full sun. It's rare to find such colorful blossoms in the shade.  

There's a fairy-tale sort of feel about them, their luminous color and of course, the scent. It's as if the air itself is purple, like these filters make it seem...

The blooms only last a few weeks, but they are lovely while they last.

And Then There Was This...

A snail accessorizing with a lantana petal for Spring.

Light-Eyed Witches By The Sea

Every Easter, the nuns at school would pointedly remind us that our egg hunting and Easter bunnies had nothing to do with Jesus' resurrection and were just a bunch of Pagan Nonsense. While we understood their concern, this had exactly as much effect as their admonitions about Halloween; that is to say, none.

Anyway, it seemed a wee bit disingenuous, considering that right after class we'd run down to Girl Scouts in the church hall, where we'd weave Easter baskets and make bunnies out of pom poms. We loved ourselves some Pagan Nonsense in Girl Scouts. Even our Brownies ceremony smacked of something otherworldly.

In my own family, this Easter dichotomy between Christianity and Pagan symbolism wasn't a problem. While my parents claimed to be Lutheran, I never saw them attend church - though whether this was because they were irreligious or just too cheap to tithe, I don't know. Whatever the case, there was nothing to prevent the hedonistic thrill of Whopper eggs and marshmallow Peeps on Sunday morning.

Back in those days, Spring break almost always came at Easter week, and we'd travel down to the seaside to spend it with relations. If we were lucky, the wild flowers would be out, and the hills and fields would be sheets of  bright color. The Indian paintbrushes were always my favorite.

Arriving at my aunt and uncle's though, it's the smell of roses that I remember, the velvety scent of the flowers that lined the walkway. My cousins and I would use the petals for money when we played store, and the smell had even seemed to permeate the wood of the house. This smell, beyond anything else, told me that Easter was coming.

Their house had a most magical feeling to it. There were two boxer dogs, polished wood floors, a piano and a clock with Westminster chimes. There was a rug made in concentric circles we could use for our space hoppers. There was even a ghost and a haunted mirror, because in our family, what else would you expect? It was all an adventure and great fun.

 If perchance the weather was dark and stormy, we'd run about the yard with our pinwheels, in defiance of tornadoes or lighting strikes. The sky would be grey, the way the Gulf water is grey, and the wind would taste like salt. I liked to imagine (still do, sometimes) that there were fish up there, silvery or mackerel colored, a whole other ocean in the sky.

Come Saturday evening it would be time to make our nests. This was a tradition from the old country and one of our favorite things to do. We'd gather up grass and flowers to make a pretty place for the rabbit to lay his eggs, and scatter the rose petals all around. Then, instead of going to bed like we were supposed to, we'd stay up talking in the dark, while the Westminster chimes rang off the hours.

The next day would come the culmination of the Pagan Nonsense, the egg hunt. Of course I'm joking, but egg hunting (I've come to believe) is an inborn human instinct, or close to it. Didn't Helen Keller write that, as a small child with no hearing, sight or language, finding eggs was her greatest joy? It's a uniquely satisfying endeavor, especially for children. Whatever it was my cousin and I were really celebrating on Easter, whenever we'd pull a colorful egg from its hiding places, it certainly felt like magic.

And as always, late that afternoon, it would be time to leave, heading back inland away from the sea. We would usually cry a little as we waved goodby, because we didn't want the fun to end. I would stare out the back window of the station wagon, watching the fish jump in the Colorado and the bay,  knowing that after we crossed Lake Texana there was no turning back. Soon enough we would pass through the fields of flowers, then the hills, and then back to boring old life at home. Dull as dishwater and dry as toast.

But there would always be next year, and when our childhoods were over, our own children to carry on.

Sometimes I wonder if Sister Angelita is looking down on us from Heaven with that pinched look on her face, as we indulge in our Pagan Nonsense and revel in the arrival of Spring. Maybe so. But I guess I'll have to leave that to the gods to sort out.

I hope they'll understand.

ecoillumination

A word I literally dreamed up to describe that moment at twilight when flowers seem to glow from within.

As Above, So Below

After the recent rains, I was surprised to see acres of white flowers spring up overnight. After all, it's the end of a drought-stricken summer, when nearly everything is dead-brown dry and long since given up the ghost.

  

At first (not knowing overmuch about flowers) I thought they were wild onions, but when evening came and clouds of glorious lemony-vanilla scent started wafting from the fields, I realized they must be rain lilies.

In the dark, the fields of luminous white blossoms seemed to mimic the field of stars in the sky. I thought, "as above, so below". 

Although as far as I know, the stars in the sky do not smell like lemony-vanilla. 

It would be pretty awesome if they did, though. :)