Purple is as purple does.

We didn't get the usual blanket-covering of wildflowers this Spring-- the lack of rain (a very sincere lack of rain) gave us just a sprinkling of bluebonnets and wild daisies and paint brushes. The fields and pastures were just green, green, green instead of the rainbow-colored explosions of years past.

A few weeks ago, we did get one good rain-shower...... lasted for an hour or so, but it did rain nicely, which gave us some patches of wildflowers here and there. Tiny patches at that, but they were nice to see. One of our friends called them 'rain lilies.' They bloom in pink and white, after a good rain, and we had white ones in the field by our barn.

The last couple of times as we drove along La Bahia towards Round Top, there were a few pastures there that have just erupted into a purple mass of wildflowers. I have no idea what they are.... sort of look like wild iris, or a plump purple daisy of some sort. But purple they are, and purple they're staying, and from last week till this week, they are still in bloom and looking very pretty.

The bumper-crops of bluebonnets bring the city-people up into the Hill Country, armed with their camera and blankets-- the camera to take photos of their kids which end up on their Christmas cards, and the blankets so the kids aren't sitting down in a mass of fire ants while they're looking at the camera and saying Cheese. Unfortunately, all those camera-people mash down the bluebonnets.... and people who live here don't much like people from the city just walking onto their property just to plop down and take some pictures. No one reads the 'No Trespassing' signs when the bluebonnets are in bloom.

As we drove along La Bahia this week, we didn't see other cars slowing down to admire those purple blooms. Had the pastures been filled with bluebonnets, I'm sure just about every car would have stopped or slowed for a little look-see. I guess the wild purple flowers aren't as exciting as the bluebonnets, but we liked them, and just this morning, I saw a small patch of them out in our front field. A purple surprise for these hot summery days. It's a wonder the purple wildflowers are holding their blooms in this heat.

To paraphrase that book of poetry (and I have the book downstairs but can't remember the author's name).... "When I am an old wildflower, I shall bloom purple."