“The earth laughs in flowers.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Wright's skullcap -- Photo not by me (remember I left my camera in the hotel room), and I'm not sure who the photographer was.
A delayed plane and a missed flight put me into Austin after 10 p.m. yesterday. It meant I missed meeting with a couple of old friends here in town, like me, to attend the Story Circle Network’s Stories from the Heart Conference.
Instead I treated myself to a nice strong Jack and Coke at the hotel bar, while I waited for my oldest daughter, Deborah, who is attending the conference, too to arrive on an even later flight. I woke up this morning, thinking it was 6 a.m., only to discover it was 8 a.m., seeing as how I was in Austin instead of Tucson, where it was 6 a.m.
After taking care of a bit of business for the conference, four of us writing buddies, took off for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. When we arrived, I realized I had left my camera back in the hotel room, which was a darn shame because there were plenty of beautiful flowers to photograph.
My favorite was the Wright’s skullcap, whose blossoms reminded me of Darth Vader.
And that’s all I have to say today. While it’s just after 9 p.m. in Austin, it’s after 11 p.m. in Tucson and my body remembers and is telling the brain it’s time to go to bed. I think I will sleep well tonight, even without a Jack and Coke.
Bean’s Pat: Portraits of Wildflowers http://tinyurl.com8ywkbd5 Standing winecups. Steve Schartzman’s blog is why I could identify many of today’s plants at the wildflower center.
Pat Bean's blog 
Hi Pat, my wife and I are heading east on Sunday to see the wildflowers. We’ll spend 3 nights in Fredericksburg, a very nice burg in case you haven’t been there. Our plan is to take in Wildseed Farms and Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Will you have another chance to break away? If so, we’d be delighted to meet you and any of your conference pals. No problem if that doesn’t work, of course. Wildseed Farms should be a treat for the eyes, and I’m pretty sure it’s free. Their website is http://www.wildseedfarms.com/. Let me know.
I left Austin Monday, and will be heading west this coming Monday. My route northwest to Idaho won’t take me through Las Cruces, which is too bad because I have a month to get where I’m going. You can be sure I will be dallying. I hope you enjoy the wildflower gardens. If you can, take in the Texas History Museum, visit 6th Street, and watch the bats rise up nightly from a bridge in Austin and of course be sure and eat plenty of Tex-Mex. I’ve visited Fredericksburg. A fun place. If you can, visit Enchanted Rock just 20 miles away. Enjoy Texas, and hopefully our paths will still cross one of these days.
Keep writing … Pat Bean https://patbean.wordpress.com
Hi Pat, We’ll cross paths another time then. We saw Wildseed Farms today (beautiful!) and will check out the Ladybird Johnson Wildfloweer Center tomorrow. May take in one or two of your other suggestions.
Safe travels!
Bob
Texas History Museum would be me first choice.
Keep writing … Pat Bean https://patbean.wordpress.com
Good for you–playing hooky is understandable on a beautiful April day (even if it’s too hot for the time of year).
By the way, the quilt is gorgeous.
I see you made up those lost 2 hours by the end of the day… you’ve become a time traveler as well! Or time warper I guess! 🙂
I think time warper better fits. I may have made up the two hours, but I’m just now catching up on e-mail and blog comments. Thanks for following me on my “warped” journey.
Wish I had klnown you were going to the conference, Pat. I made it for the Saturday sessions and then started coming down with a terrible cold Saturday afternoon. Figuring nobody wanted to be around my coughing, sneezing self and not feeling like doing any more at the conference, I came home this morning. Met lots of awesome women, as usual, and learned some stuff too. Now if I can just shake this cold. . .
Hope you shake the cold Nancy, and sorry we didn’t connect. The spirit of the women at the festival was awesome. I came away from it energized, as I’m sure you did. Thanks for commenting. And sorry about taking so long to get back. I’m waaaayyyyy behind on answering e-mail. But by day’s end I should be caught up.
[…] Bean Played Hooky. Really Pat? But just from the first day, right? I know … ’cause I saw you […]