New Braunfels Sunset After the Rainstorm

Sunset in New Braunfels TX from our backyard

Well, seems like we have had nothin' but rain since we moved into our new house. It makes it hard to keep the grass mowed, and also to keep the boxes dry as we unpack. One good thing however, is the beautiful sunsets that grace us frequently after the monsoon rains.

We have been very lucky to be spared the devastation that the rains and flooding have caused in the Hill Country. Over 250 houses were swept away in Wimberley, and dozens of lives were lost. Austin has had flooding much worse than the 1984 Memorial Day floods. Tornadoes have struck all around us, causing major damage in some places. We are truly lucky.

I hope you are warm and dry where you are, and that you had a blessed Memorial Day.

Til next time,

Mike Z

Well, we've moved. How 'bout that??

Jan and I signed the papers on our new home in New Braunfels today. After many months of packing, cleaning, staging, and fretting, our house in Austin sold in 17 days.

The photo above is of our new home on Jan's family ranch. I feel like a gentleman rancher, though I know virtually nothing about ranching. Jan's brother and sister-in-law really loved this place, but they moved to Nashville TN. 

John and Jennifer left us a beautiful yard and garden. I am sure they hated leaving it behind. I also have no doubt that there will be a similarly beautiful yard and garden very soon in their new place in Tennessee.

This morning we had a visitor, a vulture sunned itself on the corner post of our backyard. I was a bit concerned because of what vultures eat. I didn't see any evidence that its' meal was nearby. Maybe it was just enjoying the morning.

Ok, that's it for this one. Till next time, I hope you are doing well.

All the best,

Mike Z

Pace Bend State Park bluebonnets

More bluebonnets, this time the Central Texas variety. I was on a "mission" to Pace Bend State Park (not Big Bend State Park) near Austin to photograph my daughter Amy race a 9 mile course through the hills of West Austin. I had some time before I was to be at the designated spot to do the photo shoot, so I walked out towards the lake and saw fields of bluebonnets along the shore. 

One thing to notice about this variety of bluebonnets is that the stems are much shorter than the Big Bend bluebonnets in my last post. Another thing I didn't notice until I posted this photo is the boat in the lake with the rooster tail shooting out the back. Nice touch....

I'll have some more Big Bend photos to share soon, as well as (I hope) some photos of the Pace Bend Race. I hope you enjoy the photo! 

Till next time,

Mike Z

PS - As always, click on the photo to see it larger.

Abby and the Big Bend Bluebonnets

Well, it's bluebonnet blooming time in Texas, and everyone has pictures of their kids, their pets or themselves in the bluebonnets. This is the second installment of our trip to Ft. Davis/Big Bend, and I thought I would show you some photos of our granddaughter, Abby, in the bluebonnets as we entered Big Bend National Park. 

You'll probably notice that the bluebonnets in Big Bend are not quite like the ones in Central Texas. They are definitely bluebonnets, but they are taller and spindlier than those we have around home. The kindly Park Ranger told me that there are five different subspecies of bluebonnets in Texas. I didn't know that.

Abby seemed to enjoy the bluebonnets, and so did we. There are lots more photos to come, and I hope you enjoy them all. If you'd like to see these or any of the photos on the weblog enlarged, just click and you can see a slideshow. By the way, Happy Easter!

Til next time,

Mike Z