In the center of Austin, you will find Lady Bird Lake, formed by a dam on the Colorado River. About half way along it, west of the freeway, it is joined by Barton Creek. Barton Creek rises west of town in Hays County among the hills where it has cut…

The sun has dropped behind the edge of the hills to the west. It’s not dark enough yet for the night hawk or the poorwill. An occasional wasp or dragon fly will move through the sultry thick air. Still not a hint of a breeze. The only things moving are…

I missed it — the elusive scent — the overwhelming sweetness, no not sweet, that would be cloying like too much candy. This is exotic, almost erotic, yet dangerous. The bees swam the tiny blossoms. The bush hums as if electrified — like the control box down the road. The…

Are we talking about the distance between the walls and the ceiling of my room? Are we talking about the distance I wish that blonde in the MAGA hat would keep away from me in the produce aisle? Are we talking about the quiet moments I wanted when my children…

You never step in the same stream twice. The water is constantly changing. There are many versions of this saying, in many different languages, all true. The water is moving, changing as it flows downward, lower, and lower until it reaches a level place. Even then, it seeps into the…

The boat-tailed grackle has finally arrived in Dripping Springs. He is not here in great numbers but his very appearance means we are becoming an urban area. The grackle is a sociable critter. He doesn’t care much for open spaces, though Peterson lists his habitat as…

Recently a question was posed to me: What advice would I give my great-grandchildren? I considered forming an answer because I now have five great-grandchildren. It is a valid question because the world we are leaving to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren is a perilous world. Greedy businesses have caused us…

Signs of springs are all around us now. The temperature has risen. Wild flowers are blooming, but birds are one of the signs I notice here above Sulfur Creek. I know each year by certain bird signs that spring is really here. For one, the little sparrow hawk or kestrel…

Photographed by Ernie Frank, the TAMU Department of Agricultural Communications. Image Source:Texas Agricultural Extension Service Slide collection We should have a bumper crop of ticks this summer. When the winter is mild they seem to hatch out thicker than when we have a hard cold winter. I have a special…