With a Sunday to myself and the temperatures hovering around 100° at 12:30 p.m., guess what?
I went for a hike in the woods….
An afternoon was spent at the Fort Worth Nature Center. I attended a 2-hour talk and walk about North Texas Prairies given by a young lady with an education in prairie management. She works the weekends part time at the Nature Center doing outreach learning and eduction. Me and 7 others braved the heat and got smarter.
It was hot. In amongst the woods, there was no breeze. But my camera didn’t mind. It was just too hot and dry (and the sun angle was directly overhead – much too bright for my preference) for the vegetation to be vigorous and photogenic.
But I gave it a good old natural try regardless….
Nature's Christmas ornaments...in July 
- Where’s my wildflower ID field book when I need it? The white pill shapes are Mexican Hat, the purple is a Prairie Verbena
Also came across some creatures out there – some captive, some not….
And of course, my signs…
21 
Awesome pics! You are very talented behind the camera!
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Thanks Lydia. The sweat is still rolling off my brow. Parades this morning…fireworks tonight. Better recharge the camera battery :)
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Greetings from 200 miles south of you. I’ve been going out in the morning, when the temperature is still only in the 80s. The Texas thistle is something I appreciate, and I’ve used it as the theme of several of my recent posts; later this week I plan to show a picture of one unraveling, as you have. Last week I photographed a young cedar elm (I love the tree’s reddish new leaves) but the mowers have already cut it down. They’ve gone berserk down here this year, leaving ugly barren earth in more places than I’ve ever seen.
On the positive side, I’m glad to see you’re another appreciator of nature.
Steve Schwartzman
http://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com
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Steve, yes I am a tree hugger to the core…and been known to lay down with the chiggers and other prairie bugs on occasion. As a Texas registered landscape architect, I have an inherent appreciation for native plants – always have, even as a kid wondering how “those” plants in rural Kansas family cemeteries stayed alive. To this day when folks tell me they want a “no maintenance” landscape, I say “no such thing…but pile in the car with me and I’ll show you the closest thing to that”. It was an employer mentoring by Bill Neiman early in my career that brought to light this native plant stuff has some definite merit in the everyday life of all of us. Thanks – I’ve enjoyed my brief introduction to your blog and will now become a frequent visitor. Best to you!
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