Close Call, Dangerous Flower

A shocking thing happened this week to my friend, Chigurh. His master, Maverick (my mistress’ son) was jogging with him in Austin and a car, swerving to miss Maverick, hit Chigurh in the head. He was knocked out cold but fortunately revived. Thank God the vet says he’s going to be fine.

I had seen Chigurh last weekend when the family went to their country place near Tarpley to enjoy the gorgeous fall weather. We took a long walk up Williams creek, where Chigurh reveled in rolling in mud to the point that he looked like a harlequin. (When he’s not rolling in mud, he’s rolling in fresh cow patties. Go figure).

Thanks to Chigurh’s example I’m now enjoying getting my feet wet in the creek. Heretofore I’ve mostly walked along the banks but now I see that since the water is so shallow I’m in no danger and it’s really kind of fun.

As it turned out, this time the danger was on the banks rather than in the water. Mary was excited when she spied a gorgeous new flower by the side of the creek. Cardinal flower, as it is called, is a member of the lobelia family and has both medicinal and deadly attributes. Apparently a number of early settlers died of overdoses. So when granddaughter Christina asked to pick the pretty red flower her Nana said no.

I’ve been watching Christina and her Nana working on a wildflower book at home every day after Christina arrives from kindergarten. Christina prints the name of the flower and Mary pastes a picture she took of it in an album. So far they have done thirty and they have about that many to go. But, of course, Mary finds new varieties every time we go to the country.

As to WWT activities, last week the ladies and I had a very interesting walk with Helen Ballew, director of the Headwaters Sanctuary at the University of the Incarnate Word campus. We revisited the Blue Hole headwaters of the San Antonio River. Thanks to recent rains, it is again flowing. We also walked along St. Brigid’s Path, a peaceful contrast to the bustling campus.

This week the ladies did Olmos Park again. The only problem is that when they walk there, they never stop to talk. When they’re exploring a new place I get a lot more sniffing time as they often pause to check things out. So here’s hoping they will have lots more “field trips” this fall.