An Invincible Summer

Little Bear Creek Trails, Part II

Posted on June 4, 2016 by Debora

Eight months after we first discovered the string of parks along Little Bear Creek, we finally made it back to explore the next stretch of trails.

Parts of McCormick Park are flooded from all the recent rains. Picnic, anyone?

Most of the parks and trails are clear and dry, though. I’m always freshly impressed by these little pockets of natural beauty tucked in amongst the freeways and housing tracts of the Metroplex.

Didn’t see any official park signs today. Here’s a sorta-sign to make it a sorta-official addition to the collection:

I like that this trail system uses underpasses for major road crossings.

We found a fun jointed balance beam on one of the many playgrounds.

And I got my very first semi-successful photo of a Texas Cardinal! It’s blurry but squarely in frame, which is the best I’ve managed to accomplish so far with this elusive bird.

The squirrels weren’t shy at all today.

This is my favorite trail system in the HEB area so far. Absolutely gorgeous.

We’ll be back to explore more of it!

Categories: A Plethora of Parks, Animals, environment, Family, kids, Life, trees, Weather, Wildlife | Leave a comment

Graduation

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Debora

Elizabeth’s high school graduation ceremony took place in the Fort Worth Convention Center. Her dad and…uncle-in-law? Not sure how to say that. Anyway, Steve and his sister’s husband, Brent, drove out from Anza for the occasion.

This was my first time inside the Convention Center. It is big.

The ceiling is a spiderweb of catwalks and gantries. I want to play tag up there!

I enjoyed the ceremony, but I think the most entertaining part of it was listening to Steve and Brent discussing their strategies for surviving a terrorist attack. DFW is a bit more diverse than Anza.

Getting a photo of Elizabeth receiving her diploma pushed my camera’s zoom to its limits.

After the ceremony we went next door to the Water Gardens to cool off.

There was much frolicking among the menfolk.

Luke was looking rather dashing.

Congratulations, grown-up girl!

Categories: A Plethora of Parks, Celebrations, Family, kids, Life, School | Tags: Fort Worth Water Gardens | Leave a comment

Bison, Deer and Wildflowers Along the Trinity

Posted on May 15, 2016 by Debora

Earlier this week, President Obama signed a law making the American bison our national mammal. We commemorated the occasion by visiting our own little local herd at the Fort Worth Nature Center. I’ve been meaning to check this place out for a while now, and I’m so glad we finally did – it is wonderful. We had some concerns at first that we wouldn’t be able to find the bison in their large enclosure, but eventually we tracked them down.

It’s wildflower season in Texas, and the vibrant colors are everywhere.

There are all different kinds of scenery at the park, but I love the forest trails best. I’m a woodland creature at heart.

I’m always amazed by Luke’s energy on these outings. It’s like taking a greyhound pup to the park and letting him off the leash.

He always ends up putting in three or four times the mileage that Elizabeth and I do, just from scampering up and down the trails while we catch up.

We got a nice surprise in one of the woodsy areas.

Pretty!

The Trinity is running high from all the rain we’ve had. Some of the lower trails are underwater.

We were done exploring and ready to head home when I remembered that it wouldn’t be an official addition to the park collection unless I got a photo of a sign. We were all the way down near Greer Island (is it really an island if you can walk out to it on land?) by then, far from the park entrance, so these will have to do:

This is easily one of my favorite parks so far, although I should mention that there is an admission fee of $5 per adult. Worth every penny; we will be coming back!

Categories: A Plethora of Parks, Animals, environment, Family, kids, Life, trees, Wildlife | Tags: Bison, Deer, Egrets, Fort Worth Nature Center, Wildflowers | Leave a comment

Earth Day, Birth Day

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Debora

Today is Earth Day, and Mahogany’s birthday. In my mind she’s been “eight or nine years old, somewhere around there” for a while now, so today I did the math. This is her TWELFTH birthday. How did THAT happen?

Anyway, we celebrated both occasions with a lovely trail ride. Her pasture buddy, Kokomo, kept her company during the grooming and saddling.

The weather couldn’t have been nicer. Everything was either brilliant green or in bloom, and the blue sky was dotted with puffy white clouds playing peekaboo with the sun.