The County Mowers

Although I never got around to photographing the bluebonnets that are growing along the road in front of my pasture, I have been very proud of them. A number of years back, we threw out the seeds. The first few years we got a few here . . . a few there . . . The ones by the house never really took off - I saw one here and there this year. A couple of years ago we added a lot of bluebonnet seed as well as some other wildflower seeds right by the fence. Lesson . . . the horse can reach over or through the fence to eat the fresh green leaves of baby wildlflowers.

But last year the bluebonnets had really taken off. They went to seed and this year the display was beautiful.

I knew that before too long, the county would send the mowers by. I was hoping we would not see them until after the bluebonnets had fully seeded out.

As I sat on my porch yesterday morning, I heard something . . . it sounded like heavy equipment . . . hum . . . could it be the mowers . . . I was only dressed in my at home house dress. I ran in the house and called Henry in the RV - I think I hear the mowers coming, can you run up there and make sure they don't mow the bluebonnets?

Well, by the time Henry got there, they had mowed a strip right by the road - when they got past the bluebonnets they moved further in closer to the fence. I had jumped in the car and was sitting by the mail box. But they had left a strip of the pretty yellow flowers. Oh no . . . he's turning around . . . there went the yellow flowers . . . Henry stood guard and they did not mow any more of "my" bluebonnets . . . but the few bluebonnets that had migrated across the road won't go to seed this year. And they mowed a few of mine in that swath by the road. I don't normally give people ugly looks . . . but my facial expression must have conveyed my frustration. That's sad, because during other parts of the year, I appreciate the nicely manicured roads. But during wildflower season?

Now I know that there are places that need to be mowed for safety reasons. I had a friend die out on a country road partly because of high vegetation that obscured her view of the dump truck coming around the corner. Tall weeds and corners don't go together. But I live on a straight-away. Bluebonnets and the yellow flowers are not tall enough to obscure any driver's visibility. Yes, we've had a lot of rain this year and grass is tall (my yard is a jungle, but I don't want to mow until any and all flowers have a chance to seed - then we can go for the "manicured" look.)

I live out in the country - Texans are proud of their wildflowers . . . why do we have to mow them down prematurely?