Wordless Wednesday: *really* big tree

Wordless Wednesday: anybody thirsty?

Wordless Wednesday: well....yeah....

More various walks

I've done a few more non-neighborhood walks lately, taking advantage of the fact that we still have [sort of] cool mornings.

One of these was to the Japanese Tea Garden in Brackinridge Park (known more familiarly around here as the Sunken Gardens). This lovely spot is what you see above. It's a great place to walk, not only for the flowers and other plantings, but for the enormous carp that swim around the pools, and for the elevation gain that gives you a nice workout. Here are a couple of shots from up top:

It's an interesting place historically, too. Originally it was part of a large quarry that housed the cement company that eventually relocated a ways north to Cementville, which is now the Quarry Market.

On the right is the smelting tower that's still on the site, along with some other small stone buildings that were used in the cement-making. The one thing we have plenty of around here is high-quality limetone, apparently just about perfect for making Portland cement, whose name, according to Wikipedia, comes from Portland, England, not Maine.

The area around the gardens has some striking flora, too. Like this profusely blooming yucca and its neighboring century plant:

Later in the week, Henry and I took a long and very interesting walk around the UIW campus and Headwaters areas. That's San Antonio River headwaters. Henry had never seen the Blue Hole, which is the most notable of the many springs that make up the beginnings of the watershed. The last time I walked over there, the name was apt: beautiful blue water filling it up and spilling out.

But we haven't had much rain lately, so the Hole was dry and distinctly unphotogenic this time. However, the various trails that meander around the Headwaters area were really fun to walk on. Among the more photogenic sights was this absolutely gorgeous 600-year-old oak (as per its sign):

St. Brigid's Oak

In addition to the trails, we also were able to take in some campus scenery. Here's the school mascot...

...and their handsome bell tower...

I've admired this metallic mural before; it's on their performing arts building:

We're lucky to have such interesting places to walk in such close proximity to our house. 

I'll close with a pic and an amusing story to explain it. On another walk with a friend in the park, we suddenly found ourselves accompanied by this youngster:

He followed us for several minutes as we took a trail that led away from the river. I think he was too old to have erroneous imprinting issues, but we were a little afraid that had happened, when we just couldn't get him to shoo back over to the water. Finally I had to get a little mean and pushed him down the river bank with a long stick, and I think that at last convinced him that we weren't worth following around. I hope I didn't hurt him!

Wordless Wednesday: cutest car ever!

Looking for variety

With all the days running together, I've been working extra hard to find ways to make my daily walks more varied. The best way to do that is to head to our wonderful San Antonio Riverwalk. The other day I made 3+ miles (a lot for me) along this wonderful walkway, from the Pearl to the intersection shown above, where the River is bridged by McCullough Avenue.

The flowers along the Riverwalk are in gorgeous bloom...

...and there is even some wildlife to admire...

Another less-traveled walk route is in my own neighborhood. A few days ago I followed the appropriately-named Contour Drive, which marks part of the boundary of our little municipality, the section between us and the drop down to the Olmos Basin. We used to ride bikes with the kids often on this unusual street, and always had to stop at "the cave":

In addition to this exciting feature, there were some other cool items I saw on this walk. A very impressive flower I don't remember seeing elsewhere...

...as well as this bed of impatiens, perhaps the most luxuriant I've ever seen...

And finally, another nearby great walking location is Brackinridge Park. We took a stroll through a section of the Park after some rain last week, and saw some delicate dewdrop sculpture on some spider webs...

...as well as some sculpture of the human-made kind...

I'm going to try and do some exploring of other parks and walking trails in the weeks to come. 

Some spring cheer

My verbal creativity juices are at a low ebb these days, but I can't help but notice what an amazing spring we're having, flower-wise. So I wanted to share some of the beautiful sights I've noticed on my daily walks. 

Lots of the flora around here seem to be putting out a bumper crop of blooms and fruit, as if to help get us through this crazy time. I hope it's the same wherever you are.

I wish I could send along the aroma of these bountiful honeysuckle blooms!

vibrant bougainvilla

the hardy lantana will be with us all summer

more brushes than usual on the bottle-brush plant

some kind of wild rose?

new growth on the cactus is as pretty as blooms

I was surprised to see these amazing growths on a nearby palm tree. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything this garish on these trees!

Other trees are also putting on a show. The new leaves on mesquites are always so lovely...

...and the loquats have just gone bonkers!

I've saved the most spectacular shot for last. This is a gargantuan century plant over in Alamo Heights. I don't know if I've ever seen one so tall!