Overnight, the delicate blue flowers with a kiss of white on each tip carpet Texas parks and highways. Historian Jack Maguire so fitly declared “the bluebonnet is to Texas what the shamrock is to Ireland, the cherry blossom to Japan, the lily to France, the rose to England and the tulip to Holland.”
As sure as cowboy boots and Stetson hats, Texas parents and kids turn out in droves to take annual pictures in the tapestry of blue and white. Often risking life and limb, dedicated shutterbugs traipse into highway medians to get the best shots.
Here’s a tip for my local friends. Avoid playing Frogger on the highway and take your pictures at McInnish Park in Carrollton. Numerous fields of bluebonnets are available for memorable pictures, and the playground nearby provides the perfect bribery for kids to smile nice for the camera.
The legend of the bluebonnet is born from Comanche Indian lore and tells a heartwarming story of how the bluebonnet came to be a part of the Texas landscape. After a long drought that had left her orphaned, an Indian girl has only a warrior doll as a reminder of her family. She-Who-Is-Alone sacrificially presents her greatest possession as a burnt offering to the Great Spirit and scatters the ashes across the land. The Great Spirit is pleased with her gift and sends showers of rain to the thirsty fields. The girl awakens to be rewarded for her selfless gift with a blanket of bluebonnets scattered across the hillside. Her altruism continues today, providing a tangible memory of her family’s love in a tapestry of bluebonnets each spring.
~Love Pictures? Check out some great ones at Delicious Baby~
what a happy, happy photo! 🙂