Muffy and Spencer: Nature: It's Natural

Texas is winning.

Rather, the natural environment is winning. And that's in the obvious contest between what landscaping I try to inflict on my own yard and what Nature does itself, on its own, here in Texas.

On gorgeous days like today it's hard to believe there could be a world outside of Texas, so I am going to say that the beauty of nature is simply Texas itself. Laugh all you want, you who didn't experience today's perfect perfection out here in the Hill Country. We'll forgive you because you don't understand.

I drove out to the Pedernales State Park yesterday, just on a whim. (No, ha ha, actually it was in my car! Ha ha ha...yup, I'm having some Shiner while I write this, you lucky dog. You'll get all kinds of hilarity from me now!)

Actually, it was not even really on a whim, not even figuratively. It was more in an attempt to alter reality.

Now doesn't that sound diabolical? Deliciously so! Mwah ha ha ha.

Because the reality is that I am not an avid sportswoman, not a preppy Muffy always at the ready for a spot of tennis or a quick romp with nature. Yes, I just did a marathon, but tell me, gentle reader, is this the grimace of a natural athlete? I think not.

why do those douchebags take photos of us after 5 hours of running? WHO looks good at this point?

So I went to the state park because I, in a moment of identity crisis without husband or marathon, decided I was the kind of person who just hauls off at a moment's notice and goes hiking.

I guess that's better than deciding I'm the kind of person who bungee jumps or dances on a pole for a living...both of which are extremely risky behaviors; the former is clearly a good way to catch some scuzzy disease, as I have NEVER seen someone cleaning a bungee cord, and the latter is simply dangerous due to gravity).

So yesterday I was a hiker. I packed up the Yaris with a cooler of beer and water, a backpack, and dug out my old hiking boots--

--purchased for a Patagonian hiking trip over 5 years ago and only used once since, and that was because a hurricane makes for too many puddles to navigate in flip flops.

And I drove out to Pedernales Falls.

Is there anything more situationally humorous than when your momentum for doing something spontaneous wears off...before you've done it? Yeah.

While an hour prior I had been giddy about wearing my hiking boots and packing a cooler, crawling out into the hill country in heavy traffic really took that outdoorsy wind out of my sails. Two-thirty, three o'clock...maybe I wasn't such a nature enthusiast after all. I could be home watching Hulu. I could be shopping...

No! No, I am a veritable REI advertisement! I am a photo shoot for Ralph Lauren yachting! Traffic opened up and I was flying up and down the gorgeous hills of central Texas. With the perfect wind in my hair and a big grin, I communed with nature. (From my vehicle.) And then I pulled into the park and surveyed the stunning beauty.

If you haven't been to the Pedernales, it's kinda hard to describe the falls side of the park. In other places you may camp and wade in the river, but at the falls it's kinda like a waterfall/river combination. When it's really dry like it's been, there are less falls & you can't hear the roaring rush of the water from far away like when it's saturated. But it's still pretty stunning nonetheless.

I hiked and photographed and then found a little sandy area to enjoy some sun. It was silent. Birds hovered lazily in the perfect blue sky. Stark contrast with our own little patch of nature back at the Clark Ranch.

I've successfully made the grass in the previous sidewalk area grow, so now we essentially have a green sidewalk in our barren front yard. Ditto the bamboo I planted out back; there is nothing else growing.

Well, except the Mountain Laurel volunteer, which I was delighted to discover. But we must definitely call him a volunteer, because I'd expect far more from a paid and fully employed laurel.

And then back to what Nature/Texas is doing all on her own: