Little Bear's Adventures
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No More Bluebonnets  I've posed with enough bluebonnets over the years. Beth found the perfect thistle, instead. A Friend  Then she got excited when she saw the bee. I've posed on turtles and cats, with hummingbirds and bugs. She was excited about this new friend. Just Me  But the bee flew off and the wind blew, just after Beth balanced me on top. I took a sudden tumble, but the prickly stem stuck to my legs like Velcro.
I love a wild flower adventure!
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Part Way Up Enchanted April is the name of a movie. Beth wants to go to Italy when she watches the movie.
This April, she stayed in Texas and took me to Enchanted Rock instead. I am only sitting about half way up the Rock, in this photo. Pink Granite Mountain in Texas The big "pink rock" covers about 640 acres. It rises up 425 feet. It's the largest pink granite monadnock in the U.S. A monadnock is an isolated mountain, by the way.  Enchanted Rock actually looks pretty boring, in every picture I've ever seen. At the Top  At the top you can hunt for this little marker. It was attached to the rock in 1956. I sat for a moment and caught my breath. We were at 1,825 elevation. That's high in Texas.
Actually I rode up in the camera bag. I was not panting. But I was sighing at the view. Cadillac Ranch  Ms. Donkey and I are on a 6-state road trip. We posed with cactus in the Texas Hill Country, yesterday and today we saw the sunrise in west Texas. Ten Cadillacs  It's pretty hard to see us, but we're on that shiny wheel. There were 10 cars to choose from, but we only posed on a couple. It's pretty silly that people sort of planted these cars in the dirt in 1974. Glowing Sun  Here we are on the lumpy, bumpy paint, with the sun rising behind us. It was a sort of silly way to start our day. Layers of Paint  As the sun came up, we could see more colors. People have been spray-painting these cars for years and years. You can see a chunk of pain missing , right beside us. One More Pose  And here we are in a window. Well sort of. Good Bye Cadillacs  There we are, in the corner of the rear window. I wanted to pose on the fin, but Beth couldn't reach. Plus Beth said, "We need to get out of here." The sun was getting up higher and tourists were coming with spray paint. We didn't want to get painted.
I'm Out Of The Bag! I am Little Bear! I usually write this blog, but my friend Ms. Donkey had to take over for a while. She wrote about the adventures that I was supposed to have in New York, with Beth and Don. But I was accidentally left in Texas, in Beth's camera bag.  When Beth realized she'd left me behind, she borrowed a camera and snatched Ms. Donkey, so she could be in pictures. When their trip was over, they returned to Texas and I was rescued. Donkey told me all about her trip, while we climbed carefully on a cactus. Jealous?  I was a little jealous hearing about her adventures in New York and Canada and Vermont. But then Beth said we were going on another trip. I decided I would take my friend, Ms. Donkey along... just this once! Tomorrow we head west!
Bluebonnets
Every year I pose with some Bluebonnets. At least I'm not the only one. Kids, babies, pets and even smooching couples pose in the flowers along the road. At least in Texas they do. Sunday Drive  We took a drive near Enchanted Rock on Sunday. There were lots of Bluebonnets along the road, but I was getting tired of those. Indian Paintbrush  I begged to climb up the stem of something with no bluish-purple color. I love the orangish color of Indian Paintbrush! Railroad Tracks  We found the same combination of flowers near some old train tracks. On Barbed Wire  Beside the tracks I saw some barbed wire and climbed up so I could sit right beside a flower. I sat in the warm sun and sniffed in the spring smells. Not bad.
In Austin
Once again I found myself enjoying some colorful art in the coolest of Texas cities. It was a lovely March day, but instead of breathing in the scent of springtime flowers, I smelled paint fumes. Wet or Dry?  Luckily the dripping paint was dry on this sign. I poked my head right through the letter "O". The words spelled out, "CAN LOVE... Graffiti Recycling Program" I guess "CAN LOVE" is the love of cans. And there were a lot of (discarded) cans to love around this place! I guess it was too hard to find the trash cans, since they were covered with graffiti, too. Where Am I?  I don't expect you to be able to see me in the letter O. You can't even read the words because there's so much paint over paint on this sign. Noisy Art  From my perch, I stared at the wall-covered hill behind me and absorbed all the designs left by people and their spray cans. I liked what I saw, but I could only look for so long. I think those shapes and colors were shouting at me! Art can look very loud sometimes.
Lobster Rope  It's rodeo time in Houston right now, so you expect to see a lot of ropes. But the kind of rope I saw in Austin, was once used with lobsters, not horses or cattle. The recycled rope is painted and an artist named Orly Genger has made it into ART called "Hurlyburly". Mountains?  The dark and light blue ropes have been woven and spread over the grass near Waller Creek Boathouse. The way everyone was climbing the lumpy creation, I figured they were supposed to be little mountains. Or Waves
But I was starting to feel woozy as I clung to the rope. It felt like an ocean out there and I was getting seasick.
I was glad when Beth put me back in the bag. I had a feeling one of those leaping, mountain climbers was going to land right on me... and shove me deep into a dark crevice of rope tangles. I might just have nightmares now. Sweet Smells of Austin, TX  Strolling down the bustling sidewalk in Austin's funky SOCO district, I smelled good things. First it was coffee. But after we passed the long line of people waiting to gulp down their morning caffeine at Jo's, I smelled something better. Honeysuckle? No, it was this tree with yellow puff blossoms! Beth only allowed me a moment to sit. The Greenpeace Guys with clipboards were coming towards us... again. Time to go.
Galveston, Texas on Christmas Morning  It was warm and foggy early this morning. Beth posed me on some granite with a tiny fake tree and a Christmas ball, the size of me. Scary  We were on one of those rock jetty things, with all the water churning around us. I was afraid a big wave would splash me right down into one of those deep cracks! To the Sand
So we moved over to the sand and found some shells. Of course Beth had a candy cane and some pine stuff with her. Why wouldn't she? Sun!  She pulled out the tree again. She is never able to decide how to pose me. I tried to tell her the sand was wet and this was not what I expected to be doing on Christmas morning. Shadow
Beth said, "I know, but look at that cool shadow!" Beth also reminded me that she hadn't expected to be on the beach on Christmas morning, either. On Christmas Eve, she and Don decided spur of the moment to drive to Galveston and stay a night in a hotel. They had already done Christmas when their kids were in town a few days before. Beth insisted, "It's too quiet in this house." Much Better  So I tried to be patient, since Beth was obviously missing her kids. Then she pulled out Santa and Rudolph and it felt a lot more like Christmas.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!! First Time Ever!  I told Beth I wanted to go for a roll, all the way down the alley. She was game. After all, this is such an old bowling alley, they have actual pinsetters who set the pins into position. So 12-year old Kevin was waiting at the end of the alley and he could have helped me out. Changing Balls
But I kept changing my mind. I decided I wanted a pink ball. And then I wanted a heavier ball. Then I worried that I would slip down into the hole and never come out. This picture shows just how far I made it down the alley.
I kept score instead. Just Watching  I like to watch the desert. I found a good spot where I could look over the distant rocky landscape and the sandy ground below. An Old Corral  Turns out I was sitting in what remains of an old corral. It's hard to picture any animals living in this area near the Mexican border in West Texas. Still Watching  I found another place to watch the world around me. This wood is from an old fence. Maybe there were cows here once. Or burros. Or horses. Or Snakes?  Now you know why I like to watch from high spots. See me? I'm keeping an eye out for snakes.
Not the First Time I know. I've posed with bluebonnets before. It's a Texas thing. Kids do it and pets and young couples like to climb into beds of bluebonnets for posing. But I had to drive all the way out to Big Bend National Park to see these. Late February
 The bluebonnets start blooming out here a lot earlier. I don't know why, because you can see, it's very desert-y. They also are mucho-sized. Maybe that's because we are very close to the Mexican border. I should have had Beth pose with me. This one was almost as tall as her hip.
I got a nice ride when the breeze started blowing! At the Beach in Galveston  I have to give Beth credit for going along with my adventure requests. She took me to the beach for some camping in January. But then she posed me with shells. Been There, Done That I told Beth, I get tired of posing with shells. (It's not my first time on a beach) She quietly pointed to a dead fish nearby. He was about 2 feet long...a little smelly...and Beth calmly said she could pose me nicely in his eye socket, which was the size of me. No thanks.
Much Better!  I'm in this picture somewhere, climbing all over this giant tangle of driftwood! Fun  This kind of photo op is a lot more fun. I could climb all day. Risky  It doesn't look like a very daring adventure, but Beth spotted a coyote a few minutes earlier, so I was out here risking my life for this photo! I'm glad my fur sorted of blended in!
This was my first official adventure of 2014! Dull I had a very dull celebration for New Year's.  Beth took me to the cabin where there is no TV and I couldn't watch the ball drop or watch football. So I counted rings on a tree stump. Even my shadow was bored. Not Even Real The stump wasn't even a real outside tree stump. It was on a stool.
Not only did I get bored, but I got dizzy going round and round. But I at least came up with a New Year's Resolution List.
#1 Resolution on my list: Better Adventures in 2014! Watching the Sea  Last spring when I came to Galveston, I posed with an old house and I said I didn't care about visiting the beaches with all the tourists.  But Galveston is an island and there are miles of beach. So here I am. I found a spot with no people. Just me and the sea...and a seashell!
I Love This Island!  I don't care about Seawall Blvd with all the beach stuff. I'd rather sit on an iron fence overlooking Broadway, in the old part of Galveston. Perfect Weather
In May the Oleanders are in bloom and the trees are that perfect "new green" and the iron fence isn't even hot. Moody Mansion I like to sit and stare at my favorite building, the Moody Mansion. I like to imagine myself living inside 115 years ago, before the Big Storm destroyed many of the old homes nearby. Home Sweet Home
 I'm going to live here, some day!
Best Part of my Weekend  I loved sitting in this basket! It looks like maybe I'm going up in a hot air balloon. I wish. Picnic  Almost as good...I'm on a picnic at Lake LBJ! Almost Perfect  Pictures are wonderful because they don't have sound. There was a really obnoxious motorboat on the lake while I was trying to relax. The Worst Thing  Last night as we slept at the cabin, my favorite tree fell over. Recently it had been struck by lightening and during the night it just got tired of holding on and it snapped. The deer like it. They had a feast on all the fresh oak leaves that were suddenly within reach. I'll Miss the Tree  I have fond memories of this tree. Three years ago, Beth posed me on one of the branches with a couple of my friends. This was the very first time she had the silly idea of putting me in pictures.  I'm going to have to break the sad news to Frog and Dog.
Brazos Bend State Park  Here I am, posing at the park. It doesn't look like I'm doing anything risky. Caution!  But just sitting on this sign takes nerve. There are hundreds of gators lurking in this park! Tree Climbing Adventure  This also doesn't look like much of an adventure...sitting on this odd vine.  But look at the size of this Live Oak! Another Climbing Adventure? I sat on this flower and thought a while.  I decided against climbing the windmill. Sitting in the flower was pretty nice. Sometimes, my adventures are all about observing!
Another Road Trip  I've seen snow before, but never in Texas! I made snowballs in Marathon. In Big Bend National Park  I only saw a little snow in Big Bend. But I did see a sunrise! I found the perfect spot for watching. I loved sitting on this funny rock! Sun Up!  I saw the sun climb over the mountain...behind the tree. A Long Wait  But it took a long time before the sun hit my cozy rock. The mountains behind me got it much sooner than me. That's okay, I was very cozy.
I'm not in heaven.  I know I've had a lot of close calls lately, but I am not on a cloud in heaven. I Lucked Out  I actually found one cotton field left outside of Houston that hadn't been picked yet! Fluffy Spot I was enjoying the view from my fluffy spot, when I noticed a silver truck heading towards Beth.  The man hollered out his open window, "Pretty cotton, huh?" Beth stopped clicking her camera to agree. The farmer who happened to own the land said the cotton would all be picked by tomorrow! Whew! I almost missed an adventure with cotton! One more disturbance!  This truck was even bigger. And it was coming our way! It came to the edge of the field and turned towards Beth and me, before heading back up to suck up more cotton. Beth waved so I think he saw us. Well, maybe not me. As you can see I blend well with cotton. Adventure in the Cotton Field  Well, it was enough adventure for me just watching this truck from my cotton perch! This crazy mechanical cotton picker was plucking up as much cotton per minute as over two hundred sets of human humans. Fact?
Actually, I'm not sure how many hands it would take, to do the work of one mechanical picker. But I do know humans were the only ones picking cotton before 1943. It would have been a lot quieter out here watching the cotton getting picked back then. Maybe I could have helped. I could have at least done a little singing. I would have liked that part. Stay Tuned  Beth says Texas is a big state for cotton, but she's taking me to Mississippi in a week to stay at an old cotton farm. I don't know about that. We'll see.
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Little Bear
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