Memories of East Texas...
And piney green rolling hills
Covered in the springtime
With golden daffodils
Rowing on Sandy Lake come April
Harvesting hay in June
Sitting by the road watching well-fires burn
By an old October moon...
from Memories of East Texas by Michelle Shocked
Yesterday afternoon, I drove to Louisiana to celebrate my brother and sister-in-law's 50th wedding anniversary with them. It was a gorgeous spring day, and thanks to Ladybird Johnson (who was instrumental in promoting the Highway Beautification Act, passed in 1965) the hillsides in East Texas were covered with Texas wildflowers. The state flower, the bluebonnet, is no longer blooming, but I saw endless, undulating seas of coreopsis lanceolota (lanceleaf tickseed); Erigeron annus (Daisy fleabane); and Oenothera speciosa (pink evening primrose), to name a few.
Driving back today, I decided to drive to Caddo Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake in the south and the only naturally formed lake in Texas.I read somewhere that once you come to Caddo Lake and look around at the water, lined with bald cypresses draped with Spanish moss, you'll either get back into your car and go tearing out of there, or you'll feel haunted by the eerie, weird beauty of the place, and be drawn back to it, time and time again.
I fall into the second category. The first time I saw Caddo Lake was late fall or maybe winter, years ago. I'd driven to east Texas for some reason long forgotten, and somehow found myself driving to Caddo Lake (which can't really be done by accident). It was cold and foggy, and I found it more than a little creepy to get the occasional glimpse of those huge trees hung with Spanish moss...but I couldn't get the images out of my head, and so today, with the temperature 72 degrees, beneath a cloudless blue sky, I drove back.
I wasn't disappointed. Here are some of the things that I saw - note - Caddo Lake is located near Uncertain, Texas. You've gotta love that name!
7 comments:
This is my first visit to your site and I'm impressed. Thanks for your visual jog through east Texas...I liked the photos. Did you take those?
A Fellow North Texas Soul.
Thanks for visiting. Yes, all the pics are mine. East Texas is so beautiful, isn't it?
These photos are a great representation of that beautiful state of Texas....I love your captures!
How was the celebration? 50 years is something special...very ! Thanks for sharing..love TJ
Thanks, TJ. The celebration was wonderful, and yes, very special. My sister-in-law is terrific (my brother chose well!) and I was so happy to be able to join them in celebrating their special day.
The hillsides are beautiful Judi! I'd like that lake a lot with the moss and lilypads. xxoo
50yrs...wow!
When I see pictures like these, it makes me sad that I'm no longer able to take those cross-country "road trips" that were so much a part of my life thirty years ago. There is so much beauty in surprising places across our beautiful land...
I love these pictures! Also, I love the dreamlike way that you talk about your trip...it sounds magical and memorable.
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