Camp Verde & the Camel Corps

I visited Camp Verde on April 3, 2011,

142 years & 2 days after the
close of the frontier post.

I strolled along the lane
Photographing oaks & cypress trees
That line the banks of Verde Creek.

It is as if time has stood still
and one could expect the Cavalry
to round the bend in the road.

Would the soldiers be astride horses
or perhaps on camels?
After wild adventures through the arid
west Texas land where
Comanches & Apaches were encountered,
These brave men return to a restful place
where the water is fresh & cool
and shade is plentiful.

Camp Verde
near Kerrville, Texas

The frontier post was closed
on April 1, 1869

The following is part of an article
written in Wikipedia.

Used in the Southwest

"On June 4, 1856, the Army loaded the camels and they were driven to Camp Verde via Victoria and San Antonio. Reports from initial tests were largely positive. The camels proved to be exceedingly strong, and were able to move quickly across terrain which horses found difficult. Their legendary ability to go without water proved valuable on an 1857 survey mission led by Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale. He rode a camel from Fort Defiance to the Colorado River and his team used 25 camels on the trip. The survey team took the camels into California, where they were stationed at the Benicia Arsenal.

During a 1859 survey of the Trans-Pecos region to find a shorter route to Fort Davis, the Army used the camels again. Under the command of Lt. Edward Hartz and Lt. William Echols, the team surveyed much of the Big Bendarea. In 1860, Echols headed another survey team through the Trans-Pecos that employed the Camel Corps."

This was my second visit to Camp Verde

and the weather was much more lovely
this time than on a cold January day in 2010.

The January 2010 blog post is here.


A couple of weeks ago I sent a letter to Delwyn
showing the Camel Corps that was
in Texas in the mid 1800s.

This corps was put together at Camp Verde
where camels were used to travel across
the arid lands of Texas.


Garden behind the Camp Verde Store/Restaurant/Post Office.

As you can tell in the photos below
spring has arrived at Camp Verde.

Verde Creek runs below the store
with pasture land on the opposite
side of the creek.

The cypress trees are beginning to leaf out
with their gorgeous lacy leaves.

The grasses are green & inviting along the bank
of Verde Creek.

Lost Generation

Many of you may be like me whereby
I sometimes have the feeling that
I am just a minority of people
who care what happens to our planet.

I am not naive enough to believe
that life can remain as it is today
nor that it can go back to less complex times.
Even if we could go back to a more
simple lifestyle, would that really be feasible?

This video is a palindrome.
When it is listened to or read forwards
the future of humans is quite forlorn;
but when listened to in reverse
there is quite the reason to rejoice
and to see hope.

I hope you enjoy this video.

The Lost Generation ~ A Palindrome

Gardens & Passing...

We had such a pretty day
this April Fool's day.
It started off with fog,
but by 11 AM it had burned off
and the sky was a beautiful blue
with puffy white clouds floating along.

I had been wanting to spread some mulch in the
flower beds and today seemed like a good day
to get the chore done.

The G-man planted some tomatoes,
I spread 8 bags of mulch,
planted 2 bluebonnets,
2 geraniums, & 2 asparagus ferns
in the front flower beds.

Tomorrow we will attend a memorial service
for a friend who unexpectedly passed away
this week.
He was 57, way to young.
He will be missed by his wife
& two grown children.

There are no guarantees in this life as to
how long we will be here.
Every day is so special.
If there is a guarantee it is
that one day each of us will pass
into the next phase of existence.

"Empty-handed I entered
the world
Barefoot I leave it.
My coming, my going --
Two simple happenings
That got entangled.

Like dew drops
on a lotus leaf
I vanish."

~ Kozan Ichikyo, died February 12, 1360, at the age of 77.

Wallisville, TX

Now doesn't this look like the
perfect country road
to drive down on a lovely
spring day?

The Methodist Church at Wallisville, TX

Historic marker dating the
Methodist Church in Wallisville to the 1840s.

Beautiful azaleas grow perfectly
in east Texas.
Just the right temperature & rain
makes these beauties.

Pink, pink, pink!

Ibis & Blue Heron Along the Trinity River ~ East Texas

Beautiful East Texas...


The G-man and I took a little side trip
to a bayou near the Trinity River
as we were driving to Louisiana.

We saw white and immature Ibis
wading in the swampy water.

Above are immature Ibis.

Gathering for a mid-day meal.

Mature & immature birds.

Posing on the log.

Little Blue Heron

Ibis wading & grazing.

Now on to Coushatta in Kinder, LA
for golf at Koasati Pines Golf Course
and some fun at the casino.

The Big Tree

Goose Island State Park is home to
the biggest tree in Texas.
It is a beautiful live oak tree
and is about 1,000 years old.

Mike Leggett is a reporter for the Austin American Statesman newspaper and recently wrote a wonderful article about visiting this beautiful old oak tree. He has compiled a list of 24 things a Texan should do before he/she dies. In other words he has made a Texas bucket list of things to accomplish before one "kicks the bucket".

Among the list includes visiting the whooping cranes at Aransas Wildlife Refuge, seeing the Palo Duro Canyon, and driving across Texas from east to west to get a grasp of the diversity of our state. He also includes the Big Tree and wrote a great article about it, see here for the full article.

Leggett outdid himself in my opinion when writing about this old tree nestled in the grove of other live oaks and situated along the Texas Gulf Coast near Rockport. The Karankawa Indians of whom he writes are long extinct. They were a difficult tribe and insisted on continuing their cannibalistic ways once the Europeans arrived; therefore, they are no more. They were not friends to other Indians or to settlers.

The article begins...:

"Through the fog of a mild winter morning and the gauzy haze of history, it's easy to see a pair of Karankawa men amble up from the nearby shallows of Saint Charles Bay and stop to squat a moment in the shade of a live oak motte.

They neither talk nor sing. They are naked. Their nipples and lips are pierced by slivers of cane, their bodies are tattooed head to toe, and they are smeared with alligator or animal fat to stave off the pestering bites of insects.

They crack open a few succulent oysters as a snack and stare east across the bay at what has become known as the Blackjack Peninsula, where other members of their Copanes band are encamped.

They drop the oyster shells on the ground and rise to return to the water. They'll fish their way back home. The shells will turn white, become brittle and crumble, slowly degrading in the sun and rain and returning to the earth. It is a process that builds a strong base for these trees.

The year is 1500, three decades before Spanish explorers, and later the French, would write in their journals about encountering small bands of extremely tall natives along the Texas Gulf Coast.

The Karankawa are long gone, of course. In many respects, so is the wilderness.

But the trees. Some of the trees in this small grove, trees that were hundreds of years old at the time, are still here."

~ Mike Leggett

I am partial to the beauty of the live oak and have photographed many a tree to try to capture the elegance of the flow of the branches and the wide canopy of its leaves. They are truly stately.

An Outing to Horseshoe Bay, TX

The Marriott Horseshoe Bay Resort

We arrived on Friday afternoon, settled in,
and had time for the G-man to
practice a little golf before his
big two-day tournament.

Friday was overcast and dreary,
but warm.
Standby, a front scheduled
to blow through overnight
will bring clear skies, 30 mph winds,
and cooler temperatures.

As you can see from my photographs
the sky is indeed clear.

On my walk around the property
I found this lovely Zen Garden.
It is a serene atmosphere
and lovely meditation spot.

This little fellow is floating
and sunning.

This area is the Palm Trail
and wends around an 18-hole putting green.

I love winding walkways and this one is perfect.

After my walk I sat in the hot tub for a while
and then met the G-man for lunch.
After the first day he was tied for 2nd place in his flight.
He came in 3rd place after both rounds
and now qualifies to go to the National Finals in
La Quinta, CA in late September if he wants.
All in all it was a nice weekend and I think my back is getting better!!!

175th Anniversary of Texas Independence

Happy Birthday Texas!

Spring is Coming to Central Texas

March 1st arrives in central Texas tomorrow
and with it comes the beauty of spring.

Flowering fruit trees,
red buds,
greening of oaks and willows
will be breaking out in
the weeks to come.

Once again we'll try to have a garden of
pretty flowers,
but as dry as it gets here blooms will come
early in spring or wait until autumn.

Enjoy your trips to the nurseries!

I shall try to get back to blogging.
I overdid it in our yard about 3 weeks ago
and have been recuperating from strained muscles.
It's not fun.
At my age it is much more difficult to bounce back.
All this has even effected the time I spend at the computer;
sitting for long spells is somewhat painful.
My chiropractor and regular physician are getting me
back in the swing of things.
Ciao and happy March!

A Dusting of Snow for Central Texas

Last night we had a tiny little dusting of snow. It is just enough to make things pretty, but not so bad as to cause many problems. You know many folks in central Texas don't know how to act in snow. The G-man & I went to a little breakfast place (Maxine's on Main) this morning and saw where a Suburban had slid down one of our hills & into a tree. Just a minor problem for the driver... no one was injured.


I think this was Gertie's first time to be in snow and she's almost 13 years old. It's been a long time since we had snow in central Texas although further east has had a good bit the last couple of years. There is more humidity along the coast which caused a big snowfall there a couple of years ago. Then we were in a huge drought so we missed out on rain & snow.

North Texas is no stranger to snow. Snow falls every year from Dallas to Lubbock & north into the Panhandle. The G-man's sister called on the 2nd to wish him a happy birthday & told us about the zero degree temperatures & snow they were experiencing. Brrr!

Below are some photos from around the area taken this morning.

Bend on the Colorado River

Family playing in snow

Along the Colorado

Ninth Green at Pine Forest Golf Club (above & below)

Up river along the Colorado