By: W.C. Reader

Wasn’t this a wonderfully spring to go out in the country and view the pastures, the woodlands, and meadows, with their beautiful blankets of flowers? This is a habit that we have practiced for many decades now, always in the company of Mama, and rare were the times when nature failed to let our eyes feast on beautiful scenes that no artists have been able to match with their paints, brushes and easels.

But when we started out on our annual trek this year we were not certain that this would be one of our better times for flower-watching. Peeking out, first from hospital rooms and then from the windows of our homes, it appeared that very little rain had fallen to nourish our wildlife, provide deep moisture for our vegetation, and fill tanks which would quench the thirst of animals and birds.

But it was not long before our prediction of a drouth this spring was challenged. Our good friend, Dalton Metting, came along and said that our prediction of a “dry spell” was all wet. He further invited us to come over and let him take us on a ride around DeWitt County, where the wildflowers are both beautiful and plentiful. Now this could be because of a running feud between the aforesaid gentleman, and Country Boy, who once told us that there were over 3,000 varieties of wildflowers in DeWitt County, and we accepted his offer of taking us on a ride around the area to prove his point. When we returned to our starting point, we were adamant in our claim that all he could show us was 22 wildflower plants, and two or three scrub bushes.

Well, let’s get on with the present and forget about the past. The following week, we persuaded Mama to load us in her car and take us on a ride down one of the country roads, which run out from Runge like spokes on a wagon wheel. Well, to our pleasant surprise, we discovered that there was evidence that a preponderance of beautiful flowers were about to burst from the landscape.

For the next six weeks, Mama and we continued our pilgrimage, each time taking a different direction out of town. Our one disappointment was to discover that the old road which used to carry traffic (wagon, buggies, Model T’s, and saddle horses) between Runge and Nordheim until Hwy. 72 was built in the 1930’s, now is closed for use by the public. And the reason? Well, a lot of civic-minded (?) citizens began to use it for a dump ground for old mattresses, refrigerators, stoves, old lumber, tin, barrels, etc., thus depriving the community of a beautiful flower trail, along with the habitats of birds and animals, old wooden floor bridges, culverts, the ghostly remains of an old railroad right-of-ways, etc.

Now, ladies, when Spring rolls around next year, why don’t you pick out a day to rouse up that “couch potato” to whom you are married, make him put on his shoes and socks, shave, and dress up” a bit, roll out the family SUV, load you and the family into it, and take a spin along several of those old country roads that lead back into the pastures and woodlands. You might want to drive across the Karnes-DeWitt County line, and help Dalton Metting to search for the remainder of those 3000-plus wildflowers that he says they have growing over there.

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