Parks/Greenbelts

November 27, 2009 Queen butterfly in the Wilkerson Center’s native-plant garden The siren song of beautiful fall weather, combined with school holidays last week, pulled us, unresisting, outdoors every day to enjoy local sightseeing in Austin. On Wednesday I took the kids to the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) on ...

November 27, 2009 Queen butterfly in the Wilkerson Center’s native-plant garden The siren song of beautiful fall weather, combined with school holidays last week, pulled us, unresisting, outdoors every day to enjoy local sightseeing in Austin. On Wednesday I took the kids to the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) on ...

September 28, 2009 Stalking the urban prairie high atop eight metal legs, her bulbous abdomen glittering with blue and green gazing balls, this 23-ft. tall Shelob-sized spider by Houston artist Dixie Friend Gay (titled ‘Arachnophilia’) is one of three larger-than-life sculptures placed amid native plants and crushed-granite jogging trails at ...

September 28, 2009 Stalking the urban prairie high atop eight metal legs, her bulbous abdomen glittering with blue and green gazing balls, this 23-ft. tall Shelob-sized spider by Houston artist Dixie Friend Gay (titled ‘Arachnophilia’) is one of three larger-than-life sculptures placed amid native plants and crushed-granite jogging trails at ...

September 27, 2009 The heat returned like a heavy, damp comforter this weekend—which was just what I wanted. My mom and my sister and her partner came into town for a visit, and we planned to spend the weekend sitting around the pool, so cool and rainy fall weather was ...

May 22, 2009 If you dig deep enough in central Texas you might just find a big hole in the ground. That’s what happened back in 1963, when the highway department was taking core samples of bedrock limestone in preparation for the construction of I-35. In Georgetown, 25 miles north ...

May 06, 2009 Drive just 30 miles southwest of Austin to find one of the most beautiful natural areas in central Texas: Hamilton Pool Nature Preserve. Last Saturday we drove out for a hike, arriving about an hour after it opened, and found something we’d never experienced there before: no ...

August 13, 2008 So many garden bloggers have been posting pictures of their naked ladies that I thought I should follow suit. These statues grace Woodward Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The city’s terrible ice storm last winter left lasting damage to the park’s stately trees, and many of the trails ...

August 13, 2008 So many garden bloggers have been posting pictures of their naked ladies that I thought I should follow suit. These statues grace Woodward Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The city’s terrible ice storm last winter left lasting damage to the park’s stately trees, and many of the trails ...

February 10, 2008 Do you picture cowboys, cattle, and cactus when you think about Austin, Texas? If so, consider instead how we Austinites see our hometown: Live Music Capital of the World and home to PBS’s long-running “Austin City Limits” concert series. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Nelson, the Chicks, Spoon, ...

December 24, 2007 Last night the family trooped down to Zilker Park for the Trail of Lights. My favorite tree in Austin, this majestic pecan, was encrusted from trunk to twigs with thousands of colored bulbs—a magical vision! Other trees glowed beautifully too. We also took turns spinning under the ...

November 06, 2007 Bigtooth maple in Lost Maples State Natural Area Leaf peeping can be a disappointing pursuit here in central Texas. Absent the flaming oranges, yellows, and reds of eastern hardwood forests, our trees either stay green all winter (live oaks and junipers) or their leaves color faintly before ...

February 25, 2007 Driving in the Wimberley area today, we stopped at John Knox Ranch and strolled down to its spring-fed creek, which, like Barton Springs Pool in Austin, remains a chilly 68 degrees year-round. Blue Hole is what they call the swimming hole at the ranch (not the same ...

January 02, 2007 Barton Creek One of our favorite family activities in winter is a trail hike on one of Austin’s greenbelts or at St. Edward’s Park. This New Year’s Day, we decided on an early afternoon hike at the Barton Creek Greenbelt along the popular Twin Falls trail. It ...

January 02, 2007 Barton Creek One of our favorite family activities in winter is a trail hike on one of Austin’s greenbelts or at St. Edward’s Park. This New Year’s Day, we decided on an early afternoon hike at the Barton Creek Greenbelt along the popular Twin Falls trail. It ...

November 27, 2006 Smooch! On Sunday afternoon we drove downtown, parked under MoPac, and walked the 3-mile loop around Town Lake. Reds, oranges, yellows—the trees along the lake blazed with color. Well, they blazed by Austin’s standards. It was a gorgeous day—about 79 degrees and partly cloudy—and we strolled along, ...