Exploring Texas

           Life has a funny way of throwing unexpected things your way.  So it was when I decided to leave my second wwoofing farm. My next stop was a farm in Weatherford, about a half hour west of Fort Worth. I knew my friend Rose came to Texas in the winter to visit her brother and his wife, and I thought, “Well, maybe she’ll be coming soon and I can see her before I leave Texas.  With a little luck, maybe it’ll even be within a reasonable distance.”  With that in mind, I messaged her on Facebook and discovered that she was already in Texas, immediately outside of Fort Worth!  How cool was that!

 

           I got an immediate invitation to come by, and to stay the night.  I ended up staying two nights before I drove off to Springbox Farm.  Rose and I were joking this morning that we’ve seen more of each other in Texas than we did in Maine! 

Rose and me.  The best of a poor set of selfies!

 

 

           Springbox Farm is small, about 16 or 17 acres, just starting up.  My tasks include taking care of chickens, ducks, geese, and rabbits, and scratching the necks and heads of two donkeys and two dwarf goats.  Sunrise comes late here, almost 7:00, so it’s quiet and cool when I go out.  No matter how quiet I am, though, they know I’m coming and eagerly await the “escape from confinement”.  The rabbits, alas, have to stay in their cage, which is large and two deckered, but when children come, they get to run around the outdoor pen or snuggle against a delighted child.  Charlotte is a therapist, working with children with autism and other neurological problems, and the farm provides a serene, safe place where chaos ramps down.  Animals are good for the soul.

Cocoa was an occasional guest in my little trailer.

After checking things out inside, Cocoa surveys her domain.

            You can tell we’re in Texas, cattle country.  The land was purchased from the neighboring longhorn ranch, and barbed wire is everywhere.  Last week I spent several hours removing it from T-posts and stacking it up. 

7 Acres of prairie, divided by barbed wire, soon to be replaced by something different.

It was hard to get the barbed wire to behave, but stacking it in a pile made it manageable.

Believe it or not, the greenbriar was much more problematic than the barbed wire, though!  That stuff is nasty!  Barbed wire is well-behaved, staying where it’s attached until you remove it, and giving up during the process.  The greenbriar, on the other hand, is a wild child, grabbing and seeking and scratching whenever it can.  I swear I can hear it chortle as it nabs me unexpectedly--pant legs, jacket, arms, hair!  It doesn't stay put on the ground, either.  It climbs above and reaches down when you're not looking. I was surprised to find it’s in the Malvaceae, the mallow family.  Who’d have thought such a grabby vine could belong to the same family as the lovely hibiscus!  I was surprised to read, though, that this plant is very tasty.  There's a silver lining to every cloud.

 

           I’ve had time to go for some long walks and have explored several places on foot that I’d never have thought to go in a car.  Walking lets me see a different place than I would in a car.  Instead of zooming by, I notice things like tall prairie grass and how the fences are built differently, little things that give the flavor of the area.  I love traveling!

There are still some stands of wild prairie grasses.  They are surprisingly tall!

When you compare the height of the grasses to the trees, you can see just how tall they are.

Some fencing is just two feet apart, the posts from a local cedar, very hard.