The first bluebonnet bloom is always cause for celebration here. Because of this year's drought, there won't be many more. This little guy is growing in Lazarus' Meadow, named in honor of a mesquite tree that stubbornly refused to die, even when it was badly burned during a grass fire.
Bluebonnet seeds are very hard (picture tan-colored, flattened peppercorns) and require both abrasion and moisture to crack the seed coat. In the fields, it may take 3-4 years for the seed coat to get to the point where moisture can penetrate it. In a bluebonnet stand, seeds may accumulate for several dry years, then--when there's a wet, warm October--they sprout, forming a substantial root mass in the cool, damp December soil. The tiny seedling grows into a pretty, silvery-green rosette the size of a dinner plate, which puts up bloom stalks in March and April.
We needed October/November rains to help the seeds germinate, but it was unmercifully dry. Only a few lucky ones managed to sprout, among them, this brave soul. The rest are lying dormant, waiting for another season of autumn rain. They're patient. They know it will come.
Reading Note, from Writing From the Center, by Scott Russell Sanders: For each home ground we need new maps, living maps, stories and poems, photographs and paintings, essays and songs. We need to know where we are, so that we may dwell in our place with a full heart.