Blue Bonnets & Bluegrass - Texas Part Two

Following on from Texas Part One, on Monday we went for a car drive into the Texas countryside in search of Blue Bonnets – a wild flower which is special to this area.

As we drove, Sonny's family friend Theresa regaled us with local colour – both in information and phraseology. Within an hour, I understood that the phrase “I got 'em snowed” means “I have them fooled” as well as the specialist knowledge from her profession as a lawyer that you can pick up all kinds of evidence from hair.

She also explained the reason why the Blue Bonnets and other unusually name wildflowers had survived, carpeting the East Texas countryside with a blue tinge during March and April every year.

“Lyndon B Johnson passed a law that made it illegal to pick the wild flowers. Therefore we have Blue Bonnets, Indian paint brush, Black eyed Susans and Cowpen Daisies, because the flowers managed to germinate and develop. You get a fine if you pick 'em, and it's socially not acceptable to do it – if you do people will yell at ya”. Well, indeed. That's the way to preserve a tradition.

As we drove through the sunshine, Bluegrass music playing on Theresa's Satellite music system, we learned fact after fact about the local area. Such as the origin of the name Bluegrass as a style of music. It is a very complex pre-cursor of Country music and has definitely influenced many bands across the years.

Theresa Told us “Bill Monroe originated the type of music, his band was called bill Monroe and the Bluegrass boys, and he was referring to the Kentucky Bluegrass. The grass there has a blue hue.” She also explained that the dancing to go with it was called “clogging”, which you do with chunky shoes tipped with steel on toes and heel. A kind of Texan tapdancing, but with more power. Theresa described her own dancing style - “I'm more of a Zen Clogger myself.”

We came to the “Washington on the Brazos” exhibition on the site where the declaration of independence was signed. The gift shop was fascinating, as lots of the stuff in it had slogans about how great Texas is. “Whoever said Life is good must have been in Texas.” “I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could”. “Davie Crockett said “You can all go to hell, I'm goin' to Texas””. I admire the confidence of it all. One sign says “Come and Take it” meaning, if you want to take our liberty, you'll have to fight for it. “Liberty or death” is another great phrase. Texans are sure of themselves!

We drove on to a great diner called “This Must Be Heaven”, and we ate our way a bit closer to the aether. This was followed by a visit to the factory of a regional Ice Cream company, Blue Bell Ice Cream - marketing phrase “we eat all we can, then sell the rest”. If there really is a heaven, that ice cream will be the welcome at the gates.

The day trip was rounded off by a visit to the Antique Rose Emporium, where we met Marion the (male) rose adviser who apparently is really a stage-set designer and this was his side job. We concluded he might be as well to specialise in Roses – not many theatres in this vicinity.

It was incredibly lucky to have Theresa as the guide, making us laugh at every turn and giving us so much insight into the area. And we saw Blue Bonnets galore.

Laugh of the day was provided by a road sign near a penitentiary, saying “Prison Area – Don't pick up HitchHikers”. Thanks for the advice!