When it hadn’t rained for 90 days, the doubt began to creep back into my mind and ask, “Is the drought really over?” Nightly, when the local weatherman would announce Lake Travis is almost full, I couldn’t believe it. For years as I crossed the Pedernales, I would gaze at Lake Travis – bones of the shoreline would be shining limestone white in the distance – and I couldn’t fathom it would ever be full again, but it is.

I wonder how long this good earth will continue to give us what we need? I needed three days of sleep, rest and reading. The Hill Country needed three days of rain. The refreshment for both of us is obvious. I feel like a new woman, and the flora and fauna are bursting with the color I love most of all – green. Having been raised in agriculture, green means the crops are growing, the livestock is fat, and with some luck, the bank account is greener at the end of the season.

I could never live in the desert. For some folks, the rocky landscape and cactus are appealing, but not to this farm girl. All I think of is snakes and scorpions trying to scratch out an existence on limited water and food. I think I would even feel guilty playing golf in the desert knowing the water providing the grass beneath me could be better used for humans and animals. Water is life.

The rain of last week assures us of a Hill Country springtime bound to grace the covers of magazines. Of all the places in Texas I have lived, and I’ve been to all corners, this is the softest, most beautiful part of our beloved state. I feel cradled in the rolling hills. Even the blazing summer sun is diffused by the water, palms and oaks. I’m glad my people didn’t settle here because the soil is so thin and poor, but I’m thrilled to be here, to live out my last years in this lovely country.

If you haven’t noticed, everyone wants to be in our world right now and I don’t blame them. I’m sure they are green with envy because we live here, and they don’t. If you could order our scenery from the menu, I guess it would be like this: “I’ll take my bluebonnets with a side of limestone rock, yucca and prickly pear. Throw in a dash of mesquite tree, live oak and palm.” There you have it – the perfect shades of green with blue on the ground and blue in the sky. Heaven on earth.

One of my favorite Texas songwriters, Robert Early Keen, penned these lyrics from his home near Bandera.

On a cold winter night

‘Neath the silvery moon

I wished on a star

I had a dream about you.

Dry the tears from your eyes

I’ll be coming home soon

‘Neath the wide open skies

Where the bluebonnets bloom.