Texas Highways Magazine March 2020

I know winter has left the Hill Country when golden patches of flowers appear seemingly overnight in my Driftwood neighborhood, decorating yards and lining roadways, like nature’s highlighter heralding the arrival of spring. The flowers are so ubiquitous they’re called DYCs, or darn yellow composites, and last year’s crop was particularly robust. My commute was filled with a lot more cheer than normal as I took in the increasing bounty of brilliant color each morning. This month we’re celebrating spring’s arrival by exploring Texas’ natural beauty in its impressive variety. Along with our perennial wildflower coverage, we go on safari in pursuit of the state’s wildlife with stunning photographs by Contributing Editor E. Dan Klepper. In one of our cover features, Pulitzer Prizefinalist George Getschow examines his fraught relationship with the…

Writer George Getschow’s attitude toward snakes before reporting the feature story “The Wild Snakes of Texas” (Page 64) was a bit sour. Over the span of 11 years, he, his wife, and his son all experienced life-threatening copperhead bites right outside their home. “There’s that old Texas saying, ‘The only good snake is a dead snake,’” he says. “That was my attitude too.” His perspective shifted after he met with dedicated herpetologists and “snake relocators,” who led him on a dozen or so excursions into snake-infested areas. “It was one of the most fascinating reporting adventures I’d ever been involved with,” says Getschow, who was a 1984 Pulitzer Prize finalist as a reporter for The Washington Post. While he still doesn’t feel fully comfortable around snakes, he advocates for letting…

Theresa DiMenno DiMenno, whose work appears in “Natural Beauties” (Page 42), as well as this month’s Getaway about Kerrville, is a self-taught photographer and a storyteller at heart. Spring in Texas is her favorite shooting season. “Wildflower season in Texas is a glorious occasion,” she says. “Budding life is a symphony of rebirth, rejuvenation, openness, awareness, connection.” Look for her “Spring in Texas” notecard collection in the Texas Highways Mercantile this spring. Antonio Ruiz-Camacho In his essay “In the Valley of Mirrors” (Page 14), Antonio Ruiz-Camacho traveled to his friend’s remote ranch in South Texas. He dreaded run-ins with rattlers and scorpions. “I kept waiting for them to show up, but they never did,” he says. “They probably know one of my dreams is to own my own Texas ranch one day.” Ruiz-Camacho’s…

Thanks for your story on the Big Thicket. I have traveled the state and the U.S. many times, but nothing compares to this special and spooky place. It is in a world of its own; it draws you to it. If you’re not careful, you too can get lost in the Big Thicket, but it’s worth it. Johnny Hancock, San Antonio TAKING THE TRAIN We enjoyed our trip on the Texas Eagle from Dallas to Chicago [“I Hear the Train a Comin’,” January]. We got the roomette. It was fantastic with top-notch service. It’s a pricey endeavor but worth it to do at least once in your lifetime. Traci Ratliff, Shreveport, Louisiana PEACH SWEETS Made me think of the peach cobblers my great-grandmother made with Weatherford peaches [“The Dough You Know,” January]. They are the best. Sheryl…

Spring often arrives earlier in Big Bend National Park than in other parts of Texas. After winter rains, the canyons and arroyos of the Chihuahuan Desert fill with color such as these desert marigolds, which grew last March at the foot of hoodoos in Tornillo Creek. Though this past winter didn’t see much rain, bluebonnets popping up along roadsides in late January suggest the possibility of a bountiful wildflower season. Springtime visitors to the park should keep an eye out for tall Big Bend bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush along with blooming yucca, ocotillo, and cacti.…

Jenny Morgan has lived all over Texas, from her college days at Angelo State University in San Angelo to stints in Austin, DFW, and Amarillo. In 2007, a desire to raise her family in a small town brought Morgan back to Shamrock, the town of her birth. Along Interstate 40, just 15 miles west of Oklahoma, Shamrock is known for its Route 66 heritage, the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration, and—increasingly—for Morgan’s record store. In 2017, she opened Spinning Jenny’s House of Music, refurbishing a midcentury service station that had stood vacant for at least 20 years. The vinyl shop is just a block away from the U-Drop Inn, an art deco Route 66 landmark that now houses the town’s visitor center. Morgan says tourists come through her shop every…