Dog playtime at Red Bud Isle
Playing among cypress knees and gnarled roots at Red Bud Isle? Yep, it’s a dog’s life.
Our good boy Cosmo enjoys off-leash playtime at Red Bud Isle in West Austin, cavorting at this beautiful point along Lady Bird Lake where a bald cypress clings to shore.
Nearby a Texas palmetto, another waterside native plant, greens up the winter scene with long-fingered fans of leaves.
Beautiful winter days like this – and lakeside parks in which to enjoy them – are one of the reasons I love living in Austin. Cosmo agrees!
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Aww, I love the photo of you and Cosmo!
Thank you, Maggie!
It’s great to see Cosmo again – and you too, of course! both of you have wonderful smiles.
Aw, thanks, Kris!
Now, that’s one happy dog!
Do you know what Lady Bird Lake was called before?
Even though the daylight hours are shortest now, it always seems the light is especially beautiful on sunny days at the turn to winter. Our big snow is all gone, and it was hugely therapeutic to be able to get into the garden for the first time in weeks. Grateful for yuccas, the only real color there now apart from still-green grass.
Before it was renamed Lady Bird Lake a few years ago, it was simply called Town Lake. I often still use the old name out of habit. And yes, yay for yuccas for winter color!
What beautiful interesting territory. No wonder you and Cosmo are smiling. This picture should be your blog picture. You are both beaming.
We were both having a good time!
This is a beautiful place and the photos and smiles are wonderful!
Thanks, Lee!
What a great picture of you with Cosmo!! Who took it? Was it a pro or just another example of perfect serendipity. You both look fabulous!
My daughter took it, Pam. Thanks for the compliment!
We haven’t been to Red Bud Isle in years! More like decades. I am new to your blog and I love all that I am seeing and reading!
We’ve been in Austin essentially FIFTY years and most of that time in the dry, extremely rocky northwest part of town. Did I mention little or no soil?? Such a challenging landscape between the lack of nutrients for the plants, lack of water and the constantly increasing herds of deer…..but also armadillo, feral hogs (who thankfully did not get to our yard but tore up a neighbor’s yard a block away!) and various other wildlife, not ideal gardening conditions! I do have one question. Have you ever planted Blue Daze? (don’t know it’s technical name) I have had great luck with it even with our hordes of deer.
So now the reason that I learned of your blogs is the activity shared on Nextdoor and KVUE about the young man removing
the decorations from the cedars on 360 plus your great photos of the decorated trees from 2010. Have you been in Austin long enough to know about when the first mystery decorations appeared? I think at least 10 years ago because of my oldest granddaughter’s age. Anyhow, I can’t believe that someone has decided to take it upon himself to change a fun tradition that is not hurting a soul or a creature!
Dianne, thank you for visiting Digging and for your comment! Gardening atop caliche and with voracious wildlife is definitely challenging. I’m glad to know you’ve had success with ‘Blue Daze’ Evolvulus. I may have to try that one myself, assuming it can take shade. I have so little sun.
As for the wild cedar trees along Capital of Texas (Highway 360) that people decorate at Christmas, here’s my first post about them: https://www.penick.net/digging/?p=10232. I also photographed them in 2016: https://www.penick.net/digging/?p=41800. I think they’re festive and fun! I’ve never decorated, but my daughter and I joined a massive clean-up crew last January, after the holidays were over, and those trees and the surrounding grasses were cleaned of all decorations in just a few hours. It seems rather Grinchy of the young man who is prematurely taking down people’s decorations, since there is such a big volunteer effort to clean up after Christmas. And yes, I’d say that the decorating of the trees really began to take off about 12 or 15 years ago.