Despite being under a Level Orange Air Ozone Alert here in Fort Worth, I decided to risk doing damage to my lungs and other vital organs by going hiking at the Tandy Hills Natural Area at noon.That's the noon view of beautiful downtown Fort Worth's stunning skyline. The air does not look very dirty, to me, in Ol' Dirty Town, today. Maybe it's invisible air pollution.
The Tandy Hills wildflowers seem to have had a resurgence, there was a lot of color on the ground today, including a big yellow flower that looked sort of sunflower/daisy-like.
Today whilst hiking it occurred to me that the Prairie Fest powers that be should have an Easter Egg Hunt during the Fest. With eggs on the trails, only, so that the little buggers don't go traipsing on the prairie grass. Eggs all over the park, with a couple golden prize winning eggs. Or something like that. You wouldn't want really little kids on the trails so there'd need to be their own special egg hunt on the grass somewhere, but kids 10-18, they'd be old enough to hurry along the trails looking for eggs, with some over exerting parents stumbling to keep up.My backache woe is totally gone, hiking was good, semi-HOT, requiring that clothing be minimalized, and starting yesterday, even though it gets few visitors, so far, I have gotten the type feedback I was looking for to validate I was on the right track, so the new Durango Roadtripping idea is working out.
I'm pretty sure that flower you saw today is White Rosinweed (Silphium albiflorum) aka: Compass Plant. Presence of this plant is also an Indicator of a healthy prairie.
ReplyDeleteThe leaves are big, rough, flat and finger-like. I saw some yesterday near View Street just east of the playground. They can be found all over the park. Later in the summer, you will find bright Yellow Rosinweed Silphium laciniatum) which is a cousin of the white.