From weathered canyons to 4,000 year old paintings

There's a lot of history that you can see here,
At Seminole Canyon State park.

It's in extreme south-central Texas,
just a few miles from where the Pecos river drains into the Rio Grande…...

You'll see things like these fossils,

…..back from the days when the mid US was covered by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.


That it was back in the Cretaceous and Paleozoic era...whenever that was.

(P.S.  Finally I looked it up… that was between 66 and 144 million years ago. Wow!)



They say that as far back as 12,000 years, there was human habitation along the mid Rio Grande in south-central Texas.
For the religious folks, that's like 6 times further back than  when Jesus Christ walked through Israel.

Buffalo, elephants, and even camels  (yes, camels) lived here.

Then about 7,000 years ago, the climate suddenly changed; 
the pine, the juniper and the grasslands that we now see in northern New Mexico, 
disappeared from here. And so did all those big animals.
There is evidence here that those people fed off rabbit, deer and cactus-like plants.

This is what the surface looks like now:

Pretty flat.

But, there are deep gouges into the soft limestone, caused by the little rain that falls in the desert.
These drain into these canyons and erode them deep (with the additional help of the wind).

Right now, it's pretty green, from the recent rains that have fallen in the Spring.
In fact, our guide said that recently the rains filled this canyon to a depth of 10 feet!
Pretty amazing what a little rain can do here.

A few water puddles remain in the floor of those canyons form the recent rains. You've read of see "tinejas" saving many a cowboy in those Louis Lamour western novels

You can see that things can get hectic here, 
like these giant rocks that have fallen form the canyon walls.

There are paintings on the walls of the canyons that have been dated to 4,000 years old!
They say they are the "best" pictographs in North America.

And you can go see them, with a guide, to prevent damage to them,
twice a day in the late Fall/Winter/and early-mid Spring, but only once a day in the Summer because  of the heat.

Here is a "tourist", at the floor of the canyon, on the way to the pictographs.

On the left of the picture, do you see the overhang where water and wind has created "shelter" form the rain. That's where the pictographs are located. 
They are not in caves, just in "shelters", under the overhang, open to the regular air and wind.

In the pic below, you can appreciate how the rain and weather-effects darken the canyon walls, but not the area under the overhang. 

Here are some of those pics.

Can you see the "priest" or Shaman with his fancy robes?

Here is another guy, with 2 spear-like things.

It's the model that inspired the metal statue that looks over plains at the Visitor's Center.

The dots on the right are thought to represent peyote, on which they must have been under during their painting.
(P.S. I looked up what a peyote plant looks like on the Internet, and can say that I didn't see any during any of our hikes here.)

They say these paintings are 4,000 years old. OK, that's pretty old.
There are no pics of buffaloes here 'cause there haven't' been any here for 7,000 years.

(If you want to see ancient buffalo pictographs, just take a plane and see the caves in norther Spain. 
But if you are cheap like us, these pics will do just fine.)

Anyway….Are these bear paws?

Or, are they just hands?

And what the heck are these?

The original Texas deer blind? Maybe not.
They say there is an even more impressive shelter, where this canyon joins the Rio Grand.
There is a wall of 40 feet of pictographs, with a panther that is 9 feet long.

After a 3.5 mile hike, we are here looking across the water at that shelter. 

But, you have to get there in a Ranger's boat, and 
those tours were not running during our stay.

Good thing it was only 95 degrees!

Yes, this is a good park to see.
Come in the Fall. Winter, or Spring.

But, don't leave this trip till 20 years from now, 'cause things are deteriorating fast.

You might say, "That's a bunch of bull. 
How can something deteriorate in 40 years or so, when they've been already here for 4,000?"

Don't blame it on acid rain: there isn't any in this part of the country.
And, don't blame it on Mexican pollution; there's no population close by to generate any pollution.

Consider blaming it all on this:

the damming up of the Rio Grande to create Lake Amistad.

Who would have thought that the increased humidity from the lake
would cause the surface of the limestone to break away…. 
taking the paint of the pictographs with it?

See how the surfaces are flaking off, leaving the deeper, white, bare limestone?

Yes, get yourself here soon.
Meanwhile, there are lots of retirees and other clowns taking advantage of these sights,
while you stay home and work your fingers to the bone.

Don't miss out on seeing them.

Springtime in the desert.

The current weather here is so good that we decided, before it gets hot, to see what's happening in the desert west of us.
So, we packed up the motor home and spent last week there;

Three hours, 200 miles, west of SA on the Rio Grande border with Mexico, is Seminole Canyon State Park;

about half the distance to Big Bend National Park. 
And since we only had 4 days off, we chose the closer park.

This is what we expected to see as we got there:

Beautiful sunsets differed every night.

But, did you notice the fresh buds coming out from that cactus?

(Sorry, but I forgot to show you a picture with my dog.)

Well, it be early Spring in San Antonio, with leaves now on all the trees, bluebonnets along the freeways, and many other flowers coming out.
But, in the desert to the west and slightly south, it is now mid Spring!
So, it is time to enjoy the dessert life, before the heat comes in.

Everywhere you look, even just below your feet, 

you'll see the reproductive cycle of life beginning.


Some flowers are so dainty, with thin layers making them look transparent.

The Acacia's are so soft, that you just want to put their flowers in your hands and roll them all around.

But, just be careful of what spiny things may lay around it.

And, take a look at these guys.

It's like asparagus, but with tiny flowers at it's tips

It's called the "candelilla". 
Don't let the name scare you. It's not a plant that will burn or hurt you.
It has a waxy material that can be used for candles or waterproofing.

So, just enjoy its flowers before the sun bakes 'em away.

And how about this little rose? 

It's the Claret Cup.

Beautiful it truly is.

But, be careful with this little one, 'cause this is where it comes from:

A truly spiny cactus.

So, look everywhere before you approach, to be sure your hand is not going to get pricked.

Think we'll quit with just these pics for the night.

You got our message:

just watch where you unclothed hands might be, and

enjoy our deserts of the South West, 

before the pods drop out their seeds, and life just seems to bake away.

More on waking the dog at the Japanese Garden

We have such a good dog. 

We can take him anywhere. And he behaves.

So, I took him for a walk at the Japanese Gardens. It's a place in San Antonio, near the zoo, where the Japanese caretaker of an estate decided to put together something that reminded him of home. It was just after the turn of the century. The prior century, that is.

While bluebonnets and other flowers are now in bloom along the freeways around here,

at the gardens, sub-tropical banana plants are showing their new leaves.

Meanwhile, my dog patiently waits as I snap a few pics

and seems entertained watching the koi swimming in the pond.

But what he particularly liked was the colorful flowers.

Can't say I blame him. They are quite colorful.

There's a lot of pollen lying on their petals

but, that doesn't seem to bother him at all.

The Japanese Garden

Went to San Antonio's Japanese Gardens early this Sunday morning.

People bring their family photographer for their high school senior or quincianera pics.

Others just come for some time to spend with friends.

Some bring their kids for a little bonding time.

And I found out my dog is great at just sitting there as I snap a few pics myself.