September 03, 2009

Crispy in Texas - The Worst Drought in Decades

I don't ever remember Austin looking this dry. Even the cactus is suffering. I thought I would get the camera out and take a few pictures of the terrain to remember it by. However, what REALLY would show the shortage of water is a good look at the rivers, creeks and lakes. Sorry I can't share those types of shots just yet. Haven't been down to the lake in a long while, but I hear that it is bad.

I took the kids on their first "Photo Shoot" for our homeschool a week or two ago and we I took the kids on a photo-shoot a few days back. Their photo favorites (pictures the kids took on our shoot) are over at the Post today. I also talk about our Photography with Kids 101 plans for the school year over there - don't miss it! Mine (the photos I took on our shoot) are below:



Mesquite, barbed wire, dry grass, dark cedars, and scenic rolling hills; the hill country gasping for water. I feel sorry for the animals and plants... especially the really old twisted oaks that have been dying lately. So sad to see a trophy oak turning brown (or being chopped down for yet another ugly, unnecessary transportation 'project'). I remember when the hill country was pristine in most parts out here. My heart aches to see more and more of it being eaten up by suburbia and commercial zones.



Something about this particular cactus really stood out to me as I drove by. Had to stop and get out to take a picture. Not that there aren't plenty of cacti around here. I mean, we've got cactus. And a lot of it. Did you know that white tailed deer eat cactus during a drought as a source of water?



The fence was rusted. That cactus is in the background. It was pretty far off. That's some hot bokeh - in more ways than one. My new 15x zoom lens rocks, baby.

So what do you think? Pretty crispy, eh?! Pray for rain!

9 comments:

Amanda said...

Love the pictures! They are great!

My favorite lens is my telephoto lens, 55-200.

Amanda said...

Forgot to add that I'm sorry for the drought. The South was in a terrible drought for three years running. Our pond all but dried up, something I hadn't seen in my 13 years living here.

Thankfully this summer was actually a very wet one for us and filled in all the ponds, raised the level of the rivers and lakes and helped farms produce enough hay for livestock.

Tracy said...

Yep, we have had loads of lushes rain and we are sooo thankful for it! You can tell by my lovely photos this week: http://shotsfromtheheart.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/365-245/

Praying for Texas!

Heidi said...

Sorry to hear about the drought in Texas. It's just for a "season" though, to us it may seem like an eternity, but God knows how long & why. Just pray good things come out of this. What a glorious time when the drought is past! He never promised it would be easy, or we would always be in seasons of abundance.
Sometimes it takes seasons of drought make a person look & see blessings where they would have been overlooked in the past. Just look at the cactus that you have probably driven by thousands of times, but in this drought your eye was drawn to it. What a gift God has given the wildlife to be able to seek life giving water through the thorns!

Autumn said...

It is sad! I'm in Kerrville and I hate that the only yards with any green to them are ones that can pull from their pond. Every drop of rain we get is a welcome blessing.

Dana~Are We There Yet? said...

Why haven't I ever taken my kids out to just photograph our surroundings? Pure genius! That's going in next week's lesson plan. Our cameras aren't anything to shout about, but I think they'd really get a charge out of the exercise. Thanks for a great idea!

MommyLydia said...

Sometimes I look around and think "This is just the 2nd year of drought, and in Joseph's time they had *7* years. How did Egypt survive?"

(And then, irrevently, who didn't tell us about what was going to happen?!)

Kara said...

Love the pictures. It's so sad isn't it. Every time we travel to Austin to visit my in-laws I am amazed by how low all the water is and how burnt things look. I pray for rain for you all!!

MarshaMarshaMarsha said...

I was hoping y'all would get a good rain yesterday. We have a chance of rain through this next weekend... hope you get it too! But minus lightning... the last thing that area needs is a fire.

 

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