Blooming in the Heat

I don't know how anything can bloom in this insane heat, but I am happy to see this cotton field, which can be found next to the Home Depot along IH-10 near Austin Street exit. We drove by last week to check on the field because it is within the 3-mile radius the bees fly so we were looking to see if any bees were there. Sure enough, we are happy to report there were bees. Now, we can only hope they are our bees from the backyard. :)



This is the best looking cotton field around the area, as you can tell by the healthy looking leaves and blooms. There are many other cotton fields in this area but they are looking pretty pitiful due to the drought we are in still. It is so hot and dry out here, it's amazing. We've had many three digit heat days and there's been so little rain to provide relief. It's all so dry, so brown, so crunchy. The heat is so oppressive, you simply don't want to go outside even.

Sky Watch Friday

Here's a shot of the field where I shot the other photos. I will probably check on the field again to see if I can get a shot of the sea of white. I love it when I run across those also. This is along Highway 46; between the animal shelter and Las Brisa subdivision. :)

Check out the other Sky Watchers as well. There are some awesome shots!

If this was not Sky Watch today, I'd be posting about cemetery misadventure we had yesterday. It will have to wait until tomorrow I suppose. I can't wait to share it with you! Have a great weekend everyone!

Mature Cotton Bolls

When I was in college at North Carolina State University, I worked in the Economics Department as part of the work-study program and I had a blast. All I did was help around the office with clerical work as the professors and their secretary needed. I have two specific memories about working in that office.

1. I had to file updated tax law information in the binders for Dr. Eickhoff, who is not a man of many words. Just a quiet, hard-working professor who intimidated me though I respected him.
2. Dr. Eickhoff also did some work with the state agriculture extension and was out in the field a lot. And one day, he gave me a gift. And it was one of these mature cotton bolls. It was really neat to closely examine the boll and feel the seeds among the fibers. I lost track of this boll somewhere along 1992 and now but I still remember it.

It meant a lot to me that he thought of me and brought it back. And even now, when I see cotton blooming in the field, I think of Dr. Eickhoff.

I also have one very bad memory about a personality clash with the secretary but I won't go into details here! :) LOL

The Cotton Blooms

Typically, the blooms appear 8-10 weeks into planting. And after the blooms are done with being white, they turn purple! Both are so pretty. Thank you honey for telling me about the color change.

Cotton Buds or Cotton Bolls

Here's one of my shots from the field-of-cotton photo session. Cotton bolls (one site I checked listed these as being "buds", so now I'm not sure what to call it) typically appear 5-7 weeks during planting. I thought they looked pretty neat. So perfectly round and quite pretty in their own way. BUT, they also make me think of the plant from the movie Little Shop of Horrors. :)