cowboy time

Did you know that less than 1% of the original Texas blackland prairie remains today? Did you know that the prairie naturally maintained itself for thousands of years in part through grazing animals (bison, pronghorn) and natural wildfires that burned off the dead grasses? Did you know that non-native grasses were introduced for livestock as we developed the prairie into ranches and farmland? Did you know that we disrupted the prairie's natural cycle of rebirth when we started controlling the wildfires? Have you ever driven away from the suburbs and were greeted by rolling hills full of bluestem, coneflowers, indian blanket, maximilian sunflowers, and of course, bluebonnets? Did you know that these plants have deep, hardy roots that help them thrive in the alkaline clay soil and triple-digit summers? Were you ever mesmerized by how they seemed to go on forever?

People will often move here and complain. They say we have no ocean, no mountains, no rich soil, and no soft grasses to run and play in. They just see flat, "empty" fields. But I encourage these people to step back, learn a little more about these wonderful grasslands, and stop ignoring the beauty right in front of them.

TL;DR appreciate the prairie NOW