Dallas Arboretum & Jeremy and Shep

 Today, JoJo, Charlie and I went to the Dallas Arboretum. I'll try not to knock you over with too many plants. Here are a few. They were just taking down the Christmas decor and putting in beds of annuals for ornamentation. Lots of pansies because they will tolerate some cold. There was a lot of this, 'Garnet Giant' Mustard, an elegant deep red color. Some was in planters, but there were long beds of it as well.

This one is new to me. It's a shrub called Mahonia. As you might remember me saying, taxonomy is all topsy-turvey these days. It's a hybrid cross, and its parents have now both been moved to Berberis, which is barberry, yes, like the horrible invasive Japanese barberry. But it sure doesn't look anything like that. Its scientific name is Mahonia x media 'marvel'

What would a trip to the south be without a live oak?

After we walked around the gardens, Jo-Anne went home, but Charlie and I went for a longer walk along White Rock Lake. There is an 11-mile trail all the way around the lake, but that would take too long. We went part way and then walked home. You can see the Dallas skyline across the lake. Also notice the whitecaps. It was exceedingly windy. Challenging walk, but worth it!

You know I love the white pelicans that breed in North Dakota along the NCT. They winter in Texas.

Then we went out for lunch. They had a "Murder Burger." I HAD to have one. It's basically a burger with chili and fritos, but the presentation is a "killer."

Now... we switch gears. This evening, I drove to meet another relative from Omer's side of the family. This is his youngest sister's son Jeremy, and his son Shepherd. It was the first time I've met Shep. He was understandably shy at first, but warmed up fairly fast. He's in kindergarten. It was good to get caught up a bit with Jeremy too. Fairly short visit because Shep was getting tired and tomorrow is a school day, but I'm glad I didn't skip this part of the trip.

Very full day. All good. Really fun stuff planned for tomorrow. Stay tuned. Dallas Arboretum and streets. About 4.5 miles

See Family Day