East Trail

Lost Maples Weekend Capacity - Texas Parks and Wildlife

If you want to see the fall colors at Lost Maples State Natural Area, be sure to make a reservation with Save the Day online. Weekends fill up fast. TexasStateParks.org

Wildflowers in the Texas Hill Country: Visit Fredericksburg TX

The Texas Hill Country is known for its wildflowers.

Typically you'll see our state flower—the bluebonnet—from late March through the second week of April. But Mother Nature determines the exact dates each year.

By late April, the blues fade like a favorite pair of jeans, but you'll still see color. Yellows, reds, pinks, purples and whites. Texas wildflowers bloom well into May and early June around Fredericksburg and Gillespie County.

Fall in the Texas Hill Country is our second wildflower season of the year. In September and October, it is easy to spot bright-colored blooms that come close to rivaling our spring displays. From yellow sunflowers to purple gayfeathers.

No matter what time of year you visit, a great place to see our wildflowers is right here at Wildseed Farms on Highway 290, seven miles east of Fredericksburg. Wildseed Farms is the nation's largest working wildflower farm.

Here, you can purchase wildflower seed mixes that will grow in your region of the United States—no matter where you live, along with blooming plants from the nursery and gift items from the boutique. Plus, the Biergarten makes for a great stop for a light lunch, complete with Texas wine and beer.

Other great places to see wildflowers include the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site in Stonewall, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area north of Fredericksburg, the Live Oak Wilderness Trail at Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park off Highway 16 South and even along our roadways.

So, come hike or drive in the cooler spring and autumn temperatures in the Texas Hill Country and enjoy our wildflowers. And don't forget your camera.

San Antonio Drive Part 2

Second part of a video I took driving from San Antonio to Wichita Falls in 2019.

Fake Ranch - Medina Texas

175 acre ranch offered at 1.2 million with water.

Texas wine industry is booming

ORANGE - by Lauren Huet
Here's an excuse to have a glass of wine, it's Texas Wine Month. According to the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association, the booming Texas wine industry contributes 1.83 billion dollars to the state of Texas.
Jim Mathews manages his father-in-law's vineyard and winery in Orange, Texas. It's called the Piney Woods Country Winery and Vineyard. Alfred J. Flies, with the help of his son-in-law, Mathews, began planting the vineyard in 1985. They opened for business in 1987.
Mathews said they have seen the wine industry take off in Texas.
We ship all over the United States, not just in Texas, said Mathews. In fact, most of our shipping we do out of the state.
Texas is now the fifth largest wine producing state.
Texas, with the increased amount of wineries and vineyards, has just about caught up, as far as I know, with New York and California in wine production, said Mathews. The difference is, most Texas wine is consumed by Texans. We'll drink what we can and sell the rest.
When Flies and Mathews started Piney Woods Country Winery in 1987, they were the 14th winery in Texas. Now Texas has more than 270 wineries.
It has been such a growing industry and I think it's going to continue that way because more and more people are getting into growing, said Mathews.
Mathews and his father-in-law grow white and red Muscadines, a grape that grows wild in Southeast Texas.
We grow the white which is called Magnolia, and the red which is called Noble-- Noble being a little sweeter, said Mathews. Most of our wines are made from the red. Most of our wines are very sweet. We do have a couple of dry wines, but from experience, most of the people in this area like sweet wines.
He said Muscadines are unique.
It's a litle different because Muscadines have a different taste, a very distinctive taste, and a lot of people like that, said Mathews.
A taste that won the Piney Woods Country Winery and Vineyard the award for Top Texas Wine 2009.
When you have the awards or the competitions, a lot of people taste them and say, 'Well where does this come from?' And they're amazed, said Mathews. Amazed, because you know, in Southeast Texas?
Mathews said when more people discover Muscadine wines, the grapes are going to become more popular.
I can almost guarantee, you taste them and you're going to like them, said Mathews. I've had people come in and say, 'I don't like wines at all.' They'll leave with a bottle of wine, because they find something they like, because our wines are different.
Mathews encourages people to have a glass because it's very healthy.
They've discovered that red Muscadines are 9 times better for you, Mathews said. A lot of antioxidants. Keeps your blood flowing, and it's really good for your heart.
Cheers.

Rural Cancer: Data, Disparities, and Determination - Insights from the CDC MMWR Rural Health Series

Recording of a webinar presented Wednesday, August 30, 2017 on the recently released CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Invasive Cancer Incidence, 2004-2013, and Deaths, 2006-2015, in Nonmetropolitan and Metropolitan Counties -- United States and successful cancer screening and prevention programs funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). Featured speakers include Jane Henley from the CDC, Dr. Robert Croyle from the NIH's National Cancer Institute, and Dr. Jane Brolin from the Southwest Rural Health Research Center at the Texas A&M Health Science Center.

For more information please visit

Kansas

Kansas /ˈkænzəs/ KAN-zəs is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansa Native American tribe which inhabited the area. The tribe's name (natively kką:ze) is often said to mean people of the wind or people of the south wind, although this was probably not the term's original meaning. Residents of Kansas are called Kansans. For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the Eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the Western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison. Kansas was first settled by European Americans in the 1830s, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery issue.
When it was officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854, abolitionist Free-Staters from New England and pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri rushed to the territory to determine whether Kansas would become a free state or a slave state. Thus, the area was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as these forces collided, and was known as Bleeding Kansas. The abolitionists eventually prevailed and on January 29, 1861, Kansas entered the Union as a free state. After the Civil War, the population of Kansas grew rapidly when waves of immigrants turned the prairie into farmland. Today, Kansas is one of the most productive agricultural states, producing high yields of wheat, sorghum, and sunflowers. Kansas is the 15th most extensive and the 34th most populous of the 50 United States.


This video is targeted to blind users.

Attribution:
Article text available under CC-BY-SA
Creative Commons image source in video

Kansas | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Kansas

Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain

Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.

You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:


You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:




The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates



SUMMARY
=======
Kansas (listen) is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name (natively kką:ze) is often said to mean people of the (south) wind although this was probably not the term's original meaning. For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison.
Kansas was first settled by European Americans in 1812, in what is now Bonner Springs, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery debate. When it was officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854 with the Kansas–Nebraska Act, abolitionist Free-Staters from New England and pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri rushed to the territory to determine whether Kansas would become a free state or a slave state. Thus, the area was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as these forces collided, and was known as Bleeding Kansas. The abolitionists prevailed, and on January 29, 1861, Kansas entered the Union as a free state. After the Civil War, the population of Kansas grew rapidly when waves of immigrants turned the prairie into farmland.
By 2015, Kansas was one of the most productive agricultural states, producing high yields of wheat, corn, sorghum, and soybeans. Kansas, which has an area of 82,278 square miles (213,100 square kilometers) is the 15th-largest state by area and is the 34th most-populous of the 50 states with a population of 2,911,641. Residents of Kansas are called Kansans. Mount Sunflower is Kansas's highest point at 4,041 feet (1,232 meters).

Kansas | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Kansas

Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain

Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.

You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:


You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:




The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates



SUMMARY
=======
Kansas (listen) is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name (natively kką:ze) is often said to mean people of the (south) wind although this was probably not the term's original meaning. For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison.
Kansas was first settled by European Americans in 1812, in what is now Bonner Springs, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery debate. When it was officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854 with the Kansas–Nebraska Act, abolitionist Free-Staters from New England and pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri rushed to the territory to determine whether Kansas would become a free state or a slave state. Thus, the area was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as these forces collided, and was known as Bleeding Kansas. The abolitionists prevailed, and on January 29, 1861, Kansas entered the Union as a free state. After the Civil War, the population of Kansas grew rapidly when waves of immigrants turned the prairie into farmland.
By 2015, Kansas was one of the most productive agricultural states, producing high yields of wheat, corn, sorghum, and soybeans. Kansas, which has an area of 82,278 square miles (213,100 square kilometers) is the 15th-largest state by area and is the 34th most-populous of the 50 states with a population of 2,911,641. Residents of Kansas are called Kansans. Mount Sunflower is Kansas's highest point at 4,041 feet (1,232 meters).

Kansas

Kansas i/ˈkænzəs/ KAN-zəs is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansa Native American tribe which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean people of the wind or people of the south wind, although this was probably not the term's original meaning. Residents of Kansas are called Kansans. For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the Eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the Western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison. Kansas was first settled by European Americans in the 1830s, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery issue.

This video targeted to blind users.

Attribution:
Article text available under CC-BY-SA
Public domain image source in video