Come on rose pruning day (known to some people as Valentine’s Day) for a Rose Pruning & Training Seminar, February 14th, 2004. Owner and head gardener will show you how to prune, and how to train roses. Seminar begins at 10 a.m. and is FREE of charge. Go here for more information: http://www.antiqueroseemporium.com .

While in area, in San Antonio you’ll find ALAMO, SEAWORLD, FIESTA TEXAS, MISSION TRAILS and RIVERWALK.

Over in Austin, state capital, you’ll find more wildflowers – 42 more acres - at LADY BIRD JOHNSON WILDFLOWER RANCH, http://www.wildflower.org , and beautiful UMLAUF SCULPTURE GARDEN & MUSEUM, http://www.umlaufsculpture.org , outdoors and user-friendly. Umlauf was an art instructor at University of Texas for 40 years and donated his home, studio and more than 250 pieces of artwork to city of Austin which maintain lovely garden where his works are displayed. He worked in many mediums and styles, and you’ll find his works displayed in Smithsonian Institution and New York’s Metropolitan Museum.

You’ll probably recognize face of his most famous UT student, Farah Fawcett, who was often his model. An exceptionally peaceful and beautiful sculpture garden!

Also in Austin is BARTON SPRINGS ( http://www.tec.org/bartonsprings/5Ws.html ) a 1,000 foot long natural limestone pool fed by several underground springs, situated in ZILKER PARK (http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/zilker ), which also has Zilker Eagle, a large playscape, and 400 acres of sports fields and woodlands.

Then for more scenery, take HILL COUNTRY FLYER, a steam locomotive SP 786 manned by volunteers. There are 1-hour trips through Austin, a 33-mile ride from Cedar Park (north of Austin) to Burnet through Hill Country and special event rides, such as murder-mystery excursions. Call 512-477-8468 for more information.

Also for kids, there are zoos in both San Antonio and Austin.

If you choose Dallas area, give Kelly Dunn a call. An excellent photographer, she’s booking bluebonnet photography dates already. Visit her on web at http://www.justimagineinc.com .

And last, but not least, to make this a memorable excursion for kids, BAT EGRESS. This is something you won’t see all time. Every evening from mid-March until early November, 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from their roosts under Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin and head out over town looking for dinner. Go here for directions: http://www.batcon.org/discover/congress.html . There’s plenty of parking, restaurants nearby, a souvenir stand (yes, t-shirts!) but no public restrooms or concessions.

Generally bats emerge at dusk, but “may fly late if conditions are not favorable.” In early August you can see new born pups on their first forages with their mums. You can also view them via a River Cruise.

And yes, there’s a hotline. For updates and approximate emergence time, call Austin American-Statesman/Bat Conservation hotline – 512-416-5700 (category 3636) for latest flight times.

Here is a photograph of people waiting (http://www.batcon.org/discover/cab14-sm.jpg ), and here go bats (http://www.batcon.org/discover/cab08-sm.jpg ).

Trust me, you have never seen anything like it, and it is guaranteed to render all age groups speechless. It’s very silent. Also it’s VERY creepy. (And remember, you can look, but you better not touch.)

Y’all come, y’hear?

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