Recently, MBC was rummaging through some keepsakes and found this poem:
Adventures of Bluebonnet
Bluebonnet is an armadillo, very adventurous you know,
She got her name cuz’ she’s very shy, And she wears a bluebonnet to protect her eyes.
Momma and Daddidillo had daughters four, You know it’s a fact they have no more.
Born and raised near the Texas Hill Country where the Guadalupe flows so free.
One day she ventured upon campers in the sun, she wanted to join in and have some fun.
All she could do was run away, too shamed to come out but wanting to play.
Two campers wandered off near the river too close, not knowing the water was rising as it flows.
Bluebonnet knew that they were in danger, on her hind legs she charged the strangers.
Off up the hill they ran so fast, they realized they were safe at last.
Bluebonnet had saved their lives and won an Outstanding Camper Trophy prize.
Another adventure of Bluebonnet on the go was a visit to the town of San Antonio
Where she meets at the Alamo Digger Diller—a fellow armadillo.
Bluebonnet’s first excitement is at the Cotton Bowl where the football players chase her as the ball.
She meets a new friend named Joe Bob Bunny who laughs with her and thinks she’s funny.
Together they see the sights ending up at the Livestock Pavillion just right
In time for the rabbit competition, Bluebonnet finds her aunt at this exhibition.
Bluebonnet again is on the go traveling to a small town of Glen Rose.
She traveled very far to Dinosaur Valley looking for the tracks to see.
To an armadillo as little as she, the tracks were very, very big indeed.
Yet bigger than tracks she bumped into an ancestor that said, “I’m bigger than you.”
A Glyptodon from days gone by looked at Bluebonnet wondering why
He was the only one left here, why’d he been asleep for many years?
He introduced himself; his name was Spike The two toured the park to see what it’s like.
They discovered people looking for Spike, He’d have to return and come out only at night.
Bluebonnet sings him an armadillo lullaby and Spike nods to sleep with a sigh.
Bluebonnet sets off the Texas trails to roam, discovering new places away from home.
This wonderful poem about my first four adventures was written by Barbara Ganzer at a 1991 young writers’ conference. I wonder where Barbara is today; hope she’s still writing! Would love for her to compose additional verses about my other Texas travel adventures.