I do love flowers.

I'm coming to you today from beautiful East Texas! I realize that last time I went to East Texas, I wasn't so impressed, but I'm in the Piney Woods area today, in Nacogdoches, and I must say, it's lovely. I'm sure the springtime weather and flowers don't hurt, but it also helps that this is a college town, so unlike the last town I was in, the town doesn't show any signs of running down. College students kind of force a town to keep up.

That's not to say it's a town courting the youth vote. When I got here yesterday, I discovered that it's azalea time here in Nacogdoches. I know what you're thinking. "It's spring. It's azalea time everywhere!" (I'm like a mind reader, aren't I?) But it's a different thing here in Nacogdoches. I can't tell you what dates exactly constitute the azalea season, but I can tell you that we're clearly in it. When I checked into my hotel, I was the only one in the lobby under the age of 60, and that's sayin' something because the lobby was crowded. A full roster of oldsters had been bussed in to come look at the azaleas. There's a 20-mile trail of them. I hope they provide Rascals, because otherwise, most of the people I saw in the lobby aren't going to finish that trail.

Me? I'll be missing it altogether. I'm working inside all day today, and then I've got to make the 4-hour drive back to Austin. So, no azaleas for me. But should you want to see a lovely display of them, I know right where to send you.