Abilene Texas – A Love-Crazed Cardinal and the Storybook Capital of America
/“Abilene, Abilene, prettiest town I’ve ever seen
Women there don’t treat you mean
In Abilene, my Abilene.”
When you think of Abilene, Texas, do you conjure up children’s storybook characters? Does your mind’s eye immediately picture Goldilocks, the Cat in the Hat, or the Man in the Moon? We think cattle drives, bull riding, and herds of bison. Actually, that’s Abilene, Kansas, not Abilene, Texas which was actually named after the Kansas city. Even the song refers to Abilene, Kansas. We stood corrected, but I sang the song anyway… much to David’s delight.
R. Gregory Christie Photo Credit: Atlanta Parent
We were on our way to Abilene State Park and I was doing a little research on what to see/visit while in Abilene… Texas, that is. I learned that The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature is located there along with two sculpture gardens and several storybook character statues scattered around town. In fact, Abilene calls itself ‘The Storybook Capital of America’. Definitely something to investigate. We opted to visit the city before heading to our campground.
We headed first to the NCCIL and wandered around. Established in 2000, the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature (NCCIL, pronounced nickle) is an American museum dedicated to illustrations in children's literature. The museum was currently featuring the work of award-winning children’s illustrator, R. Gregory Christie, with more than 60 published books to his credit. Each exhibit would highlight an illustration from the book along with the original illustration.
Then, armed with a museum adventure guide, we went on a scavenger hunt around town to find several of the storybook character sculptures. Each sculpture was accompanied by a nearby sign showing the page the illustration from which the character was taken. It really was a delightful, fanciful way to spend a morning. Some of the characters were familiar to us and we needed an introduction to others. Take a look at some of the sculptures we saw. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge them.
Around NCCIL and the nearby Everman Park…
At the Adamson-Spalding Storybook Garden, we enjoyed seeing some old friends and delighted in learning about new characters. Take a look…
Good Night Dinosar from “How Do Dinosaur’s Say Good Night?” and friend
No, David! and Fergus from “David Gets in Trouble” … I say, ‘If the shoe fits…”
Scavenger hunt complete, we made a quick stop at Walmart and then headed to the campground. But wait...
I spotted a bison cut-out in the park, complete with a saddle and a set of stairs to climb… an open invitation to ride a bison? Absolutely.
Abilene State Park was our kind of campground… a spacious, shaded site, hiking trails, and good toilet facilities including showers. A small stream and a trail ran right alongside of the campsite. Quite a pleasant place to camp.
The most memorable part of our time there, however, was a crazy, curious male cardinal that took a liking to Blanche (or his reflection in the windshield). From the moment we parked, he serenaded her with a constant 7-note melody, first from a nearby branch… over and over again. Then, he lit on Blanche’s side windows, her hood, and the roof. He would flit back to the tree, sing a few bars, then hop back. Blanche, for her part, did not encourage this behavior at all. In fact, she was unmoved by his advances and totally ignored him. And pooping on her windshield certainly did not warrant any return of affection.
He was very persistent and became more ardent and began to fly into the windshield. He’d flap and flutter his wings, peck at the glass, and then slide down to the hood, only to repeat the same action seconds later. He kept it up for hours and finally when night descended, he gave up. Thank goodness. We woke at dawn’s early light to the sound of pecking at the windshield. The red-headed Romeo was back with the same M-O and the same old tune as yesterday. He made no further headway with Blanche, but he kept on trying.
A morning walk to check out the CCC-built swimming pool and lovely stone buildings dating from the 1930s and still very much in use today. But first… ford the stream because the little bridge was out.
The pool was closed, but David was hoping he might get wifi here. no luck! The CCC buildings, however, are wonderful.
We caught sight of a downy woodpecker en route.
As we continued our walk to a bird blind, we spotted three white-tailed deer browsing in the forest. No many birds in the bird blind though.
Time to head out again and bid farewell to our amorous fine-feathered friend who when last seen was lamenting the fact that his true love had disappeared over the horizon. This time we’re heading to Lake Colorado City State Park, but there are a few places to stop along the way. Join us.