Austin dogs romping in wildflowers, because spring

Assignment: bluebonnets. We in Central Texas know the drill. Amateur or professional, when the bluebonnets (and other wildflowers, but the blue dudes are some of the first to arrive) pop up, it’s time for us to pop in with our cameras, children, and pets.

And for good reason. Those rolling swaths of bluebonnets are kind of crazy. When they’re at their peak, they look almost like some kind of cinematic trick: so huge, so consistent, so very, very blue.

There are reasons for this, of course (like the Highway Department planting thousands of the seeds every fall), but let’s not belabor how things got where they are today. Instead, let’s look at the drama and excitement that hold us in their thrall, if only for a few weeks, in our brief, early spring days.

And can we forget the lore? No, we cannot. While people love to take pictures of their young children in the vast fields despite warnings for the more neurotic (Watch out for rattlesnakes! The plants are poisonous if eaten! etc.), many of us can’t get enough of seeing photos of the frolicking pups either enjoying the heck out of themselves—well, in general, but especially with a technicolor backdrop.

Here, then, are some of our favorite canine (and one feline) moments caught this weekend, with wildflowers in full bloom.