Week 10 Reading Notes: Tejas Legends, Part A

There are several different stories (ten in total) from part A of the Tejas legends, so I will only recap some of my favorites below:

The Plant that Grows in Trees: Mistletoe does not grow on the ground, but rather on the limbs of other trees. The reason for this, according to the Tejas legend, is because the thunder bird came across the mistletoe on the ground one day. After enjoying the berries, the plant said it would die on the ground as others animals eat it in the winter, when other berries are no longer around to eat. The bird solves this by flying the mistletoe up to a high tree branch.

The Woodpecker's Stumpy Tail: The woodpecker, unlike other birds, has a short and stumpy tail rather than a long one. This came to be when a frog warned some Indians of a flood coming, to which the Indians (and the woodpecker as well) laughed off the frog's warning. Later, the flood did indeed come. The woodpecker could not fly in the heavy rain at night, so he was clinging to high tree branches, but the water rose to be near him. A fish bit off the woodpecker's tail as it swam close to him, which is why they have stumpy tails today.

The Cloud that was Lost: At night, all of the clouds go to rest among the trees in the mountain top. One night, however, a little cloud got lost and could not find the mountain where the other clouds were. It cried (rained), and after a while, floated down to the ground to rest there. It laid on flat country ground with white flowers. The cloud provided them with water and with a lavender hue over the night, until the cloud was no more the next morning. This is why the wild phlox flower has a color that resembles the clouds in the evening.

Image Source. Wild phlox