It’s mornings like these that one could hope would last forever—fresh gentle breeze ( zephyr is the perfect word for what I feel just now on my bare toes…), hot sunshine, blue sky spun with cotton candy clouds, and nothing that must be done right now but to sit and smell the clover and watch the wee striped ground squirrel harvest seeds from the tall grasses, and sit very still when the hummingbird comes to the petunias at my side…
I’ve had a big project going these last couple of weeks. A daughter’s wedding is in the wings. But can’t share photos of that just yet… So I’m digging into my summer’s flower collection for today’s post. I love flowers (in case you didn’t recognize that already. ha!) And being in a new place means there are new flowers to add to my photo collection ( :
Just beside a well-trodden trail I found these lovelies…
The Wood Lily was new to me. Incredible that they just pop up in the woods like that!
These, whose names I have mislaid, come in yellow and in white…
And what a curious little thing is the Lady’s Slipper…
This bright eye-catching clematis is apparently a noxious weed… Who would guess?
But I don’t have to wander far for flowers… In my back yard and just close by there’s plenty of glory…
The clover smells soooo sweet on the breeze these days. It’s delicious to more than just the bees!
And then there’s the blessing and the bane of the Buffaloberry bushes.
They are lovely to look at, though among the bitterest of berries to the human palate (I tried them, in hopes of making jelly. Uck!). But the bears adore them, and because there is a bumper crop of these berries in the Bow Valley this year, there is also a bumper crop of bears… which have not been very nice to random cyclists and campers…So… the trails I stroll in the evenings are all taped off till further notice so the bears can enjoy their picnic without intrusion of homo sapien. Sigh.
But on one of my last strolls I happened upon another wood lily—only this time a yellow one!
The other thing one happens upon around here is coal–a reminder of Canmore’s history and primary reason for existence!
I visited the local museum last week and discovered a map detailing where the mine shafts are under all this flower-strewn picture-perfect land we live on. It’s startling to see the gaping black holes surrounding the little strip of houses that comprises our street!
Smack left of center on this map you’ll see our little stretch of street, on the brink of the black abyss that marks the areas mined underground… Eeek! The positive effect is that this land is now lovely meadow which isn’t likely to be developed ( :
It’s home to the flowers and the beasts.
I woke one morning to find these fellows camping just outside our place….
Mamas with their young were hiding out close by…
Such is the life in our neighborhood!
Thanks for stopping by to share my collection ( :
–LS
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. Ps.145:15-17 ESV
