Peony Time

It's peony time! And they are beautiful. This one grows in my front yard, and I'm grateful that the deer don't like eating them.

The fields nearby are still green but dotted with lavender flowers like lupine but more delicate - so very pleasing to the eye and spirit. There are strong odors of lilac wafting in the breeze. Summer is coming.

We thought it was here last weekend when temperatures nearly reached 100 degrees F. But today the high was in the 60s. My work boss had snow this morning at his higher elevation. That's spring in Oregon.

On the less showy and definitely less fragrant side, a volunteer garlic bulb is budding and is quite lovely in its own way.

And on a definitely stinky side, we have our resident skunk out on the prowl. I found him rooting through the grasses below my kitchen window very early in the morning, hoping to find black sunflower seeds that the wild birds did not eat.

Look how beautiful his tail is!

Spring on the Home Front

It's been a lovely spring - if not extremely changeable weather-wise. One day it's 80 degrees F, the next day it hails.

I'm very fortunate to live near miles of protected woodlands. A couple of trails are my favorites. Ever since the weather improved in early March, I've been walking these paths each weekend, noting the changing cycles of wildflowers.





Early spring brought these ethereal Fawn Lilies (Erythronium hendersonii)








And carpets of Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii).





Then there were clumps of blue-eyed Hounds Tongue (Cynoglossum grande).











By the beginning of April, most of the Fawn Lilies were gone, and the Shooting Stars were fading. Then the wild fritillaries began popping up amongst the bright red new leaves of poison oak. There are two that grow here: Scarlet (Fritillaria recurva)...







...and Gentner's (Gentner frittilaria), the latter becoming rare. It was exciting to see them, especially the exotic, graceful Gentner's which sometimes grows obligingly right at the trails' edges for ease of viewing.






Along another trail, I come across what I call my "thinking spot."


This happens to be one of those rare places that's poison oak-free. Whenever I have what seem to be insoluble problems on my mind, I spend a little time here sitting on this log. After a while, what seemed dire before loses its grip on my thoughts. Nature's slow and quiet rhythms soothe me and I can walk on with a lighter heart.