wild flowers

if 'untended' and 'unnurtured' (see the previous post) define wild flowers then this year's garden should be reclassified.

why is it....

indian paintbrush

blanket flower

i have, as yet, identified very few of my wild flowers due, in part, to a busy week but more to an attitude* that needs adjustment.

wild flowers fascinate me. they're not tended or nurtured. they thrive in less than ideal conditions. the ephemeral nature of their brilliant colors, their pollens and nectars that support so many other creatures in the chain are part of their appeal. scattered through a roadside ditch or across a mountain embankment they will garner oohs and aaahs of countless travelers who will never know their names.

i plan to identify the photos i took in wyoming. i further plan to teach myself to compose a power point presentation with them. *this is where the aforementioned attitude comes into play: why do we ('we' rather that 'i' because in conversation with others i find this is a fairly common reaction) relegate an honest learning opportunity, a new skill set, to our 'free' time rather than giving it full front-and-center status as a reasonable application of our time and attention. my work day has ended but is the laundry done? the cleaning?? was i supposed to bake for tomorrow's meeting?? there are so many legitimate demands on our time - can i invest this time in this project now?? how often have we said 'i'll save that for a day when i have nothing to do'? how often has that day come??

are our perceptions of responsible productivity genetic?? why the guilt??

a layered day

today was one of those layered days and i'm not comparing it to the yummy triple layer ginger angel food with lemon and toasted coconut cake that i served to the garden club this afternoon.....
we started our day with an automated phone call with a severe weather warning at 1:10 am. the program sounds soooo good on paper and my friend and i both registered. then the calls actually began. i have since gone back to the site to un-register, a process they say can take 4-6 weeks. i'll probably try again.
charlie and i took a walk.
i squeezed my lemons, made my goop, cut and assembled the cake (baked last night), did some last minute cleaning, ran to the grocery store, stopped to price a bracelet that had been calling out to me since my sister's visit, learned that it had been calling in vain, tried on my new boots (again), added the boot box to the garbage, etc etc etc.
i did'nt have time to check my email.
garden club happened, the cake was a hit, the dishes were cleared off and everyone in the business of leaving when i received a compliment on my hair. and for the first time ever in local ears i admitted that i was preparing for a trip this fall and needed to do my hair sans appliances and so had been practicing with a new look. (you know how a haircut looks best after about 2 weeks?? looks perfect for about 2 days?? then is suddenly, overnight too long?? in the last few days i've had several compliments on this particular cut which i got at the beginning of july.) paris. in november. with my sister. for two weeks.
i checked my email.
paris is off. i reread several times hoping i had somehow misread but no it was there everytime. paris isn't going to happen.
one of the responsibilities of a rational adult is having to admit in the face of disappointing news that this is not the worst thing to happen to me today or any other day. so let's just say i was bummed. yes, let's just say that.
in the discussion of the day's events with tim he did ask if i would continue to wear my hair like this 'cuz he likes it. and he finally understood the lowlights transitioning to gray concept and he's on board with that! (i've always hated the time and expense, the bondage, of trying to stay blonde and was planning -again with an eye toward paris- to just be done with it!! (i am at heart a low maintenance kind of gal and find myself surrounded with jars and tubes and formulas that i never would have forseen and do limit. but my advice is moisturize!! every morning. every night. every chance. and watch the sun. really.)
like i said - certainly not a candidate for 'worstdayofmylife' status.
my husband likes my hair. i have a home. a good dog. we're both healthy and working. (tim and i not charlie and me) the boots will look great where ever i wear them. and my itsy-bitsy, half price, half alive hydrangea bloomed.
bonne mercredi!!

vacation photos

these pictures were taken at mirror lake on the medicine bow side of the valley.

naphtali and i walked around the lake from our fishing spot and found an embankment studded with granite and covered with these delicate-looking yellow flowers

which turn out to be glacier lilies. when you consider the short growing season and extreme temperatures these lilies are any but delicate.

vacation

naphtali, hubby james and grandson, aidan (the kahls) spent the last week with us. always a delight to see them, this year we changed our traditional september hike to accomodate aidan's upcoming school days!! hard to believe the little guy is starting kindergarten. hoping to find somewhere less crowded and touristy we decided on the snowy range of wyoming. it was beautiful and we had the place pretty much to ourselves. cars were coming in as we left friday morning but our hike to the indian bathtubs (there's a story!!)











fishing at mirror lake,
and the attempt to find hog park resevoir all took place in relative solitude. delightful.







we celebrated naphtali's birthday
with a party the likes of which she hasn't seen in years (complete with paper hats and noise makers) thanks to aidan's relentless party-planning drive.

james built a campfire every night and we sat and enjoyed the tranquility. we had deer in our backyard,
listened to various birds calling, saw humming birds flit and swoop, watched a storm build and roll through the valley.
we had the lodge at river ridge cabins and i will gladly put in a plug for them. look into river ridge before you travel out that way. nestled between the sierra madre and medicine bow mountains in southern wyoming we enjoyed our options for daily activities.
charlie was happy to see us return. thanks to marg for taking care of him. tim and i sat out back saturday night and saw our own hummingbird and a double rainbow in our very own backyard. neither of us was energetic enough to rush inside for the camera....
i'll post more pictures over the next few days......