Distracting Flora

In the week after the Fourth of July Hoorah, it was my task to capture
some summer photos for the Mountain Village condos we manage. But I
got a little distracted.

The brilliance of the blue sky and warm sun lifted my heart, and each new flowering fold of the Village Core captured my attention. As I walked between the Dakota and Kayenta buildings, bleeding hearts dripped onto the stone walkways.

Wandering past the Conference Center, where banners snapped joyous colors into the wind and young people took turns on the climbing boulder, I was drawn to the blazing bed of red and salmon poppies. The duck pond nearby twined the exotic scent of blossoms with earthy zephyrs.

As I stepped into the stand of young aspens near the Peaks Resort, the understory of escaped domestic daisies and purple columbine rising to hip-high all around dazzled my eyes. The little creek that gives the Village Creek condos their name tumbled down, hidden under the tall grasses and boulders but offering its song.

With my spirit refreshed, I knew that this Sunday, I would be "going to church" high in the mountains, hiking to Hope Lake, surrounded by an amazing array of colors and fragrances. It was Wild Flower Peak, like none we've seen in a half-dozen summers. And I knew that it would be gone before I was ready. But then, it will be MUSHROOM season!!

(By Liza T., visiting blogger)