Wildflowers with Dog

It starts with the domestic phlox in the cemetery. When it blooms, we know to look for the wild kind of phlox. 

We've selected the tame creeping phlox for brilliant colors, that groovy magenta. But oh, look at its long-stemmed cousin, the wild blue phlox, Phlox divaricata. 

You can see where we got the colors. There are hints of rose in these. 

Others, a pure innocent lilac blue.

Shila and Diane, who is visiting from Nashville, have joined Chet Baker and me on a wildflower safari, taking a time-honored route carefully chosen for maximum flower and beat-up-building potential. The date: April 21, 2013. Yes, I've just gotten around to grabbing these photos. It's been quite a spring.

Oh how I love the Church in the Wildwood with its belfry worn slightly cocked.

She's still being cared for, though nobody can afford to do much with her siding and paint and roof.

My father used to sing "Church in the Wildwood" when he took us driving in the country around Richmond when I was growing up. You never knew how many "come's" he was going to sing. 

"O come come come come come come come to the church in the wildwood

O come to the church in the vale.

No spot is so dear to my childhood

As the little brown church in the vale."

That, and his arrhythmic style, made it a real challenge to harmonize along with him. 

but we tried. And always laughed when he'd sing a few more "come's" than we were ready for.

It was good training for later...

Chet Baker makes a full site inspection, including the iris bed still surrounding her foundation.

He crosses back over the stream just above a little waterfall

and realizes partway through that the water's deeper and colder than he'd thought it would be.

Ooch, that's freezin' the pork and beans!

 Brr! Glad to be out of that!

Time for a sultry dog yoga stretch in the sun.

He kicks out and holds for a few magic moments, first one leg, then the other...

then accompanies Shila in search of perfect gauzy spring light. No matter, I've already found it. I'm blown away by the budding elms and amused by the greens in this photo. Who ever decided on that particularly icky pthalo green for road signs? A color certainly not found in nature.

Ahh, spring. This has been my favorite spring in memory. Long and cold and slow, none of that 90's in March stuff we endured last year. And no warmup and budburst followed by April snowstorms. No feeding baby bluebirds in the boxes because their parents can't find caterpillars in the snow.  Everything coming out when it's supposed to, maybe a week or two late, but what's wrong with prolonging such a beautiful season? Yes, it's been an exemplary spring. And I'm enjoying every minute of it.

Turned the air conditioner on yesterday afternoon. I guess it's over now. These next few posts will take us back.