A Wildflower Morning

You might be anticipating photos of the wildflowers of the Beartooth.  Those are coming, but first before we got there we had to drive through Idaho.  The most direct route follows the Lochsa River from Lewiston, ID to Missoula, MT along Highway 12, also known as the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway, because Lewis and Clark followed this route back home.  If you you haven't driven that road before, I definitely recommend it for your next road trip.  Here is a link to a publication about the road.   http://npshistory.com/publications/usfs/region/1/nez-perce/hwy-12.pdf I think there are 5 wooden suspension bridges over the Lochsa that is for foot and pack animal traffic only and crosses over to a trail. The one we stopped at is at mile post 143.  Sometime long ago, when my kids were little, we stopped there and I remember William taking a lot of photos down under the bridge with a camera we were letting him use.  It seems this was an important part of...

Keproi Falls, on the island of Pohnpei, could be one of the most lovely waterfalls I've ever seen, especially when you add in the warm water, and the refreshing pool for swimming.  It falls over the rocks like a lacy curtain I would have gotten in myself, but when I sat down on the rocks with my feet in the water, all of sudden I was surrounded by dozens little curious fish.  That unnerved me, and all of a sudden I was out of the water, remembering when a fresh water eel had nibbled on my foot in a Pohnpei river long ago. None of the other swimmers seemed to mind though.  The pathway to the falls was colorful, and lined with flowers. In the States you can by this plant in tiny containers to grow in your house.  This is what it would look like if you would give it enough heat and humidity.  I found the little white flower above growing by the water in Guam too. I've seen no country grow nicer Hibiscus then Pohnpei.  They s...

Ever since I first met the wild orchids that grow on Guam, I've been wanting to paint some.  I knew it would be a challenge, because they are not as straight forward as a daisy or Camas Lilies.  Also, in our apartment, I didn't have a good set up for painting.  There were no normal sized chairs in the place.  The table is extra tall, as are the chairs, and I am not extra tall, so they aren't comfortable for me.  The only available table that isn't tall is the coffee table.  Hey!  That might work.  There are a couple stools here.  The set up isn't perfect, but I am making it work.  I used it last night to paint my orchids.

 My last post, about Tarzan Falls Waterhole, was very long, so I saved photos of the beauty I saw along the way for a second post, which will also be very long. An unusual seed pod, spiralling around a stem. A very dry, brittle fern with fingers branching off. I believe each branch divided in two directions.  It reminded me of a cross between a sword fern, a deer fern, and a maidenhair fern. This flower was about as big as my pinky nail.  I would not have seen it, except we had to wait at the trail head for another car load of people to arrive, and I almost sat on it.  It has six petals. If my memory is accurate for another time and place, this might be called Rat's Tail. In one cut made by the jeeps and erosion, there were green stripes down the banks wall, contrasting beautifully with the red clay. The hills were mostly covered with open fields of grasses. The grasses were abundantly sprinkled with wild orchid...