Behold the Bloomin' Beauty

It's an "OMG" time of year, especially if you make the drive to Hope along Lake Pend Oreille over the next few days.

Rock hillsides and those numerous roadside turn-outs are flourishing with an abundance of June bloomin' beauty. 

Sometimes you do have to get out of the car and look for such scenes, but, in most cases, even just a few steps will bring forth a host of otherwise unnoticed magnificent samples of nature's art. 

Granted, sometimes you'll find bits of garbage strewn about, detracting from the purity of nature, but for the most part, it's there for you to behold and maybe even capture. 

Whenever I take off on one of my afternoon or evening drives, I soon find my mind focused on the search for the next cool picture.  

When this hunt begins, I totally forget all the nasty stuff that makes me scream nasty comments at the television set or the insane Facebook diatribes that make me SO want remove my mental filter and post responses.

So far, the filter works--------most of the time. 

Anyway, searching for fun and beautiful photos, especially this time of year here in North Idaho, is a somewhat laid back, therapeutic and often rewarding kind of adventure.  

And, on these adventures, when I've struck what I consider to be the mother lode with my Canon camera, I can't wait to get back home, download and give these fleeting images of nature a dose of immortality. 

It's addictive for sure, but a lot less costly and risky than a many other addictions.

Yesterday afternoon, when I told Bill I'd be getting in the car and taking off with my camera, he told me he'd probably be heading up Grouse Creek.  

I told him to have a good time---as if I had any doubts.  Bill and I both tend to be loners with a lot of our outdoor pursuits.  That's okay. 

I know that whenever he's out there wading a stream with his fly rod and gear, he is in his "zone." 

Same is true for me with my camera.

We both love doing what we love, and having no distractions makes it all the better.  

We both respect that trait in each other, and maybe that's the reason we get along so well when we do team up to go out there and see what Mother Nature has to show us. 

So, yesterday when I left the house in my car, I was feeling a bit of the early afternoon blahs AND my coffee wasn't helping much.

Nonetheless, after a few miles down the road, when I pulled over and found that big transparent fuzz ball (don't know what those things are called) accented by the brilliant purple vetch, the blahs were gone.  

The door to the "zone" had opened.

I happily walked through with camera handy and spent the next hour stopping along the roads, walking up a few short trails and observing the array of color and vibrant plant life all around me.

Twas a wonderful outing, spent as a loner with a camera. 

And, it's prime time for others who love the beauty of nature to do the same.  

Enjoy the bloomin' countrysides. Take some pictures. The plant life disappears quickly, but the images you capture will not. 

Happy Saturday.