On the road again

This week, my wanderings have taken me to Michigan. As I left the miles behind me, it was quite noticeable that the Ottawa Valley is about 2 weeks behind south western Ontario and Michigan. Lush greenery, due to the wet spring, lines the roadways and wild flowers are everywhere. It was all I could do to stick to my plan and simply drive – my camera kept calling to me. Fields of daisies, bachelor buttons, lupines and buttercups tempted and tempted. I prevailed and arrived in good time, but I can assure you that yesterday morning, I was trudging through the sugar beet fields to the back where a river meanders and wild flowers abound. The river ran a muddy colour, sluggish and swollen, as I startled a turtle or two and stood to watch a pair of mallard ducks lift off and rise over the massive oaks. I kicked up acorns and stepped carefully around the poison ivy then I saw them. Peeking through high grass and ferns, rose columbines nodded their welcome. Wood anemones and a lonely phlox also begged me to take their photo. The lighting was not great, a little too late in the morning but I did capture one acceptable shot to share with you. It was only weeks ago, I was photographing columbines in Arizona, they’re yellow there, now here where they’re pink and I’ll go home to purple ones. Today, it is too warm to wander but tomorrow, I’m heading down the road, camera in hand.