My official name for this beautuful blooming miracle found on the side of a gravel road in Lincoln County, Arkansas, is a "pretty purple flower." I decided years ago that not knowing what Linnaeus would have called something should not get in the way of enjoying it. Besides, since this is on the Internet, someone is going to email me with the correct name.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Mother Nature is giving us her final sprinkling of wildflowers as fall begins and winter approaches. Here in LA (Lower Arkansas), the roadways are liberally laced with several varieties of yellow, with a little purple and white thrown in for good measure. The bees and other bugs who depend on flowers are still making their rounds, probably with some sense of urgency. Some of the posies are beginning to look like they've been rode hard and put up wet, but who's to complain when you see flowers.

There are other signs that we are on a collision course with a season change. The hummingbirds who frequent the feeder that my spousal unit replenishes are draining it faster, gorging their miniscule selves in preparation for their eminent departure from LA to their southern destinations. Some have been reported as far south as Panama, but not all go that far. Or so I'm told.

This collection of tiny yellow blooms was getting attention from a few bumblebees as I was shooting. I suppose the bees did not see me as a threat, believing that the business at hand, supper, took precedence. I was grateful to be ignored.

Changing seasons are the Almighty's reminder and official notification that we mere mortals are not nearly in as much in charge of things as we might haughtily believe. Humbling as that may be, if one has to be slapped in the face with the occasional reality reminder, having this alert administered by flowers and hummingbirds is not a bad deal. Thanks be to God.

N O T E S:  
Nikon D300, ISO 200, hand held. Purple flowers, Nikkor VR 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 G ED, 1/200@f7.1; Yellow flowers, same lens, you guessed it, 1/200@f7.1.

SEE MORE FALL FLOWERS
at Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind.  You see what's on the gravel roads in the hinterlands without making the trip. Click and go.

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Most of the time, there is more to the Photo of the Week story than can be told in an essay. And most of the time there are more pictures to be seen. Presuming that some folk will enjoy being privy to this trove of information, I have created a blog, “Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind,” where I am showing and telling “the rest of the story." There are also some blatantly commercial mentions of some of the things we do to earn our beans and taters. Click on the Weekly Grist logo and go to the blog.  — J. D.