Keep Your Face to the Sunshine

The road up the mountain to our cabin is narrow, bumpy, and one-lane. It winds up steep grades and through dark woods. In some places the road opens up along the top of a grassy ridge that slopes deeply to a creek below. Sometimes I can't bear to look over the edge!  It takes while to get to the top and there is a lot of jostling along the way. Half-way up the mountain, two-wheel drive cars have to stop. It's too rough for them to carry on.

After many trips up and down the mountain, I have started to learn of special treats along the way. Last trip down we stopped by a puddle by the road that is fed by a spring until mid-summer. There are always tadpoles there this time of year, and we were not disappointed. Tiny little swimmers were skittering around with much glee!

In another spot, the road winds through some deep, dark woods. It's a good place to keep an eye out for bears! But animals are quick and difficult to spot, probably because our diesel motor warns them we are near. But the flowers don't wilt or fade as we draw close. The road opens up to a rocky hillside and in the early spring I make sure to say "please stop" if I see the pretty purple flowers of the shooting stars in bloom.

Shooting stars seem to love rocky soil! And sunshine! They cluster together in vibrant chorus of purple and green. I love their abundance! One has to keep careful watch, because they arrive and then the blossoms disappear in a few days time. One has to time the trip up the mountain "just right".

Shooting stars are not abundant "just anywhere" on the mountain. There are only a few spots that I have found them growing. I'm pretty excited that this spring I've found two small plants growing in the rocky soil on the sunny side of the cabin as well. I hope they multiply over time and provide us with a pretty purple haze each spring.

Lessons can be learned from the wildflowers of the woods. The shooting stars remind me that no matter how rocky or difficult the path, as long as one keeps their face to the sunshine, everything will turn out alright.

Shooting stars were one of my mother's favorite flowers. She stitched this pretty little wall-hanging on felt. It's one of my little treasures. Every time I see it, I'm reminded of the delight that she expressed during my growing up years. Whenever we would find shooting stars on our flower trips to the mountains she would express much joy! She was a botanist and although I didn't fully appreciate her love of flowers while I was a kid, it's grown on me and I appreciate the lessons she taught from nature. Especially from the flowers.

If you'd like to see some of the other May flowers from the mountain, click here.

Mountain Meadow

mead·ow

  [med-oh]

noun

1.

a tract of grassland used for pasture or serving as a hayfield.

2.

a tract of grassland in an upland area near the timberline.

The soft, golden light will make a meadow of wildflowers glow.

The road from gate to cabin leads through a mountain meadow. It's a short walk from the shelter of the cabin each morning to the meadow where we go to enjoy the view and appreciate the little treasures found there. May and June are the most beautiful months in our meadow.

The sky is always expressive. Clouds puff overhead and sometimes move swiftly across the sky. Other times we are in the clouds as they create a fog that wafts about us as we walk. The distant mountain ridge is blue with beauty, often showing patches of white snow on ridges and peaks.

Blue lupines dot the landscape as the meadow opens before our eyes. The seeds of this blossom can be soaked in running water to remove the bitter alkaloids and then cooked or toasted to make the seeds edible. While not a common food for most of us, it's fascinating to discover all the plants on the mountain that are good to eat if desired or required. 

The golden pea, rightly called Thermopsis montana adds color and cheer as it dots the meadow. A bumble bee ignores me and keeps feasting on the floral nectar. The flowers in the pea family of plants are known for five petals that form a distinctive "banner, wings, and keel". Can you see them? Although this plant is of the pea family, it is poisonous and should never be ingested.

The Prairie Star also dots the hillside meadow. Although tiny, their flowers are intricate and exhibit such fine perfection. This flower is sometimes called smallflower woodland star. If you look closely at the grasses behind this flower you'll see that something has "chomped" the blades of grass at some point in time. Rest assured that it was not a lawn mower, but more likely an elk or deer that bed down in the meadow. They keep the ground churned up with their hoof prints. It is amazing that anything can grow at all!

Altogether the flowers created a haze of color. Notice how the section of meadow in the back is mostly yellow, whereas the front area is blue. Nature creates the most amazing landscapes! Although there is some "mixing" of colors, each mostly stays with its own kind.

The animals that live here year around keep a trail "open" along the top ridge of the meadow. It's interesting how animals, like humans, prefer ease of passage through the forest. Have you taken time to notice animal trails on mountain hillsides? We appreciate their trails and use them too! 

Can you see what our trail cam saw on the trail last week? Look closely! It was 2:39 AM, so this is a night shot. Mr. Bobcat seems to enjoy the trail too! Click on the photo, if you'd like, to enlarge the view. We saw several tiger swallowtail butterflies on our walk through the meadow as well, but I was not quick enough with my camera to get a picture. They are flighty creatures!

After a walk through the woods and meadow, it's always a delight to return to the comfort of the cabin where we can enjoy a hot cup of tea and the cozy comfort of a warm wood fire.

Today I am linking to Bernideen's Tea Time Blog.

cab·in

  [kab-in] 

noun 1. a small house or cottage, usually of simple design and construction.

He was born in a cabin built of rough logs.

Respite

"I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy.”  

Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

“The earth laughs in flowers.” 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I must have flowers, always, and always.” 
Claude Monet

“The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.”  

Tennessee Williams, Camino Real

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace.”  
Milan Kundera

I once asked a hermit in Italy how he could venture to live alone, in a single cottage, on the top of a mountain, a mile from any habitation? He replied, that Providence was his next-door neighbor. 
Laurence Sterne

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” 
C.S. Lewis

Respite.
Me

Slipper Gems of the Forest

The first thing I did when I got out of the pick-up truck was to walk behind the woodshed. There's a shady trail there, and it is usually where I find the first Calypso Lady-slipper Orchids of the season. I thought it might be a bit early yet, but I was pleasantly surprised. I found one of these pretty purple gems nestled next to a wild ginger plant. If there's one, there has to be more, so the search was on! Before the day was over I'd found many groupings of them as I traipsed through the woods. They could be found in hollows and in groupings along the forest floor.

The scientific name of this tiny flower is Calypso Bulbosa. But, my mother always called them Lady-slipper Orchids because of the unique shape of the blossom, so that's the name I know it by. Doesn't it look like the elegant slipper that a lady would wear? It's also called a Fairy-slipper Orchid or Hider-of-the-North. 

This orchid is very tiny, standing no more than 20 cm tall with a blossom that is about 3 cm long. The blossom droops, facing the earth, making it difficult to see its full beauty. It's a flower that I usually don't pick, because it's somewhat rare and if the blossom is picked the plant may not regrow next season. So, they are a cherished and charmed little plant in our woods.

The Western Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis is found only in the Cascade mountain range and west of the Rockies in Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, and Montana. It is distinguished by a white beard and a heavily spotted lip in a purple-brown color. 

I call them "little gems" because they are such beautiful treasures of the forest. Their life span is short and they appear only for a few weeks in the springtime. Taking pictures of them is a huge challenge for me. Essentially, I have to nearly stand on my head to get a picture! Because their blossoms droop, they photograph best from the ground up. Have you tried taking a picture from ground level recently? And was it in focus? Yikes! It's a tough assignment. The experience was a reminder that I am not a teen-ager any more!

Spring Mountain & Wildflowers

Buttercup, Dog Tooth Violet, Spreading Phlox, Alpine Parsley, and Grass Widow are early flowers of spring on the mountain. 

With tea thermos' filled, we headed to the mountain. The guys wanted to see if we could get to the cabin, but I was most interested in the wildflowers. After driving through miles and miles of lush, green wheat fields, we reached the mountain base and switched the truck to 4-wheel drive. The roads were dry and we were hopeful we that we could get to the top. But just a couple miles from the summit we arrived at a shady spot and found the road filled with "rotten snow". It was mushy and impossible to drive on top of. After several attempts, and a walk around the bend where deeper drifts were discovered, we decided to turn around. Instead we found a meadow and spent some time walking and looking for wildflowers.

Early spring flowers are usually yellow and purple. As the season progresses, flowers of blue, red, and white become more predominate. I especially enjoy the Grass Widows. They are one of the earliest blooming flowers in our locale and are a member of the iris family. In the valley they start blooming in February. As the months progress, their appearance varies by elevation. Although we call them Grass Widows, their Latin name is Olsynium douglasii. Grass Widows grow in erect clumps of grass-like leaves with round stems that hold the blossom. The flowers are a bright reddish purple (although they do grow white is some locations) with bold yellow centers. They like rocky, moist places to grow. 

The name Grass Widow dates from an expression of 16th century England. It's a term that was applied to unmarried women or to a woman whose husband was temporarily away from her. There is much speculation as to how this term came to be applied to this flower. It may be that the term was applied to the earliest pioneers of the west who enjoyed a tryst in lush fields of this flower in early spring. Or is could be that the flowers were named for explorers and trappers who developed romantic relationships with Native American women they met on their journey through the west.

The Grass Widow is listed as non-toxic, and therefore safe to eat. But, even the animals avoid this flower because it is not at all tasty. Instead, it would best be saved as garnish or decor for a beautiful dessert or bowl of salad greens. It has a tender blossom which doesn't travel well, so garnish for a mountainside picnic is its best use.

Mountain Wildflowers

May is a magnificent month for flowers, both cultivated at home --- and wild at our mountain cabin. Sometimes the mountain wildflowers need to be sought out, as they can have tiny blooms and hide well in forest undergrowth. I've observed that the purple and white flowers bloom earliest, then the yellows, and lastly the reds. It's a beautiful cacophony of color when they are finally all in bloom! Learning their names can be somewhat of a puzzle for me, but I am working at naming and remembering them the best I can. The flowers below were all in bloom at our cabin on Memorial Day week-end. Aren't they pretty?

And now it's time to start on the June list...

 Indian Paintbrush

 Shooting Stars

 Ballhead Waterleaf

 Wild Onion

 Chickweed

 Balsam Root

 Queen's Cup

 Woodland Star

 Wild Strawberry

 Calypso Lady Slipper Orchid

 Yellow Violets

 Painted Milkvetch

 Lupine

 Dandelion

 Cat's Ears

Camas Root

Mock Orange