Greening Up

The forest explodes with color - lush green undergrowth blankets the ground, sprinkled with colorful wildflowers. Some flowers have passed their prime and disappeared from the landscape, to be replaced by later-blooming varieties: pale lavender chionophila; yellow cinquefoil; orange Indian paintbrush; purple-blue lupine; white syringa (state flower) and wild strawberry; others I can't identify.

I wonder if the girls even notice.

These photos were taken on our walk this evening to Sound of Music Hillside. This place never fails to lift my spirits and renew my energy.

Maia seems to have developed a case of OCD when it comes to chipmunks. I swear they are all she notices on our forest outings lately. Maybe the chipmunks are more active right now. Maybe it's how "spring fever" manifests itself in Maia. It's starting to drive me nuts, and I'm sure the chipmunks aren't happy about it either. I try to ignore it, but the outraged chatter of the hassled chipmunks as I pass by makes that difficult.