The In-Between Time

If my fondest wish were to be granted, it would be simply to have the rest of my life off.... with pay. Oh, and I'd want the balance of my years to be healthy and fulfilled, with hopefully at least 30 more birthdays. Alas, no magic lamp or winning lottery ticket has yet appeared, so in the meantime I'll continue to show up for work and do what has to be done to pay the bills.

In the larger scheme of things this equates to not getting out as much as I would like, and therefore there are no recent trips to post to my blog. I am planning a quick trip sometime in early August, but in the meantime I'd like to share one of my favorite activities - collecting flowers.


I'm not a botanist, nor do I spend all my free time searching for exotic species never before seen by human eyes. However I am fortunate to live where spring runoff and daily afternoon thunderstorms (in summer) lead to a profusion of wildflowers. When I'm off hiking in the woods or traveling the backroads, I've always got time to stop and "smell the roses", as well as take their picture. So I hope you enjoy this flower gallery until I have some real news to offer.































For those folks who not only like looking at flowers but also want to know what they are, here's a rundown of the pictures starting from top, then left to right in the frames (apologies to all - there are some species I have yet to identify):

1) I don't know yet!
2) Fleabane
3) Another mystery, but I think it is from the Vetch family
4) Richardson's Geranium
5) Blanketflower
6) Rocky Mountain Penstemon
7) Wiry Lotus
8) Unknown
9) Arizona Sneezeweed
10) Mountain Parsley - Yellow variation
11) Skyrocket or Arizona Gilia
12) Unknown
13) Wild Geranium
14) Sorry - another question mark
15) Sunflower
16) Princely Daisy
17) Coneflower
18) Black Eyed Susan
19) Birdsfoot Lotus
20) Salsify
21) Blue Flax
22) Unknown
23) Indian Paintbrush
24) Prickly Pear
25) Rocky Mountain Beeflower
26) Mariposa
27) Thistle
28) Yarrow
29) Eggs and Butter (Dalmation Toadflax)
30) Unknown
31) Beardtongue Penstemon
32) Mountain Parsley - Red variation
33) Rocky Mountain Iris
34) New Mexican Vervain
35) Nelson's Larkspur (Towering Delphineum)
36) Fireweed
37) Mariposa - variation
38) Lupine
39) Columbine
40) Wandbloom
41) ???
42) Purple Aster
43) ???
44) ???
45) ???