If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom,... ~Terri Guillemets

There are some days that are so beautiful that you take a walk no matter what condition you're in.  I have been going to a doctor for a bad hip and leg.  It's one of those age related, "took a fall with my camera and  I have bad feet too" syndromes. The kind of story that you don't want to tell anyone because you don't want people to feel sorry for you and you don't want them to say, under their breath, "She should NOT be doing all that walking, hiking and messing around with her camera in the wilderness or anywhere... AT HER AGE."
When does "... at her age." become the warning point in your life? Fifty... sixty... seventy... eighty? 
Once you take a bad fall and you are oh... say... beyond sixty, you don't bounce. You hurt yourself, and the hurt doesn't go away like it did 20 years before. It lingers...and then it decides to MOVE IN and set up housekeeping.
Well, that's where I'm at. It's all about the body. It's all about, physical therapy, doctors trying to figure out what is wrong with you and what they should do to make you better. It's all about limited movement and pain.
So, I'm not hiking as much right now. I'm walking on the river road. It's flat, doesn't put pressure on the joints as much and I meet people more. I'm getting out and about.
This morning I drove down to our entrance and parked the car, thinking about how I use to walk down and back up our very steep dirt road. That was 15 years ago, before my feet turned on me.

I parked and started walking. I looked back and thought about how far I should get from the car. My hip was starting to say things to me.

Then, the endorphins kicked in and I was good to go. The Prospector had walked down here, earlier in the morning, and told me, " You have to go down and see the Poppies. Take your camera."
I said, " I don't know. I'm not sure I can walk that far yet."
He said, "Well then, you're going to miss something beautiful."
That's when I went and got my walking shoes, put them on, and left. I'm so glad I did.

There are some days that are made for walking. This was one of them. Spring is here, in all of its glory. The birds are flying, the sky is so blue that it looks like a painting. The rain last week cleared the air and made the sunshine brighter. It smelled like sunshine... like earth and plants... and creek water.
I walked to the first bend in the road and as I came around the turn I saw something orange above me.

And to my left, down the hill... a field of poppies.

They were everywhere. Thousands of them... as if someone had covered whole portions of the hillside with paint.
More than any other year, it seemed as if Mother Nature was having a really good time out there.

As if the rain, the ground and the sunshine had conspired, with her, in some grand effort to create one of the most beautiful places on earth. 

As if our state flower decided to go over and above its required appearance this year and  make a statement to the world.
Even in the area burned by the fire, that almost took our farm two summers ago, the poppies were growing in profusion.

There were everywhere.

As if the fireman had reseeded with poppies (they didn't) and it took two seasons for them to come back. Last Spring was not as abundant, but this year...

Oh, my. Even the poison oak has taken a secondary roll in this parade.

This small flower, eschscholzia califorica, was elected as the state flower by the California State Floral Society in December 1890,  but the state legislature did not make the selection official until 1903.

Also...There is a common misconception associated with this plant, because of its status as a state flower, that cutting or damaging of the California poppy is illegal. There is no law providing the plant special protection in California.
All her life, this native Californian, thought that she would be arrested if she picked one of these little flowers. What deception.
So I will go back tomorrow and pick a few of the thousands that are blooming (on OUR property, I might add.) and bring it home to brighten my kitchen window and remind me of the loveliness of this place,
... but probably not. Old habits die hard.

It was an intoxicating walk. I may have a substance abuse problem with Spring. Maybe that is what's wrong with me this year. I'm having a reaction to the dry winter and now, I will be better in a few days... with a few more walks down my country road.
My hip feels better already. I think I may live to walk another day. Maybe I should lie down in the poppy field and see if the flowers cure my ailment. Yes...quickly... before the Rattlesnake come out.


Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.  ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke