High Desert’s Spring Colors

Friday, June 14, 2019

Yesterday afternoon’s temperature was high, and as it evolved became too hot for my dogs during a spontaneous color-hunting outing. Following this high desert’s unusually frequent rains, the area is full of wildflowers in many colors and sprouting in sand. I try with a phone app to identify plants, but accuracy depends on a photograph’s clarity, meaning light’s direction and strength, and a plant’s steadiness (or not) in breezes. Often my app delivers a mixed-bag of identification–maybe right-on or way-off. This lack of total specificity is okay, for flowers simply speak for themselves.

After tossing aside specificity, I began searching for color mixes, looking for plants set naturally and inspiring a desire to frame them. There were many opportunities from some plants very tiny and others tall enough to wave in that afternoon’s mild wind.

If my wish to focus on small plants continues, there’s another and more technical consideration. Good as my current lens may be, it’s probably worthwhile to seek another that’s more capable in close-ups of capturing minute details and color variations.

If one looks at the larger area where the dogs and I hiked, the varieties of plants and colors aren’t quickly visible. From horseback in past high desert outings, I rarely focused on flowers (except Sego Lilies which pop up briefly and are stunning). But these days I’m on foot and closer proximity makes a great difference.

My ruminations were interrupted by quirky dogs. Osix wasn’t eager to follow, making it clear that she felt hot and insisted on returning to the car. I urged her along, until before long and realizing that Miles already had disappeared, I gave up and turned around. Almost instantly, Osix, too, was gone. As always, my loyal trail buddies, Louie and Ranger, stayed with me until the bitter end.