I think I may have managed to photograph a flower that is “endemic to this area and found nowhere else in the world.”
White Frasera, according to my Falcon Guide, is “found in the montane forests of central and west-central ID” (page 209). Citadel of Rocks, where I found this, doesn’t technically fit the bill, since it is in the southern part of the state. Other possible candidates are Black Elderberry and Edible Tobacco Root.
It’s an older Asian couple taking each other’s picture in front of a teepee, in Yellowstone.
I also saw a Pakistani family doing the same thing, which was also super cute.
I can’t remember who it was, but one commentator I listen to pointed out, in response to the move to take American Indians out of team names and products, that American Indians are famous all over the world.
Anyway, I’m here at Yellowstone with the fam and it’s very international here. Languages I heard in the space of a few hours:
They all came to see Old Faithful, the geyser. Even more faithful than old faithful were the people. We all came at the time it was predicted to blow. We all sat quietly, as if at church, except that occasionally someone would say, “It’s starting! It’s starting!” – and it would be a false alarm.
When Old Faithful did demonstrate its power once again, we all raised our phones in unison, and faithfully recorded it.
The human kindness continued the next day at this lookout point (veiwing Grand Teton peak), reachable by tram from Teton Village. 10,450 feet in the air, we faithfully offered to take each other’s family photos in front of the panorama, exchanging phones and then giving them back.
Human beings can be faithful, and kind, for a couple of days while on vacation.
The One who made the mountains is faithful forever.
PSA: I’m not doing off-the-grid August this year. You guys need a place to come where you can look at wildflowers and read about aliens. (So restful, right?) And I have enough pictures of the West to show you guys aaallll month.
So if I stop posting, it’s either because WordPress has bugged out on me, or the entire Internet has. Which are both things that could happen.
Until then, see you in the dog days!
Also known as Missouri Iris. Photographed at Citadel of Rocks.
“This is the Central Rocky Mountains’ only native iris … Iris, or fleur-de-lis, is the national flower and emblem of France and the state flower of Tennessee. Iris is both a dangerous poisonous plant and a valuable medicinal herb.” (Central Rocky Mountain Wildflowers Falcon Guide, p. 37)
Here I am, using my color vision to spot the ripest raspberries in the thicket. Darker ones are ready. I can distinguish fine grades of color.
Then, I use my specially designed opposable thumbs to pick the ripest raspberries. My fingers have been given the ability to sense, and calibrate their grip for, the finest gradations of pressure. This allows me to pull each berry off its core without squishing it. Most of the time.
The raspberries, for their part, have been specially designed to be picked and eaten by me. Every year, they produce a ridiculous bumper crop. “Pick us!” they groan. They have been given thorns, of course, but these are at best a halfhearted attempt to fight back. All I need to do is put on a long-sleeved shirt, and the prospect of a nasty scratch is no match for the motivation furnished by the berries’ taste.
The raspberry bushes are very good at surplus. They produce far more berries than I can realistically pick, and they hide them where I will never find them all.
They taste sweet-tart. They provide fiber and Vitamin C and I don’t know what all. They look so pretty paired with yogurt and oatmeal on a summer morning.
This morning while I was deep in the raspberry patch, my son picked up one of our chickens and at that moment she laid, the egg dropping from his arms to the ground. It didn’t break. Food was literally falling from the sky.
I think I have a pretty good diet. Except for the candy.
Wildfires in Oregon and at Red Fish Lake are giving us sunsets like this.
If you have been an Out of Babel (Books) reader for many years, you may remember that I have a hopeless crush on all things American Indian. I happen to live near a reservation, complete with casino (the casino is not so much my crush). This Spring, I went and bought a lovely hand-beaded item from the many on sale there.
Just look at all the man- or woman-hours on that thing!
The beads are sewn into a leather cover that’s attached to a hair barrette. (Fun fact: My grandmother, when she was alive, knew how to make beaded earrings in this style and she taught me how. That’s how I know this item would have taken a looong time!)
Anyway, my little sister, aware of my love for all things American Indian, bought me this lovely yarn, which struck her as being in colors typical of the tribe who live near us. I promptly searched Etsy for a knitting pattern that would showcase this yarn according to its potential. I settled on The Drifter Shawl, by NarrowPathKnitDesign, here.
The Drifter uses a Center Double Decrease stitch to create the chevron shape in the middle of the shawl. The center chevron “drifts” towards one side of the shawl (compensatory increases are made on one side but not on the other). The chevron is supposed to go all the way to the edge of the shawl, but I ran out of yarn, so I just bound off early. That’s why there is a slight notch in the finished product. I still love the shawl and get tons of compliments on it.
It can be worn with almost any of the colors found on it: blues, oranges, pinks, duns. In my mind, the Platonic ideal for this shawl is to wear it with black.
Here are some close-ups.
One great thing about the Drifter pattern is that it’s so versatile. The pattern includes a three-color or a two-color option, and obviously, the colors you pick can drastically change the feel of the shawl. I’m already working on another rendition of this shawl for a friend, for which I have bought sufficient yarn this time.
Why did you feel the need to show me a bunch of ads from a company, right after I just bought something from that company ? Isn’t this backwards? I already bought the thing. Obviously I already know the company exists. I know where to find it. If I just bought something from Lane Bryant, I am not going to be needing to buy from Lane Bryant again for a long time. Maybe years, in fact. I don’t need swimwear. Now I need coffee.
I don’t want the company to stop existing. I just want it to stop stalking me.
Sphaeralcea coccinea, Greek for “scarlet sphere mallow.”
Grows in the “dry prairies of the valleys and plains and foothills zones as far as the Bitterroot Valley, MT; Bannock County, ID; and parts of OR.”
“Scarlet globe mallow has slimy, viscous sap that can stick to skin or mucous membranes and thus provide a protective coating. The native Dakota people chewed the plant and applied it to inflamed sores and wounds as a salve. It was said to cool inflammation and promote healing.”
I can’t believe the first two wildflowers I chose to blog about this year both turned out to be medicinal. But there ya go, God puts ’em in the ground for us to find! Once again, the Falcon Guide Central Rocky Mountain Wildflowers has shown its usefulness. All in the information in this post, except the photographs, came from page 93. I took the photographs at Citadel of Rocks, where the sphaeralcea was obediently growing exactly where described.
Out of Babel Books 