Tulip Time

Each April, tulips carpet many parts of the Willamette Valley. They tempt me from my cave, camera in hand, in the hope of capture the definitive photo. The image you see here may not be 'the one', but I like it very much.

The artsy ink outline effect was added using Photoshop CS3, as were the border and frame. The basic image is not of sufficient size or resolution to support a decently sized print, so it only gets enjoyed on my computer screen.

Even if I could not revisit the beauty of spring via my photos, the images would live in my memory. There is something spiritual about flowers. Perhaps it is their amazing colors? Or maybe the mysterious and captivating array of shapes? The heady fragrances? Surely it must be all of those things, yet there is more. They tell of sunny days replacing the dull grey of winter. They are indisputable evidence of the fulfillment of nature's unspoken promise: new life, every year, no matter what.

It humbles me to see how most life persists in spite of our best human efforts to the contrary. When mankind's time on earth is through, will the flowers not continue? I think they will, but who will appreciate and admire them then? I don't consider myself a tree-hugging Birkenstock-wearing eco-nut, but I do hope we as a species can figure out how to stop soiling our own nest so that future generations may continue to enjoy the magical spell cast by tulips and all their floral cousins. Not to TRY is to fail.