MONKEY FLOWER MEADOW

I photographed these Monkey flowers (Mimulus tilingi) growing alongside a stream in the beautiful Grand Valley, one of my favorite meadows in the high Olympic Mountains. Monkey flowers are a common sight in sub-alpine meadows, dancing merrily in the summer breeze beside a rushing stream.

Mrs. Trowbridge and her family spent many memorable days on summer outings. Sometimes they would go to the nearby Pacific Ocean. Other times they would hike to the high meadows. She referred often to their "special boulder", a boulder that served as their destination when they followed Wild Rose Creek up to the high meadows. She painted this picture of her husband, Woodrow, napping on the boulder among the Monkey flowers, while the children play nearby. I hope her painting brings thoughts of days in the coming summer season when you too will be sunning beside a stream in your special place.

Have you seen my other blog, Bron Smith's Flights of Fantasy. Check it out.