BUTTERCUP MEADOW

Mrs. Trowbridge loved spending summer days painting in the high meadows. The Olympic Mountains loom in the background. The area that she painted is the high country, near the headwaters of Wild Rose Creek, above the vast Quinault Rain Forest.

You'll notice that the trees look dwarfed and stubby in Mrs. T's painting. In the subalpine zone the trees are dwarfed from lack of oxygen. As you gain altitude, and climb above the tree line you enter the Arctic Alpine zone. At this altitude there are no trees, just rocky terrain and snow fields.

This is one of the most spectacularly beautiful areas in the Olympic Mountains, the high meadowlands between Cameron Pass and Lost Pass. This was perhaps my all-time favorite day in the Olympics. Both of the mountain zones are represented here, the Subalpine zone in the foreground, showing the stunted trees, and the Arctic Alpine zone in the distance, showing the rugged snowy peaks.

MOONLIGHT MUSIC FESTIVAL

During the longer warm summer nights, one of Mrs. Trowbridge's favorite pastimes was to journey with her family to a nearby village to attend their annual Moonlight Music Festival. Under the full moon, they would swing to the music of tuxedoed grasshopper fiddlers, bow-tied snail crooners, or everyone's favorite: the Ladybug Duet. I'll bet those ladybugs would put the Chipmunks to shame. Sing it, ladies!

CROSSING THE BRIDGE

Mrs. Trowbridge's miniature toy world in the Quinault Rain Forest was lovely indeed. But it was also fraught with risk. There were hungry hawks circling above the forest canopy in search of their next meal. And there were the forest trails which were sometimes steep and slippery, especially at the bridges. Many loads...and some lives...were lost during bridge crossings.

THE HONEY SNAG

This is a sketch that Mrs. Trowbridge drew that never turned into a painting. She did very refined sketches, preferring to have everything nailed down before she began applying paint. This is a portion of the trail that leads from Huckleberry Hollow to the Quinault River Valley below. All of the small creatures used this trail to get to and from the river valley to the high meadows. It passed right through Huckleberry Hollow.

One thing notable about this section of trail is that the hollow snag just behind the big tree in the foreground was inhabited by a swarm of bees. It became the primary source of honey for the small creatures around Huckleberry Hollow.

MRS. T and the DRAGON

Some have asked how the Trowbridge shrews passed their time during the long cold winters in the rain forest. Mrs. Trowbridge would be quick to point out that the winters were as busy as the summers, with numerous wintertime tasks to keep them occupied.

This is the time that Mrs. T reserved for darning and mending well-worn items of clothing for her family...a sweater or socks for the children, an overcoat for Woodrow. She used thistledown, spun into thread, for all her sewing and mending tasks. A scarf made with thistledown was soft, warm and cozy.

Today's page is among my favorites from Mrs. T's easel. In this painting she records her first encounter with a dragon while on a trip to the high meadows with family and friends.