A Dream Come True

For years, I've wanted to take some exceptional photographs of prairie crocuses.  Yes, I have occasionally photographed these beautiful wildflowers before but I was never satisfied with my earlier shots.  There was no 'magic' in those first shots.  Yesterday, I had another chance.  I had heard of a location in Sandilands Provincial Forest, south of Hadashville, where prairie crocuses were reported to be very common, usually blooming around Mothers Day.  That's a month from now.  But, considering the warm weather that we've been having lately, I figured there was a chance that some crocuses might already be in bloom.

So, about noon on Sunday, I got my camera gear and Holly in the Escape, tanked up on gas, picked up my friend, Vladimyr, and headed east on the Trans-Canada to the crocus area.  After a fair bit of driving up and down main and side forestry roads, stopping frequently at possible roadside locations and not seeing any crocuses, I concluded that it was just too early yet.  I was ready to give up.

Fortunately, at the last stop, Vlad said, 'well, we've come all this way ... let's at least photograph some of these great lichens and mosses, for art's sake'.  His words made me realize that I had been too focused on my one objective.  That I was missing everything else, all the other beauty around us, while I looked for those elusive crocuses.  So, I quickly agreed.

No sooner did I start looking for some photogenic lichens than I wandered into a small clump of prairie crocuses.  This last stop had been the lucky one!  Yes, I do know there is 'an important life lesson' here.  I've already figured it out.  Anyways, with macro gear in hand, I began taking photos of these beautiful flowers.  I ended up taking about a dozen shots, most of which I was happy with.  I knew a few of those had the 'magic' that I had wanted for so long.  Here is one of my shots.