About a year ago, Clive and I wandered into Six-Mile Coulee west of the college to photograph crocuses. Perhaps you can imagine two guys on the hunt for the delicate wild flowers as one of the purest signs of spring. Then again, maybe the image seems incongruous. Anyway, I told another friend, Ian, of the experience and he told me about the side of a coulee hill near his house in West Lethbridge that was a mass of violet, covered with crocuses. I asked if he would let me know the next year when they arrived again. Got the e-mail titled Crocus Trail Monday. “The crocuses are out on this pathway, hundreds of them. I ran the trail on Saturday and was enthralled,” Ian wrote.So, I headed west, to the parking lot at the top of Bull Trail Park, off University Drive just north of Whoop-Up Drive. Ian had given me directions, but I only skimmed them, so I had failed to pay attention to which direction to go once I had reached the trailhead. I’ve been told this is a guy thing. I could take the high road. Or, I could take the low road. Sooner or later, I figured, I would find crocuses. Also realized that no matter which trail I took, it should lead me into the Oldman River valley and I would eventually have to climb back up. Exercise was a secondary benefit. I took the trail that led most quickly toward the river. A young woman passed me jogging and wearing headphones. Along the trail, I spotted some early prickly pear cacti and got on my belly to shoot them. That’s pretty much what you have to do to photograph wild flowers, so it helps to wear something that dead grass won’t adhere to. I didn’t. A little further down the trail, I spotted a few crocuses, but no hillside full. I shot them. Then, I noticed the jogger who had passed me earlier across the draw on another trail. I hollered to ask her if she’d seen any crocuses. She had to yank out her headphones before she answered, “No” to my repeated question. Different strokes.
Another couple of walkers came along, who pointed to where I had last seen the jogger. “We saw a woman bending down a couple of days ago. I’m sure it was crocuses,” one offered. “If you go back to the bottom, you’ll find a cow trail back up.” Along the cow trail, I found a bunch of yellow bells, then, around a little rise, the promised crocuses. Not a field of violet, mind you, but impressive nonetheless. My quest was complete. I had my bouquet of crocuses, photographic version, to offer mom, wife, daughters, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law sister and sisters-in-law for Mother’s Day. And all the other mothers too. |
