First Flower Of The Year

Well. It's been a bit of a rough night for me. I'm writing this post very early in the morning because my power went out right as I was getting it together last night. I actually planned a late night on the web, reading some of your blogs, but that was rudely interrupted too. So now here I am, typing this in the wee hours of the morning.

And what do I have for you today? It's not my usual animal post. I really like the animals, that's why I feature them so often. But sometimes there's something else that I stumble upon that's every bit as good as being chased by half a dozen raccoons. Today it's this flower.

But what kind of flower is it? This is the part where I usually string you along for a bit and then reveal the identity of my new find, but this time I have to say that I really don't know what this flower is. I'm getting pretty good with animals, but plants are another story altogether. But don't worry, I still have a story for you.

You see, I found this flower in the strangest place, under odd circumstances. I was at the back end of a good sized nature trail, in the middle of the forest, under all of those trees, when I saw a pretty big animal. Yes, it's back to animals again! I never did get a good look at the animal, but when I rounded the corner to where it was, I found this flower instead.

This is the first flower I've seen in the wild this year. Notice I didn't say wildflower. That's because I don't think this is a wildflower. I don't know why, but it just looks too domestic to me. Of course, I could be wrong you know. Some of you may recognize this one easily, but as I said, I'm not good with plants yet. If you know what it is, I'd be grateful for a positive I.D. though.

Now the reason I don't think it's a wildflower is because I saw these same flowers later that evening growing near the benches at another nature park, as if they were planted there by someone. Yes, I sometimes go to more than one in the same day. I'm addicted!

But here it was, this flower was growing out in the middle of a dark forest, all by itself. How it got there, I don't know. There is one person I could ask, but I haven't seen her since then, so that isn't happening right now. For now, I just want to share this flower with you. I hope you like it, because I do. It's my first flower of the year!

As for the identity of the animal I saw, the answer to that will come another day.

And that's my story on this rainy early morning after I finally got my electricity back. It woke me up just in time!