I think it’s safe to say summer’s here to stay for a bit. I declare this each year when I spot my favorite flower.
And I caught her last week, the wild tiger lily, reaching her soft vibrant petals to the clear sky.
Thrilled to see her I dropped to my knees and took her picture.
Because if I know anything about beauty this vivid and perfect it’s that it is fleeting.
It doesn’t last forever.
It doesn’t even last all season.
So I’m glad I caught her in her best dress, opened up to the sun, showing off her heart and soul and the reason she was given her name.
When I come back to this world after my death I hope I get the chance to come back as a tiger lily on this hill overlooking the badlands.
To be rooted that way, yet so wild. To be a bulb deep in the earth waiting for the warm sun to beckon my grand entrance.
To be able to wear my best dress every day through rain and wind, sunrise and sunset…
to have no concept of time…
To worry about nothing but the business of blooming.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch... 
Beautiful!!! I actually didn’t know there were wild tiger lillys but it makes me happy to know that there are! My question is this, are you going to be a lilly before or after your a duck? 🙂 Thank you for sharing this beauty!
I know, I can’t decide. I think I’ll be the duck first and then the lily. I really want to to get the whole expert flying/expert swimming thing under my belt…
I love your blog and all of your gorgeous photos. I’m heading to Fargo next week to visit family, and then a cousin and I are taking a road trip to Livingston, MT to visit a friend. Have never been west of Fargo. Your photos are adding to my excitement about seeing a beautiful part of the country!
This post inspired me to write a poem: Captured Sunlight – http://wp.me/pxjrA-A0