I can hear a lawnmower as I type this, so it is a pretty sure thing that someone near me is thinking bad thoughts about dandelions - it just goes with the task. But you might be one of those rare mowers of lawns who loves those yellow bursts of color, or you may know a child (you?) who loves the puff ball seed stage of their development. Or maybe, like me, you have finally recognized them as a local wildflower, to be enjoyed in all of their lovely, scraggly detail.

I admit to a life-long botanical bias against dandelions. Having been taught from a young age that they are lawn invaders, I never considered them as fodder for my wildflower painting habit.

But, after our rare (the last series of storms this bad was 150 years ago) Arctic Blasts earlier this year, everything but the cedar was a dead grey-brown for 4-6 weeks. Evergreen trees dropped all of their foliage. Even the cedars looked battered and more grey than green. We really wondered what would come back. Being in a drought did not help.

Then one day the grass started to green up and the cheery little dandelion blooms were not far behind. What a relief!

Over the next 6 weeks, things slowly came back to life. Yes, we missed the bluebonnet season in our neighborhood, but the ones in areas that bloom later, did bloom. Yes, we have cut and burned a LOT of dead trees and broken limbs, but so many more trees are now green and thriving. Apparently the force of life is hard to freeze out permanently. I guess God designed it that way.

Anyhow, I am grateful for dandelions and, in my little world, they have been officially recategorized as legitimate wildflowers. How do they rate with you?

Nan

P.S. If you look at my website (this only works on a phone), under each painting's details you will see an button called Other Views. These view options now include Augmented Reality, which means you can look at your phone screen and see my painting on your wall! Cool, huh?

P.P.S. Last month I mentioned that I got accepted into a beta test for a Print-on-Demand function tied directly into my website postings. If you have time, go to More Info on one of my digital paintings (and a few of my newer works). Go to View Available Prints and see what you think of the printing and framing choices offered. Any feedback is appreciated.