The reason for my visit to my friend Carol in Washington was to get some focused one-on-one help in learning to use Adobe InDesign. The reason for scheduling it in April was because I figured I’d have a decent number of drawings finished for the upcoming book The Cabins of Wilsonia, which is the purpose of learning InDesign.

Or, was the purpose of going in April THE TULIPS!??

North of Seattle is a wonderful agricultural area called the Skagit Valley. (Not pronounced “skag – it” but “skaj -it”) I used to visit my uncle and aunt in that area and always felt at home because of the agriculture and because the mountains are in the east, just like Tulare County. (minus the heat, foul air, high unemployment and maybe even with fewer fat people – sure, go ahead and move there, I don’t mind! May I visit in April?)

Flower bulbs are grown commercially there. Bulbs have to flower before they can be harvested.  Of course, you have to pay to get in. There are no shoulders of the road for pulling over, and all the fields are located away from the roads anyway so even if you wanted to break the rules, there is no point. I believe Roozengaarde is the 2nd best amusement park I’ve ever visited. (The first best was in Gilroy, California, and I have forgotten the name. Again. Natalie, you listening??)

There I go with my primary color obsession again. Perhaps this is the floral interpretation of A River Runs Through It.

There were tons of people, mid-day, mid-week. I overheard one woman say, “Being cold and muddy isn’t my idea of a good time. Besides, I’d like a real toilet.” And I heard the father of a young boy say, “Stay out of the mud because we only brought one pair of pants and we paid $15 to get in here so we are NOT leaving after 2 minutes.” This California artist understands that cold and muddy are a temporary condition, well worth braving for scenes such as these. (Inspired by beauty, nay, DRIVEN by it, as you may recall from this post.)

There were still fields of daffodils that hadn’t yet faded. Those are the Cascade Mts. in the distance. (I knew you were dying to know, because I would have been.)

A good thing about all those people is that you can hand your camera to anyone without first threatening to hitchhike. (Read April 23 to understand that remark.) Most everyone hunkers down in the mud so they are surrounded by blooms.  (You’ll be happy to note that my hair has recovered somewhat from that ferry ride and my face looks better than yesterday, although you had far too much class to mention it. I had to show you the bad photo so that you’d appreciate my regular flat hair and smile.)

This is my favorite shot. I was lucky to get it just before a large purple coat entered the scene. Happy to take those cold muddy risks so you all can vicariously experience the joys of the Tulip Season.