Sketchbook
They run the gamut from those who can't go 2 feet without dropping to their knees, magnifying glass in hand, to those who note a blur of new color outside their car windows as they speed down the road. Botanists say that compared to other observers of nature -- bird-watchers or tornado chasers or rock hunters or mountain peak climbers -- flower viewers eschew checklists and conquests for more ephemeral things.
Many wildflower lovers -- in truly flowery fashion -- say that what they're looking for is comfort and hope. Flowers that appear in great sweeps at the beginning of spring. Nearby hills are swathed in a lavender haze of lupine and baby blue eyes. See them as a symbol of the beauty, complexity and mystery of the world. It makes it more poignant that they're not here for long.
"They thought the world was going to end, and they found hope in these large blue flowers. They kept diaries about them."