Contentment by design - Living

Yesterday, we took a hike around Upper Beaver Meadows in Rocky Mountain National Park. We had good luck because, although it rained on the way up and we could see big storm systems all around us, there was a big doughnut of clear skies above us, and we were bathed in sunshine for the several hours we were up there.

While the slopes above the meadows are thick with lodgepole and ponderosa pines, the fine-grained soils in the meadows themselves don't support trees well, and this is reinforced by the grazing of elk and deer.

The predominant color, other than the glorious green we are enjoying this spring from all the rain we're getting, is yellow. There are thousands and thousands of Golden Banner flowers carpeting the meadows in all directions, interspersed with some Wallflowers and Salsify.