Summer Solstice

 It's always a feel-good for me when on the first day of summer the Farewell-to-Spring are blooming.  The above flower is also known as Dudley's Clarkia, or Clarkia dudleyana.  Named for William Clark of Lewis-and-Clark fame.  There's at least one other species of Clarkia known as Farewell-to-Spring.  Naming can be confusing, so just enjoy the beauty of it.

 Another photo that excited me today is of a small, greenish bug that seemed like nothing special until I looked at it enlarged on my computer monitor.  Wow!  What an exciting color pattern.  It looks like some sort of Grasshopper, but I haven't been able to find an exact identification yet.

 My enthusiasm for this first day of summer is somewhat tempered by these last two photos.  The Red Milkweed Beetle, Tetraopes basalis, looks like it's going into hiding, crawling under the flower as I approached.  Maybe she knew the weed eater was coming.  I took the photo on Wednesday, and the plant was mowed down on Thursday.  Discovered its absence this morning.  I wish I could change the dominant paradigm about roadside vegetation.

I photographed this Evening Primrose several days ago between the sidewalk and parking lot in front of Dunn's coffee shop.  The next day it was gone, as were several other attractive blooming wildflowers.  Now the area looks sterile.  And I contributed this photo to the Bloom Blog and told people where to find it.  Sorry, I couldn't save it.  Hurry and extract as much enjoyment as you can from our roadside wildflowers before they get mowed, poisoned, or paved. over.