Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now

I know these blossoms look lilac-y. That’s my dang phone camera. One of my genius photographer pals could fix it in a minute.

Nevertheless.

This is how you know spring isn’t kidding around in the Willamette Valley — it’s firmly settled in. Amazing meadows full of camas: think cerulean down here where you can touch it.

This particular field is on the backside of College Hill in Eugene, just north of the Japanese immersion school on Lincoln Street.

On a perfect blue-sky morning, it fills the heart.

Camas bulbs were a meaningful food source for the Kalapuya, who harvested and preserved them. Oregon State University researchers have found evidence of the bulbs in Kalapuyan baking ovens going back 3,500 years.

Don’t drive by and marvel as you go. You’ll forget what you saw in half a minute. Stop, get out, kneel beside one of these beauties. See the yellow stamens. Once you see that yellow, you’ll probably also see the tiny buttercups scattered here and there. All of that, you won’t forget.