Trailing arbutus

The bloom season for an exquisite wildflower known as the Trailing Arbutus is a tricky thing to time, but after a few years of hiking the local promontory called Lantern Hill, I've come to learn that you can find the much-beloved white and delicious-smelling blossoms of Epigaea repens holding forth from about the middle to the end of April. Because the snow hung around for so long this year, I guessed that the arbutus would be on the late side in 2015, and when I trekked up a side trail that features these tough but easily overlooked, which is no doubt why they're still here, members of the Heath family, I thought, based on the fact that I was seeing only buds, that I was too early. In some of the more sunny spots, however, I hit pay-dirt and there were flowers a-plenty. For these, I got on my belly—the rocks weren't too uncomfortable—and gave my 55mm micro lens a good workout. The lens is completely manual and I have to focus it myself—oh bother!—but my eyes still work reasonably well so I and my primitive technology seem up to the task. I hope camera gear and user both have a few more good years left.