Lily of Pending Doom?

This is a Grand Crinum Lily. I spent weeks looking for the perfect photo op. The blossom begins to wilt almost as soon as it opens and it is difficult to find a fresh, crisp flower. In this photo you can see a few buds and many wilted remains -- and, miracle!, a few fresh flowers.


We were driving along the main road of our housing complex. As usual I glanced over these bushes near the entrance. I expected to see ... nothing spectacular. Instead ....

"Stop!" I yelled. "Pull over!" Luckily my partner is a mind reader (or experienced with my quirks) and he knew, despite my hysteria, that there was no real crisis pending. However, he also knew there would be a crisis pending if he didn't let me out of the car. He stopped.

"Hurry up!" He said, "We're blocking traffic!"

I hopped out of the car, climbed into the bushes and began snapping photos.


My partner pulled the car as far off to the side of the road as possible. The street there is narrow and the curbs are high. There really wasn't any place for him to go. He left the engine running and stayed behind the wheel in case he had to move, and I tried to snap quickly. The bushes were tall, so for the most part I was holding the camera above my head, snapping the shutter and hoping for the best.

At home I downloaded the photos. My partner didn't seem too impressed. "You certainly didn't center those well," he muttered.

"Hey, I'm short." I answered. "I was taking these shots blind. I think, under the circumstances, they came out pretty well. You could have come and helped me, you know."

"I was helping," he said. "I was making certain nobody crunched your car."

You know, [insert head shaking] sometimes I wonder about that guy's priorities.


Oh -- and with a little digital slight of hand, the photos are framed just fine.