For several years, I entered mountain vistas in photo contests by nature conservation groups. crickets

"That's a beautiful photo!" my neighbor said, pointing to this photo of Pine Drop flower pods. A professional photographer, she was looking through my best hiking photos on my computer. "You should enlarge and frame it."

It's interesting to see the winning photos. A laughing small girl in a white dress in golden tall grass with sun shining through her long, blonde hair. An old tractor in a field with rolling green hills in the background. Raging waterfall and rapids in Icicle Gorge with the water's motion slowed by the camera. To me, those photos are clichés.

Based on my neighbor's praise, I entered the Pine Drop photo in the Cascadia.org photo contest in the nature category.

Early in the morning in December 2018, Karen and I snowshoed above Squilchuck State Park. It had snowed the night before, dawning a bright blue day.

Morning sun shone through Pine Drop flower pods, lit up like Chinese lanterns.