obsession

Went out to look at the most beautiful wildflower in Vermont last night, the Cardinal Flower, out in its usual haunts in the West Rutland swamp. I was talking to Erin about my "interest" in wildflowers. I said I didn't think obsession was the right word. She said, "Oh, I think it is." Anyway, having an ongoing interest in a facet of the natural world allows for the seeing of things that might otherwise be missed. As Hericlitus said, "Nature loves to hide."
It is comforting to be able to return to the same places at the same time of year, and see the same wildflowers as before. There have been a couple of times this year, however, when that didn't happen as planned. I was walking by the railroad tracks on the way to the Mall the other day. I looked for the Canada Lily I had seen there roughly a year ago, but it wasn't there. I remember all of the Enchanter's Nightshade I had seen out front last year. Now it's nowhere to be found. Why is that? Do they bloom every other year? Seems unlikely. What are the factors that led to the disappearances?
There are a few "hot spots" I visit every few weeks. It's interesting to see colonies of one type of flower replaced by colonies of another flower in basically the same place. It reminds me of the gates at a busy airport which are used by a number of airplanes at various times of the day. That way, it seems, mother nature is able to promote the greatest diversity of flora in the exact same space. It always pays to share.