Folks among the flowers, No. 6

While I can't be sure of it, I believe it was something he said that led to the joyous smile and throwing back of her head in full-tilt-boogie laughter which you see there on the face of the woman with her hand on the stroller. I mean the man in the bee hat, of course. See the next photo for what I consider a great big ol' clue.
 

The reason I think that is how he's acting here in the second photo which isn't very good, but after all, I did take it on the fly so to speak, from my seat in a shuttle which transported folks from their vehicles and/or around the tulip fields. You do see his bunny ears, the man in the bee hat, right? Do you think he could have said something that made that woman laugh out loud?

 And how about the couple in what I would call Dutch costumes? Cool sight to see, there among the tulips.

Folks among the flowers, No. 5

Finally, my favorite photo of the little girls. When I saw the one in front, holding her nose, I pushed the button on my camera and said a little prayer that I got the photo. I did!

And I could smell every bit of manure that she could smell, from the moment I stepped out of the car. As I walked through the field of tulips, taking in the beautiful colors and shapes, seeing so many people out enjoying the flowers and the sunshine, for the most part I soon didn't notice the smell. Too much.

Folks among the flowers, No. 4

I've altered the photo at PicMonkey, trying to shed some light on her pretty face.
  Hope y'all aren't tired of these two little girls yet.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, Tulip Fest, Woodburn, Oregon, Sunday, April 22, 2012.

Folks among the flowers, No. 3

Sisters? Cousins? Friends? I don't know, but I do know that the one in the back had stood there long enough to make her feet tired and/or hurt. I don't think she realized just how much until she got to move a bit when the other girl joined her. The adult taking the pictures had them move here and there in that narrow furrow between the two rows of tulips. Thank goodness as little girls their feet could fit there.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, Tulip Fest, Woodburn, Oregon, Sunday, April 22, 2012.

Folks among the flowers, No. 2

I asked one of the grown-ups with her about her native costume and discovered she is Hmong. More photos of her and another lovely girl coming soon. 

Woodburn Tulip Farm, Tulip Fest, Woodburn, Oregon, April 22, 2012

Folks among the flowers, No. 1

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm's Tulip Fest, Woodburn, Oregon, April 22, 2012

Quite the juxtaposition, steam traction engines among the tulips

Four steam traction engines fired up one after another at the far end of the tulip field, then one by one rolled into position in a wide aisle among the tulips.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm's Tulip Fest, Woodburn, OR, April 22, 2012

Lovely tulips, glowing in the sunshine

Lovely tulips, glowing in the sunlight. What a precious gift, to be able to see such a sight, out with a friend and with others also in awe of the beauty these blossoms share. I am blessed. Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm's Tulip Fest, Woodburn, Oregon, Sunday, April 22, 2012

And there it is, the mud I'd read about on the Tulip Fest Web page

Since the weather was so sunny and warm, I decided to forego the recommended rubber boots and wear my ol' black Crocs instead. So, I was ready for what you see ahead there, the only mud we saw last Sunday.

I'm not saying that walking on the drier areas was easy, every single step. Nope. Three times, at least, as I put it down in the mushier track, my right foot slid to the right, just enough for my body to send me an uh-oh feeling. Somehow, the tulip gods were with me, 'cause I remained upright! Once I walked onto firmer ground, I looked down at my shoe. Ringing the outer edge like brown icing--mud--right up to the bottom edge of the holes. I couldn't believe that there was no mud inside my shoe! Yippee!

As far as the eye can see, in both directions

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm's Tulip Fest, on April 22, 2012, a splendidly sunny, warm spring day in Woodburn, Oregon. The high temp at Portland International Airport was 82, a new record for that date.

A surprise among the tulips

She bent over, picking up tulips which had fallen to the ground, her shiny, silky tresses mirroring the sheen of each tulip's petals.

I'm guessing those tulips ended up on the ground because a grown-up just might have knocked into the stems while moving along the rows, searching for just the right spot to set down a toddler or two for a colorful photo op.

So, if you haven't already guessed, you're in for a run of photos taken at Woodburn, Oregon's Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm's Tulip Fest.

An orchard near the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, Earth Day

After a couple of hours immersed in vivid color, my newly-moved-to-Portland-from-Minnesota friend Julie and I turned the wrong way in her little red Kia, at my urging because I misread the Google Map. Serendipity, it turns out because we saw this orchard. And Julie, game gal that she is, agreed to pull off somewhere close and safe so that I could get a photo, which turned out to be a decent Earth Day image.

Much farther away the shadows were even more impressive, but I'm quite happy to have only walked far enough to get this one. My muddy Crocs held my tired feet, muddy from the fields of tulips, tired from the lumpy ground in the fields of tulips.

Come back tomorrow for photos to the fields of tulips and those of us humans drawn outside by the sunshine to seek beauty.