Roadside Cowslips

These gorgeous little flowers have strong connotations with my childhood. I remember fields of the blooms and going with my friends to pick bunches of them.  Shouldn't do that now as they are relatively rare these days.  Why is that I wonder...oh, isn't it the fact that man has destroyed their habitats and sprayed chemicals on others?

These cowslips are growing on a roadside verge close to a busy roundabout - a bit further along the bypass there is quite a bank of them.  Being by the road means they are covered in dust and bits of grit so not in their expected pristine condition.

I ignored the fact that I was on my tummy close up to these with the dog sitting quietly beside me whilst motorists sped past!  They did too. It must have looked strange but I suppose the camera explains everything.

Today, April 23rd, is also Shakespeare's 451st birthday celebration.  See my entry for a year ago... Cowslips are appropriate for this event as they are mentioned in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' when one of the fairies speaks to Puck in Act II:
Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be:
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.
Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I'll be gone:
Our queen and all our elves come here anon.


Heads Up for Wide Angle Wednesday next week which I will be hosting. The theme will be Signs and Symbols and tag your entry widwed09.