It has been very wet in Northern Vermont this June. The week before we arrived it rained eight inches! As a result the meadows that surround the lake are saturated, and the pastures can't be mowed without tearing up the muddy ground (and bogging down the tractors on the hillsides). From the standpoint of the farmers this is a dilemma, because the uncut hay loses its nutritional punch once the grass buds begin to open and form seedheads. From the standpoint of an observer with a camera, the meadows are more beautiful than I have ever seen them. The wild flowers that dot the meadows are blooming abundantly, and the afternoon breezes create waves of floating color—yellow, pink, purple, orange—against the green of grasses. I am getting to photograph varieties that I've never seen before. As I search for the flowers in my little reference book (Kate Carter’s Wildflowers of Vermont), I’m struck by the evocative common names they go by—bladder campion, buttercup, orange and yellow hawkweed, mayweed, cinquefoil, golden Alexanders, forget-me-nots, mouse-ear, purple vetch, common fleabane, red and white clover, and my favorite, ragged robin. What I need is a book that will tell me the story of each flower's name! Like the farmers, I could also use a lot more sunshine, but in my case I want it for photographing the meadows before they are cut.