Last Spring as I was driving home from work one afternoon, I couldn’t help but notice all the violets growing in one of my neighbor’s front yard. It looked as though their entire front yard was purple! In our part of the world these little guys are considered weeds, but they’re actually very pretty if you get down and look at them up close (or if they’re covering your entire yard). You can imagine my neighbor’s surprise when I wanted to photograph in his front yard. They obviously said yes, but were still a little confused looking as I said ‘thanks!’ and walked off, camera in hand.

–Dan Thompson

Maryville