Editor,
In an increasingly chaotic world, we have to take every opportunity to appreciate the wonders around us. This time of year brings just that kind of opportunity. It’s primrose time on the Berryville side of Trigger Gap. For two weeks, the impossibly bright yellow flowers will decorate a rocky ditch along the roadside, a place where few other plants can grow. Some have found a home in a cut-rock bank.
The display vanishes quickly, and that makes it precious. The cheerful color reminds me of desert flowers, which have the same improbable reaction to a little rain.
Drivers will appreciate the display a little more going from Eureka to Berryville, rather than the other way around. So, if you have to go to Berryville this week, turn right on Rockhouse Road, next to the ECHO Thrift Shop. Take a left when the road meets Hwy. 221 and cross the Kings River. The primrose zone will start as the road climbs out of the river valley. Some of the flowers have spilled over onto the south side of the road, but most of them are concentrated on the uphill side.
It may not change your whole day, but for a few minutes, you can drive down the road and share that feeling of celebrating the moment. Hot, dry summer days will soon take their toll on us all, and that rocky ditch will turn hostile to water-based life forms. But by then, the primroses will already have made their plans for next year.
Mike Ellis