The things we love are often changed by our presence.
Field Notes
For a few weeks each year, millions of flowers transform California hillsides into destinations. Photographs become souvenirs. Flowers become subjects. Yet the bloom itself continues the same work it always has—gathering sunlight, feeding pollinators, and participating in an ecosystem far older than the attention surrounding it. Most visitors arrive because they love what they find. The challenge belongs to us: learning how to admire something without asking it to become scenery. Sometimes what attracts us most is not asking to be noticed at all.