01 Sabre's Field of Pasque

One early spring evening, when my children were 9 and 5, we were walking in the archery trails of Bunker park looking for stray arrows and golf balls. They knew I was looking for spring blossoms to photograph. At the end of the trail my first born jumped up and said ‘Look Dad a little flower’. It was the most exquisite Pasque I had seen outside of a magazine. It was late evening and the light was fading. I took some photographs anyway and secretly wanted to protect it from rabbits and deer that roamed in the park. The next morning, I was at this site before Sunrise to capture the backlit bloom. The following year, Sabre my canine running companion and I, literally ran into a large field of Pasque that were past its prime. I marked the place for photographing it the following year. I promptly arrived at this site during early spring to see the entire field of Pasque resurfaced for a parking lot. Over the years I have found many other sites of Pasque and enjoyed photographing them. And have seen them destroyed one by one in the name of modernization. The County needed more parking lots and horse trails in the park. Pasque has yielded to this travesty and yet had one stronghold by the edge of a lake, that I thought would never be destroyed. One day amidst pouring rain I hiked to this spot to see if they have sprung up and still photographable. To my horror I discovered that there was a brand new recreation arena being built exactly where the Pasque would have been. The last known bastion of hope for Pasque was trampled over and I felt cheated and robbed. No doubt the resilience of Pasque will prevail, no doubt there are hitherto undiscovered fields of Pasque.

My first born is 30 now and Sabre is long gone. For me Sabre’s field of Pasque will always be dear to heart