Mayapple on the Appalachian Trail: original pastel

One year for my birthday, which is in the middle of May, my husband and I towed our little vintage Shasta camper up to Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia. It’s one of my favorite places. Not just because they have wild ponies, but also because the wild ponies graze the highlands and afford an open view of the terrain. May is often wet and misty, and of course in the highlands the green is fresh and a plethora of hues. We came across this old tree covered in burls as we made our way up to the balds. The trail curved around the great tree, and the path was festooned with sweet mayapples nodding in the breeze. The Mayapple in the foreground is an anomaly I made note of in my sketch. Mayapples flower only after they are old enough to bear two leaves. But this young Mayapple must have had some prime soil, because she was blooming with only one leaf.